Busy Week For Dylan!

The last week in May was busy for our newest graduate, Dylan.

His Senior Prom date started at 8 a.m. I'm not sure what seniors do around the country, but here it is popular to have a "day date," lunch, then a couple of hours off to get ready for the big finale of the dinner date and Senior Prom. It makes for a long day. Dylan rented a tuxedo for this special occasion.















A few days later was the Venture Crew Court of Honor where Dylan received four awards. He could have earned five, but we didn't get the paperwork done on time.










Tonight was the Seminary Graduation Ceremony for our Stake. Only 31 Seniors completed all four years of Seminary. You would think here in Utah that more youth would graduate Seminary. We are very proud of him.

Well it's not over yet. In two days is his High School Graduation. It is so large a production with the number of students and family attending that it is held at the Utah State University indoor Stadium.

The Bishop asked Dylan last week what his plans are for the future. Dylan's response, "get a job, work for a year, then go on a mission." He is a great kid--couldn't have asked for a better son!

Love you Dylan. Congratulations!
mom

Okay, maybe I'm bragging, but I really don't have much to brag about, except, that is, my garden. I've been eating Sorrel from my garden since the first of April. Sorrel is a very tart tasting lemony spinach that takes some getting used to. I can't eat it all the time or I'd get sick of it, so I haven't picked it for a couple of weeks. Today I went to pick some and noticed that it is already going to seed. Now you may think that means it is done and gone for the rest of the summer, but in reality it means that in a couple more weeks I'll have a fresh new baby crop of sorrel. Last year I got three crops; this year, the way things are going, I'll probably get4 crops.

I owe it to tire gardening. Have I told you (hee hee) how much I enjoy my tire garden!!!

The Brink of the Next Civil War !

Here comes the fire storm. If they are successful in separating the state from the federal government, then not only does the state lose control over themselves and the voters of that state are shunned, but it opens the door for all types of relationships including polygamy and any type of relationship people want to claim.. Why couldn’t I marry my cat and then claim him as a dependant?

“We and our relationships should be treated equally under the law. Our goal is to advance the cause of equality for all Americans." (quoted from lawsuit in opposition to Prop 8 filed 5/09. See article below.)

If this is successful then it means that individual state constitutions and individual state laws are null to the ever powerful will of the federal government. This is the very thing that the Civil War was fought over.

.

This is beyond dangerous!

Berkeley couple challenges Prop. 8

Bay City News Service

Posted: 05/27/2009 12:15:47 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

In the wake of the California Supreme Court's decision to uphold Proposition 8, the state's ban on same-sex marriage, two couples are pursuing a new tactic with a federal court lawsuit.

A lesbian couple from Berkeley and a gay couple from Burbank filed the lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco on Friday.

The lawsuit claims that Proposition 8, enacted by state voters on Nov. 4, violates the couple's federal constitutional rights to due process and equal treatment by denying them the right to marry.

The couples are represented by prominent attorneys Theodore Olson of Washington, D.C., and David Boies of Armonk, N.Y., who argued on opposite sides of the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 presidential election.

Today, the attorneys filed a motion asking for a hearing on July 2 before Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco on their bid for a preliminary injunction blocking Proposition 8.

The two couples said in a statement today, "We and our relationships should be treated equally under the law. Our goal is to advance the cause of equality for all Americans."

Until now, battles over same-sex marriage in California have centered on the state constitution. A year ago, the California Supreme Court said by a 4-3 vote that the state constitution's guarantee of equal treatment provides a right to gay marriage.

But state voters overturned that ruling when they enacted Proposition 8 by a 52 percent majority last fall as a state constitutional amendment. On Tuesday, the state high court ruled by a 6-1 vote that Proposition 8 was within voters' power to amend the state constitution.

The new lawsuit is based on separate federal constitutional rights.

Among other cases, the lawsuit cites a 1967 ruling in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Virginia ban on interracial marriage and said the freedom to marry is a "vital personal right."

The plaintiffs are Kris Perry and Sandy Stier of Berkeley, who have been together for nine years and have four sons, and Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo of Burbank.

Both couples say they tried to get married last week, but were denied marriage licenses by their county clerk's offices because of Proposition 8.

Theengs Thaut Piss Mee Ofph

People who ...

ask my opinion then tell me it's wrong
ask my opinion then want to argue that their opinion is right
don't know the rules for a four-way stop
don't pay attention when approaching a four-way stop
slow down while driving because they are on their cell phone
drive in the turning lane
turn from the driving lane
make right turns from the left lane (exception: semi-trucks)
ask people personal questions about other people
make rude comments about others behind their back
try to sound smart by using "big" words but use them wrong
judge people by their size
judge people by their color
categorize people as a means of criticizing them
pretend to like animals when they really don't
chew gum
talk with food in their mouth
talk just for the sake of hearing themselves talk
ask questions and don't let the person answer
ask questions but don't listen to the answer
ask questions they already know the answer to
care more about looks than character
can't park correctly in parking spaces
park in the no parking zones in front of stores
can't pronounce the short "e" sound correctly
say "these ones"
don't know the difference between subject and object pronouns
don't use correct tense (ex. was, were--arghhh!)
use apostrophes incorrectly
misuse commas
brag
talk incessantly about a movie or a book
tell the ending of a movie or a book I haven't seen or read yet
think their "rights" are more important than mine
criticize others to make themselves feel important
look to me for their personal "validation"
ask my advice on the same situation more than once
contradict themselves in order to always be "right"
say "sorry" but don't indicate for what
walk down the center of an aisle and expect you to move for them
don't pay attention to what is going on around them
listen to mp3 players in shopping centers
make statement/comment but imply a question
get upset when I don't answer a non-existent question

. . . piss me off!


Hey, it's my blog I can vent if I want!


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God is Definitely at Work in Our Lives

Samantha decided she wanted to spend more time with her little sis Andrea, so she invited her shopping after school. Andrea's co-worker was going to pick her up for work, but Samantha said she would take her to work so she and Andrea could have more time together. On the way to work traffic was backed up about a mile on Main Street, so Samantha decided to take the back roads. Andrea just ended up being a few minutes late.

Later, Samantha got a phone call from Andrea informing her why the traffic was backed up. The girl that was going to pick up Andrea and take her to work was side-swiped by another car. The accident was bad enough to block both lanes of traffic. The vehicle's passenger side was completely smashed. If Andrea were in that seat, we may not have her anymore!

"Freedom Is Indivisible" --Ronald Reagan

"Freedom is indivisible--there is no 's' on the end of it. You can erode freedom, diminish it, but you cannot divide it and chose to keep 'some freedoms' while giving up others." --Ronald Reagan


I thought this quote fitting for today when so much of our freedom is being stripped away.

Samantha shared with us a movie she watched in one of her USU classes. As we watched it, she told us to think about what is happening today right in front of our noses with our current president. I recommend you rent the movie Triumph of the Will. It will be in the foreign film section. It is a German propaganda movie made in 1935 after the Nazi Party took control. Its main emphasis is to show how great "The Party" is and all the great things they are doing for Germany. Compare it to what's going on now--very enlightening.

Home Grown Super Hero -- Andrea!

Everyone who knows Andrea knows she is special. It has only recently come to our attention of just how special she is or in her case how "Super" she is. Last week Andrea learned she could pop out bones (and she loving acquired the nick name of "baby breaker" --sorry, personal story). Last night she learned that she could also break through metal. Robert was the unfortunate recipient of her super power display. It's a good thing Andrea now has a job so she can replace the toilet handle.

Andrea now comes with a warning: Caution. Remind Andrea to turn off her super powers before she touches anything!

Las Vegas

Thank you Ashley for showing me how to add a slide show.

Ughhhhh!

The week I should be doing a mad dash at cleaning the house I'm nursing a sprained back. I couldn't even move on Monday and Tuesday and spent the whole time in bed on the heating pad. Wednesday was better for me. I took lots of Ibuprofen, but I didn't get any relief until I changed to acetaminophen. Strange huh?

Tomorrow we pick up Lukas at the airport. Yikes can you believe it? We are all very excited. I just hope he doesn't mind dirty carpets. There was no way I could clean them this week! I guess I'll just have to get my cleaning done while he's here instead.

Wow! The Harmors really are Kings. I knew we were Royalty!

Wow! I just found "The King Family Website" and it has Harmors listed as relatives. I haven't done any genealogy for years, but what little I did I don't remember having the surname King show up.

Computers and the internet are great tools for genealogy. Morris, you need to see this site!

Food -- Yummy Food!

Last year a bunch of friends got together and started a monthly international food night. Last night was "Irish Night." There was lots of good food! Each month I have fun looking through recipes deciding what to prepare. I like to choose interesting sounding recipes. For Irish night I made a main course, a specialty bread and soup --Blue Cheese, Zucchini and Bacon Soup. Sounds interesting doesn't it? The soup was absolutely delicious! I have to admit I wasn't sure I was even going to like it and it ended up being my favorite dish of the night.

Moral of the story -- don't be afraid to try new things!

Hey everyone, Tracey and Matt have their own blog now.

www.tracefacethegreat.blogspot.com

Add it to your list of blogs!

German Exchange Student

It's official -- we will be hosting another German student this spring. His name is Lukas and he is 17 years old. Because we are a host family for him, Andrea is at the top of the list to go to Germany next year with the German-American Partnership Program (GAPP). Andrea is excited about this; she has wanted to do this ever since we hosted our first German exchange student a few years ago.

New Snow

Yeah! We got the snow the weatherman promised us! I figure we'll have at least one or two more snow falls before the weather warms. New snow is always so pretty and fresh. Just gotta love it!

Lov-e-ly!

Do you ever get the urge to watch "old" classic movies. Well, I do. The weather we are experiencing here in Northern Utah is great -- lovely -- "lov-e-ly" and it makes me want to watch the musical My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.

It has only been three months since my garden has been unusable. Today makes me happy because I just planted three variety of peas. Just in time for the snow storm we are expecting in three days. The snow will help toughen the peas and actually help them sprout. Yeah!!!

Last week I planted eggplant, cilantro and two varieties of basil. They will be kept indoors until mid- to late- April. I enjoy watching my garden grow. It refreshes me -- new life.

Oh goodness, speaking of new life. Two weeks ago I delivered another baby. A friend of mine called me and asked me over to her house to help with her labor; it was moving along very fast and her "preferred" midwife lived 90 minutes away. To make a long story short... it was a good thing I was there because the baby mal-presented and needed help getting out. What makes it even more special (and even spiritual) is that the specific type of presentation is one I have a lot of experience with. The Lord is very much at work in our lives!

Now go enjoy an old movie... maybe My Fair Lady!

Happy Birthday to King Jeff -- The Greatest King in the World!

Forty-nine years ago today the greatest person in the world was born. Today is a celebration of King Jeff, His Royal Highness of Powell-land Kingdom. All should take a moment to honor His Royal Highness as a tribute to the greatness he has brought to the kingdom.

His Royal subjects and his many devoted friends--Royalty and commoner alike--all wish His Royal Highness King Jeff the happiest of days and long life!

All hail King Jeff!

God Bless the King!




Submitted by his Royal Scribe on this the sixteenth day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand nine.

I'm a Big Girl Now!

It's official--I'm a big girl now. I finally broke down and bought a pair of high heel shoes. How old am I? um... well, at least I'm not 50 yet. I figure I can wear these dress shoes for the next 25 years like I've worn my old pair of low-heel dress shoes.

I feel so tall!

soy milk continued

I make soy milk every Tuesday morning. That in it itself is not very impressing. What is though, is that people in my church know and every couple of weeks I have someone at the house learning how to make it too! Apparently, I am not the only person I know who doesn't drink animal's milk. It's great too because I am meeting new people and beginning not to feel like such a wierdo-outcast anymore.

hurray for like-minded people!

Apology to my Wonderful Children!

I am opposed to the drinking of animal's milk. Think about it for a moment---humans are the only animals that drink milk after they are weaned, and to make matters worse they drink another animal's milk. The thought of that has always made me cringe. And now, with the addition of growth hormones and other additives being put in the milk... yuck! Why would anyone want to put that crap in their body? (Ok, I'm off the soap box now.)

Needless to say, milk was not allowed in my home while my children were young. They drank almond milk, cashew milk, rice milk, and the dreaded soy milk. Oh, how they hated soy milk making days. They would run and hide because they knew mom would corner them and make them drink it. I finally got the hint and stopped making it after batches upon batches of soy milk had to be thrown out because they went sour. The recipe I used was from a Seventh-Day Adventist cookbook. I thought it must be a good one after all, they are die-hard vegetarians and soy is a staple food for them.

Well I was very, very wrong -- not in keeping my children away from animal milk, but in my choice of soy milk recipe. After 25 years I have found the perfect recipe and learned the tricks of soy milk making!!!!!! It even passed the family taste test! (I must admit, however, they were extremely hesitant to taste it.) I bought soy milk ($3.86 for 64 oz) and compared the taste to my home made soy milk and the taste was comparable. It takes about 30 minutes to make and, according to the recipe information, it costs about 12 cents per 64 oz, so what a great $$$ savings as well!

So to my wonderful children I apologize for making you drink the horrible soy stuff I made when you were growing up. I did the typical "mom thing" and pretended it was better than it really was because I believed so strongly against the alternative--cow's milk. Maybe now the scars can begin to heal. Just know that I love you.

Update on Dylan and Andrea.

Dylan was miserable immediately after the surgery. His body did not like the anesthesia. Luckily for him he was only miserable for a few hours. Andrea, however, ended up with an infected dry socket and started on an antibiotic only to discover she is allergic to penicillin. I don't know what was worse for her--the infection or the allergic reaction! Well, one good thing came out of it--we now know she is allergic to penicillin! (At 15 years old this is only the second time she's taken an antibiotic; the first was after her knee surgery in May, and it wasn't penicillin-based.)

Dylan started taking an antibiotic last week for a different reason and he ended up being allergic to it as well. (At 18, this is the first time he has ever taken an antibiotic. He only took it a couple of times before the allergy symptoms became unbearable and he stopped taking it.)

Now the really good news... we saved $2900 by having their wisdom teeth removed in 2008 instead of 2009! I am very thankful the insurance company sent out their 2009 revisions to coverage in December 2008!!!