Okayyy, just kidding. Harvard Law School it is!

My daughter, Trisha, had what she called a "quarter year crisis" and decided she really wanted to go to Harvard Law School after all this fall instead of NYU. So she checked see if she could have her spot back (she had already officially withdrawn) and she can so she'll be off to Harvard in August instead! They start a little later than NYU so she may be able to come on our family vacation for a little while (in addition to the Hawaii trip she and her husband had already planned and now they'll need a house hunting trip back to Cambridge!). Anyway, the whole thing seems so surreal, but apparently Lloyd and Vanessa had wanted her to accept to Harvard all along so there you go! I'll just be happy with whatever she does and wherever she goes from here -- so long as she uses her God-given gifts well!

How to Be a Bone Marrow Donor

First of all, right now, it's FREE to be tested and listed to be a bone marrow donor. I recently did this and paid $52, I think it was, so it's not much, but if cost is your stumbling block, it's been removed for about the next week.

From June 8-22, it's free to sign up to be a donor (while funding still remains to cover it).

If not knowing how to do it is your stumbling block, it's really very easy.

1. Confirm you meet basic registry guidelines.
2. Complete the online form and order your registration kit. This step will take about 30 minutes.
3. Follow the instructions in your kit to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit in the postage prepaid envelope.

That's it!

Click here to get started.

Hitting the Open Highway

Tonight I finally got a chance to go out with DH on his baby. The kids have gone out with DH with my gear on, but I didn't want to go out for a spin even just around the neighborhood and leave the kids home alone so tonight for date night, we planned a ride. We headed out to Boulder City, picked up Capriotti's for dinner, and headed out to Lake Mead. We rode along the shoreline road and scoped out a different launch for the boat next time, stopped at a scenic overlook, scoped out secluded beaches to park the boat at some time, then continued on around to the entrance near Lake Las Vegas. The weather was beautiful and we were riding before and during the sunset which was awesome because we had an unobstructed view. The sun was hiding behind an odd-shaped cloud, illuminating behind it at one point. I wish I had my camera. Well, other than on my Blackberry like these pics Sheridan took of us before we left! We hung out at Lake Las Vegas for a while, watched a concert on the green there. It was a Johnny Cash tribute. Not a fan, but it was relaxing and enjoyable, especially when they put on normal music when the band went on break. :-) We stopped for a Target registry scope out, ran into friends with their 9mo twin babies, then headed home. It was great fun!

With Saturdays being so busy and Sunday set aside for church and Sabbath day, it doesn't leave a lot of time to ride as a couple, but Lloyd's been driving his baby every day to work so I'm good. It was fun, I had little or no nerves about the ride, and most of all DH was very happy I went with him and that made me happy. I have to admit it is really fun and I noticed that strangers spoke to us that I don't think otherwise would have so that was nice!Before Our Maiden Voyage Together

Vanessa's Piano Recital

Vanessa had her piano recital last night. I took this on my Blackberry so the sound quality isn't the best since we were a distance away so the volume has to be way up and there are still spots it's hard to hear. She's very good. I can brag because she's not my DIRECT daughter. ;) We enjoy her playing so much. It's so nice to have her music in our home. She got an "Honors" designation at the recent Junior Festival which is a very high honor.

Too long since an update

We have had so much going on that I haven't had time to update! While others are winding down their school year, we're stuck on Track 1 (sore subject!) so while we're glad the pressures of sports seasons are taking a break for a little bit, we're still hanging in there with the whole school thing, though SUMMER!!!! is very much on our minds!

We recently bought a new-to-us boat.
It's several feet longer and wider than our previous boat and that apparently makes all the difference. We were able to launch in Lake Mead instead of going to Lake Mojave on the Arizona side and we were able to take it out Saturday after TWO soccer tournament games of Philip's since it's much closer to launch from Boulder city. The kids brought 3 friends and I had the biggest blast towing the kids behind the boat. I laughed so hard the back of my head hurt so much. I loved that all the kids were daredevils and a lot of fun. Now I can't wait even more to go on our vacation this summer because we can bring this along.

The twins also had their first piano recital ever on Friday. They just started lessons a few months ago after a 6-week session through the rec center last year. They both played much faster than they normally would and made a few mistakes in there. Neither thought they were playing fast, though, you know how that goes.



Here's an update on Lloyd's baby. This was taken once it came home, but before he restored the original Yamaha V-STAR "decals" on it. And, this was taken on my Blackberry so doesn't do the beauty justice. :-) The twins have gotten rides on it now that I got my helmet since that fits them, too. I made them wear my jacket, too, just in case.
Vanessa's almost done with middle school. This is the last week of school. She went to her first ever middle school dance a few weeks ago and these are from the pics I took of her. I'm not a photographer AT ALL and Lloyd had to be a in class that night so I was glad they turned out halfway decent.
Going back a little bit to April, we went to Universal Studios over Spring Break. The kids really loved this vampire. We have a family picture on Vanessa's camera I still need to get, but here's a peak at him as well as "Wisteria Lane" (Desperate Housewives).

His girlfriend looks mad, huh? :-)
Philip wasn't very cooperative letting me take his pics as you can see ...
But, he was probably too preoccupied here to dodge the camera: Vanessa did so much of this ... ... that she got special mention from the TRAM DRIVER! (she's got a little device in her hands in case you are wondering what she's doing ..... -- teens!).

We visited the Griffith Park Observatory and saw the planetarium show. It was very relaxing and nice, but maybe a little too animation-ish for my tastes. I still remember the planetarium in Golden Gate park, but maybe they've changed over to this high tech fancy way of doing planetarium shows, too.
We were also able to have breakfast with my daughter and her husband and then walk over to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and have the privilege of seeing the various freaks out there like this one. :::shudder:::

Now for the best part of the trip ... We got to have Togo's! The kids and Lloyd had it for the first time and now they're hooked. So whenever we go to California, we have to look them up!

My husband's new child

My husband, Lloyd, is expecting a new child. I will help raise and guide it, but this one is my husband's.

This is not the actual child, it hasn't been born yet, we expect that in the next day or two. For now, we'll show a picture of someone else's child (Lloyd's child isn't as studded up), but the coloring is right.

New great nephew was born

Well, he may be great in more than one way, but this is my nephew's son, making it my great nephew. He was due on 5/13, but decided to arrive on 4/18 -- the same birthday as his Daddy and Grandma (Dad's mom). Pretty amazing -- 3 generations in a row! This is my nephew that was trouble for a while. I used to want to smack him for pulling dumb, I mean REALLY dumb stuff. Then he turned his life around and met his truly better half. They have a DD that's 2 and now a new son. I'm pretty proud of them all!

Baby Nolan is in the NICU, born with fluid deep in his lungs, but is apparently doing very well so we will keep him in our thoughts.

Ooh, a giveaway!

I found this blog on a blog on a blog a while back and just love the way this person writes -- The Meanest Mom. She's doing a Mother's Day giveaway on her blog with interesting things that are interesting even if they are NOT being given away! Click here to read about it.

Piano is for Girls!

That's what Philip says. He really resisted taking lessons and about a year ago, we said piano lessons are as required as going to school is and if he didn't do them, he couldn't play sports (Philip? NOT play sports? IMPOSSIBLE!). I'll skip the part where I pulled over on the road on the way to Little League sign ups to make him decide. :-) He got a reprieve after the rec center piano lessons I signed him up for for lack of knowing a private teacher fell through after one session because of scheduling. But, we found a new private teacher this year that they love and lo and behold, he's doing very well with his piano lessons and every time his teacher gives him something new to play, he just picks up on it right away. Granted, he's still a beginning student so maybe it's always easy to pick things up, but his teacher made a point of commenting to me how he is very good and seems to have a natural talent. He's so funny. I actually taped his twin sister playing "Love at Home" and him sitting on the bench next to her singing. Hehe! He would have NEVER done it if he knew I was taping .... I love that little boy. Sheridan goes first for her lesson because then I pick her up and get her home for our soccer carpool pick up and Philip was playing with neighbors during Sheridan's lesson so before he went back into the piano teacher's house, he had to come all away around the car to give his Mama a kiss. I think often of the things I need to teach this very boy boy so he'll be a good husband and father some day and am mindful daily of his good heart at least with regard to his Mom. The way he and his sister fight, if I didn't know this side of him, I would seriously wonder! After having mouthy girls (shhh), it's nice to have the more even keel relationship with my son. He's feisty and stubborn, but just isn't given to mouthing off to me for the sake of drama, having the last word, etc. He was my tough one when he was younger, the bigger cryer, etc. so it's nice to have this payoff and I'm really enjoying seeing him accomplish things he's involved in.

And, he thinks things like this are hysterically funny. We saw this person on the freeway just ahead of this before we got off at our exit. They did, too. The kids insisted I take a picture so I caught up and snapped this picture. And, yes, I was driving.Female Motorcyclist Rides with Winnie the Pooh Backpack

NYU It is!

Well, NYU it is! Trisha ended up with the AnBryce scholarship and is thrilled about that and I think it is actually the best choice. The AnBryce scholarship not only covers her tuition for 3 years, but it's a program of mentoring. It's given to students who "have overcome significant economic hardship."

Anyway, I'm very thrilled for her and while I didn't see this coming, she hasn't talked much about NYU previously (she applied to many schools and was accepted to many so we'd talked about other ones, but this one only maybe briefly), she shared with me so thoughts she'd held close to the vest so I know this was the right fit for her and am so happy for her.

It's a long ways from "home", but Trisha has also always had a yearning for NYC. She went to a summer program once while in high school and tried to go to NY for her undergrad and I just couldn't see her being that far from home (we lived in No Cal at the time). So this really does feel like the right place for her. The AnBryce scholarship is so awesome, too, it almost seems like the BEST part of going to NYU!

Bone Marrow Donation

I did it.

Thanks to the connection in the blogosphere, something that's been on my mind many times in the past finally became a reality.

I've always had thoughts of being a bone marrow donor, but having had chronic pain (c-spine and various random arthritis spots), I couldn't bear the thought of doing something that would mess with my hip area, but the random spots of pain have lessened in frequency. I tried to look into being a donor a few years ago, I can't recall what site I went to for info, but there wasn't a center that serviced the Las Vegas area so that was that.

But, in reading blogs recently, there was one with a link to the National Marrow Donor Program and you don't have to be near a center, they send a kit to you to return back with a mouth swab. So, I did it. The cost is $52 if you're not part of a screening drive that has a sponsor like you often see in communities. I didn't want to wait for that.

Eagle of the Month

On Friday, Philip (4th grade) received the Eagle of the Month award at school. The theme for this month was "courage" and each teacher can nominate a child. The P.E. teacher nominated Philip for being "always respectful" to his classmates and for giving 100% all the time. I think the fact Philip's a tenacious athlete and is one of only apparently a few kids that the PE teacher gives A's to had something to do with it, but we'll take it! Sheridan got Eagle of the Month from her 4th grade teacher the first month of school, but I wasn't blogging then so giving her equal time now. :-)

Happy Birthday, Trisha!

Make your own Glitter Graphics

Today is Trisha's birthday. Happy birthday, Trisha! Should be a GREAT year!

Frozen Yogurt Bar -- YUM!

So there's a frozen yogurt bar right down the hill from us and I had no idea it was there! DH and I went on a date tonight to Johnny Mac's then off to do some shopping, then went to go to Coldstone on the way home and it was CLOSED! That's what we get for never frequenting the place in the 2 years we've lived in this home! So we went to head down to a smoothie place and ran into this frozen yogurt bar. This isn't it (pic below), but similar set up. ~12 flavors of yogurt, serve yourself, pay by the ounce. I got banana, raspberry, cake batter, and pistachio. Oh.my.gosh -- that place is going to get hit up often by this family!

Harvard Student Speaks on Mormonism

This was interesting to me both because I'm a Mormon (who knew?!) and my daughter is most likely going to be attending Harvard Law school in the fall. This Harvard junior and Mormon did a great job answering questions at a "day of faith" event with journalist Sally Quin.

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Silent Majority Gets Chance to Speak Out

If you feel like part of the silent majority or even just part of the silent, here's your chance to let your opinions be known about your disagreement with the size of our government and the burden it's placed on individuals.

Information on Tea Party revolts in Nevada can be found here.

Information on Tea Party revolts in other states can be found here.

And, information on the Tea Party movement can be found here and here.

Did I do that??

Not really a laughing matter at all, but this made me giggle anyway. I knew Obama reminded me of someone and now I realize who. (and this part I'm quite serious about!)

Lloyd is Going to be a Grandpa

So Lloyd's already been a wonderful kind and patient grandfather, but really he's been a "step" grandfather (ugh, labels). So now he's going to be a, hmm, "real" grandfather? "Biological" grandfather? His daughter stopped by last night at the end of his teenager daughter's weekend time with us to let him know. Lloyd already knew. He just knew. He's had issues with post traumatic post-post-post-divorce conflicts making the kids choose sides and that sort of thing (those that know us know the sordid details, won't rehash here), so it was a little awkward for him and his ex looked on from steps away (no privacy!), but he was glad his daughter came out to tell him and he was very happy for her. He's been dreading this day a little because he figures it'll be the source for more conflicts and tug of war, but that all went out of his head while he was talking to his daughter (then resurfaced later, of course -- LOL). So please keep fingers and toes crossed that all turns out well on all fronts. His daughter looked very good, though, hasn't had a day of sickness (is already a few months along) so lucky her!

Lloyd was born to be a grandpa. He tells the corniest jokes and stories and has no end of them to tell. He still believes in the value of hard work, sweat equity, and knowing how to be handy, fix things, and do the things men used to do before they got all wimpy. Just what the young generation needs to be grounded in the "olden" days!

Planning Spring Break

I am the vacation planner. And, I like to go places. So, I am frequently planning or planning to plan a trip. The twins (almost 10) are the roadblocks. They like to :::cough cough::: express their opinions -- in such a way it's gotten to the point we don't even like to tell them where we're going or what we're doing because that just prolongs the torture. Isn't that really dumb? LOL. Here we are building family memories and taking them places to fun (!) things and it's become a dreaded chore. So the bright idea came to me to give the kids (the almost 10 year old twins and almost 14yo) several options for a spring break vacation. Now, a point they can't appreciate, but I sure do is that originally I thought we'd be doing our backyard putting in during that time, but we seem to be on track to get that done so we don't need to work the whole week. But, why should they care about that? Putting the back yard in isn't their problem in the first place. ;-)

So I had the options, nothing exotic, we're driving, and I passed sheets with options out during dinner after the masses were mostly fed and the discussion started. Luckily, there was something each one liked so it was just a matter of picking the one that was best. I was a little crafty in how I did the options, but miracle of miracles ... I think it may have worked. So now I get to focus in the coming weeks on picking out the hotel, something I often have to wait to do because I'm not sure if there's going to be a mutiny and the plans will have to be cancelled.

Gee, I wonder if our stake will be holding another parenting class series any time soon. :::wink:::

Done and Done!

Taxes. Check.

Submissions for Trisha's law school scholarship even-though-"child"-is-now-a-full-grown-adult-and-MARRIED. Check.

YAY! What a relief to have these monkeys off my back and it's still February!

And amazingly, I'm not sure how it happened, but we are getting a refund. A good-sized one. I had some unexpected things last yaer and thought I was really in for it, but I was wrong. WHEW!!! Big sigh of relief there.

Oh, we are also getting the backyard done. Finally. Have only had a patio and dirt and a pool during the summer. So the race is on to get everything in before the hot weather hits. Had trees/plants put in this month. Part of yard pictured here with our human sprinkler.


And, in a totally unrelated note, we had our Cub Scout Blue & Gold dinner last night (Lloyd and I are Cubmasters -- try not to laugh). The Cub Scouts were each supposed to make a cake celebrating Scouts with their parents. Now, I don't know how much the boy actually did on this cake, *I* couldn't even come close to something so nice, but it was awesome and won! (Don't know if you can see this, but those are sleeping bags with pillows with a campfire in the middle and pine trees and "rocks".)

Positive Attitude

A customer of mine sent me this email that just made me giggle.
HOW TO START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK,
This Really Works!

1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it 'Barack Obama'.
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you: 'Do you really want to get rid of 'Barack Obama?'
6. Firmly Click 'Yes.'
7. Feel better...

GOOD! - Tomorrow we'll do Nancy Pelosi, then Harry Reid

Well, it's official. Trisha was accepted into Harvard. Even if she decides to go elsewhere, that's just awesome and I'm so proud of her for following through on going to law school after deciding a master's degree wasn't the end of the road for her. She may choose to go elsewhere based on other factors, but no matter what, we're proud of her and she must be walking on cloud 9!

Everyone can use a lawyer in the family!

I feel impressed to say a few words about my oldest daughter, Trisha. Trisha's been out of the home mostly for many years now, but she's about to embark on something very exciting soon as she has applied to law schools and will soon be choosing one and off to her new adventure next fall.

But, first to go back in time. Trisha was always an amazing kid, but I didn't have anything to compare it with her being my first so didn't really realize it. Before my second daughter was born, Trisha knew her ABCs (and could sing them) and her address and phone number. She was *this.close* to being potty trained, but the demands of a 2nd child -- when Trisha was 16.5 months old -- set that back. She ended up achieving that milestone when she was 20 months old (and that was day, night, everything!). When Trisha was 8, we let her fly across country from the Bay Area -- alone -- to visit my sister in DC. She even had a change of planes. What on earth were we thinking? None of my other kids could have ever done that. The twins will be 10 in a few months and I still can't envision the day I would think they are ready to do that and that's with them having each other, too! That's just how advanced Trisha was in some things (though her learning to drive was a whole other story -- she'd get mad if I shared that here so I won't ....)

We moved around a little during some of the critical years, but Trisha seemed to weather it OK after all. We moved from the Bay Area a few weeks into her freshman year in high school after a sudden military base closure happened (the base had been on a closure list then removed and then suddenly put back on the list with a closure within months). Just before moving, Trisha and her sister were involved in a very tragic auto accident that they were both treated and released for relatively minor injuries the same day, but 3 other occupants (friends) of the car died. We were transferred to the Seattle area where Trisha went back to middle school 9th grade and then on to high school again the next year for 10th grade. After a few months of 10th grade, military retirement was upon us and I was offered a job at a start up back in the Bay Area so the kids settled back into schools there. So just a little background on the curveballs fielded during this time. Trisha also went on Teen Jeopardy her senior year of high school which was a lot of fun. Other parents were all stressed at how their kids would do and I was just having fun letting her experience it all. It was a little sad how hard some parents were on their kids and some of these kids were sent to the best schools, boarding schools, etc. Anyway, 3 girls ended up as finalists and Trisha came in 2nd overall, winning nearly $18K in cash. Not bad!
Trisha applied to 7 colleges in her senior year. She had dreams of becoming a sports agent and would have really liked to go to school on the east coast, but I couldn't see that happening financially, but she went ahead and applied to some east coast schools anyway and was accepted to all 7 colleges she applied to, but ultimately we said she had to stay out west and she ended up at UCLA. Not too long after and while the twins were infants, I went through a divorce. Pretty bad timing for my freshman off to college and all alone! I'm sure that had to have been hard for her and after 2 years at school, she was struggling and I couldn't help financially at that point and we felt it would be best for her to come home. So she did. For a year. Then felt she was ready to go back away to school, but decided to go to ASU. After a year there, her heart was really set on UCLA so she returned there, got her degree, then went on and got a master's degree, as well.

Trisha got married in 2007 and was now a working professional, but she had always really wanted to go to law school and decided she should go for it. She prepared for and took the LSAT and apparently was pretty unphased with the testing process itself (that's a big score right there not being tied up in knots!) and got a terrific score, but decided to retake it to see if she could increase it just a little to give her a more sure chance of getting into a top tier school. The result? She did it. She scored in the 98th percentile with a score of 171.

So now the waiting game begins to see where she is accepted. She's gotten several acceptances already and has some scholarship opportunities in the works. Her top school she's been accepted to so far is UC Berkeley and University of Michigan (I think they are both around #4 & #5). She has also been contacted for an interview with Harvard. So it's a very exciting time, one Trisha probably didn't think she'd be into a few years ago, but by this time next year she'll be deep into her studies and probably at a very cold place. Between Berkeley and Michigan, her choice is Michigan, but not because of the weather!!!! That would be a hard adjustment. But, it's only for 3 years.

So I'm very proud of Trisha for pursuing her dream and channeling the gifts she was given (she must have a photographic memory -- don't ever play Trivial Pursuit if you expect to win or debate her on sports stats and whatnot -- you will not win!). It will be very interesting to see what comes and will be a wonderful example to the twins.

And, hey, everyone can use a lawyer in the family, right?

Obama's First Decisions

Gee, I hate to talk about Obama stuff two days in a row, but what can I say ... Obama's just had his first full day on the job and this is what's come about thus far:

Obama's Draft Order Calls for Closing Gitmo in One Year, Suspending Military Tribunals
President Obama wants to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within the year and could put an end to the military tribunals after a four-month review, according to a draft executive order.

A judge has already granted Obama's request to suspend the war crimes trial of a young Canadian for 120 days. Army Col. Stephen Henley issued the ruling Wednesday after a brief hearing at the Guantanamo base.

Obama to Lift Ban on Funding for Groups Providing Abortions Overseas
President Obama will continue the back-and-forth of presidents before him by using the Roe v. Wade anniversary to allow non-governmental organizations working abroad to use U.S. funding to give counseling on or provide abortions.

President Obama will issue an executive order on Thursday reversing the Bush administration policy that bans the use of federal dollars by non-govermental organizations that discuss or provide abortions outside of the United States.

Obama will sign the executive order on the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.

Then there's his spokesperson's word last week that Obama will end the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military. Should be loads of fun for service members in close living and bathroom quarters.


His inauguration speech was a little depressing. Sounded like he was more intent on positioning himself AGAINST anything Bush stood for for the past 8 years. Wanted to make sure our enemies know we're still their "fwends". I mean, was it really necessary to say, in his inauguration speech, "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." Which "Muslim world" is he speaking to? The terrorists? Or the rest of the Muslim world? Because there's no "new way forward" with the terrorists and the rest of the Muslim world wasn't an issue in the first place, certainly nothing that should have warranted top billing ie. been in his inauguration speech. What a dork.

He should have taken a page out of Ronald Reagan's inauguration speech over 20 years ago. It all still applies today and would have more a completely compelling speech. In fact, he should have just repeated the whole darn speech. But, no, he's still playing the hate and negativity card and the oh-so-popular liberal "always diss America first" card.

I am really leaving myself open to what good Obama can do. Even in spite of and maybe even especially because the most despondent and negative people about America's future I know were Obama supporters and I don't carry the same baggage they do and count myself lucky that I have inner peace. But, so far his first actions in office aren't any kind of change I can believe in. I'm not black nor have I made a lifetime of dissing blacks or other minorities so I can't even revel in the new unity that some have found for themselves. I wasn't dis-unified in the first place. Oh well, we will wait and see, but could someone send Obama some tapes from Ronald Reagan. He could sure use them!

And, one last thought ... Obama said:

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

The question I ask today is why is the federal government in the middle of any of these subjects in the FIRST place?

Oh yes, it IS an important day!

I realize an historic inauguration is about to take place, but I haven't seen or heard of change *I* can believe in ...

Until now ... Lloyd and I have decided to paint our front door red! Because the builder already used 4 paint colors (none of them red), we've been debating how to squeeze in a red door without taking on reducing the other paint colors to 3 (I'm not interested in repainting a 2-year old house already!), but we think we have it figured out. Now we just have to find a red shade to go with our existing colors.

House just before we moved in

A red door (not necessarily the right red)

Our door that's going to be sporting a new paint job soon (with 2 very cute 3rd graders in front of it last year)

If that's not enough to have our mind taken up with change we can believe in, we bought an ironing board cabinet thing that goes into the wall. Lloyd's been wanting one for a very long time -- for me, of course -- and we finally used a Lowe's gift certificate from my mom.



So now we'll have change we can believe in. Whew!

Most Amazingly Wrong Quote of the Day

"... the American government is the greatest force for good in the history of mankind."
~ Sen. Harry Reid, "The Good Fight", 2008

See, this is so odd to me since Senator Reid and I are from the same faith (and he's got a 40-year head start on me), the one that teaches us how families are the building blocks of society, divine institutions, and how much power we have to do good and if not in just our family units, then in our church ward families and in our communities. And, is it too not PC to recognize that the gospel, the true love of Christ is really THE greatest force for good in the history of mankind?!

But, somehow Sen. Reid has gained the wisdom that the American GOVERNMENT is the greatest force for good in the HISTORY of mankind .... Um, OK.

Funny how cartoons like this ring with so much truth, though ....



I also think the Senator lost sight long ago of the roots of American government and the good it did and how government has turned into something now our founding fathers would not recognize as being fruits of their sacrificial labors. Sen. Reid must be equating big, bloated, and usurping individual and states' rights as "the greatest force". Oh, OK, then on that note I would agree with him.

P.S. If you're wondering how I came across this quote, I'm currently reading "The Good Fight". It was a gift from a family member who figured since he was from NV and is Mormon and we like politics, that we'd like this book. Um ... OK so reading it and trying to remember that he can't feel it when I slam the book closed from time to time ... :-) (just kidding -- he does have an interesting life story)

"Heavenly Father said we shouldn't work on Sunday"

This past weekend, Lloyd worked. He signs up to work typically 2 Saturdays a month and these days doing MRI that means 8-2. Except this Saturday he agreed to have them add on a stat case at the start of the day and the last appointment wasn't UNTIL 2 so he actually worked 7-3. The kids had a primary meet-the-teachers breakfast in the morning and then after that I wanted to take them on a bike ride, but Sheridan's bike had a flat so we determined to do something later when Dad got home and stay home and get some things done in the meantime.

I did the wash, worked on figuring out how to remove ads from our Beyond TV recordings, and straightened up the downstairs. Then I sat down for a while, but couldn't ignore the massive tree covered in decorations calling out to me from the living room so resolved to get that done once and for all. In the mean time, the kids had total leisure. Philip seemed oblivious of what I was doing at all and Sheridan peeked in once and quickly made herself scarce. I had a choice of getting the work done (because I really really did not want to do that at all, let alone by myself) or playing taskmaster and I opted to get something accomplished.

Later the kids went back and forth to a friend's around the corner and when Dad came home we loaded the twins and the 3 friends (siblings) up to go to the park for the 1 hour of daylight left and the day just got away from us so before I knew it it was Sunday and after arriving home from choir practice after 5PM, the reality of the kids having done nothing to help around the house, no chores, no putting away laundry -- NOTHING -- and facing a busy week with that start, I cracked the whip.

I really wanted the kids to see how much they could do in 15 minutes. I hadn't given them a time limit, just the things I wanted them to do and it should have only taken about that long, but Lloyd threw in a few things (he took the cleaning part very seriously) and that was after they stalled complaining they had to do anything at all. Sheridan brought out the big guns that "Heavenly Father said we shouldn't work on Sunday" so I let her know that he also said "Honor your mother and father" and if she'd been doing that, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

It's not like we're perfect parents (no one would accuse us of that!) or bad, either. We all have our faults so if you want to call it that, my fault this weekend was "making my kids work" on Sunday. Of course, they have their own free agency to choose not to accept chore money for it on pay day. We have been reading the Book of Mormon together as a family and are in the process of setting goals together as a family for this year. We are trying.

But, I could not bear the thought of going into a week in disarray even if it meant breaking the complete and total peace that is our home on the Sabbath Day (yes, I'm kidding -- I have kids, remember?!). The Sabbath Day is a principle I had to master when I joined the church because the entire weekend had previously been open for errand running and going out to eat, things that are hard to get done when you work M-F, but setting aside the Sabbath really does help one put their life in order. Now that I am responsible for other beings to understand that concept and DO it, it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back, but I think the kids learned a lesson about working on Saturday and preserving the Sabbath day. We'll see.

I wear my wife's eyeglasses because she wants me to see things her way

“I wear my wife's eyeglasses because she wants me to see things her way.” ~Jayson Feinburg

So maybe some day Philip will have some fun with it and use this Jayson Feinburg saying. For now -- it's touch and go. Glasses arrived today, picked them up this evening. Philip was good at the optometrist. We could tell he was happy to see better. Going out to the car afterward, he exclaimed how he could see some signs down across the street. On the short drive home he decided the glasses were giving him a headache. Or maybe it was the Nintendo DS he was playing (no, it COULDN'T be THAT!). So he's gone back to saying he doesn't like them and was definitely not up for posing for pics. Not sure if it's because of the glasses. Or having to put down the DS for a minute to take them.

So these are a few I got. He thought the sad face was warranted, apparently.

But, then did agree to do me a big favor and gave a wan smile.

I think he's adorable. And, his taste in glasses is amazing. (And they are titanium so can't break no matter how they're twisted so Mom likes that!).

He was disappointed to hear I'm going to be looking for sport goggles for him. He thought that would be an excuse not to wear them. Hehe, I love that little guy!

First glasses, now braces! What next??

Philip (9.5yo) got a referral from school for failing the vision screening so over the Christmas break, we took him to the optometrist. Leading up to it, we heard no end of declarations how he was NOT going to wear glasses. We figured it would be a big battle getting to the appointment. Thankfully, it was not. The optometrist was really good with him. I clued him into Philip's state of mind on this. He told us how anyone that's told they do NOT need glasses tries to talk him into finding a way that they DO need glasses. Seems to be the rage to wear glasses. Somehow Philip ended up doing just fine which is good because he DOES need glasses. We let him pick them out right there even though I know of a good online site to buy them for much much less on .... I figured we better just keep going with the flow. Anyway, the glasses aren't in yet, but Philip picked a very stylish pair. I'll share a pic when he gets them!

So yesterday I had the twins to an orthodontic consult appointment. Getting ready to leave the house, Philip said, "First glasses, now braces! What next??" LOL. He has repeatedly told us how either will ruin his life. My bank account is happy to report that they DO need braces, but not for another few years still. :-)

Annual Pilgrimage

I have been a member of the church for 7 years now. We have developed a tradition since of going to Salt Lake over New Year's each year. Since my husband alternates when he has his kids (now only 1 of them left under 18), he's had to do some trading around so they can join us, but we've managed to keep up the tradition so far and the 5 of us made it this year again. I enjoy living in the "mission field" as they say, but sometimes just want to be in the land where so much sacrifice was made, where I can feel the spirit so strongly, even just walking around on the grounds of Temple Square. As an adult convert to the church, I really hunger sometimes to be fed of the things I didn't have in my life until such a late (ha!) date.



We had hoped to see Marvin Goldstein play piano, but he had apparently been hurt in a car crash so had a sub to play for the soprano, Karen Larsen. The music was all very good even though the kids asked after every song, "Can we go now?" It wasn't nearly as cold as last year -- THANK GOODNESS!! I do not like the cold, but it's a necessary evil if the kids are going to play in the snow.





We also took in Bedtime Stories. We went to the Provo mall off the I-15 to enjoy the larger theaters they have there than we have in Vegas. Silly thing, I know, but I miss the large movie theaters like we used to have in CA so thought it would be fun to see the movie there. The movie was good, but I don't know that I'd recommend rushing out to see it. This one can wait for DVD.

We also decided to try to find President Hinckley's gravesite on the way back from sledding. We didn't tell the kids because we thought they would complain. They really wanted to get back to the hotel and swim or get on with whatever else they thought was important. But, I really wanted to see his gravesite and Lloyd did, too, so I fought with my Palm Treo (I really need a new phone!) and got the driving directions that we managed to mangle, but we found the cemetery and just drove in and really went right to it, just knowing that it was on a hill. I really miss President Hinckley.

I hope I can keep this blog up. Life is so busy these days, just when I think I maybe kinda sorta am on top of things, another ball gets thrown in to juggle so it's a risk thinking I can keep this up, but I'll try! And, thanks to Kathy for asking about my blog again today ... I figure even if everyone else has given up on my blog, she still had hope!

OK, I'm back (post election stress on hold for now)

I don't know what happened ... I had so much to say, but nothing I wanted to commit to this blog! This election was just the weirdest thing. "My" candidate didn't make it anywhere close to the party's nomination, I wasn't sure what I'd do in November, then I wanted to fight like heck for the other party's candidate NOT to win ... Oh well, 2009 is going to be an interesting year. In reality, I didn't really have a candidate. The one I thought I liked the most would not have been "small government" enough for me and the one that touted small government ... well, he didn't have the personality or charisma to do what he said he would. I guess it serves us right we are where we are now, for being too complacent for too long. I would have been happy with "my" candidate, though, I suppose, but then the Republican party can't seem to quit slicing and dicing their own so good luck to the next good man or woman that steps forward. I'm sure we'll make mincemeat of them as a party, too.

So that's an explanation for my absence from sharing thoughts. Now on to more fun stuff!