Merry Christmas everyone!

Snow Day in Vegas, visiting Santa at the mall, Austin's Holiday concert playing base, Party at Grandma Robbs and Christmas morning--out of 112 pictures these are some of my favorites this month. This picture I caught of Travi getting a PSP will be a favorite forever, he was so excited he had a vein popping out of his neck

We Love You All!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Santa loves Boobs!

Happy Holidays everyone! We have created another blog that we are hoping you will help us support breast cancer research and come check out:

http://santalovesboobs.blogspot.com/

Won one battle--

Well, we may not have won the war but we did win one battle. At least 22 states in our country tried very hard to get our guy in office, sadly I do not live in one of those states. (That is a topic being heavily discussed with Matt Farmer currently, even Josh said he is considering greener pastures like Utah or Idaho). I am so concerned that this country is no longer the Patriotic, God-fearing Christian people our forefathers had created it to be. I guess we are truly a melting pot, but boy does it seem like we're melting!! At least I woke up to the good news of Proposition 8 in California. Thank Heavens!! I will leave you with this quote from Donald Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association, "If we lose California, if they defeat the marriage amendment, I'm afraid that the culture war is over and Christians have lost, California is a big dam, holding back the flood — and if you take down the dam in California, it's going to flood 49 other states." To all my Conservative friends we have to be strong and hopeful, it is very scary that our President-elect, their beloved Unifier, will be running our country with very little oppossition. It is our job to vigilantly watch those in cahoots with the likes of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, they will push ANY liberal agenda--we will need to scream and shake the rafters to keep them accountable, we are STILL 46% of this country even if our Congress does not reflect it!
VIVA LA MITT ROMNEY AND RUDY GIULIANI!!!! :)
Love to all our family and friends,
Tracie

Hear ye, hear ye...

I have spent weeks and weeks working on all of my children's geneologies. I started from scratch with my children, I could have made a few phone calls to a mother or aunt or two and copied their work but I really wanted to do this research myself so that I would read the stories (some very interesting polygamy tales) and become familiar with the ancestors myself. I have an AWESOME announcement that probably no one will care too much about, but my son Austin was helping me when this happened and it brought tears to my eyes...drum roll........I made it back to 1495 Belgium today. I had set a goal for myself to access our records into 1600 by the end of the week and Austi and I took it a century further!!! Yeah for 1495!!! I am sooo excited!!!! :):):)

The Philly hockey game...

Sadly, the shame of what happened at the hockey game is that the people from Philly didn't at least show the courtesy to Palin's children who walked out with their "Mom". Had she been alone, or even with her husband then fine, but her children were there and probably excited to have such a fortunate opportunity with their mother. The hockey fans showed those young American children how truly ungracious and ruthless adults can be, it almost reminds me of the discusting papparrazzi that stalks the children of actors. Most politicians (and actors) are fair game because they chose these professions but people please act more AMERICAN when the children are around, it just makes you look like a bunch of morons, and any parent in that stadium should just be ashamed--the boos were bad enough, but the Puck You comments are degrading!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO5udFhuohg

Get me a tranquilizer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so damn mad and DISGUSTED!!!!!!

So most everyone that knows me knows my feelings on this election, yet I still have a handful of friends that are siding for the "OTHER" party. My cousin Lindsay (I love you girl) forwarded this email to me today that I had not yet seen. To my friends that are on the Barrack train, seriously, shame on you! I swear it reminds me of the first OJ Simpson trial when many African Americans hoped OJ would be acquitted for no other reason than he was a black man being tried in a "white" media. Please, if Democrats in this country are voting for Obama because he is a black man and feel that it is time for an African American in office--get serious. I do not care the color of skin of any candidate for our President, but there ARE better candidates- like Colin Powell, or Condoleezza Rice (whom would also get us a woman in office as well), at least someone that loves this country that he or she serves. Anyhow, as an American if you can read the following story and then LOOK at the picture and you still vote for Obama...AGAIN I say SHAME on you, you may not like your other options, but for Heaven's sake, WE ARE AMERICANS and our founding forefathers would bow their heads in SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



John McCain's remarks about the Pledge of Allegiance:

The picture at the end tells it all! Below are John McCain's remarks about the Pledge of Allegiance. In light of the recent appeals court ruling in California, with respect to the Pledge of Allegiance, the following recollection from Senator John McCain is very appropriate: 'The Pledge of Allegiance' - by Senator John McCain,
'As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POW s 10,000 miles from home. One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma , Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed. As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt. Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event. One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room. As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our allegiance to our flag and country. So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.'

'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisable, with liberty and justice for all.'

oh......and then you have this clown, who refuses to place his hand on his heart and say the pledge......

Remember this picture on election day!

Let's all remember this on election day...especially if you have family serving in the military, I don't necessarily care for Hillary, but at least she shows respect for the country she lives in!

I had heard about this, but a picture is definitely worth 1000 words!

Lord save us!!!

Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton and Ruth Harkin stand during the national anthem. Barack Hussein Obama's photo .....the article said he REFUSED TO NOT ONLY PUT HIS HAND ON HIS HEART DURING THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, BUT REFUSED TO SAY THE PLEDGE.....how in the heck can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief?

Finally catching up on scrapbooking...

I have finally finished these 14 scrapbook pages this week, and uploaded 1067 names into my ancestry files!!!!! Woot Woot, just givin myself a pat on the back!!

We went to the Gilgrease Orchards pumpkin patch last week with Sharon, Bella and Danny and her MOPS group. The kids had SOOOO much fun. They got to pick their own pumpkins from the vines as well as apples, squash, zucchini, and pomegranates, and at the end we also had fresh cider. When Travis was picking apples he said to me, "This is the greatest miracle store I have ever seen!" I asked him where he thought we got all of our fruits and veges from, and he said "the store" and I asked where he thought they got them, and he said "a bigger store". Then I said "Kid we have lived in Vegas too long, didn't you know that fruits and veges come from farms, and orchards?" Travi said, "well I know that animals live on farms, but this place is just a miracle". Life through the eyes of a five year old is just so funny and sweet. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!

This week in full color...

The same night as Lette's coupon class our new hampster "Jerrick" (notice the male sounding name) gave birth to a litter of
baby hampsters. Jerrick decided to reject them and mama Tracie has spent 5 days hand feeding the tiny rodents cat milk every three hours. Poor Christine once again was roped into being hampster assistant as well. How or why does this stuff happen to
me???






















Josh and Hannah in the waiting room at Josh's orthopedic appointment.







Mustaches you ask? You just can't leave crafty, creative, and bored girls to their own devices in a waiting room.






















I spent the day with Travis in Mrs. Garner's kindergarten class yesterday as a parent volunteer, and had the best time. Five year olds are so funny and busy. The kids really worked hard on their writing and colors. As much as I enjoyed myself, I know that teacher's DO NOT make near enough money for what they do all day!














Travis and Riley at what Travi calls "Jurrassic Park", it is a fun park in Alliante that has a mock dig site for dinosaur bones and a lake with ducks...beautiful day, and the park is one of the few places I can ever get to read anymore.

For Riley Roo...

One of my very favorite friends Shanna Vineyard is soooo crafty and I have to share the latest thing I have gotten from her, they are wooden letters for Riley Rooley's room. Shanna sales her cute stuff in her ETSY shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5166604, I get all of my cute handmade cards from her, plus she makes them with scripture references that I love, especially to send to my missionaries. Above are the letters and a couple of the cards.

Love to all, Tracie