Thanksgiving List

This article was written by Janene W. Baadsgaard and I have to post it cause I want this to be saved. This is so perfect and fitting in my life right now.

I am grateful my children demand I talk to them when I don't feel like talking, feed them when I am not hungry, and change their diapers even when I am all dressed up and ready to go somewhere special. I don't think I would discover the world outside my own needs without them.

I'm grateful my children haven't learned how to hold back their tears when they're sad, laughter when they're happy, or screams when they're frightened. They constantly remind me that emotions are for sharing.

I'm grateful my children have broken nearly everything in my home and used a crayon or ink marker on the rest. They've taught me that things aren't important, but people are.

I'm grateful my children start out small and helpless so they don't become aware of my incompetence until they're teenagers. By then, we've both grown so accustomed to each other, we somehow manage to make it through the rest of life together.

I'm grateful my children get their pants dirty, pick their noses, burp without saying "excuse me", and quarrel in public so I'll never be able to get too arrogant, proper, or judgemental of other people's chilren.

I'm grateful my children always need new shoes, piano books, perscriptions, haircuts, fieldtrip money, tution, food, toothpaste, and underware. That way, I don't have to waste my time thinking about a new sofa. Its difficult to get wealthy and think about lixuries when you have to buy toilet paper and milk by the truckload each week.

I'm grateful my children question my every command and giggle when I get angry. It's difficult to feel powerful or self-rightous with kids around to remind you of how funny you look when you are pointing you finger.

I am grateful my children insist I hug, kiss, rock, or put my arms around them often. Otherwise I think I'd forget how the sense of touch is so healing.

I'm grateful each of my children is unique when the same strange, inexperienced mother raised them. Somehow they don't seem to let me ruin them much.

And lastly, I'm grateful for the gift of children in my life. God willing, I'd like to fill the rest of my days with those interesting people who call me mom but eventually Grandma.

Family Visit

I am so behind on keeping up with things.

We had Mike's family come and stay with us for Morgan's blessing. It just so happened to be the same weekend of Halloween which was awesome! Grandma Pressley came up Thursday evening and the boys loved seeing her. We are so proud that she took the trip all by herself. We sure did miss Grandpa Pressley though.

T.J. and his family came Friday. And it was so much fun to be with them again. I can't believe how much the girls have grown. I really enjoyed talking with them and seeing what was going on in there lives. Kids really do grow up fast.

I forgot how much the boys LOVE playing with them. I don't think I had to yell at them once while they were here. Cole and Carson were so busy with the girls they didn't have time to fight with each other.

A huge perk of family visiting, besides my boys not beating on each other, was the baby was held the whole time. If I had to do something it wasn't a problem.

Here is Elaine with her boys. It was fun to see how happy she was, and Mike. She should really be proud of herself for raising two great men.

Good job Elaine!

Trunk Or Treat

Here we are at the church for trunk or treat. I am with my beautiful friends... the mouse and the crazied prom queen who are Jessica and Janie.

Here is Michael with Obama (a.k.a. Shane). Mike was lucky enough to recieve some of the wealth that was being spread around by Obama that night.

These two characters had a lot of fun. Carson was very hesitant about the scary, dressed up people at the church. He stayed by me the whole night. Cole, however, was loving life. He was a little chef and enjoyed chasing around with the kids that night.

Morgan was a little fussy. She wasn't having it. And I was a little miserable trying to hold her. I had on that nasty wig that would not stay out of my face. I might need to rethink that one next year.

Morgan was a pumkin on Halloween. We took her out for a little bit that night.

Cole wanted to be a chef. He loves the chef on the Little Mermaid and is always acting out the part where he is trying to kill the crab.

And of course Carson wanted to be a football player. It was actually a toss up between this and a soccer boy. I didn't want him to go treak or treating in shorts though, so thankfully he was happy with this one.

President Obama, What Did We Do?

I have followed this election more closely than any before and I am numb by what has transpired. Obama didn't just win, he smoked McCain! Am I surprised at this outcome? Yes and no.

I think Obama is a good, intelligent, human being that probably means well. And I love that he is black and won the election. He is an inspiration to those who think they can't or that their color in this country is a deterrent. However, these are not reasons to vote him in as President of the United States. There needs to be substance to his message, experience in his leading and transparency in his life.

To many out there fell in love with his message of "change". What change is he talking about? Obama described all these ideals with feel good messages but never told us how he was going to accomplish them. And when you get to the root of what he was talking about it came down to helping those that want handouts. I don't want to help those kinds of people. Maybe that is unchristian of me, but I want to help those who will help themselves and be thankful and grateful for what I give and not receive and ask "Is that all?"

Obama has had 170 something days in the Senate and was a community leader vs. McCain's many years in the Senate, his military history and his extensive knowledge of world events. I don't question McCain's love of country because he has worked for it all his life.

I do however question Obama's, which leads me to the transparency issue. Some judge in Hawaii has sealed Obama's birth certificate...why? If our new President wants his people to trust him he needs to let us know where he was born. (This is important because in order to be president of the United States you need to be born here.) Not to mention his ties with unseemly characters that have done harm to our country. And what blows me away the most is his membership in Reverend Wrights church. We all remember that American bashing preacher don't we? I don't think we do because look who are president is.

I am surprised that he is president for the above reasons.

Now why I am not surprised he is our president. Too many of us want to have our ears tickled with what others are going to do for us, not what we have to do for ourselves. Its like the story in the New Testament. The majority of people followed Christ to be feed, not by His Word, but with the bread he gave them. We love those that will feed us and that is not good. Why? because that's how we become enslaved. We give up so much for the "easy life". The good life is not easy nor do we want it to be when you ponder what you loose to obtain ease.

Not only do we want someone to feed us we don't do our homework. We let the media teach us what to think and rely on the source being truthful to us. We don't make our freedom a priority so we don't follow up on the things we hear. We have become complacent and lazy. I am included in this and it makes me sad. I think we need to wake up and get involved. We need to demand more from the people that represent us in congress. We need to demand more from our own selves.

So now we have President Obama to lead us for the next four years. I choose to be hopeful about whats going to come to pass but I am going to plan for the worse. I will look for the good in the man and hope he will protect us and our rights while he is in office. I do have to say I am so thankful that we know what is coming in these last days and we have a prophet on the watch tower.

My Wonderful Man

Michael is such a good man. I have known him for 9 years and have been with him for 7. (Married for 6 years, 2 months and counting.) He is the type of man that is kind to all and will do anything he can to help you if you need him to. He is one of the hardest workers I know and does little, if any, complaining. He is so easy going and is fun to be around. With this said alone I am proud of him but there is so much more to him.

Michael is a father of three and loves his kids. He shows this to them by wanting to be with them. He is interested in what they are doing and what they have to say. He helps with the discipline, which I believe you do if you love your kids. I think at times he is much better at it than I. He takes the time to explain and talk with them about how to act. The boys love their dad and look up to him. Cole is always reminding me that I don't have the "power" like daddy. I find it very cute how they look up to him and admire all he does. In their eyes he can do anything and that makes me so happy. It means so much to me that he is such a great father to our kids.

At the end of the day I am sure the last thing he wants to do when he comes home is change a dirty diaper, or bath the kids, or help me clean up the house, or even make dinner because I have some excuse for not doing it that night but he does . It amazes me how he can do all that he does and not complain and get upset. He is defiantly my better half.

I am thankful I never have to worry about whether or not he will come home at night or if he is out drinking. I am thankful he has the same values as me and we are going to raise our kids that way. When I take the time to reflect on all he does and all he does for me I just want to give him a big hug. I love my wonderful man!

Mother of Three...What Did I Do???

It is crazy to me that I have 3 kids now. My life has definitely changed. (I'm still deciding if its for the good:) I have to say that I have a new respect for mothers with more than two children or any children for that matter. Motherhood is not a walk in the park. This adjustment has been difficult but I know it will get better. Morgan is a doll and I am really enjoying her . She is 5 weeks old now.

I love babies with big flowers in their hair, especially this one.

A lot has been going on in my world. Just to give an update. My sister Cassie had her baby. They named her Bella and she is adorable. I am so happy that Morgan will have a cousin her same age. And I am so proud of Cassie she is an awesome mother and my favorite sis.

My parents have come and gone. There visit was wonderful as usual. Cole and Carson just love to have them. Grandpa Randy can get them going like no one else. They were given the story of the "belt" when he was here. I loved every minute of it. Of course mom spoils the baby by always wanting to hold her but it was a nice break for me. The boys just adore following there Grandma around where ever she goes and harassing her. It was a great visit...we miss them.

I have to say with all my hormones going array, my two boys at each other constantly and with the economy crashing like it has I have been under some fair amount of stress. So when conference came it was such a breath of fresh air for me. I have to admit I am chicken little when it comes to the economy. I don't believe in the strength of the system or our government right now. I do error on the side of pessimism towards where this great nation is headed but conference reminded me of the great plan of happiness. I found great wisdom in the stories that were shared and was inspired again of how wonderful the gospel really is. I am so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am thankful that I know even though family life can be difficult that is where we will find out greatest joy. So I have three kids now and I jokingly titled this "What did I do"... I know what I did and I pray that I can raise them up in Christ.

Mike's Hunting Trip

"Our Hunting Trip" - - - by Michael D. Pressley


Cylee has been bugging me to put in my two cents on this blog thing, so I guess I will. Instead of writing about lame quilting parties, the newest scent of diffuser we just bought, or sharing a recipe for hot chocolate, I decided to write about something that is really important...HUNTING! Saturday, Chuck Steffens, Nathan Kennison and I made our way up to beautiful Gerlach Nevada. 4000 square miles of beautiful brown dirt, and a couple mountains of sage brush. Not the most picturesque of locations, but one full of birds. When I say birds, I don't mean parakeets, cockatoos or blue jays, I mean Chuckar, Quail, Ducks, and Geese. We had a great time! We walked about 300 miles and most of it up hill. Besides the fact that we walked so much (we could have walked home and back), it was a lovely 30 degrees out, with a nice east, southeasterly wind at about 90 miles per hour. I know this may sound like barrels of fun to you, and it certainly was, but the best part was our plentiful harvest...one duck and one goose, roughly enough to feed Morgan, if she had teeth.

Because we are guys, and we fail to think of things like bringing a camera, I decided to share with all the world some of my most prized possessions. My guns. Here are three of the many that are a lot of fun. First is a Benlli 12 ga shotgun, great for hunting birds. Second is a Winchester, 1926 model 94 30 - 30, the gun that won the west. And finally, a Ruger Super Red Hawk, 44 Magnum Alaskan, in case a grizzly bear wanders into our cul da sac. In case you don't know me too well, I love guns. Not just because of how much fun they are to shoot, but because of what they represent, and that is man's ingenuity to produce something long ago to provide food for the table and protection for his family. Not to get too political, but its the right of all men to exercise his/her second amendment right to bare arms. I love the country in which we live, and want to see it prosper in the upcoming years. With the Presidential Election coming up, I think its critical that we think about our choice of whom will represent us well and have our best interests in mind. Please get out and vote in November and let your voice be heard. Joint the NRA, and have a great day!