On a Lighter Note

Geesh, you would have thought that my previous post was an eulogy or something.  On a lighter note, I have been asked to put some updated pics of the family and kids up... so here are a few:

Thanksgiving '08

Austin (4 yrs) & Savannah (7 mo)

Thanksgiving '08

Kade (22 mo) & Savannah (7 mo)

Thanksgiving '08

Heather

Thanksgiving '08

Shannon (Heather's Sister) & Grayson (husband)

Halloween Party @ Church

Daddy Rabbit (Brett) holding Baby Rabbit [Savannah (6 mo)]

Halloween '08

Brooklyn at School Trick or Treat

I recently had conversation with a good friend of mine from and currently living in Southern California. He has been involved in the local actions of Californians, regardless of religous preference, in the fight to support Prop 8.  

He forwarded me a video of an amazing talk given by then LDS Apostle, Elder Maxwell, about the growing opposition and public scorn that we would see in the years to come regarding the sanctity of the family relative to public politics.  It was given in 1978, yes 30 years ago, and oh how visible are the prophecies and signs of our current day.  You can view the video here:

The entire speech can be read/downloaded online at the following site: Entire Written Speech

I would also like to state that in support of Elder Maxwell's position that I hold no personal  ill toward the individuals who are anti-Prop8 or who are in favor of beliefs contradictory to that of the LDS faith.  Essentially, it is not personal.  I simply ask from those in opposition the same thing I am willing to give to them--a tolerance for their opinion void of personal (or religious) slander and hatred.

I will conclude this post with a couple of valuable quotes from Elder Maxwell:

"We are now entering a period of incredible ironies…We will see in our time a maximum effort to establish irreligion as a state religion."

"We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened the slumbering majority"

"The concerns expressed [by LDS First Presidency] have been about moral issues not issues between political parties. The declarations are about principles, not people; and causes, not candidates."

Happy Turkey Day!

I probably should not say it like that (TDay)...I guess it's sort of like XMas...right?  Alright then...the guilt is upon me...HAPPY THANKSGIVING !

We are scheduled to enjoy some family at our house later this afternoon after the rest of Heather's siblings have made their rounds and paid their loving dues to their respective other sides of the family.  Yep, we're cooking our own bird, basting it with some "special sauce" better than the Colonol Sander's and we're not talkin' MacD's special sauce lettuce cheeze on a sesame bun, either.

The kids helped us put up the Christmas Tree, nativity sets and other holiday decorations in the past two days also.  It actually went pretty smooth believe it or not.  Chase and Brooklyn are good at helping while Austin and Kade throw stuffed animals and act out their own mystical football game from room to room.  Savannah is with me on my lap waiting patiently for Heather to feed her.  I'd like to help there but...

My biggest disappointment of this great day is simply that I was not able to play some holiday football.  "Able" is probably the wrong word here...it is more like there was not a chance to play.  I don't know of anyone around here that is playing some grind-it-out, back-in-our-hayday, oldies-vs-youngin's, go-deep, just-get-open-I'll-find-you-in-the-endzone TURKEY DAY FOOTBALL.  Man, I could have used a good dose of that that this year.

I am pretty certain Heather could take it or leave it when it comes to TDay football.  I don't think women will ever understand the holiday testosterone that's doing cartwheels inside about this time of year.  She just realizes that when I come home I am either hurt, tired or really sore the next couple of days.  When it comes to fun and exercise I think she would rather me put my arms and legs to work in the kitchen putting dishes away :)

I will have to do some preparation and recruiting here locally for Christmas and see if we can pull something off then.  Until then, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The Weak Submit...

I can't tell whether I am posting this simply because it will make a friend happy... or ...I am just weak.  It's likely the latter but I am not fully admitting to it.  Regardless, we have a blog.  

Great, now what?  Seriously!  I have no clue what to say.  I feel like a retard... still thinking... nope, nothin'.  I don't want to get all philosophical or anything on anyone, but really what's this all about? I guess this sort of stuff has to grow on  you or something.  Now, I'm not one to be a party pooper so I'll hold off on the other blog tangents we could venture off onto.

The good news here is that I am giving into positive peer pressure... if there is such a thing. Growing up, I never heard anything positive come from any adult about "peer pressure" being positive.  But since my submission is to a good friend, I'll go with positive.