So I was at moms yesterday morning cleaning house. Dad woke up got a bite to eat and headed to the garage. It was a chilly morning. I peaked out in the garage as dad is settling in with a nice newspaper blanket in the recliner! To this day it still makes me laugh. Well maybe they are on to something because cody thinks its a good idea too!
First of all I forgot to mention, this is Stephen! :-)
Folks, elections are coming up in just a year. Believe it or not, your voice matters more now than ever before. I don't know how well our family does on keeping up on the news, but in case you've missed it, the US is about to go to war with Iran. The leading Republican nominees are pro war, pro torture, and anti-civil liberties.
Did you know that thanks to the patriot act you can now be arrested without charges, and detained for up to 31 days without charges being brought against you? You may even be tortured! Our civil liberties have been eroding over the last 6 years, while the Presidential powers have increased.
Nearly all major candidates for president plan to stay in Iraq for 10+ years in one form or another. Our national spending is out of control and our foreign policy is a mess. A war with Iran could very well mean a draft, and it would certainly mean thousands and thousands more deaths.
Ron Paul is the only anti-war candidate running for president. He is for returning civil liberties to the people, not increasing presidential powers. He is anti torture, and anti taxes. What he says makes sense, and he is gaining a lot of momentum in the polls and with the American people. Please watch some of the following video clips and do everything you can to support Ron Paul if you agree that our country is headed in the wrong direction:
www.ronpaul2008.com
One more thing, Ron Paul gets more donations from members of the military than any other candidate running for president. Maybe the best way to support the troops is to get them out harms way.
Last weekend Britten, Eric and I headed down to Southern Oregon for yet another adventure. This is actually a picture of us in the Oregon Caves (which are pretty spectaular if you've never been). The picture doesn't do the caves justice, but it's a good picture of me. We stayed in a tee-pee the first night and then camped under the stars the second night. I'm afraid it might have been our last camping trip for a little while. The rains started this week and who knows when they'll let up.
I was just organizing my pictures and I came across this one from the summer. Maybe you've driven past this shoe filled tree coming and going from Utah. Britten and I stopped to admire it for a short moment. Where did that boot come from? That's wierd!
Hey everyone, i've been messing around with photoshop lately, trying to learn how it works. The kids and I took some outdoor pics yesterday and this is one that I played around with a bit. I think it turned out pretty good. today was Jacobs first day of preschool. He was so excited. He had his clothes all layed out last night and kept complaining that he couldn't fall asleep. His class has 18 kids and a lot of student helpers (high school) so it's a little crazy. But he told me that he loved school and that he "never wants to stop going." I may have to remind him of that in a few years! Love you all!
Here is the problem, that in the total scheme of things isn't really very important. My dishwasher, 12 years old, isn't really cleaning the dishes anymore, although we still use it. I'm not sure why, just habit I guess. I need a new one but can't decide what to do. Obviously, the "in" thing is stainless steel. The range is really old but the fridge is fairly new. So do I go "bone" and then everything will match. Or do I go stainless steel, and then replace the others when the time comes, which will mean many years of unmatching. Or, I could go stainless steel and paint the fridge silver and hope the stove dies so I can replace it sometime after we have recovered from the wedding. In the meantime, we just clean them really well before we put them in and keep putting off the decision. If any of you designers have an opinion, please share it. I loved conference and am trying to take President Eyring's advice, along with other great advice. Also, Steve Christensen, Edna's husband, is in the hospital with a brain tumor. They are trying to do radiation as they can't do surgery. I'm sure she would appreciate a card or call.-thought you'd like to know. Love Mom
I know it's been awhile since i've posted anything, I just don't feel like there's anything excited to share. So i'll share everything unexciting. Malia is loving all day school. She really loves her teacher and class. Her teacher talked with me about testing Malia for the TAG program later this year, so we'll see. Jacob starts preschool on the 17th and asks me EVERY day, how much longer? He will go four days on, two days off, for four hours a day. Yeay! Cole isn't going to know what to do with himself, having his best playmate gone for so long during the day. Jacob and Cole spend HOURS every day building things with their legos...they are pretty creative with the stuff they come up with. Claire had her 6 mo. appt today. 5 shots...poor girl! She was in the 50th percentile for height at 26" and 18% in weight at 13lb 10oz. Now that she is a strictly formula girl, she has become much happier. she takes great naps now and sleeps great at night. So I can't complain. Brent and I are busy making crafts for a craft bazaar we will be attending in Late november. I'm making decorative signs (vinyl & stencil) and Brent is making some benches/side tables/hutches...Should be interesting to see if anything sells? Well, I won't bore you any more with the exciting details of my life....ciao!
Last Saturday was eventful for several reasons. First I took the LSAT, which was loads of fun. Basically it consists of five 35 minute sections followed by a 35 minute writing sample. But don't worry, we were granted a GENEROUS 10 minute break after the 3rd section. Hopefully I did OK on the test so I can get into a decent law school. We'll see.
THEN, Saturday night I went to this place called "Jump On It!", which basically consists of a bunch of conjoining trampolines--check out the video at their website:
www.jumponitparty.com
I escaped with only minor injuries, including the trampoline version of "rug burn" on the tops of my feet--ouch: Seriously though, other than the fact that this place is super dangerous and parents would have to be insane to let their kids play there, it was a LOT of fun.
Oksana and I have our engagement pictures, some of which turned out OK. These are two of my favorites:
I like the first one, but she's not crazy about it. Weird, huh?
I love this time of year...all the things associated with fall. We decided to venture to Sauvie Island this past weekend (located in the Portland area). We stopped at a place that had all sorts of fun pumpkins for sale, a corn maze, caramel apples, an animal barn and our favorite a pumpkin sling shot. We actually hit the target on the last one. It was a lot of fun to enjoy the fall spirit. We then went on a 3 mile hike in a wildlife area (well known for it's bird watching). Then we just kind ventured around the island. This is just a picture we took of us sitting on the giant hay pyramid (you can see it in the background of the previous picture) We had heard rumors about nudist beaches and lo and behold... Out of about 8 beach entrances only one sign said "Clothing area." We found it quite humorous. It was quite nice that the day was slightly cold, rainy and windy because it allowed us to venture out on the beach. We were the only ones around. The cool thing is now we can claim we've been to a nudist beach.
Hey everyone, i've been messing around with photoshop lately, trying to learn how it works. The kids and I took some outdoor pics yesterday and this is one that I played around with a bit. I think it turned out pretty good. today was Jacobs first day of preschool. He was so excited. He had his clothes all layed out last night and kept complaining that he couldn't fall asleep. His class has 18 kids and a lot of student helpers (high school) so it's a little crazy. But he told me that he loved school and that he "never wants to stop going." I may have to remind him of that in a few years! Love you all!
Seriously though, other than the fact that this place is super dangerous and parents would have to be insane to let their kids play there, it was a LOT of fun.
I love this time of year...all the things associated with fall. We decided to venture to Sauvie Island this past weekend (located in the Portland area). We stopped at a place that had all sorts of fun pumpkins for sale, a corn maze, caramel apples, an animal barn and our favorite a pumpkin sling shot. We actually hit the target on the last one. It was a lot of fun to enjoy the fall spirit. We then went on a 3 mile hike in a wildlife area (well known for it's bird watching). Then we just kind ventured around the island. .jpg)
This is just a picture we took of us sitting on the giant hay pyramid (you can see it in the background of the previous picture)
