Christmas Get-Togethers

This season is so wonderful. We love to see so much of our family and enjoy their company. That is one of our favorite things about Christmas. We wish that we could be with everyone, though. A special "Merry Christmas" to all those in our family who we won't see this year, Cathy's and James' families and Rob. Our hearts go out to you and hope this year finds you and your families happy and in good health. We love you!

--Tom, Camille, and Chalyse

Hooray for being busy

I love to keep busy and have places to go but the phrase "careful what you wish for" definitely applies this next week. Tomorrow we have a nephew's birthday party to attend, Monday is my little sisters birthday party, Tuesday is my Grandma's Christmas party, Wednesday we are hosting Tom's family's Christmas party, Thursday is Christmas and we are going to dinner at my Mom's house, but it doesn't end there, Friday we go to dinner with my brothers and sisters (as our gift to each other this year we decided to spend some time together doing something fun), and Saturday I am hosting a baby shower for my friend. Now don't get me wrong I am super excited for this next week, plus the only cooking we will be doing is the food assignments for all these parties (toffee, soup, salad, rolls, vegetable trays, dips, punch), I am just glad we got our shopping done early. It will be nice when it is over and we can take a breath.

Chalyse Loves Noodles

Dinner Rolls and Thanksgiving

Here is the rolls recipe that Jeni wanted and some pictures from Thanksgiving.

Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup instant potato flakes
• 1 cup scalded milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 packages active dry yeast, or rapid rise yeast (scant 2 tablespoons)
• 4 1/2 + cups flour
• melted butter
• poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic salt, etc

Method:

Combine hot water and potato flakes. Add scalded milk, butter, sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Beat 1 egg and stir into mix. Stir in yeast. Add about 1 1/2 cups of flour and beat with electric mixer until elastic (about 2-3 minutes). By hand, gradually stir in enough more flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place dough in clean greased bowl, grease top, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size (approximately 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours). Punch down or knead out excess air. Follow directions below to shape as desired. Just before baking, beat second egg well, lightly brush top of rolls with egg for a shiny top. Sprinkle with seeds, garlic salt, etc as desired. Note: Ideas also work well with thawed, frozen bread dough. Recipe makes 24 rolls.

Divide dough in two. Roll each piece into a 16-inch circle, brush with melted butter, cut into 12 wedges. Starting at the wide end roll each wedge up. Place on greased baking sheet with tip underneath. Curve ends to form a crescent, cover and allow to rise until double in size (about 20-40 minutes). Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

Hooray!!!!!!!

So today was a definite reason to celebrate. I went to my last class for my undergraduate degree! I have finals next week and student teaching next semester, but I'm done with course work if you don't count the teacher work sample (and I've already completed the bulk of that as a part of my methods class).

Christmas Fun

Yesterday, Camille and I went to get our Christmas tree. We went to a tree yard close to our home and had a really good experience. The attendant was really accommodating and friendly even though he was really busy.

When we got home and got the tree in place, we found that we didn't have enough lights to put on the tree. So, we went to the local Target to pick up some lights. We found some that we liked, and as we went through the checkout, I discovered to my horror that I was missing my card. I looked all through my wallet, but it wasn't there. The last place I had used it was at the tree yard. After we checked out, we went back to the tree yard, but we couldn't find it. When we got home, after looking around some more, we called to cancel the card, just in case.

When Camille got the lights out of the box, she realized that they had a white cord. That just wouldn't do, so I was sent back to Target to get some with green cords.

After I got back and we got the tree all decorated, we got a call from the attendant at the tree yard. He had found my card. He said it was in a weird place.

Chalyse's 9 month check up

This past week Chalyse had her 9 month check up. She is getting so big! We decided to go to a doctor that was closer to our home that my aunt recommended. When we first got there i wasn't sure i was going to like this new dr. very much because the receptionists weren't very professional and we waited for over an hour. As soon as they took us back, though, my opinion totally changed. The girl that took us back was so cute and sweet, and she kept apologizing about the wait. She was so good with Chalyse and Chalyse loved her. Next our Dr came who was also sooo sweet and gentle. Chalyse didn't even know she was at the doctors. After the doctor was done, they came in to give Chalyse her shot. She normally screams and cries, so we gave her her binkie and blanket, but after they stuck her, she wimpered a little bit and was happy again, probably because she was having so much fun. We loved our old doctor, and we're glad that we found someone close by that we like, also. The diagnosis: Chalyse is healthy, on track, and super cute!

Fun in Social Psychology

My professor of this class is a Democrat, which is neither here nor there. Today we talked about aggression. He started out his lecture by talking about guns. I'll preface my writings by saying that I think both sides of the gun control debate are a little overly simplistic. Are there a lot of guns that are misused in the US? Absolutely. Are there unnecessary deaths? Absolutely. Has there been some success with gun control in other countries? Yes, but there have been warnings for us, too. On the other hand, are there countries that have widespread gun ownership and extremely low levels of gun crime? Absolutely! Norway and Switzerland have among the lowest crime rates (of any kind) in the world.

Lessons can be learned from these two examples of gun ownership. One thing, first of all, must be understood: a gun is a tool and it can't kill people. People kill people. A gun is inanimate and can do nothing by itself. They understand that very well in these two countries. Switzerland has mandatory military service for all men, and therefore has a very well-trained population. If I were a criminal, I would be most worried about those with guns than those without. Additionally, I would be very deterred from committing a crime if the likelihood of the other person having a gun was great, especially if they know how to use it.

The second amendment isn't going away. We are going to have guns. I propose mandatory training on firearms. In many places we have mandatory sex ed., the purpose being to limit unsafe sex. Why in the world don't we try to limit unsafe gun use and ownership when far more people die from misuse of guns than from misuse of sex? I'm just saying.

Chalyse Crawling

Silly Chalyse

So Chalyse has been making strides in mobility lately, much to our amusement. She keeps us on our toes. She has been trying to crawl for about a month, and this last week she finally figured it out. It's fun to watch her struggle across the floor. She has always sat with her left leg extended, and so it is more natural for her to crawl the same way, I guess. It looks like she has a cast on her leg. It's pretty cute. The day that she figured it out, she also learned how to clap rather than just hitting her fingers together and clasping her hands in front of her. I guess she had a lot of examples of how it's done with us encouraging her.

A couple of days before she figured out how to crawl, Camille and I put her down to go to bed, and she sat there and talked and made noise for a while as we watched a movie in the other room. She suddenly went silent, and we knew that she was up to something. When I went in to check on her, she was standing up, supporting herself on her headboard. She had climbed up the bars of her crib and scooted along the edge to the back. She turned to look at me with a look on her face as if to say, "Hey Dad. I'm not doing anything." She lost her grip at that point and bumped her head on the bars of her crib.

Crawling Backwards

Lla touba s'taht llew. Yay, Yadirf ytud yruj sah eh dna, ho. Yadrutas no maxe sixarp eht sekat eh. Loohcs htiw ysub stuj si Mot. Tey ti wonk t'nseod ehs tub gnilwarc yllacitcarp si Esylach: tsetal eht s'ereh llew. Tuo ti erugif dluow enoyna fi ees dna sdrawkcab tsop a etirw dluow ew dediced I dna Mot os yas ot hcum evah yllaer t'ndid ew.

Halloween

This Halloween we dressed up as some of the characters from the Wizard of Oz. I was Dorothy, Tom was the Scarecrow and Chalyse was the good witch Glinda. I put alot of work into the costumes. Every year all of my family go to my Mom and Dad's for trick-or-treating and a Halloween party. I told Tom to get it off but when he asked they told him every one has to work it because it is one of the busiest days of the year. I was so sad but his manager said they would get him off as quickly as possible and my sister volunteered to come pick me up. Tom got to the party only 15 minutes later than we did and we had alot of fun! Here are some pictures:

The Scarecrow and Glinda (she's a little excited)




Here's Bethany. She's Strawberry Shortcake. My mom made that awesome hat.


Brighton went as a golfer this year. This costume suited him--he's got a set of mini-golf clubs and he's always golfing around the house.


Everyone's Jackolanterns. My mom insisted on having 10 of them. (Brigham was still carving his--a Buckaneers logo). Jame's is on the top--he shaved his.




Jame's costume. His wife shaved the back of his head to look like a face.

Halloween fun.

Here are some pictures from our party on Saturday. It was a lot of fun!



Chalyse and her friend Oliver fighting over the beads.


Mandy and Austin


Captain Jack Sparrow, I mean Jame


Our family of pirates





Our friends Andrea and Danny


Craig and Abby

Witches and screaming

This last Monday, Camille, Chalyse, and I went up to Gardner Village. We hadn't been there before, and Camille's mom recommended it. The entire place was decorated in a witches theme, and there were life-size and larger-than-life witches everywhere. It was also a lot of fun to see the different boutique stores that are there.









We all had a really great time. Chalyse seemed pretty happy until the end, when it became obvious that she was getting tired.

Yesterday, she had a really hard time though. She was driving Camille and me completely crazy. We think she was either cutting a tooth on the top or just feeling sick. She refused to let us feel her gums long enough to see if there was a tooth. She wouldn't let us do anything. Consequently, Camille ended up not being able to close up shop downstairs until after Chalyse went to bed...at 9:30.

Socialism

It never ceases to amaze me how many members of the Church embrace whole-heartedly socialist programs. They always cite quotes by Christ, King Benjamin, and prophets of the Church who call for more equality and generosity. They also cite the United Order and consecration as examples in which the Church advocates redistribution of wealth. There are two problems with drawing a comparison between socialism in its Marxist form and consecration: agency and stewardship.

From the very beginning, there has been a battle between the followers of Christ and the followers of Satan. Christ's plan all along was to allow people to choose whether or not they would follow Him. Satan's plan was to force everyone to do what is right. God knew that there was nothing exalting in being forced to do good, and that no one would learn and grow through coercion. Socialism is just that, though. It is good to give to those who are in need. It is just as damning, however, to be forced to give to the poor as it is to retain your excess. It is also unjustifiable to take from one individual to give to another individual without the consent of that person. Consecration, on the other hand, is based on agency. People have the choice to give freely and receive the blessings or to retain their wealth and not receive the Spirit.

There is also the matter of stewardship. In consecration and the United Order, every person gave all of there substance to the Bishop's storehouse, and then they were given what they needed for themselves and their families. Most of the time, they received much of their own possessions back (including home and land) in the form of a stewardship. They were responsible and accountable for the use of these things. Under socialism, however, there is no such accountability or stewardship. Indeed, under its most extreme form (communism) everything is owned "commonly," meaning the government oligarchy owns everything, and there is no accountability or sense of responsibility on the part of any of the people. Under common forms of socialism, stewardships are given out (usually in the form of money) with no commitment or accountability expected. It's not hard to see how this is contrary to the way of the gospel. Indeed, many general authorities over the years have condemned the idea of a dole welfare system (giving out money).

For those who earn more than they need, it is good for them to give to the poor. For those who need help, they should do all they can on their own, then approach their families, then their church, and last of all their government. Socialist governments try to flip that on its head and get people to depend on it rather than help themselves or each other. There is nothing exalting in having all of your needs automatically provided for without having to learn and grow, and there is nothing exalting about not helping your neighbor or family member directly. Government socialism takes the choice and the charity out of it.

If babies thought in words...

Oh, no dad. Don't put me down. Uh, oh well, I think I'll eat this rug. Uh, uh. I can't get it out from under me. Well maybe I'll roll over a couple of times. Well, maybe a couple more. Oh, what is this. A chair! Kick, kick, kick....Kick, kick. Kick. Well, that was fun. Kick. Let's keep rolling, I guess. Roll, roll, roll. Ugh! Who put this wall here! Dad, was it you?! Hey mom! Dad put a wall in my way. Roll, bonk. Roll, bonk. Oh, mom thinks it's funny when I bonk my head into the wall. Bonk, bonk. Bonk. What's that mom? Stop? What's "stop?" Bonk, bonk. Ha, ha, I got her to pick me up! :)

The Miracle of Eating Cheerios

I found myself watching Chalyse eating cheerios today and to my surprise i was completely enthralled. It was so exciting to me that she could pick each one up, put it into her mouth and chew it with out choking. I know it is impossible to convey the emotion i was feeling as i watched closely each time. I was even thrilled that she knew when she still had one in her moth and not to put a new one in before swollowing. I know this is a little silly but to me it is a milestone of great improtance. Each little thing we leard to do with our bodies and minds is a miricle.

Camille

Racism

Friday and today, in my social psychology class, we talked about the prominence of racism in modern US society. While agree that it is still present and that it is horrible, I think that there is more to it than the color of your skin.

For instance, the argument was continually made by my professor that Obama is not doing as well as he should be, considering who the current president is, because of his race. I admit that there must be something to this. There are racists and bigots around. I think, though, that the fact that he is the most liberal and least experienced candidate for president in our nations history has something to do with it. It doesn't help that he has so many shady relationships (Ayers, Wright, Resco, etc). His policies sound great, unless you're a thinking American who sees through the pie-in-the-sky rhetoric.

Also, there is more to do with your home lifestyle than your skin color when it comes to determining how successful you'll be in later life. White kids living in the "hood" are just as likely to get killed on the streets, become a teen parent, and never rise out of poverty as any other ethnicity living in the same circumstances, I would argue. Granted, there is a greater percentage of white people who live in "priviledged" homes, but that has more to do with historic racism and discrimination than current racism. Might I remind everyone that Irish and Poles were discriminated against vociferously 100 years ago?

Ode to Sunday

I love Sundays! Isn't it wonderful to rest from our regular worries! To soak up good music and inspiring words. It is so filling and refreshing. Life can be so hectic sometimes. I don't realize how much I need Sundays until each week when it's finally here and Saturday night I realize I can close up work and not think about it for at least a day (hopefully). It gives me an excuse not to worry about work and school (Toms anyway) and projects I have hanging over my head and just breath for a minute. I always feel more equipped to face the week after my day of rest and spiritual nourishment. It help to reassure me that the Lord is on my side.

Camille

"Touchdown"

Today Tom and I were teaching Chalyse how to make a "touchdown" sign. She was all dressed up in her BYU clothes. We were mostly kidding and didn't really expect her to do it when suddenly she threw her arms out as wide as she could and held them there. We clapped and she squealed and giggled with delight. She was so proud. We eventually got her to put her arms all the way up. She loves making Mom and Dad clap and cheer for her.

Camille

Guess that president

I'm thinking of a president that is well known by people everywhere. He was elected as a Republican and won with less than a majority of the vote. He was elected for two terms. This president was controversial and divisive. Despite his education and experience, he was viewed by many people as a hick. People in large parts of the country disagreed with this president. He acted and started a war that lasted for most of his presidency. During a good deal of this conflict, the military saw very little success and was losing by many counts. It wasn't until relatively late in the conflict that things started to turn around. He acted in ways that is viewed by many to be unconstitutional. In fact, there were many who wanted him out of office, and they thought that if he were out of office many of their problems could be solved. Finally, he was first elected in a year divisible by 20.

Have you guessed who this president is? Did you guess George W. Bush? I'm sorry if you did, because that wasn't who I was thinking about. I was thinking about Abraham Lincoln. George Bush is no Abraham Lincoln, for sure, but I'm getting pretty sick of people saying that George Bush is the worst president that we've ever had just because they don't like him.

I recently had a conversation with someone in one of my classes, and I said that in my opinion the Bush administration's greatest failing was their PR. My point in case is Woodrow Wilson. Do you remember him as being a good or bad president from history class? He united the US through WWI and brought about the League of Nations. He was the voice of reason at Versailles, right? The Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 were his brain children also. This caused widespread xenophobia and punished any who spoke out against the presidency. He had goon squads that broke up political demonstrations. Great guy, right? The difference between him and George Bush, besides fascism, is that the press went along with him. Why do you think we don't have very good figures for the influenza epidemic from around that time?

The moral of this story: there have been some very good presidents and some very bad presidents, but we shouldn't be so quick to put our current presidents in either of those categories without understanding the competition.