Okay, this is another LOST posting, so again, if you aren’t interested in the TV show LOST, then you are welcome to read older posts about other random subjects.

Okay, so… What did you think about the season finale? This episode (as most do) brings up several questions:

Who the heck are the people that have a boat off the coast? Apparently, they aren’t friendly to the island.

How is Walt tied into this? You were right Danny, Lock wasn’t dead. The island wouldn’t let that happen. I was shocked to see Walt helping him.

What was up with the flash-forward of Jack??? Wow, that was crazy ending!

Whose funeral did Jack attend in the flash-forward? We at least know it was a girl and apparently Jack didn’t necessarily consider her a friend. It was kind of a scary neighborhood where the funeral parlor was at.

Who are the good guys? After watch how mercilessly Sawyer killed that guy, I wonder who the good guys are? Those others that were holding the hostages didn’t follow Ben’s orders and just shot into the sand instead. Sawyer didn’t have to kill Tom. I wasn’t too happy with what Sawyer did.

Where do we go from here? I wonder if Ben and Lock will be able to convince the survivors that these people are bad and maybe they’ll join tribes?? I don’t know. It’s going to be interesting. Apparently, Jack’s life will be more fulfilling if he stays on the island, and there are several people that would rather stay there.

And, we were very upset about Charlie dying. We know that it had to happen with Desmond’s predictions and all, but I think we were being hopeful. He’s been annoying most of the show, but there were moments when we really like Charlie. We like how he became a surrogate father for Clair’s baby.

Oh, and Hurly rocks!!

I saw a news report about a movie that's coming out on June 22 called September Dawn (click here to go to September Dawn's official website), a supposed "historical fiction" that appears to be more fiction than historical. Its about the mountain meadows massacre that happened on September 11, 1857. According to Wikipedia it is directed by Christopher Cain, is described by a press release as fictionalizing the "point of view held [by] direct descendants ... that the iconic Brigham Young had complicity in the massacre, a view denied by the Mormon Church." [Press release (2007-03-26)]

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre. There is no evidence that Brigham Young ordered the attack, on the contrary, there is evidence that he order the local Mormon settlers to do nothing. The problem was that the local militia didn't wait for a reply from Salt Lake. By the time the reply came the massacre already happened. No, there is still a lot of controversy over this, especially with a TV movie coming up. If you look at the Wikipedia discussion and history on this article you'll notice there has been a lot of debate. Some believe that the LDS church did a cover up. People are entitled to their opinions, as am I.

What bothers me the most about September Dawn, is that they make some pretty big claims about Brigham Young's involvement that aren't provable. On the website for September Dawn it says, "On June 22, the truth will be revealed". This infuriates me to no end! When you have no evidence for the assumptions you are making then you cannot claim the truth! Just because Christopher Cain is sure Brigham Young was behind this doesn't mean he is! Can Christopher Cain write history??? This movie makes Brigham Young look like an 19th century Osama bin Laden. I'm not saying the massacre didn't happen. It was a sad dark day, but it wasn't directed by Brigham Young. I hope people will realize this movie is not what happened, but what someone believed happened. They say they did their research, but they sure have filled in the holes with some anti-Mormon propaganda.

It is true that the massacre occurred. Yes, these Mormon settlers did this. But I wouldn't say the Mormon church did this. On the Wikipedia discussion page under "Pretty Good Article" this comment is made:

In Iraq, members of the US Military raped a woman and killed her whole family. It was, in fact, an official squad of the US Army. However, they did not operate upon that unit's rules of engagement and did not take orders from the military directing this action. So, I would not say that the US Army raped that woman and killed her family. I would say it was the individuals who did that.

This was a horrible thing that happened, but don't blame the LDS church, especially when the evidence is incomplete or missing.

I also wonder about the timing of the production of this movie. This is going to have a great effect on Mit Romney's presidential campaign. The movie was written and filmed before Romney declared his intentions to run for office, but it seems convenient if you want to put a barrier in front of his way. People are really looking at his religion, which is stupid. Just because Mit Romney is a Mormon is no reason he shouldn't be elected into office. People should decide to vote for or against him on the political issues. Yet, how he handles this film will be very important for his candidacy.

Right now I'm waiting for a DVD to finish burning. Lindy and I recently bought Vegas Movie Studio + DVD. Basically, it is video editing software and DVD creation software. We've had a DVD burner for about 2 years, but we had no idea how to use it so it acted as our CD-ROM the whole time. Finally we are starting to create family videos. I would put them on here, but with a dial-up connection it would be ridiculous. (Sorry Jim, none of my new neighbors have wireless networks. Stupid North Davis County folks – Get with the times!)

Anyway, so we made a photomontage for our mothers for mother’s day. We made ourselves a copy. Apparently, Sydney thinks it’s the coolest thing since ice cream. She loves to look at pictures of family members, that and the songs we put on there are songs we sing to her everyday. So, Sydney (even as I’m writing this) is watching the video and shouting out “Nana!” (Savannah’s nickname) to her own baby pictures. All babies apparently look like Savannah. She loves to sing with the music. Usually she’ll get at least 3 words from a phrase/sentence and mumble the rest of them. It’s hilarious to listen to. When the video ends she shouts out “Again!” and we watch the video over and over and over and over. Ha! That’s what we get to do as parents of little children, watch their favorite videos over and over again.

When I went to get Sydney out of bed this morning she was jumping in her crib as if it was a trampoline and shouting “Bounce!” Then she started practicing her colors (red, blue, purple, yellow). She loves to practice colors and numbers. Whenever she sees a number she starts counting and then yells “Blast off!” (too much Little Einstein apparently). Kids sure do make life interesting.

So, who else is watching Lost? Okay, if you watch and are up-to-date you should read this. If you aren't up-to-date or you don't care then you may not want to read this.

So, what's up with Ben killing off Lock???? Lock was one of my favorite characters in the episode. I missed the episode where Lock killed his father. I guess I assume that he solves his problem. It seems like the only way people can die is if they figure things out and the resolve their main conflict.

I can't believe that they are actually going to get off the island. They are going to want to drag it out for another season at least. We still don't know the origins of the others (apparently Ben isn't really from here), we don't know all the details of the island. And that big black cloud that attacks people.

So, remember the episode (I'm assuming you actually know what I'm talking about , LOL) the episode where Mr. Echo stares down one of those black clouds. Well, if you pay real close attention you seen faint scenes from Echo's past. So, I'm thinking maybe those black clouds are really the characters' past coming back to get them. Of course there is always the theory that all of these guys are dead and in purgatory ( I don't believe that personally). I'm rambeling now. Meh...

Next Wednesday is the season finally. I wonder what questions they are going answer. I assume they are going to bring up some new questions. Is another hatch going to blow? Is Charlie actually going to drown like Desmond said? Err, I can't wait till next Wednesday....

Day two...

I'm going to attempt at becoming a runner. I'm on day two of my new running schedule. My sister-in-law, Kelsey, had a schedule that is suppose to gradually get you to the point where you can run for 30-45 min straight. I guess a combination of running and walking is the way to go. At anyrate we'll see how that goes.

So, mother's day. We had a dinner for Lindy, her mother (Alice) and my mother. My brother Brad and his wife Heidi came too. We had a good old time. Lindy's dad and I were cooking for everybody. That basically meant I was watching Lindy's dad grill. He's the master and I, the apprentice.

Anyway, I ought to get going.

Here are some pictures of my family.



Little Savannah, our new edition to the family. She's our little angle.

Here' Sydney! She's our little ball of fire. She has enough energy to power several midwestern towns. It has been a joy watching her develop and learn. She's always surprising us.

Savannah kept slowly falling to the left. This was a particularly difficult shot to get. Sydney has decided to call Savannah "Nana". She often asks to "hold her". She does get a little jeolous. When we're holding Savannah, Sydney wants to be held to, by the same person.

This is Savy's blessing picture. The deer-in-the-headlights look is a signature of Savy's.

We spent way too much time trying to get this simple picture of our family. I think this one turned out pretty good.

Getting both children to look good in the picture is unbeliveably difficult. Savannah's falling asleep while Sydney's having a melt down. Errr.

Well, I finally did it. I graduated. I walked last Friday. I took Sydney with me as I walked, she was awesome. I'm done with school altogether. It is nice to be done. I have accepted an offer from Davis School District that won't start until August. I'm trying to find some temp work for the summer. I've been in school my whole life, I can't believe that I'm finally done. Kind of feels weird. Now I get to work for something better than $7/hr. I haven't made that in a while, but it's all good.

On Saturday I took a big 2 hour long Praxis test, another hoop I have to jump through in order to get licenced. Well, they give me a answer sheet that has 180 places where you can fill in your bubble with your number 2 pencil. At any rate, I figured 180 questions in two hours (120 minutes), well, that less than one question a minute. I'm freaking out because I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up. Half way through the test I was just a little behind, I'm flying through this, probably too quick, cause I'm afraid that I'll have like 30 questions left when they tell us to stop. To my surprise after I have finished 120 questions the bottom of the page says "stop, close your book". Apparently, the answer book was a generic sheet. I was flying through the stupid test, when I didn't need to. Well, I didn't skim through or anything, but I was unduly stressed out.

At any rate, I am done with anything involved with school, except the graduation bit. Now I can spend my full attention on trying to find an income. Hopefully sooner than later.

So, having two kids is so different than one. I'm sure anyone who have more than one will being thinking "duh!". It's nice to be able to tag team the kids. But keeping our house clean has been a joke, not that we were ever really good at that to begin with.

Sydney is starting to show signs of jealousy of her sister (just a little bit). When one of us are holding Savannah, Sydney will want to be held at the same time. However, Sydney is starting to say "hold her" because we'll always ask her if she wants to "hold her". We'll let Sydney hold little Savannah for a few moments before they both start crying. It's better than before though. Sydney calls Savannah, "Nana". We weren't sure if we wanted to encourage that because of the dog in Peter Pan. Anyway, this is enough rambling about our two daughters. Next time I'll try to be a little more cohesive with my postings.

So, I haven't been very good about leaving regular posts on here. I know a few of you read this, mostly because I've read the comments. I'm sure you're annoyed with the fact that most of the time the blog hasn't been updated, and there haven't been new pictures in a long while (which is the main reason to come to the blog - not pictures of me, but of my cute daughters).

So, are any of you excited about the new Harry Potter book coming in July? Who do you think will die in this book. She's been pretty consistent with killing at least one good guy per book for the last 3 books. I'm afraid its going to be someone as important as the last one ( I won't say who in case you haven't read book 6 - I don't want to give away any spoilers here). My sister-in-law, Kelsey, said she hopes they don't kill off Harry himself at the end of the book. Some kind of Matrix messianic thing. (But then I never thought they would have done what they did in the last book - again, I'm really teasing those who haven't read book 6). I assume that they can't kill off Ron or Herminie (they have to get together or everybody will be mad). But it could be a Weasley, like maybe the dad or one of the twins or something. Maybe Neville will save the day. What do you guys think?

SALVATION!!!!!!!!!
Today I completed my master's defense and I passed! It was a success. Later on in the day I had my first job interview (which was equally scary). I don't know how well that went. We'll see in the near future. All I have left is my praxis test which I take on April 28, then I'll be done with my masters degree in speech-language pathology. It has been a very long two years.

Now comes the next scary part, finding work and doing what I went to class for. I really do love the field because I love working with people, but I feel inadequate. I still feel like I need a lot more training. Hopefully, I won't feel like a charlatan 5 years from now. Only time will tell.

To those downhearted folks still in school. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it really isn't a train! Keep it up, it will eventually end.

Well, we blessed Savannah, as mom and dad probably already told you. It's an awesome and humbling experience blessing your own children. I blessing our baby got our new ward’s attention. Like a neon light saying “HEY! WE’RE HERE! GIVE US A CALLING! MAKE US TALK IN CHURCH! ETC ETC!” So, we got a calling a week later, today, (teaching the 12 year olds) and we got asked to speak in church next week. Oh and we got hometeachers today too. Considering we’ve been in the ward for 3 months, that was a lot of attention for one Sunday. Apparently it took the membership clerk a little while to get our recorders.

Baby Blessing and More

By the way, it has been a joy taking our children to church. Sydney has been a lot of fun. Sydney wants to run around and make noise, Savannah is hungry and crying, we have lots of extra stuff to drag around like books, snacks, diapers, etc etc, fun. The other day Sydney decided to crow like a rooster as loud as she could during sacrament meeting. That was a joy. And another day in church Sydney was trying to say "eyes" but the first vowel come out as an /a/ as in back instead of /ah-i/. So, she was yelling out an expletive, but in an innocent manner. The people in sitting in front of me probably thought that we’ve been teaching Sydney how to swear.

I’m almost done with school. Just 2 more weeks of my externship, my defense in 3 weeks, and the SLP praxis test in 7 weeks. Then I get to start to work for the rest of my life. But it will be nice to be able to have a real income for once in my life (and before 30 at that – but not much before 30).

R2-D2 and Chewie's real role in the movies.


If you are not a Star Wars fan then ignore this message and wait for more cute pictures of Sydney and/or Savannah. Apparently, with the prequels we have to re-evaluate the original movies. My sister-in-law Heidi sent me an email that explores these issues (an acknowledgement of my geekiness, I'm sure). So, here it is, a discussion of why Chewie almost killed Luke.

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope
Reconsidering Star Wars IV in the light of I-III

Cereal and Memories

For as long as I can remember, I've been hearing stories about the time I emptied several boxes of cereal on the floor and danced on them. I don't ever remember doing this, but its my parents favorite story to tell. I began to believe that nothing else happened in my whole childhood. My one and only defining moment was spent stomping on cereal.

Even as I have children of my own, I continue to hear about the infamous day. Then today, something happened that will bring a smile to my parents face and a cringe to my own. My daughter, Sydney, took off with a box of Cheerios and decided to empty it onto her bedroom floor. Instead of getting upset, I grabbed the camera. I'm not sure if that was a good idea cause my parents will enjoy rubbing it in. However, when I tell stories to my daughter I'll at least have evidence instead of hearsay.

Life with two children has been interesting. Sydney if starting to get use to the ide a of her baby sister being around. Instead of Savannah, she calls her Nana or just baby. Sydney's vocabulary is explouding, she has become a little parot recently. She is coming up with new words all the time (and new signs cause we've been teaching her sign language).

Savannah, still only a week old, is a little cutie. She likes to sleep all the time, even when we're trying to feed her. Her weight dropped a little and we're still waiting to hear about her bilirubin count. Hopefully it will go down so we don't have to have her under a bili-light. Sydney had to do that and she hated it. We'll hear about it tomorrow, but I'm sure things are going to be okay.

We'll try to be better about leaving stories about our daughters on here in the future(that and pictures).

It's a Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Announcing the birth of Savannah Marie born on January 17, 2007 at 6:11am. She was 7 lbs 7 oz 19 1/2 in.

Good bye Logan, Its been fun.

We're now completely (we're still working on it) into our new home in Layton. We were really sad to leave Logan, we've spent our whole married lives up there. Its bitter sweet to leave (finishing school and all). Here are some parting pictures.

We do plan on posting some pics and stories of christmas, soon.

We are completely moved into our new home in Layton, UT. We're close enough to Hill Air Force Base that we get to hear F-16s land and take off on a regular basis. We have a little more room in our bedrooms and the living room, but we have a smaller kitchen now. Trying to find space for all of our pots, pans, dishes, and food will be a challenge.

We're excited to be closer to a lot of our family and friends that were forsaken because of school. Hopefully y'all will still want to hang out with us after 4 years.

Oh, and we've figured out the first name for our child in the oven. We're going to call her Savannah. That name has been on our list for a while. One morning a week or so ago, I was thinking maybe we should just use the name Savannah because we keep coming back to that name. Well, a few minutes later Lindy pipes in and says out loud, We should name our child Savannah. Well, that did it for me. I don't believe in coincidences. We're still working on her middle name.

We're in the process of moving down closer. We're at the packing stage. Then on Saturday, December 16th. We're actually moving. We're moving to Layton for now. It was difficult to find an apartment in our price range that was large enough for us and had a washer and dryer hook up. The place looks slightly ghetto, but I've been told there is not such thing as a ghetto neighboorhood in Layton. We'll have to live there for at least a year (1 year lease), but I'll be able to get a real job in May so we'll be able to afford a better place. I guess you could say that we'll be "saving money" from May till December (without a dishwasher).

Sydney is walking now (although she still prefers to crawl -- apparently its faster). We've been having her walk all over the place while holding our hands. We really want her to walk outside so she won't get her clothes dirty whenever we go outside. Her language is ever getting better. We've learned that we have to spell out words around her if we aren't willing to give her the thing at the time (words such as milk and cookie). Our daughter has become a sugar addict (something we've been avoiding at all cost), we don't give her straight sugar items often, but when we do she becomes fanatical. She went through a kissy stage where she would give everybody a kiss and then say "Ooooh". She would pick up all over her toys and give them a kiss. She would even walk up to you (or crawl) and then kiss your knee. She decided that with cold and flu season that maybe she should stop her kissing marathon. Now she's back to her good old self, difficult to get a kiss from. We generally have to "steal our kiss" from Sydney, but every once in a while she'll give us a kiss.

She has grown into quite the tantrum thrower. All that she wants is for us to give her anything and everything to play with and never put her down and let her have full reign over the apartment. We of course don't, and she gets a little upset. We are the meanest of parents not letting her play with the pots and pans or eat pens, throw food, and cause general mahem and destruction. But she forgives easily.

Sydney has decided that Gammy (Grandma Alice) is preferrable over mom and dad. She loves her gammy, and her aunt Elise. Most of the time, when she sees Elise's picture she will say "Lesie", she says it with a lisp, but its still really cute and Elise eats it up.

My brother, Nate, brought something up in his blog that I share as a pet peeve in his post, We Don't Worship X:

I won’t share any examples here except the one that drives me crazy this time of year, Xmas. We don’t worship X, we worship Christ. I don’t think I need to say anything more. I know some of you are not religious like I am and don’t agree with this, and for you Xmas is ok, but for me it is Christmas.

Either in an attempt to shorten the word Christmas or as an attempt to secularize the holiday, Christ has often been replaced by X. Our society has attempted to remove Christ from Christmas with much success. Some feel that X = Santa Clause or receiving gifts, etc, etc. As the holidays get rolling and shopping starts to take its toll. Remember what the this season is all about. It's not about X. It is about Christ. Christ came here to Earth to die for our sins. Isaiah puts it so well in chapter 53:

"Surely he hath ^aborne our ^bgriefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted...He is ^adespised and rejected of men; a man of ^bsorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we ^cesteemed him not. "

Merry Christmas, and remember what it is all about.