For those of you have not heard the latest news with our family: Waylen has been called to serve as 2nd counselor in the bishopric. We got called one morning during the first week of November to meet with the Stake President that evening. All that day, I kept having the thought that it was possible that it was the bishopric. Then, that night as I was getting dinner ready I had the thought come to me that clearly said Paul Roberts will be our next bishop, and then about 30 minutes later, when I was giving the kids a bath my thoughts continued to the fact that yes, Waylen would be in the bishopric. So, I wasn't surprised when Pres. Barr said that Waylen had been asked to serve in the bishopric. Waylen said he too had felt all day that it would be the bishopric. So, he wasn't too surprised either!! --But I can't describe how I felt when he said that it was Paul Roberts who was to be the new bishop. ---It has really added to my testimony of the truthfulness of personal revelation and has made me even more thankful to be a member of the church because of the amazing experiences and opportunities that we get to have as members of the church.
We are excited about this new journey that we are beginning. I'm sure it will have it's hard times with meetings here and there, and late meetings at that!! --Waylen had to go to Mutual before we met with Pres. Barr, and right before he left, Hayden had been telling his Daddy that he didn't want him to go to his meeting. He just wanted him home!! So, I know it will be hard for Hayden, because most nights, it has to be Daddy to brush his teeth, and read him a book. He doesn't like the way I brush his teeth!! Then on Sunday, after Waylen went up to the front to sit, Kayla just kept saying, "Daddy, Hold me!!" So, I'm sure Sundays will be a challenge too!! But I also know without a doubt, that we will be truly blessed in many ways from Waylen's willingness to serve. --So, let the adventure begin!!!

Twilight

I went this Saturday with my mother-in-law, and 2 sister-in-laws to see the movie "Twilight". All I can say is, it was awesome!! I loved it!! If you haven't read the books, you should, they are great. I was a little hestitant at first about reading them because of them being about vampires and such, I thought I don't want to read about vampires being all crazed and killing everyone around them. But it was nothing like that, and I was hooked right away!! Yes, they are all 4 really long books, but once you get started you just can't stop!! --Now, we are all beginning our wait for the next movie in the series, New Moon. Can't wait!! --Scroll down and check out the slideshow from the movie at the bottom of my blog!!

Thank a Mormon!!

In my email today I received a newsletter from LDS Living, and in this newsletter it had the following news headline: Evangelicals Thank LDS for Proposition 8 Work, Call for Christians to Stand Against Attacks

I have always been a dedicated voter, but have never been a "big political" person, so to say. Meaning, I gather the facts, decide how I feel on the person/issue, and move on. But for some reason, this election has been a bit different, I wonder why!! --So, anyways, I went to this article and then at the end it links you to the website: http://www.article6blog.com/. Maybe some of you are aware of it. It is nice to know that we do have supporters with us on our stand against Prop 8. But it's a shame that our members are the ones to get the "burnt of the attacks." --This website has many great articles that do bring out a lot of great points. A few that really stuck out in my mind were:

• Invite an LDS friend, colleague to lunch. Host a barbecue–to tell them “Thank you for your efforts to protect marriage. Thank you for your unfailing decency, civility, and respect for others in the community as you exercise your basic civil rights as Americans to participate in political debate. We’re so sorry for what your community is going through. We’ll stand by you, now and in the future, as fellow citizens, friends and neighbors.


• Nonetheless, given that between only 2 and 5% of the votes cast in favor Proposition 8 were cast by Mormons, the actions of the protesters are hugely and disproportionately aimed at Mormons.


• I’ll say it again - they’re targeting the wrong people. While the Mormon Church may have encouraged large donations to the Yes on 8 cause, it wasn’t the votes of the Mormons that put the measure over the top. It was the votes of blacks and Latinos who turned out in large numbers for Barack Obama and voted something like 70%-30% for the measure.
  If you want to protest the people who were the most responsible for passing the measure, take your angry LGBT crowd and bus them down to South Central or East L.A. and call those people bigots and homophobes. I’d pay good money to see that."


• Anti-Mormon sentiment was wrong in the primary, just as it is wrong now. What is a shame is that it is taking something like this to turn the tide on that.


• As I have argued I, as an Evangelical, have a moral obligation to come to the aid of the Mormons in the face of this sort of onslaught, but as the protests spread, I have a practical one as well. Simply put, we’re next. Mormons are the battlefront in what is all our battle. The opposition has used the force of the courts and the people of California have said “NO” - now they seek through intimidation and violence to do what they could not achieve legally. They wish to dictate our religious expression and practice to us - first the LDS and then the rest of us. We are not just defending the LDS here, we are defending ourselves.

And the next one isn't a surprise:

• it is clear we have a media problem as much as a protest problem. Much creedal Christian support is being given to the Mormons on this, but none of it is being heard about. Unsurprisingly, the protests are drawing the press but the efforts at unity are not. As with every conservative issue, it is incumbent on the conservative media outlets - talk radio, Christian broadcasting, and blogs - to get this word out there. "It is not, nor can it ever be, enough for creedal Christians to offer their support for the Mormons, as “the point of the spear” quietly, but let them continue to take the brunt of Prop 8 opposition attacks. We must overcome the press imposed blackout of the coverage of these supportive efforts.

The list could go on, there was a lot of great things in the articles. It really helped brighten my thoughts on the whole thing. I was a little surprised when Prop 8 passed, it just shows that there is still SOME good amongst us in our world. But then all the attacks started, and it's like "Oh, but here's all the evilness again." --And all you see on television, on the internet, and in the newspaper is about the pickoting at temples and the burning of books. So, I was glad when I read these articles. --Maybe some GOOD can come out of all the EVIL involved in this issue, perhaps we along with others of Christan faith can hold up to the saying: UNITED WE STAND!!

Halloween- A 3 day Holiday

Halloween is one of those holidays that can seem like it lasts forever, kind of like Easter does, with parties here and parties there. That's how Halloween was this year, it lasted for like 3 days. On Wednesday night (the 29th) we had our ward Trunk or Treat. On Thursday, Hayden dressed up for their party at school. Then, we finally wrapped up the holiday with trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Hayden's costume was the Woody costume that his Grandma Debby made for her Toy Story float this year. But Hayden made sure to let everyone know that he wasn't "Woody" or " a toy" but was a "plain cowboy."

Kayla was a lion, and it was the perfect costume for her, since she can sometimes act like a lion.
I wanted to get a cute picture of both the kids together, but that is always a challenge.

This ended up being one of the cutest ones, and it was taken on Halloween when Hayden decided that he needed his stick horse for part of his costume too!!!

Here's the kids enjoying the Trunk or Treat. Kayla wasn't too sure about it at first, but then she realized they were giving her candy and she was all for it!!

Hayden looks anxious to see who wins the costume contest at the church party. --And the winner is --The cowboy!! He got to choose between pop and a bag of mini candy bars. Hard decision for a boy who loooves both pop and chocolate. (Just like his mom!!) --Kayla stayed hidden in the back and kept looking at the Grim-Reaper next to her.

The kids really had a lot of fun this year for Halloween. They enjoyed all the trunk or treating and trick or treating, and of course they enjoyed all the candy they got. They even had fun trying out the mask that daddy got for Halloween.