Who's on the Lord Side?

I happened upon a blog while I was doing some research for my lesson. Here is the link if you're interested: http://the-exponent.com/. At a quick glance, it appears to be a blog where several LDS women blog about church lesson helps, politics, and other items that affect LDS women.

On the right hand column of the page, there are post teasers that they call "chatter". One of them caught my eye. It said, "Prop 8 Fallout: where do we go from here?" I really enjoyed the post and could sympathize with the writer even though I didn't actively campaign for Prop 8. I am grateful to the church members in California for their hard work and service and I feel that Prop. 8 would not have passed without their efforts.

The comments on the post leave a lot to be desired. A lot of the comments are from "active LDS members" who opposed Prop. 8 and want to let the world know that not all Mormons want to take away other's civil rights. Some comments talk about how it's within their right to disagree with the Prophet and still get a Temple Recommend. The comments criticize the way the church is ran and how church resources (namely $$$) are distributed.

I wanted to post so badly my thoughts on this but I knew it wouldn't come out nice so I refrained. As I read down the comments, I did read a few opinions from those that held my same opinion. I do not think it's right to openly criticize the church and openly disagree with our Priesthood Leaders.

I have struggled with doctrine in the past. I have struggled with local ward leader's decisions. And I have even been guilty of gossiping about these struggles in an attempt to win other's favor and nods of agreement. Misery loves company.

I have learned that my behavior of gossiping about it and creating contention doesn't do anyone, least of all myself, any good. Now when I question something or have a hard time, I first go to Father in Heaven in prayer. Second to my husband and close friends who won't judge me for my opinions. It's during these conversations with Ed and my friends that my heart if softened, my mind is open, and my mouth is closed. I appreciate my friends who can help me find peace with doctrine and help teach me to not feed my rebellious soul.

I didn't feel that the people who wrote these posts were trying to find peace. I felt like they were spreading contention by trying to convince others that their opposition of Prop. 8 was justified. And as I read down the comments, I felt that this contention snowballed out of control. I feel sad for those who don't agree with Prop. 8 but hope that they can find the peace and freedom that comes with obedience.

As I talked about this with Ed- he read me a passage in the book, "50 Signs of the Times" by David J. Ridges. It is long but I wanted to share it:

The book is organized by stating the sign and the category of the sign (as in "Been Fulfilled, "Currently being fulfilled" and "Yet, Future")

Sign #29

"People will refuse to believe obvious truth and will instead adhere to fables and falsehood. Category: Being Fulfilled

This prophecy of conditions shortly preceding the Second Coming of Christ needs little explanation. When people get sufficiently wicked and selfish, they no longer think rationally.

Indeed, wickedness does not promote rational thought. In the face of social trends and political posturing which, to the the rational mind, will obviously lead to the destruction of society as we know it, with its built-in safeguards for human freedom and use of agency, such people stand aghast at truth and moral principles. They flush in anger at those who advocate the standards of the Bible and the gospel of Christ as the basis for the survival of society.

Paul, the Apostle, prophesied in Timothy: He said, 'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables.'

We often apply these verses to the gospel and the tendency of the spiritually blind and deaf to reject its teachings and blessings. This is certainly the case. However, no doubt these verses can be applied also to common sense and rational thought processes in all matters relating to the governing of nations and communities as well as to standards to which the media should be held accountable. The "teachers, having itching ears" and "fables" mentioned by Paul can certainly include the peers of those who would have us pass unrighteous or unwise laws, as well as the peers and fans of Hollywood and other media production centers who insist on the "anything goes" philosophy of entertainment."

I don't post this to be on a high horse or self-righteous. I post this
#1) to remind myself to stay committed to the Gospel of Christ and to not be deceived,

#2) the Second Coming is getting nearer every day and we are in the process of being separated- time to get off the fence, and

#3) to make a stand. Prop. 8 is not about civil rights. It is about the true definition of marriage. I believe that marriage should only exist between a man and a woman. I believe that by stating this that I'm following the Prophet and other leaders of the church, and more importantly, Jesus Christ.

I wonder that in the future, if the Church will make a stand that I struggle to support. I wonder if I have the strength to be obedient. I wonder that while I feel I'm on the Lord's side of the Prop. 8 issue, what will come along to make me tempted to stand on the other side?

AND.... most importantly, do I have the strength to deal with ALL OF THIS while at the same time leading, teaching, caring for, loving and nurturing my own little family?

George Lucas- you are the Man!

Dear Mr. Lucas,

Enclosed is a letter from my 7 year old son, Alex. He ordered “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” from his book order at school which he received today. As he sat down to start reading the book, he exclaimed, “I’m going to write a letter to Mr. George Lucas because I’m his biggest fan!”

He hand-wrote the letter (enclosed) and I re-typed it to make it easier for you. I had him add a paragraph to the typed version. I told him that he should ask you a question that you could answer if you wrote him back. I explained to him that you are very busy and he may not hear back from you.

When I asked him if he would be okay if you never replied back, he bit his lip, sighed, and nodded- which is his way of trying to be brave.

Thanks in advance and thanks for making great movies that entertain my husband and 3 boys. This way I can get more than a moments peace- 2 hours at least!

Very Sincerely,

Amy Huhtala


Alex's letter to Mr. Lucas:

November 5, 2008

Dear George Lucas,

Me and my Dad are your biggest fans of your books and movies. The book I’m reading right now is “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”. I’ve seen the cartoon and I’m reading the book so I can see if the book is the same as the movie.

I’ve seen all the Star Wars movies except for “Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith”. I haven’t seen this one because it’s rated PG-13 and my parents will not let me watch it. My Dad says you are going to make 3 more Star Wars movies and I was wondering if this was true. If it is, what will you call the movies?

From,

Your biggest fan ever,

Alex Emil Huhtala

P.S. You rock! And I love your last name. I’m 7 and my Dad is 36.
And… You’re Awesome!

We just sent this envelope off late last week and Alex started asking yesterday if he could check the mail. He also asked me this morning at 7 a.m. I'm hoping that it doesn't take forever and they actually write him back- he is so excited. If I don't hear back in a few weeks, I'll have to take matters into my own hands!

Nice Lesson...

Okay so I know that the RS lessons are inspired and that there is a reason we need to learn about the things in the Joseph Smith manual. I also suspect that by tomorrow at 1:55 p.m. MST, I'll be looking back on a great lesson and regret this venting session.

However... Come On! Give us teachers a break! We're supposed to teach 45-50 minutes on a lesson composed solely of a few paragraphs of Church History and letters written by Joseph Smith to Emma and the kids? Hello!

So these are my ideas so far:

1. Copy and paste each letter from the lesson into an individual letter addressed to Emma and have participants pick a letter out of a basket to read and discuss.

2. Break into groups and have each group pretend they are leaders of 5000 women and have to write one letter to this group of women that will be read in smaller congregations. We'll make this a latter-day experience. For example, these women are living in uncertain times when men threaten to take away all that these women hold dear, including the sanctity of families. What do they tell them to uplift, encourage and give them strength?

Ya- that's all I got. I've been thinking about it for a few weeks. I know it's late notice but does anyone have any profound ideas? Before you do, glance at the lesson to see what I'm up against.

Come One, Come All- Thanksgiving Hodge Podge

So for the first time in 4 years, Ed has Thanksgiving off! He works New Year's Eve and New Year's Day but has Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day off. I'm so excited and really looking forward to it.

But.....

There is always a but, right?

I was assuming (since I never heard different) that Ed's Mom, Susan was doing her traditional Thanksgiving Day at Grandma's. Come to find out..... Ed and Susan are going to Brigette's (Ed's sister in WA). Which I think is great and I'm glad they are visiting her but leaves us without Thanksgiving plans. (BTW, she told my Ed a few weeks or months ago.)

So I've decided to put on Thanksgiving here and I'm looking for those who would like to join us. So if you know of anyone in the Utah County area whose family members are far away and they don't have anyone to celebrate Thanksgiving with, please let me know. I thought about inviting my ward friends but most families have other family members in Utah and I knew I'd have to get through 25 invites before finding someone who would like to come. That kind of rejection would kill me!

Out-of-staters: This goes for you too. If you know someone here in this area or a member of your own family who can't get home for T-Day, and think they would have fun at my Thanksgiving of Fun- please let me know.

I'm thinking we'll eat around 1 p.m. and then about 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., hit a movie. We're not that much into Football but we do have the one TV in the basement for sports fans.

And, we do have a guest room for any one needing a place to stay for the night or weekend.

So, come one, come 50, to the Huhtala Thanksgiving Feast of Fun!

My Civic Duty

I am working the polls today.

I got to take an oath and everything.

I thought it would be an easy, quick way to make a $100. Turns out it's easy but long hours and the money isn't so quick. I'll be lucky if I get the check before Christmas.

But it's tax-free. Yippee!

And since my grandmother was a poll worker, I feel like I'm carrying on a family tradition in some sort of odd way.

I hope somebody acts crazy and I get to kick them out or something. It will shake things up a little. Hey, I did take an oath to defend the constitution and every citizens' right to vote freely and without fear. I take that oath seriously.

Did you know that you can't wear an Obama or McCain hat or shirt? You don't get kicked out or anything but you do have to take it off. Or, you know, turn it inside out if it's the only shirt you're wearing.

Anyway- happy voting. And if you come to vote at Larsen Elementary, bring your I.D. because I can't verify your identity even though I know you.

I took an oath!

Ice Pie Comb?

Every day, Aidan asks for an "Ice Pie Comb". This is toddler speak for "Ice Cream Cone." I'm not sure what started this.....

This summer, we made a lot of homemade ice cream. And if we stopped for a treat it was usually an ice cream cone.

He started out attempting to eat the entire thing, patiently licking the dripping sides. Occasionally, the scoop would fall out but he wouldn't fret. He just continued by eating the cone.

On our Disneyland trip he asked more than once a day. Finally, on the way home, we stopped at a Dairy Queen. He took 2-3 mouth fulls of the ice cream and was done.

He still asks, everyday, for an "ice pie comb". After the Beaver Dairy Queen experience, I started replying, "maybe later" to which he said, "Otay."

Today, instead of an "otay", I got, "But why?"

Are you serious? Already with the "whys?"

On the way home from Hannah's dentist appointment, she asked to stop for ice cream. Aidan was thrilled. He got 3 licks off the baby cone before the "ice pie" fell on the van floor. While Hannah cleaned up his mess, he ate the crunchy, stale cone. Yum!

Hannah and I determined that as far as Aidan was concerned, it's all about the "comb" and not the "ice pie."

Oh dear.

Happy Halloween!

Potty Training Update and Other Crappy Thoughts

So I've given up with the potty training- Aidan's not ready.

I felt like it was a little early but he's been peeing on the toilet for months that I thought this was my window.

It was a good introduction so we'll try again after Christmas.

The interesting thing is the reason it didn't quite work is so different than the other kids. He WANTS to do it, he CAN do it, he LIKES doing it but I can tell it's stressing him out. He's cranky and sad.

Looking back, it probably wasn't the best idea to get rid of the crib and diapers in the same week. I know, Duh! But he's so agreeable and gung ho about everything, I didn't think of it as being too hard on his little emotions.

Enough about that...

Another thought: one of my friends posted "blah, blah, blah" on her blog. That was the title and that was the body of the post- that's it. All of the comments, including mine were like, "Yep- got it, ditto, I feel the same, etc.

I thought it was just me coming off my vacation high. But others are feeling this way too. Usually I don't feel this way until after New Years so it's not a good sign that the "blahs" have already showed their ugly faces.

I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing: Prayer, scriptures, church calling, service, trying to be a patient, loving mother. I'm even having small periods of time where I feel motivated, purposeful and happy. But then the "blahs" come back.

Why? How can we help each other? What can we do?

Any suggestions?

My Punk Rocker

Alex has wanted to be a Punk Rocker for Halloween for about 6 months. About a month ago, he became nervous concerning my ability to produce a "sweet" costume. I told him to have a little faith in his old, out-of-style, mother.

Tonight was our ward's Fall Social so he got to try out his Halloween Duds. He thought I was pretty cool putting together such a great costume. I lucked out at DI yesterday when I found the leather jacket and the boots!

The magnet earrings came to me when I was trying to fall asleep last night. He loved them! The costume judges at the party loved them too because Alex was one of the costume contest winners!

On Friday for Halloween, we're going to shave the sides of his head so he'll have a mohawk. He is so excited for the "real thing".

World's Hungriest Baby

During our outings, Amberlyn and I are always pulling interesting things out of Grace's mouth. (I'm sure Amberlyn does this all day long at home... but I always find it interesting.)

Today, our outing included a quick lunch combined with a Wal-Mart trip. Being the budget-conscience mothers that we are (just recently converted, but hey, we're trying), we used a coupon to get 2 entrees for the price of one. As Amberlyn got up to go pay for our food, she gathered my cash as well as hers.

She said, "Where's the coupon?"

I replied, "I don't know. Did you give it to me?"

She said, "I set it right there on the table close to your side."

We began to pick up plates, silverware, glasses, purses, etc., when Amberlyn pulled the chewed up coupon (pictured below) out of Grace's mouth. We couldn't stop laughing!

Luckily, I had also clipped the same coupon before leaving the house just in case.

It would have been a whole lot funnier to get a picture of Grace as she was gnawing on the coupon with paper pieces amongst the drool rolling down her chin. But, I had to settle for saving the baby-muched wad of paper in my wallet until I could get home to document the damage.

Now that I soon won't have to carry a diaper bag (see earlier potty training post), maybe I'll have room for my camera. Next time, I can catch the world's hungriest baby in action!

Sixth Folder, Sixth Photo TAG

I'm so glad it wasn't a gay one of me! While I was waiting for it to load I was thinking, "Denise! Did you cheat? Watch me get a ugly picture and I'll have to post it!"

This one is of Ed during our Segway Test Drive experience. His experience was in no-way Extreme (see earlier post titled "Extreme Segway"). In fact, he didn't even try to hop off when I fell. When I asked him later about it he said, "Well, if you were going to fly off a cliff on a Segway and die, I knew I shouldn't follow. Someone around here has to act calm and responsible!"

Where's the fun in that, I ask?

So I tag Amberlyn, Amidey, Dawnyeil, Dawn, Dory, Emily, Hilary, Rindee, & Karin (everyone in my friend's section that hasn't previously been mentioned).

Instructions: Post the 6th picture in your 6th Pictures Folder on your computer. And no cheating!

A Picture Says 1000 Words

This is what Aidan thinks of potty training. "No Sweat Mom! I got it covered!"

Now if we could just get the "poo-poo training" underway... it would really help.

Any suggesetions? Never had a kid who got the #1 right and not the #2. Or if I did, I forgot.

Soccer Team Group Picture

We just got this in the mail and I wanted to post the team picture.

It will go up in Andrew's room and who knows where it will end up from there.

BTW... I'm not getting rid of my title as soon as I thought.... A.L & Alex are on the same basketball team and I'm going to give it a shot! No pun intended.

Disneyland Favorites

Our very last day we changed things up a bit since the little kids were having a hard time going from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Daniel and Ed left the hotel early with the "big" kids (Christopher, Kira, Hannah, Haylee, Alex & A.L.) arriving at Disneyland at 8 a.m. Robin and I came later with the "little" kids (Brionna, Michael, & Aidan). We met the other group at Tower of Terror at 10:15.

Around 4 p.m. we all headed back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner, the guys stayed back with the "little" kids as Robin and I headed back for a few jam-packed hours.

This schedule worked out great since with fewer people and fewer strollers, we could maneuver the crowds much easier. I couldn't figure out who was dragging who- if it was Robin and I or the kids. After Wednesday's break at the beach, both Robin and I were charged up and ready to go!

Space Mountain was in everyone's "Top 3 Rides" and we were lucky enough to be able to ride it twice in the last hour the park was open (the big kids rode it that morning as well). In fact in the last half hour, we came off Space Mountain, snuck in Star Tours and Astro Blasters, and managed to get back in line for Space Mountain.

One of our favorite things to do was to strike a pose as the rides' camera shot a picture. We raced to the end of the exit to see our photo creativity. You knew your pose was great when before you turned the corner, you could hear the kids laughing. The very last time we rode, I told the kids to pick a pose and we would all do the same thing. They had been bugging us the whole trip to buy a picture so I told them if it turned out, I would buy one. The pics at Astro Blasters were great because you could e-mail them to yourself for FREE!

On a side note about the pictures: we were beginning to think Haylee and Kira were ghosts or vampires or something because whenever they would ride together, the picture would come up blank! We got smart and changed up the seating charts for our Space Mountain pic.

I'm curious.... what is your Family's Favorite Ride at Disneyland or California Adventure?

Not bad for our First Family Vacation!

I had just a second to post (Ed ran to the store since we came home to find out that we have absolutely no toilet paper) and wanted to say how much FUN we had on our vacation! It was a blast!

I'll write and post more pictures later after I've had time to unpack, do laundry, sleep, etc.....

Disneyland Fun!

We are on our way to Disneyland this morning! We'll stop in Vegas overnight and then drive the rest of the way tomorrow. We're are so excited! This is the logo I designed for our T-shirts. We will all wear them on our first day at Disneyland- Monday! We can't wait!

It Took Me Long Enough!

We've lived in this house for 5 years and I just finally got done decorating above my cabinets. I didn't realize when we moved into this house how many shelves there were to decorate..... I'm sure I'll want to change it in another 5 years. Isn't that how it goes?

This is my seasonal shelf- it's the one you see as you're walking into the kitchen.

So I'll change this one each season or Holiday.

South Dakota never had it so GOOD

Hannah's 5th Grade Class is focusing on learning all of the 50 States and being able to correctly identify them on a U.S. Map. As part of this State focus, they each were assigned a State.

Hannah's is South Dakota. They had several projects to choose from that they could do with their State and one of them was a 3D Map. Hannah chose to make Pumpkin Bars and decorate the top with the Capitol, landmarks, rivers, and other towns & cities. She had a lot of fun doing it and has learned an awful lot about South Dakota.

Who knew South Dakota could be so much fun?

Crazy Hair Day!

No explanation needed.....

Coach Amy + 10

This is my Fabulous 1st Grade Boys' Soccer Team! (Back row: Ammon, Carter, Trent, Jacob, Corbin, Andrew (Logan), Coach. Front row: Josh, Ethan, Hayden & Nathan)

The Rec Office called before Soccer started and said they had 2 teams from Spanish Oaks and no coaches. I honestly thought he was calling me to get names of people that could Coach. Turns out, he was asking if I would volunteer. I felt so inadequate- I really didn't know the rules or what to do- but I decided to give it a go.

It was so fun! Andrew (Logan) was so excited for me to Coach his team. We had a little bit of a rough start at practices when he would get mad and burst into tears. Of course, I couldn't ignore the other 9 boys and deal with him so I just had to let him throw his fit and ignore it. After practice, I explained to him why I couldn't drop everything and we talked about it. I think this experience helped him to deal with his coping issues. We still had a few tearful moments in a couple of games but I told him he had to sit out if he was going to cry. Aren't all parents who coach or teach harder on their own kids?

I told myself going into the season that I would remain neutral as far as the winning goes. But, most of my 10 boys were highly competitive and wanted to win. I think knowing that they cared about it and they weren't just doing this because their mom signed them up or because it's just what you do unleashed some sort of coaching monster in me because I became relentless and motivated to help them succeed. Succeeding in sports to me isn't all about winning- it's about doing your best. And if you do your best and play with your heart and still lose than it doesn't matter what the scoreboard says. We still had a few moments of distraction from praying mantises, the urge to wrestle your teammate, a big hole in the field filled with water, etc but overall we did great! We hardly ever got scored on.... mainly because as soon as the ball crossed the center line, I started yelling, "Defenders!" to wake them up. I never really noticed until the end but I was the only coach doing that.... oh well!

After the last game, they all Dog Piled Coach. During the first practice, they were all wrestling and dogpiling while I was talking. So I said, "This is soccer, not the WWF. We don't have time for dogpiles! Wait until our last game and you can dog pile all you want." Of course, their reply was, "Can we dog pile on you?"

"Sure!"

Apparently one of my players never forgets anything so he brought it up before we started our last game. Thanks Nathan!

(Special note of caution: If you ever find yourself in this situation, place the whistle in your mouth before everyone starts jumping on you and let them know when you blow the whistle it means to hop off. This way, you can signal them when you're done. You might not realize that with 10 boys on top of you, you can't move at all. This especially helps if you're claustrophobic)

We finished out the season with a Team Party at my house. It was fun to get all the boys together and let them play without anyone yelling, "Defenders!" My kids planned some fun games for them in the backyard and the family room and we ate pizza for lunch. We also had an awards ceremony. I made these fun trophies for them out of candy. This one is Andrew's and he got the "Dauntless Defender" Award.