Happy Thanksgiving

I have loved participating in this holiday for over 13 years now. Any excuse for a big old turkey dinner. Monday night for Family Home Evening I decided to teach the girls the history of Thanksgiving (I'm thinking it should have been Deldon to do this, but it was a good learning curve for me). I've heard the basics before so just looked it up to refresh my memory. Whilst doing so I came across this proclaimation from President Abraham Lincoln and it really touched me so I thought I'd share it.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,Secretary of State

So being out and about only lasted a day

I give up, we've been indoors for the most part of 3 weeks now. I don't know what is going on, but we are just going in circles. Samantha is the lastest victim again with her asthmatic coughing, cold, sore throat thing. This really makes us house bound as it is so severe she vomits with it, so you can't be safe to go anywhere unless she has a sick bowl in her lap, poor girl. Thought I'd post these pictures from yesterday, they had a fixation all day with baseball caps. I thought they looked so cute. At least they are easily amused, whilst I am going stir crazy. Deldon was out most of the day running a Stake Deacons Activity, so by the time he got home I was too exhausted to take myself out of the house for a while and today he's travelling to a ward conference with his calling. So here I'm sitting at home, missing church, and listening to Samantha cough approx every 4-5 seconds, waiting to catch vomit aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I guess we would never appreciate what it means to be healthy if we didn't have to experience illness, and I am at least grateful that they are usually strong, healthy little girls. We had a little scare 2 weeks ago when the midwives heard an irregular heartbeat in the baby, but the next day after some monitoring and a scan, everything looked just fine. It did make me stop and think how much I do take for granted the good health of my family and some of the potentially life threatening illnesses and diseases children and their parents have to face every day. With Thanksgiving coming up this week, the usual health of myself, Deldon, and the girls is one thing to be very thankful for.

My favourite thing to do......

Somethings will NEVER change!! Got out twice this week to eat. Monday was just a wee girly night before I pop and can't get out as easily anymore, and then last night was our Relief Society Christmas dinner......yum, yum, yum! Now Deldon and I need to try to get out together for our "last supper" before our peaceful nights of kids stucked up in bed by 7:30 grind to a halt, and we find ourselves walking the floors at night to keep the new bambino quiet and happy. Well lets rephrase that, Deldon does most of the walking the floors, whilst I sit there in a daze stuffing chocolate in my mouth, as I try to come to terms with it all.

We're finally out and about again

It has been a long two weeks of sickness in the Johnson Household, but fingers crossed we are on the mend. We were all driving each other crazy last week. Samantha kept asking "where are we going today mummy" and my response "nowhere". We finally got back to Saltos, a place we visit every Wednesday with my sister and Lukey boy. Alas my sister is sick again (I think we just keep infecting each others households, so she wasn't with us today). It's a gymnastic's club, but a few times a week they put out a bunch of toddler friendly equipment and the kids have a great time running around. It's lovely and safe as everything and everywhere is padded. The funny thing is our kids spent a good part of their time standing in front of the radio dancing instead of playing like the rest of the kids, and today was no exception. No-one elses kids seem to do this, just ours???? I have video footage of the dancing, but never seem to have any luck uploading videos?????? I've tried on a number of different occasions but it just wigs out, so I guess it's just photos again.

Music Tag

I was tagged by Shelly to do this music tag. So I tried soooo hard to get every song to match a letter of the Alphabet from music on my computer. I think I managed every letter except three, even if I did have to put down some songs that are from Deldon's old cd's he put on here that had as a teenager lol.

A- A beautiful Mess, Diamond Rio

B- Big girl, Mika

C- Chasing cars, Snow Patrol

D- Dirt road, Sawyer Brown

E- Every little thing she does, Lonestar

F- Fix you, Cold play

G- Godly Sorrow, Book of Mormon Soundtrack

H-Hero, Mariah Carey

I- I'm already there, Lonestar

J- Jesus take the Wheel, Carrie Underwood

K- Killing me softly, The Fugees

L-Love remains, Colin Raye

M- Maneater, Nelly Furtado

N-Not that different, Colin Raye

O- One more heartache, Blackhawk

P- Praise to the man, Janice Kapp Perry

Q- Queen of my double wide trailer, Sammy Kershaw

R- Rainbow Ride, The Charles Daniel Band

S- She's my kinda Rain, Tim McGraw

T- The reason, Hoobastank

U- Umbrella, Rihanna

V- (I am, Sara Bethany Ham)

W-What colour is the wind, Charlie Landsbrough

X-(Angels, Robbie Williams)

Y-You're beautiful, James Blunt

Z-(To where you are, Josh Groban)

Happy Birthday Feds

A few of us went out to a Japanese restaurant in Belfast last night to celebrate a friend's "first birthday after she nearly died." Those are her words, not mine (she is a nurse and knew things were not good). She had a traumatic birthing experience, which ended with her being rushed into surgery immediately after she gave birth to her first baby. It was a fun night, with good company and great food. Unfortunately Deldon wasn't able to come with us as he had a youth activity to run. We have loved Feds being in our ward, she is from the Philippines and makes the best food ever. She is always encouraging us to get to together as girls for all sorts of occasions with mountains of food. She is my ward missionary companion, and is so good at phoning me every week to try to get out and do our calling. I've been so used to always doing the pushing to get things done, so it has been a breath of fresh air to have someone on my tail making sure I'm on the ball...... thank you Feds and hope you had a great night.

Church Responds to Same-Sex marriage votes

Since Proposition 8 was placed on the ballot in June of this year, the citizens of California have considered the arguments for and against same-sex marriage. After extensive debate between those of different persuasions, voters have chosen to amend the California State Constitution to state that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Voters in Arizona and Florida took the same course and amended their constitutions to establish that marriage will continue to be between a man and a woman.
Such an emotionally charged issue concerning the most personal and cherished aspects of life — family, identity, intimacy and equality — stirs fervent and deep feelings.
Most likely, the election results for these constitutional amendments will not mean an end to the debate over same-sex marriage in this country.
We hope that now and in the future all parties involved in this issue will be well informed and act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility toward those with a different position. No one on any side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.
It is important to understand that this issue for the Church has always been about the sacred and divine institution of marriage — a union between a man and a woman.
Allegations of bigotry or persecution made against the Church were and are simply wrong. The Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage neither constitutes nor condones any kind of hostility toward gays and lesbians. Even more, the Church does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights, or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches.
Some, however, have mistakenly asserted that churches should not ever be involved in politics when moral issues are involved. In fact, churches and religious organizations are well within their constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society. While the Church does not endorse candidates or platforms, it does reserve the right to speak out on important issues.
Before it accepted the invitation to join broad-based coalitions for the amendments, the Church knew that some of its members would choose not to support its position. Voting choices by Latter-day Saints, like all other people, are influenced by their own unique experiences and circumstances. As we move forward from the election, Church members need to be understanding and accepting of each other and work together for a better society.
Even though the democratic process can be demanding and difficult, Latter-day Saints are profoundly grateful for and respect the ideals of a true democracy.
The Church expresses deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the many Latter-day Saints and others who supported the coalitions in efforts regarding these amendments.

LDS Church responds to "Home Invasion" ad

Today is the day!!

This is part of an email I recieved from my Sister-in-law this morning:

Please PRAY for California voters to vote YES on Prop 8! It is very heated here and tensions are high. The Prop 8 race is so close.

I just saw the most horrible commercial on YouTube that is scheduled to air on TV tomorrow unless efforts to stop it are successful. It shows mormon missionaries committing a home invasion on a lesbian couple to confiscate their wedding rings and marriage license. Talk about lies and intolerance!! They accuse Yes on 8 of being intolerant, yet they are the one demonstrating flat out lies and intolerance left and right.

This was written by my sister-in-law on a blog she started, thought I'd share since today is the day this hotly contested issue will be voted on. To me tolerance is about still having love and respect towards the people who have same gender attraction, but it does not involve condoning or accepting the sin of homosexuality by way of marriage.


Marriage is Between a Man and a Woman -- NOT Party A and Party B, Whatever Gender They May Be - Vote YES on Prop 8
Written by Staci J. Johnson October 2008

What is the definition of marriage? According to the Webster’s New World dictionary (1975) that I’ve had in my home since childhood, marriage is “1. the state of being married; relation between husband and wife.” According to the Merriam - Webster Online dictionary (2008), marriage is “1. The state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law,” but there is a new definition too: “2. The state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage .”

Why the additional definition? In the State of CA the change in definition came when our CA Supreme Court voted 4-3 and overturned Prop.22, passed by a majority of CA voters in 2000 which states, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” The people spoke, the courts ignored them. In Connecticut, gay marriage just became legal this month as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, despite their civil union laws, and the fact that their state legislature voted against same sex marriage. Both state courts cited equal protection under their state constitutions. Somehow I don’t think same sex marriage is what the founding fathers of either of these two states had in mind when their state constitutions were written. In Massachusetts, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage despite their marriage laws that specifically forbid it. I find it disturbing that the judicial branch is legislating from the bench.

What about the rights of gay couples, you may ask. Under a Domestic Partnership, same-sex couples are granted all the rights and responsibilities that the state of California extends to married couples (see California Family Code section 297.5). The only difference is the name. Marriage and domestic partnerships both involve committed couples, but the nature of the relationship is inherently different. Marriage, by traditional, long-standing definition, has couples of opposite sexes, domestic partnerships have couples of the same sex. Even since the Supreme Court granted gays the right to wed, we hear the terms traditional marriage and same-sex marriage to differentiate between the two. Why? Because they are different, plain and simple. As a comparison, diesel and gasoline are both fuels to run engines, but you certainly can’t interchange them.

Is it only a dictionary entry that will change with the changing definition of marriage? No. Many things will change. For starters, the education of our children will change and parents rights will
be trampled. In the state of Massachusetts, under the guise of “diversity” education, an illustrated story book titled “King and King” is shared with second graders. It is a book about a prince who married another prince and it includes an illustrated scene of the two men kissing. Regarding this issue, the ACLU has stated, “Specifically, the parents in this case do not have a constitutional right to override the professional pedagogical judgment of the school with respect to the inclusion within the curriculum of the age-appropriate children’s book … King and King.” In Massachusetts parents do not have the option to opt their children out of such lessons. They have tried, and failed.

The California Education Code requires that health education classes instruct children about marriage (section 51890). Thus, with a changed definition of marriage, young children will be taught about same-sex marriage. It won’t only be taught formally during “sex education,” which parent’s currently have the right to opt their children out of, but I believe it will be quietly slipped into the everyday curriculum as “diversity” education. “Diversity” education does not require parental notification or consent. So when parents who object to such teaching ask for their children to opt out, the request will be denied.

You might be thinking, we are not Massachusetts, it will be different here. Not so. Many of the major donors to the No on 8 campaign are those groups that are fighting so hard to teach gay marriage in the Massachusetts schools and to stop attempts of parents to opt their children out of it. In addition, the California Teachers Association has contributed at least $1 million to the No on 8 campaign. Further evidence that our children’s education will be affected if Prop. 8 fails.

Obviously same-gender relationships exist in our world, but it is a parent’s responsibility, not the school’s responsibility, to teach our children about such relationships when the children are ready. What about the teachers who object to teaching such material based on their religious or moral beliefs? Will they be fired if they refuse to teach such material? Based on the history of many other lawsuits, I would dare to say it could and, most likely, will happen.

Another change is that we will see increased lawsuits in our courts, such as the Roseville couple that filed suit to be acknowledged as bride and groom, rather than Party A and Party B on their marriage license. Their license was deemed invalid by the State because they wrote Bride and Groom next to Party A and Party B. They were notified by the state, after their wedding, that alterations on forms are not allowed, and that their marriage was not valid. Due to their suit, they have been acknowledged as a married couple, and the forms have now been changed to give the option to check Bride and Groom, or gender can be left off entirely. Seems ironic to me that gender be optional on a Marriage License and that a man and a woman had to sue to be acknowledged as bride and groom.

Religious Freedoms are at jeopardy if Prop 8 fails. Religions could be accused of discrimination or hate speech if they teach that same sex relations are immoral. They could be forced to perform same sex marriages or lose their tax exempt status. Religious adoption agencies could be forced to place children with same sex couples. This country was founded on the basis of religious freedom, yet we are seeing our government slowly creep in and override our religious freedoms. For examples of lawsuits that have already hit the courts and are limiting people‘s religious freedoms, please see “When Gay Rights and Religious Liberties Clash” by Barbara Bradley Hagerty at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91486191.

Marriage has been between a man and a woman since the world began. Once we start re-defining it, where does it end? How will it be re-defined next? The possibilities are endless. Let’s STOP re-defining words. Marriage is between a man and a woman, NOT Party A and Party B, whatever gender they may be. Vote YES on PROP 8.

"I'm blooming" as they say

So I've hit the average recommended weight gain in pregnancy and I still have 6 weeks to go .....oops!! The photos are to show you just what excessive chocolate mixed with pregnancy does to ones body. I was at little Isaac Lowry's baby blessing lunch after church today, where veryone was reminding me it was okay to eat for 2. Problem is I eat for two when I'm not pregnant, when I'm in this state I eat for about 4!! I sat in one room to eat my first plate load and then moved to another room to eat the 2nd big plate load, so people didn't see just how much I was actually packing away, how sad am I? Then when it came to the desserts I just talked about getting stuff for my kids, when really it was all for me. At least I can just blame it on pregnancy for now, it's in 6 weeks when baby arrive and oopps I still look the same size after giving birth. Did I mention last week my nephew asked me if my tummy was getting big from eating too much junk food? Before I had a chance to respond, my neice quickly reminded him that "duhh it's the baby." Samantha has been telling me that when the baby comes out my tummy is going to get smaller, and smaller, and smaller. I can just see the look on her face when I arrive home still looking fairly pregnant for a while, she'll be thinking they've left another baby in there!!!