Exiting the Eye of the Storm

Another article on the upcoming destruction of the dollar.
http://www.caseyresearch.com/editorial.php?page=articles/exiting-eye-storm&ppref=CRX420ED0811C

(And once again, I'm not for buying gold, I'm for buying food storage.)

Some more of Bryce and Marianne

(I think Bryce won.)

I always like to see all the details of a bride's dress.  Here is a good view of Marianne's.  

My Mom was at the Wedding

 I forgot to mention that my mom flew into Las Vegas.  We had fun being with her.

200,000 miles

Our 15 passenger van has served us well.  It hit 200K on a trip back and forth to Washington state this summer.

Now that Wayne is a scoutmaster again, we are hoping it will go another 100,000.

Looks Like Religion is Not Allowed

I was reading an article today, and discovered that New York City Mayor Bloomberg has decided not to ask clergymen of any religion to be part of the September 11th ten year anniversary.  http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/families_of_911_victims_knocking_on_americas_door.html

This strikes me as one more vote in the long list of votes on the side of the "No Religion Allowed Here" argument.

I remember about 15 years ago, in a quilt guild meeting in Raleigh.  This was a group largely composed of women who were raised in the Christian tradition.  Someone was conducting the meeting, which included a potluck supper, and she made a flippant remark, "I feel like we should say grace before we eat, but we won't, since that's against the law."

I was shocked she said that, even in jest, because No, It Wasn't Against The Law.  If our quilt guild had a blessing on the food, the state Brown Shirts would not have come pouring in and beating us with clubs.

Yet her joking perpetuated the myth that was starting in the 1990's that you should NEVER mix religion with secular things.  "Because you would get in trouble."

People began thinking that it was against the law, and the more they think it, the more it comes true, at least in culture if not yet in legalese.

If everyone believes "religion in public" is against the law, and acts accordingly, doesn't that achieve the same  result?

Digital photo album of Bryce and Marianne's wedding

A friend of Marianne made this digital album for them.

From: Dorisanne Kamimoto You're invited to view my photo book of Marianne's wedding at Shutterfly. Enjoy! Photo Book from Dorisanne Kamimoto

Hurricane- No big deal at our house

Just in case anyone is worried about us, here in Morrisville the outer bands of Hurricane Irene were all that hit us.  We had some 35+ mph gusts of winds all day and some rain but nothing too drastic.  Seth and Janette were without power for only a couple of hours, then it came back on.

We are glad we were not in the path of the storm.

The Bellagio Casino

After we arrived in Las Vegas on Friday, we drove down the Strip in Las Vegas, but the only casino/hotel we toured was the Bellagio.  Now I have to watch "Ocean's Eleven" again to see if I can recognize anything.

The outdoor dancing water fountain show, and the lobbies and the Garden Room were beautiful (that is a ceiling of Chiluly glass), but I couldn't help but thinking of"the great and spacious building."

And, no, we didn't gamble.

Crowds, and the Hurricane is not even hitting here

I just got back from getting gas at Sam's Club, and there were lines of cars waiting to fill up.  And the grocery store was packed.

It just shows you that it would have been much worse out there if more people had thought Hurricane Irene was going to strike us.  As it is, these are just the ultra-careful people, who are stocking up "just in case".

Oh, I need to remind you to read my other blog to see all my emergency preparedness stuff.
http://gottawannaneedagettaprepared.blogspot.com/

Hannah in Vintage Clothing

This is our other new granddaughter in my dress from 1959.

One of my roommates from London Study Abroad

I hadn't seen Melanie in 32 years, but I knew she lived in Las Vegas so we invited her to the reception.  It was great fun seeing her again, and meeting her husband, who is also named Wayne.

More about the wedding

Their car was filled with balloons.  Bryce immediately pulled the corsage pin out of his boutteniere and popped them all in about 10 seconds.

Earthquake and Hurricane- So what else is new?

I saw on the news that there was a 5.9 earthquake in Richmond, Virginia today, not long ago.  I called Janette to see if she had talked to her dad in Richmond, she said he saw his walls and windows shake.


Then I walked into Wayne's office and told him.  He got all excited and said, "I felt that!" He thought one of our kids was jumping up and down in the house somewhere, but had wondered why it was shaking the slab.  He hadn't realized it was an earthquake.


I didn't notice it and I was just one room away from him.  I was too concentrated on what I was reading on the internet I guess.  

And the forecasters are saying Hurricane Irene is coming here Saturday, so I have to write a big document of Hurricane Instructions and send it out to everyone in the ward.  I'll put it on here too, but for the most part I put my Emergency Preparedness stuff on www.GottaWannaNeedaGettaPrepared.blogspot.com.

Lots of excitement!

Bryce and Marianne's Wedding

Wayne and I flew to Las Vegas to see Bryce and Marianne get married in the Las Vegas temple on Saturday.

That temple is BEAUTIFUL!  And they were such a beautiful couple!

I really appreciated getting to know Marianne's family and their family's friends.  I am very impressed with how highly everyone thinks of that family.  They must be wonderful people.

Joseph Smith Movie in Cary Tues. Aug. 23

One Night only:

Joseph Smith

Vol. 1: Plates of Gold

One night only in Cary, NC

Tues. Aug. 23, 2011 at 7 pm.

Galaxy Cinema

770 Cary Towne Blvd.,  Cary NC

For tickets visit  www.JosephMovie.com

Groups rates available:   eric@josephmovie.com

801-599-7973

Tessa in vintage clothing

Here is Tessa, at three weeks old, wearing my baby dress from 1959.

In honor of Pres. Monson's Birthday

President Thomas S. Monson was born August 21, 1927.

"When our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, was asked on his birthday this past August what would be the ideal gift that members worldwide could give him, he said without a moment’s hesitation, “Find someone who is having a hard time, . . . and do something for them.”


Quentin L. Cook, "Hope You Know, We Had a Hard Time", Oct. 2008 General Conference, Nov. 2008 Ensign.

$20,000 per ounce Gold and 3 Great blogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj2s6vzErqY&feature=player_embedded#!

This is a 1.5 hour video by Mike Maloney, one of the best I have ever watched explaining the monetary system.  I loved his graphs showing the stock market's patterns over the past 150 years.

(Once again, I am not advocating buying gold and silver.  It is my belief that FOOD STORAGE is the best investment in times like these.)



Here are three great blogs to add to your daily web perusal.

http://betsyspage.blogspot.com/

http://www.americanthinker.com/

Oh, and of course, my own preparedness blog, don't forget to read that one!

http://gottawannaneedagettaprepared.blogspot.com/

"Two Trillion Tons"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U6Yg9ckZv8&feature=player_embedded

Obama parody.

Delicious green beans

Wayne made BBQ beef and BBQ chicken for Bryce's and Marianne's open house.  (He is very picky with his BBQ, he doesn't like the fact that when you eat BBQ at a restaurant there are always some pieces of fat and gristle and glom in it.)

We bought hushpuppies at Smithfield's Barbecue, they have really good hushpuppies.

And we bought cans of these Allen's Seasoned Green Beans and Potatoes.  They were excellent!  I have never tried them before.  I recommend them highly.

Colbert jokes about Mormons

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/394360/august-10-2011/yaweh-or-no-way----mormons---god-s-poll-numbers?xrs=playershare_fb

5 minutes long.

"In One Hour"

I read a very interesting theory today.  I'm not  saying I believe it, I just think it is very interesting.

I am always trying to find out the interpretations of Isaiah, Revelation, Daniel, and other scriptural books to try to see how they refer to our day.

Plus, I am very much of the opinion that the United States' currency system will fail in the near future.  Along with the Euro and probably all the rest of the world's currencies in rapid sequence. The reason I believe this is because our money is based on nothing tangible.  It isn't backed by gold or by any real collateral.  We just print it.

Here is Revelation 18:10-11, 17-19, from  HYPERLINK "http://lds.org/scriptures/nt/rev/18?lang=eng" http://lds.org/scriptures/nt/rev/18?lang=eng

 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

 11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

 18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

 19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

In the LDS church, we believe that 1000 years of our time is as one day to the Lord.  So the "one hour" in the above scripture in the Lord's time could mean 41.67 years of our time.

Exactly 40 years ago this week, August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon ended the gold standard.

Kind of spooky if our monetary system fails in the next year and a half.

(Sources below)

 HYPERLINK "http://economics.about.com/cs/money/a/gold_standard.htm" http://economics.about.com/cs/money/a/gold_standard.htm

During most of the 1800s the United States was had a bimetallic system of money, however it was essentially on a gold standard as very little silver was traded. A true gold standard came to fruition in 1900 with the passage of the Gold Standard Act. The gold standard effectively came to an end in 1933 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlawed private gold ownership (except for the purposes of jewelery). The  Bretton Woods System, enacted in 1946 created a system of fixed  exchange rates that allowed governments to sell their gold to the United States treasury at the price of $35/ounce. "The Bretton Woods system ended on August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon ended trading of gold at the fixed price of $35/ounce. At that point for the first time in history, formal links between the major world currencies and real commodities were severed". The gold standard has not been used in any major economy since that time.

More Family Portraits 2011

Thomas is holding his little sister, Hannah.  Elizabeth is holding her cousin, Tessa.

Proud Grandparents

We have four grandchildren, and one on the way.

Isaac and Rachel have Elizabeth (almost 5) and Thomas (3) and Hannah (4 weeks old).

Seth and Janette have Tessa (6 days older than Hannah)  (Tessa is on the right).

Adam and Tiffany's son is due the end of November.

Family Portraits 2011

 We were all together this week, while Marianne and Bryce were here.  They are getting married on Saturday in the Las Vegas Temple.

(Click on the photos to make them bigger)

Still had time to read the internet

We had an open house for our son Bryce and his fiancee on Saturday night, and we attended the blessing of our two new granddaughters, Tessa and Hannah, on Sunday.

We took our family picture on Sunday night, I'll get some of those up here soon.  But in the meantime, here are two articles I found on the internet today.

Noemie Emery writes how feminists have so elevated the choice of abortion that they have no moral grounds on which to complain that millions of people every year around the world are choosing to abort female fetuses. 

From the Washington Examiner:


http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/07/liberals-some-womens-choices-more-equal-others#ixzz1V7xraFQN

....choices, of course, must never be questioned, no matter to what ends they lead. Late-term abortion? Terrific. Infant dismemberment? Hardly a problem. Sequential abortion? No problem there.

Abortion as a tool to dispose of unwanted girl children? Now, this is a problem, but liberals have surrendered the right and the standing to make moral judgments. They have found now a choice they despise, and they can't rail against it....What in the world would they say?

.... they have no words at all for all those dead females. They are strangled and silenced by "choice."

"Obama's Jekyll and Hyde Routine:  Disturbing Mixed Messages"


http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45524
Here’s the schizophrenic political message the American people now hear when they listen to Obama speak:  Big Government can improve lives and create economic prosperity … except right now, because the economic catastrophe my reckless spending has triggered has left me and my administration impotent and unable to redistribute ever-dwindling wealth.  My team of economic advisers has the smartest plans and strategies for creating jobs … except that jobs are nowhere in sight, 16.2% of people can’t find enough work, one in five men doesn’t work, and one in seven now relies on food stamps to put meals on the table. 
 
I am the arbiter of hope and change, and I’m a strong leader who can navigate us through the worst economy since the Great Depression … except that, even though my party controls 66% of the government, I still send my advisers out to blame America’s first-ever S&P downgrade on the Tea Party, whose members I believe are crazy and insignificant … except that they are, apparently, smart and significant.

For History

I look at CNBC several times a day, to keep track of whats going on there.  I've been writing the Dow Jones industrial average and the gold prices and the oil prices in my diary every day for years.

I don't know why I took this picture on Monday, Aug. 8, 2011.  I guess I just wanted to record history as it was happening.

Standard and Poor's had just downgraded the U.S. credit rating, from AAA to AA+ on Friday after business hours.

So on Monday, Aug. 8, this is what happened. The Dow went down 633 points.

Then, the rest of the week, the Dow went up and down and up and then up.  It was a crazy week on Wall Street.

Since I paid attention, I figured I would just put it on my blog so I could go back later and remember what a strange week it was.

I expect many more weeks of turmoil to come.

Look at how cool I am

I have received many ribbons for my quilting over the years.  I kept intending to hang them up all the way around the walls of my sewing room, up near the ceiling.  It would have made kind of a quilt-ribbon wallpaper border.  But I never did.


The pinks, lavenders, and whites in the top left corner are all the special awards and special recognitions I received.  Then the blue ribbons (1st place), then the reds (2nd place), then some green, whites, yellows that are third places.

(Later, after I took this photo, I found a few more scattered around on the floor because Elizabeth and Thomas had found them and started playing with them before I took the picture.)

"Bring Me Sunshine"

http://www.youtube.com/embed/oXvJ8UquYoo

Cute music video!

Bryce and Marianne are Here

Bryce and his fiancee Marianne got to town yesterday, and today we all went to Topsail Beach.  We took two of our grandchildren, Elizabeth and Thomas.  It was fun, and we got home at 10:45, and now we are tired.  The end.

Rioting in my old stomping grounds of London!

I attended BYU London Study Abroad Jan-June 1979, and lived on Palace Court, near Bayswater, and Queens Way.  This story from KSL explains that the BYU Study Abroad Center is right near a lot of the rioting in London.  I know just where they are talking about!

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=16740773

Wayne's new calling: Scoutmaster

On Sunday, Wayne was sustained as the new scoutmaster, for the fourth time!  His biggest challenge might be learning all the boys' names, since he has only really been in our ward for two months.

My baby dress

This is the only article of clothing that I have from when I was a baby.  It is cream-colored cotton, but all the thread is blue.  My mother told me the dress used to be blue, but all the color has faded out.  I am going to try to take photos of Tessa and Hannah wearing this dress.

China says to America: "The good old days are over"

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-debt-addiction-short-sighted-2011-8

It is very scary, after all the financial people I've been reading have been warning that China is going to call in our debt or substitute another global currency, to read this article and see that the plans are already underway.

The Seven Lean Years

I'll put these thoughts up today, because no one knows what the  stock market is going to do tomorrow.  How are the markets going to react to the S&P downgrade of the U.S. credit rating?

Here are just some thoughts.  President Hinckley warned us about the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine three times in General Conference, in  1998, 2001, and 2005:

As a backdrop for what I wish to say, I read to you a few verses from the 41st chapter of Genesis.

Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him. The wise men of his court could not give an interpretation. Joseph was then brought before him: “Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

“And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

“And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed. …

“And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: …...

Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.

President Gordon B. Hinckley,  "To the Boys and to the Men", Ensign, Nov. 1998, 51

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. Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Times in Which We Live", Ensign, Nov. 2001, 72–74

Let us never lose sight of the dream of Pharaoh concerning the fat cattle and the lean, the full ears of corn, and the blasted ears; the meaning of which was interpreted by Joseph to indicate years of plenty and years of scarcity ( see Genesis 41:1-36).

http://lds.org/ensign/2005/11/if-ye-are-prepared-ye-shall-not-fear?lang=eng 

“If Ye are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear”  Gordon B. Hinckley, Nov. 2005

I have always wanted to know whether any of those talk signalled the start of the years of plenty.  There are those who think the 1998 talk was the start, but that would mean 2005 was the start of the lean years, and I don’t think that is true.  I am of the opinion that the 1998 talk was just a warning.

I am in the camp of those who think that the 2001 talk was the start of the seven years of plenty.  If I am correct (and I’m nobody, so who cares what I think) then the lean years started in 2008.

In an article I read on Saturday, I discovered that 

"The problems started at the start of the credit crunch four years ago - the unofficial anniversary is this coming Thursday August 9, and it has never gone away despite billions of taxpayers money being channelled into repairing the damage."

Read more:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023101/3-TRILLION-shares-wiped-WEEK-world-economy.html#ixzz1UGgxtpY6

So this author says that August 9, 2007 was the unofficial start of the big financial crisis.  Lets say he is correct, and whatever financial thing happened on Aug. 9, 2007 was actually the start of the lean years (and not the exact day seven years after Pres. Hinckley gave a talk.) (P.S. I found an article explaining what happened that day:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/05/northernrock.banking)

IF we want to assume, for the sake of argument, that the lean years started sometime between 

A) the unnamed financial event of Aug. 9, 2007 and 

B) exactly seven years after Hinckley’s 2001 talk, which would be Nov. 2008, 

then in either case we have been in the lean years for either four years or 2.5 years already.

AND IF we want to believe all that, then that means we’ve got 3 to 4.5 years left to go (of the lean years.)

So lets review some current events to see if our conclusions seem likely.

How is the grain harvest holding up?  Have you seen the news about all the crop failures?  

How are the financial systems of the world holding up?  

Why don’t you read Genesis 47 and see what happens during the seven years of famine.

Gen. 47:15: "And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth."

I don’t know if my conclusions are correct.  I hope they aren’t.  But IF we are in the middle of the seven lean years, and IF our seven years is patterned after ancient Egypt’s seven years, then I think our money system is going to fail.  Not this week perhaps, but soon.

Have a nice day.

"The Day the Dollar Died" Youtube

So, Standard and Poor just downgraded the US credit rating.

No, I don't think the dollar just died.  But I do think the scenario in this fictional video could be in our future.  You can just watch it like a fiction movie if you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2N8gJSMoOJc#at=19

"Kilroy was Here" onesie

I sewed a lot for my first four boys, especially for Adam.  This was a little onesie I made for him, with an applique picture on the front.  The guy's nose hangs over the edge of the brown.  Someone told me that this guy is called Kilroy, but I could be wrong.

After 28 years the stains are set, but I'm still going to take a picture of Adam's first boy wearing it.

Pink Quilt

I was cleaning out closets the other day and came upon some things I had made years ago.

This is one of two quilts I made when I was pregnant with my first baby.  I made a Puppy quilt for a boy, and this pink quilt for a girl.
By the time I had Tara ten years later, this quilt really didn't get that much use.
It has a few stains on it, and I'm not that crazy about it anymore.  But I remember how proud I was of it when it was first made.

"The Doorbell", "Tough Love"

Here's a YouTube video about the government coming to someone's door:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqoGORXAv2o&feature=player_embedded



And here's a facetious article about an intervention that George Washington and the Founding Fathers do for the United States of America.

Aug. 2, 2011  "Tough Love"  by Bill Markin.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/tough_love.html

It's called an intervention, and its time has come.

Hey, Tom...Ben...Alex.  Been a long time since I've seen you guys.  Whatcha doing here?

I asked them to come, son.

Father?  You're here too? What's going on, anyway?

Sit down, son.  We need to talk.  

(Go to the link to read the rest of the article.)

"We're in the last days---You can quote me on that."- Ballard

Elder M. Russel Ballard said at BYU-Idaho on Jan. 30, 2010, as told in the Church News. 

"Excerpting entire passages of scripture from Matthew 24, 2 Nephi 28 and Mormon 8, Elder Ballard firmly established that ancient prophecies regarding the last days preceding the Savior's second coming aren't just being fulfilled but are coming to pass at an accelerated rate.

"I'm telling you what the Savior said would be the signs of the acceleration towards that day when He shall come," he said. "We could stay here for a couple of hours talking about all of the prophecies of what will occur in the last days. We're in the last days---you can quote me on that. And it is moving more rapidly."

Conditions that Elder Ballard specifically cited as fulfillment of prophecy and signs of the times include "pornography and how real affection and how true and real love are being disturbed by Satan and his minions." (see Matthew 24:12); "an acceleration of the gospel going to all nations" (see Matthew 24:14); and how "Mother Nature is letting its power be seen throughout the world at a more accelerated pace" (see Mormon 8:30-31).

(as quoted in the Church News, Week Ending Feb. 13, 2010, p. 3)


(Some of this was also quoted in the August 2011 Ensign by Elder Allan F. Packer, in his talk entitled, "Solidly Anchored in Our Testimonies")