Inauguration

Daniel had his 4 month check up today at 10, which was the time that President Trump was taking the oath of office. So I was grateful to be able to watch it on youtube. It was cool to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I love them. My favorite album by them is America's Choir. I listened to that a lot when we lived in Virginia, so that is kind of my go to album for all things Patriotic. Trying to be patriotic right now. I was more depressed when Obama won in 2012 than I have been this time. But this is bringing back the old feelings and I'm wishing for what might have been - it could be Mitt taking his second term right now... Yeah, I should get over it. I have moved on, but am using the same coping mechanism this time. I feel a bit more detached from the whole situation this time. More like I'm just a spectator and it doesn't really affect me. That was the kind of attitude I tried to have with Obama - that I just need to focus on my family and my life and the things that I do have control over. I feel the same with this - I think Trumps election is just a manifestation of the decaying morals of our country. Last time with Obama it was for different morals, but I feel like it's basically the same deal, which is why I find it so interesting that liberals are so upset. One of the reasons I don't like Trump is cause he is liberal (and a total wild card). Liberals. you guys have a Republican pres who said good things about Planned Parenthood! Abortion is the main deal killer for me with Democratic Party. I'm currently party-less, and that's okay.

So Inaguration, that was the big news thing of today and there is my 2 cents. I love this country and feel like I live in Zion here in our absolutely wonderful neighborhood and with all of our wonderful friends here, so I'm going to keep loving and serving my family and neighbors, and praying for our country and it's leaders. It's in God's hands, Thy will be done. From a friend's facebook post that made me chuckle - "Our country has survived 44 presidents. I know that our country can make it through 4 to 8 years of Donald. Embrace The Suck"

In other news - Corey's burdens are at an all time high again. We've been here before and have faith that things will yet again workout, but it's never fun. Poor guy. I'm doing okay, but that's cause about 5 years ago I gave up worrying about it. I can't do anything about it other than pray, so I just pray. Worry is the facade of taking action, Prayer actually is. I also suggested that tonight for our date, to help his mind escape for a little bit, we did something we usually don't do and go to the movies! We grabbed some sandwhiches at Jimmy Johns (my first time there - they make fast sandwiches, wow) and saw the movie La La Land. I really liked it - visually the colors and the shots and the camera work was awesome. I loved it all ...except for the end - that having your career is what you have to do. Listen, if you don't end up with the person that you're supposed to end up with, then what else matters? Call me old school, but when they got together and then knew it was love, they should have made a commitment, or covenant perhaps, to be together and then come what may, they'll get through it TOGETHER. Corey and I are in this together, and as long as we stay together, nothing else matters. If he never makes it big or if we have to move or I don't know whatever - it does not matter. It's just a test for us to prove what is really important to us. What is important - money, wealth, fame? Nope. Family, your spouse, children? That would be a yes. Don't sell out on love and family for a career or anything else, boo!! Not sure if they message of the movie was "don't do this is you can avoid it" or "it's nice to pretend you can have it all, but you can't, this is reality folks, make your choice - love or fame". Yeah, so, other than the ending (and possibly the whole overall message of the entire movie), I loved it. :)

(Update a week later)
This did make me laugh about our predicament, "Help, I'm gonna barf!"

Good job BLR.

Seagulls

On Saturday evening, Ethan showed us this video. ...and we've been singing it ever since...

Hilarious if I do say so myself. We watched Bad Lip Reading things during the 2012 campaign (of course Mitt was our favorite "They're a bunch of punks!") and watched a few of them this election cycle too - my favorite starts at :52 with Trump doing "Five Favorites". (Time to Act at 3:10 is funny too) Every now and then Hyrum will be walking around the house and will say "Raaaaw". Funny stuff - humor is the best way to cope with elections anyway. But we hadn't seen the Star Wars stuff. Very very clever, and pretty catchy tunes too! I really like "Not the Future" too - makes me feel a bit nostalgic. I liked one of the comments there "What do they put in these videos? so addicting..." The lyrics are all posted in the description. Yeah, were on a BLR binge right now.

Yeah, I was big in Japan
I was king of Ping Pong
Yeah I was bad at tuba
And I’m sure you’d like me to bounce

I did a bit of googling to try to find out about the mastermind behind these. Found this article - he wants to remain anonymous but glad he still does interviews. His story is an great example of how the trials of life can turn into opportunities! He says in this that he started lip reading after his mother lost her hearing - he'd watch tv and push mute to see what her world was like and he started lip reading too. And that article also says that he does all the voices! Whoever BLR man is, he's got serious talent and we like his stuff.

Election Day Hangover

We turned on the tv last night to watch the election results come in. We were fully expecting Hillary to win. We stayed up long enough to hear the winner and were a little stunned. How did we get here? Or as Corey said "It's like a nightmare..." (Not that we would have been thrilled with a Clinton presidency...) And there we see Donald Trumps picture with a big title "President Elect Trump" underneath. We didn't stay up to hear him address the world but caught up on it this morning. Corey said his only regret this election cycle was that he became too well informed on Donald Trump. So, if you would like to have hope, DO NOT READ Donald's book "Never Enough". That was the one that sealed our opinion of this man as a "bad guy" - as Sophi put it at the end of the at post.

I was glad to have Evan McMullin on the ballot here in Utah and to be able to vote for him. No one can be criticized for voting this way or that. Everyone had their reasons, their strategies, I'm sure many people headed to the polls holding their noses nose, some more than others. But wow, I did not see this coming.

We recently finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family. In Ether 15 near the end of that book I saw the bad side of the two party system and felt like there was a message her for us. They weren't having an election, but there was a race taking place for the future king to leader their country. And there were just two choices. They spent (verse 14) 4 years gathering all the people on all the face of the land, gathering them to the side they wanted to be on. Verse 15 - it's Shiz or Coriantumr? Make your pick. Then you have to defend it to the death. I don't think I would have fought for Coriantumr just cause he wasn't as bad as Shiz. Would anyone be willing to fight to the death for the candidates this year? Wow. I'm gonna say neither. If I had been a Jaredite I would have fought my way away from the war and joined a 3rd party.

My brother in law said something on a Sept 27th that I liked and felt articulated my feelings well... (Bek, you can tell Matt I just spent a long time scrolling and scrolling down his facebook wall trying to find this) He said: "Please hear me out. If you were told you have 2 choices, either everyone you love or care about is killed, or you must run a gas chamber and exterminate 10,000 people you never met, what would you do? Would you debate the two options and pick the lesser of two evils? Would you do only the two things those in power tell you to do? Or would you choose the third option of fleeing the country with everyone you know? There is always a third option. The same is true for this election." I wonder if any of the Jaredites tried to flee? Sad thing is they didn't have a good choice. And in the end it didn't matter which side you were on, they died fighting it out and millions were slain until it was just the two king-elects left. Then Coriantumr slew Shiz and was declared the winner, yay. As The Donald would say: "Sad".

So it's pretty surreal. And our situation is not now as dire as it was for the Jaredites or people in WWII Europe. And if it were, I'd try to not worry. I took Mitt Romney's loss in 2012 harder than I did this election - this one wasn't going to have a good ending anyway, but Mitt would have been so good, sigh. I'm still regret his loss and during this election have often found myself thinking how great it would have been if Mitt won. Sigh. But we try to move on. We had a great testimony meeting at church this past Sunday (6 Nov) and were blessed to have Elder D. Todd Christofferson attend our ward. Many shared thoughts about America and the future, including Elder Christofferson. He said shared John 16:33- there may be things in the world we fear, but Christ has overcome the world! He also said "I am very much at peace. The Lord knows how important this nation is to His church - to be a light, for resources, for a refuge, and it will continue to be so as long as it is needed."

So, yeah, what a political year, I'm glad it's over, and now, what's done is done. I think I should probably have the boys remove the photo of now President Elect Trump that they had on their dart board (it was just a magnetic one, not as bad as putting real darts through his head). All through the day I've had moments where I pause and say "President Trump..." Once Corey turned to me and shushed me with "we do not say his name..." Trump might be our new Voldemort? But we will pray for him, hard. I liked something Tom Hanks said recently - "I hope Trump does so well that I vote for his reelection" And as for me and my house, we will strive to move on with optimism for our country and kindness for our neighbor, remembering what we can control ~ as shared by Barbara Bush (via Tim Ballard's facebook) "Your success as a family, and our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens in your house."

What I Can Focus On

So, it appears that Trump is on his path to becoming the Republican nominee. I think it is a very very bad thing, but I do not find that I am totally terrified or worried about it, which I am grateful for. I can't control where our nation goes, so I'm focusing on what I can control, things that I can do, and places where I can make a difference. And that place is here in my home and in my family. (...Although with Trumps inevitable nomination, I did decide today to finally answer the phone with caller ID "Washington DC" that I've been ignoring for weeks. As assumed, it was someone asking for donations for the election. It was the RNC. I was able to tell them that we will no longer support or contribute to the RNC at all. With Trump at the standard bearer, we are out. I'm disappointed that voters have chosen him, and I do not believe he represent conservative values. We'll look for and support conservative candidate on our own, but will not support the Republican Party. Sorry folks!)

So, since I have been spending less time on social media and reading news the past month, I have been using my time to get reacquainted with family history on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry. I just so happened to major in Family History at BYU 16 years ago, but things have changed a lot since then. Luckily it's changes for the better and easier! And guess what - last night, for the first time ever, I printed up my first card to take to the temple to do temple work for one of my direct ancestors! It's a sealing ordinance to seal one of my 5th great grandmothers to her parents. I'm hoping to take it and do the work on Saturday. :) Yay!

Although I must say that her family is a mess - Ellen is married to Joseph Barlow, and Joseph is also married to a Helen (no last name) but I think Helen and Ellen are the same person, but they are in two families with some of the same and some different children, so gotta go try and sort that all out. But Helen didn't have any parents, so hopefully this work for Ellen/Helen really is something that needs to be done. I'm still getting my feet wet and trying to figure out places to research and stuff. But I like doing family history, it makes me feel good. And even if I spend 3 hours on it, I don't feel like I'm wasting or idling away my time, like I tend to feel like when I read the news or link to different facebook videos or such. That being said, I really love some of the stuff I see on facebook and enjoy sharing them with my children, like this video.

We live in a wonderful world. Lots of wonderful people from wonderful and amazing lands and countries, most of which probably have had their share of corrupt and horrible leaders. So whether the US gets stuck with Hillary or Drumpf, I have hope that life will go on and all can be well with me and my family as we focus on following Christ and serving others.

New Basement and Guest

Today's been an exciting day. We got new carpet in the basement. The basement that got flooded on Christmas eve 2012. So over 3 years later, yeah, it's about time. It looks really good now. Sophi and Natalie loved playing in a big open empty room. They played "Throw a ball" Sophi said so cutely "We're playing throw the ball, that is what we are playing" and she and Natalie squealed and giggled as they threw the ball against the walls over and over.

Right after we signed off the papers for the carpet installation, Corey left for the airport to pick up Kiran. Kiran has been Corey's best programmer for many years of Movie Mouth software coding. Kiran is from India. While Corey went to the airport, I hurried and set up a bed and small living space in the new basement area for our guest. The kids are sad they don't get to set up their new lego space yet, but it's good to practice patience. It will be really nice to have the rest of the basement finished someday. Patience is good for me to practice too.

It was great to meet Kiran. The kids were home when they arrived and they all came to say hello. Now that Owen is almost 8 month old, he has fully developed stranger danger awareness. Kiran said hello to Owen, and Owen just started at him in concern, with an occasional glance at us for an "are we safe?" assuring smile. Kiran reached over to gently touch Owen's little cheek and he wimpered and recoiled into Ethan's arms. We thought it was pretty funny. Later Kiran said hello more closely as he leaned in to tap his forehead with Owens, to which Owen totally freaked which again made everyone laugh, since this is a newly developed part of his personality that has just emerged. Natalie was a little hesitant. Sophi was good.

She likes Kiran. She sat on his lap tonight and jibber jabbered all the things she knows, including "Donald Trump is a bad guy." (I guess Corey and I are getting a little passionately political this election season again if Sophi's picking up on it?) Kiran had 30 hours of travel to recover from so he went to bed pretty early, a 12 hour time difference will do that to ya. We look forward to seeing him tomorrow. He's going to be here for two weeks. :)

Election Talk

Another Friday, another date night, another exchange between Corey and I on why we both greatly fear Donald Trump being leader of the free world. We started off with a few Colbert videos that Corey hadn't seen yet - both hit the spot:

"If we just give him what he wants, maybe he'll go away!!"

I know the general election in November is still a ways off, but the "trump-train" lunacy that has seemed to taken over "the people" of the Republican party makes me think our country is on the brink of disaster. Corey read one of Trump's books on his trip to Brazil last week ~ "Never Enough: Donald J. Trump and the Pursuit of Success" ~ and, well, let's just say it gives an accurate portrait of the Republican frontrunner. I appears very unlikely that there will ever be enough to satisfy Donald Trump, and that should be a problem for US voters.

So, with the help of Jonah Goldberg's recent "news" letter (read that article) here are just a few of the reasons why no sane person should or would support Donald Trump. (and take note that in the list below "Drumph" = Trump, and a big thank you John Oliver for my "Make Donald Drumpf again" chrome extension, we give it an A+):

• Drumpf said it doesn’t matter what the media writes about you “as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of a**.” 
• Drumpf boasted that his ordeal of avoiding the clap while sleeping around so much amounted to his own “personal Vietnam.” 
• He said that John McCain’s ordeal avoiding dying at the hands of his torturers wasn’t heroic. 
• As for everyone else’s Vietnam, Drumpf got out of that by claiming to have a medical condition that instantly healed when hostilities ended. 
• He bragged — in print! — about bedding married women and has admitted to cheating on at least two of his wives. 
• He boasted that he “whines until I win.” 
• He’s condemned Charles Krauthammer, George Will, and many other friends of [conservatism] with far, far more vitriol than he condemns Vladimir Putin, the butchers of Tiananmen, and David Duke. 
• The man is so lacking in moral clarity that he dismissed Vladimir Putin’s murdering of journalists by saying, “I think our country does plenty of killing also.” 
• This is a man who expresses a passionate desire to change the First Amendment so he can punish journalists who don’t kowtow to him. 
• This is a man who praised the mass murder at Tiananmen and criticized Gorbachev for not being as tough-minded. 
• This is a man who says he “reads the Bible more than anybody” but can’t — after months of opportunities — speak intelligently about it for 30 seconds. 
• This is a man who, by any objective measure, lies nearly as much as Bill Clinton but with a tenth of the skill. 
• He lacks the patriotic seriousness to do minimal homework, even when his ignorance has been pointed out time and again. (Bill’s colleague Hugh Hewitt asked Drumpf about the nuclear triad in August. Several months later, when the question came up again Drumpf was, if anything, more ignorant.) 
• This is a man whose business dealings have been shot through with shady practices, mob ties, and fraudulent claims (also known as “lies”). 
• This is a man with a totally thumbless grasp of what the Constitution is about or what conservatism is (“Conservatism means,” according to Drumpf, “to conserve our money”). 
• This is a man who boasted for months that he will torture our enemies and indiscriminately murder their children as a matter of policy. 
• This is a man who says that the last Republican president deliberately lied us into war and plays coy about whether 9/11 was an inside job. 

So, that's that. Praying for our country, and hoping the lack of morals of the current Republican frontrunner candidate isn't wholly reflective of the rotting state of morals in our country. 

Life in the Bubble

Somedays I wish I don't want to know what's going on in the world. Cause when I go there, it's pretty easy to let my natural man give in to worry. It usually takes some mental effort and discipline to suppress it. Then I look at Owen. I think he knew what would be going on here on this planet when he signed up for mortality. Well, Owen, what do you say?

Aren't you worried?! Do you realize there is a possibility that Trump might be the Republican nominee? That he could become president?!?! You don't worry about stuff like that? You just like the red flashing light on my camera? Is happiness in life really that simple?

Hmm. there's a lot I could probably learn from this little person. It's not too hard to be happy if I am really and truly in the now and enjoy the present moment. (Shannon's life lesson #3) I've learned this all before from Screwtape. But it seems to be something I need to re-learn and remind myself of everyday. Just be present! Maybe I just need to cut myself off from all of it until November. Well, except when I participate in Utah's caucus' on the 22nd. But other than that, there's not much I can really do or control about this whole situation until November when I cast my vote. Although Corey and I do enjoy all the material it gives us to share with each other. Part of me wishes that I could/would just let it all disappear from my mental radar until Nov. I wonder if I could. My life is pretty easy and happy here in my bubble if I let myself truly be here and present. I liked this little comic a friend shared on facebook recently:

Yeah, maybe I should just work on focusing on today for me, here and now. It's pretty easy when we just play with this adorable baby! Owen, you really are just the cutest thing in the world!

Without or with the flash? It gives a different look, but either way we get those big beautiful eyes! You can almost see Owen's hair with the flash on! Hey Charlie Brown, you've got hair!

Life is good with this Lil' Man around. These kids help me keep perspective on what is truly important. The worry tries to creep in every day in different ways, so I have to constantly remind and discipline myself to remember God is in charge and I should trust in Him and his plan. Ok Owen, I'll do it.

Here's Hoping

I like living in my bubble. Life is happy here in my bubble, in our little corner of heaven in this neighborhood with wonderful neighbors and children for my children to play with. I am most happy when I have all my children at home with me. I feel like we are safe. But then I read the news. And then my heart starts to fail me. I really don't want to know very much about what's going on in the outside world. I have pretty much been avoiding it until Corey shared with me lots of garbage about how horrible Donald Trump is on our date last Friday night.

I am shaking my head so much right now as I think about the 2016 election.  It's not even fun for me, cause I don't have a team to cheer on. I still wish Mitt had won. 2008 or 2012, either one would have been great, I guess it would have given me faith that our country isn't going to hell. But after the 2012 loss, I decided I just can't care, I can't control it, I can't make a difference other than casting my vote. If Mitt would have won, I probably would have put my faith in the government and in who our President is. So maybe the Lord is letting this happen so I will not put my faith in any man or in the arm of the flesh, I need to put my faith in Christ.

While we were living in Brazil, I read the Old Testament from cover to cover for the first time. That was the first time I read the book of Daniel from front to finish, and when I discovered Daniel 4. Two verses from that chapter impressed me to trust that God knows who the Presidents and kings of each nation are, and HE is in control and HE puts even the basest of men there for his own purposes. In verse 17, Nebuchadnezzar tells of a dream that he had of a great tree with much fruit that a holy one came and cut down ~ for "the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men."

Daniel interprets the dream and says Nebuchadnezzer is the tree and that (verse 25) "they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will."

Then in verse 30, Nebuchadnezzer is admiring his great Babylon, his great kingdom that he thinks he has built up: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While those words were still in his mouth, a voice came from heaven declaring (verse 31-32): "O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will."

My take away - our country is in God's hands. God rules in this nation and he giveth it to whomsoever he will. Why he willed Obama to be president, I do not know, but his ways are higher than my ways and his thoughts than my thoughts. And I trust that HE ultimately is in charge of this next election. (God help us!)

So, I've been in a bit of despair this morning. Obama and the current election isn't the sole purpose for these thoughts, but the corruption and evil things in this country have (and I tend to pin those on Obama and liberals like him). I was awakened today to how bad things are when I read today that Dave Daleiden, the man behind making those Planned Parenthood videos, has been indicted by a Grand Jury in Texas for attempting to buy baby parts. Yet Planned Parenthood is not guilty of selling them. Again: Planned Parenthood is innocent of selling baby parts to Dave Daleiden, but Dave Daleiden is guilty of buying baby parts from Planned Parenthood. But how could the buyer be guilty of buying but the seller not guilty of selling?

To quote Matt Walsh: "The only way these charges could look even remotely honest is if Planned Parenthood had been brought up on them as well. In that case it still would have egregiously unfair considering Daleiden didn’t actually intend on purchasing any human tissue, while Planned Parenthood did intend on selling it, but at least they would be making a minimal effort to give off the appearance of impartiality. Even that, apparently, was too much to ask."

I just feel sick for our country, that abortions are performed and celebrated, that there is such disregard for chastity and that 50 Shades of Grey and Game of Thrones are enjoyed as entertainment. I'm sick about Human trafficking, gosh I feel like things are so bad. Yet, here I am in my little bubble and my children are safe and we are happy (unless I read the news) so I'll avoid it and I'll just keep watching BYUtv and will "see the good in the world." In my home I'll teach my children to read the scriptures and to believe in God, and they are already becoming great people. I know there are lots of great people out there, and that brings me back to hope. There are people out there like Timothy Ballard who really have seen how bad it is, they've been on the front lines. If he still can go about doing good and fighting evil and if he still believes in America, then I guess I can believe too. And there is lots of work to do.

Wickedness is all around us, evil is called good and good is called evil, but my trust is in God, not the world around me. He is in control, he is at work, Zion is growing stronger as are the forces of evil that oppose her. I will look to the prophets for guidance and keep my family close and take care of them. That is the most important thing I can do with my time. God will make all things right in the end. Which makes me want to sing the song from the Savior of the World play "Come in glory to the earth, come to us to rule and reign. Ready us to be thy people. Come, Lord Jesus, come!" I pray and yearn for the day when he will come again, and I know he will come. I will immerse myself in the scriptures and listen to General Conference. I read Alma 58 today, before I read about Dave Daleiden, and that kind of prepped me for that news. There are so many stories in the Book of Mormon that can help us and that show us how the righteous live when they are surrounded by evil and corruption. Verses 9-10 - Like Helaman and his army, I am "grieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments of God should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utter destruction. Therefore (I will) pour out (my soul) in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us." And I trust that he will, as in verse 11: "...it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him." Here's hoping! So there is my rant for today. Back to my bubble! I'm going to go kiss my beautiful baby.