I was so sad to hear of our great Prophets passing. I waited with great anticipation for conference to hear his reassuring voice, his words of strength, conviction, and faith. What a great example of selfless sacrifice and quiet service. I remember in college one night a bunch of us freshman rode the bus to salt lake and spent the night sleeping in line to hear general conference. It was such a thrill to see the prophet for the first time in person. Only a few months later he came to Monticello, (my hometown) to check out a spot for a brand new idea. The small temple. I will never forget the dedication ceremony, or watching him cement the cornerstone that same day. Monticello was sort of a proto-type to see how this new small temple thing would work. It was nothing short of genius. I have benefitted from the small temples everywhere we have lived. Louisville Kentucky, Oklahoma City, and now in Anchorage too. What a massive legacy he leaves with us, and again how sad for us to have lost him, but so awesome for him to be with his wife again!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Together Again
I was so sad to hear of our great Prophets passing. I waited with great anticipation for conference to hear his reassuring voice, his words of strength, conviction, and faith. What a great example of selfless sacrifice and quiet service. I remember in college one night a bunch of us freshman rode the bus to salt lake and spent the night sleeping in line to hear general conference. It was such a thrill to see the prophet for the first time in person. Only a few months later he came to Monticello, (my hometown) to check out a spot for a brand new idea. The small temple. I will never forget the dedication ceremony, or watching him cement the cornerstone that same day. Monticello was sort of a proto-type to see how this new small temple thing would work. It was nothing short of genius. I have benefitted from the small temples everywhere we have lived. Louisville Kentucky, Oklahoma City, and now in Anchorage too. What a massive legacy he leaves with us, and again how sad for us to have lost him, but so awesome for him to be with his wife again!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Polar Bear Plunge
We went to the Polar Bear Plunge in Seward on Saturday. People jump into resurection Bay in crazy costumes to raise money for charity. It is a beautiful two hour drive down the Kenai Penisula to get there. After the plunge, (too many spectators, three short kids) we got some lunch and headed to the sea life center which is located right on the bay. We saw puffins, and sea lions, seals, starfish, an octopus. The kids got to touch sea anemones and I touched a starfish. I told the kids to touch it but they were scared, so I said, "Oh brother, I'll touch it," and to my dismay, found the task to be a little scary too! So I just pretended it was Patrick Star and touched it anyway. 
This is how Jace spent the day. Either attached to me in front or in back, he spent the whole day smiling, hamming it up for the camera and trying to eat my ponytail. The kids got some free stuff from the "say no to Tabacco booth, " funny how we were in awe of our surroundings and their day was made by getting a free mini football and a pack of 4 crayons. How glad I am that we have this time to see some more of this beautiful world. You really do feel like your on the edge of civilization up here.
This is how Jace spent the day. Either attached to me in front or in back, he spent the whole day smiling, hamming it up for the camera and trying to eat my ponytail. The kids got some free stuff from the "say no to Tabacco booth, " funny how we were in awe of our surroundings and their day was made by getting a free mini football and a pack of 4 crayons. How glad I am that we have this time to see some more of this beautiful world. You really do feel like your on the edge of civilization up here. 
This picture is looking south at Resurection Bay, the outlet to the ocean is somewhere between all those mountains.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I second the nomination!
Here is a tasty tidbit from the political world. Way to go Doug! Let's all write Sharpton a Letter!
By Doug Robinson
Deseret Morning News
Published: January 8, 2008
Imissed the memo that said it's A-OK to make disparaging and often erroneous statements about Mormons.Apparently, they are fair game.Sure, these are hypersensitive times, when name-calling or perceived bias against any group will get you the Don Imus treatment, but you get a free shot with Mormons. You can say what you want about them with impunity.If you denigrate a racial group, you're racist.If you denigrate women, you're sexist.If you denigrate Mormons, you're hip.No one would openly suggest that you shouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton because a woman can't lead the country, especially an ornery one.Nobody would dare say that you shouldn't vote for Barack Hussein Obama because he's black, or of Muslim descent, or because he has a name that sounds like a terrorist. One Clinton worker even apologized for alluding to Obama's use of drugs as a youth, so apparently it's wrong to disparage former drug users, too.But nobody is shy about saying you shouldn't vote for Romney simply because he's a Mormon. It doesn't even register on the PC-O-Meter.Just like that, 6 million Americans have been virtually disqualified from running for president. They've been rendered second-class citizens. They're foreigners living in America. They face a glass ceiling.How un-American is that?It would be one thing if most of those who oppose Romney did so because they disagreed with his politics or character. But Romney is one of the few candidates who has no character issues, a "squeaky clean" man who has a distinguished record of accomplishments, success and service, with no divorces, no affairs, no scandal. The only thing opponents can say about him is that he belongs to a church they don't understand.A Harvard law professor called Romney the most qualified of all the candidates and "the perfect candidate for this moment in time." But there is his Mormonism, he noted.Even the self-styled PC chief of police, Al Sharpton, once jumped in on the action, saying, "As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways."Mormons don't believe in God?For his penance, all Sharpton had to do was endure a family home evening in Utah.It's open season on Mormons. A few days ago, Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard stated on ESPN and in the newspaper that part of the reason fired coach Cam Cameron failed was because he got stuck with a Mormon quarterback — not a rookie quarterback (which he is) but a Mormon quarterback."And you'll have a hard time finding a leader anywhere in sports who was as unlucky this year as Cameron," Le Batard said, noting that because of injuries, Cameron was forced to play "a United Nations huddle of a Mormon quarterback, Mexican receiver, Samoan fullback and some guy named Lekekekkkkerkker."Now Mormons are foreigners?Ignorance makes no difference. You can say Mormons have four wives or that they aren't Christian, and no one cares.Imagine the uproar if Le Batard had written that the Dolphins suffered because they had to play a black quarterback for part of the season? Or a Catholic?The Salt Lake Tribune has had a field day for more than a week since learning that Mike Leavitt and some of his like-minded cohorts met early in the morning to discuss Mormon theology and governance while he was Utah's governor. What if it had been a Bible study?Nobody seems to mind when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says his religion "defines me." Or when Obama says his church guides "my own values and my own beliefs."People worry that Romney will take his orders from his church leaders. They don't worry that Obama will take orders from his church, whose "10-point vision" includes two references to its "non-negotiable commitment to Africa," with no mention of America. Oh, and the church statement begins by noting on the Trinity United Church of Christ Web site, "We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black."It's a different set of rules for some out there. You can print newspaper cartoons disparaging Mormons. You can harass their families as they walk to their biannual conference with all sorts of foul language. When someone commits a crime, you can note the criminal's religion, but only if he's Mormon. You can make them a one-liner on Leno. Good luck reconciling all this with the paranoid political correctness that's so in vogue.Meanwhile, the most politically correct presidential election field ever assembled — a woman, a black, a Mormon, a Baptist, etc. — has gone politically incorrect, but only when it comes to you know who.
By Doug Robinson
Deseret Morning News
Published: January 8, 2008
Imissed the memo that said it's A-OK to make disparaging and often erroneous statements about Mormons.Apparently, they are fair game.Sure, these are hypersensitive times, when name-calling or perceived bias against any group will get you the Don Imus treatment, but you get a free shot with Mormons. You can say what you want about them with impunity.If you denigrate a racial group, you're racist.If you denigrate women, you're sexist.If you denigrate Mormons, you're hip.No one would openly suggest that you shouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton because a woman can't lead the country, especially an ornery one.Nobody would dare say that you shouldn't vote for Barack Hussein Obama because he's black, or of Muslim descent, or because he has a name that sounds like a terrorist. One Clinton worker even apologized for alluding to Obama's use of drugs as a youth, so apparently it's wrong to disparage former drug users, too.But nobody is shy about saying you shouldn't vote for Romney simply because he's a Mormon. It doesn't even register on the PC-O-Meter.Just like that, 6 million Americans have been virtually disqualified from running for president. They've been rendered second-class citizens. They're foreigners living in America. They face a glass ceiling.How un-American is that?It would be one thing if most of those who oppose Romney did so because they disagreed with his politics or character. But Romney is one of the few candidates who has no character issues, a "squeaky clean" man who has a distinguished record of accomplishments, success and service, with no divorces, no affairs, no scandal. The only thing opponents can say about him is that he belongs to a church they don't understand.A Harvard law professor called Romney the most qualified of all the candidates and "the perfect candidate for this moment in time." But there is his Mormonism, he noted.Even the self-styled PC chief of police, Al Sharpton, once jumped in on the action, saying, "As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways."Mormons don't believe in God?For his penance, all Sharpton had to do was endure a family home evening in Utah.It's open season on Mormons. A few days ago, Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard stated on ESPN and in the newspaper that part of the reason fired coach Cam Cameron failed was because he got stuck with a Mormon quarterback — not a rookie quarterback (which he is) but a Mormon quarterback."And you'll have a hard time finding a leader anywhere in sports who was as unlucky this year as Cameron," Le Batard said, noting that because of injuries, Cameron was forced to play "a United Nations huddle of a Mormon quarterback, Mexican receiver, Samoan fullback and some guy named Lekekekkkkerkker."Now Mormons are foreigners?Ignorance makes no difference. You can say Mormons have four wives or that they aren't Christian, and no one cares.Imagine the uproar if Le Batard had written that the Dolphins suffered because they had to play a black quarterback for part of the season? Or a Catholic?The Salt Lake Tribune has had a field day for more than a week since learning that Mike Leavitt and some of his like-minded cohorts met early in the morning to discuss Mormon theology and governance while he was Utah's governor. What if it had been a Bible study?Nobody seems to mind when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says his religion "defines me." Or when Obama says his church guides "my own values and my own beliefs."People worry that Romney will take his orders from his church leaders. They don't worry that Obama will take orders from his church, whose "10-point vision" includes two references to its "non-negotiable commitment to Africa," with no mention of America. Oh, and the church statement begins by noting on the Trinity United Church of Christ Web site, "We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black."It's a different set of rules for some out there. You can print newspaper cartoons disparaging Mormons. You can harass their families as they walk to their biannual conference with all sorts of foul language. When someone commits a crime, you can note the criminal's religion, but only if he's Mormon. You can make them a one-liner on Leno. Good luck reconciling all this with the paranoid political correctness that's so in vogue.Meanwhile, the most politically correct presidential election field ever assembled — a woman, a black, a Mormon, a Baptist, etc. — has gone politically incorrect, but only when it comes to you know who.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Bernard Pivot Questionairre
Jessie tagged me with the Christmas tag, and I haven't been online forever so I figured it would be pretty lame if I did it now. However there is a questionaire I have been dying to tag people with so I hope jessie will forgive me if I do this one instead. It is from the tv show "Inside the Actors Studio." At the end of every show James Lipton asks all the guests the same questions and he always describes it as if it were literary gold. It is kinda funny to me but I thought it might be fun so here it goes.
1. What is your favorite word? momma
2. What is your least favorite word? why?
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Humor, color, & when mike does the dishes
4. What turns you off? negativity
5. What is your favorite curse word? cripes!
6. What sound or noise do you love? laughter
7. What sound or noise do you hate? chalkboard noise (I can barely type that)
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Olympic gold medal swimmer. (breast stroke)
9. What profession would you not like to do? Anything involving tiolets!
10. Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Your Grandpa is right over there. (the real questionaire says, if heaven exists. I took some liberty with that)
So there you have it. I am tagging lots of you: I tag Jessie, Adri, Julie, Karianne, and Kim
Actually, I really want to tag everyone on my list over there. So I tag you all!
1. What is your favorite word? momma
2. What is your least favorite word? why?
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Humor, color, & when mike does the dishes
4. What turns you off? negativity
5. What is your favorite curse word? cripes!
6. What sound or noise do you love? laughter
7. What sound or noise do you hate? chalkboard noise (I can barely type that)
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Olympic gold medal swimmer. (breast stroke)
9. What profession would you not like to do? Anything involving tiolets!
10. Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Your Grandpa is right over there. (the real questionaire says, if heaven exists. I took some liberty with that)
So there you have it. I am tagging lots of you: I tag Jessie, Adri, Julie, Karianne, and Kim
Actually, I really want to tag everyone on my list over there. So I tag you all!
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