Religion & Politics don't mix

 I'm the enrichment counselor in  the RS. Someone suggested that it would be a good idea to have a Politics night for an Enrichment Activity. We would discuss the propositions and presidential Candidates so people could be informed about the upcoming election. I asked someone in our Ward who follows politics and is also an attorney if he could present information on the Propositions and discuss John McCain's platform, issues, etc. He was glad to do it. We decided to have it in his home because we didn't want to interfere with the Church's guidelines on supporting a particular candidate or political party. We also asked another man in our ward who is a Democrat and sides with the left to discuss Barack Obama's platform and issues on the more liberal side. We explained to both that this was supposed to be informational and neutral not a debate or picking sides. Everyone seemed to think this was a good idea. We had this meeting Thursday and we had a good turnout. The discussion started out great going over the propositions etc. It was interesting to hear both arguments for each proposition. 

 Then we got into the Presidential Candidates. The McCain side went first and I felt they did start out Bashing Obama a bit rather than just discussing McCain and his issues. He did make a great argument for McCain. Then the Obama side went and he started out by saying he wasn't going to bash McCain's Character etc. He corrected some of the misinformation that was given on Obama by the McCain side etc. He kept it very tame but didn't near put up the argument for Obama as the McCain side did. To make a long story short the McCain side started bashing democrats and saying that if you are a Democrat you are following Satan's plan. I felt like it was a bit much to say that, but he can have his own opinions and blow it off. 

The next day I talked to the Wife of the Obama side, who is also the Enrichment Leader. She said her husband enjoyed the evening and wasn't at all offended at anything that was said, but she did say she got a phone call from someone who was there and they were so offended that all this false info was given on Obama and their were impressionable people there who were probably swayed to the other side yada yada. It was inappropriate for a former member of the Bishopric to say those things blah blah blah. She wanted us to mention this in RS and straighten everything out. The Enrichment leader was smart and said there were only a few people there this does not need to become an RS issue and involve others and stir everyone up. Just go to the people that were there and tell them you thought there were inappropriate comments and let them know to do a little more of their own research.

 A few hours later I get an e-mail along with everyone else who was there from the upset person. The e-mail stated everything that was wrong about the other night with a bunch of links to check the facts on what was said etc. I was a little frustrated that it was going in this direction. I figured most of the people that were there were smart educated people or they wouldn't have shown up to a political discussion anyway, but I thought it would all be blown over now that she said her peace. 

 Today we go to Church and the Obama man is speaking in Sacrament. His topic is "Follow the Prophet" he said he had his talk prepared but after an experience, he had during the week he scrapped that talk and wrote a new one. He starts out by reading the recent letter from the first presidency about the Church's policy on politics and not promoting a particular candidate or party but does encourage members to be involved in politics yada yada. Then he goes on and finds quotes from General Authorities who are Democrats and how the church needs to have members from both sides etc. He mentioned the part about it being brought up the other night that Democrats are Satanic. He stated his message well, but I didn't quite get the part about "Following the Prophet" in any of his talk. I think he just wanted to get across that you can still be a good church member and be a Democrat. Curtis was loving it. He loves politics, and he also knew all the drama leading up to this, he also loves a good debate. I couldn't wait for it to end, as I feel like I started this whole mess being in charge of this Politics discussion. I will be glad when this election is OVER. I don't think this will be laid to rest until then. I have a feeling the McCain side is going to retaliate. I know they were still keeping the discussion going with the Obama side after Thursday night ended.

Pony Rides

Last weekend my neighbor, Elizabeth, called and said they were having pony rides that day. A while ago they had won these at a silent auction for the Hospital where he works. She said she wasn't going to use them for her kid's birthday just a fun day for the kids in the neighborhood. They loved it. The ponies were fancy. Their tails and manes were colored and had flowers and decorations on them. The white horse with a blue mane and tail even had purple hooves. One of the boys there was so disgusted to ride on such a girly pony. They rode around in the greenbelt right behind their house. I hope they don't get a nasty letter from the HOA!

Not our best Trip to Disneyland

The kids had their 2 week fall break and we decided to take them to Disneyland for one last hurrah before we have this new baby.

We watched the sunset as we drove west, we thought this looked cool how the cloud had a silver lining. It was foreshadowing the trip to come (HAHA).

As we were driving to California we got a flat tire. This is the boys playing on the side of the road throwing rocks into some ditch as we waited for Roadside assistance. Which we didn't actually end up using because Curtis changed the tire himself.

After the tire frustration, we got to the hotel a lot later than we planned and the hotel didn't have our reservation. After being on the phone for an hour and driving to other hotels we stayed at the hotel that was supposed to have our reservation, but we were not in a very big room, it was supposed to be a suite and we started out with 1 queen bed, finally, we were moved to a room with 2 queen beds. It was kind of a disaster. The place we booked the hotel through said the hotel said we were a no-show. How could that be when we ended up staying there on a new reservation anyway? We ended up moving to a different hotel after the first night and got a full refund. The first day we were at Disneyland happened to be "Gay Day" All the gays were there in full force. It wouldn't have been a big deal except they were all wearing their T-shirts and pushing their agenda for Gay Marriage and everything else they wanted us to be aware of. It was also Mylie Cyrus' 16th Birthday so they kicked everyone out of Disneyland at 5:00 so she could have her Birthday Party.

This is Dax and Derek's Favorite Ride at California Adventure. I think it is called Grizzly Bear River Run. Derek was tall enough to go on most of the rides now. He went on Splash Mountain and was mad he got wet. Then he went on this ride and he would get off and say "I didn't get wet enough" They rode it again and again and again. You can't really tell in the picture (oops it just disappeared), but they are pretty wet. They couldn't get enough.

Here we are waiting in line to go on the new Toy Story ride at California Adventure. Adding this ride is a big improvement to the Midway area of California Adventure. I always thought Disney could do so much better than an ordinary Midway.

I was a little too pregnant to be at Disneyland. We rented a wheelchair, which I thought was a little embarrassing since we always make fun of the people that use them out of laziness rather than a disability. By the end of the second day, I was done. On the third day, I stayed home and slept while everyone else went to Disneyland. I had no problem with that.

Disneyland was hot for this time of year 98 degrees and also a little too crowded for us. We still had a great time despite all the setbacks.