1st Annual Burgener Family Reunion

Last weekend, we had the fun opportunity of heading home to Idaho for a fun family reunion with the Burgener clan! We had a blast, but both Landon and Kylie were more than worn out by the time we got home. We had forgotten how much energy Spencer has! :)

We spent the first day just relaxing and loving it, with all of the siblings (minus Dallin, who we missed, but we're so glad he's in Slovakia). We took the kids out for a snow cone to celebrate the perfect weather, and because Kylie hadn't had a Sno-Shack since high school. Spencer, who is seven, wasn't so sure he wanted one -- I don't think he knew about the joys of Sno-Shack. After Landon ordered a blackberry-lemon-lime-mango concoction that looked as revolting as it sounds, Spencer found out he could have whatever he wanted, and he was sold. Although, as you can tell from his face, he was still a little unsure. We took a walk along Main Street and enjoyed the memories of Rexburg, although it looks quite a bit different from the way we remember it! The boys also kept up their fun tradition of a little rough-housing on the tramp, which Erin and Kylie politely declined (note Miles' famous "fairy dance," on the right, a photo I keep threating to post on Facebook where his friends can see it):






Saturday morning we woke up very early and attended the Rexburg Temple for the first time with Kelly and Elizabeth and the Jacksons. It is such a beautiful building, and we really felt the spirit there. Thanks to Bishop Johnson for helping Kylie get inside after she left her recommend in Utah!

Also on Saturday, we drove up to Mesa Falls and enjoyed a fun hike and picnic. We enjoyed just being together. Landon and Elizabeth did a great job on the sandwiches.

We were quite tired out after our hike (and sunburned), so we hit up the movie theater for a special treat. Ladies and gentlemen, the must-see movie of the summer:

Ska-Doosh!

If anyone hasn't seen this, we highly recommend it. Completely family friendly, and everyone was laughing the whole time. It's definitely a keeper.
Sunday we had dinner with the Jacksons, and a s a special treat were able to see Kylie's cousin Ben, along with some old family friends, the Stephensons! We had a lot of fun. We were sad to leave, but happy to be home. We'll go on another adventure again soon! Thank you Burgeners, for all you did for us over the weekend, and especially for the tank of gas you so slyly gave to us. It was like Christmas early! And now we'll be able to come again soon. We love our Burgener family!

Political Corner - Taxes

Sorry this has been a long time in coming. I had forgotten that research is a little time-consuming!

Today’s topic: the Economy.

It’s on everyone’s mind. We’re all suffering from high gas and grocery prices, but what should be done about it? Below you will find a breakout of McCain and Obama’s policies on taxes, and what it means to your wallet:

Issue	McCain	Obama
Who do the tax reductions effect?	Everyone	Those who make less than $227,000/year
Who benefits the most?	Those whose annual salary is over $603K will get a $45-270K tax reduction	Those whose annual salary is less than $227k will get a $3,000-500 tax reduction
Leads to a larger deficit?	Yes; $4.5 Trillion in 10 years	Yes; $3.3 Trillion in 10 years
Specific Policies	· Keep the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in place for everyone · Double exemption for dependents · Lower corporate tax rate · Make expensing rules more generous for small businesses · Lessen the estate tax · Eliminate the Alternative Minimum tax	· Keep the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in place for everyone except those making more than roughly $250,000 · Increase the capital gains tax · Expand the earned income tax credit · Give those making less than $150,000 a $500 tax credit per person on the first $8,100 · Give those making under $75,000 a 50% federal match on the first $1,000 of savings · Exempt seniors making less than $50,000 from income tax · Lessen the estate tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Average savings	$1,200	$160
Average income growth as a result	2%	0.3%
Spending Reforms?	Yes; cut earmarks	Yes, unspecified

So what does this mean? The average savings are more by far in the McCain column, but this is actually misleading, because the majority of the McCain tax cuts go to people who make over $200,000/year!

This might be helpful to some of you (who knows?), but for us, those tax cuts will not do us any good. Obama’s policies are better for the middle class. What this means for the overall economic picture, I don’t know. I would welcome any comments from those of you who do! I will attempt to explore this issue further in a later edition.

In their own words:

“We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don't want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.” – Barak Obama

“I am a Republican. I'm loyal to the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. And I believe that my party, in some ways, has strayed from those principles, particularly on the issue of fiscal discipline.” – John McCain

Sources:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_mccain.html

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/11/news/economy/candidates_taxproposals_tpc/?postversion=2008061113

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/barack_obama.html

Fun with hiking

We've been trying to be a lot more active since the weather has gotten warmer. Landon does a lot of walking at school, but unfortunately, Kylie sits at a desk all day and gets fat.:) So far, we have succeeded only in going on a couple of hikes, and going swimming as often as possible. Two weeks ago, we hiked to Timpanogas Cave with my cousins. Neither of us had ever been there, but it was awesome! Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of the cave. You'll just have to take our word for it. There will be camping in our future, along with hopefully more hikes. Thanks, Chelsea, for inviting us! And thanks to Molly for the pictures.

Politcal Corner - for everyone who thought we left that in high school

Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. - Mark Twain, Notebook 1904

Throughout this primary season, the country has been on a roller coaster of ideals. One side calling for "change," and the other for "experience," with both sides determined to lynch our current leader altogether.
I am sad to say that during the course of this election, I have not been thoughtful or deliberate. I was quick to jump on the Romney wagon because he was a Mormon. I was then just as quick to jump on the Obama wagon because he was not Hillary.
I want to stop and take a good look at the issues to decide for myself where I really stand. Neither Landon or I is registered with either party, so please do not take any posts as endorsements of a party or candidate. This is a struggle for the truth. If any subsequent political post is untruthful, please leave a comment so that I may verify and correct my information. I look forward to expanding my knowledge, and hope it is semi-useful to the few of you who read this.

My Sister and Me!

We are so lucky to be living in Utah, so close to Kylie's older sister and really good friend, Abby. We love to hang out with her, her husband Nick, and of course our niece, Stella! Some of our recent activities have included a trip to a Bees Game and the zoo. We love you, Camberlangos!

Stella was really into the "ball" at the Bees game, but she dragged herself away long enough to let us get a photo!


Landon has never been so excited in his life, can you tell?


Landon and Kylie, on another adventure!


Stella had a new hat...


She was having a hard time keep it on, though!


Stella's not too sure about the alligator sneaking up on her...


Landon found some friends!



Landon was showing me how a rino skull looks distinctly like a cyclops skull. It's easy to see how ancient people came up with some of their myths. Very interesting, too.


I'm not really sure what Landon was hoping to accomplish here. He just looks grumpy.


Kylie and Abby on a train ride!


Stella got really excited about the fountain. I think it was her favorite exhibit. Notice her soaking wet clothes. :)


Hogle Zoo has recently introduced a new species! The Stella-Lanomonster!

A Whale of a Snail!

The other day, I opened the door to our apartment on our way out to somewhere. Waiting for us on the doorstep was...a snail! It seems like an insignificant thing, but I have never seen a snail like this before, and I was really excited! The only snails I've seen are tiny and don't have the awesome antennae. It looked just like a cartoon to me! I was giggling, and Landon was trying to convince me to let him put salt on it (fat chance, honey). We rescued him, and put him back into the edge of the bushes where he would have a better change at surviving। It is so interesting to experience this fascinating world we live in!

Marriage is the triumph of imagination over intelligence

Another year has passed us by. Only this year, life felt like a miracle because we had each other. Happy first anniversary to us! (They even made a sign for us - see photo to your right - very thoughtful of them, really)

Although we couldn't believe it had been a whole year since we'd been married, we decided to celebrate by taking some time off, packing up and heading to Park City for the weekend!

Courtesy of my parents, we were able to stay in a fabulous condo (which was bigger than our apartment, although that's not saying a lot:)) for fairly cheap, which enabled us to stay for 3 nights. It was a great way to get away from our responsibilities and spend some much-needed quality time together.

Friday, Landon brought me some beautiful roses on our way out the door. It was so sweet of him! We had agreed not to do presents or anything, that our trip was going to be our gift to each other, but he did it anyway! He has obviously figured me out - I ALWAYS want presents. Hehe.

Saturday, we slept late and then took a tour of historic Main Street. For anyone who hasn't been, we highly recommend it.
Saturday also marked the midpoint of our epic Star Wars marathon - episodes 1-3 in a single weekend.

Sunday, we tried to find the Church without any luck, then we headed up to the Olympic Park. I think I had a lot more fun than Landon did, but he liked it, too. My mom took me to the Salt Lake Winter Games in 2002 for my 16th birthday, so I was re-living the dream.

This is me next to Timothy Goeble's skating costume (He was my favorite because I thought he looked like a Newsie). He was the first skater to land a quad jump in competition. Very cool.
We also did some other fun things while there: including carrying the Olympic torch, watching the Australian freestyle ski team practice in a swimming pool, and hiking up the bobsled track to watch some tourists take a few runs:

The rest of our time in Park City was spent watching movies, relaxing, building a 1,000 piece puzzle, and eating way too much junk food. Basically, we had a blast! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Monday afternoon, we headed home. Landon was a good sport and got all dressed up with me for dinner. We went to a place I've been really wanting to try: The Cheescake Factory. I am still eating the leftovers for lunch, they gave us so much food! We really enjoyed ourselves, and will probably be going back.
All in all, it was a fantastic anniversary weekend, to match an amazing year of marriage and memories. As we were talking Monday night, we realized that the worst thing that has happened to us in a year of marriage (including graduation, moving states, new jobs, a new school and the whole bit), was the breakdown of our little Chevy Cavalier. We feel so blessed that in all of our adventures through this first year, something so small and trivial as that has been our biggest obstacle. We truly are so lucky. Lucky to have found each other.