Christmas Photos

Sorry I'm a bit behind in sharing some fun Christmas moments this year. But I've been enjoying having my husband home for 2 weeks and letting him deal with nutty, wired kids while I curl up with lots of good books that Santa brought. But here are a few photos past and present that I wanted to share before we head into the New Year.

Christmas 2005....Katelyn 4, Laura 1 month old
Christmas 2008...Katelyn 7, Laura 3....my how they've grown!

Christmas 2005....Laura is much smaller than the stuffed animals

Christmas 2008.....only 1 is bigger than her

Katelyn was once smaller than all of them too, not anymore

What's with the serious faces?!

Now this is more like it.....Laura bolting and Katelyn laughing cause I can't keep her little sister in one place very long for a picture. Gotta pay a professional to get these kids to pose for pictures these days. LOL!

I can't forget the cats......and yes they got even later.

This is Al

This is Cookie

He's plotting his revenge

We had a great Christmas with lots of fun gifts.....both given and received. Here are two that are my favorite. My father-in-law got these for the girls. Katelyn was 14 months old when my mother-in-law passed away. Rick took a picture we have of Katelyn as an infant (about 6 months old) with her grandma Colleen and had the image put on a blanket. It's gorgeous and she loves sleeping with it each night.

Laura didn't come along for another 4 years. But she is named after Colleen. Laura Colleen. So Rick used a photo of Colleen on their wedding day for Laura's blanket. Again, gorgeous. She's a little too young to get it yet and hasn't asked for the blanket each night. But I know as she gets older and learns more about her angel grandma that she'll ask to be tucked in with her grandma blanket as well. For now, we are keeping it in a safe spot so cats don't ruin it.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and we wish everyone a safe and healthy New Year.

Christmas Lights

Okay, so I'm a bit behind in updating the blog. But I get busy around the house and with the girls right before Christmas so I didn't get around to it. I have so many pictures to share and should just do a video clip of them. However alot of them need some explaining so I'll just do a new blog per day with lots of fun pics. Be sure to check back daily til I'm done!



Today's entry are Christmas lights. Just about every year since my parents moved to Rancho Cucamonga, we've gone to see the city's street that has become popular for it's lights. It's now more "streets" than "street" now and it's best to walk it since the crowds are so crazy you crawl along like a snail in a vehicle. Plus you miss out on little fun stuff.....some homes have a stage set up for carolers or dancers, portable pianos and kids playing Christmas music, a house with a ramp built up for their two golden retrievers to walk up to stand for all to see them with reindeer antlers (doggy reindeer, LOL!), those mini horses with antlers, residents selling hot chocolate/hot apple cider/tamales/popcorn/homemade choc. chip cookies for $1-2. Plus you get a close up view of all the lights. Here's some of our family's favorites:

I loved the snowman family. Too cute!
Santa making his list and checking it twice.

Katelyn wanted a picture of the Grinch.

Santa's Workshop, this is a favorite of mine.

For the Disney fans......Jasmine and Aladin

Cinderella and Prince Charmin

Beauty and The Beast

Katelyn (who moved and made it blurry) in front of her favorite

Princess Aurora

Our 10th Anniversary!

We've had such a busy weekend that I am finally blogging about how we spent our Friday night. And this was on the heals of a night out without kids when we met with the Elder's Quorum presidency for a dinner out with wives. (it ended up being us...Clark is secretary....and the EQ president and his wife and that's it)

Friday evening Clark and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. That's right...the big 10 years of marriage. We both kept saying that we couldn't believe it. Why? Well in some ways it still feels like we were just married yesterday. Ask us on a different night and we might have said it felt like much longer. But Friday night we felt like it was just yesterday. For those not in the know, here's a little recap of our meet-up, dating, and first 10 years.

We met in 1995 not long after I got home from my mission (Buenos Aires West Mission....the best one in the whole world). We met through a group of friends at Chaffey College Institute of Religion in Rancho Cucamonga. We hit it off so well and soon I was sending a "Dear John" letter to the elder I said I'd wait for. (I swear I never thought I'd be one of those! LOL!) We had a lot of things in common too.......like his best friend had also served his mission in Argentina and so had his dad (one of his comps was my first mission president, Pres. Richmond....and another comp of his was my 1st year Spanish teacher in high school....small world); my sister was born in the hospital just down the street from where he grew up; and one of the guys he grew up with in West Covina moved out to Rancho C. with his family and when we were like juniors in high school or something like that I can remember that Sean brought a bunch of his friends to church and introduced them all...I still remember that one of them was "going to be baptized today" and I remember the truck they all hopped into later. It was Clark's truck. I even remember Danny was there and I think Cory. But gosh I do not remember Clark at all. It totally wasn't the right time to meet.

So we dated for 3 years. Yeah it was no whirl wind romance for us. And even though he didn't fit my ideal marriage material (you know wanting Temple marriage and all), I knew he was the man I was to supposed to give my heart to and marry.

We married on Dec. 19, 1998 at the Hillside Ward Bldg in Rancho. Clark's dad, Rick, was a bishop at that time and so he performed the ceremony. I don't have a scanner or I'd share pics of our wedding day.

We haven't had an easy 10 years. We are so different that we tend to bicker and argue.... alot! We've also had lots of monetary set backs over the years. But we love each other enough to work things out.

Somewhere along the line we became parents to two beautiful girls (okay so I am a bit biased on that) and are owned by 3 crazy cats. Our life isn't as exciting as others but we have fun, we love each other, and we enjoy what we do have.

And this is how we celebrated our big 10th anniversay.....

My parents took the girls for the night (thanks mom and dad! you rock!). We had made reservations for The Melting Pot in Brea. For those who have never heard of this restuarant, it is a fondue theme. You have a 4 course meal and it is European style......everything except the salad is cooked on your table in fondue pots.

1st course: cheese fondue of choice...we chose the Wisconsin trio.....the waitress mixes it up for you and then brings out chunks of different breads, apple chunks and a veggie medley (carrot chunks, celery, cauliflower). I have never had apples and cheese before and the apples tasted great in the cheese fondue.

2nd course: salad and you have your choice of salad, this is the only course that you don't share; I had the basic house salad. It had a honey mustard vinagrette that was soooo good. This was brought out while we still munched on the 1st course but towards the end so we weren't rushed or anything. They really give you the chance to savor your meal at this place.

3rd course: main course.....we did one of the feature meals for two and it had a variety different cuts of steaks, filet mignon, chicken, shrimp, lobster and pasta along with more veggies. The fondue is a broth based one and it is hotter so the meats cook fast in it. The meats are small chunks so someone with a huge appetite might not want to splurge at this place. But over the course of the evening you do get fed well. The veggies are different from the 1st course veggies. For this one they served red potato chunks, mushrooms, broccoli and yellow squash. They also bring out a variety of dipping sauces as well and explain what each tastes good with. Hard to remember so we just tried it all. Everything was delicious!

4th course: dessert......you get your choice of chocolate fondue. We chose a milk chocolate with chunky peanut butter swirled in. They bring out a platter of lots of yummy dippers. Here's a picture----strawberries, bananas, oreo and graham cracker covered marshmellows, brownie bites, rice krispy treats, pound cake chunks, a slice of cheese cake (Clark let me have the cherry cause he knows I love them!). It was all so delicious!

I really can't decide which was my favorite part of the meal. It was all so good and the service was great. Our waitress was awesome. I even got a rose for the night. So here are some pics of the evening:


The yummy desserts!
Me, getting ready to eat a strawberry.

Clark and I....and my pretty rose.

This is why I married Clark...he's so hot, he's steamy!

And this is all we can show you of the rest of the evening. ;)

Happy Anniversary Clark my love! May the next 10 years be as wonderful as the first 10 years!

A Lesson In Honesty

A couple of 7 year old girls got a lesson in honesty today. Here's the story:

This morning I needed a print out of something in Katelyn's school file. So I went into the office. While in there I realized that the Secret Santa Workshop was today for her class and NOT tomorrow like she told me. So I asked the secretary what time her class went. 9:45 a.m. I went home, got the envelope and filled it out, stuck $25 of cash into it and flew back down to the school. (I walk and I haven't walked this fast since my mission....and heck I'm not sure my comps would think I walked all that fast back then, LOL!) I gave it to the principal who happened to be manning the office at that moment.

When school was over, Katelyn had no gifts. I checked her back pack. Nothing. So I go to talk to her teacher. She says that the principal did call her room but the class was in the computer lab already and so the principal was going to have Katelyn paged to the office to get it. We asked Katelyn and she says "I didn't want to go alone. So I didn't go." Figures. So I head to the office to find out if the envelope is there.

No envelope there or in the teacher's box. The principal comes out and says "When she didn't come, I was going to take it myself. But a grandparent volunteer came in to help out there and I gave it to her to pass along." By this time the grandparent volunteer is not around. So the principal takes me to the library to talk to the librarian. Librarian was on the phone......we overheard the conversation. Another little girl had brought home gifts and mom had not sent in any money. So the other mom was making the little girl bring the gifts back. Librarian ends the call and talks to principal and I. They began digging through mounds of empty envelopes. They find Katelyn's.....bottom part ripped apart. I'm asked if I had cash or check in it.....cash $25. Librarian says "Do you have a Kayla in your class?" No but we discover both girls are 1st graders and both classes were in there at the same time. Librarian lets Katelyn shop since the other child is bringing items back. We head home, passing a sad little girl and her mom on the way.

Not 5 minutes after getting home, the door bell rings. I recognize the mom and little girl. They were the ones we saw coming in as we were leaving. We also pass them each morning as I head home. See they live like 4 houses from the school so wait for the first bell before leaving their home. We live down the street and around the corner so we leave our home a bit sooner. Plus we pick up another girl on the way. Anyhow, the mom has seen me around the neighborhood so knew where we lived when the librarian mentionned that "the mom and little girls leaving were the ones the money was taken from." So the mom brought the little to our home and asked for Katelyn.

An embarrassed and repentant looking Kayla quietly said "I'm sorry I took your money." Katelyn said "thank you." The mom explained to me what had transpired on her end. They had decided not to have their daughters do the workshop since they were done with all their shopping. However the grandparent volunteer handed the envelope to Kayla by mistake. Kayla told her mommy that she knows the name wasn't hers but saw there was money in it and that all her classmates were getting things and just had to buy things too. So she ripped open the envelope and took the money. Being only 7 years old, obviously she wasn't thinking that it would go unnoticed by mom.

This story could have had a different ending. It's very rare that you find honest people these days. Esp in my area. A lot of the parents would have just brushed it off as a loss on our part and let their child keep the stuff. But this mom taught her child a valuable lesson. A lesson in honesty. And in doing so also taught her that it is wrong to steal, taught her how to make ammends (returning the items), and how to apologize for our wrong doings. Big lessons for a child. And though my daughter did nothing wrong, I was able to teach her a lesson in all that by explaining and discussing the situation to Katelyn.

I felt really bad for the girl and knew it was not easy to come and apologize. I let her know that I know what she did was wrong but that I thought it was nice of her and very brave of her to come and apologize for it. I also thanked the other mom for instilling all these values in her daughter because the world needs more parents like that.

RAIN!!!!

It's wet and raining here in southern California on this Wednesday in December.

The cats have taken over my couch. They think it's the warmest spot in the house it seems.

And Laura has decided that today is a jammie day. That's right...my 3 year old has decided that today is a great day to refuse to get dressed. She will let me change her pull up when needed but that's it. Today is a jammie day and there's no changing it. I don't give in to my kids' demands very often.....but jammie day I can live with. Esp when the jammies are this cute. :)

Making Memories

Having kids is all about making memories. From the moment of birth we are recording even the tiniest of experiences either in our minds and hearts, in a journal, by photo, or any of the combined. The past few days we've been making some fun memories of our own. We took pictures for these moments. Come...take a look.

First up........Clark on Thanksgiving. After a nice, big, and tasty dinner he promptly fell asleep. Katelyn was heading out the door to help my sister walk her dog so she stuck her bear in daddy's arms and told him to baby-sit. In his sleep, he cuddled with it. Isn't he just too cute for words?! :)

On Saturday we had both the elders and sisters over for dinner. Katelyn and Laura had found out earlier in the month that Elder Anderson had a birthday on November 29th so they insisted we have them all for dinner to celebrate. Clark grilled up steaks and made salad and mashed potatoes. Thanks to his sister, who is on my facebook list, I found out Elder Anderson loves cheesecake so that was what we had for dessert. We got him a small journal to record addresses of members and missionaries and for them to write notes in as well. We left the first one. I had one on my mission and still love to pour through it now and again. That's where I got the idea. The sisters got him a mini football and birthday masks. That's Elder Anderson there with the girls and with his mask on.

While they were at our home on Saturday, we kind of told the girls at one time to settle down or we wouldn't go get our tree yet. Elder Slade (shown here in the red hat) was like "Christmas tree?! Can we help decorate? I haven't done that in a long time!" Later before they left, when they ask the typical missionary question of "is there anything we can do for your family this week?", my husband said "Sure, come by tomorrow night and help us decorate the tree." They were totally excited and even double checked on the time at church the next day.

Elder Slade saw we had a couple of Santa hats. Red and pink. As senior comp he made sure to wear the red hat. What they didn't realize at first was the hats say "princess" on them. They quickly turned them around. haha! Elder Slade made sure to put the breakable ornaments on top. Not bad for an elder who hasn't been around kids much it seems.

Laura gets a boost up to the top from Clark. She had a blast getting hoisted up a few times.

Here is Katelyn putting hooks on some of the ornaments. This is the first year I've had them help. Normally I do it but this year I just let them have fun with daddy and the missionaries. They had a blast and I think it's a tradition I'd like to continue from now on.

Laura and Elder Anderson pause for a photo.

Elder Andersn got the pink hat. A little girly but hey he would have voted yes on 8 if he was a California resident so it's all good. LOL!

The girls and the elders in front of the finished tree before they left for the evening.

And this entry wouldn't be complete without a picture of the finished tree. Everyone did a great job and the tree looks the best ever! I can't wait for family and friends to see it so we can tell them all about our fun evening.

Oh and if you all are wondering where I was during the all the fun........I was in the kitchen heating up some my mom's hot apple cider mix (1 gallon apple cider, 2 cans pear nectar, 3 cans peach nectar, 3 cans apricot nectar, handful of cloves, 6 cinnamon sticks and heat) and baking chocolate chip cookies to warm everyone up. Yum!

We had fun making our memories and look forward to making many more this month and throughout the coming year.

No Doubt About It

Most people know I love to read. Every since I learned to read at age 5, I just can't get my hands on enough books. I do have my favorite authors but I also enjoy branching out a bit. I read a variety of genres. I am picky on the contents at times and therefore if I were to rate the books I read most would get a 4-5 star rating from me on a scale of 1-5. One thing about books is that every now and then I'll pick up a book that just hits home with me. It doesn't matter if it's fiction or non-fiction. If it's fiction it might be that a character says something that relates to me. If it's non-fiction it could be a chapter here, a quote there. Occasionally it can be the whole book.....such as is the case with my current book.

Currently I am reading No Doubt About It by Sheri Dew. It's non-fiction and she's an LDS author.

Now I don't know about any of you, but sometimes I double myself and the decisions I make. Even if I've prayed about them and know without a shadow of doubt at the moment I made them what I was to...I doubt them. Not all the time, just sometimes. Recently I began doubting a big decision. One I had prayed about, one I knew without a shadow of doubt at the moment where I needed to be, needed to stand on the issue. If you've read my blog a few weeks ago you might already have guessed.......this is regarding my yes vote on Prop 8. Seeing the backlash and knowing that not all of it was coming from the gay/lesbian community. A lot of it in California also comes from members of our own church who chose to vote no. Now I won't go into all the other reasons besides what I'd posted on of why I voted yes. But during this backlash the doubts crept in....did I do the right thing in choosing to look at this issue as a moral issue over a civil rights issue? The doubts were huge. I can't even express them in writing and you all know I can be verbose at times. But they were there.

Then that little still small voice said "Grab Sheri Dew's book out of that large pile of books you plan on reading on top of your dresser." (confession time people....it's a stack of at least 30 books, maybe more) It was a still small voice but it was loud. So I didn't wait a second and started reading it. I've only read 5 chapters. But every single thing Sister Dew says has hit home. And the biggest nail on the head, the brightest lightbulb going off in my head that I had made the right decision for myself when I chose to view it as a moral issue and voted yes came when I read the tail end of Chapter 5...pgs 102-103.

"More than a decade ago, President Ezra Taft Benson issued this charge: 'There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time than there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have the forces of evil and the forces of good been as well organized....The final outcome is certain--the forces of righteousness will win. But what remains to be seen is where each of us...will stand in the battle--and how tall we will stand....Great battles can make great heroes and heroines' (In His Steps, 8 Feb. 1987).
More than ever before, the Lord needs our faith and faithfulness, our vitality and ingenuity, our unwavering commitment and conviction. We are witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ, the living capstone of all that has come before us and a vital link to all that lies ahead.
This life is a test. It is also a glorious privilege."

Wow, wow, WOW! That is why it hit home with me at this time.......I needed to make a choice. Whose side do I stand on? The world and the forces of evil or the Lord's side? Even if the Lord's side is unpopular with the world, with the minority or may make others angry because I chose to look at an issue different than they wanted, am I willing to stand on the Lord's side? And the answer came to me loud and clear: yes, yes, yes and YES!

Standing on the Lord's side isn't easy. We will get laughed at, made fun of, persecuted, protested against. It doesn't matter which religion you are, it's bound to happen if you choose the Lord's side in any issue these days. But if you've prayed about it and received your answer then the Lord will be there for you. He will help you rise above what the world flings your way. Choosing the Lord's side doesn't mean you have to be perfect either. It just means you are striving the best you can at any given moment to do what the Lord would have you do to guide you back in your journey to Him once again. With Heavenly Father NOTHING is impossible! We just have to make that first step, make that stand.

So I am here to declare that I have made that stand: I AM CHOOSING THE LORD'S SIDE!!!

Are you?

Happy Birthday Laura!!!!

I said it last week and I'll say it again......How do these kids grow up so fast? You moms know what I mean. One minute you are giving birth to them, the next they are walking and talking and one step away from being potty trained. Sometimes you wish they would be little forever, other times you can't wait to see what the future holds.

Today is a day for celebrating. Today is Laura's 3rd birthday. She came unexpectedly into our lives. Yes we were planning on having another child. But we had just sold our mobile home and we were living with my parents while we looked for a place to buy or rent. Also for almost a year prior the doctors were doing what they could to help me ovulate. Can't have a baby without ovulation I was told and I hadn't done that in nearly a year. Apparently I did once. Apparently we celebrated moving out of our falling apart mobile home. And it just took one time.

I remember the day we found out I was pregnant. With 5 adults and a 3 year old under one roof, we'd all passed around a bad cold. Then we all passed around a nasty stomach bug. Then I felt sick again but nobody else did. Mom woke one day and said "I had this dream that you were pregnant. Take a test please." She can be persistent so I humored mom. I took the test. Positive. Took 2 more tests....still positive. Took the test at the doctor's office....yep still positive. It's also apparent that I don't understand what a positive pregnancy test means even though it's my second child. hahaha!

The pregnancy seemed to fly by. I did have all day sickness again though not as bad as with Katelyn. I dealt with gestational diabetes from the beginning and not at the end like before. That wasn't too bad. The migraines were what got me. I could have lived without those.

This time around I had a choice....vbac or repeat c-section. I did my research. It all boiled down to one question and I knew what the answer would be. "Doctor, can you guarantee me a baby in under 12 hours if we induce or she comes on her own?" He laughed and said "You know we can't guarantee anything if you go the vbac way." I smiled and said "Then set a date to cut me open again!" So we looked at his calendar. He gave me 3 dates: Nov. 10 (Katelyn's birthday), Nov. 17th, and Nov. 24th (Thanksgiving). I looked at Katelyn, who was with me, "Do want a baby sister for your birthday?" With all the truthfulness of a nearly 4 yr old she said, "No mommy. I just want toys." I didn't want Thankgiving. That meant I'd be on liquid diet and no homemade stuffing. So the 17th it was.

Laura came into this world a tiny 6 lbs 4 oz and 17 1/2 inches long. She grew slow but steady until she was about 7 months. But I didn't notice til she was 9 months old that she wasn't just not growing but she was losing weight. She was so skinny it was scary. That started months of trying to get weight on this kid. Finally around the time she turned 13 months the 3 lbs gained, 5 lost cycle ended and she gained. She still gains slowly but she's gaining and growing and that's what counts.

She's our spunky child. Always on the go. A bundle of laughs. Smart....too smart for us sometimes "Mommy there are no carts! The customers need carts. We are customers. Tell them to get more carts!" Loves to talk, talk, talk. (hmmmmm, where does she get that from?) Has an impish sense of humor (Please give that toy back to your sister! (she licks it: Okay here sissy!). Looks like her mommy at the same age. Love meat, meat and more meat. Esp bbq ribs. Favorite phrase when ribs are served "Mmmmmm! Meat!" Won't eat a fruit or veggie to save her life. Loves to make friends...old and young. Just a bundle of energy.

So in honor of her birthday, here is her montage. And it's a bit long because she sat in my lap and helped me choose pictures and she got mad if I didn't choose some. Yeah you can tell who rules the roost in this house.

Happy Birthday Laura!

Happy 3rd Birthday Laura 11/17/08

Happy Birthday Katelyn!

I know everyone parent says this every year. But I just can't believe that another year has come and gone. Esp. for Katelyn. For those that don't know or don't remember my birth story here is a brief version since without my husband home filling in the blanks, I really don't remember much of it all.

November 8th, 2001......Went in to be induced. Chose cytotec thinking it was the best option. Ha! All I got was hard, fast labor from the start. I tried to be brave. I think I last 12 hours before finally screaming for pain meds. I was given nubane for that. But the labor kept on coming, the pain kept getting worse, I still made no progress.

November 9th, 2001.....Yep still in labor. Still in pain. I was given different meds for pain as nubane just wasn't working. Late in the evening or sometime the next morning they gave me nubane + morphine. Yeah, I don't remember much after that except. I was told by mom that I told Clark that it was all his fault this was happening and that I wished all this on my sister (10 years younger than I) one day cause "that &*%$$ has things too easy being the youngest." It was the drugs I tell ya....the drugs! Oh yeah and another day with still no progress. I had reached 75% effaced and 1 cm dialated and holding there strong.

November 10th, 2001.........Yeah still in labor. Nubane/morphine combo not working so good anymore. I'm in tons of pain. Screaming for c-section since night before. Lead labor and delivery doctor comes in, checks progress (see above....didn't get passed that) and says "get this mama prepped for c-section now!" I remember getting the spinal. After that I'm told I was awake for everything but I sure as heck don't remember. I remember hearing my baby cry (very loudly) and the nurse saying "daddy you may hold your baby girl" and the baby stopped crying the instant she was placed in his arms. But I don't remember anything else. I'm told I was in recovery quite a few hours.

In all it can be summed up as:

Labor......56 hours
Delivery......5 minutes
one 7 lb, 19 inch long baby girl.....Priceless

Katelyn has brought us so much joy in the past 7 years. Of coure we've had our struggles as well. She's our spirited child and we've had lots to learn to figure out how to parent a spirited child. Through it all, I've learned that she gets it from me so I'm learning new things about me as well. She's had her own struggles......speech delays that caused academic delays. But she's making so much progress that it's hard to believe she's the same child sometimes. Esp when we can't get to her to be quiet. We just have to remind ourselves that once we prayed that she'd talk more. LOL!

So in honor of Katelyn's 7th Birthday, here is a montage I put together. Of course I can't just choose pics from 2008. I liked so many, I started with Jan. 2007 and worked my way in order up til this past month. She's grown a lot in a year and it shows. Enjoy!

And Katelyn......Happy Birthday Little Little! We love you!


Happy Birthday Katelyn 2008

Yes on 8

Some of you may not know this about me. Some of you may know this. I am not one to openly discuss my views in regards to politics. I feel it is just so easy to get into heated battles of words because two or more people try to sway the other to their point of view but in reality that will never happen to those who are firm in what they believe. However, I have learned during this election time that there comes a time when we all have to take a stand in what we believe no matter how controversial the topic. For me that topic, that issue, that belief is: Yes on 8. I'm sure by now most of you can see where my line is drawn.....I have two icons on my blog depicting how I'll be voting. But I still wanted to share my views on the whole thing.

First though please do NOT call me a bigot. If you truly know me, you will know I am far from. If you insist on still calling me that, let me share some definitions of a bigot with you. I looked in various dictionaries both online and ones I have on hand. They all pretty much said the same thing but these three stood out to me:
1) A person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her opinions & prejudices, esp one who regards or treats the members of a group with hatred or intolerance.
2) An intolerent person: somebody with strong opinion who refuses to accept different views.
3) A person who has strong beliefs and who thinks that anyone who does not have the same belief is wrong.
I believe in marriage between a man and a woman only. I understand and I accept that others have different views. However, understanding and accepting does NOT equal agreeing with or changing my own views. Wouldn't it be a boring world if we all thought the same thing 100% of the time? I think so. I don't agree with the gay and lesbian lifestyle. I believe it is against the laws of God. However, I do not hate those that live that lifestyle. I may not openly seek out to become friends with gays and lesbians but if a friend, family member, co-worker, neighbor, etc told me they were then I'd still continue to be their friend, I'd still continue to love that family member, I'd still interact how I did before with that co-worker or neighbor. Someone who is truly hateful and intolerant of the lifestyle would never do that. But I am LDS, I am Christian. I have certain beliefs. Those beliefs include marriage between man and woman only and families. Yes on 8 means protecting marriage means defining marriage as between man and woman only and the undertones of it involve protecting our children...which in my case, is my family. If I voted against it, wouldn't I then be called a hypocrite? In my mind, yes it does and therefore I must vote Yes on 8. But this does not make me a bigot. It means I am standing up for my beliefs. I understand that there are those voting no. That is okay. That is their right to do so. I don't agree, I don't understand, but they are free to vote anyway they want just as I am.

Besides my beliefs playing a part in why I'm voting Yes on 8, there is another reason as to why I am. I am choosing to copy and paste here because I have a little one needing my time and because this person explains it better than I:
California voters passed Proposition 22 in 2000 by more than 61%, saying that a marriage in California is between a man and a woman. Earlier this year, four activist judges based in San Francisco wrongly overturned the people's vote, legalizing same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage did not just overturn the will of California voters; it also redefined marriage for the rest of society, without ever asking the people themselves to accept this decision.
In 2000, I was part of the 61% who voted that marriage should be between man and woman only. When that was overturned, I felt that was a slap in the face saying "your vote really doesn't count." I began asking "If judges can do this with prop 22, what other issues will they do this with?" So by voting Yes on 8, I am letting my voice be heard again, letting the judges know that I am unhappy with them overturning my first vote.

I believe one of the consequences of this overturning and a No on 8 vote is that it opens the door wide open to openly teach about gay marriage and homosexuality in our schools at a young age. I recently found an interesting article about this, I urge you to read it if you haven't already, esp if you live in CA and have children in school or who will be in school in the future:
http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081103school.html
Please do not tell me that certain things are not taught in schools. I have a daughter in 1st grade. I went to our district website and looked up the info for myself. Here is part of the curriculum under History-Social Science for 1st graders in our district:
"Recognize the ways in which they are all part of the same community, sharing principles, goals, and traditions despite their varied ancestry; the forms of diversity in their school and communtiy; and the benefits and challenges of a diverse population."
Sure some of you might be thinking "but it says nothing specifically about same sex eduation or teaching about gay marriage" or anything along those lines. But you can see where if Prop 8 is not passed that it opens the door wide open to any teacher who wants to discuss it in class whether through a book or an entire lesson on it. Don't tell me that I have no voice as a parent because I send my child to free public schools. Remember nothing in life is free. A portion of our tax dollars goes towards that free education......the free education that my child is receiving. So yes, I do and should have a voice in my child's education. First grade is much too young to learn about these kind of things in my opinion, esp without my knowledge. So my vote is to prevent this from happening further.

My Yes on 8 vote is not taking away the rights of gays and lesbians. I refer you to the California Family Code section 297.5:
Registered domestic partners shall have the same rights,protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the sameresponsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether theyderive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules,government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sourcesof law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses.
They already have the same rights, protections, and benefits of spouses. Those rights will NOT be taken away. In the same light, a Yes on 8 vote is not telling them who they can or cannot love. They will still be free to love who they want to. But a Yes on 8 protects my freedom to belief one of my core Christian beliefs.....that marriage is between man and woman only.

Now I am not asking you to go out and vote yes. That is not my goal here. My goal is for those that so strongly disagree with me and call me names like bigot can see where I am coming from. I do not ask that you agree with me. I only ask that you respect my choice to use my freedoms to vote how I want to vote, to understand why I'm voting the way I am and respect that I am doing this after much thought, prayer and study for myself and my family. If any of you are offended by my entry I am sorry, this was not my intention.....I just felt it was time to not be silent anymore and to share some of my main reasons as to why I'm a supporter of this proposition.

Halloween Night

Laura hasn't napped when healthy since she was 18 months old. It's only when she's sick. Today I was cleaning the kitchen because all 4 missionaries were coming for dinner and I heard her at the computer. But then it got silent, really silent. I knew I hadn't heard her leave the room. I found her sound asleep at the computer. Guess she needed her energy for trick-or-treating because she took a 2 hour nap! I even had to run to the neighbors (the only ones home are the ones we have only talked to 3 times in 3 years) and ask if she could come watch her while I got Katelyn from school. That's how out of it she was.
Apparently she got her second wind because she was raring to go for our ward's trunk-or-treat. Yes they held it on Halloween night. It was only an hour and just the candy, parade, and prizes.

Here they are with Elder Anderson. The two adore him. Which is really funny because when Elder Tate was his comp they liked him more. But with Elder Slade they like Anderson better. Girls are just wierd. LOL!

Here they are with our Samoan buddies. Katelyn and Tiani are the same age/grade and Laura and Timmy are the same age. They only love 2 blocks over from us and we are all fairly new to the ward so we've hit it off big time. I even pick up Tiani for school every morning because 4 of the 5 adults in their home work and the 5th is the grandma and her doctor wants her to limit her walking. I have to take Katelyn anyhow so I gladly said I'd help out.

Back at our house, getting ready to go around our neighborhood. Clark takes them. I sit out with a lawn chair, a good book, a huge travel mug of ice water and I pass out candy all without leaving my chair.

Katelyn fixing her tiara. This is the second year she chose to be Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty for those who don't know their Disney Princesses).

Our pumpkin family. I did the big one. Katelyn drew the faces on the little ones and I carved them for her. They are simple but I got lots of compliments on them tonight.