Courtesy of Australia

In light of the upcoming election, I thought I'd get a little political. I must admit that I'm not exactly thrilled about either candidate...I don't feel like we are being given much of a choice. But I can say that I'm definitely not for a candidate that keeps chanting "Change, change". True, we are not a perfect nation and there are things that need some work but "change"? When I think of the word change, I envision "different". Some tweaks and small changes, yes but are we really so bad that we need change as our motto...as our creed? When I hear the words, "We need to change everything about our economy", I get a little worried. What exactly does that mean? What kind of changes are we talking about? All I hear is change but nothing about what exactly we are going to change to. The vagueness of the word "change" really scares me. You have to remember, I got my degree in history and I've studied too much of it to know that when leaders start chanting change, it's usually not a good thing. Maybe we could go with the word "Improve".
I'm also a patriot and although I know that we are not a perfect nation, boy, do we do a lot right. We are always there, helping those in need throughout the world. Have mistakes been made? Yes, but the ideal that we try to uphold is right and true. I love the United States of America and I lean towards a candidate who I feel loves this country too, who has served this country, who was willing to give his life for this country.
I've included these political cartoons that come from Australia. The Aussies can see it...why can't more Americans?






This one is my favorite!

Another Tooth Gone

Savannah has finally lost another tooth - her third - and she pulled this one out by herself.

The tooth fairy of course paid a visit and Savannah really made out well. (I think the tooth fairy didn't have anything smaller than a $5...isn't Savannah lucky.)

No Pictures of Mommy

I have had several comments and requests by phone to post a picture of me in my pirate gear at Xander's birthday party. One of the reasons that I rarely post pictures of myself is because I am usually the one behind the camera taking all the pictures. Rarely does David pick up the camera to take a picture of me and when he is instructed to do so, like at Xander's party when I was busy with the games, the pictures turn out, as I put it, "sub-par". With that said, here is one of the few pictures where I can somewhat be seen decked out as a pirate.

Wonderful Weekend!

Return to Virtue. Prayer. Adversity. Living for today. Service. These were just a few of the many wonderful topics and instruction given to us this past weekend by the prophet, apostles, and church leaders. General Conference is a time that David and I eagerly look forward to and we always end the weekend feeling uplifted and spiritually fed. After talking to my sister Heidi about the talks, we both agreed that one of the major themes of this conference was that if we are living as we should, we have no reason to fear. We live in uncertain times, with so many things that are very scary: economic depression, terrorist attacks, attacks on the family, etc. It's so easy to get nervous and frightened of what tomorrow may hold. But after listening to the comforting words of conference I know that if David and I continue to try to live righteous lives and strive to live as Christ would have us live, then all will be well.

Aaaarrrggghhhh!

Friday night we had a pirate party for Xander's 4th birthday. Four of his little friends came over for an hour and half of goodies and games. The boys looked so cute in their pirate gear and even I pulled out a pirate outfit of my own...one has to get into the spirit of things.

I couldn't find Noah's pirate clothes so he went civilian but it didn't keep him from acting like a little pirate and attacking the parrot.

We sent the kids on a treasure hunt to find some golden treats...

and we played musical ships(musical chairs). The penalty for losing was walking the plank...the boys really enjoyed that.

All day Xander had talked about how "tonight is going to be so cool" and "I am so excited about tonight". I don't think he was disappointed in how the party turned out. The boys were all really well-behaved and the party was a lot of fun.


The cutest pirates ever!

The ABBY Award Winner

Savannah's teacher nominated her for recognition in her school's ABBY Behavior Program. What this means is that during the month of September, Savannah demonstrated exemplary behavior at school with regards to the ABBY expectations which are: A - Act Responsibly, B - Be Safe, B - Be Respectful, and Y - Yes, you can do this! On Wednesday her school had a short celebration to recognize the ABBY award winners. I was able to attend to see Savannah receive her certificate and her special ABBY pin. David and I couldn't be prouder of Savannah!

Here is Savannah with her first grade teacher, Mrs. Carpenter. Savannah really loves her.

Way to go, cute girl!

The X Man Turns 4!

Four years ago, on a brisk Friday morning, Alexander Nicholas Pierce entered the world. I delivered him via C-section in a hospital in Salt Lake and, although the road has not always been easy with our little Xander, we are so blessed to have him in our family. We lovingly refer to him as our goofy little guy and that's exactly what he is. He loves to be funny, to be a ham and make people laugh. He usually wakes the rest of the family up in the morning with his singing and his favorite songs to sing are pirate songs. His obsession is Star Wars and I can't quite convince him that we do not need to buy a new Star Wars guy every time we go to Target. Books are a favorite as well as Scooby Doo movies. His favorite colors, as of this morning, are orange and green. He loves to eat chicken and rice; he's actually a really good eater and I can't think of anything he doesn't like. One of my favorite things about Xander is his love of dressing up and not being afraid to wear his costumes anywhere! He usually has a sword, a light saber, or a gun stuck down his pants as we walk through the grocery aisles. He loves to wrestle with David though he hasn't quite learned when enough is enough. He's not playing any sports yet though he's got one heck of a kick so we think soccer will be great and as long as he learns to ice skate, I think he might have some fun with hockey. He's very sweet with younger kids, very gentle, and he loves playing with Noah and teaching him how to wield a sword. He loves to swim and knew how to do it by the time he was two. His favorite phrases are "Lock it up!" and "Whatever!". I love his hugs and his kisses which he freely gives to me. Although he was my roughest infant (and I mean ROUGH!!!!), he has definitely become my easiest child. He has his moments like the rest of them but he is such a sweet little guy and I just adore him. My little Xanderman definitely has me wrapped around his little finger!

Wednesday, October 1, Xander woke up on his 4th birthday to balloons and one new present to open. He of course got new Star Wars guys. At school he received a Happy Birthday sticker and they had a little celebration for him. For his special birthday dinner we all headed over to Freddies, or, as Xander refers to it, the Pirate Restaurant. They do have a pirate theme as well as a pirate ship playground which Xander absolutely loves, as you can well imagine. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great for his birthday so he and Savannah could only play on it for a little while before the rain and cold drove them back into the restaurant.



At home it was time for more presents. This birthday was all about Star Wars and Pirates. He also received a Batman castle which he loved...but so did Noah. Birthday boys don't actually like sharing their new toys so David eventually had to cart a screaming Noah off to his room. Poor little brothers!



Xander with all his new loot. Overall I think he had a wonderful 4th birthday. Thank you to all who called and sent gifts...it was a great celebration for the X-man.