All Together Again

Grant and Steph made it back to Texas last night. Neil and Amy's flight got delayed 4 times then postponed until today. We're hoping they make it! Corey and Abi stayed last night in a hotel close to the airport. They got there nice and early today with plenty of time to spare. It's looking pretty empty.

They arrived here in SL very close to on time, but I wasn't ready and was still at home when they landed. We hurried out to the pick up. Yay we're all together again. On the way home, I dropped Corey off at the store to grab some fresh fruit (five bunches of bananas and two things of strawberries) while Abi ran into her school to get homework out of her locker. Now we're back home again and we all washed our hands. We're ready to hunker down for a while! Ethan and Abi both had their music lessons online - Abi with Hangouts, E with zoom. Pretty cool. After the kids are done with all their music, I'm sure they'll be playing several hours of video games again to help them cope as they adjust to the school and friend withdrawl. Yes, they should probably be doing more studying, but as the kid says in Mark Rober's video, after it was announced that school would be out for 3 weeks... "Fortnite!" (we like Mark Rober)

Update: Here is a March 20th post from Neil and Amy that she shared on Facebook - we were all watching and wondering what would happen, and it tells a little of how crazy things are, so I thought I'd include it here as part of Abi's story:

To say the last 10 days have been a wild and crazy adventure is an understatement. 5 months ago, Neil and I started planning a trip to visit Portugal, where over 20 years ago Neil served a two-year mission for our church. As current events unfolded about coronavirus we questioned if it was the right thing to do but as we prayed we still felt peace about going. As we boarded our flight to Europe, Trump announced the European travel ban and as we were flying home from Europe, Utah had an earthquake and our flight home was cancelled. Our trip was laced with a feeling of uncertainty as our plans changed each day but we made the most of it. It was an extension of his mission. Tender mercies and miracles were plentiful. My faith and testimony of Jesus Christ were strengthened. He loves us and is aware of us at all times and in all places. Our trip was cut short but we experienced all that was needful. I'm thankful to be home with my kiddos and looking forward to hunkering down for the next two weeks and beyond.

The streets were not typically empty. Very rare. It was like a ghost town. The country was shutting down, just like in the states.

There's a Run on Toilet Paper

Today we went down to Provo for date night to see Mel perform with her wind ensemble. We took Peter with us, because it was going to be a long date with the drive down there and back. We figured Peter wouldn't be allowed into the music hall, and he wasn't, so we took turns with him out in the lobby. Corey saw the first half, and then I went in after intermission. Mel did a good job. Corey apologized to Mel that we weren't going to take her out to eat, but the concert didn't finish until after 9pm and I don't eat that late. (I try to be done eating at 7pm) So instead of going to a restaurant, we gave her a hug and said goodbye. Corey said "We can't take you out to eat every time..."

So I don't watch the news or listen to talk radio or check news websites. I used to do all those things, but I don't any more. There are just other things I want to spend my time doing, like blogging, reading, or playing violin. Let me see... I officially decided to tune out of news after Obama won, and then really gave up after Trump won. There's nothing I can do about the government of our nation except pray, and I'm not interested in any of the typical negative news stuff, so I just don't bother. Corey is my main source of current events, other than a few things I see on facebook now and then or in the family group text. So I was not ready for Costco today. I went to Costco because we were low on Toilet paper.

I very rarely let it get this low, but I haven't done the Costco runs the past few weeks cause Corey likes to go. So I was like "I'm going today - I need toilet paper" and I go, and I walk to where it always is, and it wasn't there. I thought that was curious. Did they move it? I walked up and down the isles close to it, and nope. Ok, so I thought maybe they moved it, so I continue shopping. It wasn't over by the water either. Hmm. I kept shopping and kept an eye out for a Costco employee and eventually over in the freezer isles I find a worker to ask. He said it was out - "It is taken as soon as they open it." I honestly was confused. But I thought for a second, then asked "...cause of the coronavirus?" And it was! Weird! And at check out I notice that EVERYONE is buying bottled water. ...and I was starting to wonder, do I need water? Does everyone else know something I don't? Should I not have brought my little kids into the store? What is going on people? I text Corey - I scolded him for not letting me know about this, that is if he was aware. "Yeah, Corona is causing a toilet paper shortage all over the place" "When were you aware of this?" He should have briefed me on this state of the nation, cause now we might be facing a tp drought at our home. "Chad who I worked - tried to buy some at Sams Club and another guy from Australia said back home all the toilet paper is gone". So that was weird. What are we supposed to do? We legitimately need toilet paper now in a few days, not just for our emergency prep! Where can I find some?

On my way to the store, a neighbor and Abi's piano teacher, wanted to talk about what Abi wants to do about piano, so I called her, but then her phone died, so I said I'd call after I finished at Costco, and so the first thing I say to her on my drive home was "Is there a run on toilet paper? Is it just at Costco? or is it everywhere? I haven't been shopping for a few weeks...." And we were laughing a little bit about it and she saved the day and saved me from having to try to find tp in the stores, cause she had some, so I picked it up from her on my way home and yay, we might get through another week! Listen, all you panicked toilet paper people out there, we've got 12 bathroom go-ers here at our house, we need toilet paper. If you've got some stockpiled, just don't. We do have a lot of wipes I guess. We'll just have to use them sparingly.

I did go by Walgreens later after the kids were home to see if they had toilet paper, and they did, so I got some from there. But that Costco run was a weird experience. Perhaps I shall need to watch the news and be aware more? Is everyone panicking for no reason? Or is there a real tp threat about to seize the nation? I guess we'll find out this next month if the panic increases or if all this calms down. But it was interesting.

Jumping and Dreams

It's been another good Wednesday. I had to get outside and fill up the trash bins again before the garbage truck came by. Need to try and clear up leaves and pine needles while I still can before winter comes. I really should have the kids do it on Saturday... But it's good to get outside since it's not as hard now as it will be once there is snow on the ground. The kids put on their shoes and coats and out we went. It didn't take long to fill up the garbages. We had time to spare before the kindergarten bus came, so we went over to jump at the neighbors house.

It was quite chilly in their shaded back yard but the kids had fun. 

They told me to jump with them and they were all quite surprised and delighted with the amount of air they got as I jumped with them. Just a few small bounces from me and they went flying. It was fun. We only stayed over there for 30 min before we headed back for lunch before Natalie left. We've got a good toddler routine going these days and on most days both Owen and Daniel go very willingly down for naps either right before or right after Natalie leaves. So sometimes they come out to the bus with us, other times they are already resting. That gives me a good 2 hours of quiet time to get things done! Yeah! Yesterday and today I've been working a little bit on going through the piles and files of papers that I have around the house. Now that I have scrapbooks for all of the kids in place (2nd to last pic), I've begun to attempt to organize or toss the years of artwork, school work, photographs, certificates, etc. I must say I'm impressed with the elementary school's 3rd grade efforts of having the kids write down things that capture their thoughts at that time of their life. They have a whole big notebook, bound and laminated, that they make for the kids at the end of the school year. Yesterday I went through Lily's 3rd grade book to put things in sheet protectors in my scrapbook and today I did Abi's. I had to take off the binding and go through each paper. I threw away some that didn't mean anything to me (like of reports of some class science observations) or things that I've already blogged (like the wax museums Abi as Helen Keller and Lily as Amelia Earhart). For things that I wanted to keep I had to trim them down or take off the construction paper behind them. I got a kick out of these little write ups from Martin Luther King day - I read Lily's yesterday and thought it was a bit scary/sad and I felt the same today when I read Abi's. I mean what kind of horrible "dreams" for a better future are they having? I have a dream to not be kidnapped or killed?!?!

Oh my sweet children... Let's have some dreams about good things, shall we? Although it might be our fault... Abi's below on kidnapping might have something to do going back to 2012 when we told our little 5 year old Abi about Sierra Newbold. Perhaps that wasn't the best parenting move on our part... 

I just googled Sierra Newbold and saw this picture here - such a beautiful little girl - reminds me of our sweet Natalie. Oh what a hard trial that must have been for her family - to lose their little girl in such a horrible way. I haven't talked to the kids about things like that for a while - though I'm not really up to date on news and current events these days, as I've kinda checked out of the news since Novemeber 2016 when Trump won. I used to get some news from facebook, but I've hardly been on there the past month now - after doing the 10 day social media fast from President Nelson's challenge, and finding I much enjoyed it, so yea, now I'm mostly get my news from Corey, my mom, or catching things from comments people make at church. I'm definitely out of the loop. But I don't mind. I'm going to try to focus on things here in my home with my children, things that I actually have some control and influence over. 

Post Op

Joseph timed his wisdom tooth appointment really well. He was wiser than Mel by scheduling it after the term was over. It's also spring break for him now, so he has a few days without school to mend. With the bonus that he won't get behind on homework and doesn't have to be around friends with a swollen face. He went in for the extraction yesterday morning. Today at 10:45 he was done with the 24 hour evaluation or whatever and I picked him up. Poor guy, he looked a lot like Mel did a week ago.

But he seemed to be taking the unflattering look better than Mel did and came into the store with me and even went to the temple today. That pic is Joseph smiling by the way. It doesn't look like it cause his cheeks aren't working at the moment. And this is him smiling and blinking.

So we went to the store on the way home to get his prescriptions filled and while we waited for that we bought pudding, jello, and lots of ice cream. So this was really good timing on Joseph's part because the night before his appointment (Wednesday night) he was singing with the Skyline Madrigals for some famous people - it was a party celebrating Orrin Hatch's years of service - so Joseph and his friends got a pic with Orrin - 

And some other people that were at the party, like the Utah Governor and MITT ROMNEY! Isn't that fun! Joseph just hanging out at a party with his BFFs -

Mitt really would have been such a great President for this country. My worries and lamentation over his loss to Obama and Trumps election are not out of control right now. I don't worry about it. But I also haven't followed most of the new for over a year, except for a few things that might go viral on facebook or things that Corey tells me. And life goes on. After 8 years of Obama and a year of Trump and we are still united under the US flag, so that's good. 

Anyway, back to Joseph's teeth. He's doing good. My mother brought over pizza tonight for us and my sister and her kids that were hanging out at our house. Joseph decided to put a slice of pizza in the blender so he could partake of it's goodness, even with his inability to open his mouth wide or chew.

 

 It blended very well. Will it blend? Yes, pizza blends.

 Joseph was pretty excited and gets a bowl. His siblings are laughing and gagging at it. Hyrum, our vegan "Gross! Little Ceasars is already disgusting enough, but blending it?!?!" He opened the blender lid and shrugs off their comments as he matter of factly states - "Smells like pizza...." Mel laughed at Joseph's excitement.

Even Ethan was repulsed. That's just not right Joseph!

Getting the last of it out of the pitcher -

Moment of truth...

And he proclaimed it totally satisfactory, it was just what he was going for - pizza that he wouldn't have to chew. Day 1 of wisdom tooth post surgery done! Good job Joseph, looks like you're gonna make it through.

Tropical Day

So, at the high school, it's some kind of spirit week in preparation for the WAMA dance this weekend. Monday was pajama day. TODAY was Tropical day. Ethan is a student body officer, thus he tries to take the "show your school pride" up a notch from the typical student. Here he is in his full glory after coming home from a day in the tropics.

How did Ethan achieve such a great look you might ask? Well, last night Melodie took Ethan to the store so he could buy some Loreal bronzing lotion - "L'Oréal Paris Sublime Bronze" to be exact. Last night he started caking it on. And we were all laughing at him. This morning we were still laughing, it was pretty funny. Ethan comparing his fake tan with Joseph's wintery-white skin.

Looking good Ethan! He said that at school he got called Trump, Cheeto, Dorito, and carrot.

For carpool on Tuesdays, Joseph brings home the jr. high kids. So while they were waiting for the jr. high to let out for the day, Ethan and Mel ran in to see their favorite teacher, Mr. Arnell. Mel said Arnell took one look at Ethan and then was jokingly banging his head against the wall. "Arnell, you should get a spray tan!" Ethan joked. "I would if I could look THAT good!! You have no blotches AT ALL" he teased (Eth did have blotches). Funny. Kids at the jr. high thought it was a serious tan, and he got lots of stares. There was a cop coming in to the school as they walked out, he looked at Ethan and said "Ooops!" as in "That tan got messed up, huh! Oops!" Anyway, it was really funny. He didn't take a shower this morning, not wanting to risk rubbing off any of his bronze color. But he took a good long bath after he got home. It didn't come off much, but the overall tone does look a bit more even.

So that's that. A few other tidbits - I had two sit down dinners the past two days, yay. Last night I made this Kidney Bean and Lentil Dal, it was so good and the house still smelled delicious this morning. I love Indian Food. We had an alfredo pasta tonight. Corey went to a jazz game tonight again, he got 2 tickets from work, he took Lily. It was a nice day, the kids played outside in the front yard. Not tropical weather, but it was nice, we're ready for spring!

Baby Headphones

Daniel was a very good baby on the plane home yesterday. I think most people were nervous to sit by us, but Daniel got lots of praise from strangers when the flight was over. "What a good baby!" and "He didn't make a peep!" He did actually peep a few times on the flight to San Diego and on the two flights home, but overall he really did great. The few times when he did start to get restless, Corey hurried and put his big head phones on him.

The Phantom of the Opera was Daniel's first album put on for his listening pleasure, but Corey confessed "I put it on shuffle... Hope it doesn't mess up the story line for him."

(which made me laugh)

When Daniel made a kinda pained expression in his sleep, Corey commented "The pursed lips are because the 2nd clarinet is a little flat..."

The headphones didn't quite fit him. But luckily Daniel doesn't have a neck, so his shoulders helped keep them over his ears.

Every so often his look reminded me of this part (1:58) on the "Not the Future" song... "Cyborg with no big boy words to say..." But from this video you can see that he actually does have quite a bit to say...

That is one of three videos I took on my phone as I captured a small bit of his 20 minutes of squawking in our hotel room on Saturday evening. I think he was trying to tell me that he wanted us to turn off the Alaskan Bush People that was on in the other room. Corey kinda got sucked into that one this trip. Then came to find out the whole thing is fake, who knew? Sadly, probably the only reality show on tv right now that isn't fake is the news reports on President Trump!

Tijuana Temple

We went to Tijuana today. First off let me share something both Corey and I learned today: it is not Ti-a-juana - not your Aunt Juana (TIA Juana) it's just TI - Ti-juana. Good to know. So apparently Corey's been thinking about how beautiful the Tijuana temple is and thought if we were ever in San Diego, we should go see it. So we did. We didn't want to take an Uber to the border cause we'd have to take bring a carseat for Daniel, so instead we wrapped him in the baby wrap, walked down to the closest transit stop and got on the rail and took it to the last stop of San Ysidro. Got off, walked down a causeway...

...then through a revolving door/gate (possible point of no return) and we did it - we walked across the border to Mexico! Mexican officials were there to look over passports and giving the ok for all us travelers to enter. We were just a little nervous about it. It was easy enough to leave, hope we're able to get back in! It's fun to do something new. We got attacked by a hoard of cab drivers and finally one of them talked us into his car. Corey wanted to get an Uber but these guys were pretty persistent... "I don't have cash..." "I take you to ATM! Very close, it's easy" "I want to use my credit card, it's already set up on Uber..." "I give you good deal!" Okay fine. I just had Daniel on my lap. The cab driver, Cleofarro (like Egypt he said: cleopatra and pharoh) drove us to the temple. We passed their little Cristo statue - you could see it from the freeway.

He said it's Rio de Janiero's little brother Jesus. The temple was beautiful. 

I changed and went in to do some work. It was 1:30. I was greeted by a few people who asked what I needed. "I was just coming to go to the temple..." "We are closed." Apparently they take a temple siesta from 1-5. Too bad for us. No temple work today. So we took turns holding Daniel...

...as we also took turns walking around outside. 

Such awesome plants, reminded me of my mission. Desert plants are super cool. 

This one below is like a cactus lettuce or something?

Or like ocean coral? Weird and cool. It was super windy. A "tormento" was on it's way. Corey did a good job visiting with the locals. He has a gift for that. Corey had one sentence he was sure to tell every Mexican we met: "Yo no vote por Trump." Just making sure they know we have nothing against them or the wall that might soon be between us. We asked one of our new friends to take our picture~

Then we called Cleofarro to come pick us up and take us back to the border. Nice guy. So we've survived thus far, lets see if Uncle Sam lets us back in. 

A few last images of Mexico that let us know we're in Latin America.

This was kinda funny too - a sign, ripped and torn and flapping in the wind, printed with the saying "Tijana Te Quiero" and underneath: An intitiative for the betterment of... something something...

Well, that was fun Mexico, see you again soon. 

Back in the US, where we have lots of unused pay phones with the nice touch of having the receiver attached

On the Metro. Daniel is tired of being strapped to me.

Time to play with Dad! 

Back to the hotel. Did I mention that last night we went to bed at 8:30? And I woke up at 8:30 this morning! 12 hours baby! Nothing like partying like 40 year olds on vacay!

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.