Is it just me...?

I have noticed a trend that disturbs me, and though I don't have any conspiracy theories about it, still I wonder what is going on. People used to say they "thought" something was a certain way, now they "feel" that something is a certain way. For example: "I feel like that should be the combination to the lock." "I feel like that word is spelled...." "I feel like I should have more money in my account than I do." Does this bother anyone else?
Words matter. Feelings are subjective matters of the heart, not to be confused with objective facts. If we as a society equate thinking with feeling, we're headed for trouble. In my opinion, socialism and all the government programs it spawns are based on feelings: "Oh, that poor person is having trouble with (fill in the blank). Let's lobby government to create a program for that." In other words, "I'm overflowing with compassion, but either (a) not enough to inconvenience myself to directly help the person, or (b) I don't have the thinking skills necessary to come up with a plan. So I'll just create a fuss until someone 'fixes' the problem."
But the thinking person knows that (a) you can't legislate away the laws of economics, and socialism leads to higher taxes and more government debt, which lead to the killing of jobs and an unstable currency, which lead to misery for everyone, and (b) government interventions have many unintended consequences, the worst of which in my mind is co-dependency, which cripples the soul. It takes thinking people to come up with creative ways to help their brothers which don't rely on confiscation from the giver and thus don't cause the recipients to feel, on a more or less conscious level, like thieves.
Maybe you disagree, but one thing I do know is that this country was built on the backs of great thinkers, planners, organizers, and creators -- not just "feelers" who wave their hands in the air and wonder why the world doesn't match up with their utopian visions (OWS for example). And that's all I've got to say about that.
Actually... just kidding.

The Best Things in Life are Free

Laughter - Hugs - Chatting - Goofing off - Attending the Temple - Reading "A Christmas Carol" and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" for the zillionth time - Listening to and playing lots of Christmas music together - Tickling Seth: This is what we did for the holidays. Of course, we had to spend almost $2000 to get all the kids here to DO these things, but it was totally worth it. As I drove Lindy and Nick to the airport this morning, I was reflecting on how fast the fun times fly by, and how long it may be until we're all together again (after Quinn's mission?). I suppose these things would pale after a while if that's all we did, and that life must be mostly nutritious grains and vegetables in order to keep dessert sweet.
On a humorous side note, yesterday when we walked into the portrait studio to get the above family portrait, Lindy and Nick had introduced themselves to the photographer, and then the rest of the family did, and last I came in with Seth, and she said, "Oh, and is this the grandbaby?" ARGH! That's the first time that's happened (but I'm sure it won't be the last). However, later that evening we went to the temple, and Lindy, Nick and I went into the lobby and sat down while Paul went back to the car for something. After he came back we went up to the recommend desk, and the sweet brother there said to Lindy and me, "So, are you sisters?" !!! Totally compensated for the prior question, and it made me laugh that it followed it so closely. No, I'm not a grandma yet (though I could be), and I hope that I've still got the energy to be a great mom (Joy School teacher, sports team mom, math and reading tutor, Eagle Scout harasser, drivers-ed fear-monger, etc.).

Our BIG Year

Why do we say 2011 is our big year? We've never before gained two family members in one year -- a son and a son-in-law. Or, depending on your point of view, our family shrank, as Lindy got married and Quinn graduated and went off to BYU. We also had a big year in church service, as Paul was called as a counselor in our bishopric, and Jeni served as Stake Young Women president before being released in August. And it's been a big year for Luke and Seth, as they both got very big: Luke grew almost a foot straight up (though no wider) and Seth grew from a few ounces in January to over 20 pounds -- at six months he's in the ninetieth percentile for height and weight. Adrianne has had a big year in her role as big sister to Quinn, which has meant advisor in all-things BYU.
We hope you enjoy the slide show (below), and we wish all our loved ones far and near a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
(Note: the slideshow doesn't work well with Google Chrome - hold your cursor over the bottom of the window so all the thumbnails show up and if there's a lot of blanks try IE or Firefox as your browser instead.

Obsession

Last weekend was our 23rd anniversary. Where did the time go? I've been working on photo albums, and that reminds me of where it went: fun, work, stress, laughter, grumpiness, boredom, sweetness, hilarity. But part of me can't believe it, though, that I've now been married longer than I've been NOT married.
For my gift (though he didn't see it this way) Paul said the words I'd wanted to hear: "Go ahead." The reason that was music to my ears is that we'd been pursuing an adoption option since January, which fell through in October. This soured my honey to the whole idea of adopting, which made me sad. It's been tough on Luke being "kind-of" an only child this year -- I'd wanted to get him involved in lots of things, but he didn't want that, so he's bored a lot without his Quinn. And thinking that I'd have an only child from the time Seth turns five and Luke leaves... that's a long time. I was talking to Paul about moving into a neighborhood and finding a private school or something (though the thought of not homeschooling horrifies me) so he can be around other kids more than just the few hours per week that we can do co-ops and play dates.
So I've been obsessed for over a month now with researching AGAIN all our adoption possibilities (this is the third time I've done this). And I've been emailing Paul stuff and talking to him non-stop. I attended an adoption info meeting with one agency, and have been emailing others and joined a Yahoo group about adopting from Peru (which would definitely be our first choice -- IF). In case you didn't know, it's getting SUPER hard to adopt, either domestically or internationally. If we'd made this decision a few years ago, we could have had one of the 4700 Guatemalan kids they passed out in 2007 before that came to a screeching halt. The Hague Convention has caused a dramatic fall in international adoptions -- I'm sure it's prevented some problems, but it's made the process much more complicated and time-consuming, so the reality is that more kids are sitting in orphanages who would otherwise have families. And for us it seems like every time we think we've got a good option, a door slams in our face. But we'll keep trying/thinking/researching/praying. And when I find the most promising avenue, I'll take my spouse's "Go ahead" and run with it.

Seth's new toy (check the link)

This is a direct quote from Paul Georgia: "I forgot that babies are so much fun." And we are having a great time with ours. He's the sweetest thing! And entertaining -- one should never underestimate the comedic value of small children. They're so gloriously innocent. They're so easily entertained, and thus entertain you right back. It makes me wish that there were no serious things in life, no problems, no need to earn a living, etc. I suppose that's what heaven is like. I hope it is. Like baby laughter.