Basement fun

What is the primary advantage of having old beat up couches that you don't care about? You can use them for crash pads! Our kids and their friends had a great time saturday doing stair sledding and then learning to do flips into a cushion pile. Check it out:

The Numbers

This morning Sam got out a piece of paper and wrote the numbers 1 - 30 on it. Then he told me that he had made it for Gracie so that she could learn her numbers. He then proceeded to teach Grace her numbers, he is the sweetest big brother ever. Here is some live footage:

Brunch with Belle

If there is one thing that our little princess likes, it is well, princesses. She likes pictures of princesses, books about princesses, movies about princesses, and wearing princesses dresses. So when our local high school decided that they were going to put on the play "Beauty and the Beast" and that they were going to have a lunch before hand were you could meet Belle and the other characters, we just knew we had to take her. She and Con went with one of Con's friends and her daughter and it may have been the happiest three hours so far in our little princess's young life.

Capitol Reef National Park

In October we went on a fun trip to Capital Reef National Park. I have been meaning to make a music video about it, but just haven't had time. So, until I do, here are some pictures from our adventure.

The first day, we picked apples on one of the many orchards there and went for a hike in Capital Wash called "The Tanks.”









The next day we took a beautiful drive down to a hike called Calf Creek Falls. This drive winds through the mountains and all the leaves were changing. It was spectacular.



Calf Creek Falls is a three mile hike ( 6 miles round trip) to a 120-foot waterfall. There is a brilliant contrast between desert and greenery all along the way. The falls themselves were beautiful and we saw some fish a giant raven. Sam and Grace were really tough and walked about half of the time. Connie and I were really tough and carried them about half of the time.

Halloween

Yup, I know Halloween was last month, but no family blog would be complete without Halloween pictures. We tried something fun for this Halloween. C found a cool idea in a magazine where you make orange tie-dye shirts and then color pumpkins into the tie-dye circles.


Making the dye.

Tying the shirts

Dying the shirts


One of the finished products


For Halloween itself Sam was a ninja and Grace was, of course, a princess.

A new era

Well, the election is over. No one knows what the next 4 years will bring, but if people of all political leanings show the same class and efforts to support unity that both candidates showed last night then I think it could be very good for our nation. Of course it is a lot easier to give eloquent speeches than it is to actually implement ideas in real life, but for anyone who missed either candidate's speech you really should read them and think about what they said. I think Obama was classy in that he emphasized the greatness of America and recognized the importance of listening to all points of view. I think McCain was also very classy as he emphasized the greatness of America and the importance of being united as a nation and that the strength of America comes from the democratic process.

Barrack Obama's acceptance speech is here

John McCain's concession speech is here

Added Note: If you have ideas of how we as a country can promote unity between people with different political views, feel free to leave a comment. If you want to discuss the pros and cons of either presidental candidate, there are plenty of forums for that. This is not one of them. Thanks!

Be an informed voter

It is that time again. The presidential election. I am not going to tell who to vote for. But I am going to strongly encourage you to not be ignorant. There is an incredible amount of lies and ignorance surrounding the current campaigns. Many people are too lazy to find out the truth and just rely on what their friends and family say or what they hear on the radio. Here is some examples of incredible ignorant people on both sides:

McCain supporter saying she doesn't trust Obama because he is arab

Interviews with some uninformed Obama supportors


Below I have listed some good links to read to help inform yourself about actual issues the next time someone make some outrageous claim about either candidate or tries to boil down the complex issues facing our nation to single words like conservative, liberal, or socialist or capitalist.

First, the candidates' actual websites and actual quotes from the candidates on various issues:

John McCain's website

Barack Obama's website

Procon.org, a website with candidates statements on various issues


Second, some websites checking up on the various claims made by the candidates

A site that checks that facts spouted by both sides

Snopes, a site debunking urban legends and spam emails from friends

CNN investigates misleading claims on both sides

Website addressing specific smears agains Barrack Obama


Third, for those of you who are LDS, the Church's stand on who you should vote for:
LDS Church statement of political neutrality