March Madness

I know that title is horribly overused, but the end of March really was quite crazy.  Brigham was sick for days, Nathaniel had a concert, and we had two funerals within a week of each other.  Thankfully, Spring break helped us recover from all the madness.  So, here is our March.

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We have this tree in the backyard that's tall and skinny and kind of in the way.  It's useless as a shade tree because it's so narrow, but for two weeks of the year it has beautiful yellow blossoms.  Well, Jaaromy noticed that it had started leaning.  Rather than wait to see where and when it would fall, we decided to cut it down.

 It's not huge so it wasn't too difficult.

 As you can see, there aren't a lot of roots holding it in place.  We wiggled it around like a loose tooth until we could see where it was hanging on.

Turns out there was just one root holding it up.  Also, this picture is misleading.  It looks like a fairly thick root but right after this point along the root it got really thin, maybe an inch and a half to two inches.  So, I'm glad we cut it down before the wind knocked it down.

Here's a picture of it's blossoms, for old times sake.

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Brigham sure looks cool with his roll up sunglasses someone got from the eye doctor.

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I got tickets to Aida last Fall and we finally got to go.  This was our first live opera and it was super fun.

Our seats weren't too bad, either.

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So, we got an email saying that we might not have rehearsal because our conductor had to go out of town on short notice.  Well, a substitute was found, but once tempted with a night off, my basses had decided that staying home sounded nice.  Not me!

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Okay, I know this is weird but...

This is how I like to eat mini M&M's.  It usually doesn't end up this evenly split, that's why I had to take a picture.  It was so close to perfect!

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 My Grandma Harding passed away on the 15th.  She was 102 and one of my very favorite people.  I'm so excited for her to see her family.  She outlasted all her siblings by several years, it must have been a wonderful reunion.  The morning of her funeral was super snowy where we lived but was just a little rainy in Provo.  The service was beautiful.

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The same day as my grandma's funeral was the neighborhood caucus.  It was super fun.  I had to take the minutes of the meeting because our precinct chair and vice-chair had both unaffiliated themselves so it was left to the secretary to run the meeting.  She did a great job even though she was nervous.  It was fun to vote for the presidential candidate since we usually wait until the primary.  That's lame, doing it now feels like it might actually mean something.  Good times!

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Jaaromy's Grandma Hand died on the 22nd, the same day as my grandma's funeral.  She started going downhill at the same time my grandma did and I was worried they would go at the same time.  They were close but it was doable.  It was a beautiful service as well.  We are well acquainted with death, it seems.  We were able to visit before she died and I'm so glad we did.

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We almost didn't color eggs this year.  It had been such a busy couple of weeks that I was just exhausted and I didn't realize how close Easter had come and I wasn't prepared.  I decided to make a quick trip to the store for the rest of the Easter things I needed on Saturday night.  I'm glad I did, it worked out pretty well.

Just a boring regular egg dyeing kit.  Perfect for us.

This egg cracked in the boiling process and I was just going to save it for deviled eggs but I decided it looked like it was sticking out it's tongue so I had to make the most of it.

Jonathan made a Toon Link egg and was very proud of it.

It looks just like him!

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My parents invited us over for dinner Sunday night so we had our Easter lesson for FHE the next day.  That works out pretty well for us and we do it pretty much every year.

 We had our special Easter Egg Hunt inside because it was too wet outside.

Then we opened up each egg and read the scripture that went along with the item inside.  The last egg is empty and I love that.

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So that was March.  Very unexpectedly busy.  Nathaniel's concert was the same week as the funerals.  Also, the YM/YW activity for that week was an etiquette dinner that the boys had to wear their church clothes for.  Then we had the viewing for Grandma Hand on Friday and the funeral on Saturday.  So, Nathaniel had to wear nice clothes every day that week except for Thursday.  Brigham was sick almost that whole week.  Thankfully, he was better by the second funeral.  Grandpa Hand passed away yesterday so we will have another funeral coming up soon in April.  One of my nephews noticed that Grandma and Grandpa Zierse died in March too.  I guess that's the best time to go.

I wonder what else April will bring.

Mike Lee's Welcome Home Rally

I was doing so well catching up on my blog and now it's been like three weeks.  To be fair, not much has happened.  I hadn't even uploaded any new pictures in a while.  But now that I have, I do have a few things to share.

I went to a rally to welcome Mike Lee home from D.C.  It was kind of a last minute event but the turn out was great.  I had heard that the opposition party had sent out an email to get people to come and protest.  I certainly couldn't have them outnumber his supporters so I went.  I tried to get my brothers to come too, but they were all lazy busy.  Apparently, they don't care as much about our country as I do.  When I got there I realized that I didn't need to worry.  There were many hundreds of people, if not thousands.

 This is the guy who was standing in front of me.  His wife was with him and had a sign.  She saw one of the handful of protesters and wanted to go and stand by him with her sign and he calmly and quietly said something to to effect of "No, honey, it's okay."  I really do love these people and I'm happy to count myself as one of them.

It was good to hear all the speakers.  It turns out I'm not very good at yelling out in a crowd.  The best I can do is a short "Woo!"  After that my voice cracks.  I guess I should practice or something.

Another bonus is that I now know the song "What Does the Fox Say?".  I had only heard about it until now.

Ignorance is bliss slavery

I love to read about politics and current events. No surprise there to those who know me. Lately, I've been feeling anxious that I seem to be the only one in my family(minus Kevin and Shaela, perhaps) that sees what's going on. We are in the Last Days and Satan is building up his kingdom. We all know this was going to happen, but did we consider what that might look like? I think too many of us seem to have a watered down picture of Satan in our minds. Yes, he's out there trying to get kids to do drugs and good Mormons to not do their Home and Visiting Teaching. He's also trying to destroy the family and I think most people are aware of that. We know he is trying to take away our Agency by tricking us into destructive habits. But have we considered that he is trying to take away our Agency externally as well? Satan's plan was to force us to be good so that we will all be saved collectively. We know this is a lie because you can't get something for nothing. We can't gain Exaltation without putting in the work ourselves.

In D&C 101:77-80 it says:
77 According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the brights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;
78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
79 Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.
80 And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood.

Heavenly Father wants us to be free to exercise our Agency. With His inspiration our Founding Fathers gave us the Constitution which, in turn, gave us the freest society in the history of the world. This was the only environment that His Gospel could be restored and also flourish in. This Constitution not only gave us the Restored Gospel but also unprecedented economic and technological advancement. The Founding Fathers lived and worked similar to every society over the last 5000 years, but in just two hundred short years look how far we've come. All because of freedom.

One major reason why this works is that the Declaration of Independence makes it clear that we get our rights from God.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The Founders actually wanted it to say "Life, Liberty, and Property" but they were worried that some people would use that as an excuse to continue slavery. The government exists merely to protect these God-given rights. Too many of our government leaders act as if they are the ones who grant us our rights. Like the newly created "right" to Health Care. You can not have a right to someone else's labor. Otherwise that would make them a slave to you. The other problem with government-granted rights is that what the government gives, the government can take away.

The whole reason I started this post was because of this video. I think it perfectly illustrates how far we have fallen.


If people don't pay attention to what is going on around them, they will be taken advantage of. Power corrupts and if not kept in check it will, by it's very nature, take our freedoms away.

"If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.... If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed." -Thomas Jefferson

Thanks for reading my long post. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm very anxious about where our country is going and I feel like I'm the only one who is noticing.

Salt Lake County Republican Convention

In case you didn't already know, I went to the caucus meetings and was chosen as a county delegate for my precinct. Although, part of it was because no one else wanted to. I would have liked to be a state delegate but I wouldn't have been able to attend the state convention on May 8th since it's my anniversary and I have a Primary activity to go to. Maybe next time.

This has been a fun experience. I started to realize why there weren't any volunteers. There is a lot of pressure to know what's going on and who the candidates are which means you have to go to town hall meetings and meet and greets. I did most of my research online since I have limited free time, but I was able to go to a few. Even the convention itself is time consuming, and for those of you who know me well will understand the sacrifice I made to be at the South Towne Convention Center at 8:00 on a Saturday morning. That's a 7:00 wake up time, people!

When it came down to it, it wasn't really that hard to get up early because I was really excited to go. When I got there at 8:00 I was able to wander around and talk and listen to the candidates. Which was good, because they're all really good people and it was really hard to choose between them. I ran into Jaaromy's aunt Penny and his dad who is a state delegate and so didn't really need to be there but he came for the first part just to learn more about the candidates, and also many of the state candidates were there too. I'm glad Penny was there. I was prepared to go through the day all by myself, but luckily, I didn't have to. Plus, it was helpful to hear what the other delegates were thinking. I think a lot of them were having just as hard a time deciding as I was.

We also had to register with our Legislative District. I got my ballots and my credential.


So after the mingling and registering, we sat down to listen to the speeches. There was a lot of committee type stuff ie: motion to do such and such, I second that, and so on. After that we got to hear from the candidates we were voting on. I'm glad we did, because I had gone into this part thinking I knew who I was going to vote for and in both cases I changed my mind. I say both because there were only two offices that had challengers. All the other candidates were running unopposed. But we heard from them anyway, which is good. Come November if any of you have any questions about some of the names on the ballot, I can tell you about them.

The state candidates also spoke and there was not a lot of love for Bob Bennett. One of his volunteers cornered me and Penny afterwords and we told her why we didn't like him. She didn't make a very convincing case, and yet, somehow I ended up with a Bob Bennett T-shirt. I don't think I'll be wearing it anytime soon. Speaking of T-shirts, I ended up with three!

While we waited for the ballots to be counted, we broke off into Leg Districts and since my representative, Ron Bigelow, is running unopposed we were able to ask him questions. I had never heard him speak before or even seen him. I've just heard his name. But I was really impressed with him. He answered all our questions honestly and it sounds like he's really trying to reign in spending and keep government small. If only for that, I'm glad I came. We really should know who our representatives are.

Well, in the end, both of the guys I voted for won. Although one of them didn't win with over 60% of the vote so their race will go to the Primary. I'm glad because I had the hardest time deciding who to vote for in this race so it will be good to learn more about them before the Primary in June. If any of you are registered Republicans I hope you'll vote in the Primary.

Civic Duty

Saturday I took Nathaniel to the Code Red rally at the state capitol. All joking aside, the reason I was depressed Friday was because of the looming Health Care vote, that and also that I'm still not pregnant. Anywho, so I was feeling helpless so I decided I should go to the rally so that at least I could say that I did something. It was really hard to get out of my comfy comfy bed, but the thought of taking Nathaniel along with me helped get me moving. Plus, it was early enough that Nathaniel and I could stop at McDonald's and get some breakfast. I'm NEVER out and about early enough for the breakfast menu, so that was a little extra motivation for me as well. Nathaniel was a little reluctant to go, but after explaining why I wanted to go he understood why we make these sacrifices. He told me that he doesn't want to go and also that he does want to go. His words: "I want to play on the computer but I also want to be free." So he decided to go with me.


So here we are on our way to the rally. I was worried about parking, but we were early enough that it wasn't a problem. Plus, it was a last minute rally so it wasn't as well attended. More people came later and all total there were probably a couple hundred people there. Not too bad.


Nathaniel is a little agoraphobic so I like to take pictures like these so he can see them later.


It was neat to be there. We said the Pledge of Allegiance, and sang the national anthem.


We heard from Mike Lee who is running for Sen Bennett's senate seat. Also in that last picture is a lady holding a flag with the Title of Liberty on it. I thought that the flag was really cool. I just wish she hadn't been standing right in front of me blocking my view.


We also heard from Cherilyn Eager who is also running for Sen. Bennett's senate seat. I haven't decided who I'm supporting yet, but either one would be a huge step up from Bennett.

After the rally we decided to look around inside the capitol. I don't think Nathaniel has ever been inside and I haven't been inside in probably over a decade.


The murals are so cool! Nathaniel had to sit down to look up, but look he did and he thought it was cool too.


And just in case you're reading this, Julie G., I included this picture so you could see the seagulls painted on the dome. It's kind of hard to see, but they're there.


Nathaniel had a lot of fun looking around. He had to hug me to look up at the sky lights.


We even saw Brigham Young. I said to Nathaniel: "There's Brigham Young." He said: "But Brigham Young is dead." Then he saw the statue and understood. Sorry it's kind of blurry, all I had with me was my phone. I had meant to bring my real camera with me, but I forgot. Oh well.


There were these cool tiles on the floor. We thought they were just cool, but when we went downstairs to see the displays and paintings of the Utah governors, we noticed that they were sort of sky lights. We could see people walking around above us. It was neat.


So much to look at. Nathaniel said that the rally part was boring but that looking around inside the capitol was fun. We were able to talk a lot about how government works and other things too. It was nice. Nathaniel loves to learn and genuinely enjoyed looking around and talking about Utah history and government. We should do this more often.

Thanks for sticking around for the whole post, sorry if it's a little long.

Gratitude Campaign

I saw this today and thought I'd share. I know, TWO YouTube videos in two days? Crazy. I am totally one of those people who wouldn't say anything but then would wish I had. Here's a way to do it that's very subtle but very powerful.

Beware of Earth Day

So, in commemoration of Earth Day I thought I'd share a scripture I read in Revelations a few weeks ago.

According to the study guide the falling star represents Satan and the locusts are his armies.

1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

Now, I'm not saying that Satan is going to raise up an army of environmentalists in the last days, but I'm not NOT saying it either.

One Census to rule them all

I hope you don't mind if I post two political posts in a row, I didn't really have an idea for a non-political post and this was too important to pass up.

I just read an article by Orson Scott Card, who is a Democrat by the way, that talked about the Census being moved from the Commerce Department to the White House by the Obama Administration. I've heard about this issue before but this article described the situation the best. I know this might sound boring but this could be the most important issue going on right now. The Census is what determines population and whether states loose or gain representatives in congress. The Census has always been done by the Commerce Department because it is a neutral organization and what they do is very transparent to the public. By moving it to the White House under direction of Rahm Emanuel it is now a political issue and it is not required to be transparent. That way, they can estimate persons rather than actually counting them. Can you imagine if President Bush had put Karl Rove in charge of the Census?

Obama's approval rating has been going down ever since he took office and he wants to make sure he stays in office. By manipulating the Census he can "adjust" the numbers so that states that traditionally vote Democrat will stay that way and maybe even get another representative. And the states that traditionally vote Republican might find that their population is shrinking and they don't need as many representatives. This is a tool to grab power and take away freedom.

Even if you don't agree with my opinion on why Obama is doing this, it is still in the best interest of the country to keep the Census bipartisan and transparent. If you love freedom and democracy this move by Obama can not happen. I hope you all will read the article. Just in case you don't but you still want to do something, at the end of the article he suggests a way we can stop this. "Lobby your state governments to file suit in the Supreme Court, challenging the right of the President to control the Census. And if that doesn't work, lobby your state legislatures to call for a new Constitutional Convention in order to pass a Constitutional Amendment that requires that the Census be conducted by an independent agency, which is allowed to count only living people who are actually located and named, with no "estimates" and no fudging."

Thanks for reading and I hope we are all willing to fight to keep our freedom. Never have people been so free as they are here in America and I pray we will stay that way.

Politics as usual

So I've sort of been avoiding talking about politics because I don't want things to be too heavy, but so many things are going on right now that are fundamentally changing life in America as we know it. We've strayed so far from the principles that our country was founded on and I don't know if we'll ever be able to return.

The biggest thing going on right now is the "Stimulus" package. It's being rushed through Congress with barely a debate and our president is scarring everyone into voting for it with language like "we may never recover" and "global catastrophe". It's amazing the junk that is in this bill. I've heard estimates as high as 35% of it will actually go to creating jobs. That's the highest estimate! The rest is favors to special interest groups.

Unfortunately there's also some policy changes that are in the bill that will put in place the tools necessary to change us into a Socialist country. This is the reason I have decided to post this today. I've decided to post about political happenings as I read them that I think you should know about.

The one that struck me today as really scary is an item in the "stimulus" that puts more government control over our healthcare. This item puts in place a National Coordinator of Health Information Technology that will “monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective.” I don't know about you but that scares me. They can decide whether or not you get treatment based on cost and whether or not they think it will work. What if I have a terminal illness and they decide I'm a burden on the state?

Maybe it will never go that far but with Obama as president it won't be for lack of trying on his part. I'd like to encourage everyone who is reading this to become politically active. We need to know what is going on in our government. The Founding Fathers knew that our success as a nation depended on an informed public. We need to elect officials that we can trust and who know that they work for us, not the other way around. If we are complacent then we deserve what we get.

Update: Most of you have asked where you can go to read it. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to post a link, so here you go: http://readthestimulus.org It's not an easy read. It's over 1,000 pages long and very few people in both houses of Congress have even read it. But that didn't stop them from voting for it!

Update: Let me clarify. A few members of Congress read the original draft of the stimulus. The House and Senate each had their own versions of the bill that they voted on. Then they write up another version that they each vote on and then the president signs. NO ONE read that version.