Politically Frustrated

Oi!!  Living near DC has great benefits, like free museums.  But we also have to deal with a lot of political bull.  It's been especially difficult this year as we live in a "swing state".  I have just quit answering the phone if I don't know who it is because I'm tired of it all.  I have my opinions already and they will not be swayed by phone calls or commercials.

I just want the election to be over.  But I am also fearful.  I am afraid that we will continue to have a godless man in the White House.  A man with a silver tongue who goes to church once every four years for appearances only.  A man who would undermine the sacred relationship I have with my husband and the stability of family.  A man who would continue to sanction stopping a beating heart because it is too small to defend itself.

It has long been said, by their fruits ye shall know them.  If the past is any indication, I feel there is only one choice left.  I am proud to say that I will vote for Romney.  I was living near Salt Lake when he turned around the Olympics.  I am hoping he can do the same for our economy.  I like the idea that he will seek guidance from God in his choices.  This country was built on the support of our Father in Heaven, and can only be helped by his guidance.

Ahem, so... I'm back. Update time I suppose.  Since I last blogged, we have stopped watching the twins during the day right about the same time we became pregnant with our third baby.  I got to have restricted activity again, hormone therapy again, but the gestational diabetes was new.  After many frustrating doctor visits, Colby was born on his father's birthday.  Ironically, the little boy who's name means dark hair, is more dirty blond.  He also shares a name with a type of cheese, which he can't eat because of all his allergies.  No eggs, milk, peanuts or tree nuts for this baby.  So, no, he can't eat many things.  We call him our Vegan Carnivore.

His allergies have been one of many interesting experiences these last 19 months since he was born.  I had an infection on my toe which resulted in having the toenail completely removed.  OUCH!!!  Then a few weeks later my flipflops helped me slip on the steps weird and rip off the back of another toe.  OUCH!!!  So tetnus shots and urgent care visits later, healing began. 

That summer we took the kids on a vaction road trip around Lake Eerie.  We started in Palmyra, New York where we took the kids to the Sacred Grove and the Hill Cumorah.  Ethan and Maya decided that running straight up the hill was a good idea.  I nixed the running straight down idea.  Our next stop was Niagara Falls.  We toured the park on the American side.  Though Ethan complained about getting wet, he now talks about it fondly.  Given all the allergies in our family, we chose to stay at a Marriott in Canada, as their entire line of hotels is supposed to be smoke free rooms.  We tried several rooms, but could not find one that did not reek of smoke.  That resulted in us being up at 2 am with a little boy having asthma issues, and since he does not usually have many problems, we didn't even think to bring an inhaler.

We drove through Ontario Canada on our way to Detroit.  After driving in rude, international drivers, traffic in DC, we were pleasantly surprised at how courteous the drivers in Canada were.  We stayed with Todd's aunt in Detroit for a few days.  Then continued on to Cedar Point, OH where we met up with my mom, brother Paul and his family.  We spent two days there.  One in the roller coaster park, where we inadvertently succeeded in making Ethan motion sick.  The next day we spent in the indoor water park at our hotel.  I think that was the kids' favorite day of the trip.

We rounded off the trip with staying at Paul and Kyla's house for a couple of days.  We visited Kirtland while we were there and loved touring the grounds.  This was a nice culminating event for Todd as he had just finished teaching early morning seminary where they had studied church history.

Todd taught one more year of seminary (Old Testament).  Ethan completed his second year of partial immersion Spanish.  In the middle of that, we experimented with foods Colby could eat and even started making some oat milk from scratch.  We went through a few rounds of Norovirus, not fun.

But one of the more exciting items was that Ethan turned eight and was baptized.  Both sets of grandparents came out for that.  Then all of us, 6 adults and 3 kids, went to Disney World for a week.  I highly recommend that adult to child ratio.  We played, ate, even slept a little.  Both Ethan and Maya began pin collections, with a lot of help from both grandmothers.  Ethan loved Expedition Everest and the Rockin Roller Coaster.  Maya loved the Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain.

To finish off the update, we survived a devastating derecho and 5 days without power.  I've had lasik done on my eyes and about two months ago, my foot was on the receiving end of a frozen chicken falling out of the freezer.  Though x-rays showed no obvious breaks, the fact that I am only recently able to wear closed toed shoes without pain indicates there were a few hairline fractures.  If I don't update again soon, sorry.  Life happens.