It ain't over yet...

"MARCH 1, 2009 DAY OF PRAYER FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE"

FROM RON PRENTICE, CHAIRMAN, YES ON PROP 8 CAMPAIGN

"Proposition 8 was put before the people of California, and by a wide margin of 600,000 votes became a part of the California Constitution (Article 1, Section 7.5). Next Thursday, March 5, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments to determine whether the sovereign will of the people should be upheld, and whether marriage between only a man and a woman will stand."

"This is the most important legal issue impacting families in a generation. The outcome of this case is “do or die” for traditional marriage. If the California Supreme Court were to overrule the vote of the people (for the second time) it would not be long before homosexual marriage is the law of the land across this country."

"ProtectMarriage.com, the committee responsible for enacting Prop 8, urges you and all our supporters to take action. We are declaring this Sunday, March 1, to be a Day of Prayer for Marriage."

"Proposition 8 was supported by over 7 million voters, and we call on those who support traditional marriage to pray for it to be upheld. Please ask the Lord for wisdom for the Justices of the California Supreme Court. Pray, also, for those who oppose this amendment to our Constitution, that they would understand our motivation is to affirm traditional marriage, not to offend any person or group."

The HUNT is on...

In just over four months my parents will be returning from their mission! It's been a long 3 years without them and we are thrilled to have them come home! (Although, the blessings from their service have been amazing! Maybe they should stay out a bit longer....)

We have been living in their home while they've been away which has been a HUGE blessing. But now that they are returning, the house hunt has begun! It is a bit overwhelming to say the least, but we have faith all will be well and whatever needs to happen will happen. So, any tips from you more experienced home buyers.....?

Is that you Livi-lou?

For all those who have ever wondered what Livi would look like with straight hair....

Bem Vindos ao Brasil

Last week DuVall and I were able to visit my parent's in Brazil; this will be our last trip since my parents mission ends in July. (YAHOOOOO!) This time we went without the childrens. Yep, without the kids!!!! I can't believe my parents even let us through their door. Good thing they did though, because we had a fabulous time! DuVall's mom, Linda, came with us too and we all had such a good time together. Before going to Belo, where my parents live, we stopped in Rio for a couple days. It's such an interesting place with a lot of cool things to do. We rode this amazing and somewhat scary tram ride up to the point of a very high mountain called Sugar Loaf. We were literally in the clouds. We also shopped at the street markets and tried to get to the Christ the Redemer statue but ran out of time! We found out that our driver from the hotel was LDS. Actually in his words..."Oh, I used to be Mormon!". He hadn't been to church in quite sometime so we asked him to take us to church and insisted that he come in with us. He did and I think he was glad. He told us that God must have put us in his path and that he needed Christ in his life. We are hoping he will continue to go to church.

While in Belo we visited some amazing places as well. We stayed in a small town called Tiradentes, and also visited a place called Ouro Preto; a small town with really old churches and a lot of history. We ate at some very unique restaurants, shopped at the local central market, visited the local zoo, fed wild monkeys and these very cute animals called "quachi", (i spelled that wrong) saw bright blue butterflies, and just enjoyed being together.
Thank you dear Jodi for coming all the way from Alaska to watch our kids. I missed them terribly while we were gone but knew they were in excellent hands.

On our last day in Brazil we went to a park that my parents often go to. There are three things at this park that you can see but usually they don't all appear in one day. We got lucky. We saw the amazing blue butterfly, two in fact. We fed the cute little quachi, and fed the wild monkeys. It was very, very cool.

Ouro Preto, "City of Gold", another very intesting place, filled with cobblestone streets, steep hills, very old churches, street markets, and more. This town is home to one church inparticular that has the third most gold of any church. (In the world or in Brazil? I can't remember.) Anyway, it is truly amazing inside. It took years to build and you can tell because it includes art and arcitecture of many different time periods.


Holding onto my Mom as we walk down one of the steep streets. Thanks little Mommy for holding me up!

Tiradentes, a very European looking town, streets lined with stones, old churches, quaint shopping, and unique restaurants. This is where the man who started the revolution lived, until he was found by the portuguese and cut into pieces and spread along the road. Lovely.

This is a picture of the "slaves" church. During the day the slaves had to build the slaveowners' church. At night they could work on their own. They were using gold leaf in the slaveowners' church and would "smuggle" extra gold leaf under their finger nails and in their hair to use in their own church. The slaveowners would never lower themselves to walk into the slave church, so they never knew.

This was our second time visiting Tiradentes. It really is an amazing place and would love to go back someday!

Central Market in Belo Horizonte

Linda and I taking in a small military beach in Rio. The sand was like tiny little clear pebbles.
So Cool!

The view from our hotel. Copacabana Beach.

Linda and DuVall at the top of Sugar Loaf, in the clouds.

Me and DuVall on the first tier of Sugar loaf. (It takes two tram rides to get to the top)

Thank you dad and mom for such a wonderful trip. We know how hard you work and all that you are sacrificing to serve the Lord. Your example is simply amazing. Belo will be a better place because of you. Good Luck with your last five months. We love you!