FINALLY

It has been almost three years since my dad died and even longer since his mother died. Ben and I finally went and finished their temple work yesterday. I am so grateful that we have temples that allow us to help our family members when they can't help themselves. I am also grateful that relationships continue after this life and that I will have the chance to know them better someday.

Pictures :)

Take Some Responsibility

When I have nothing to do, which is hardly ever, I youtube Ellen Degeneres shows. The other day I was watching an interview with Adam Lambert after what I heard was a very "interesting" AMA performance on his part. I then clicked on a different interview with Adam Lambert where he answered a question about what he would say to parents who let their kids stay up and watch his performance, which was rated TV-14, and were then disappointed by what they saw. His response was something to the effect of, "I'm not a babysitter, my job is not to take care of your children, that's your job." In another interview he later said, "No regrets." Now I am not attacking Adam Lambert, I have heard that same "I'm not a babysitter, no regrets" kinda attitude with LOTS of celebrities and regular people. At first I sorta agreed with him, then I started thinking more, then I listened to the words of this song.

Of course you can't blame one person for every bad thing in the world, but when are people going to start taking responsibility for what they do and how it affects others? When you have a bad attitude and take it out on every one else, it affects people. When you are too busy with your own life to help others or just say hello, it affects them also. When you watch or listen to media/movies/music that condones things you don't agree with, you become a hypocrite. "Oh but it's only entertainment" uh huh. People are so quick to point fingers and blame anyone but themselves. It is hard to take the blame, it means swallowing pride and admitting when you are wrong. That ridiculous "no regrets" attitude is for the immature. Everyone has regrets. We were meant to come to this earth to make mistakes and learn from them. I am going to really try from here on out to take more responsibility for what I do or don't do. I am also going to be more careful about what kinds of media I watch, because I have been a hypocrite on more occasions than I care to share by watching, reading, and listening to things that I don't agree with, all in the name of entertainment. It's time to take responsibility and realize that I play a part in this world and that my actions affect others whether I realize it or not.

"It was you, it was me, it was every man
We've all got the blood on our hands
We only receive what we demand
And if we want hell then hells what we'll have"

La Cucaracha

That's right, we have a pet for the weekend. We are taking care of 4 hissing cockroaches for Andrew's preschool. Both of my kids absolutely love them! Once you get past the ugly exterior and the freaky hissing each time you pick them up, they really aren't too bad. I was proud because I dared touch them before Ben. I must admit that I made Andrew grab them before me though! That boy is fearless! He even told me, "Mom, they are kind!"

More of Ben's birthday

So Ben finally got to celebrate his birthday a week late at our house. I made him this totally awesome banner... even funnier if you have ever seen the Office episode where Dwight plans Kelly's bday party. I also made him an ELEVEN layer cake! If you look really closely, you can even count the layers. It was a yellow cake with chocolate icing and chocolate buttercream frosting on top. If you really love frosting, you would probably love this cake but I could eat cake with no frosting and so it was not my favorite. Nevertheless, it looks cool. We also had chinese food for dinner, Ben's favorite! I am just happy we got to do something fun for his big day.

Funny Kids

Here are just some recent funny pictures of the kids.


Olivia woke up from her nap with this crazy hair and HUGE smile!



Olivia loves the new time out chair that Ben re-finished.


Andrew went to a friend's TRANSFORMER party last week. He was sooo excited about it and got to bring home this awesome little mask that he slept with.

Random Facts

As I was reading this week's chapter for one of my classes, I ran across some interesting research I wanted to share.

Psychologists conducted a survey of yearbook photos. They compared the life outcomes of women students whose photos showed a genuine smile (meaning: corners of the mouth turned up and skin around the corners of the eyes crinkled) with those of women who had an inauthentic smile. They found that the women who had a real smile were more likely to be married, to stay married, and to experience more personal well-being over a 30-year period.

About 23 percent of New Year's resolutions are broken in the first week, 45 percent by the end of January. The number one reasons people fail are: their willpower is not enough, they haven't chosen realistic resolutions, and fail to devise a plan to work on them every day.

In a poll of 200 new brides in 1988, 46 percent said they would consider trading in their engagement ring for a bigger, better diamond in the future, 54 percent said no. When these women were polled 15 years later, of the 46 who said yes, 81 percent were divorced. Of the ones that said no, 78 percent were still married.

Two surveys about family values and patterns of behavior indicated that people in the U.S. think the family is falling apart everywhere but in their own home. This paradox is called the, "I'm okay, but you're not" syndrome. Nevertheless, 4 out of 5 Americans say they wouldn't give up a Thanksgiving dinner with family for $1,000.

Source: Resource Management for Individuals & Families by Elizabeth R. Goldsmith

How many of you went and checked your yearbook picture after reading this?? :)