Cidoa.org

I struggle with keeping up on politics. I want to be better. I try daily to be better, but there just seems to be so many things pulling me in different directions. But I think now, more than ever, it's irresponsible to not know what's going on in our world. We need to be informed. But where do you get your information? There are so many sources, but it seems everyone has a bias or a slant. Who to trust?

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours decided to start an organization called Citizens in Defense of America. He started a website that you can visit HERE. He has 14 founders, that will make regular blog posts about information they are finding and feel it's important to share. Travis is one of those founders. There is a page with conservative and liberal news feeds. There is a page that directs you to your local and national leader's addresses so you can write to them. I finally feel connected to other's that are as concerned about our country as I am. Or at least other's that I know I trust. I know I will learn more than I contribute, but at least it's a start.

Sometimes it's scary to start digging. I feel like the more I learn, the more anxious I become. Either that, or angry. I may have a glimpse at how brothers fought against brothers in the Civil War. When you feel that passionately about something, you will do anything to protect it.

As I'm learning and forming opinions, I try to reconcile my political beliefs with my religious beliefs. The church hasn't come out in support of any party or affiliation, but urges us to be informed and make our own decisions in line with our values. That's why I found the following clip so interesting. Please watch it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuY5uOsWUz0

If there is anyone I trust, it's our prophets. Ezra Taft Benson was the former Secretary of Agriculture of Dwight D. Eisenhower. When I watched this I hoped he would be direct and not mince words. Well I got my wish. He talks first about truth. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Then he moves on to socialism.

"WE ARE MOVING RAPIDLY DOWN THE SOUL DESTROYING ROAD OF SOCIALISM. THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR. THE CENTRALIZATION OF POWER IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN WASHINGTON D.C. IS REDUCING OUR LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS TO VIRTUAL FEDERAL FIELD OFFICES WHILE WEAKENING INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE, ENTERPRISE AND CHARACTER. WITH THE CRASS, UNCONSTITUTIONAL UNSURPTION OF POWER.... THE DAYS AHEAD ARE OMINOUSLY FRIGHTENING. ... IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE BECOME INFORMED..... NO AMERICAN IS WORTHY OF CITIZENSHIP IN THIS GREAT LAND WHO REFUSES TO TAKE AN ACTIVE INTEREST IN THESE IMPORTANT MATTERS."

When do you think he gave this address?
 1966.
If he thought we were in trouble then, we're in a world of hurt now. It wasn't the only time he spoke out against socialism. I've found a plethora of quotes by him that warn against it.

I have read about an analogy that I think sums up what our government is trying to do, very well.

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed and entire class.

That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in the class on Obama's plan."

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive and A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D!

No one was happy.

When the the third test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effor to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

I don't know if this situation actually happened, but that's not the point. The analogy smacks you in the head with truth! I was reading in Glenn Beck's book when a quote from the Economist jumped out at me.

"(France has)... an archaic socialism that fails to understand, or at least to explain, that wealth needs to be created before it can be shared."

I grew up in a family where my dad worked his tail off every day to succeed. Without capitalism and the free market, he'd still be spinning his wheels in square one. And I am SO SICK of hearing all of the Obama voters crying out about how he's going to take care of them. Take care of your own D*@# self! This country didn't fight for indepence so it's citizen's could give up their independence to it's own national government which is sizing up to be worse than the one they were running from. Ya see the anger I was talking about?! I just am finding that I feel very passionately about what's going on right now.

I was reading in 1 Nephi the other night when Nephi is being shown the future by an angel of the Lord. He is shown Columbus crossing the ocean and the pilgrims following. He sees the Revolutionary War.... Chapter 13, verse 18: "And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle". We are told explicitly that God was with the Americans. Why? Because he needed a free land for the Book of Mormon to come forth and the gospel to be restored. America is the Land of Promise! But there is a warning.... verses 6-7, "Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God. For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other- either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken."

Now ask yourself if you think the majority of Americans have hardened their hearts against the Lamb of God. Not a tuffy.

When I was at BYU and took the class, American Heritage, I began to understand why this country is so blessed. I literally gained a testimony of our founding fathers and the Constitution. I wish it was a mandatory credit for all college students. Now I see the Constitution being ignored right along with all those tea party goers. TIME magazine did an issue on 2009 "In Pictures." Nothing on the tea parties. Hmmm. A Republican was just voted into {Red State}Massachusettes. Hmmm. I could go on and on.

My dad used to always tell me, "With great privilege comes great responsibility". If we Americans can call ourselves anything, it's privileged. Too many lives have been lost giving us our rights and privileges. If you're not already taking an active interest in our country, please join me now in doing so.

Skating, Friends, and BaTh TiMe!

For mutual on Wednesday, we were combinded with the YM, and headed to an awesome, outdoor skating rink! I can't even remember the last time I went ice skating, so I was a bit apprehensive, but by the time we were leaving, I was having so much fun, I was busting out some rockin' dance moves on the ice. (Kris Allen's song came on! You just HAVE to dance.) Here's some of us at the beginning...

A few spills... no harm done.

The whole gang...Minus this lady. Someone had to keep Gavin company! I'm so sad, because Rach was released from YW today!! Pout pout. Life is so unfair! :)

Oh, and don't forget LeAnn, who wasn't quite getting the hang of things and spent most of the time on the side. It was really such a fun activity and just a few blocks from the church. I can't wait to go again!

This weekend we got together with some of our friends and realized we had never taken a picture of the kids together. They are each, almost exactly six months apart. We are just missing Elsie, who was born the day after Collin. We love our buddies!

On Saturday, we made a run to Sam's Club, and while deciding on which frozen dinner to best clog our arteries with, we realized Collin had gotten pretty comfy in his seat. Just chillin' like a villain.

Bath Time!

After we got home from our break, Collin started taking baths in the REAL tub. No more sissy baby tub. He loves it. He was just lacking some fun toys. That's when I remembered I still had a gift card to Pottery Barn. Since I knew the gift card would cover maybe the leg on a chair or a quarter of a rug, I had given up looking around. But lo and behold... we found two bath toy sets for $25!! Obviously not a screamin' deal, but I'll take it!

I love this picture because you can see the water droplets being splashed in the air.

That's a well placed frog!

Little stinker took a liking to the shiny faucet and started pulling himself up to it! First time he's really been able to get himself on his knees. And of all places, above porcelain. I need to relax.

Then, last night I wasn't really paying close attention, when I smelled what could only be poop. I looked down. Yup. It was poop. I scoured the bath tub this morning and HOW does he thank me? He poops in it. Besides the thick strip you see here, there was also a chunk under his leg and the floaties had quickly dispersed throughout the water. Do you think it bothered him one bit? Of course not. Do you think Trav was home to help? Of course not. (Every other bath, he's around, except the one, I really needed him for)

I was excited to finally make him a new hooded towel this week. I think it turned out pretty good. I just got the directions HERE online.

Yea! A towel that actually covers his whole body!

This is what the back looks like, with a pleat in the middle.

He's also become a champion escape artist when I'm trying to diaper and clothe him. Inevitably, I look away for one second and this is what greets me when I look back. Sure is a cute back side though. He takes after his daddy. :)

Well, feces and wiggling aside, how can you stay mad for long at this toothy grin?!

So, this isn't that interesting of a video, but I thought the grandma's might like to see him in action.

Changes!

Let's be honest, I wasn't super excited to return to the Buff. Taking down the Christmas decorations is never as fun as putting them up. And when I was taking our icicle lights down, look what I noticed on the other side of the glass. Yup. REAL icicles. Freezing daggers, really. Just ask Doug, he has the stab wound on his hand to prove it.

We are back in the swing of things though. Trav has started another semester and I remembered that I actually stay really busy out here. I wrote out my New Year's Resolutions and have already dug in. I feel like I have a fresh start in my church calling too. I'm excited to tackle Personal Progress and have positive feelings moving into the theme of "Be Strong and of a Good Courage". I'm surprised, actually, at the motivation I have for YW. Here's to hoping it lasts :)

Another strange thing happened when we got home.... I felt like I wanted to change up our living room. I don't like change and never really feel up to moving furniture around or anything like that, so it surprised me that I felt like redoing some things. I decided to start with this wall. There's a glare on the picture of the temple, but that picture is the main reason I wanted to change things. I don't like that picture!! Awful to say, but it's true, and I got a new one for Christmas, so now I have something to replace it with.

Here's the new look. I really wanted pictures of our families up in the house, and since we took some new ones over the break, I added those. The 5x7's are of the grandkids on each side of the family. It's not a massive change, but it's a start!

Other changes.... Doug joined the 26 club! We celebrated Saturday night at Dave and Busters. Here's half the group...

And the other half. Note the game in the background. Shed a tear for the Cardinals.

I think it's funny because uttering the name {Cardinals} used to be comparable to a garbage word. Now they're the stuff. We love our fair weather fans. :)We played a few games after dinner. Love {Deal or No Deal}. I played first and won 12 tickets. The most you could get is 250. Trav played down to two cases and one was the 250 case. His banker offer was 130. I cheered to take it. He didn't, and he won 250 tickets! I'll never live down being the "doubter". Go Trav. Let's hit Vegas, baby.

I even got the victory reaction.

The only motorcyle this kid's going to be riding!

I had to capture our solution to keeping the child warm when it's particularly nasty outside. He hops in Dad's kanagroo pouch.

Collin has had many changes since Christmas break. He is lovin' the big people food. And making messes. It's not dinner unless it's smeared all over your face, and hair.

And.....drumroll please.... he's crawling!!! Haha. He never did the army scoot, he'd just get on all four's and rock, and then one day he figured out how to translate that into moving forward. He sealed the deal probably a day after we got home. For a while the wood floor posed a problem. He'd just slip and slide and get stranded. Now he's a pro and I get to keep all eyes on him or else he's playing with the dirty vacuum or sucking on the laptop cord before I know it. Please pray he doesn't get a zap or worms any time soon. :)

Last of all, what's a new year without new T.V. shows?!! Unfortunately, ME+Reality T.V.= a big waste of time! But yes, I am addicted to The Bachelor. I wasn't even a huge Jake fan last season, but he's a nice guy, what the hay? It's fun. Trav and I also catch up on the Biggest Loser on the weekends and American Idol. Hence my new Kris Allen song playing. We are also diehard Community fans. That show is hilarious! It takes me back to the good 'ole MCC days. And maybe we also watch SharkTank. Dang, that makes us sound like couch potatoes. Most of that is done on the weekends when the child is sleeping and we are homebound. I know it doesn't justify it, but that's ok. We have our problems and you have yours :)

Back to life, Back to Reality...

Remember that song? That's what entered my head as we boarded the plane to leave our 70 degree, blissful vacation in the desert to return to the winter wasteland we call home.

Yesterday morning Trav got on the computer and announced that the temp for Buffalo was 16 degrees, feels like 6. Even with all the packing I had to do, I immediately went outside and sat on a pool chair with my face to the sun. Just had to soak it up one last time. Wish I could bottle it. We had a wonderful hiatus. Really wonderful. But more on that to come.

Collin was a gem on the plane ride home, which arrived a little late at 10:30pm. Creed was also a gem to leave his big football game and come fetch us. We pulled up to our abode covered in snow and I sighed. Why do we live here, again? :) Once we got our abundant luggage in the house and Trav headed out to start shoveling, I looked at the clock. It read 12:07.

I bathed and fed the babers. Luckily for him, his milk never expires. OUR dinner on the other hand, constituted of the only thing I could make with no fresh ingredients, Homestyle Bakes. I've heard some refer to it as dog food, but to be perfectly honest, I don't mind it. And at 11 grams of fat per 1/2 cup it deserves to be on the food storage shelf!

I glanced at the dish soap. Frozen. I almost fell down our steep, New York stairs. Why did they build them so steep?! I jumped every time I turned on a faucet and the pipes sounded like they were exploding while delivering my icy water. I smelled the air. Cabinish. I had to remind myself that my pans were on the left side of my kitchen, not the right side, like at my mom's house. Not an overwhelming amount of things to get used to, but still adjustments. Then I snuggled into my bed and grabbed my bear, Mr. Rumpkins (boy I missed him!) and things started feeling like I was home.