My friend Kevin posted this on his blog and I wanted to pass it along for more people to see...:)

"...by their fruits ye shall; know them.."
To any who may doubt the Prophetic Authority of the Lord's Church. Listen to the prophecy given by the Lord's servant Gordon Hinckley in 2001:


Occasions of this kind pull us up sharply to a realization that life is fragile, peace is fragile, civilization itself is fragile. The economy is particularly vulnerable. We have been counseled again and again concerning self-reliance, concerning debt, concerning thrift. So many of our people are heavily in debt for things that are not entirely necessary. When I was a young man, my father counseled me to build a modest home, sufficient for the needs of my family, and make it beautiful and attractive and pleasant and secure. He counseled me to pay off the mortgage as quickly as I could so that, come what may, there would be a roof over the heads of my wife and children. I was reared on that kind of doctrine. I urge you as members of this Church to get free of debt where possible and to have a little laid aside against a rainy day.

We cannot provide against every contingency. But we can provide against many contingencies. Let the present situation remind us that this we should do.

As we have been continuously counseled for more than 60 years, let us have some food set aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need. But let us not panic nor go to extremes. Let us be prudent in every respect. And, above all, my brothers and sisters, let us move forward with faith in the Living God and His Beloved Son.

Great are the promises concerning this land of America. We are told unequivocally that it “is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). This is the crux of the entire matter—obedience to the commandments of God.

The Constitution under which we live, and which has not only blessed us but has become a model for other constitutions, is our God-inspired national safeguard ensuring freedom and liberty, justice and equality before the law.

I do not know what the future holds. I do not wish to sound negative, but I wish to remind you of the warnings of scripture and the teachings of the prophets which we have had constantly before us.

I cannot forget the great lesson of Pharaoh’s dream of the fat and lean kine and of the full and withered stalks of corn.

I cannot dismiss from my mind the grim warnings of the Lord as set forth in the 24th chapter of Matthew.

I am familiar, as are you, with the declarations of modern revelation that the time will come when the earth will be cleansed and there will be indescribable distress, with weeping and mourning and lamentation (see D&C 112:24).

Now, I do not wish to be an alarmist. I do not wish to be a prophet of doom. I am optimistic. I do not believe the time is here when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us. I earnestly pray that it may not. There is so much of the Lord’s work yet to be done. We, and our children after us, must do it.

I can assure you that we who are responsible for the management of the affairs of the Church will be prudent and careful as we have tried to be in the past. The tithes of the Church are sacred. They are appropriated in the manner set forth by the Lord Himself. We have become a very large and complex organization. We carry on many extensive and costly programs. But I can assure you that we will not exceed our income. We will not place the Church in debt. We will tailor what we do to the resources that are available.

How grateful I am for the law of tithing. It is the Lord’s law of finance. It is set forth in a few words in the 119th section of the Doctrine and Covenants. It comes of His wisdom. To every man and woman, to every boy and girl, to every child in this Church who pays an honest tithing, be it large or small, I express gratitude for the faith that is in your hearts. I remind you, and those who do not pay tithing but who should, that the Lord has promised marvelous blessings (see Mal. 3:10–12). He has also promised that “he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming” (D&C 64:23).

I express appreciation to those who pay a fast offering. This costs the giver nothing other than going without two meals a month. It becomes the backbone of our welfare program, designed to assist those in distress.

Now, all of us know that war, contention, hatred, suffering of the worst kind are not new. The conflict we see today is but another expression of the conflict that began with the War in Heaven. I quote from the book of Revelation:

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

“And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ” (Rev. 12:7–10).

That must have been a terrible conflict. The forces of evil were pitted against the forces of good. The great deceiver, the son of the morning, was defeated and banished, and took with him a third of the hosts of heaven.

The book of Moses and the book of Abraham shed further light concerning this great contest. Satan would have taken from man his agency and taken unto himself all credit and honor and glory. Opposed to this was the plan of the Father which the Son said He would fulfill, under which He came to earth and gave His life to atone for the sins of mankind.

From the day of Cain to the present, the adversary has been the great mastermind of the terrible conflicts that have brought so much suffering.

Treachery and terrorism began with him. And they will continue until the Son of God returns to rule and reign with peace and righteousness among the sons and daughters of God.

Through centuries of time, men and women, so very, very many, have lived and died. Some may die in the conflict that lies ahead. To us, and we bear solemn testimony of this, death will not be the end. There is life beyond this as surely as there is life here. Through the great plan which became the very essence of the War in Heaven, men shall go on living.

Job asked, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). He replied: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

“And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

“Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25–27).

Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all of the civilized world who look to Him. He has declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.

Let us be prayerful. Let us pray for righteousness. Let us pray for the forces of good. Let us reach out to help men and women of goodwill, whatever their religious persuasion and wherever they live. Let us stand firm against evil, both at home and abroad. Let us live worthy of the blessings of heaven, reforming our lives where necessary and looking to Him, the Father of us all. He has said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us.

May the God of heaven, the Almighty, bless us, help us, as we walk our various ways in the uncertain days that lie ahead. May we look to Him with unfailing faith. May we worthily place our reliance on His Beloved Son who is our great Redeemer, whether it be in life or in death, is my prayer in His holy name, even the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
-President Gorden B. Hinckley

Tag from Kendra: Thanksgiving ABC

The picture is kinda random, I know, but...
What I am thankful for:

A-Airplanes, they carry me to loved ones or loved ones to me :)
B-Bear, My sweet baby Bear:)
C-Canned food, lets face it I couldn't live with out it
D-Dancing, its such good exercise and its fun too
E-Eggs, something my three year old will actually eat
F-Family, I love being with family
G-Grass, what would summer be without a lawn to run around on barefoot
H-Houses, My house in particular, its so wonderful to be in our own place
I-Independence, need I say more
J-Jersey's, Bear loves his, they were totally worth buying for Christmas last year
K-Kitchen, I can't imagine life without a kitchen
L-Lyon, My sweet baby boy:)
M-Miracles, they happen every day whether we acknowledge them or notice them or not
N-Nutrition, I am so thankful that I can provide this for my family
O-OB-GYN, Let's face it I don't want anyone else to deliver my baby
P-Phillip, He is my whole world
Q-Quiet-its nice to have some once in a while
R-Rose, Yes I am thankful to be myself
S-Sisters, ok brothers too but My sisters are my best friends and my brothers my buds
T-Thanksgiving, the food the family the love whats not to be thankful for
U-Uterus', Yeah where do you think babies come from
V-Victory, How could we go on if we didn't succeed once in a while
W-Water, that pure and holy nectar of life
X-X-rays, eh its good to know if you've broken a bone or not
Ok not very creative but still
Y-Ylang ylang, have you smelt this mixed with lavender it's like cologne
Z-Zofran, the miracle anti nausea drug that makes it possible for me to function

The fact that I got through this whole alphabet without pulling out my dictionary :)

Problem solved ;)

Apparently I am a little idiotic. Lol! I think the pregnancy has had a negative affect on my brain. It is not functioning as fast as it should, lol! Anyway, Wendy thank you for being intelligent and giving me proper instructions and all that. I am so happy to see you all have been commenting it is much appreciated :D

Where are your comments?

What's up people? Its easier than ever to leave comments on my blog, so why am I lacking feedback? I can see that your still coming to visit, so why won't anyone talk to me? I am starting to feel bad :( Oh well, I appreciate your visits just the same :)

Happy Birthday Phillip!

Over the weekend we celebrated Phillips Birthday. We had a lot of fun! On Saturday we woke up early and went to the SLC temple. Afterward we went to lunch and then to the exhibit that is currently at The Leonardo, Body Worlds 3. It was so amazing!

We had a ton of fun :) After the exhibit, which took three hours, we drove back down to Utah county and met Phils family at a restaurant where we all celebrated his birthday together. We then went back to our house and had ice cream and cake. It was a good day!


Phillips birthday cake, Happy birthday to you!

The tail end of the gay rights march.
This was really funny strange, we didn't know there was a huge gay rights protest going on that afternoon. So we were totally taken by surprise when there was this huge march around the block we were on. We had to cross the street as they were marching.

Phillip in front of The Leonardo
Cool




On Monday Phil surprised me with lower bowl tickets to the Utah Jazz vs. Phoenix Suns. I got a lot of great pictures and we had a lot of fun! It was really awesome to be sitting so close to the game instead of up in the nose bleed section. :) And of course, the Jazz won!

Go Jazz!


Go AK!



CAAALOWS BOOOOOZAA!!!!!
Carlos Boozer

Picture Tag from Kendra :)

"The idea is to go to your pictures and go in the fourth folder and pick the fourth picture and post it. Then, go to the six folder and get the sixth picture and post it."
-Kendra's instructions



This is a picture my Mother-in-law, LaRayne, took at Phillip's Grandma and Grandpa Graves anniversary party in may.




This picture is of the Team Dimondcutters, Phil played ball this last spring and summer and this is the picture I got of his team. You can see Phil is there in the middle with the white shorts.

Ok now I tag: Wendy, Shannon, Shayla, and Heather.

This last Week Bear started Wrestling. Yep, my boy is growing up! This is the first sport that he has been able to participate in. He is finally old enough, yay! Anyway he calls it his push up sport. I really don't know why. When we went to his first practice he saw some of the other boys wearing their wrestling clothes and immediately informed me that he needed a push-up suit. Lol!

In the picture you can see he is doing a push-up, he is so funny! I did not teach him this. I am pretty sure that he saw his Uncle Ben doing them at football practice and has been doing them ever since. Every time he does them he tells me that he is doing them how one is supposed to do them. At first I thought it was really funny because he basically was just sticking his butt up in the air and then bringing it back down again. However his form has improved as is obvious from the picture. How he came up with putting his feet up like he is, again I really don't know.

The picture there at the top is the best shot I got at his wrestling match on Thurs. Sadly its not very good. It was only his second time going and already he was thrown out there to do what he could. Amazingly he did alright. He would wrestle the kid down to the floor and then stand back up instead of pining his opponent. I don't blame him though, we have drilled it into him that when he tackles someone he is to immediately to jump back up and help the other person up. Unfortunately that is not the case in wrestling. Oh well, he learns very quickly just by watching, so I am sure he will catch on in no time.

I am just so excited that he is finally able to participate in something. It has been a long wait. He honestly was good enough a year ago to do just about any sport out there. He was hitting baseballs off a tee on his first Birthday and could shoot a basketball in a small hoop by his second. He could also hit a baseball pitched to him by about the same time. He could kick a football off a kicking tee not to mention throw it and catch it. I am so proud of both of my boys, as Lyon is following in Bears footsteps, and the best part is that I never pushed sports on either of my boys. They have a natural love for it all not to mention a natural talent to go along with it.
Now that we have officially started the sports I can tell that it is going to be really fun!

How weird is this?

Before...


After...

Oh yeah, that is the same house!
This was just the weirdest thing to see, at least for me anyway.

Halloween Pics

We had so much fun Trick-or-Treating this year! Lyon was a dragon Bear a cowboy and Aiden was Spiderman. I really wanted Phil to dress up as Batman, I thought the kids would enjoy that, but he wouldn't :( Bear asked me what I was going to be and I wasn't planning on dressing up, but at the last minute I threw on some makeup to look like bruising and two dots to be holes. So what was I? I was bitten. Yeah, I know it was lame, but it was a costume and that was good enough :) All in all, it was great to get together with my family, we had a great night!

Trick-or-Treat

Ok, so I have not yet uploaded pictures from halloween to my computer. My sister Wendy did an excellent job blogging all about it though. So if you really want to read about how it went, go see her blog. She is on my blog list as Wendy and Michael, so go check it out. :) I will post more pictures a little later when I have them. I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!