Yes on Prop 8!!

We're all doing our part! 

Signs in our front yard 

A sign in our backyard . . . John had fashioned this one - the others kept getting stolen.  The opposition is fierce!  Hopefully this will be too tall to be reached easily from the other side now.

We've 'waved signs' on the busy street corner near the freeway . . . mostly positive responses:  friendly horn-honking and thumbs up.  

Yet, again, the fierce opposition mostly was rude, crude, mean, angry and vile.  

Seriously people, who would flip off a two-year old or cuss out a cute four-year-old boy?  Only mean, angry, hateful, bigoted, and intolerant people!!!!! 

 And yet that's what they are calling us . . .hmmmm.

Q1: How Will My Same-Sex Marriage Hurt Your Marriage?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL2MJ6hah-I&feature=related

Q2: Is same-sex marriage like interracial marriage?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p81mkYOtJMU&feature=related

Q3: Where does it stop?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEL0f2yuqLo&feature=related

Q4: Can't we have religious marriage and civil marriage?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF6w2ILsyUA&feature=related

Q5: What public good does marriage provide?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9cYmAGbREA&feature=related

Q6: Is it healthy to experiment with children?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5QYnJwQttQ&feature=related

Q7: Haven't experts said same-sex parenting is fine?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8P3x0UsTNQ&feature=related

Q8: How do we know what kind of families kids need?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx3IqxKFCp4&feature=related

Q9: Are the Needs of Kids or Adults More Important?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDOJdIQbGIE&feature=related

Q10: Does Gender Really Matter?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YmONdhwXCg&feature=related

Happy Halloween! - Updated

Halloween dinner was our traditional stew in a pumpkin.  It is so good - and a perfect start (and end) to a candy-filled night . . . warm and satisfying and healthy.

Our friends, The Stricklands, came over to trick-or-treat with us.  Sarah is Madison's friend from her class and Nathan was in Brooke's class.

After the trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, we went to a "Grave Yard" at a neighbor's house a block away.  I wish I had pictures of that.  He goes all out in setting up a spook alley for the kids.  It's not too scary, nor is it gory, so it's fun for everyone.  We ran into other friends there, and they came over for some pumpkin stew, too! 

Alyssa, Izzy, Bridget, Madison

My friend Andrea, and her daughter Anna came over to hang out after the Grave Yard and have some stew, too.  Ashlyn and Christian had long before gone to sleep - they were totally done after walking our neighborhood.

My cute little 50's sock-hop family!

Ashlyn stole the show at each house.  She was just too cute!

Happy Halloween . . . from the kids at the Sock Hop!

My Quirkiness

I've been tagged by Denise to list six quirky  things about me.  

I think I'm slightly uninteresting, so I had a hard time coming up with things.  I asked John the other night to name some quirky things about me, and he had a hard time, too.  See?  I am pretty dull.  After a little more thought, he decided that it would be safe to not name anything, for fear of naming the wrong thing.  

I searched the deep recesses of my under-used brain and came up with these:

1.  I cannot sneeze just once.  I normally sneeze 6 times in a row.  It's just the way it is.  Sometimes it's rapid-fire.

2.  I can't concentrate unless it's quiet.  While we were in college, I had to go in another room to study because John liked to have background music on while he studied.  Even now, when I'm working, I need to have it quiet.  Must be my ADD.

3.  I am scared of Andy Gumps.  I actually despise them (and the smell).  One would think I would be somewhat 'used' to the idea of them since I practically grew up using an outhouse.  Now I know why my mom didn't like spending too much time up at the rustic cabin.  Public restrooms give me the creeps, especially when my children have to use them.  Their little bodies have a much harder time not touching everything.

4.  I still wear a retainer.

5.  I can't fall asleep until my feet are warmed up -- I often have cold feet.  When John is out of town, and it's a chilly night, I have to wear warm socks to bed. Sometimes to be nice, I'll wear socks even if he is in town.

6.  I kringe at mispellt words, bad grammer and stuff.  Proofread, people!  Use spell check!  I'm not talking about the common typo -- we all have those.  

p.s.  I'm completely aware of the above mistakes - I did that on purpose, in case any of you didn't already figure that out.   

Now, I TAG Renee and Rebecca.  Let's here 'em girls!

Progress Update

I've completed some more projects for work,

went to kickboxing class, 

updated Facebook,

took the kids to the park, 

now it's time for my other work:

I love how I 'antiqued' this photo to make my sewing machine actually look antique, because, well, it is. 

Maddy got my camera and had a little fun snapping away

Helping hands?

Try to make sense of this mess.  

Skirts are put together, now just need petticoats and appliques. 

The girls loved them  - love how they lay out in a full circle.

Like I Have Nothing Else To Do

Last Saturday night was the first event for my new calling, aside from attending the Sacrament programs (2 down, 4 to go - all this Sunday!).  We put on a "Faith in God" activity for the Primary kids ages 8-11.  We were expecting about 50 kids.  You know, not everyone shows up, people are busy, etc.  I was thinking we'd be lucky to get 40 kids.  What a pessimist I am!  I suppose I've been to too many activities where about 50% attendance is considered good.  We planned a fun "missionary madness" theme with four groups going to four different 'missions' for 15 minutes each.  We were blown away when about 80 kids showed up.  I guess parents jump at the opportunity for free babysitting!  It was a rip-roarin' good time with packed 'missions' squeezing into the rooms and finishing the activities to move onto the next 'mission'.  I was in charge of the London Mission with an activity for the kids to write a letter to their mothers.  

I ran out of my cute scrapbook paper stationary!  

I ran out of pens!  

I didn't think we'd have more than 20 kids in some groups!   We made it all work and had a lot of fun!  For dessert we served apples using that cool Pampered Chef peeler/slicer/corer tool and put carmel sauce and cinnamon on top.  That was a hit!

Now it's time to plan the Priesthood Preview dinner that's coming up in two weeks.  All this Prop 8 madness is a blessing in disguise.  Because of it, we have canceled auxiliary training, which was to be next week (oh darn!).  At least I now don't have to spend time preparing for that . . . 

So because I have all this newfound freedom, I decided it would be fun to make the Halloween costumes this year.  I've never been a fan of store-bought cheapy costumes.  Not to say that I haven't resorted to them in the past, I'm just not a fan. With that being said, Madison mentioned that she wanted to be a fifties girl with a poodle skirt.  What a great idea!  I can go for poodle skirts.  She originally wanted to be a devil.  Um, no.  Where did that come from?  Fifties?  Now that's cute.  We can make it . . . from scratch!  So I pack up the littles and head to my local Joann Fabric store to see what disaster I have awaiting me.  I probably should mention that I do not sew.   But I have a sewing machine . . . it needs to be put to use!   How hard can it really be?   Two hours later, a basket full of material and patterns that I really don't know what to do with, cranky kids that I made stay in the cart so I could concentrate (instead of chasing them around), and I'm ready!  

Madison and Brooke have done a great job convincing Christian that instead of Peter Pan, it would be so cool if he was a 'motorcycle dude' (as they described it) so they could all match.  And, I may add, would be much easier to pull off than me having to try to figure out how to make a Peter Pan costume as well.  I did buy a pattern for it, but will happily return it. 

 

My room is now converted to ground zero.  I'm glad I have a large amount of empty floor space.  I have taken it over.  Little snippets of pink scraps have taken it over.  Don't walk barefoot in my room as you'll probably get pinned by the many stray pins I keep finding.

I have definitely bitten off more than I can chew.  If this works out, it will be a miracle. 

This is the pattern I'm using.  Isn't it just too cute?  Ashlyn's skirt is almost done and the others are cut out.  Now I have to attempt the petticoats.  

Wouldn't Christian be cute as this?  

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

and Boats and Buses and Taxis . . . 

We arrived by train to the beautiful Lake District town of Windermere and took a taxi to our hotel near Bowness. 

It was quaint, but I don't think I'd choose this one next time we go (positive thinking - the next time we go!).

This is part of the hotel.  It was right on the lake.  It was cold and rainy the day we arrived, and were concerned that it would be like that the whole time.  We survived the rain by seeing a movie "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas" which was really good, by the way!

Thankfully Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day!  We took a boat to the other side of the lake to check out the villages and sites of Beatrix Potter.

Hill Top is where Beatrix Potter lived and based many of her characters and stories.  It is a stunning area.  She purchased 4,000 acres in order to preserve the land from developers . . . and it worked.  It now all belongs to the National Trust so will never be developed.  All the homes and shops are so old - there is nothing new and modern here.

The front of her house. 

The garden path.  Many of these pictures can be found in the illustrations in her books. 

From Hill Top, we decided to walk the 4 miles to the next village, Hawkshead.  It was a long walk, but beautiful along the narrow road.  The road is the only thing modern!  These stone walls are everywhere, dividing the farms and roads

 . . . and to think that they were all laid by hand.

Sheep were in great supply. 

This area is also near where William Wordsworth lived and wrote most of his poetry and found his inspiration.  This is the grammar school he attended. 

Time to stop for hot chocolate and cake.  Everything is just so cute, one can't help it!

On the boat heading back to Bowness.

This is in front of the World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, inspired and installed with Renee Zellweger from the "Miss Potter" movie.  Highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. 

We had a little lunch at this cute little cafe along a little side street.  We asked the waiter if Val was his Aunty and he said, "No, she's my mum."

Goodbye Lake Windermere!  Goodbye Bowness!  Goodbye beautiful Lake District!

Goodbye United Kingdom!

A view of the island from 37,000 feet.

It was a fabulous vacation - on to Chicago's O'Hare airport, then home to see the kiddies!  

They were over-the-top excited to see us when we got home Sunday night.  

I've never seen Christian and Ashlyn so animated and talkative. We missed them and were so glad they all had such wonderful time with grandma and grandpa, and Dre and Adam!!

Manchester - The Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution

Downtown Manchester is just about like any big city.  Tall buildings, old buildings, newer buildings.  Our hotel is again right on the Thames, although this part of the river looks like a black canal.  Manchester does offer some great shopping.  I treated myself to an afternoon of walking around, seeing a movie, and of course, shopping!

This is their version of the "Andy Gump" - much cuter, eh?

After a long dinner at a superb Italian restaurant with the whole European Sales Team, John and I planned out next adventure:  leaving Friday at noon after his meetings and taking the train to Windermere!