I thought it would be fun to start with a moment of zen led by The Kitten. Yes, that's our bathtub.
Becca was gone in California for two weeks, mainly to spend time with Xavier and Mariah.
These kids are monkey's! Mariah will turn eight in November so Becca and I will be heading out to California again so I can baptize her. We're also looking forward to seeing family and friends during that time. I am very grateful to the Saldivars, the Segallas and my Grandma Barbara for being so great to Becca while she was away from home.
Xavier and I almost have the same haircut. He thinks I should grow out a mustache and I'm considering surprising him with one in November. The kid's Grandma Maria (Macle) Criado is a great cook. My father-in-law, who is not partial to Mexican food, LOVED her cooking when we visited her right before we moved to Utah. Becca spent the night at her house a couple of nights and Macle (pronounced MAH-clay) taught her how to make fabulous tortillas (among other things). Macle even thought to make me some delicious special tomatada enchiladas, which Becca dutifully froze and brought back to me.
We have a Box Elder tree, which means we have a million of these little Box Elder bugs! I spent a lot of time fighting them while Becca was gone.
This bottle is full of a homemade organic pesticide which is great at killing bugs inside the house. Inexplicably, it doesn't kill them well when they are outside. I experimented with different pesticides, gradually increasing in intensity, until I settled on the best one: a cheap bug spray on sale at Walmart for $2.50.
This is the end of the line to buy food at the Chic-Fil-A at the University Mall in Orem UT. I waited for over ninety minutes to get my food but I felt it was worth it. The CEO of Chic-Fil-A, a practicing Christian, was asked a question about traditional marriage in an interview with a Baptist magazine. His answer was certainly clear but definitely not bigoted or vulgar. I was appalled at how so many people, particularly politicians, immediately tried to hurt his business. That's where the issue became one of the right to free speech, at least for me. It's fine to disagree, even heatedly, but the tactics employed by the extreme supporters of gay marriage were gestapo-like. Standing in line for an hour and a half was my small way of standing up for free speech.
Our tomato bushes have become quite productive! We were worried that the cherry tomato plants were looking droopy but they've given us more tomatoes than any other plant.
Our apple tree has also given us tons of fruit. Becca has had a lot of fun baking different desserts for us and people at Church.
The big news this week is that my dad and step-mom moved to Utah. They had a blow-out and a flat on their way here. Despite the delays, nothing broke and no one got hurt.
About four people from Church showed up to help and we were very grateful to have them. One of the things that I have always loved about being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is going just about anywhere in the world and knowing that there will be complete strangers there to welcome me with open arms. We are going to love having Dad, Penny and the girls just seven minutes down the road from us.
4 comments:
Ryan,
Right on about Chick-Fil-A, bro.! Our nearest was 1 hr. away and it wasn't in the gas budget, but we were there in spirit on that Solidarity Wednesday. Bill O'Reilly actually had a GREAT Talking Points memo on that subject.
Darren el Serio
Really enjoyed the pictures with the messages with them. And thanks for sharing Teryl and Penny's new home. My best to them! Love you both. GmaB.
Sorry, Ryan, but I respectfully disagree with your comments on the Chick-Fil-A incident. No one's free speech has been denied, limited or threatened in any way. The CEO gave his opinion, other people who disagreed gave their's, or are we not allowed to disagree? Is that now the definition of limiting free speech? Yes, some boycotted. Still not a denial of free speech, it's simply disagreement. Some mayors made some stupid comments about not allowing Chick-Fil-A in their cities. Very stupid, but not reality and the CEO is still able to express his opinion. And he can continue to donate and his company continues to donate large amounts of $ to groups that actively boycott other businesses, such as JC Penney and ToysR'Us, because of their support of gay rights issues. They don't just refuse to make purchases there, they boycott these groups and others with signs that say "God Hates Fags," "You're Going to Hell," and "Eat More Chicken." Ok, so maybe the last one isn't so bad, but is this really Christian behavior? He is the no.1 donor to Exodus, a group that insists you can "pray the gay away" and contributes to anti-gay legislation not only here but in other countries as well, such as Uganda where it is now a crime to be homosexual. This is who he contributes to and by their fruits ye shall know them. He has every right to state his opinion and to continue to donate to such groups and I have every right to disagree and to refuse to contribute any $ to such organizations by buying chicken sandwiches! so we disagree and that's what free speech is all about isn't it? Somehow we need to move beyond the inflamed rhetoric and behave like the Christian nation we claim to be. Aunt Cindy
Aunt Cindy: There’s about a fifteen year span (starting in the mid nineties) when I don’t remember seeing you at almost any family activities even though we all lived in California. I’ve been glad to see you around more these past couple of years. Becca and I have both talked about how we’d like to have Kate over for dinner often once we can get a hold of her.
During Prop. 8 multiple signs got stolen off my lawn. A man in Modesto was even hospitalized for quietly handing out pro-Prop. 8 signs outside a church. Similar incidents happened all over California. Then, even though the opposition was better funded, Prop. 8 passed but things got worse for us. Leaders in the LGBT movement knew that retaliating against the Blacks and Hispanics who had actually defeated them would kill their neo-civil rights argument and so they decided to single out Mormons, even though plenty of Mormons were vocally against Prop. 8.
Mormon chapels were vandalized all over the state, including my chapel in Modesto. Church buildings were also vandalized in other states. Mobs surrounded the Oakland and LA temples and accosted the sweet, kind elderly people who volunteer their time there. What would these mobs have said and done to your parents and my grandparents if they had threatened the Fresno temple? The temples were eventually shut down for a few days. Things got so bad that SWAT teams were even called on the guard the LA temple.
People who donated money to Prop. 8 were harassed in front of their homes and sent envelopes with white powder. Some lost their jobs or left them because the businesses where they were employed were being harassed. A Christian group in San Francisco, known for supporting traditional marriage, was singing peacefully on a street and had to be escorted out by the police after being assaulted, battered, and having their lives threatened.
How is freedom of speech not at stake when people worry about donating $100 to a political movement because they might lose their job? How is it not a violation of their first amendment rights when people worry they might be attacked or harassed at church because of the way they voted? Worse still, what does it mean for America if your place of worship is vandalized because of the way someone else voted?
I sincerely used to think that the LGBT movement was about tolerance but they’ve convinced me otherwise. I don’t like people who bully the elderly; I don’t like people who bully gay high school kids either. Both sides have their share of bigots and hypocrites. The traditional family/gay marriage debate became a very secondary issue to me during Prop. 8. You say that freedom of speech isn’t at stake here but I don’t see how it is not at stake.
I was really into acting and singing in high school. So were a bunch of other Mormon kids and kids from a lot of other churches for that matter. There were also a lot of openly gay people in the same programs – directors and teenage performers like me. You know how many problems we all had? Zero. I don’t remember us having any problems getting along at all. People from one of the poorest, most crime-infested parts of not just California but the whole USA came together and put on some of the best youth performances in the state. To me, that’s what tolerance is. We don’t have to agree. We don’t need to demand that people with differing views and life-styles validate our own. We can respect each other as human beings, come together, and make beautiful music.
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