The Power of Faith and the Atonement

Elizabeth Smart is amazing. She is. The media in general seem overcome with her ability to keep it together and rise above an experience that could have broken her forever. She has overcome. What most people don't realize about Elizabeth Smart is that she has learned that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is a real thing and it can change lives. It can mend lives. It inspires love, forgiveness, understanding, compassion, justice, peace, charity and all goodness. It heals where some may think healing could never take place. It gives hope to the hopeless, faith to the faithless and allows us to move past the difficulties of mortality. I am sure that Elizabeth Smart has had much counseling and may even have to have counseling in years to come. But, I submit that as she gives her amazingly difficult experiences to Our Savior, Jesus Christ she will continue to astound the world. His light will continue to shine through her. May God bless her in her years to come. She is an inspiration.

An article about her http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts958

Baucus Health Care Costs-- Whoa!!!

The Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan organization out of DC which analyzes the cost of government programs and bills, sent a letter to Max Baucus of the Senate Finance Committee with how much we would be paying for his new health care plan. Most media outlets are touting this plan as a success because it is deficit neutral-- will not cause any further deficits. What they don't tell you is how it will be paid. All of these figures are for a family of 4 on the lowest cost Health Care Plan for 2016--oh, you think that is forever away. That is only 6 years away. Better get busy finding a second, third, fourth job or sell your home. Maybe a kid or two.
If you make $54,000 you will pay from $5,300 to $10,300--this being the maximum you will pay between you and your employer. Keep in mind that your employer can pay a much lower fine and drop you at any time and you would be responsible for the full amount. How about if you make $78,000-- you would pay from $10,800 to $15,800. Or if you make $90,100 you would be paying from $12,500 to $17,500. If you make over $102,100 there is no guarantee of how much you will be charged-- I guess whatever Nanci Pelosi thinks is best for your family to pay. Keep in mind that until 2 years ago I bought insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield for my entire little family at the time--5 of us. It cost about $650. You can check out the entire letter at this link...http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10618/09-22-Analysis_of_Premiums.pdf
So, what are you going to give up?

It is bad when...

You know you have couponing bad when your 2 year old is playing ponies and one pony exclaims, "I have to go home now." And then the other pony replies, "that's okay I have to go to Walgreens!" LOL

Our Summer

Here is my sister, Courtney, with my little Macy. Macy loves people's mouths. She will

stick her little hand right up your nose or in your mouth if you let her. Maybe that is how

I got her nasty cold.

I haven't written lately about my growing family. We had a busy summer and I just didn't have time to dedicate to blogging. (I did still manage to coupon some though-- you have to do something that you find fun and entertaining!) We helped find homes for Chinese exchange students, went to the pool all the time, took a week "break" in Raleigh and had all kinds of fun in between. Below are my girls with my Aunt Sara. Isn't she beautiful? I won't tell you how old she is, because she is a lady-- BUT if you knew you would be shocked. She looks great! I hope I look as good as her at her age-- not that she is old ;) She loves babies (just like most Parkers-- my grandmother, her mother, LOVED children.) She kept saying how good and well behaved the girls were in her home and then they started to get comfortable-- then the chaos began! Ha!

We went to Boone/Blowing Rock for the day and did a little hiking. It was a beautiful, blue skied day and about 75 degrees. Gotta love the mountains. Here is our "little" family posing on a rock... I was exhausted after this hike. It made me realize even more that I need to diet and get into shape again!

These are the Rabonettes. How fun would it be to have all sisters (not that I don't love my dear brothers ;0) But, to do girl stuff and have playmates all the time! They are the best of friends and I hope that they always stay close to each other!
I have been told by Ashley (and myself on the really hard days) that this is my last little baby. But, oh how I love babies. I really love them when they get to be so interactive and just so precious. I wish I had the patience of Michelle Duggar and could do 19 (she is pregnant again). But, I am just not there as many of you know ;0) I just love all the adorable things that Macy does. It is like I am discovering motherhood all over again. The girls really love on her, but sometimes that comes at a price. She gets beat up pretty good sometimes in the name of love. Ellie is particularly rough with her love at times and sometimes I have to take my screaming baby and leave the room, so I don't come down too hard on her. She really does love Macy and mean well. Macy is not as laid back as Riley-- not many people are that happy and care free. But, she is a pretty good baby. Just make sure you feed her on time. She loves to eat. She is my biggest baby by far weighing in at 17 pounds at 5 1/2 months. She is also very long for my babies, so maybe she will be tall like Ashley and not short like me. Sometimes I think that she is going to have red hair-- there is definitely red in her hair. But, babies change so much I don't know if it will stay.

We had a lovely woman from China stay in our home for 3 weeks. Mei was her name. Here she is with Hannah... They both loved Tetris, so this is where we would find them many days! She loved my little ones-- especially Macy and although her English was VERY limited it was a pleasure having her in our home. We all cried when she left. She came with another wonderful lady, Cathy, who stayed next door with Ning and Bernie. There were also 20 kids ages 14-18. I was responsible for finding homes for everyone, so I stayed busy with all that entailed. It was amazing getting to know these incredible people. The girls were troopers to say the least. They helped me find homes, interview families and check on everyone. I hope it taught them more fully that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father.

Marx verses Jefferson-- you decide.

Karl Marx, the founder of modern day Communism, and some of his quotes and Thomas Jefferson, the primary writer of the US Constitution, and some of his words.

Karl Marx-- “Religion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with
occurrences it cannot understand."

"Religion is the opium of the masses.”

“The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property.”

“The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.”

“The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.”

Thomas Jefferson--
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

"Most bad government has grown out of too much government."

"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

"A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate."

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."

And my favorite--

"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

May we fight the good fight for our liberty!

I've missed my time with you...

Life as a momma is a busy life. And I have been dedicating most of my time to my little ones, husband, church, work and coupons ;0) (I love coupons!) So, my blog has fallen by the side. But, I have written many wonderful blog posts in my mind! What I write about today is one of my many passions-- freedom. I believe that God intends us to be free. As we make good decisions and rely on Him and ourselves as His children we will retain the freedom that He has bestowed upon us. Bad decisions can and will bring bondage--spiritual, emotional, economic and sometimes physical. I continue to watch and participate in the battles that are being waged in Washington. I must admit that I feel like we are losing many of our freedoms bit by bit and not noticing it at all. Many things that are happening at the federal, local and state levels have upset me, but I think the straw that put me over the edge is President Obama's plan to speak to the the nation's children. You may ask-- what is the big deal? If he is just going to ask the kids to stay away from drugs, work hard in school and make good choices, I have no problem with him speaking to my child. But, why can't he do that during a prime time speech in my home where I can hear and talk to my children about what he is saying. My other question is about the lesson plans that he has devised to go with his speech. Here are some things that he asks the teachers to discuss with the students: What is the President trying to tell me?
What is the President asking me to do?
What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about? The teachers are also supposed to teach about President Obama by sharing some of his quotes from different speeches. The White House today has changed the lesson plans and I will have to look up what changes have occured, but I find the original version of this very disturbing. The Constitution does not give a President any right to address school children. As a matter of fact the Constitution does not set up government run schools-- that is left up to the states and local leaders. But, that is for another day!

Obamacare

This from a doctor http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50162

Please call your representative!