Happy Thanksgiving! I thought these pics were stored in our computer (in storage) in Richmond, never to be seen...for a very long time, again. But I found them on Picasa. Oh, how I miss Richmond. We have such good memories of that place!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
My beebs..
Am I a terrible mother for getting a kick out of June's face on the trampoline?? She insists on being on there, but freaks and screams the whole time. So funny. Cole ADORES june and she him. They're sweet together. He and Dayne also have a good relationship despite the fact that they're both VERY strong willed and stubborn..same thing right? Anyway, I've felt so blessed to have my children lately. Not because every day has been sunshine and happiness, but because I'm doing something that at times is very difficult and tiresome, but at the same time so rewarding. I know that the decision to have children is 0ne of the most important decisions we can make. Without them (and our spouses, mind you) we couldn't fulfill our purpose here on this earth. We couldn't grow and reach the potential that our Father in Heaven sees in us. Thank you Cole, Dayne, and June. I love you.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Here's Geof. being a cheese ball with (from L to right) his mom, prego sister Ellynn, sister Meagan, Meagan's little girl Hazel, and little brother Brind (it was Brind's bday).
I listen to the conference talks on Geof.'s iPod when I go running and it's so wonderful. I wasn't able to watch much of conference (since we were in Disneyworld) and I've decided that my favorite talk so far was "Come to Zion" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson.
I listen to the conference talks on Geof.'s iPod when I go running and it's so wonderful. I wasn't able to watch much of conference (since we were in Disneyworld) and I've decided that my favorite talk so far was "Come to Zion" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson.
Here's my favorite part of the whole talk: "We might ask ourselves, living as many of us do in societies that worship possessions and pleasures, whether we are remaining aloof from covetousness and the lust to acquire more and more of this world's goods. Materialism is just one more manifestation of the idolatry and pride that characterize Babylon. Perhaps we can learn to be content with what is sufficient for our needs.
The Apostle Paul warned Timothy against people who suppose "that gain is godliness" (1 Timothy 6:5).
Said he, "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
"And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:7–8).
The Apostle Paul warned Timothy against people who suppose "that gain is godliness" (1 Timothy 6:5).
Said he, "We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
"And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:7–8).
Sunday, November 16, 2008
If you're tired of reading about the election, the results, or don't agree with the fact that we might be facing a terrifyingly socialisitic run government, then don't read the following letter. I don't want to offend, but there is truth in what she's saying. We are turning our back on what our country stands for-I TRULY believe we're giving up our freedom for "free stuff".
The author of this letter is Katherine Hardy. She is 26 years old and lives in Houston. What a country this would be if the majority of the twenty something or for that matter any age group understood these ramifications. I wish they would have had her out on the campaign trail.
My thoughts, for what they are worth -Yesterday, America made history, not only in electing our first black president, but also in electing our first radical president, our first Marxist president, our first president who openly expresses his belief that “We the people” are not individuals who can be self-reliant, but a collection of people who need to spread the wealth.
We elected a person whose entire voting record & title of most liberal Congressman of 2007 doesn’t come close to the moderate persona he portrayed over his 2 year presidential campaign, we elected someone who thinks capitalism, self-reliance, & individual liberty, & the document that guarantees these things for use- the very things that made this country the beacon of hope & the leader of freedom & opportunity over the last 250 years is flawed.
We elected a person who seems to think the thing we have been missing in this country is bigger, more powerful, and more expensive government. Let me share with you the practical things that will happen with this new presidency, a Democrat-run Congress, and little to no checks & balances:
Taxes on businesses large and small will go up which must and will be passed onto the consumer through the cost of goods & services.
Taxes on small business will force lay offs, decreasing employment, and forcing more people to rely on the government unemployment & welfare doles.
Your Social Security and Medicare taxes will go up, or the business side of those taxes will go up so your wages increase as much or not at all to offset this increase.
Cap and trade legislation (i.e. carbon taxes on businesses) will dramatically raise utility costs to you. As Obama said, he will "bankrupt the coal industry (which the U.S. relies on for 50% of it’s electricity) through his cap and trade proposal in order to cause skyrocketing electricity costs", forcing us all to cut back due to the unaffordability.
High gasoline prices will return as soon as they pass the Windfall profits tax on oil. Oil companies will not just eat the cost of these taxes, they will first pass the taxes onto the consumer, and then they will cut back on production & exploration, as they did in the Carter years, causing massive shortages, and increased prices. The $500 2nd stimulus check the Dems are promising you, paid for by this "windfall oil profits tax"? That will last you maybe 5 gas tanks full. The increased expense of gas & electricity in the long run will far exceed the $500. Labor unions will grow; particularly public employee unions, so local and state taxes and fees will go up.
Note: You now pay the following taxes at a minimum:1. State and local sales tax- 8.75% of almost everything you buy2. Property taxes (whether you rent or own) of approx. 10% of your payment for housing cost.3. Social security, FUTA and Medicare taxes equal to 16.1 %4. Income Tax approx. 15% plus the lost interest because you withhold too much of an additional average of 3% for a total of 18%5. Taxes on gasoline utilities, telephone and virtually all other necessities of approx. 12% of all dollars spent.
So, you are paying over 50% of everything you make in taxes of some form or other not counting fees for license registration, inspection, tolls, etc. This will go up as government becomes larger and more expensive. This is why it takes two working persons in a family to live a middle class existence now as opposed to the period before the New Deal & Great Society presidencies of FDR and Johnson (two periods of unchecked Democrat executive & legislative control where socialist binges led to vast expansions of government power). Defense spending on new technology will dramatically decrease and overall defense spending will decrease dramatically. Terrorist attacks on U.S. interests will increase for the same reason they did the last time we had a less defense minded President. The federal deficit will increase raising interest costs and passing more of the burden on to our children. Taxes on the people who create jobs and wealth in this country will go up dramatically (Income tax, inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes) so revenue to the treasury will decrease, as it always does when these kinds of taxes are increased and the economy will suffer. The government will attempt to offset this downturn by increasing spending on things that political types want to spend money on like job training, ACORN, and other non-productive things that add no long-term value to the economy. This increases the deficit and raises the demand for more taxes and it raises interest rates (see Jimmy Carter years).
Social changes will be forthcoming with judges who are light on crime, strong on ignoring the Constitution and who encourage create goofy lawmaking like the 9th Circuit Court on the West coast, the most overturned court in history. The Ninth Circuit has issued a bevy of controversial decisions over the years, including allowing some religious groups to smoke pot on federal lands, prohibiting authorities from searching gas tanks at the U.S.-Mexico border and declaring that the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, only applies to states, not individuals. The court once declared assisted suicide a constitutional right. And one member ruled that cross-dressers may constitute a persecuted class of people, making them eligible for asylum in the United States. Borders will not be sealed exposing us to more dilution of our culture, more demand for handouts and more crime.
There is plenty more, but the above is based on Obama’s platform, the attempted legislation presented by extreme left-wing Congress members such as Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden, and long term history. The facts are irrefutable. Change? Yes, we got change in the skin tone of the President & the more radical philosophy of the executive & legislative branches (and possibly the judicial branch come retirements). Hope? You tell me in 6-8 months how hopeful you feel. Socialist, entitlement, and welfare programs are traps. People become dependent on politicians who will provide this free money, healthcare, etc. Politicians depend on people to continue needing this free money, healthcare, etc. to keep them in office, so they find ways to either keep that same dependent constituency down, or to grow/replace that dependent constituency.
I relish the idea that America can elect a mixed race or black man President. As my political science professor stated, No longer can the minority they are oppressed by the Man. They now are the Man. Minorities have a bigger voice, a nationally visible role model, which is a great step forward, as far as race relations go. What I don’t relish is why anyone thinks that electing an extreme left wing socialist and, by definition, all of his extreme left wing followers, is any way a step forward for this country in any way otherwise. I predict that the country will see a swing away from this folly that rivals or exceeds that of the Carter Administration.
So who really lost last night? McCain? Nah... my future children lost, your children/ future children lost, our founding fathers lost, our military lost, freedom & self-reliance lost, America lost. The most devastating thing is that so many people were willing to sell their liberty for free stuff.
I hope you have a good day after you stop throwing up.
The author of this letter is Katherine Hardy. She is 26 years old and lives in Houston. What a country this would be if the majority of the twenty something or for that matter any age group understood these ramifications. I wish they would have had her out on the campaign trail.
My thoughts, for what they are worth -Yesterday, America made history, not only in electing our first black president, but also in electing our first radical president, our first Marxist president, our first president who openly expresses his belief that “We the people” are not individuals who can be self-reliant, but a collection of people who need to spread the wealth.
We elected a person whose entire voting record & title of most liberal Congressman of 2007 doesn’t come close to the moderate persona he portrayed over his 2 year presidential campaign, we elected someone who thinks capitalism, self-reliance, & individual liberty, & the document that guarantees these things for use- the very things that made this country the beacon of hope & the leader of freedom & opportunity over the last 250 years is flawed.
We elected a person who seems to think the thing we have been missing in this country is bigger, more powerful, and more expensive government. Let me share with you the practical things that will happen with this new presidency, a Democrat-run Congress, and little to no checks & balances:
Taxes on businesses large and small will go up which must and will be passed onto the consumer through the cost of goods & services.
Taxes on small business will force lay offs, decreasing employment, and forcing more people to rely on the government unemployment & welfare doles.
Your Social Security and Medicare taxes will go up, or the business side of those taxes will go up so your wages increase as much or not at all to offset this increase.
Cap and trade legislation (i.e. carbon taxes on businesses) will dramatically raise utility costs to you. As Obama said, he will "bankrupt the coal industry (which the U.S. relies on for 50% of it’s electricity) through his cap and trade proposal in order to cause skyrocketing electricity costs", forcing us all to cut back due to the unaffordability.
High gasoline prices will return as soon as they pass the Windfall profits tax on oil. Oil companies will not just eat the cost of these taxes, they will first pass the taxes onto the consumer, and then they will cut back on production & exploration, as they did in the Carter years, causing massive shortages, and increased prices. The $500 2nd stimulus check the Dems are promising you, paid for by this "windfall oil profits tax"? That will last you maybe 5 gas tanks full. The increased expense of gas & electricity in the long run will far exceed the $500. Labor unions will grow; particularly public employee unions, so local and state taxes and fees will go up.
Note: You now pay the following taxes at a minimum:1. State and local sales tax- 8.75% of almost everything you buy2. Property taxes (whether you rent or own) of approx. 10% of your payment for housing cost.3. Social security, FUTA and Medicare taxes equal to 16.1 %4. Income Tax approx. 15% plus the lost interest because you withhold too much of an additional average of 3% for a total of 18%5. Taxes on gasoline utilities, telephone and virtually all other necessities of approx. 12% of all dollars spent.
So, you are paying over 50% of everything you make in taxes of some form or other not counting fees for license registration, inspection, tolls, etc. This will go up as government becomes larger and more expensive. This is why it takes two working persons in a family to live a middle class existence now as opposed to the period before the New Deal & Great Society presidencies of FDR and Johnson (two periods of unchecked Democrat executive & legislative control where socialist binges led to vast expansions of government power). Defense spending on new technology will dramatically decrease and overall defense spending will decrease dramatically. Terrorist attacks on U.S. interests will increase for the same reason they did the last time we had a less defense minded President. The federal deficit will increase raising interest costs and passing more of the burden on to our children. Taxes on the people who create jobs and wealth in this country will go up dramatically (Income tax, inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes) so revenue to the treasury will decrease, as it always does when these kinds of taxes are increased and the economy will suffer. The government will attempt to offset this downturn by increasing spending on things that political types want to spend money on like job training, ACORN, and other non-productive things that add no long-term value to the economy. This increases the deficit and raises the demand for more taxes and it raises interest rates (see Jimmy Carter years).
Social changes will be forthcoming with judges who are light on crime, strong on ignoring the Constitution and who encourage create goofy lawmaking like the 9th Circuit Court on the West coast, the most overturned court in history. The Ninth Circuit has issued a bevy of controversial decisions over the years, including allowing some religious groups to smoke pot on federal lands, prohibiting authorities from searching gas tanks at the U.S.-Mexico border and declaring that the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, only applies to states, not individuals. The court once declared assisted suicide a constitutional right. And one member ruled that cross-dressers may constitute a persecuted class of people, making them eligible for asylum in the United States. Borders will not be sealed exposing us to more dilution of our culture, more demand for handouts and more crime.
There is plenty more, but the above is based on Obama’s platform, the attempted legislation presented by extreme left-wing Congress members such as Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden, and long term history. The facts are irrefutable. Change? Yes, we got change in the skin tone of the President & the more radical philosophy of the executive & legislative branches (and possibly the judicial branch come retirements). Hope? You tell me in 6-8 months how hopeful you feel. Socialist, entitlement, and welfare programs are traps. People become dependent on politicians who will provide this free money, healthcare, etc. Politicians depend on people to continue needing this free money, healthcare, etc. to keep them in office, so they find ways to either keep that same dependent constituency down, or to grow/replace that dependent constituency.
I relish the idea that America can elect a mixed race or black man President. As my political science professor stated, No longer can the minority they are oppressed by the Man. They now are the Man. Minorities have a bigger voice, a nationally visible role model, which is a great step forward, as far as race relations go. What I don’t relish is why anyone thinks that electing an extreme left wing socialist and, by definition, all of his extreme left wing followers, is any way a step forward for this country in any way otherwise. I predict that the country will see a swing away from this folly that rivals or exceeds that of the Carter Administration.
So who really lost last night? McCain? Nah... my future children lost, your children/ future children lost, our founding fathers lost, our military lost, freedom & self-reliance lost, America lost. The most devastating thing is that so many people were willing to sell their liberty for free stuff.
I hope you have a good day after you stop throwing up.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Every 2nd Tuesday of the month is $2 Tuesday at the Portland Zoo. Despite the weather being freezing, windy, and raining, we made the trip down and really enjoyed it. I'm learning you just have to play in the rain up here in the NW in order to love living here. Here's sweet Jack. He and June have a cute little bond. He's the only cousin she'll go to.
I met this girl Nikki at the park a few months back and she and her husband and little 2 yr. old Garrett have been a nice addition to the Bennett clan. We love having them around!
Ellynn was not too excited about posing so close to due date (you know how comfortable we all feel with our bodies at this point), but I think she looks great. So here she is with her adoring husband, Jason. (:
Hazel and Dayne wearing their matching rain coats from Aunt Brooke.
Sweet Wilohm.
Drooling June. She's getting more teeth in..
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
I thought I'd share an article I just read (stole it from my friend Chrissie's blog), written by a liberal, who doesn't agree with same-sex marriage. Very interesting. Click here if you have a moment.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
We'll start with yesterday. We took Cole down to the skate park early so he could get some good riding (bike) in before the big boys showed up. The girls and I tagged along and luckily there were only two younger boys there who didn't mind us taking up the whole bowl. Cole promptly ditched his bike and ran around playing with Daddy. So much fun!
Halloween in downtown Battle Ground. Dayne was the cutest pumpkin. Here she is with Aunt Ellynn.
June was little Red Riding Hood. No matter that she wears this outfit at least once a week. Yes, we were lazy and didn't want to be creative with our 1 yr. old's costume.
June looks so dang cute with a headband. Doesn't last, sadly.
I'm sure Dayne will look back at this pic and wonder, "Really mom? Did you have to put that one in?" Look at that face, though! Dayne's ALWAYS pulling faces like that. And sometimes I do wanna say, "Dayne, you know, it's just not that attractive." But she's 3. Her bangs really are cute when they're not from 1982.
Scary pic, I know. Cole wanted a funny one, though.
Halloween in downtown Battle Ground. Dayne was the cutest pumpkin. Here she is with Aunt Ellynn. 
June was little Red Riding Hood. No matter that she wears this outfit at least once a week. Yes, we were lazy and didn't want to be creative with our 1 yr. old's costume.
June looks so dang cute with a headband. Doesn't last, sadly.
I'm sure Dayne will look back at this pic and wonder, "Really mom? Did you have to put that one in?" Look at that face, though! Dayne's ALWAYS pulling faces like that. And sometimes I do wanna say, "Dayne, you know, it's just not that attractive." But she's 3. Her bangs really are cute when they're not from 1982.
Scary pic, I know. Cole wanted a funny one, though.
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