Why I Support Governor Romney

One of the blogs I follow is Salsa Pie.  Caroline has great, creative ideas for family life, and I know you would love her blog.  It's on my side bar, if you want to check it out.

A couple of days ago she did a post on why she supports President Obama, and she graciously invited her readers to express their views, whether the same or different than hers.

Here was my comment:

This is so brave of you, Caroline!  I admire and respect you for expressing your views and inviting us to do so too, whether we agree with you or not.

I will be voting for Romney; I wasn't for or against him to begin with, but he's become my choice.  There are many reasons why I've decided this way, and I'll just share a few:  Obama believes that the government's role is much, much larger than I do; his record on the economy (which means he, by his own words, should be a one-term president) and other issues (where was he after his first election - not talking to the American people - he was enacting things like the bank bailouts, so quickly it made my head spin, and this makes his remarks about "more flexibility after the election," to the Russian leader, truly frightening; and he has not presented a plan for the next four years that is any different than the last four.

I share your experience of having major health issues, and I think tort reform would do more than anything else to make health care affordable.  I also share your view that insurance co. abuses need major correction.  That being said, I believe an improved economy would do the most to help out the uninsured.  We ourselves are uninsured, due to my husband's unemployment.

Anyway, those are a few of my thoughts.  Thank you for inviting us to share our opinions!

Diane

I would add to the above by saying that I disagree with Obama on social issues such as abortion (a mouse has more rights than an unborn baby, and I know this from actual experience) and gay marriage (the latter because it is changing the meaning of a word I hold sacred), his dishonesty in the debates (according to the fact checkers - including his statement that there will be no sequestration), his approach to foreign policy (distancing us from Israel and bad-mouthing America on visits to foreign countries).

Recent events have also influenced my views on Obama.  This is what I understand has happened, by verified reports:

Pres. Obama went on to bed on 9/11/2012, while our Libyan Embassy was being attacked and our Ambassador to Libya was being tortured and murdered.  There was a live feed of this 4-hour battle going to the State Dept.  Those people were killed in the last hour, and we had military help within 90 minutes of there. 

The next day, President Obama spoke in the Rose Garden about the attack.  Then he went on to talk about our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he talked about 9/11/01.  As part of that, he said that our nation won't let an act of terror change us.  He never used the term "terror" in association with the attacks on Libya.   Then he left for a Las Vegas fundraiser.

Over the next 12 days, neither he nor those in his administration referred to the Libyan attack as a terrorist act by an al-Queda-tied group, which it was.  They knew it was, within hours of the attack.  They instead talked about it as a spontaneous protest against an anti-Mohammed video posted on YouTube, and said it needed further investigation.  (I believe all this obfuscation was because the real information would disprove Obama's claim that he has tamed al-Queda.)

Now, due to pressure from Congress and news media, the truth is coming out.  

The events related to Libya, the running of arms to support bad actors around the world, his support of the Muslim Brotherhood (self-proclaimed Jihadist extremists), his former ties to Reverend Wright, and on and on, are not what I want from my president. 

Obama promised a transparent presidency, which has not happened.   He has failed to deliver on so many of the major promises of his 2008 campaign.  I had hope when he was elected president, but those hopes were dashed so fast.  Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier have spoken about their disappointment in him, with Belafonte saying that something is "wrong," and that with Obama, everything seems to be about "expediency."  (See Belafonte's appearance on Charlie Rose)

Governor Romney has a proven track record, he supports our military, and he is a good man.  He believes in individual achievement and bipartisan, team efforts.  I think he has far-and-away the best chance to return our country from overwhelming debt, weakness in the world, outrageously huge government and a 1984-ish nightmare.

Caroline responded to all the differing comments so kindly, and I greatly enjoyed reading all of it.

She inspired me to share my views, and I thank her.  She is such a great example!

The main thing is: learn, discuss, and get out and vote!

I love you!

xoxoxo

; )

Family Dinner

This past weekend Justin drove up here from SLC 

With his friend, Tara, and her two children,

Alexandra, 6, and Eric, 3 years old.

(For some reason I didn't get a picture of Alexandra :/

But I got several of Eric!)

Sunday (yesterday), we had a family dinner

with Justin, Tara and her children, us, 

Kattie (observe the 5-months-pregnant tummy :) and Ben,

Phillip, and Ben and Linda and children

All came over to Melinda and Danny's

For lasagna, garlic bread, and green salad.

Ben (Young) made delicious apple crisp which we ate

with vanilla ice cream.

So good!

I kept taking pictures of the kids that were upstairs

Hope you enjoy these!

We all visited, and I got the requisite pictures of Melinda taking a bite of food

And Kattie, too!

Tara is so relaxing to be around, 

And so are her kids.

Did you see Eric's eyelashes?!  

I had to try and capture them, and I really didn't.

They are crazy-long.

Hope you got a "taste" of the dinner.

Mid-October is a GREAT time to have a casual get-together!

We missed having you there...

But next time, perhaps?

I hope so!

We love you!

xoxoxo

Some September Photos

 "Why don't they hire me?"

 A hole in the sky

 Yummy salad!

 Leto loves to guard our doorway

 These are the only pictures I could get from Bro. Burger's funeral

I knew Megan would want some

I think this might be his brother

 I think this is one of his daughters, with the blonde hair

Their talks were amazing and touching,

Filled with sweet and funny memories

of times with their dad

They miss him so much

But the feeling there was very positive and uplifting

He was a great dad and a great example!

 

And these are self-explanatory:

Irelyn and Emme with Mom,

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa!

Thanks for looking!

We are both loving you!

xoxoxo

You'll notice that my blog looks different today.  This is my basic solution to a problem:  I tried to make my blog look better and messed up royally.  I had crazy backgrounds and you couldn't see my sidebar and all kinds of problems, plus it took forever for anything to load.  It was driving me nuts!!

Besides putting on makeup and going to the store (for yummy salad and guacamole ingredients, plus our part of Sunday dinner with family, including Justin and his friend that's a girl (!).  Haha.  Yes, she came up for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with Justin.  Isn't that nice?

We might go somewhere with them tomorrow or have a movie or game night, or they might visit us here - who knows?  And Sunday everyone is bringing stuff for lasagna, garlic bread, green salad, and a dessert.  Yay!  We needed something like that!

I'll get pictures to post!

Nothing else is new, just more job applications.  :)  And it's very Halloween-y around this town!
Love, Me
xoxoxo

The Home Team

Hello.  This is just random, okay?  Mark has one company recruiter in his corner, and jobs will be opening in a few wks. in semi-distant locales.  He'd have to interview with the local people and get their approval, too.
So far, all Idaho jobs have flaked off.  Strange.  But there are reasons, I'm sure.  I'm very trusting, so I'm happy.
Okay, what have we been doing besides job searches?  Well, Conference was great.  And Phillip had a very small birthday, I think.  At least our part was pretty small - some cookies and banana bread, and a card, and some dvds that I don't think he had already.  Happy 22nd, Philly!

Also, Mark and I watched the entire 3 seasons of Upstairs, Downstairs on Netflix (we adored it!), and we're now watching Once Upon A Time - yays from Haley and Meggers, I'd venture.  We watch some of these series episodes each night and it helps in our routine!

The other things we do are read (me), play some video games (mostly me, if I can't sleep), have grandkids over a little, do church callings (mostly Mark, but I send Visiting Teaching cards and so on out, and write some letters (me).  Besides the other activities of daily living, that's about it.  I just thought I'd fill in some of the corners for you. :-)


We are all still praying for the Bairds.  He is still in ICU!  (He was out again and on the floor, but he was returned to ICU.)
So please keep up your prayers!
Oh, and we got a phone call from Seth and he is doing well with his numerous programs.  He said he gets out in March and is working with a case manager(?) to apply for help with schooling in Diesel Mechanics or some other field.  He also might go fishing on a long line boat in Alaska, or work on oil rigs.  He'll try something to get busy and get on with life, he says.

Bravo for the Home Team!  You're all making your way, and our prayers our with you!
We love you!
xoxoxo
PS  I'm out of picture storage for now. :(

"No More a Stranger"

Tristan, Alaina, and Alex photo

taken by Melinda

In a world where the word "Mormon" isn't so strange anymore, I see the end of an era.  I treasure our strangeness.  I love most everything associated with being a member of Christ's church.

I love the peace and beauty of the temples.  Conference weekends fill me with love and joy.  I love the way I feel inside when I am attuned to the spirit of the Holy Ghost.  I love the way women and flowers and babies are cherished,

the way husband and wife are equal partners,

the central role that families and extended families take,

that journal-keeping is a way of life, along with work,

play, and healthy living and learning.

Nothing can take the place of having the scriptures and a living prophet

to give us comfort and guidance and to soften our hearts

and strengthen our reliance on our Heavenly Father.

(I even let Him run things once in a while.)

I get a thrill whenever I see missionaries out and about.

It's so important to me to have our home feel like an oasis and a refuge

from the world - that's not a cliche.  It's the exact truth.

Knowing that we can live as eternal couples and families is everything to me.

Everything that I have learned, from both doctrine and personal experience,

tell me that the veil is thin and our loved ones are near to us.

We believe in a personal, loving relationship with our Father in Heaven.

We believe we have a Heavenly Mother, 

and that we can learn and grow forever, eventually becoming like them.

We believe in repentance and in Jesus' Atonement for our mistakes and sins.

Knowing that repentance is available to me, 24/7, is a miracle!

Jesus experienced every sadness, despair, loneliness, and pain that I've ever felt.  Imagine Mark doing that for me, and how overwhelmed I would be

at his sacrifice.  That's what Jesus did for me.  

And for you.

Isn't Heavenly Father's plan glorious?!

I want to be like Elder Holland and Pres. Uchtdorf and

proclaim the truth of what I know to be true.

I want to state un-apologetically that my heroes include Joseph Smith and 

Gordon B. Hinckley and Sister Hinckley!

I really don't wish to be strange anymore

because I want the world to learn the truth and become just like us.

I want them to know where they came from, why they're here,

and where they are going.

We're in the process of doing that.

 Many won't hear or accept what we believe, and we respect that.

But I wish they would.

Because...

 "You know what happened to the man who got everything he ever wanted?

He lived happily ever after."

I love you!

xoxoxo

Nutrition and Emerg. Prep Details You Didn't Want to Read :-)

(I know, I used this pic before, but it's so refreshing and delicious-looking, isn't it?)
(Plus, I like to post random pictures on my blog, teehee!)

Isn't this a great time of year?  My favorite, by far!  And it's Conference Weekend!  Mark has the ingredients ready for blueberry muffins and hot chocolate, and we get to hear from our leaders!

I already watched the Women's Conference, right on tv, but World Conference is our favorite.

Also, time to rotate food in our emergency packs, if we had any. : /

I've been eating Mark's homemade banana nut bread.  Mmm mmm!  It's so good, and it really fills me up, too.  When it's warm and the edges are crisp, almost candied, it's the best tasting food in the world!  Maybe because it smells so heavenly while it's baking.  :)

We had a visit from the two counselors in our ward, Bro. Mitchell and Bro. Ferrin, just to see how we are doing.  It was fun to have them over for a while.  They said that Bishop Baird is still in the ICU with pneumonia.  Did I tell you that we had another ward fast for him?  We're going to take them some banana bread.  I hope he gets better soon.

We haven't heard yet from the jobs.  Gee, we're supposed to hear from them today on one.  They must be working on it.

I talked to Bonnie recently, and she's really impressed with the ingredients in Reliv and the other products, for her and others that need help.  Linda, my upline person, is sooo helpful with adjusting products to customize them for each person.  She does that, to begin with, by going to what has helped others with the same problems.  That, along with your own preferences and so on, is like a baseline to try, maybe introducing some things a little at a time.  I'm lucky that I only need Reliv Classic, but whatever works, I say!

It's fun to see Bonnie's reactions (hi, Bunny-Foo!), because she has studied nutrition and health for so many years on her own, and she understands good ingredients.

I usually eat raisin bread toast (Pepperridge Farm cinnamon-type!) for breakfast and in the afternoon I might have chicken noodle soup or leftovers or a salad with Good Seasons salad dressing mix.  :)

At night, I might have toast again and apple slices or something like that.  Or half a cheese toastie.  Or a piece of pizza.  I also eat grapes or plain Greek yogurt (yum!) or celery or a piece of dark chocolate or whatever.

So now you know what I eat, in detail! (I know you all love these details, lol)

Anyway, I also drink Reliv twice a day, and it really stops any cravings that I would have otherwise.  I mix it with Silk soy milk, which makes the flavor great.  I love that I can drink it without any Lactaid, 'cause I've always loved milk.

I also take extra calcium and vitamin D, because of osteoporosis that's being treated right now.  I have it from being so inactive for so many years.  I wiggle a lot, for circulation and exercise, but I have hip, arm, and knee issues that interfere with normal exercising.  I feel really good, and don't feel limited, either.  I have time to do what I want to.

We're getting ready to sell some things in order to do more to finish our 72-hour bags and as many other things that we think we need, until we run out of money (or, in other words, back to where we are now).  We want a little cash in our bags, some Reliv, the regular portable foods and water filters/tablets/straws, first aid things, fishing supplies, documents, IDs, and CD files, batteries, flashlights, solar radios, ponchos, hand warmers, tp, zip locs and trash bags, knives, scissors, paper and pencils, little toys, baby formula (and diapers and pins and rubber pants, perhaps) and bottles for any babies with us, portable saw and shovel, scriptures, can openers, whistles, compasses (thanks to Justin for a lot of this!), fire starters, candy, survival manuals, maybe hammers and screwdrivers and nails, nylon cord, sanitary supplies (which make great wound dressings), some seasonings, and I don't know what all.

We'd love to have some other things, but we'll see.  I know Mark has some things in mind.  I'd like to buy TFT, Target Focused Training, a book and DVD by Larkin, that teaches you instant things you can do to protect yourselves from violence.  It's on Glen Beck's site.  That would be cool to know, and you could borrow ours after we learn it.  You don't need to be athletic or anything, and this man has trained the armed forces in these methods.  They're natural and quick to learn, too.  Anyway, it costs $29.99 on Amazon, which is cheaper by $20 over the Beck site.

Tamathy, are you there?  I haven't talked to you for so long!

Anyone else out there, besides Megan and Haley?

I'm doing this for my blog books, anyway, which I want for Christmas, lol.  Those are great, and they make this into my journal, but with pictures.  And I write lots more, too!

Well, take care, everybuddeee! 

I love you!

xoxoxo

Isn't he gorgeous?!