Memorial Day, Music, and The Jungle Book

Charlie got a lot done on Monday. . . For starters, he got the boys together and put up the flags at 6 am. It’s tradition, here in our neighborhood, for the Boy Scouts to tap an American flag, and some rebar, into everybody’s front yard just before the sun comes up. It’s an inspiring sight, all the flags waving in line up and down the street. . . There was a fair breeze that day, which made the blue skies and white billowing clouds all the more majestic. Charlie ran to work for a couple of hours, pulled the carburetor on the Suburban, trimmed the trees, fixed Aleia’s bike tire, and many other things. Later on that evening, when we were relaxing with the family, Binky discovered a picture of a football on his T-shirt, and shouted excitedly. “Game, game!” Shortly thereafter, he spilled some juice down his front, probably on purpose. Several minutes later, I asked him what had happened to his shirt. He looked down, gasped, threw out his arms, and exclaimed to us, in his most concerned baby voice, “Wet, wet!” as if this condition had escaped him previously. : )

Last night at Laena’s Choir concert, her instructor, Kelly DeHaan, was given a guinea pig in a cage as a present from one of the classes. A little while later, the lights in the auditorium were dimmed for effect as they prepared to sing their next song. Aleia nudged me, concerned. . . grabbed my arm, and asked somewhat anxiously: “Mama, are you sure this won’t scare the hamster?” I laughed out loud. She was really worried about the poor little guy! : ) What a sweet little gallypoo!

I just can’t believe that this was Laena’s last concert ever at the high school. Except for graduation, this was it! : ) I have mixed feelings, but they’re mostly sentimental as I contemplate the finality of our children growing up. Our Laenabug is a big girl now. . . moving on to college this fall, wherever she decides to go, and the twins aren’t far behind. It’s just bizarre, thinking of the fantastic speed of time. . . You have a bunch of little kids, can barely get through the day, think it’s never going to end. . . and then you blink, and there they are, graduating from high school. It’s absolutely surreal!

But all is not lost. Considering that the Binky just came up to me, with the Jungle Book DVD clamped tightly in his baby teeth, (must’ve been tasty), and a puppy dog look on his little face, I think that we have a few more years yet of fun with the kids! : )

Easter

The message is timeless.  : )

Graduation 2009

 

Here it comes!  : )

Saturdays, Etc.

May 22, 2009 Friday

Last Saturday was nuts. The Saturday before that was even nuttier.

We got up early, and got the big boys off to Best of EFY. . . then it was an 'almost' soccer game in the pouring rain, a Primary activity with pizza, stories, costumes, and mud pudding, and then a bridal shower for one of Laena's friends. Only noon, and I was already exhausted! Later that afternoon, my brothers Nathaniel, Hyrum, and Benj came over to visit. We went out for ice cream at Dairy Queen until it was time for Laena's shift. She clocked in and stayed. Charlie went on a 5,6,7 mile run. I don't remember which. He's been very vigilant about the exercise. But I guess you kinda have to be when you're training for a Marathon. . . What an amazing guy. I can barely run around the block! : )

Anyway, last Saturday was picture day out at the soccer field. Naturally EVERYone showed up! We had to park in a field adjacent to the regular parking lot. . . It was nice, though, a perfect sunny day! Blue skies, bright colors, children everywhere. . . Sigh. : ) It was beautiful. Of course I hadn't picked up the camera, and therefore missed some fantastic shots of Aleia and Caitlin, and Jeffy and his friend Paulo. SO annoying! Playing in the cool green grass, they were smiling and happy, taking turns whapping each other with Jeffy's stuffed snake. . . : ) Ya gotta love little boys! Typical, yet exceptional, pretty much every time. . .

Anyway, last week, on Tuesday, Eric had his last Track Meet, JV Regionals out at Kearns High School, and Jeffy had his last T-ball game of the season. It was fun, yet a little bit sad to see the season end. Tommy, this Wednesday, was in charge of the combined activity for the Youth. He forgot all about it, and was scrambling to pull it all together. None of the people who were slated to participate ended up being available, so he just asked everyone to bring board games over to the church, at the suggestion of his brother, Clint, and it turned out great! : ) Tommy's such a good kid! He's been so amazingly disciplined these last few weeks, eating no carbohydrates to speak of. . . Nothing but rabbit food for him! : ) He's really doing well. When Tommy gets going, settles into a groove, better watch out! Also Wednesday, Caralee and I stopped by Marissa's second bridal shower at seven. But American Idol was on, so we couldn't stay. . . Had to leave early to go watch a bunch of flashy people sing. IMAO, Aleia could've smoked 'em all with her fabulous vocal skeels! She does have an amazing operatic quality to her voice, which by the way, is always on key. . . We'll see where she takes it! : ) I wouldn't be surprised if she took it pretty far, she's got such a way of remembering words, lyrics, after hearing a song only once or twice. . . real talent! : ) Last night, we took the family to her Choir Concert at the elementary school. Lea was so cute, standing there in the middle of the pack o' little kids, singing happily away. . . I wish we'd all been able to be there. The songs were fantastic, all about American History, and Patriotism. . . Values and Ideals that we want our children to remember. And they will! : ) Eric had walked to the Carnival over at the high school, and Clint was conveniently helping to haul some wood for Marcus. Uh-huh. : )

Jefferson.Lincoln.Laena.Aleia.Eric.Clint.Tommy.Mommy.Daddy. (Jeffy had to make his contribution.)

Well, Charlie is off at work! I'm ready for a nap, and it's almost time for the kids to come home! Sigh. Well, you know what they say. . . No rest for the wicked. : )

Eric’s Flowers

Ever since Eric was a very little boy, he’s brought me flowers. For whatever reason, and on a fairly regular basis - he’ll be walking home from school, or out in the yard, whatever - and he’ll very often present me with a cherry sprig, or apple blossoms, as he comes upon them. I think it’s very sweet! : )

We’ve lived here, in our current home, for almost fourteen years now, and every Spring Eric catches the fever, notices the beauty of the world around him and wants to share it. What a good kid! So if it’s a couple of dandelions, maybe accompanied by a little note when he was younger, or a colorful bloom from some other flowering tree he’s happened across, it always warms my heart when Eric shares the joy of the season! Makes this Mama’s day. : )

I know our kids our getting bigger, growing up, and are eventually, perhaps sooner than I’d like to admit, going to leave the nest. But I seriously can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like we just moved here, with four little kids. . . Tommy a brand new baby, Laena, four, and 3 year old twins. Eric was so tiny then. . .

Hopefully he’ll stick around for a couple of years longer! Mama loves those pretty flowers.

Mother’s Day

We had a really nice Mother’s Day weekend this year. Charlie brought me home flowers, and a lilac bush, of all things! Very sweet. : ) I can’t wait till it grows. . .

He also made lasagna, and chocolate pie, etc, so that was pretty cool. . .

I think my favorite part Mother’s Day was the homemade cards from the kids, including Lea’s poster. . . Oh, and maybe the downtime provided by Charlie when he started up Pride and Prejudice, the movie, with out being asked! Wahoo! : )

Springville

A couple of weeks ago, my brothers flew up from Phoenix for a weekend with the fam. We went out for ice cream that Saturday, and then ran down to Springville to visit Grandpa Sunday afternoon. Our Grandpa Tanner is 91 years old. It’s still sort of weird that he’s gotten so frail. He was always strong and capable while we were growing up. . . But it was nice to see him again! : ) Nathaniel brought his camera, but unfortunately ran out of power. But, being the innovator that he is, he got a pic with his super-duper cellphone! : )

Excerpt

Journal Entries

May 7^th, 2009

Last week Jeffy learned how to ride a bike! I still can't believe it! Just out of nowhere he hopped on a friend's little bike one day, and was exited to learn that he could balance pretty well! By Friday Charlie had him riding down the middle of the street, all on his own. It was so cute to see the little guy pedaling away, over-sized helmet and all, with Daddy running along behind. . . Lea picked up the bike riding thing when she was five, so it's been a while since we've enjoyed this type of adventure.

Last Monday we had a really great Family Home Evening. Sort of impromptu, not a lot of planning. . I pulled out a bunch of photo albums and we all spent a few minutes looking through them, then everyone shared their favorite memory. We had a nice time with our little family, fairly spontaneous, and amazingly stress free. As the kids get older, I realize more that the time we have together is invaluable, and the that memories we make will hopefully live on in the minds of our children. : )

Jeffy got to take the post game treats to his t-ball game Thursday. He was pretty excited and reminded us more than once not to forget. . . Later on, Charlie and I decided to drop by the Dave Ramsey event being held down the street. He had a lot of good ideas, and ended with a superbly written honor to the Savior, which I think probably touched everyone who heard it.

One Hundred Percent Right ON!

From my brother's recent blog post.

Fantastic!

100 Days of Unmitigated Disaster

I received this email from a friend. I haven't studied these issues enough to be able to vouch for its completely accuracy, but he touches on many issues that will affect what's going to happen to our country in the very near future. These are the issues that we need to be educating ourselves about, and hopefully doing something about.

AMERICA:
WAKE UP!

"In 100 days Barack Obama has shown us that he is this:
Anti-American, anti-business and pro big government. In addition, that he is socialist, a narcissist and a pathological liar ........ as is vice president Biden, most of Obama's cabinet picks and all of the democratic leaders in congress.
Janet Napolitano and little Timmy Geithner are unimaginably incompetent, yet Obama continues to give them a free hand in jeopardizing both the safety and the economic future of America. And Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank are some of the most despicable slime to ever slither the earth. Yet this is the group of people who are now in charge of handling the destiny of the country. YOUR COUNTRY!
I not only don't support President Obama or his policies, I now strongly oppose his presidency and urge you to do the same.
In a mere 100 days, Obama has already committed to spend America into oblivion to the tune of TENS of TRILLIONS of dollars.......all while unemployment is running rampant, businesses continue to shutter their doors and our GDP is falling off the cliff. You'd think we must be a rich country! Where do you think all the money is going to come from to pay for all of this? Yet, the happy clueless idiots and infatuated Obama cultists are celebrating his first 100 days in office as if they've been reborn.
Billions of YOUR money was recently poured into Chrysler and GM under the guise that "Only the Government" can save them. Well the money's all gone and they didn't save them. Gee, what a shock! PLEASE STOP SAVING US ALREADY!"

He continues with more about the GM fiasco and it's implications:

"And to boot, another 8 billion of your tax money has already been pledged to Chrysler to help them work through this "difficult" period. And of course, the government - again with your money - will continue to support these car companies in the future for a price: Dictating what type of cars they will be allowed to produce in the future. The banks will be next to fall under governmental control and after that will be health care.
This single act alone should scare you to your core. If Obama is so quick and willing to skirt the legal rights and confiscate the savings of your fellow Americans, what makes you think for a minute that your money or your property won't be next? You know, if he thinks it would be good for the country and all. Nor will his grand agenda make for a safer, better or more prosperous society. Exactly the opposite will happen. American ingenuity will be squelched, the quality of everyday life and health care will go DOWN, not up - and attempting to repay he national debt will consume the citizens at every level of society.
When Obama tells you that your taxes will not go up he is flat out LYING to you. Very soon, you will see huge tax increases passed on to you in the form of higher sales taxes, property taxes, state and city taxes, increased college tuitions, toll roads, fuel taxes, utility surcharges, etc., etc.
Yet the largest, most expensive tax increase that is coming - and will soon affect every citizen at every level - is something called the Value Added Tax. (aka: the V.A.T.) This is widely used in Europe and now our congress is rapidly working to implement it here in the U.S. This will be an insidious, yet huge tax burden that gets passed on to us all and here is how it works:
You will pay an additional FEDERAL sales tax on top of the local and state taxes that you already pay on the goods you buy.
But that's not all.
Value Added Tax means there is also a tax incurred every time that a perceived "value" is added to the unfinished goods before they are ultimately bought by the consumer. So a federal tax will be added to the price of every product you buy at EACH STEP of the manufacturing process accomplished prior to completion of the product. That is, anytime perceived "value" is added along the way.
Ex: If you buy a bicycle, the company that produced the steel for the frame will have to pay a federal tax when they sell their steel to the bicycle frame manufacturer; who in turn will have to pay yet another federal tax when they sell the completed frame to the bicycle assembler/distributor; who in turn will have to pay yet another tax still when it sells the fully assembled bicycle to the local dealer. In the end, all those additional VAT taxes will be passed on to the consumer in the form of a higher purchase price: oftentimes added 10% - 20% more to the purchase price. On top of that - you'll now be paying sales tax AND a federal tax on that higher price.
Additionally, the VAT tax will also be added onto all consumer "services", not just onto the goods that you buy. So if somebody cleans your swimming pool, cuts your hair, delivers your newspaper, provides child care, etc. there will now be a federal tax charged to you for the "services" they provided. This is what's on the horizon. If you don't believe it, do some homework. Did people honestly believe that all the money that is being spent on these spiffy new government programs (the ones that the happy idiots THINK are going to make their lives better) would come without consequences?
As you read this, your rights and liberties as U.S citizens are being stripped away from you by Obama's administration and the den of thieves we call congress. If you do not take some affirmative action and they are allowed to continue down this path, they will do irreversible damage and ALL OF AMERICA WILL SUFFER!
To those of you who believe this isn't happening or that somehow or some way, you personally will be exempted from the results of this impending disaster, well then go make some cake and throw yourselves a BIG Obama party. And in a few years when I see you working as a Wal-mart greeter, you can remind me of how good that cake was........"
Regards,

. . .

Maybe this post comes across a bit angry and sarcastic, but I ask you, if the information outlined here is correct. . ! Would any other reaction be reasonable?!

Well said, in my opinion! So refreshing to hear from someone who isn't buying up all the propaganda that the media keeps feeding us.

What are the ramifications of these recent tea parties? The federal government is WAY out of control. Whoever wrote that blog post of Nathaniel's was brilliant. You can't borrow your way out of debt. Congress and the President have both taken advantage of their positions and are implementing legislation, or at least trying to do things . . that are downright illegal. If things continue in this manner, if we keep heading in this direction. . . I am very concerned for the future of America, and the traditional American way of life. Specifically, freedom. This whole current swirling political scene is highly reminiscent of the situation that led up to the American Revolution, and will reach that point if somebody doesn't rein in the outrageous spending, the vehement attacks on morality, the socialist philosophies that seem to dominate today's rhetoric. . . I would encourage you all to get involved and make something happen, because, as we've heard many a time. . . All that has to happen for evil to win, is for good men to to nothing.