Meet Robert...

Robert is a fun part of our Halloween decor and great for practical jokes around the house. You never know where you are going to find him. He has surprised me in the laundry room, in the food storage room, behind a door. Oh the shrieks and the rapid heart beats! (FYI- Rose is the one who named our ghoul!)

Since Renee was in such a hurry to get the Halloween decorations out (I think she was figuring that Halloween would come sooner)...here are some other pictures of my Halloween knick-knacks:

Cause for concern

I just spent a few minutes reading some of the comments on ksl.com regarding the collapse of Washington Mutual. I wonder if Americans really understand the extent of the financial disaster we could be facing. To bail out or not to bail out...that is the question, but do we understand the implications of both sides of the issue? Yes, the bail out is a scary proposition...it's an unprecedented move and the outcome is questionable. More concerning to me is that our government doesn't seem to blink at spending money we don't have. The fact that America is so far in debt ($9.4 trillion as of June 26, 2008) doesn't seem to be a concious thought to most people. What happens when those foreign countries that buy up our bonds decide that they will no longer do so, or worse yet, decide that they'd like to cash in? At what point will our government say that we've accumulated enough debt and become concerned with trying to repay it?

I'm not a financial wizard, I'm not a political analyst...just a concerned citizen wondering what's best for America's future, who's willing to make those difficult decisions, and how soon will they act.

HELP!!

Okay all of you young women leaders and mothers- I need activity ideas! What have you done in the past that has been successful? Mothers, what types of things would you like for your daughters to learn? I appreciate your input!!!!

I've Missed You!

I know, I know it's been a long time in between posts, but I have a really good excuse...Bryan downloaded some fancy-schmancy version of McAfee and from the second I hit "done" my computer refuses to connect to the internet. Bryan very thoughtfully brought home a laptop from work so that I could get caught up on all the blogging that has piled up :). Of course, not having the internet has been hugely frustrating...but it's been amazing to me how many projects I've managed to get done without its siren call! My laundry is all caught up...including sheets, blankets, rugs, mattress pads! My piano file is nearly done! The crown molding for my bedroom is completed and new blinds have (finally) been hung. The food storage room is cleaned, inventoried, updated in the computer and a shopping list compiled. All of the recipes I've jotted down on scraps have been transferred to index cards and filed. I've spent time with my sisters and my newest nephew and even found the time to sit and watch Pride and Prejudice! Do I really spend that much time "surfing"? Wow!

Hopefully, we'll get the computer repaired this week so that I can get back to my regularly scheduled lazy, internet-addictive ways!