Laus Deo

Laus Deo translates to"Praise be to God" These words are inscribed on the top of the Washington Monument. They seem particularly appropriate for Thanksgiving Day. We should thank God in all things. I am especially thankful for the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ for me and for the restoration of the gospel in these latter days. I am thankful for my husband and my children and their families and my siblings. You(my family) are the reason I am a happy person and have a fulfilled life. It's nice to be alive this year as last year at this time I almost wasn't. Each day is a gift that I should try much harder not to waste.

I am richly blessed to be born in this free land and I hope and pray that we will recognize our role in keeping it free by obeying the laws of the God of the land, even Jesus Christ. I am thankful for a prophet and scriptures to help us find our way through the mists of darkness and the deceptions of the evil one. Thanksgiving the "Feast of the Harvest" is held in appreciation for daily bread. We are very blessed to not be hungry, and in fact today I feel totally stuffed. God is good to us.

Even when we have trials, He makes a way for us to bear those challenges. He protects us and guides us as long as we will listen and follow Him. I am thankful I know He loves me.

Pumpkin Log

This Thanksgiving, for the first time, I made a pumpkin log or roll. It turned out really well so I thought I'd share the recipe. I believe I got my copy from Ben and it is called Bro. Brigham's Pumpkin roll and is the same as they use at Great Harvest Bread Company.

First you need to put wax paper on a cookie sheet and then oil that paper also before pouring on the pumpkin ingredients.

Blend together:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup flour.

Pour onto the prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees. ( I actually baked mine slightly longer until a knife test came out clean.) Remove from the oven and roll the mixture leaving the wax paper on at this time. Then allow to completely cool before unrolling and putting the filling on.

Filling mixture:
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
4 teaspoons of soft butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Carefully unroll the cooled pumpkin log and spread with the filling. Then re-roll the log removing the wax paper as you roll. Wrap in foil and refrigerate or freeze until ready for use. It only takes a short time to unfreeze so we set ours out while we ate Thanksgiving dinner and it was ready when we were ready for dessert.

Not Swayed By Popular Sentiment

It is not a stunning reversal by the Mormon Church to support city laws that would prohibit discrimination against gays in housing and employment. Peter Spriggs of the Family Research Council, as quoted in the Star Bulletin, one of Hawaii's newspapers, last Thursday, claims that the Church's support is disappointing and a setback that reflects a reaction to the attacks the Church came under over Proposition 8 in California. He sees the Church as bending over backwards to exhibit tolerance toward homosexuals in some way.

The LDS church has never been discriminatory. They have and do still oppose gay marriage, not out of a stance of discrimination, but because it is contrary to the moral laws of God. Since a prophet leads the church and he and the other apostles have access to direct communication with God in directing the affairs of the worldwide Church, it is a great blessing to know without a shadow of doubting that the position of the church is the same as God would do Himself if He were here.

The new city ordinances that make it illegal to fire someone or evict them from their housing for being gay, bisexual, or trans-gender are not really related to the morality of a gay marriage and therefore it only makes sense that the church support these laws.

Now after my mild tirade on this subject I will add into this blog one of my "pet peeves". I, personally (nothing on an official church basis here) do not like to have the gay rights movement using the rainbow as their symbol. I feel the rainbow was given by God to help us remember something different; that He would not again destroy the whole earth by flood. To me it is a visible sign that He exists, that He still communicates with man, and that He makes and keeps promises. This rainbow symbol usage is a perfect example of calling or making good things evil or calling evil things good. Amber had a T-shirt with a rainbow on it that she was uncomfortable wearing because she thought it indicated to the world something about her moral preferences. That is so sad, I think.

It's New To Us

After six faithful years of service our 1998 Honda Odyssey bit the dust. The problems, we were told, would cost about $4,000 to repair and because of age and other issues the car wasn't worth that much anymore.

So we traded it in on a 2007 Hyundai Entourage. The business department of the car dealership had listed this car at a good price to draw in customers and figured they would want a different color and they would give them the regular price for that change. That worked for them for a few people but we thought the red color was O.K. and didn't warrant the $8,000 difference in price.

Some of the interesting features include 4 captains chairs and the third row seats divide so that one- third can be laid down while two-thirds stay up or vice-a- vers. The car has temperature control so that you can pick an exact temperature, like 72 degrees, for each of the driver and passenger front seat separately, as well as for the back area separately. The doors are electronic and open for you at the push of a button.

A little compass reads out the direction of the car; and miles per gallon of gas is instantly and continuously computed and averaged. The dashboard shows a car picture that each tire can light up on if the tire pressure in that one is low. There is a conversation mirror in addition to the regular mirror so that front row people can see those in the back. There is a sunglasses holder built it on the top of the driver side. There is a CD player and radio with extra controls for the volume on the steering wheel.

The gear shift looks like a standard although it is automatic. The 1,2,3 drives are shifted to the side, while regular ones are straight up and down. There are 11 cup holders in the car with four in a fold down tray between the two front seats. All three rows of windows can be opened and controled by the driver. The computer display of the miles per gallon can also show miles per trip and outside temperature.

The car has a V-6 engine while our Honda was a 4 cylinder. There are at least three twelve volt power outlets (cigarette lighters) for plugging things like little DVD players into. The car has less than 30,000 miles on it. The lights in the car operate automatically so that they are on when it is dark and go off by themselves. I'm sure there are a number of gadgets that we have not discovered yet.

Your Daddy says it is so beautiful. I think he really likes it. I hope it lasts many years as cars are expensive these days.

Halloween Pumpkins

Amber and Topaz created the pumpkin with the lite brite cat face. It is lit by a
flashing light inside that causes the lite brites to glow. I carved the little monster pumpkin, but since I am no artist, I used a pattern. They were cute enough that people came and took pictures of themselves by our pumpkins.