Thanksgiving 2008

We celebrated Turkey Day in Arizona with Russ' brother, his family, Randy and Daryl. All the kids were thrilled to spend time together and it was a pleasant getaway at just the right time of year.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese,



witnessed the baby blessing of our newest darling niece,



ate lots of good food,


made some good memories with Grandpa,



and Grandma,


and went to the Phoenix zoo.



I’m thankful for so many good things. This year I’m going to name 2,008 things that make life wonderful.

2,008. Cars - We can go anywhere we want, anytime we want!

2,007. Antibiotics: Have you had strep lately? These things are AMAZING!

2,006. Music: This universal language touches our souls. It can soothe us, inspire us and bring back sweet memories.

2,005. Red bell peppers - sweet, crunchy and delicious!

2,004. Dreyer’s Thin Mint Cookie ice cream. Move over cookies-n-cream, I have a new favorite.

2,003. Bubble Baths - What a luxury! Hot water on demand in a porcelain tub, we have it so good!

2,002. Technology: laptops, cellphones, digital cameras, internet, ipods and so many ways to store information.

2,001. Toothbrushes.

2,000. Spring - The annual reawakening we can count on.

1999. Children’s laughter.

1998. Children sleeping.

1997. Mountains with trails, or even without.

1996. Grandma’s caramel brownies.

1995. Washing Machines: After living in a country where most people wash their clothes by hand I vowed never to complain about laundry. If I have, I officially take it back.

1994. Public Libraries

1993. Good lotion

1992. The sun. We are so dependent on this fiery ball that gives life to everything. It is perfect!

1991. Games! Board games, card games, lawn games, mind games - the fun never ends!

1990. Cilantro - Yum, this could be the world's greatest plant.

1989. Kind people, especially kind and thoughtful strangers.

1988. Fingernail clippers, so simple and yet so nice.

1987. Good humor and belly laughing

1986. Modern conveniences that are not ubiquitous worldwide; ovens, refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers. We have so much more time and freedom without making daily visits to the market and going to cut firewood. Instead we can buy in bulk, zap our food, store it, freeze it and then stack the dishes in a nice machine for later automatic cleaning.

Just kidding. I won’t actually name 2,008. (You're welcome.)

On our way home we went to the Grand Canyon. We had a grand time trying to get our kids to be quiet and settled in at the lodge and then Mason woke up at 1:00 am and started crying at maximum volume. We tried all our tricks, but he wasn't going to be quiet. Surely he woke the poor souls that were unfortunate enough to get the room next to ours. Russ took Mason out to the van and spent two hours with the engine running off and on to keep them warm. I laid in bed with my regular clothes on, coat on and shoes on my feet ready to take my shift and worried about how Russ and Mason were doing. It was a long night. Parenthood non-stop fun!

We went to breakfast the next morning with tourists from all over the world. Russians, Japanese, Indians, Europeans, and guess who everyone stared at? I mean really stared at. Us! I've lived in the little Utah County bubble for so long that I forget we are an oddity. Four children, under the age of seven, most of the other visitors didn't even have children, let alone three or more. Or maybe my zipper was down. You never know.

We then walked out to the rim of the canyon. The walk became a hike because we were walking parallel to the rim and didn't know it. (Ha ha! Those shuttle buses are for people without four kids.) We finally arrived and found a good location to take a family picture. I asked a woman if she could take our picture, she suggested that her husband do it since he is a good photographer. So a nice tall man took our picture. He carefully lined us up to make sure that no one was standing in another's shadow, and then insisted that he get one of Russ and I together because he knows that sometimes it gets to be all about the kids. He was so kind and asked us about where we were from and if we are done having kids, and he seemed so familiar.

Here we are...

I told him that and he said, "Well, I am an actor. I'm Michael Gross you might know me from Family Ties." Then it clicked and suddenly he didn't seem like an actor at all, I felt like I was meeting Steven Keating. I don't know if he was acting all those years, I think he was just being himself.


So we took a picture of him...

That evening we drove home and saw a beautiful sunset...

and we gave thanks.

He's Walking!

Here's a short video of him just starting out....

Step-by-Step Instructions for Family Pictures.

1. Be stubborn and insist that your family portrait must be taken outdoors.

2. Wait until the last warm day of the year to do it.

3. Scramble to find clothing and shoes to coordinate family.

4. Realize that you still need to go shopping.

5. The night before pictures explain plan to patient husband.

6. The next morning the patient husband must leave for work at 6:00 a.m.

7. Rush through morning routine without husband and miss him.

8. Don't forget that it is also picture day for the kids at school.

9. Comb daughter's hair but don't do anything fancy.

10. Complain about moms that do fancy things with their daughter's hair.

11. Bathe baby and preschooler.

12. Curl preschooler's hair and feel good about being a mom that did something fancy with your daughter's hair.

13. Drop off preschooler - late - but with curls.

14. Take baby and scout out location for family photo.

15. Go to the mall to find missing items.

16. Make last-second-desperate-purchases.

17. Thank the kind lady that tells you your son is missing one of his shoes.

18. Retrace steps looking for shoe. Don't actually find the shoe.

19. Leave immediately to pick-up kindergartner.

20. Clean-up mess in kitchen, make lunch, then regret bathing baby before his lunch.


21. Bathe baby again.

22. Pick-up preschooler from play group.

23. Be happy that preschooler's tantrum ends with her stomping off to her bed where she takes a much needed nap.

24. Don't be surprised by 2nd grader that REALLY doesn't want to take a family picture.

25. Help bathe kindergartner and get out girl's clothes and shoes.

26. Threaten 2nd grader. Tell him he can either cooperate and get ready or be grounded for the remainder of the week.

27. Listen to preschooler tell you she just put a very large and strange hole in her tights.

28. Be grateful you purchased two pairs of tights earlier that day.

29. Rush to meeting place with nice brother that has agreed to serve as photographer.

30. Pass tissue back to kindergartner that suddenly has a cracked and bleeding lip.

31. Pass another tissue, because it's really bleeding!

32. Pay for unexpected "entrance fee" at designated location.

33. Park in front of locked gate that the attendant assured you would be unlocked.

34. Fix preschooler's hair that is no longer curly and must in some way be restrained.

35. Do your best to keep kids corralled and baby smiling.

36. Wonder why you did not insist that all kids use the bathroom before going to a location without bathrooms.

37. Wipe baby's runny nose between every four pictures.

38. Smile.

39. Keep smiling.

40. Remind children of bribes you have promised them for smiling.

41. Try to force kids to smile.

42. Remember that you are outnumbered.

43. Concede that you are not above begging.

44. Recognize when the baby has reached his limit.


45. Suggest turning him upside down because he likes that.



46. Feel good about being right and feel foolish about thinking that it would last longer that .23 seconds.

47. Surrender!

48. Finally, be thankful you got anything worth keeping.

30!

Russ hit the big 3-0!


Isn't he great!

Happy Birthday Dear.....

Our little boy is a year old today! It may be a bit cliche, but I can not believe how fast the last 12 months have gone by! We've done out best to cherish every passing stage and milestone of his, our experience has taught us that babies don't stay babies long enough.

We celebrated with family and friends and had a memorable first birthday party!



Mason has a lot of personality and we have enjoyed becoming acquainted with his sense of humor, determination, energy, likes and dislikes. We have learned that Mason is playful and very comfortable being the center of attention, he relishes getting all of his siblings laughing at once. Mason is very vocal, he combines his strong will with his strong lungs and communicates what he wants emphatically. He is an explorer, I can hardly engage him when we are in a new environment, he does all he can to get out of my arms and into whatever catches his eye. He discovered the phrase "What's that?" and uses it often. He's a dancer. Mason hears the music and does his own version of a tap dance. He likes to try new things. It doesn't matter what food is already on his plate, if he sees something new then he insists that he gets a taste of it. Mason gives great hugs and kisses. He is such a sweet boy and fills a void that we never knew was there!

We love you Mason!

Election Day 2008

I'm having a hard time concentrating today. I'm rather emotionally wrapped up in this election and I thought blogging might help me get this out of my system.

First, I think I owe an apology to some of my friends and family. Over the past 18 months I've sent a few unsolicited-politically-charged emails and more recently I've used facebook to express my opinions. These actions may have rubbed some people the wrong way and for that I am truly sorry. I recognize that this is a subject that many people are passionate about and I hope that in expressing my views I haven't been offensive.

Also, I hope that I haven't been too negative about our current situation. I want to express how much I love this country and I'm so grateful that we can disagree with each other and the government and work for our different causes. I have tremendous respect and appreciation for opposing viewpoints. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. Some have complained that this election has cost too much money and that it has all been a waste. I don't think so at all, freedom is priceless and worth every effort and penny.

(That being said, please stop reading here if you find opposition to Obama offensive.)

Secondly, I feel a need to explain myself. Almost two years ago word spread that Mitt Romney would be running for president. This made me very nervous, as a fellow Latter-day Saint I was very concerned about the mudslinging in politics and worried that it was going to come in my general direction. I started reading a lot about politics.

In the spring of 2007 I was pregnant and miserably sick during the first trimester. I read incessantly to distract me from the awful nausea. I learned a few things during that time, the first is that journalists have an agenda and by and large they are liberally minded. (I know, I'm a little slow on that one.) After pouring over articles daily I was appalled that so many writers would twist and contort things to fit to their liking. I knew that most Americans weren't reading political news for 8-10 hours a day like I was and they weren't getting a complete picture of the candidates, their positions, their records and the full context of all those variables. Instead America read headlines on MSNBC or Yahoo and heard sound bites on CNN that consistently leaned to the left and most assuredly reinforced the shortcomings of the GOP candidates, particularly the ones they felt would be most difficult to defeat.

After much deliberation I sided with Ron Paul. Even though he was never considered a top-tier candidate I agreed with everything on his platform and I felt passionate about promoting his campaign. For months I watched in disbelief as the media did everything possible to squelch his campaign. He was a threat to Republicans and Democrats because he had an entirely consistent record, no history of backscratching, he opposed the war and most importantly he defended the Constitution unfailingly. Those with power and money don't want a man in office that can't be bought or persuaded for their own special interests. His campaign was first ignored and then ridiculed.

I did what I could. I donated money, joined political forums, I put a sign in our yard, talked with friends and neighbors, I made phone calls, and sent emails. Unfortunately, it was like trying to dam a river with a toothpick. The power and the influence of the media is overwhelming. I'm sure it's great for Obama fans, it's probably a lot like setting up a sail and letting the wind carry the boat.

Here we are almost two years later, though it feels like decades, Romney is out, Clinton was trampled on, Huckabee is missing in action with Chuck Norris, and Ron Paul's campaign is a memory. Some will only remember Ron Paul in terms of a name spray-painted on a bed sheet, hanging from the overpass on the freeway. To others, like me, Ron Paul is a quiet hero that stood his ground in defending the Constitution - no matter what!

Who do we have left? McCain and Obama, two people I disagree with. I honestly can't support either of them, so I voted third party. It's depressing and frustrating. With Obama and McCain on the ballot I feel a deep sense of hopelessness.

I'm looking down Obama's path and I see a dead end. Socialism (I'm not trying to be offensive here, I'm just calling it what it is) demands taking liberty from the people and giving more control and power to the government. Many are fine with Obama having that control, but what about the presidents that follow? Could there be another Bush in our future that will have even more power and influence? Is socialism going to be limited to the banking and health care industries? What else will the government "have to" control?

Sometimes I wish I could get caught up in the hysteria. I would love to be in the middle of the excitement of dawning a new era, leaving all the negative behind and pioneering a new path. That would be refreshing and exhilarating. And at other times I wish I didn't care at all. Apathy seems like an easy and amiable course.

However, I do care and I am alarmed that at this moment America stands at the crossroads and appears ready to move towards bigger government with the "hope" that that will cure our problems. Obama recently called those who oppose his proposals "selfish." That's really hard for me to swallow. I've been called many things and some deservedly, but I know that I am not selfish. This is about more than just money, the price for his new government is our liberty. Liberty lost is never easily regained. Yes, Senator Obama, I am selfish with liberty. You can add it to the list of things stubborn Americans cling to.



I disagree with the campaign's promoted philosophy of "Yes we can!" because what follows is, "... vote for a man that will change our country." With the loss of liberty the power of the people is being handed to the government.

I believe that America's greatness lies in the hearts and minds of the people. Undoubtably we face challenges. The question lies in how we are going to address them. Are we going to have more government or less? Will we create a system of learned helplessness and a nanny-state or will we nurture self-reliance and personal accountability? We could embrace changing the country by ourselves. Why do we need the government to have greater control? Do we need more social programs to fight poverty? Is the government going to handle Universal Health care the same way they've mismanaged Social Security? Do we need the government to hand over alternative energy sources or can we innovate that ourselves? The government can not do this as well as the people can. Americans give more time and money than any nation on earth. We are industrious, creative and very capable. We have resources and we have people that care.

We will see presidents come and go in our lifetime. I hope that at election time will embrace sound principles that cherish freedom and liberty above all else. I hope that when we face problems we won't point a blaming finger towards Washington, rather we can look within ourselves for the solution. Working collectively, without coercion, we can care for ourselves, each other and the world.

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."
- George Washington