Our Family: February 2008

Okay, so I am way behind on my posts, so here is a little "catch up" of what has been happening! We now have a 3 year old! I can't believe my little peanut is 3! Time flies! She wanted a castle cake for her birthday and I am a little embarrassed to show what it looked like, since it was nothing like I had hoped it would be. I guess the only thing that matters is she loved it and got to help me make it.
For Valentine's Day, Brad cooked us a yummy dinner and for dessert, we had fondue! Peanut was so into it. She loved the marshmallows especially!
This is post fondue. We had to cut her off. I think she probably ate more than we did. She is definitely a chocoholic!
Last Saturday, it was such a beautiful day outside, we went with some friends to Silver Falls. It was so nice to be outside and see such pretty waterfalls!

Ok, I've found myself a little gap in my busy schedule and have decided to use it by adding a post, believe it or not! Maybe it's just because I need to take my mind off of the test I just took (and probably failed!) :) So here's what's on my mind right now:

President Hinckley
I've spent the past few conferences (like most of the church) thinking that there's a pretty good chance this will be Pres. Hinckley's last. What's interesting was that I was still shocked to find out about his passing. I was at a stake priesthood meeting when I found out. Our stake president was not there at the beginning of the meeting, because he was in another special meeting in Lake Oswego with Elder L. Tom Perry. Pres. Dalton (our stake pres.) then showed up with about 10 minutes left, and went straight to the podium to tell us what Elder Perry said. He said that Pres. Hinckley had been battling with colon cancer for a few years now, and had undergone both surgery and very recently chemotherapy. He had a meeting with his doctors a couple of weeks before his death where they told him that the chemo had done all it could do, and that there wasn't really much more that could be done. Pres. Hinckley told them that it was not acceptable. The doctors told him that they could try doing chemo again with a much higher dosage, but that the side effects might kill him. He replied, "might not!" So they began a second round of stronger chemo a week later. The following Thursday, Elder Perry said Pres. Hinckley missed his weekly temple meeting with the 12 for the first time since he's been prophet. That's when they knew he didn't have much time. He then said that Pres. Monson and Pres. Eyring were called to Pres. Hinckley's apartment on Sunday where they gave him a blessing. He passed away an hour later. I just thought that story was interesting, and told a lot about the character of Pres. Hinckley. Any other man of 97 years that had just gone through invasive surgery and very difficult, debilitating chemotherapy would give up after hearing what Pres. Hinckley's doctors told him. But Pres. Hinckley wanted to do ALL that he could to make sure he was serving the Lord for the maximum allowable time. What an example he is to me. I always loved hearing him speak, and I'll always be grateful for his enthusiasm and contagious optimism. I will miss him.

I also just want to say how grateful I am for this Church, and bear my testimony that it is true. It is so comforting to know that we are guided by a prophet who will never lead us astray. I am also grateful to know that even after the passing of a prophet the keys and authority of the gospel are not lost, but are handed down to the quorum of the 12 until a new prophet is called. I sustain Pres. Monson as our new prophet and leader of the Church. I have such a strong testimony of the authority this Chruch has, which is what sets it apart from other churches. This is the only true church of Jesus Christ, and has the power and authority to grant salvation and blessings to its members.

Also, just as an afterthought, there have been a lot of ideas popping around through various e-mails on ways to honor Pres. Hinckley's legacy. We think they are great ideas, and Angela and I have chosen to do two of them: read the Book of Mormon in 97 days, and make a generous contribution to the Perpetual Education Fund (which Pres. Hinckley founded through revelation).

Pooper Tuesday

-Ok, so I'm really going to switch tracks here, so I apologize. I just want to share with you might thoughts on why I thought the so called 'Super Tuesday' actually turned into a 'Pooper Tuesday'. And no, it really has nothing to do with politics (even though I'm a little upset that weasel McCain will be the Republican candidate), it actually has everything to do with the NBA believe it or not! What are the Phoenix Suns thinking?????? I know Shawn Marion was going to need to be traded sometime this year, since he was just going to opt out of his contract next year, but to give him up for the Shaq daddy? (more like Shaq grampy now) Common!!! The guy has played about 20 games this season due to injuries, and he's about 78 years old in basketball years. His joints and bones can't support his ginormous 340 pound frame anymore. And now he's going to be playing for the team with the fastest offense in the NBA? I know they needed to find someone who could help them out defensively and with rebounds, but if they did, then why did they give away Kurt Thomas? He was only costing them 8 mill a year. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to see what happens. I'm trying not to be a fair weather fan, so I'll stick with them, I just really hope this works out for the best. If not, I'll just have to do something drastic like start rooting for Blazers or even, dare I say it, the Utah Jazz! Naw, I'm not that desperate yet! :)

School

Ok, to end my post on a negative note (you can tell I'm not in the greatest of moods), I just have to include some rants. Think of this as venting. Why is it that university professors feel the need to elevate themselves above their students, making sure that we always feel inferior intellectually. Forget about teaching us the things that are important for us to know about our careers, instead, spend endless amounts of time on trying to show us how smart you are! And then, take whatever important material that may have accidentally leaked out, and make an exam with questions so obscure and abstract that the material you thought you knew seems like a foreign language. You can probably tell I just finished taking on of these such exams, of which I spent about 30 hours of study time on and probably failed. Sorry for ranting, but I do feel a little better now that I've vented. I guess I'll never be rid of the elite bureaucracy that is the American University.

Thank you all for putting up with my rants and my thoughts, I'm sorry this post is a novel, but don't stop frequenting our blog on my account, Ang should be returning shortly!

And now to really end, I just want to say congratulations to Dad for being awarded with the Silver Beaver Award, one of the Boy Scouts of America's most distinguished honors for service to youth.

Next up, the Silver Buffalo!