They were pretty fun to see. It was interesting to learn about the history of mining towns in Idaho. I guess I had never 
known there was much mining there. I must have slept through state history in the 4th grade! We also visited a little ghost town called Gilmore. I went a little crazy with the camera: 
Adventure in a ghost town!
There's no such thing as ghosts?
Portrait 1. 
Ghosts in love. Hehe.
Abby and Kylie. "The Gilmore Girls." Livin' the dream.
A peek into the past.
Friday morning, we woke up bright and early to a delicious breakfast at the inn we stayed at. Then we were off for another, BIG, adventure! We went white-water rafting on the North Fork of the Salmon River. It was SO MUCH fun! We hadn't been rafting in such a long time. It made us remember one of the great things we love about Idaho: the outdoors! We wish we had pictures, but considering Landon's fall into the river and the few times that we went swimming, if we had taken our camera with us we probably wouldn't have ANY pictures of our trip! Luckily, we were able to get a few photos of the after-party.
The River of No Return. 
Landon and Kyle, our adopted cousin. 
Three of the Sanders Sisters! Check these girls out! 
The parents made friends with their guide (We weren't in their boat, so I can't remember his name).
After all of the excitment Friday, we were ready for a relaxing Saturday. We went to the Sacajawea center (Salmon is a big-time landmark on the Lewis and Clark trail), where we were able to listen to a very interesting presentation about her journey from one of the world's experts. We also went on an unexpected hike around thier outdoor learning center. Unfortunately, we did not know that it was around a mile long with pretty rough terrain. We had fun, despite our shorts, sandals, lack of sunscreen or bugspray, and fear of ticks in the trees. Stella, on the other hand, decided that she does not like hikes without a stroller...maybe someday. We got to see a few fun sites along the way.
Saturday afternoon we browsed the downtown area of Salmon, which wasn't very big, but we did find a fun antique store. That evening, we had an intense Scrabble marathon. The Sanders family is quite competitive. Landon and Kylie won the first round, and Chelsea and Kyle dominated the second (which may or may not have been because Kylie slept through most of the second round). 
As a side effect of the trip, Stella made a new friend: Kapa Jack! She followed him around and kept asking where he was when he wasn't in our car. I think they both enjoyed the attention.
Sunday morning, we got up fairly early and started our journey home. We were fortunate to be able to stop for a visit with our Burgener family Sunday afternoon. They just got back from South Dakota (Kylie was SO jealous), and we got to see pictures of their trip and they even got us some fun souvenirs: a snow globe for Kylie and a book for Landon!
It was so fun to see everyone this weekend! If only Kylie hadn't gotten sick the last day, it would have been perfect. Thanks Mom, for inviting us and helping us be able to come. Thanks Abby and Stella, for sharing gas and a very cramped car with us. Thanks Chelsea, Kyle and Ben for entertaining us. Thanks Lynnel, for providing allergy medication. We love our Sanders family!
On Thursday, Kylie cut about 15-16 inches off her hair to donate to the charity Locks of Love. 
It was a scary experience (Kylie hasn't had short hair since the 7th grade), but we love the result! It feels great to do something for someone else.
Sunday was the actual birthday. We were so tired out from the day before, that we came home from church around noon and sacked out for 2 hours after cleaning up the house a little. At 2:45, I told Landon we had to wake up. He was a little grumpy, but mostly a good sport. When Matt Shepherd, Landon's old mission companion, knocked on the door at 3 p.m., boy was Landon confused! But as more people came, he started to get the idea that this was a surprise party! Despite a small incident with the oven catching fire, the party was a rousing success with dinosaur chicken nuggets, dinosaur plates, dinosaur crepe paper, and a dark-chocolate-strawberry-cheesecake. Thanks to Abby, Stella, Chelsea, Molly, Kyle, Matt, Cory and Jenna for coming! We love our friends and family!
Landon with mission friends Cory Ingersol and Matt Shepherd (Stella is escaping to the right)
Landon with a brand-new dinosaur book from the Camberlangos. Dinomania is right!
Landon, Stella and I opening presents. Stella thought "heavy heavy hangover" was the best idea ever. She kept asking to "bop" Landon again.
Landon playing with his new Lego set.
Landon's haul. Thanks so much to the Burgeners, Grandpa & Grandma Wilkes, the Camberlangos, DiFrancescos (& Kyle) and Matt!
early on go on an adventure with me! There were mysterious clues hidden all over our house in the morning, which he had fun figuring out. The clues eventually lead us out the door and to a delcious breakfast at McDonald's. Another clue spirited its way onto our food tray and lead us to our second stop of the day: The Utah Museum of Natural History!
Landon had never been, and was pretty excited about all we saw there. He even got himself a 
private tour of the Paleontology lab, where one of the volunteers knew all of his bosses and professors and showed us a new species they are working on. It was awesome!
Apparently there is a Rodizio in Lima, Peru, and Landon has been dreaming about this place since he ate there on his mission. It was really good, and we had a lot of fun together, although we definitely ate too much!
Last night, we finished the Book of Mormon. This is the first time that we have read it all the way through together. It took us a little over a year, but we have barely missed a day of reading in this wonderful book since we got married. Tonight, we will start all over again! I'm very grateful for a wonderful and faithful husband who helps to remind me of the importance of reading and studying the scriptures. We love the time we spend together learning about the gospel, and hope to spend many more years unraveling its truths! Here are some words I would like to share from this sacred text:
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
Yes, we have a favorite niece! Stella gets to hang on to this title for as long as she remains our only niece! We have a lot of fun playing with her and babysitting when Nick and Abby go to the temple. Usually she loves Landon the most, but occasionally (when he's ownry), she likes Kylie to get her treats and to tuck her in to go "night night." Her antics are forever keeping 
us entertained. I think my favorite is still when we took her outside one day and she looked up at a passing airplane and waved, "bye-bye moon!" These are some pictures Landon took at our July 5th picnic with Kylie's family, the day before she turned 2 years old. See for yourself how loveable she is!
The day after the 4th of July, we were able to hang out with the Camberlangos and the Jacksons. 
We went to an Elis Island display in Provo and became citizens of the United States. Landon and I both passed our citizenship tests with 100%, probably thanks to Mrs. Woolf. We were more excited about the stickers than our new homeland, though.
Landon and Stella passed the time at a pretty cheesy stage show at the exhibit 
together. Stella is always having fun when her favorite uncle is 
around!
Although the boys were being party poopers, the girls stopped to gaze in awe at the Statue of Liberty as our "ship" entered the harbor...
The Burgeners and the Camberlangos...how we got 
through Elis Island with those last names intact, who knows?
This post is a long-overdue update on how we faired for the 4th of July weekend!
Unfortunately, Landon has been pretty sick the last week, so there hasn't been a lot of time for blogging.
Kylie's parents were able to come down for the 4th, so that morning, we had a lot of fun at the West Jordan parade with Mom Jackson!
Drumroll please! Kylie's parents were able to come because they can now afford the gas in their brand-new, 2009 Honda Accord! Woo hoo! It's about time Roger gets to stop driving a minivan to work!
Here we are playing with fire: sparklers, the only fireworks Kylie enjoys.
Stella has discovered that her true destiny lies with Luke Skywalker and R2-D2.
And what celebration would be complete without fireworks? We went with the Difrancescos to a neat park right between our houses to watch a pretty good show! Of course, nothing comes close to the Meleluca display in IF, but we'll take what we can get! Happy 4th everyone!
I worked a little of my magic in Photoshop and this is what I came up with!
8x10 
4x6
4x6For your viewing pleasure. Taken with a Cannon PowerShot A640 July 6, 2008.
Family: Click on the photos to enlarge, then right click and "save as" to your desktop.
Photoshopped versions will be availiable sometime next week.
My friend Jamie tagged me in a post to write a little bit about myself...so here goes!
Joys:
1- Not to be too gushy, but I certainly love being married! I love my husband so much, and every second that we are together is full of fun!
2- Phone calls with my mom and sister. I love talking to them! I am always calling one or the other on my way home from work, and we talk about anything and everything. It is so great to have a family support system.
3- Reading. I love so much to curl up with a really good book. Landon and I make weekly trips to the library, and you can always find us perusing Barnes and Noble! We are fanatics.
Fears:
1- I have an irrational fear of fire. As in, I make Landon light his own birthday candles. When I was around 10 years old, my hair caught on fire after a home-perm. I have not lit a match since.
2- The Supernatural. I am terrified of dead people, ghosts, spirits possesing people, devil worshiping, demons, haunted places, etc etc. I watched "The Sixth Sense" when it came out in theaters, and I still have occassional nightmares about it. I HATE horror movies.
3- I am always afraid that I am inadequate.
Goals:
1- To start a family. Someday, we will be able to! Right now I am loving working.
2- To take Landon back to Peru. We are saving a little each month, and we are almost half-way there!
3- To volunteer for some kind of government agency. I am thinking on the city level.
Current Obsessions:
1- LOST. Ironically, it is my roommate, Jamie (the same one who tagged me for this post), that got me into this show! Now we can't stop watching it!
2- This Blog.
3- Baby names! Even though it's a long way off, Landon and I love to talk about names that we like. We bought a baby name book at DI for 50 cents, and sometimes at night we browse through to check what our favorite names mean.
Random, Surprising Facts:
1- I have had the chicken pox twice. The second time was when I was 19 years old!
2- I am obssessed with the kid's TV show, Arthur. Anyone who knows me knows that this is not a joke. I have an extensive collection of Arthur paraphanilia, including a beadspread, huge DVD collection, lots of books, a backpack, stickers, calendar, stuffed animals, magnets, and much, much more! Maybe I will take a picture of the collection soon so you can all enjoy my madness!
3- I have met the President of the United States.
Tag, You're It! I tag Steph, Luke and Erin.
Today’s topic: same-sex marriage
As a person whose religion opposes same-sex marriage, this issue is very important to me. I by no means think that it should be the only reason you vote for your candidate, but I do think that social values should count for something. Below is what I hope is a fair comparison:
| | McCain | Obama |
| Openly supports same-sex marriage? | No | No |
| Constitutional amendment to define marriage: | Opposes | Opposes |
| State constitutional amendments to define marriage: | Supports | Supports |
| Supports civil unions? | Uncommitted | Yes |
| Voting record · S J Res 1: A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. · HR 3396: To define and protect the institution of marriage. |
|
|
If you are surprised by the close proximity of the candidate’s positions on this issue, you are not alone. I had ignorantly assumed that Obama supported same-sex marriage; I had likewise assumed that McCain did not support civil unions. I have so far found several conflicting accounts in McCain’s own words regarding his stance on civil unions – this is why he is listed as “uncommitted,” in my estimate. Obviously, you are free to draw your own conclusions.
In their own words:
“I believe civil unions should include the same legal rights that accompany a marriage license...
However, I do not support gay marriage. Marriage has religious and social connotations, and I consider marriage to be between a man and a woman. If I was President, however, I would oppose any effort to stifle a state’s ability to decide this question on its own. Whether it was a
Barack Obama
“Stephanopoulos: So you're for civil unions?
John McCain: No. I am for ability of two -- I do not believe gay marriage should be legal. But I do believe that people ought to be able to enter into contracts, exchange powers of attorney, other ways that people who have relationships can enter into.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9664453
http://pewforum.org/religion08/compare.php?Issue=Gay_Marriage
