Piano Recital & Damian's Christmas Present

Ariella's piano recital. This is just for you because you asked Justin. The quality of the video is not that good. It is just taken with my camera.


I have made a Santa Stocking for each one of my children on their first Christmas. Now I am doing the same thing for my grandchildren. Here is the one I made for Damian this year:





















Damian opens his present:





















Damian meets his Great grandparents:














Getting Snuggles and Grins from Damian

Cultural Bias and Media Influence

It wasn't very long ago that I realized some specific ways that I have been influenced by the cultural bias and media influence of my youth and young adulthood in a way that I had not considered. I consider myself a person who is capable of thinking for myself and not buying into the cultural biases unless I also agree with them. It seems that I bought the message of my time that throughout history and in many other cultures Women have been suppressed. I no longer accept that as a fact. I am sure that in certain circumstances that could be true and still is true, but I no longer believe that concept is generally true. We think that we have come a long way as women in claiming our equality with men. Major strides have been made in the areas of equal pay for equal work, equal opportunities, equal voices of influence, etc.
I however for a long time have wondered why are we, as women, trying to compete with the men. It seems to me that we do not value our own femininity, power, areas of influence, etc. I was just talking with my daughter- in-law yesterday and she was sharing how much she enjoys watching her son discover the world for the first time and how it influences her to look anew with wonder at the world. And then we got talking about the fathers that don't get to be there to experience those same joys. Also, we talked about the women who miss out, either by choice or circumstance, those same things because they work outside of the home. What greater value can there be in the world than the opportunity of being a parent. Why would anyone by choice give up spending as much time as possible with the precious children?
Yet we have our cultural bias that puts money as the greatest value and power. Then with that perspective we view our own value and power, and our history, and other cultures. But what if our perspective put children and family as the greatest value? How does that change the way we view women (it seems that men are the ones missing out)? What does that perspective do to our view of history, other cultures, etc.?
It seems to me that contrary to popular cultural bias that instead of gaining power and value, we as women have lost much of our value and power and by our own misguided choices.

If we look at the time line of history, it is only in the recent past that the men because of the industrial age have missed out on that valuable time with the family. Before the industrial age, men, women, and children all worked together to support the family and also enjoyed the support of the family. Now men, women, and children all miss out on the joys and support of those family connections. Yet there is tremendous hope for the future with the advancement of technology. It becomes more and more possible to work at home once again in diverse opportunities. We may yet again be able to experience the joys of togetherness in the family unit with father, mother, and children, each carrying out their responsibilities.

This years gingerbread creation

Lydia is working on the wood pile that is by the back door.

Ariella is making the decorated Christmas tree.
Over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we go.
We wanted to do something with a horse for Lydia. I also wanted to have the candy glass windows so that the house could be lighted from the inside. And of course, it also had to have a Christmas theme. The song over the river and through the woods.... came to mind and then we had our theme.
I like to take on new challenges every year. This year it was the balcony on the house. I haven't really liked the way our trees have turned out it the past and so we tried something new this year. I really like the final effect. We also did the candy glass windows different than I have in the past and I like this way much better. It is a much smoother edge. The bridge and the sleigh are also new for us. The horse is made out of a Cinnamon ornament dough. It smells so good. That is Lydia's creation.
The roofline ended up being one of the big challenges. I was trying to figure out how to make the roof with the raised front piece and so I was looking at roofs while we were driving around and decided I would try what I was seeing. It took some math skills to get the pieces so they would all line up correctly. I wasn't sure until I put the final pieces together if it would work or not. It took some holding until pieces dried and hoping that it wasn't too distorted to fit on the house. It fit great and the challenge was worth it.
Overall I am very pleased with the final creation.

Response to Michaels post

Since my son has decided to forbid me from being around him or his wife and my grandchild. Here is a link to his post:http://www.michaelandjaspenelle.com/archive/2008/11/16/propostion-8-and-hate

This is the reply that I wrote to him, but he will probably not allow it to be posted so I put it here for any who wishes to see.

I am not against gays or have any hatred toward them. I am for children and the childs rights. I am just as against sex outside of marriage, adultry, selfishness within the marriage that causes abuse and the fighting, divorce, and any other thing that takes away from the child the right to have the love of it’s biological parents there for them as much as possible. When 2 men or 2 women are biologically capable of having a child, then I will be for them marrying. Marriage isn’t only about love, many cultures love doesn’t even have to be a part of it. But love can be a part of every marriage when the 2 involved make that choice and then it increases the value of the marriage tremendously. Marriage is not about the two adults needing protection by giving them all those rights. It is about the potential children that could be born into that marriage and protecting those childrens’ rights in the case of death or divorce or selfishness, etc.
So continue to hate me if you will, but my doors will always be open to you and your family. I will continue to respect all people even if I don’t agree with their behaviors. I have nothing against gays receiving many of those rights you listed in other ways as needed for protection in their own particular situation. so do what you have to do, but I will not be blackmailed into giving up my religion or my values.

Spokane Temple picketed

Since those who were in opposition to Proposition 8 in California have decide to also picket the temple in Spokane, I thought I would pass on a few facts.

These were taken from this blog:
http://beetlebabee.wordpress.com/2008/11/08/mormons-stole-our-rights/

1. Mormons make up less than 2% of the population of California. There are approximately 800,000 LDS out of a total population of approximately 34 million.

2. Mormon voters were less than 5% of the yes vote. If one estimates that 250,000 LDS are registered voters (the rest being children), then LDS voters made up 4.6% of the Yes vote and 2.4% of the total Proposition 8 vote.

3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) donated no money to the Yes on 8 campaign. Individual members of the Church were encouraged to support the Yes on 8 efforts and, exercising their constitutional right to free speech, donated whatever they felt like donating.

4. The No on 8 campaign raised more money than the Yes on 8 campaign. Unofficial estimates put No on 8 at $38 million and Yes on 8 at $32 million, making it the most expensive non-presidential election in the country.

5. Advertising messages for the Yes on 8 campaign are based on case law and real-life situations. The No on 8 supporters have insisted that the Yes on 8 messaging is based on lies. Every Yes on 8 claim is supported.

6. The majority of our friends and neighbors voted Yes on 8. Los Angeles County voted in favor of Yes on 8. Ventura County voted in favor of Yes on 8.

7. African Americans overwhelmingly supported Yes on 8. Exit polls show that 70% of Black voters chose Yes on 8. This was interesting because the majority of these voters voted for President-elect Obama. No on 8 supporters had assumed that Obama voters would vote No on 8.

8. The majority of Latino voters voted Yes on 8. Exit polls show that the majority of Latinos supported Yes on 8 and cited religious beliefs (assumed to be primarily Catholic).

9. The Yes on 8 coalition was a broad spectrum of religious organizations. Catholics, Evangelicals, Protestants, Orthodox Jews, Muslims - all supported Yes on 8. It is estimated that there are 10 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants in California. Mormons were a tiny fraction of the population represented by Yes on 8 coalition members.

10. Not all Mormons voted in favor of Proposition 8. Our faith accords that each person be allowed to choose for him or her self. Church leaders have asked members to treat other members with “civility, respect and love,” despite their differing views.

11. The Church did not violate the principal of separation of church and state. This principle is derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” The phrase “separation of church and state”, which does not appear in the Constitution itself, is generally traced to an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, although it has since been quoted in several opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court in recent years. The LDS Church is under no obligation to refrain from participating in the political process, to the extent permitted by law. U.S. election law is very clear that Churches may not endorse candidates, but may support issues. The Church has always been very careful on this matter and occasionally (not often) chooses to support causes that it feels to be of a moral nature.

12. Supporters of Proposition 8 did exactly what the Constitution provides for all citizens: they exercised their First Amendment rights to speak out on an issue that concerned them, make contributions to a cause that they support, and then vote in the regular electoral process. For the most part, this seems to have been done in an open, fair, and civil way. Opponents of 8 have accused supporters of being bigots, liars, and worse. The fact is, we simply did what Americans do - we spoke up, we campaigned, and we voted.

Purpose and Definition of Marriage

Biologically it takes a man and a woman to create a child. The woman plays the primary role in that creation putting her health, strength, body, and even sometimes her life, on the line before and during the birth of the baby. Then after the baby is born the woman with her body continues to provide the best nourishment for the child for many months. She sacrifices a tremendous amount of time to provide that nourishment. Ideally the man will continue to be involved and provide the support making it possible for the woman to give her time and energy to the child. The child continues to remain very dependent on both parents for many years. Sacrifices must be made by both parents to meet the needs of that child.
While children can be very resilient and survive a lot of neglect physically, neglect by either or both parents does long term emotional damage.
Because the actual physical effort in creating the child is very minimal on the mans part, I'm sure it didn't take very long for the woman to require a commitment before she would consent to taking a chance in creating a child. That commitment is what is known as marriage. Whether the man had one or many wives, that commitment was still between the one man and the one woman. Since for most of the history of the world "productive people equaled power", governments backed up that commitment with laws and even special privileges. Thus we have the basic essence of marriage with its legal privileges.

And now we come to a point in our culture where we try to redefine marriage. Biologically it will not change anything but legally those privileges were meant for a specific purpose. Namely, the protection of the woman and child.
As medical advances and technology have changed our society, that primary purpose for legal marriage has become blurred. Abortion and birth control make it safe for a woman to indulge in what could have created a child without the risk or the need for commitment. Machinery and technology have taken over for and replaced people. Governments no longer need more people to have more power. Therefore governments no longer have that vested interest in the marriage commitment.
Children in our society have lost their value. They seem now only to be an indulgence and for many when they get too hard to care for they are in a sense thrown away.
But even with all those changes, for those who choose to value children, that primary commitment of marriage is vital. With all that the children have against them in our culture, those legal laws and privileges of the marriage commitment are probably even more important.
For the sake of the children, our society cannot afford a redefinition of marriage.

Cat Stand

Mad Scientists in the Lab

Just a few pictures of the girls working on their science labs.

systematic destruction of civilization

Throughout the history of the world the morals and values that hold a society together and teach us how to be civilized have been passed down to each succeeding generation by stories and legends and written down in the religious texts of every nation. There we find the wisdom of the ages on how to be civilized.
Our current interpretation of the separation of church and state suppresses that wisdom of the ages from being a part of public life or government. I agree that government should not promote any individual religion, but I do think that government by its policies and laws should encourage and support religious organizations and also promote public discussion of values and morals.
Instead we have specific organizations whose goal is to erase every vestige of religion or morals from public life and government. They do it by promoting tolerance, equality, and separation of church and state. Most of us are all for that because we interpret those things different than how they are being promoted. All they have to do to suppress our voice is accuse us of being against any one of those things and we quickly back down.
We need to wake up and see the truth before they succeed with their goals and destroy our freedom and society.
The tolerance they promote is not to give equal respect to all people but to tolerate all immorality that people choose. For instance: There is an underground slave trade and people trafficking that is a very lucrative business based in prostitution and fueled by the pornography industry. But don't you dare say anything against pornography. It is a choice and doesn't hurt anybody. Even the majority of our advertising appeals to lust and helps to promote the whole industry. So lets ignore that marriages and families are being shattered. Lets also ignore that the lives of children are being destroyed as they are put into slavery and forced prostitution. No harm. Right?
And what about equality? Equality in opportunity is a good thing and is what most of us are thinking when we hear the word equality. What is being promoted is equality in the outcome. That means that both the contributors and the slackers in society should get equal shares of the good produced. Even children understand how that is unjust. When the goods that your effort produced get shared equally with those who have done nothing, what is the motivation to keep doing anything? Wouldn't it be better to focus on putting more value on the diverse contributions individuals make in our society. Such as: childcare, teaching, nurturing is still highly undervalued in our society.

A great analogy that puts this all in perspective and shows the role of government is the analogy of the traffic light. This is a summary of that analogy taken from the book Why We Whisper by Jim DeMint & J. David Woodard, Ph. D. (pg.50-51)

We choose to give up personal freedom for the good of society. A simple example is the traffic light. Unless everyone complies the system does not work. We all know that running a red light is wrong. We obey or we will be arrested or fined. But consider this scenario: some members of congress become concerned that the fines are too burdensome for the poor. A new federal program is set up to pay the fines and the medical expenses of those injured after running a red light. It also pays for unemployment caused by the injuries or suspension of driver's liceses. The number of people running red lights increase as well as the injuries and deaths. The spending for the federal program expands and the cost of auto insurance skyrockets for everyone. The Department of Education impliments a new driver education program teaching how to "safely" run a red light. As the federal program expands, research confirms that they serve mainly to encourage students to run red lights and many students no longer believe that running a red light is wrong. Conflicting laws change societies view of right and wrong. One teacher is fired for embarassing a student in class who ran a red light. A trucking company lost a lawsuit to a truck diriver that was fired because he had perfected the technique of running red lights. Responsible drivers who stop at red lights are harrased by those who must wait behind them. Running red lights is still illegal. A candidate for congress is criticized for favoring strong enforcement of red lights, while the opposing candidate calls him intolerant for suggesting it is wrong to run red lights and asserts he is predjudiced against the poor.

Now insert anything of a moral or religious nature in the above scenario and see how those organizations are systematically working to destroy our civilization because of their predjudice against organised religion.

We better start opening our eyes and seeing the truth.
For an example of an organization who uses this pattern take a close look at the ACLU
Isn't Obamba endorsed by the ACLU?