One Year!

It's official! We have had our house for a year now...and we are finally getting our long awaited fence. Ironically, Todd and our neighbor are putting it in, not the landlord, who also still needs to pay for the supplies. You know what they say, "if you want something done right (or at all), do it yourself."

Because Todd Asked Nicely

Here is the new version of the dog in the tube with the kids.

First Time of the Season

Today we used the good weather interlude to our advantage and went out on the boat for the first time this season. Here are a few pics. There aren't any of me because this is a anti-emetic blog and the sight of me in a swimsuit might induce vomit.

While we were getting the boat ready, the kids decided that if the dog had her own life jacket she could come out on the lake with us. They were sad when they found out that was not the case. Poor puppy. You should have seen her try to run with her life jacket on.


I'm pretty sure that if the float had been in the water she would not have stayed on it long enough for a picture.


It's not often that I get my mom to all out pose for a pic. I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity.


It was not a super long trip to the lake, because it was our first jaunt out and although the sky is clear, it was not too warm out there. I found that out quickly when I dove head first into the lake in order to get a little wakeboarding in. If I remember correctly, my exact words were, "HOLY CRAP!!!"

Here is on the way back into the docks. The girls were all snuggled up with their dad. How cute.

Ford

During the early years of cars Henry Ford made a statement that has now become an often used quote in the marketing industry, as well as in many other applications, "you can have any color as long as it is black."

Options were not a huge part of early automobile history. In fact, it was during this time when Henry Ford utilized the assembly line in order to make cars more quickly and for less money. Assembly lines did not offer a lot of choices during those formative years. Through the years, and free enterprise, however, the public was given more and more options; individuality, if you will.

I know that you are wondering why I would bring this up. Well, Todd and I were driving the other day, looking at the cars around us and speculating at some of the proposed regulation that we have been hearing about. There has been some hype about Obama wanting to require that all car makers can only make cars that get 35 mpg or better. Currently, that would wipe out American car makers, including GM (GovernMent cars) and Ford, who wisely decided not to accept government money. In fact, this would wipe out a good many of the cars that are currently offered, American or foreign.

In order for car companies to meet this demand, they would have to force technology, build hyper light vehicles and do away with trucks and large SUV-type vehicles. Many of our choices would be stripped away. So in other words, until the technology can step it up, you have to choose between a used vehicle and your family and their safety. And anyone who knows me, knows that I can't drive anything that isn't heavy duty without risk of death. Add this to the fact that a large part of our choice and individuality would be taken away, and I know that I will be buying used.

So it seems that we have gone full circle. We are now moving back towards "hav[ing] any color as long as it is black." Our colors and the choices that we have come to depend on, our tangible manifestation of who we are as individuals, are being threatened. Proposed legislation will take that away from us.

You may be wondering why this matters. Eventually car makers will be able to bring back our choices and make better, more efficient cars, right? This may be true, however, free enterprise and demand is forcing that right now. Why does the government need to step in? It is a disturbing trend. We have already seen it with GM. The government has stepped in and taken over. Do we really want them to be able to take over our entire car industry with regulation? What else will be taken over?

Spencer W. Kimball

"In 1964 the First Presidency had decided to accept $2 Million in federal funds to aid in hospital construction. After further consideration, in 1965 the Presidency and the Twelve felt strongly that accepting the funds would subject the Church hospital operation to undue federal regulation, and the money therefore was not accepted. The growing impact of the federal government regulation concerned Elder Kimball.

With numerous others, I am greatly disturbed at the rapid move of our government to socialism and what seems to be an approach toward dictatorship; with a controlled Supreme Court, the administration continues to impose more and more demands upon the people...Taxes are becoming back-breaking; expenditures and waste are alarming. The Church must remain independent and furnish its own funds for all its own adventures and projects. The government seems too anxious to give, give, give to the poor, to the aged, to the schools, to everyone, and blinded people feel they are getting something, whereas they pay it to the government so that the government can after great overhead expense return a part of it to the people. And every time a gift returns to the people -- a so-called gift -- it comes with fetters binding and tying and enslaving. For every block of funds given to the people, they lose a bigger block of liberty."

For Jenny

This is for my sister, because her inbox doesn't accept emails with files this size in it.

Jenny, all you have to do is click on the pic, and it will make it full-size. Then right-click and click on save image as, and save it wherever you want on your computer. I think it turned out pretty good. The textures aren't perfect, but that is hard to do when combining pictures and canvas.

In the Good Ole Summertime

Alright, it's summertime and here are some of my summertime goals for this year.

-Bike ride with the Todd and the kids to the Provo entrance of Utah Lake
-Actually get a tan this year (it happens maybe every 5 years)
-Run a 5K
-Get a new wakeboarding trick down
-Grow some fantastic tomatoes because I love them so much

We've already gone camping, loaded the kids up on summertime books from the library for this week and hit the pool once. We'll probably end up going to the pool everyday while the kids are here. It works out quite nicely. We have the mornings to get things done and work on some of our projects to attempt additional income and then hit the pool later in the afternoon.

Man, I miss summertime as a kid.