Dear friends and family,
We love the Christmas season and the opportunity to receive and share photos and letters with loving friends and remember our Savior. This year, we turned the letter writing over to, ME! Raquel.
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December 20, 2009
Roasted Maple NutsThis recipe has been my favorite holiday treat for years. I can eat it, still feel good, and the healthy sugar only makes it taste better. December 10, 2009
Swine Flu Vaccine: Get Informed Before You VaccinateRead Up Before You “Go With The Flow” to get vaccinated I have not felt comfortable with the Swine Flu Vaccine since the beginning of the swine flu pandemic. It seems that the government has seriously overestimated the scope of the problem. Though the swine flu spreads fast and has circulated worldwide (making it a true pandemic), it has proven less dangerous than than seasonal flu. Read more… December 6, 2009
Why We Switched to a Self Directed IRAMike had to make a decision. He finally got to the point where he didn’t want his retirement savings going to support Wall Street banking. After moving to Cedar City and discovering George Wythe College, Mike took a class in political economy. He started reading classics on economics such as Economic Harmonies written in the 1850’s by French economist Fredrick Bastiat and Wealth of Nations written in 1776 by Scottish philosopher Adam Smith. His paradigm was totally altered, and he began thinking the difference between wealth and prosperity: wealth is accumulated and concentrates, whereas prosperity is used and spreads. I pondered this too, as he shared all his thoughts with me. Mike was stewing at last year’s bailouts of wall street CEOs and big business at the tax payers’ expense. He even wrote a post about it. We had many discussions about different models of business. We came to the understanding that when profit is the only goal of a company- usually any means, fair or foul will be used to accomplish that end. Business is almost always end driven. Bailout Spoof, starring our 3 youngest, Joel, Lily and Seth. I couldn’t resist sharing this while we’re on the topic. We’ve laughed over it so many times! (There’s a tiny iffy part, so don’t watch if you’re easily offended.)December 6, 2009
The Joke’s on You DocThere’s a doctor that works with Mike in the ER, I won’t name any names, but I hear he’s a bit of a jokester; I’ll call him Doc #1. And there’s another doc that’s more serious, level-headed and conservative (he would never break the rules)-I’ll call him Doc #2.
One day the hospital was repaving the cement of the entrance to the ER. The job was finished, but the cement was still wet. Mike was working, and Doc #1 suggests they go out and etch their names into the soft concrete. Mike asked him if he was crazy. Doc #1 continued to describe how fun it would be, trying to persuade Mike to join him, but to no avail. A few days later, someone showed Mike a photo of the concrete. It ended up, Doc #1 had written the name of Doc #2 with the year 2009. Doc #2 was fairly concerned when he heard that his name was etched in the concrete. He vehemently denied doing the dirty deed. What Doc #1 didn’t realize was there was a video surveillance camera at the entrance. It had recorded the whole act. Some people started joshing Doc #1, telling him he was going to have to pay $1500 to get the patch of concrete repaved. Someone got a hospital administrator to write him a letter telling him he was going to be required to pay. Some people even got mad at the administrator, thinking he was going overboard… Doc #1 finally figured out it was a big joke on him. Moral of the story: Make sure the cameras are turned off when you’re going to play practical jokes, especially if you blame your actions on someone else (or maybe don’t do the deed in the first place–you may save yourself some grief). December 3, 2009
The Kid Who Wanted to be DeafThis made me sad and angry when Mike told me about this case. A boy was brought in by his parents because he had stuck corn kernels in his ears and they couldn’t get them out. Mike was able to remove them and afterward asked the boy why he had put them there in the first place. His response was, “There were movies on at my house, and I didn’t want to hear the bad things.” I seriously want to cry for children that feel this way. Moral of the story: Don’t allow our precious, innocent children to view things that are scary or inappropriate. Even if we are desensitized to intense media, we should still protect the purity and happiness of our little ones. December 2, 2009
The Toddler Who Was HighOne time Mike had a concerned, young mother bring her toddler who couldn’t walk, into the ER. The child appeared intoxicated, acting overly relaxed and woozy. The mother had no idea why. Mike ran some tests. They came back positive for marijuana. And it wasn’t the level that a person might have from just breathing second-hand smoke. The tests showed a high amount, more than if the child had smoked it herself. Mike told the mom and asked her how it could be so. She denied giving any to her daughter or smoking around her. She thought about it for a minute, and then explained that they lived in an apartment complex. It had a small park where she had taken her daughter to play that day. Occasionally her daughter would put cigarette butts in her mouth, and that day she had. Mike felt that she was telling the truth. They came to the conclusion that the child had chewed on a joint long enough to ingest some of it. Moral of the Story: Kids will put anything in their mouths. Be vigilant with young children in places that have lots of cigarette butts (or don’t take them there in the first place). |
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