Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Scouting...
This pieces represents the same L.D.S. boy whose involvement in scouting enhances his ability to serve and lead in the priesthood.
Another Eagle Scout...
Cedar City Family...
I didn't have the mom for this family with me, so I asked Jane Austen to stand in, because in real life this mom is stylin' and not 200+ years behind in fashion choices. :)
Thursday, November 08, 2012
Election 2012
These are some comments that I made on November 7th. I want to keep them for posterity. You are welcome to read them or ignore them.
You know what makes me feel saddest of all... we're not special anymore. The United States is just another European socialist state. We didn't know the Constitution like we should have and therefore it can't protect us. It can't keep us free. It was our shield and we have abused and neglected it. It was a gift from God.
The great history of the world is one of tyranny and slavery, but for this one shining document that can change everything. Our Constitution was not just a blessing to Americans, but to the whole world.
We have lost so many freedoms that I don't know how we will ever regain them, I don't know how we will pass them to our children.
I feel like it was our turn to carry the torch and we dropped it.
The great history of the world is one of tyranny and slavery, but for this one shining document that can change everything. Our Constitution was not just a blessing to Americans, but to the whole world.
We have lost so many freedoms that I don't know how we will ever regain them, I don't know how we will pass them to our children.
I feel like it was our turn to carry the torch and we dropped it.
It is presicely gratitude and a sense of duty to what is an incredible gift and resonsibility that makes me feel the way I do. It's not fear either. But, it is a deep sense of sadness and regret. Do we have it so good here because of our geography? It is our Constitution that has given us such great ease, such wonderful opportunity and relative peace and to the extent that we have been righteous, we have in times past been able to export those ideas to many other nations.
Instead of remembering what a sacred trust that is, we have copied something that is less, something that has failed many times, something that was invented by man and not inspired by God.
It's not about Mitt Romney either. Personality politics have little to do with it. It is the rejection of personal responsibility, the "Obamaphone" voter, the rejection of morality and the embrace of "free birth control" and "free abortion" over the larger and more foundational issue of religious liberty. It is the idea that we cannot be our brothers keeper, but that we should continue to shirk that responsibility to a government that has done nothing but increase dependence and poverty. It is the embrace of a party who fears mother nature more than it loves God.
God is in charge, but he will not interfere with our free agency. We have made this choice as a nation and elections have consequences. We will have to be responsible for our choices.
Instead of remembering what a sacred trust that is, we have copied something that is less, something that has failed many times, something that was invented by man and not inspired by God.
It's not about Mitt Romney either. Personality politics have little to do with it. It is the rejection of personal responsibility, the "Obamaphone" voter, the rejection of morality and the embrace of "free birth control" and "free abortion" over the larger and more foundational issue of religious liberty. It is the idea that we cannot be our brothers keeper, but that we should continue to shirk that responsibility to a government that has done nothing but increase dependence and poverty. It is the embrace of a party who fears mother nature more than it loves God.
God is in charge, but he will not interfere with our free agency. We have made this choice as a nation and elections have consequences. We will have to be responsible for our choices.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Monday, October 08, 2012
Scottsdale
I simply loved painting this dress, one of my favorites...
Custom Wedding Cake Toppers
by
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Friday, September 07, 2012
Obama's America 2016
But, I learned very little about President Obama's life that I didn't know before the 2008 election. Very little. The big story of this film is that the media has sold out, not news either I know, but nothing shows it more starkly than public reaction to this film.
This film is a good test of media consumption habits. Less than 10 Corporations own 90% of the media consumed by Americans. Did you know that? Have you ever noticed how similarly stories are reported, or how local papers will just post the AP (Associated Press) story? Getting a little diversity into your media diet is not that easy, but it's important. How to do that? Hmmm. That is a question.
Below, I'm going to post 10 some things that I think are important to know about President Obama. Look through them and see how many of them have received coverage in the media you consume:
1. Rev. Jeremiah Wright Obama's Pastor for over 20 years. Have you seen these comments?
2. The History of Agenda 21 How anti-colonialist views are expressed in the Obama Presidency a. Obama on Coal, Obama on food, Obama on high gas prices, Agenda 21 & Obama's Rural Council
3. Fast & Furious, Eric Holder on guns, UN Gun Treaty
4. Obama Administration sues Arizona over Illegal Immigration
5. Obama Administration sues to take over New Mexico's water supply
6. Executive Orders of Presidents. This would make a great research project for someone. Some feel that the last few presidents have used extra-Constitutional powers in their issuing of these orders. Here is a list of all presidents. Here is a list of 137 of (I am aware of 138) Obama's Executive Orders with links to PDF.. you can also find them on the White House web site. These Executive Orders are usually not long documents, a couple of paragraphs. Read through some of them and see if you agree with where Obama is leading the country.
7. Where is the stimulus money? Did it really go to fixing crumbling infrastructure? HERE
8. Common Core Implementation. If you look at the above site again, you can browse by recipient HERE. To look at this you would suspect that teachers in your state got a fantastic raise. NO!?! No. The money didn't go to save teacher jobs or increase their pay, it went to implement a federal take over of education called Common Core. Read what you won't hear about it on the news HERE.
9. Green Energy Failures: Abound Solar is the latest, but the money wasted on "Green Technologies" is astounding. HERE is a pretty good list, it's missing some major players like Sun Power (which received a 1.2 BILLION Federal Loan Guarantee and will therefore be a bigger fiscal catastrophe than Solyndra WHEN it goes down) HERE
10. Obama's Convention beautiful convention speech spoke of fair play in the market place and yet his record more than any other president is one of picking winners and losers based on political donations and cronyism. This is not new in and American government that has granted subsidies and foreign aid and grant money to some and not others for years, but we now no longer have a free market in the United States.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. It is just the first 10 concerns off the top of my head. There is so much more, but the public is plagued by political personalities the likes of Sandra Fluke, whose mission to provide every woman with free birth control really does not affect the lives of that many people and yet for how long did that story dominate the news? It's no wonder so many Americans think politics is a trite and a pointless waste of time. But, there are grave issues being decided behind the spotlight of media frenzy that beg for the thoughtful concern of an informed and active citizenry.
Shattered Glass...
Shattered Glass: The Traditions of Mormon Same-Sex Marriage Advocates Encounter
Boyd K. Packer
Excerpt:
Once we have accepted that we are fundamentally dis-eased in that nothing in this life will ever fully complete us, we need then give up our messianic expectations and demands. Hence, we must stop expecting that somewhere, sometime, in some place, we will meet just the right person, the right situation, or the right combination of circumstances so that we can be completely happy. We will stop demanding that our spouses, families, friends, and jobs give us what only God can give us, clear-cut pure joy. . .
[In Gethsemane] we see the necessary connection between suffering and faith, the necessary connection between sweating blood in a garden and keeping our commitments and our integrity. Nobody will ever remain faithful in a marriage, a vocation, a friendship, a family, a job, or just to his or her own integrity without sometimes sweating blood in a garden.
article is long, but is well worth your time. If you start reading it though, commit to reading it all the way through.
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
Elder Maxwell: The Prohibitive Costs of a Value Free Society
"Decrease the belief in God, and you increase the numbers of those who wish to play at being God by being “society’s supervisors.” Such “supervisors” deny the existence of divine standards, but are very serious about imposing their own standards on society.
It is no accident that the lessening, or loss, of belief in certain absolute truths, such as the existence of God and the reality of immortality has occurred at the same time there has been a sharp gain in the size and power of governments in many portions of the world." Elder Neal A. Maxwell
It was difficult to choose a small portion to share here. The whole talk is truth and full of things it would be wise of us to consider this election season. Read the rest HERE...
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