Jen's first blog

I am finally getting around to learning how to blog -- much to Nathan's joy. Because all my life surrounds around Katelynn, this blog is full of pictures of her. She is now only wearing her harness at night so I was so excited to have her wear clothes she couldn't wear before. Here is a cute outfit with pants. She is learning and growing tons.

Here is Katelynn in here bouncy seat talking with Nathan.




She loves to kick and have her legs free all day long! It isn't' much fun too be put back into her harness at night. Only three more weeks with it!!



I am realizing we never showed pictures with her in her harness. I'll do that another day for all to see.

Gore's Inconvenient Truth

I laughed and then quickly went into rant mode when I read the story that USA Today released about how Gore pretty much is being a little hypocrite. Or maybe just a politician? I think it's stories like this, of a person saying what they don't mean, that has led people to distrust authority figures and make politics just one big joke.

For those of you not going to the story and reading it, here is what it says, boiled down. So Gore is going around telling everyone that we are on the verge of apocalypse and that we need to change the way we live drastically or we are in a heap of trouble. I haven't really bought into the whole "global warming" thing yet and so I think that Gore is full of garbage. Well, it seems that he was and still is.

Basically, for the man who advocates reducing consumption to preserve the environment and resources, he owns three homes. One "10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, VA. (He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.)." Kinda funny, huh? Man, if that is reducing consumption, sign me up! He also has control of a trust that owns hundreds of thousands of dollars in an oil company that has been criticized for drilling is "ecologically sensitive areas" and receives royalties of $20,000 from the Zinc mine is sits on. It is interesting to note that the company which that pays those royalties has been cited "for adding large quantities of barium, iron and zinc to the nearby Caney Fork River."

The article is summed up very well in the concluding paragraph.

"The issue here is not simply Gore's hypocrisy; it's a question of credibility. If he genuinely believes the apocalyptic vision he has put forth and calls for radical changes in the way other people live, why hasn't he made any radical change in his life? Giving up the zinc mine or one of his homes is not asking much, given that he wants the rest of us to radically change our lives."

The funny thing with this whole issue is the question "What is Gore going to do now"? If he sells everything off, he will look even more like a political creep that caters to the public. If he doesn't he will continue to look like the politial creep that he already does.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not a tree huger, but I also don't advocate chopping them all down either. I think that protecting the environment is important, but A) within reason, which means not so the cost outweighs the benefits (and no, the benefits are not infinite, ask an Economist) and B) done in a sane and reasonable manor, which sounds that same as A but I mean let's not chain ourselves to trees to get the point across or enforce conservation laws on everybody. Use incentives to get people to stop doing harmful activities and to start doing the beneficial activities. Anyways, that's my laugh and subsequent rant for the day.

Here is a commentary on the article.

There are other articles out there that have pretty much the same information as the USA Today article from NewsMax.com, SoundPolitics.com., The American Thinker, National Association of Manufacturers.

Pictures of my baby

It has been a while and it's about time that there were some more pictures up here, so here they are.
These pictures are from the baby blessing. She is a cutie. Takes after her mom.




The blessing dress was Jen's when she was blessed, so that is cool.



So Jen's brother, Mike, married a girl named Jennifer July 21st. The rest of the pictures are from Mike (my Jen's brother) and Jennifer's wedding. Diane made a bridemaid dress from the extra material of the other brides maids to make a dress for Katelynn. It was very hot on that day and slept most of the time. We took her out for a couple pictures but shaded her most of the time.


The Newport Beach Temple.

Mike's Jen and her brides-maids. The two on the right are Mike's Jen's cousins




The extra fabric also made a dress for annalisse. Diane spent a lot more time on this dress and I think both dresses were great.

Ok, so I guess I should have a picture of the Bride and Groom at some point.

Ethan and Annalisse, posing for the camera.

Anna looks really cute in this picture, but I don't think Ethan was ready for it.