The photograph below captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect wildlife in the US.

Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democratic Party... as apparently they have learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance. This photo is of a Democrat black bear in Montana nicknamed ' Bearack Obama ' !

Some great News!

Last week at Church I was pleasantly surprised when the Bishop announced that they were releasing Jason from Young Men's President! He had known for about a month and never said anything or acted like anything was going to happen. He sure knows how to keep a secret! I wonder if there is anything else he is keeping from me! :) He did such s great job with the Young Men and I hope he knows that! they did keep him on as the Scout Master which means he will still have to go to Scouts each week. But now he can focus on just Scouting and not all the other President duties. The best part though is that he doesn't have a meeting before Church EVERY Sunday and we can drive there as a family! Except for the weeks where I have to go to Ward Council of course. Thank-you for being such a wonderful example to our Wards Young Men for so Long Jason! I love you!

Halloween Contest

Hey everyone! My family has started a new Halloween tradition. Sarah has posted all the families 2008 costumes at http://sandjchapman.blogspot.com/2008/11/halloween-costume-contest.html
check out her blog to vote for the different categories. Voting ends on Saturday Nov. 15th. Come see how creative and funny my family can be!

Come listen to a prophet's voice!

This was sent to me by our bishop's wife. More proof that the Lord really does speak to our loving prophets.

Emily's Special!

This Week Emily has been the special student. Last week she was sent home with a poster to fill out with information about her and she had it back to her teacher the very next day. She was so excited that she was going to have her week to shine! Thank-goodness I didn't have to pull my kids out of school on Wed. to start Homeschooling. Monday, I'm sure she arrived at school to see her beautiful poster all about her on the special place on the wall in the classroom. And she was able to explain to all the kids the drawings of her family, things she likes to do and a bunch of her other favorite things. On Tuesday she got to bring in her favorite stuffed animal to share with her class. She also gets to make some special decision about what the class will do for certain activities throughout the day. Today, Thursday, she was able to have a special guest to share with her class. And she chose me! I love you too Emily! The thing is, a couple of months ago, at a book fair, we let Emily pick out a book and she chose one of the cutest little stories called: "PINKALICIOUS!" This quickly became one of her favorite books to read and for me to read to her. She wanted me to come read it to her class. We also made some PINK cupcakes to share with her classmates. I made them to look like the cupcakes from the book. It was so fun to read to the kids and have them enjoy the story as much as Emily does. She was so cute! She stood next to me the whole time I read and chimed in at her favorite parts of the story. After we read the story we handed out cupcakes. All the kids were asking for more cupcakes. So, go to your local library and check out this adorable book! Then you can see what happens when you eat too many PINK cupcakes! Do you like my Reading Rainbow plug?

The Time Has Come!

It is election day. It's now or never. This year we are voting upon one of the biggest moral issues that our country has ever faced, that of the definition of marriage. Eight years ago we voted on this very issue and were able to succeed with a 61% victory to define marriage as being between a man and a women, yet in May of this year with a 4-3 vote the California Supreme overturned the opinion of the people. On the ballot today we are voting upon a constitutional amendment to once again define marriage between a man and a women. Many people are trying to treat it as a civils right issue, comparing it to when African Americans or women didn't have the right to vote. But it is a moral issue. We are not taking any rights away from individuals that want to live this lifestyle. They have all the rights that we have in a civil union. But they want to change the definition of what marriage has been for thousands of years. Marriage is a union between a man and a women and that is how it should stay. There are so many other issues that could arise if this proposition doesn't pass, but I am sure you have heard them all. For our children, for this country, and to protect our rights, get out and vote YES on PROP 8!

Our democratic republic

I was reminded today that our legislators are not always working in the house of government that they represent, whether they are state or federal lawmakers, and it crossed my mind that they should be paid like pro athletes are paid. If an athlete misses a game he forfeits a game's pay. So, I thought that if a senator, congressman, or assemblyman was to not be in their house of government on a work day than they should forfeit a day's pay.

Now with the way our representatives pass legislation I thought that maybe that's not such a good idea. Keeping these guys in their offices and on the floors of their respective houses may not be such a good idea.

So maybe their payscale should be reflective of an approval rating provided by their constituency. But that creates a host of problems without addressing the actual problem of rep's working for their own interests and not ours.

We need to find a way to make our officials' actions and associations more transparent and more public so that they can be held accountable for their actions.

All Hallow's Eve

Thank-you Mom for all your help with Emily and Kaitlin's costumes! they wouldn't have turned out so good without your help! Love you Mom! -Ruth

Here are some pics of are Halloween. We had a trunk-or-treat party at the church on Tues. the 28th. The girls got to listen to a story. Then trick or treating to a few rooms in the church, including a balloon room, where they got to kick around in a room filled with... ...balloons. The young men had a scary walk-through room. Rachel was scared backwards out of the room. Emily laughed at all the scary people as she walked through. It was a great party. Ruth won the pie-eating contest, uh... I mean... the pie-baking contest, with an awesome apple pie (lots of Fuji apple and extra cinnamon and sugar on the crust). Sorry, no pictures of that event, but here are the kids:


Thursday night we drew faces on and carved pumpkins. Jason had a revelation halfway through after getting tired of using kitchen knives on the innocent cucurbits. The real tools came out and the face-shaping got a lot easier, even if it wasn't faster. A keyhole saw, jigsaw and some drill bits are better than any store-bought pumpkin kit.


Saturday night we had our own party with friends from church. The Chapmans and the Piers came over. We had homemade doughnuts, caramel corn, 1-2-3 popcorn, roasted pumpkin seeds, root beer, cider, and more. The kids watched a movie while the adults talked and played a great game of Cranium.