Slumber party!!

Normalmente no presumo de mis hijos a menos que Carl le hable a su mama para decirle que es lo que han hecho los niños y para recordarle que tiene nietos en Nebraska. Pues hoy no pude resistir y tengo que presumir de mis niños. El fin de semana pasado no pelearon y decidieron que iban a ver una película con Emma y sacaron sus bolsas de dormir y sus cobijas y se prepararon para disfrutar juntos lo malo fue que como ya era tarde no vieron nada porque se durmieron y quedaron asi. Cute!!

This translation is for the people (Ellie) complaining about it. The kids wanted to watch a movie and they decided to take their sleeping bags and blankets and "spend" the night in Emma's room. They watched their movie for about 3 minutes and they were sound asleep after the previews so all that trouble for that much movie was kind of funny but I just love this picture of them. You can't see Taiyari but he is there in his crib sleeping too. Cute!

Thanks Justin!

Props to Justin for directing us to this wonderfully written article unveiling John McCain's true character. For those of you who have not read it, even though Justin and Diana told you to, Ericka and I also recommend it. In my opinion, John McCain simply cannot be trusted.

Funny Video of Palin and Hannity

Personally I believe both to be a joke. The funny Infomercial part is towards the end.


Fox News lobs Palin softballs

AB 2567

AB 2567 was introduced in the California Legislature on February 22, 2008. Since that time it has passed both the California Assembly and Senate. It is currently waiting for Governor Schwarzenegger's signature. AB 2567 has been officially designated as Harvey Milk Day. According to the text of the Bill AB 2567 would

"require the Governor to proclaim May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day, and would designate that date as having special significance in public schools and educational institutions and encourage those entities to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date."

Harvey Milk was

"the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in a major city, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1977-1978. He was assassinated in 1978 at San Francisco's City Hall by a political rival. Perhaps more than any other modern figure, Harvey Milk's life and political career embody the rise of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights movement in California, across the nation, and throughout the world."

In a nutshell AB 2567 encourages, but does not require, public schools to conduct commemorative exercises each year on May 22nd. According to Equality California the hope is that public schools would teach children about the

"social contributions that Harvey Milk made to our nation as a civil rights leader. It would also allow schools to conduct activities that would foster respect for all, and educate students about an important figure who is often omitted from history lessons."

I firmly believe in treating gays and lesbians as equals. I do not believe that just because an individual chooses a lifestyle that I happen to disagree with that I should treat them differently. After all, God loves them just as much as he loves me, so why should I love them any less. With that belief, I applaud Mr. Milk’s efforts in championing equal treatment of those with different lifestyles. However, I also firmly believe that God does not condone nor honor homosexual relationships. I believe homosexuality to be a sin. I do not applaud Mr. Milk’s lifestyle choices.

Thus creating my dilemma. I have no problem with a public school teaching children equal treatment for all, but I have a huge problem with the public school teaching children to accept and possibly encourage homosexuality. I do not believe a public school can commemorate Mr. Milk’s achievements in equality without also commemorating his homosexuality. Unfortunately, it appears to me that this Bill is meant to accomplish the latter more than it is the former. So what do you guys think, is AB 2567 a good idea? As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is it wrong to applaud Mr. Milk’s efforts towards equality. How do we teach our children to respect and love gays and lesbians without also teaching them to accept homosexuality?

Happy Independence Day

I am sure that most of you are already aware of this, but today is the Mexican Independence Day. Now Mexican Independence Day should not be confused with cinco-de-mayo. They are two very different dates.

Mexican Independence: On September 15, 1810, in an attempt to end Spain's sovereignty, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared war on Spain; arguably this was Mexico's fourth attempt to gain independence with the first unsuccessful attempt dating as far back as 1521. On September 16, 1810, Hidalgo y Costilla attacked the Spaniard mining town of Guanajuato where the Mexicans obtained their first victory over the Spaniards. Unfortunately, less than a year later Hidalgo y Costilla was captured by the Spanish and executed. However, Agustin de Itrubide would continue to fight the war against the Spanish until August 24, 1821 when he and the Spanish Crown signed el Tratado de Cordoba officially recognizing Mexico's Independence.

cinco-de-mayo: In 1861, in an attempt to collect debts owed, France decided to invade Mexico. The French attacked Veracruz where it gained its first victory. It then moved in to the State of Puebla where on the Fifth day of May, 1862, one of the largest French armies equipped with firearms faced the Zacapoaxtla indigenas in the State Capitol, also named Puebla. They were lead by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin and had only rocks and machetes to defend themselves. After much bloodshed, the Poblanos defeated the vastly larger French army. However, to the Poblano’s misfortune France was eventually able to overtake the Mexican capitol in Mexico City. The Poblanas then had to horrifyingly watch as Maximillan I was declared Emperor of Mexico. Although, Mexico ultimately fell under French rule, the defeat of the French army by the indigenous people of Puebla was a very defining moment in Mexican history. For over 150 years it has been celebrated as a source of Mexican pride.

Now it is important for everyone to understand these distinctions for one very crucial reason because Ericka was born and raised in Puebla, Puebla, in the very city where the great battle of cinco de mayo was fought. She spent the first fifteen years of her life walking up and down the very streets where not only the Zacapoaxtla indigenas, but also her ancestors, spilt their blood to defend their Patria. Along with a heritage as remarkable and magnificent as the one Ericka has, there also comes a sense of pride. This pride creates a sensitivity to people mistakenly referring to cinco-de-mayo as the Mexican Independence Day or to people ignorantly mocking cinco-de-mayo as some kooky holiday that them Mexicans celebrate. So to all of you reading this Feliz dia de independencia.

Congratulations!

I know it is kind of late, but better late than never, no? Congratulations to Casey for finally getting engaged. Seriously dude congrats, we thought it would never happen, but I guess this proves it could happen to anyone. However, there is one thing that we can't quite understand. How does a guy like this:

convince a foxy lady like this:

to marry him? OK fine I agree my little brother has come a long ways in his attractiveness since the '97 photo, but humor me. Now, although I don't really have the authority to do this, you are ALL invited to the wedding. Grandma Anderson is in charge of food and she assures me she would love nothing more than to spend the entire two weeks before the wedding cooking enough food to accomodate everyone. And if you need a cheap place to stay you are more than welcome to crash at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Good News!

I have been married to my incredibly beautiful, loving, and spiritually guided wife for nearly seven years. We have been given four beautiful and precious children, whom I love with all my soul. We have endured seven years of school, three of which were spent 900 miles away from our family and friends. We have suffered through six moves. We have been members of seven different wards and have accepted various callings. We have born the weight of insurmountable student loans. We have dealt with poverty and the embarrassment of collecting public assistance. We have had several different jobs, some that paid well and others not so much. We have even considered selling our bodies for money (the plasma only of course). We have learned to applaud the successes of others and have overcome setbacks and disappointments. We have been shown our weaknesses and follies. We have met a whole host of new and interesting people and have made dear friends and unfortunately, some enemies. We have laughed, loved, cried, and learned. But we have never doubted God's love. We have always known that our Father in Heaven would not have sent His only son to Earth to suffer incomprehensible pain if He did not love us. We have always known that everything was experienced for a reason. However, we found ourselves regularly, like Tevye, questioning God's omniscience. We wondered regularly whether He really knew what was best for us. I was in this state-of-mind when I wrote my post about frustration.

When I graduated from law school we decided it was time to move closer to our family. We settled on Western Colorado. We were convinced we would find a nice District Attorney position there, that we would buy a house, and finally, after six long years, be able to start our home. However, eight months later we found ourselves in Lexington, Nebraska, still some 700 miles from our family, struggling to barely survive financially. We were lonely, frustrated, and poor. We knew that our Heavenly Father brought us to Lexington, but we could not figure out why he would do such a thing. We once again found ourselves like teenagers questioning whether God really knew what was best for us.

After ten months of living in Lexington, we finally decided it was enough. We told our Heavenly Father and the County Attorney that if we did not get a raise by August we would be moving our family to Colorado. We knew that if He wanted us to stay in Lexington, He would soften hearts and provide a way. However, we also knew the County was in a budget crisis and the raise we were asking for had not been granted by the Board of Commissioners in several years. Considering my paycheck is funded by County taxes, we were convinced we would be moving to Colorado very shortly. Last week we were given a raise higher than what we had requested.

We still struggle living in Lexington. Having grown up in towns like Layton and Puebla, we get bored frequently. And we still regularly wish we lived in a bigger city. And we still miss our family and friends dearly. And we are still only making two-thirds of what most of my fellow law school graduates earn. Nonetheless, we know that Heavenly Father wants us in Lexington. This small piece of knowledge brings a peace and happiness to our lives that no amount of money, friends, family or entertainment could bring. We still find ourselves wondering why God chose Lexington, Nebraska, but at least now we know this is where He wants us to be.