Do Color, Race and Gender Matter

In life, should it matter what color you are, what your race is or if you are a man or a woman. Well, for me, I actually would want a male firefighter and not a female firefighter to save me if I were in a burning building (much stronger), but that does not really fit in to my blog, so it is neither here nor there. You might as 'Why would I bring it up then?', but this is my blog so I can do what I want! lol In most things, I don't think it should matter. Today on the radio I heard them talking about President Obama nominating Sonia Sotomayor to be a justice on the Supreme Court. Now, I don't really know much about her, but it kept being brought up that she was Hispanic. It was also talked about how the Republican party was going to try to shoot down anyone that Obama picked, but now they might not even try because she was Hispanic and think about what the backlash would be if they tried. Really?! If race doesn't matter in getting in to a political office, why should it matter in opposing someone? This seems like a double standard to me. I felt this way during the presidential elections. People saying that they were voting for Obama because he was black or they were voting for Hilary because she was a woman. Why should that matter? I think it is wrong to vote for someone because of that(well, more stupid than wrong) and I think it is wrong to not vote for them because of the same thing. I am a strong believer and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but you can bet I would not be voting for Harry Reid just because he is a member of the same church! In politics vote for someone who feels the way you do on the important things, and will vote the way you would like them to the majority of the time, not because of the color of their skin or their gender. If you don't want someone in because of their views, then oppose them! Don't not do it because they are Hispanic, black, white, brown, female or male, but because of their views. I am not an idiot and I realize that racism still exists. I have seen it. I don't agree with it. I have a hard time with people who feel that way, although I recognize it is their right...however wrong it may be. But I also believe that people have the right to oppose someone, even if they are in the minority, and that does not make them racist. The door has to swing both ways.

Memorial Day

I think that a lot of people just view Memorial Day as another day off of school or work. It is another day to play! Yay! Well, to me Memorial Day is a day to show respect and honor to our family members who have passed on. Seeing as how I am hundreds and hundreds of miles away from where any of my family is (alive or dead) and I can't place flowers on graves, I would like to pay tribute to a few of the many wonderful family members that have died. First off is my great grandma Fern Dearden Warner. She is my gramps' mother. I have a lot of wonderful memories of her. She made me laugh and I always knew that she loved me. She was neither a drinker nor a stepper. lol (total inside joke) She passed away when I was on my mission. I actually called home the day that she died to ask for money for shoes. My brother (Chris) answered the phone and said the my mom was across the street because grandma had died. He failed to mention which grandma and I just assumed (wrongly) that it was my regular grandma. It was awful! 'I think I will just put this away until later.' I love you grandma!

Second is my grandma Agnes Ficklin. She is my dad's grandma. I used to love to go over to her house. To a kid it was the coolest house! Lots of fun, weird things...you know, a downstairs (lol) with scratchy, weird furniture. (who knows if my memory is correct) I loved her long fingernails. She was willing to give up everything to move to a place that would be better for her kids. She was so good to my dad when he was growing up and for that alone (although there are many other reasons) I will love her forever.

My grandma Minnie Talbot. She is my grandma's mom. I don't have tons of memories, but what I do have I treasure so much. I remember standing in her kitchen on a little step stool holding out her brush and saying the pledge of allegiance. My memory is that she also always gave me vanilla wafers. lol She was so sweet and kind. I also have pictures in my head of things that she did from stories that my grandma has told me. I wish that I had had more time to spend with her. I love you grandma!

My aunt Margie and Uncle Raleigh Franklin. My grandma's sister and brother-in-law. I have a lot of wonderful memories of both of them. You could not find a more loving couple. She was so sweet to hug and he always seemed to be smiling. I wish that my kids and my husband could have met them.

Every year we used to go to Filmore and Hinckley Utah to put flowers on the graves of these family members plus many more....my darling aunt Donna and a few great grandpa Orange Warner. Don't you just love the name? I once asked if we had any other fruits in the family. Don't we all? lol I wish so much that I could go and pay my love and respect to each of them. I have many more names, but I will leave it at this. I am grateful for my family. I am grateful to know that I can (and hopefully) will be with them in the next life. I appreciate all that they did to raise their children and pass their beliefs and love on down to me and to my children.

I also pay respect and love to my parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles. I have a wonderful family! Thanks to you all and I love you so much.........and please make it be a long time before I have to put flowers on any of your graves! :)

A Night Out With The Girls

Today is our stake's (church group) father/son campout. They were planning on going up to a place in the mountains, however a helicopter crashed where they were planning on camping, so they had to relocate to a place near town. Poor James was so bummed I thought he was going to cry! He was planning on cooler weather and trees! lol However, I am sure that they had a good time at the lake. I know that they caught some catfish and are sure to catch more. So, seeing as how the boys were spending some time together I told the girls that we would go and have a 'girls night out'. They were all three so excited! I could hear them throughout the afternoon telling all of their friends that we were going shopping and out to dinner.

We decided to head over to our mall (fairly small, but growing) and look around before we got something to eat. I have to say that I LOVE that all three of them are at an age where it was fun for all four of us! We started out in Dillards and walked through the lingerie section. They had a blast pointing out all of the pretty underwear and nightgowns! lol We then looked at shoes. They had to pick each one up after they saw me look on the bottom of one to see the price. There were lots of ohhhhs and ahhhhhhs, but not much offer to help us from the staff! I guess they knew we were just window shopping. We also looked at perfume (they loved to point out what I already had) and they told everyone they saw that we were on a girls night while the boys were camping.

After Dillards we hit every other place that they could possibly want to go in to. We stopped in the Disney store, where I broke down and bought them each a pair of flip/flops. The one store I could not stay in long was The Children's Place. They had the cutest things and I was so afraid that I would come out of there having spend hundreds of dollars, so we got out of there quickly! lol We ended up eating at Burgers and Beer. The girls loved seeing all of the restaurant things and that there were t.v.s everywhere. They also thought it was great that they didn't have to clear their own plates. I think that maybe we need to take them out more often! haha When we finished eating we headed over to Cinnabon and got a couple of their bite size rolls for each of them and then headed off to go home. We were talking about how much fun we had all had and then they said 'So mom, does this mean that we can go shopping with you, grandma and aunt Jayci at Christmas?'....uh....the answer to that would be a big NO! lol I told them they had to be older for that, but we (the 4 of us) would be sure to do this frequently. I really had such a good time with them and it was amazing to be reminded of how old they are all getting and how much fun it is to spend time with them.

My Mom

I have the world's best mom! She is kind, giving, loving, has a strong testimony and is always there for me and all of her family. My kids are lucky to have her as a grandmother and I am so blessed to be her daughter. I love her so much!

Mom, thank you for all that you have done for me in my life. I know that I can turn to you for anything. Thank you so much. I love you! Happy Mother's Day!

Is It Really You?

When you write on my comments section of my blog are you really who you say you are? If you are, this post is not directed at you. If, however you sign someone else's name and not your own (maybe you are a coward and are fearful of what people will think of you) be warned that I will delete you. Now, I will not delete you just because I disagree with you, in fact if you are honest about who you are and are not hateful I will leave it, but it is not right to pose as someone else and make it seem like they feel a way that they might not.

A few posts ago I wrote about James being in the Border Patrol and someone wrote their feelings about the Border Patrol and illegal immigration. I deleted it because they signed my uncle's name and he did not write it. I also had another post that someone (I am assuming the same person) signed another uncle's name that did not write it either. Now, seeing as how you knew their names I am assuming that you know me and them. So, man up and sign your own name! If you truly feel what you wrote then be willing to have your name attached to it.

I am now going to be approving all comments. If you are really you, please comment and I will post them. If you are not, see you later!

Where's my beach?!

So, since the kids are out of school until Friday (thank you Swine flu!) I decided that I would take them to the beach on one of the days. I was thinking about today (Tuesday) but I decided that I didn't want the kids to miss gymnastics so we would go on Wednesday. James and I took the kids to the base today and had a great time swimming. We got home and the kids and I were talking about heading off to the beach tomorrow. I even asked a friend and her two kids to head over with us. It was going to be a great day! Shortly after getting home I got a call from another friend to tell me that the kids school would be opening tomorrow! My beach day! I could not believe it! I totally should have had the kids miss gymnastics! What are the odds?! I then thought 'maybe I will just call the kids in sick!'. I checked with the school and they are not going to start doing the state testing until Thursday so really, what would they be missing? I mean really, I (I mean we) don't get to go to the beach as often as I would like and it would be disappointing to the kids to not go after planning for it. But then would I have to go to jail for not sending them? Am I in the 'system'? haha I decided to play the 'responsible parent' card. I told the kids we would go in to San Diego on Saturday and that they had to go to school. They were not happy, I can tell you that! Parker was sure that I had lied to him just to make him mad! I also had to call Veronica to let her know that I had to cancel. I was quite sad. It would have been fun to have a day together. Some other time, I guess. Keep your fingers crossed that the beach wont be too busy on Saturday.....Yeah, right! It will still be fun!

Stupid California!

Can I just say that I HATE California?! Jeez! James and I received two certified letters (one for each kid) from the Imperial County District Attorney's Office telling us that because our children 'fail to regularly attend school as required by law' we are being placed on notice that we can be filed with criminal charges. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!! My kids missed three days of school! Is there not anything more important that they need to take care of? Gangs, the fires that keep getting started out by our cars, people smuggling in drugs and illegals? I mean really! Get a stinking grip! All of the great things about California are totally outweighed by the stupid, craziness that goes on here! Close the schools for a whole week because someone might be sick, but don't go out of town for three days (not to mention that I did get their homework). AHHHH!!!!!!! I really do not like California!

No School....Over-Reacting, but Nice Days Off!

Mom, thanks for the pic!


Last night at 10:30 I received a phone call from the El Centro Elementary School District. It seems that three of our elementary schools each have one suspected (not for sure) case of the swine flu. The health department recommended that they close all three of those schools for a week. My kids school happened to be one of those schools! At first I was worried. My husband was sleeping and so I called my parents and left a slightly hysterical,hopefully not to much, voice message. After I hung up the phone I started actually thinking (always a good thing to do) and realized that I was over-reacting (along with our school district and a majority of the world). We didn't know if anyone really even had it and one kid does not an infected school make! My mom called me when she got home and we talked. I had already calmed down by then.



This morning when Parker got up he came in to tell me he was ready for school (6:40 a.m.). I told him that he didn't have to go and why. I also told him to make sure that he was quite so that his sisters could sleep. He promptly went in to wake up Kylee to tell her why she didn't have to go to school. In the process of waking her up he also woke up the other girls! So, the day that we can sleep in everyone is up before 7:00!!!!!



We have been requested to keep our kids and home and in the house. Of course, that is not really going to happen. In fact, on Wednesday, the kids and I are going to head over to the beach! Yay! I also know that if they try to make the kids make up these days at the end of the school year my kids will not be there for that. Their California State testing will be over and I am not wasting our summer because everyone is over-reacting! So, we now get an additional spring break and a lovely time in San Diego! Thanks El Centro Elementary school district! Wahoo!!!