Grateful

Holidays are for family, sharing your love, and expressing gratitude for your blessings. Tonight gratitude for a wonderful family has been on my mind.

I was blessed to be born into the most amazing family. My parents made so many sacrifices throughout my life to ensure that we had a close family bond. There is nothing more important in this life than our family. Friends (even close ones) come and go but it is our family that is really there when life gets hard, when you need someone to turn to. Even though I don't get to see all of my brothers and sisters very often, they mean to world to me and I miss them so much. Most of my brothers and sisters live far away. Tiffini and John live in New York City, Brian and Thip and Matt and Dara live in Texas, Kyle and Jade are in Eagle right around the corner from my parents, and Kaela lives in Logan. I wish that we all lived closer together so that we could see eachother more often. When we get together there is lots of laughter, basketball, football watching, delicious food, "friendly debating", and teasing. It doesn't look like we're all going to get together this Thanksgiving or Christmas, but they will all be on my mind. Love you guys!!The sisters minus Dara at Matt and Dara's wedding June 2006

The brothers-Brian, Kyle, Matt

The other day as I was doing some closet organizing Penny followed me in and made a little home. She's been whining at the closet door for the last couple of days hoping to return to her little cave.

Homecoming 2008 with Tate, Jodi, and Kylie and Spencer. SO fun!Halloween at Jodi's house!

This cowboy and Indian are in love.

Is this not the CUTEST baby you've ever seen! A couple weeks ago I got to babysit my niece Tayler in Salt Lake. It was so much fun. She is such a doll.

The stakes are too high...

I have had so much on my mind lately. The changes that are happening all around us with regards to the nation's changing values, economic and financial state of the country, and the presidential election are quite frightening. Politics has always been something that has gotten me fired up-but never have I felt like the stakes have been this high in an election. I just can't seem to comprehend that so many people could think SO completely opposite of me in matters that are so important to me. Here is part of an email that my Dad wrote to my family along with wise words from a Christian pianist named Huntley Brown. Also, here is a video that I got from a friend's blog (thanks Kim) that brings the major issues to surface. Please take a moment to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwLY_HRt-AM

To those of you who support Obama, and plan on voting for him, please be open minded and listen to what he really believes and espouses. He is good looking, charismatic, speaks as well as any politician I have ever heard, and it is easy to agree with him as the candidate for change. We as a nation, do have our problems and challenges, and change is needed. But Obama's change is socialist, very far to the left, wealth re-distributing, abortion supporting, and truthfully, very unsettling. He has been less than truthful about the influence his associations with Ayers, Rev. Wright , et al, have and still do have on his beliefs. I am disturbed by his comments about "white" America, wealth redistribution, that the constitutuon is flawed, his voting and legislation (and lack of) record, and the unbelievable disproportionate press coverage for Obama and against McCain.

Why I Can't Vote For Obama
By Huntley Brown
Dear Friends, A few months ago I was asked for my perspective on Obama, I sent out an email with a few points. With the election just around the corner I decided to complete my perspective. Those of you on my e-list have seen some of this before but it's worth repeating...

First I must say whoever wins the election will have my prayer support. Obama needs to be commended for his accomplishments but I need to explain why I will not be voting for him.

Many of my friends process their identity through their blackness. I process my identity through Christ. Being a Christian (a Christ follower) means He leads I follow. I can't dictate the terms He does because He is the leader.

I can't vote black because I am black; I have to vote Christian because that's who I am. Christian first, black second. Neither should anyone from the other ethnic groups vote because of ethnicity. 200 years from now I won't be asked if I was black or white. I will be asked if I knew Jesus and accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, human cloning to name a few, wrong economic concerns will soon not matter.

We need to follow Martin Luther King's words, don't judge someone by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I don't know Obama so all I can go off is his voting record. His voting record earned him the title of the most liberal senator in the US Senate in 2007.

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Obama: Most Liberal Senator in 2007 (01/31/2008)

To beat Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton as the most liberal senator, takes some doing. Obama accomplished this feat in 2 short years. I wonder what would happen to America if he had four years to work with.

There is a reason Planned Parenthood gives him a 100 % rating. There is a reason the homosexual community supports him. There is a reason Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Hamas etc. love him. There is a reason he said he would nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. There is a reason he voted against the infanticide bill. There is a reason he voted No on the constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. There is a reason he voted No on banning partial birth abortion. There is a reason he voted No on confirming Justices Roberts and Alito. These two judges are conservatives and they have since overturned partial birth abortion. The same practice Obama wanted to continue.

Let's take a look at the practice he wanted to continue

The 5 Step Partial Birth Abortion procedures:

A. Guided by ultrasound, the abortionist grabs the baby's leg with forceps. (Remember this is a live baby)
B. The baby's leg is pulled out into the birth canal.
C. The abortionist delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head.
D. The abortionist jams scissors into the baby's skull. The scissors are then opened to enlarge the hole.
E. The scissors are removed and a suction catheter is inserted. The child's brains are sucked out, causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby is then removed.

God help him. There is a reason Obama opposed the parental notification law.

Think about this: You can't give a kid an aspirin without parental notification but that same kid can have an abortion without parental notification. This is insane.

There is a reason he went to Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years.

Obama tells us he has good judgment but he sat under Jeremiah Wright teaching for 20 years. Now he is condemning Wright's sermons. I wonder why now?

Obama said Jeremiah Wright led him to the Lord and discipled him. A disciple is one in training. Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19 - 20 'Go and make disciples of all nations.' This means reproduce yourself. Teach people to think like you, walk like you; talk like you believe what you believe etc. The question I have is what did Jeremiah Wright teach him?

Would you support a White President who went to a church which has tenets that said they have a ...

1. Commitment to the White Community
2. Commitment to the White Family
3. Adherence to the White Work Ethic
4. Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community.
5. Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
6. Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
7. Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.

Would you support a President who went to a church like that?

Just change the word from white to black and you have the tenets of Obama's former church. If President Bush was a member of a church like this, he would be called a racist. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been marching outside.

This kind of church is a racist church. Obama did not wake up after 20 years and just discovered he went to a racist church. The church can't be about race. Jesus did not come for any particular race. He came for the whole world.

A church can't have a value system based on race. The churches value system has to be based on biblical mandate. It does not matter if itʼs a white church or a black church it's still wrong. Anyone from either race that attends a church like this would never get my vote.

Obama's former Pastor Jeremiah Wright is a disciple of liberal theologian James Cone, author of the 1970 book A Black Theology of Liberation. Cone once wrote: 'Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him.

Cone is the man Obama's mentor looks up to. Does Obama believe this?

So what does all this mean for the nation?

In the past when the Lord brought someone with the beliefs of Obama to lead a nation it meant one thing - judgment.

Read 1 Samuel 8 when Israel asked for a king. First God says in 1 Samuel 8:9 'Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.'

Then God says

1 Samuel 8:18 ' When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.' 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.' 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, 'Listen to them and give them a king.'

Here is what we know for sure.

God is not schizophrenic

He would not tell one person to vote for Obama and one to vote for McCain. As the scripture says, a city divided against itself cannot stand, so obviously many people are not hearing from God.

Maybe I am the one not hearing but I know God does not change and Obama contradicts many things I read in scripture so I doubt it.

For all my friends who are voting for Obama can you really look God in the face and say; Father based on your word, I am voting for Obama even though I know he will continue the genocidal practice of partial birth abortion. He might have to nominate three or four Supreme Court justices, and I am sure he will be nominating liberal judges who will be making laws that are against you. I also know he will continue to push for homosexual rights, even though you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this. I know I can look the other way because of the economy.

I could not see Jesus agreeing with many of Obama's positions. Finally I have two questions for all my liberal friends.

Since we know someone's value system has to be placed on the nation,

1. Whose value system should be placed on the nation.

2. Who should determine that this is the right value system for the nation?

Blessings, Huntley Brown

P.S. This email from Huntley Brown is verified and true. Here are two sources:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/huntleybrown.asp

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/o/Huntley-Brown-Obama.htm

2 lovely years!

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary and we are just as madly in love as our wedding day. What a wonderful two years it has been! Here are some pictures:






(Sorry some of these pictures aren't very good quality for online, but you get the gist)

Our cruise was planned for our anniversary so we just did sweet-thoughtful things for eachother rather than spending money. Chase wrote me a very sweet love letter. Included in it was a list of "Fun memories" from the past two years. Here are a few that he listed:
-Getting a Penny
-Trip to NY (flying trapeze)
-Six flags trip for track meets
-Christmas with the Enzlers
-Discovery of "Tom" (this one is an inside joke-story for another day)
-You were my nurse on Halloween
-Your graduation-shaking hands with Elder Perry
-Romantic Anniversary Inn (that was last year's anniversary getaway)
-Working all Summer with you selling pest control-you are so tough!
-Being two years married to my best friend!!

Can't wait for another billion trillion years of happiness together!!

cruise tales

Highlights of our CRUISE:

Getting there: left at 6:45am. 2 plane connections, missed the first-lost baggage, $2 drink on the plane (yeah no free drinks anymore OR peanuts) Arrive in Ft. Lauderdale: 10:52pm. luggage arrived the next day. (Goggles in my carry on were a desperate attempt to lighten our baggage at the ticket counter. I put them on to make Chase laugh. When he FINALLY looked over he couldn't stop laughing)

We made it to Ft. Lauderdale and stayed with my Great Aunt Peggy for a day. It was a ton of fun!Finally made it on the ship! luggage and everything!

The Carnival Imagination-4 days of FUN FUN FUN

Key West, Florida. There were random chickens running around!

The water was absolutely beautiful

(I am REALLY frusterated with Blogger pictures. I can never get them in the right order and half of my writing always turns into hyperlinks. anyone have any suggestions? For now I'm just going to split the posts into a few.)

Cruise tales: Part 2

We loved the animal towels each night. Jenny our stateroom attendant was the BEST!

This was called the "Lovers and Couples Party" There must not have been any lovers on the ship because it was just us and the live band...and the Virgin Pina Colada.

All ready to go to Cozumel!

We met a couple of Lamanites and wanted to get a picture with them

We took a Catamaran sailboat out from Cozumel for snorkeling and a private beach.

So cruises are great because 1. You get to lay out in the sun staring at the OCEAN ALL day long on comfortable chairs without sand. 2. You get delicious food anytime you want. 3. You walk out of your room and BAM=FUN.

Most of the time we just LOVED the cruise. At night we would run into some problems though. Everynight we would get all dressed up for fun and then had to wander in and out of the shows, comedy acts, kareoke parties, and dance parties because they were COMPLETELY discusting or innappropriate. So pretty much every night we ended up walking around looking at the GORGEOUS ocean. We have some very tender memories though of just talking about life and dreams with eachother though-and what better place than staring at one of Heavenly Father's most incredible creations?

We also spent a lot of time trying to get creative with pictures

How could anyone think that this was created by accident?

cruise tales: last part ( I promise)

Pretend these pictures aren't all mixed up. ok?

This was the "Lido deck" at night. The only problem was that the half that you can't see was always filled with drunk, smoking, half naked people. So we stayed away as much as possible.

Poor Chase got sea sick one night. Surprisingly the best medicine was to sit on the top deck in the wind and look/doze off at the ocean. I was sitting next to him at a table gobbling down the Mexican midnight buffet. ;)

Dinner in the Pride Dining Room. early seating.

Our favorite evening activity. Cuddling and talking overlooking the ocean.

Our private beach-and my red hat that I bargained from a Mexican

What could be better?

Favorite part of the trip: getting to spend ALL day every day with my Chase

Loading the ship after a fun day in Cozumel

Lastly, this was our home for the SEVEN hours we had to wait at the airport. Followed by a 4 hour flight, one hour layover, and another 2 hour flight. Arriving in SLC after 17 hours. ugh.

What a FUN trip! It really was wonderful.