Hunger Banquet-UVU

My Mom and I went to the Hunger Banquet at UVU and had so much fun. I was really impressed with the whole thing!

We were all randomly split into 3 groups... Upper Class, Middle Class, and Lower Class. My mom was placed in Lower class and I was put in Middle Class. We ate according to out classes. The picture above is of what my mom was given to eat, RiCe and bEaNs :)


I was given Pizza and Soda ^ and I may have rubbed it in my moms face a little...Just kidding I totally shared :D The Upper Class people were given a three course meal but it involved Roast Beed so I was actually much happier with my pizza haha. They did get a massive, chocolate brownie...I guess I wasn't given that because the universe knew that my hips really didnt need that brownie.
This is Bill Hulterstrom, President and CEO of United Way of Utah County. He gave seriously one of the most amazing speeches on service and volunteering. A completely different approach to the methods and attitudes of giving! I'll be meeting him in a few weeks to discuss my platform. Hopefully he can give me some good feedback and help me develope a little bit better.

I Love to See the Temple

What is happening to our beloved temples? News of pretests, attacks, and 'mystery substances' are popping up all over. It breaks my heart to see this happen to our church, but I think it was expected. When the Prophet made a stand on Proposition 8, he knew what he was doing. He loves this church and wouldn't do anything to cause it extra trouble...but we have to take a stand on things we believe in. It's time that we step up and remember that we are here to share the gospel. Anyways...just thought I'd add my two cents to this whole scandal.

Here is a link to an article on the attack on the LA temple..
http://familyleader.net/Home/servlet/viewArticle;jsessionid=2BE5B36E2D9CDB3C977E79B45A3ADBB8?contentId=2316&subsite

And a link to the temporary closing of the Salt Lake Temple...
http://mormontimes.com/around_church/temples/

And on a more positive note...some support!! (forwarded to me in an Email)

Proposition 8 is now a part of the California constitution!

That is probably the best news from an otherwise difficult election for conservatives and Republicans. In very large part, we Evangelicals must thank our Mormon cousins for that fact. They, along with our Catholic brethren, were better organized than us and that provided a base from which we could ALL work together to get this job done. What more, as we have chronicled here, Mormons took the brunt of the abuse, derision, and even threats of physical harm that came with this effort.

And like us, they have given thanks to the Almighty that is ultimately in control, even if their understanding of that Almighty is a bit diffrent than ours.

I cannot help but wonder how much more thankful we ALL might be today if we had been more willing to embrace these religious cousins a few months ago - but alas, politics is always about governing today and looking forward to the next election.

Said John Mark Reynolds:

In the battle for the family, however, traditional Christians have no better friends than the Mormon faithful. It would be wrong if that support were taken for granted. We are intolerant of the false attacks on Mormon faith and family. We stand with our Mormon friends in their right to express their views on the public square. We celebrate the areas, such as family values, where we agree.

A heart felt thank you may not win points from other friends who demand one hundred percent agreement from their allies, but it is the decent and proper thing to do.

Thank you to our Mormon friends and allies!

Hard to do better than that. The "Ruth Youth" ministry proclaimed yesterday "International Mormon Appreciation Day." Very appropriate, yet still inadequate.

In addition to our thanks, Mormons deserve our protection. They have been oppressed in ways during the Prop 8 campaign that this nation has not seen since the 1960's and the civil rights movement. The rhetoric has been deplorable, but moreover. we have seen instances of vandalism, property destruction, and some leaders in the fight currently find themselves with armed protection because of the threats made against them and their families.

Our nation will not and cannot tolerate this sort of behavior - it is incumbent on all of us to stand against it, and the best way to do that is to stand between the Mormons and the forces that would perpetrate such evil.

Now I am sure the Mormons can, and probably want, to take care of themselves, but as a Christian, it is my duty to protect the innocent and free the oppressed. To turn a blind eye in this circumstance is not only ungracious, it is simply unChristian.

Make all the theological distinctions you want, but in the political arena we are yoked with the Mormons (he said borrowing some religious imagery) and it is darn well time we started acting like it.

Absolutely, positively thank the Mormons - but don't stop there. Stand up and be counted against the evil that has been perpetrated towards them in this campaign.

As Christians we can do no less.

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Dress Troubles

So the Miss Utah Pageant is in June and I'm already really stressed out. Besides the fact that I am planning some big events for the great city of American Fork and participating in as many things as possible, I also have to start thinking about the wardrobe and talent part of the pageant. I am always looking online at dresses and have found some that are gorgeous and some that are not so gorgeous haha! My trouble is that none are modest. Well, I take that back, there are modest ones but they are hideous. If anyone has suggestions on where in Utah to find some beautif ul, modest pageant gowns please let me know!

I love all three of these dresses...they are each way different but they all have something that will stand out.
HELP!

Kiyana's Halloween Costume

Kiyana was a LaDyBuG for her first Halloween :) She is so darling!

I had to get a picture of the wings...sorry its a little blurry.


She was eating the pumpkins? Haha it was really random, she just started growling and bit the pumpkins nose! Funny what babies can get away with...

Just Call Me Martha...

So this weekend I have been trying to relax and do some "me" things, and it turned out that most of those things were crafts and baking. I love to do things like that and can't wait to have my own family to do these things with!
This is my Cherry Pie...I was planning on home making the crust but ran out of time, so all I can really take credit for is the awesome lattice design on top and a few secret ingredients ;)

This is the Halloween Gingerbread House that I decorated. I was able to implement some of my cake decorating skills and it actually turned out kinda cute! haha it was so much fun to do it too!
The back view:


The front view:



These next couple things are for Becca's new babies (that should be here in a week or two but cross your fingers that they stay in longer!) I justs bought some plain white onesies and some iron on applique thingies and put them together. Too bad they wont stay cute and clean for long haha

This is also for Becca's new girls, its a little scrapbook/photo album/whatever Becca wants to use it as.

Yay for crafting!! I wish I had more time to do things like this all the time! It really made me feel like I was accomplishing, even though I was really neglecting my homework :)

The Clark Planetarium

We also stopped at the Clark Planetarium on our trip around Salt Lake. We just played around with all of the free little exhibit things and in their gift shop. They have the coolest things!
My mom and Erin found some Alien glasses. Hot!


A huge, revolving globe thing that displayed different things.


This is like a massive gumball machine. I could have watched this all day long!


This is a 3-D gumball machine that operates over your head. Also very cool.


I'm sure we've all seen something like this, the pendulum knocks over a block every 2 mins or so because it sways with the earth or something..

The Living Aquarium

Me and the fam (and Colton's friend Dalton) went and explored Salt Lake a little bit. We went to the living aquarium and saw some awesome sea creatures! The place was a little stinky, but still
pretty cool. I'll have to remember to take my kids there someday!

We touched some slimy sting rays! Its kinda scary to think about the fact that one of these seemingly peacful things killed dear old Steve Irwin. :(



I found Nemo!!


Just a bunch of cool creatures..starfish, tiny octopus thingy, coral, and eel that has cow spots, a spiky fish...



We also got to touch some other smaller little things.


A baby Seahorse!!!! CUTE!!!!!


This Lobster is over 100yrs old. Sick.


These guys were probably the coolest...they had 3 different types of jellyfish: the first ones glowed in the dark almost, the second ones are some pretty big orange ones, and the last ones are upside down ones! Weird!






Ugly fish that was seriously the side of my little sister...well almost haha


They had pumpkins and Halloween decorations in all of the aquariums. So festive!


Frogs are my favorite animal, I dont know why. They are kinda ugly. But this little guy was smiling at me so I had to get a picture.


This fish had the ugliest lips!


Colton and Dalton in the KIDS play area...