Friends

 We love our friends! We had a lot of play dates this month. It was fun to watch P2 play with her friend, instead of just clinging to my side the whole time.

 

 

 

 

 

Chilean Day

We had our annual Chilean Day festivities! As always, we had great food and great company. It's always good to see our friends from college.

PE preparing some meat empanadas. We baked some and fried some. We used 2 lbs of hamburger, and it was perfect. The kids really enjoyed the cheese empanadas.

The kids helped me make the torta de mil hojas.

We had empanadas, completos, mote, apples, and torta de mil hojas. It was all delicious, and ended up being the perfect amount of food.

We had a total of 13 adults and 7 kids.

The kids had fun playing together

As always, it was a fun and delicious day! Thanks to all our friends who keep coming every year!

State Fair

We took the kids to the State Fair. We spent most of our money on food. $5 for a corn dog is completely ridiculous. A complete stranger ended up giving us his carnival tickets because his daughter wouldn't go on any of the rides. The first thing P1 noticed at the fair was the giant ferris wheel. While we were eating lunch, we asked him if he wanted to go ride the ferris wheel. He said yes, and started walking towards the ferris wheel. He was very eager to go! After we finished lunch, we took the kids over and they both enjoyed the ferris wheel and the carousel.

The kids didn't want to touch any of the animals. I bribed P1 with a penny to touch a goat, but P2 refused to touch anything.

Butter sculptures. 

 

August Pictures

 P1 and P2 still love to play with Legos.

Grandma bought a fun Bucky ship for the kids to play with at her house.

Opening letters from their missionary uncle. They were both excited to have their very own letter.

We took the kids up to see the cabin that PE's family has built. The kids thought it was pretty fun, and P1 didn't want to go home. We told him that we could go back another day, and so the next morning he asked if it was time to go back. Unfortunately, as we were leaving the cabin, we tore off the front bumper of the car. So we duct taped it on and drove home, and then spent the rest of the night trying to fix it. We went to O'Reilly and AutoZone multiple times trying to find the right parts. They closed at 10:30, so we finally had to call it a night. But we did eventually get the right parts and fixed it.

We had to pull out the high chair for P2 because that girl will not stay in her chair to eat! But then of course, P1 and P2 both decided that they liked high chairs, and it ceased to be a punishment.

P2 will still take naps sometimes, but this is the only way P1 will take a nap. They don't believe me when I tell them that they need to take nap, and then they pass out on the floor. But hey, it's less fighting that way!

P1 was rocking out at Grandma's house. I didn't even know he knew how to hold a guitar... 

We had a family reunion of sorts down in Sanpete county. The kids and I rode down with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids had a fun time playing with their second cousins.

Opening more mail from their missionary uncle. P2 decided she needed her own letter, so she opened up some junk mail and said it was her letter from her uncle.

 Their aunt taught them how to play a  real Pokemon game, and P1 was hooked.

My naps on the couch sometimes turn into P1's naps on the couch.

Saving The Constitution

This quote by Joseph Smith has been stuck in my mind over the last month:

“Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.” (Joseph Smith, 19 July 1840, as recorded by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray; ms. in Church Historian’s Office, Salt Lake City).

I feel like we are witnessing, at least in part, the fulfillment of that prophecy.

We have two polarizing candidates who have only further divided us as a country. And a house divided cannot stand. Our two major candidates do not appear to support our Constitution. I looked through both of their websites, and the only time I found the Constitution mentioned was with regards to the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms.

Despite the oath they must take as President to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," I believe both will drastically expand the power of the executive branch contrary to the Constitution.

Method matters. While you may agree with the causes the candidates espouse, be wary of how they will accomplish them. Is affordable health care worth the cost of our liberty? Is building a wall going to keep us safe if it destroys our Constitution in the process?

Here is Evan McMullin's stance that I strongly agree with:

"A healthy government is accountable to its people. There is too much power in Washington, centered too far away from the lives of everyday Americans. An all-powerful government centered in Washington has eroded the separation of powers in a way that is corrosive to our Republic and our Constitution. The Executive Branch now routinely creates major rules and regulations that have the force of law, adjudicates disputes, and issues fines—all on its own. Article I of the Constitution clearly states that all legislative powers belong to the people’s representatives in Congress. Power should be shifted back to the States where it is closer to the people to whom it belongs."

I don't think it is a coincidence that the campaign headquarters for Gary Johnson and Evan McMullin are here in Salt Lake City. I don't think it is a coincidence that Utah thoroughly rejected Trump and Clinton in the caucus vote. This people will save the Constitution from the brink of ruin.

Does this mean that a third party will actually win this election? Perhaps, perhaps not. I hope so and will do what I can to make that happen. But even if we don't win, somehow we will make a difference. If we take a stand, the Lord will help us save our Constitution.

Here are some more LDS quotes on the importance of defending our Constitution:

The First Presidency gave us the guideline many years ago of supporting political candidates “who are truly dedicated to the Constitution in the tradition of our Founding Fathers.” (Deseret News, November 2, 1964.)

“Now I tell you it is time the people of the United States were waking up with the understanding that if they don’t save the Constitution from the dangers that threaten it, we will have a change of government.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1950)

“We stand in danger of losing our liberties, and that once lost, only blood will bring them back; and once lost, we of this church will, in order to keep the Church going forward, have more sacrifices to make and more persecutions to endure than we have yet known.” (President J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, April 1944)

“God provided that in this land of liberty, our political allegiance shall run not to individuals (*or political parties). Under His plan our allegiance and the only allegiance we owe as citizens or denizens of the United States, runs to our inspired Constitution which God himself set up." (President J. Reuben Clark, Improvement Era, July 1940, p. 444.) *My addition