Christmas 2008

Christmas morning was soo much fun with Jocelyn this year. Jocelyn opened all her presents-at the same time as Daddy-and helped Mommy open her presents. It was soo cute. I wish we had gotten pictures, but we got a really cute video. It's a bit long-almost 45 minutes- and probably wouldn't be wise to post on the blog, but a copy will be going to my parents, so if you live in Houston, feel free to call for a viewing. If you live here and want to see it, give me a call.

After a morning of orange rolls and general present "oohing and aahing", we had my in-laws over for dinner. As some of you may know, I attempted this when Thane and I were first married. For those of you who don't know, let me tell you, it was a disaster. I had to stick the turkey back in the oven three times before it was fully cooked. Then I had to call my father for tips on how to make gravy and whilst making said gravy, the container some how exploded and made a huge stain on my shirt. Thankfully, this year wasn't so bad. The gravy wasn't great-I'm thinking of doing canned next time-and the skin only got crispy on one side-again, after having to call my father for tips on how to get it crispy in the first place. (Wow, I seem to write novels, don't I?)

Today, Jocelyn and I went out to make a snowman. We had attempted this last week, but she got cold and was cranky, so we came inside before we were finished. The next day, we went out to finish it and saw that the neighbor kids had finished it for us. So, I decided that Jocelyn and I needed to make a completed snowman. She participated this time-which was much more fun than last week. Below are pictures of the first snowman and the second one. We used leaves from a nearby bush to complete #2 snowman's face, which gives him a slightly Oriental look.

Saturday Thane and I took Jocelyn to a huge hill by the Provo Temple. My mother in law gave us a sled and we wanted to try it out. Thane took her down once then I took her down once. After twice down, Jocelyn was ready to call it a day. I also posted pictures from that adventure below as well.

Snowmen #'s 1 and 2

"Cheese!"

Sledding with DaddyThe sled wasn't the sturdiest one, so it was hard to hold on to.

Pictures (Finally!)

Jocelyn, Lindsay, and her "friend"
Mike on Thanksgiving at Kristen's house

















Little Red Riding Hood

All right, so I didn't get halloween pics up, so sue me. Thanksgiving was fun. We (the [almost] entire Smith family) went to my oldest sister-in-law's, Kristen, house. We always have a lot of fun when the family gets together. The kids ran around while the adults chatted. Brinley, Kristen's youngest daughter, is absolutely taken with Jocelyn. She played with Jocelyn and generally played the big sister to Joce. It was really cute. The next time we see them, I'll take a picture of the two girls so everyone can see them together. I made Grandma's famous chocolate pie, which was a smash hit. -Another family is hooked, Grandma! Love you!- So, all in all, Thanksgiving was a good day.

Fun On Halloween

Halloween was a fun night for the Smith family. I had been planning our costumes for a year, or, well, the theme for our costumes. We went as the favorite storybook characters from "Little Red Riding Hood". Grandma made Jocelyn's cape and she looked so cute. Daddy went as the woodcutter (whom everyone thought was an ax-murderer) and Mommy (that would be me) was the 'Grandma'.

We Trunk-or-Treated then went to visit Nana and Granddad. Our pumpkin was carved the day before, and Jocelyn loved it. From some reason, she was enthralled with pumpkins. It didn't matter where the pumpkin was, she pointed it out with a tiny "Puh-kin!".

I can't wait until next year-we'll be characters from the Wizard of Oz, Jocelyn's favorite movie. At least, at this point that's the plan. Enjoy the pictures!

October 15 Debate

While watching tonight's debate, I had a few thoughts.

Point One: Obama wants to give tax breaks to everyone making under $250,000. Is that part of the spending cuts he's so adamant about? I'm not suggesting that our taxes go up, especially during these difficult economic times, but think about it. Also, he mentioned that the health care plan would cost a lot of money. So, what about the spending cuts? Obama keeps pointing out that McCain can't keep his promises, but what about Obama's promises? Obama needs to stop ragging on McCain and take a look at what he's saying.

Point Two: More on the tax breaks. Have you seen the ad that Obama has running on the tax cuts he's promising? He talks about how McCain wants to give tax cuts to corporate and big business, but not for the middle class. Let me repeat, nothing for the middle class. Obama claims to want to give tax cuts to anyone who makes less than $250,000 and three times as much to middle class than John McCain. Repeat, three times the tax cuts for the middle class than John McCain. Now, let's do the math. Three times "zero" equals zero. (I put quotations around the first zero because I've personally never heard him say he was going to shaft the middle class. Just in case no one understood.) So, let's think about that for a minute. Refer back to my pervious post. Obama is a silver-tongued snake.

Point Three: I loved when McCain complemented Obama on his eloquence. In my (very) humble opinion, McCain did an excellent job pointing out Obama's deceptiveness. In subtle and not-so-subtle ways, McCain brought Obama down. 'Nuff said.

Point four: The health insurance point. Obama related a story about how two women who got laid off were worried about not having health insurance. To them I say, go to your unemployment office, sign up for unemployment, and at the same time, they wiil let you apply for Medicaid. That's what it's there for. And, for their situation, it's legitimate. They're not abusing the system, they're using it the way it was intended. And again, beware the silver tongue. At one point, when the point was persued by McCain, Obama claimed he would not fine for not having health care. Then Obama clarified. He will not fine small businesses if they can't afford to pay for health care for their employees. Well, if small businesses can't afford the health care, what about the people who work for those small businesses? Obama never said he wouldn't fine the average Joe (the Plumber) for not providing health care for his family. In fact, he said in a previous debate that he would fine individuals for not having health insurance for their families. So, 'Senator Government' what would you fine those individuals? Those people who make too much for Medicaid but not enough to pay for their own plans?

I also want to give kudos to some of the panel tonight:
Rosemary of Lancanster, OH
Dave of Farmington, PA

One other note: Remember that these are opinions and we are all entitled to our own. God Bless America (the democracy, republic, free world)

Funny thing happened today. Ha, ha. Ha, ha. Ha. I was in glorious Wal-Mart today (Yea Wal-Mart!) and lost my phone somewhere between the General Merchanise and Grocery sides. Yeah. So, I re-traced my steps three times, no luck. I finished my shopping, checked out and then went to visit the Customer Service desk. There was a line of at least five people-I was the sixth. The woman at the very front was returning an entire cart of items. There was only one guy behind the desk. So, I stand in line for about ten minutes watching as the line lenghens behind me and Jocelyn becomes crankier. No one calls for back-up. I went home, hoping I would get better service if I call. Yeah, right. I went home, unloaded the groceries and put them away. I took Thane's phone and looked up the number for Wal-Mart. I dialed and got the portrait studio. The girl who answered gave me the number for the customer service desk. I re-dial and different girl picks up. I told her what I was looking for, she giggles and puts me on hold. For eight minutes. I hung up and dialed again. This time no one answered. I waited for an hour, loaded Jocelyn in the car and went off to Wal-Mart again. No luck. So, i took the two of us off to the Verizon store and picked out a new phone. An expense I wasn't expecting this month. Luckily, Thane had a ton of overtime last month and we were able to cover it. Another example of the blessing you receive if yo pay your tithing. Hallelujah!!

Moving right along. The next thing I want to approach is the upcoming election. I know who I'm voting for, but are you sure you know who YOU are voting for?

After watching the debates, at least the ones thus far, it's easy to belive Obama and Biden. However, avoid the silver tongue of the serpent! There have been many prophets, old and new, that are not the smoothest talkers. And yet, they led their people in righteous paths. They were chosen by God. I believe one of these such men, although not a prophet, was our current president. He may make mistakes-but which of us doesn't?-, make up words and fumble during his speeches, but that makes him only more endearing. The question is, do we really want a President with a silver tongue? How do we know that he will keep these promises he's making? And is he telling us the truth when he says that the overall spending will he less than the overall budget cuts? It sounds like a miracle to me. Especially when Congress signed in a 700 billion bail out for the economy. I would hope that whomever becomes President will take care of the economy first. But in doing so, would that not harm the deficit further? So, how can the promises of higher budget cuts be true?

What about the Iraq issue? Obama wants to pull the troops out as quickly as possible, and while that would seem to be the best option overall, I believe McCain when he says that a slower removal would be more beneficial to the Iraqis and the American troops. I feel bad for those who have loved ones serving overseas, and I commend their sacrifice. I cannot imagine what they are going through.

I admit to not having much experience with politics; I've only become interested recently simply because I want to be an informed voter. I have watched each of the recent debates and seen the smoothness of Obama, the slight bumbling of McCain-which, again, is endearing. It makes him more of a person, an American citizen, not a lofty senator, which is how Obama comes across. I've also seen the experience of orating that Biden seems to have achieved during his years as senator, but, like Obama, he comes across as lofty and 'holier than thou'. Palin, on the other hand, is a 'Good Ol' Gal'. Why don't we want someone we, as Americans, can identify with?

Palin's record has much going for her. She has cleaned up her state as Governor and, if you look at all the running mates, she is the only one who has actually run a city, state, etc. She brings a lot to McCain's campaign.

To close, I know that Obama's promises seem really great, but voting for him for President only brings us one step closer to taking the country to communism. And we all saw how that treated Russia.

Okay, as many of you know, I'm attempting to write a novel (please note the emphasis on attempting). I'm not sure how many of you have done this before, but this is an extremely difficult task. Especially when the budding author continues to have conflicting ideas about the plot. This does not bode well for the life of the uncompleted novel. My one simple request to those of you would talk to me is that you not ask me about the number of pages or what I'm working on. This applies quite a bit of pressure on me. I don't mean to be rude; I understand that many of you take interest in my endevors, but if, or when, I get published, I will let each and everyone of you know. Personally, if at all possible. I would also like you all to know, that I appreciate your support and I love you all.

September 15, 2008

So, this seemed to be the perfect time to start a blog. Nothing is going on, therefore nothing to blog about. Jocelyn is going to the dentist for the first time today. Yea! At her last doctor's appointment, she was 31 inches long and 22 pounds 12 ounces. According to her chart, she is in the 25% of her age group. She's going to be tiny! Thane is at work right now, selling his little heart out. If I think of anything else to write, it'll be here. TTFN!