Scott & Laura's Wedding

On Nov. 13th my youngest brother got married. It was a pretty short courtship. (They met a little over 5 months ago.) But I guess when it's right, it's right! My friend Kylee was the photographer and she did a fab job.
It was a really fun day. A little cold, but at least we didn't get rain or wind...much. (This next collage is just for Kristin, who will have something sarcastic to say about my awesome relationship with Paul...which she's clearly jealous of! ;) haha!)

Congratulations Scott and Laura.
Love you both a lot.

Paul's Birthday Week

Monday night we went to my parents house for dinner. My dad cooked Paul's requests: Dutch oven ribs, mashed potatoes, and Carrot cake. It was so good!

Tuesday was his birthday. Scott and Laura took him to breakfast. I picked him up at 12:30 and took him to lunch, then we drove to Lava Hot Springs, ID and sat in the hot pools. It was so nice! It was barely sprinkling, the sun had gone down and it was really cold and foggy. It made the hot springs perfect! Then we had dinner at a little restaurant in Idaho, and drove home and he opened his presents!
Tonight Erik and Deb are coming over for dinner and cake and ice cream, to celebrate one more time with us. He's so lucky to have me... ;)

It's been a busy week! Oh, and yesterday Scott and Laura got married! Those pictures will come soon.

Happy Birthday Paul!

11.11.08

I love you sweetie pie...I'm so lucky...

Prop 8

This is gonna be a short post, because I don't have much to say. Everything that is going on right now that started at the LA temple and made its way to SLC last night really makes me sad. I've been reading all about this online and I'm stopping now because I'm overwhelmed. This blog is getting a lot of traffic after it was on local news last night.

The Mormon church is not anti-gay, they are pro-traditional marriage. There's a difference. I don't agree with everything mormonism teaches, but I respect it.

I personally don't feel that if I'm married to a man, and the man that lives next door is also married to a man, that that takes away from, or makes my marriage less real or meaningful. But church and state need to remain separate.

This website has a lot of pictures from the protest on Thursday night.
It's sad to see, and I think the anger is a little misdirected. I believe the LDS church was right in getting involved with the "Yes on 8" campaign, as were the Catholics and Evangelicals who were also very involved and supportive. I know some of my readers won't agree, but this is my blog... This dust too, will settle.

CHANGE

I think John McCain's concession speech was very gracious and I believe he is a genuine man who really loves America and is concerned for the people. And I appreciate his encouraging words in accepting Obama as his president. I also appreciate Obama's kind words about McCain. As I laid in bed last night I thought about what a really historic night it was. Not just because of President-elect Obama, but because of a lot of significant things that happened in this election. Millions came out to "make their voice heard", and I'm confident that the majority agreed that we're in trouble and there is need for a change. It's good to be a small part of history. Maybe being in the moment, it doesn't hit us how big it is. But it is. I've been to a gas station and a grocery store already this morning and I was amazed at all the news papers being bought. I just jumped on the band wagon and grabbed the last one at the gas station. I think having this paper in my scrapbook years down the road will make me glad. Also, at the gym it was overwhelming listening to everyone's hopes, fears, concerns, excitement, etc. about the new presidency. I definitely have election fatigue, and am glad it's over. This was a hard fought election and there are a lot of unhappy people, I'm sure. But I feel this is a time where we will see the need to really come together as a nation. We're at a time of real crisis. We're fighting 2 wars overseas and we're in the middle of an economic crisis. I think people are realizing that we can't afford not to come together. There has been real hostility in this election, but I feel like when we calm down and look at the challenges we're facing, we have no option but to try to unite, even in our differences.
I was more into this election than any other. I felt pretty educated on both candidates positions on the important things. I'm no Anderson Cooper, but I followed it pretty closely. I don't agree completely with Obama, but more so than I did with McCain. He is our new president, and I trust that he will work hard and tirelessly for us. I love this quote from his acceptance speech:

"I may not have won your vote, but I hear your cries for help, and I am your president."

-Barack Obama

I trust that the dust will settle, the angry people will have time to think and breathe deeply again. And we will come together, we have to.

May God Bless America.

NaBloPoMo minus one...at least.

I became a blogger in late November last year and I remember seeing a lot of bloggers doing this. I decided if I was still blogging a year later I'd try it. Well, I missed the first day of it...and while this is going to be a fun full month (Paul's Birthday, Scott's wedding, Melanie's baby, the Celine Dion concert, and holiday fun), I feel like I probably can't do it...but maybe I'll try. I'm also a little unmotivated to try it because of this good point made by Kathy last year about NaBloPoMo. We'll see...

Decision '08...finally!

I'm so excited to be electing a new president in 2 days...I guess. I'm just really over Bush, so let's move on. I don't not like McCain. But I think of him as a bishop or pastor, and Sara Palin is the Primary President or the Compassionate Service Committee head. She'd be so good at organizing meals for new moms or sick grandpas. I kinda like the Obama/Biden combo these days, not a ton, but we don't have a lot of options. It's interesting living in such a Repub state where I kinda feel like people think its crazy to think and follow the debates, etc., instead of just going with the republican, whoever it is or whatever their political views and agendas are. I feel like republicans in general, (not all) and a lot here in Utah need to be reminded that democrats are in fact Americans as well. And on the news a couple days ago there was a story about a team of BYU Democrats that are receiving a lot of grief about their political views. Other students are telling them that they are not following the Book of Mormon. These stories don't offend me, they just still surprise me. But I have heard comments and other 'presentations', if you will, in religious circles, both Mormon and evangelical that have really bothered me. Oh well. I won't go into it, this was enough of a vent for me. I'm just really excited for it to be over! And overall, I'm just happy that there is anyone who is willing to take on the mess that we're in and has been created and getting worse the past 8 years.
Just vote! Go HERE if you have questions about voting locations, etc. And lastly, I think our country needs to remember something that's been said millions of times, and seen by all of us, probably daily, but is largely overlooked these days...when we really need it most. He's still in control.