I’ve Added a New Page

In the right hand column under “Blog Pages” I added a new page called, “Vote Yes on Prop 8.” Listed on this page are some posts and articles that illustrate why I feel it is important for every California voter to vote Yes on Prop 8 this November. Obviously I feel very strongly about this issue and will even venture out of my comfort zone knocking doors or making phone calls to help educate my neighbors. If you have any interesting articles to add, let me know.  Thanks!

To Be A Daughter of God

Today I gave a talk in sacrament meeting at church.  The topic I was given was “Daughters of God,” and I spent a lot of time thinking about what I should say to the congregation.  It was difficult for me to approach a subject on a specific group of people so that it would hold the interest of everyone.  I was so nervous, literally shaking as I spoke and afterwards it took almost an hour to calm down from the knots I had twisting in my stomach, but I think it went well, and I’m happy with it. Here it is:

Last fast Sunday I didn’t really feel strongly about anything I should fast and pray about, so I asked Heavenly Father to tell me what I should be thinking and praying about.  After church I got a phone call asking me to talk in sacrament meeting and knew that Heavenly Father had answered my prayer.  When I was told that the topic for my talk today was Elder Ballard’s talk from conference “Daughters of God,” I felt relieved because I love this talk.  I even did a series of posts quoting it on my blog.  Preparing for today has given me the chance to gain a stronger testimony of this topic. I will also be referencing Elder Ballard’s address “Women of Righteousness” given at BYU in 2001.  Elder Ballard has five daughters and 22 granddaughters, and has some wonderful things to say about women, so I will be quoting him a lot. President Hinckley gave a talk, “The Women in Our Lives” shortly after the passing of his wife, so he had some touching things to say as well. I prepared this talk to apply to us all, so don’t tune out quite yet brothers…

As a teenager I thought that my mother’s attempts at teaching me homemaking skills were silly.  I didn’t really want to know how to cook, garden, clean, sew, or babysit.  I did some babysitting to earn money, and I liked little kids well enough, but didn’t flock to the new babies in the ward like some of the other young women.  I fought to be free from a future stereotypical “Mormon Mom” role.

As I ventured off to college I was grateful for the cooking lessons and for the chores I had been given so that my adjustment to life on my own wasn’t quite so traumatic.  I knew I wanted to get married and have children, but didn’t really know all that much about what it would mean.  When I was at BYU I met and married my awesome husband Rob. Two years after we married, Hunter was born and I jumped into the full-time world of mother.  I still cringed when we bought our mini-van, seeing it as a symbol of my mom-ness, and although I have come to enjoy some crafting and sewing, I don’t think I will ever enjoy cooking.  But let me share with you some things I have learned about my role as a daughter of God:

The Greatest Show on Earth

Here’s another bit of fun with the new video camera. Last Friday, we all went to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Honda Center in Anaheim. We’d never been to the circus in an arena before. It was an interesting experience, especially seeing the trapeze artists swinging up in the rafters among all the lighting equipment. It was a great show!

I think everybody loved the guys riding motorcycles in the giant steel ball the best.  They got seven guys in there at once! Other favorites were the trapeze artists and the elephants. It was all great, though. They really had it all down pat and kept it moving. I think the only complaint would be the insane prices they were charging for any food or souveniers (which we warned the kids we wouldn’t be getting before the show to try to head off the whining — it mostly worked). One thing of cotton candy cost $15! (Pass!).

The video below is a highlight reel from the show set to music. Hopefully, it’s not too long. I got a little carried away with the video editing software. Good times.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z0uWWVYVSQ

Hannah and the Marshmallows

On Saturday, our ward had its annual Corn Roast at Corona Del Mar Beach. We all had a blast socializing and playing in the sand and the waves. It was also a chance to try out the new video camera that Amy got me for my birthday (or more accurately, let me pick out). It’s a new kind that records to a little SD memory card instead of to a tape or dvd. One of the benefits is that it’s way easier now to get video onto the computer and then uploaded to YouTube. This will hopefully mean we’ll use the camera more and have lots more clips to share with everyone (You’re just going to love it!). To start us off, here’s a little clip from the Corn Roast. It was a cute moment when Hannah was working on her “S’mores Kit” that the ward provided. Enjoy!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2vTCcEQ0hQ

The Big Quake is Yet to Come

A little while ago there was a news conference on the state of things in Los Angeles since the earthquake.  There doesn’t seem to have been much damage, but councilman Greig Smith, known by other council members as “Mr. Earthquake,” had some strong words for us in Southern California.  I asked Rob to type them up for me since he is a faster typist than I am and thanks to TiVo and its pause feature I can share this with you now:

News Conference of Los Angeles City Council

July 29, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

Council Member Greig Smith (“Mr. Earthquake”):

Thank you Councilman Greuel, and I want to thank you on the very succinct statement on the status of the city of Los Angeles right now.  I think it is important to remind people that what we experienced today is a reminder of what’s yet to come.

According to the experts at USGS, at Cal Tech, at the USC Earthquake Center the big one is yet to come.  What we experienced in 1994 was not the big earthquake.  It was a bad earthquake, but not the big one.  Today’s reminder is that the big quake is yet to come.

It’s going to be a 7.9 to 8.1 on the San Andreas Fault in the next decade.  That will bring significant damage throughout the region.

In 1994 our police and fire departments were able to call upon mutual aid from other cities.  We will not have mutual aid if that quake hits as predicted.  We will be on our own as a city and as individuals and everybody must be prepared in their home.

You must have water; you must have canned foods; you must have a flashlight with batteries and a transistor radio to keep informed of what’s going on because you may be on your own for up to three or four days this time.  So please be prepared.

Southern California is going to practice the first large earthquake drill in American history in November.  It’s called The Great Shakeout.  Five counties: Los Angeles County, Ventura, I believe San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange, are all going to participate in earthquake drills in November.  We are also hosting an international conference of experts in November here in Los Angeles to really focus on earthquakes.  If people are interested in information about that they can go to www.shakeout.org for information about how to be prepared in your homes and what is coming in November.

But this has been just a reminder of things to come.  We are going to have one of the largest earthquakes in modern American history in this region in the next decade.  People need to prepare.

I’m very proud of what we have in Los Angeles.  I want to reiterate what Ms. Greuel said.  Our police and fire departments are the best prepared in America.  They drill constantly for these emergencies and I am very confident they will do what they can.  But what we are expecting coming some time this decade far exceeds our ability as a city, or any city in America, to respond so people need to prepare.

Thank you very much.

This also seems like a great time to remind you about the awesome e-books available at Totally Ready:

“Mother Hubbard:What She’s Doing Now: A Simple Approach to Food Storage in the 21st Century”

The all-inclusive guide to food storage in the 21st century.  Includes an interactive inventory and a food storage calculator (Microsoft Excel). Offers practical advice and insights from expert author, and founder of TotallyReady.com Carolyn Nicolaysen.  Her invaluable wisdom will help guide your family as you strive to prepare for the expected—and unexpected—bumps in the road of life.

 “That Won’t Happen To Me” Volume 1

This eighty-one page PDF includes two dozen articles to help you and your family be Totally Ready for whatever comes.

We’re Fine

There was just a 5.4 earthquake centered 3 miles from Chino Hills, 4 miles from Diamond Bar California. I was getting out things for lunch when we felt the house shake up and down for several seconds and then sway side to side for what seemed like another minute. The kids and I stood in the doorway and watched the light swing in the dining room. Since Rob was on the 17th floor of his building, he decided to come home until things are checked out.  The elevators were not working so he walked down the 17 floors.  The kids have gathered our 72 hour kits and added the necessary toys in case we need them again.  Hopefully this was it and there won’t be any other big ones following.

Mommy Breakdowns

Is anyone else hitting their mid-summer crisis?  I am.  We have been so busy doing fun activities and things for the kids that they have started to get spoiled.  Over the weekend we switched the kids bedrooms around so we now have a boy room and a girls room.  Yesterday was spent decorating the rooms and making them look cute and fun.  This morning I thought our dentist appointments were at 8:00 and ran around like a crazy person to get me and Emma out the door and to the early appointment on time. As we sat down in the waiting room the receptionist said, “You’re appointment isn’t until 1:00.”  I think I’m going crazy.

Then I hit my breaking point at home when I asked the kids to get dressed for the day and got no response, twice.  Just blank stares at the TV. Then there was one little girl running around with no clothes on yelling, “I can’t find my undies!” And the other little girl running around yelling, “I need to go potty!” and “no, no, no!” as I try to get her dressed. (She had been on and off the potty for the last ten minutes so I knew she didn’t need to go.)  I asked another child to help find the clean undies and even explained where they could be found.  And a few minutes later there was a cute outfit, but no undies. Arrr…. And then to top it off I got a few of these questions, “Mom can we do something fun today?” I lost it and slammed the door to my room and paced as I fumed.  I then sat and listened for Rob to finish his shower and come and listen to my sob story and fix the kids.  He did both beautifully.  The kids are on a no computer, no TV day, and the older two are walking on egg shells to not set me off again.  I love my kids so much, but some days are tough.