My favorite wind instruments are the saxophone & flute. I thought I would learn to play one of them. This video is amazing.

HAVE WE LOST HOPE?

I just received my monthly Ensign magazine in the mail today and I had to turn to Elder Uchtdorf's talk on Hope. His message was probably my favorite this last conference. All the messages were good but there is always that ONE message which grabs my heart and hangs on for days and weeks.
"Hope is the abiding TRUST that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us. It's CONFIDENCE that if we live according to God's laws and the words of His prophets now, we will recieve desired blessings in the future. It is BELIEVING and EXPECTING our prayers to be answered. It is manifest in CONFIDENCE, OPTIMISM, ENTHUSIASM, and PATIENT PERSEVERANCE. No matter how black the chapter of our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we may HOPE and be assured that the ending of the book of our lives will exceed our grandest expectations. "
There is no lack of trust, discouragement, or pesimism in HOPE. The scriptures remind us that "Our eyes hath not seen, no ears heard, neither have entered into our heart the things which God has prepared for us who love Him."
For those of us who have lived through the blackest chapters of our lives , and some of us still living the blackest chapter, know that this message is what gets us up in the morning, which grabs that smile hidden deep down in our soul. It's why we can laugh, serve in our various callings in the church, and be sympathetic,
and understanding. It strengthens us to be slow to anger and avoid contention. It's why we can survive the challenges and trials that could have destroyed us and our families, literally! It's why we can pay our tithing when our fridge is bare or the car insurance is over due. It's why we can sacrifice all our time, talents and riches, no matter how small to the poor and needy.

The election this year has put a strain on all of us. Families are quarrelling amongst each other, racial slurs and offensive jokes about both parties were heard everyday. I have seen it turn the most compassionate people to hate, and ridicule. E-mails and text messages are slamming every ones cell phones and personal e-mails with pathetic black jokes and ridiculous stories.
There is no doubt in my mind that Elder Uchtdofs message was meant for this last conference prior to the election. HAVE WE LOST SITE OF THE HOPE taught in the scriptures and by our prophets that is meant for EVERYONE, black or white!
The biggest question I have is, "What white person knows the trials and struggles of being black?"
Could this Presidential election be a way for the country to put away all the black hatred and white pride ? Stop and think about it for just a minute! Maybe having a black President will bring HOPE to all those impoverished black communities with a message that THEY CAN RISE ABOVE IT, the HOPE that God promises ALL OF HIS CHILDREN!
Let us not be judge and jury to a man that might really do this country some good. Instead, we need to pray for our President everyday, no matter who he is. And get back the HOPE we need so we can believe that our prayers will be answered. So we can have CONFIDENCE, OPTIMISM, ENTHUSIASM, and PATIENT PERSEVERANCE!
I'm grateful to my daughter Lacey who has really taken flack for her Democratic beliefs. She has always stood her ground no matter what her beliefs are. She knows who she is and where she came from and never would feel threatened to help her fellowmen to over come
hardships and better their lives through tithes and offerings or taxes. Thank you Lacey for your continuing example of Christ like love you exhibit to everyone.

RILEYS HAUNTED YARD

Riley and his 4th annual HAUNTED YARD

Posted in the Davis County Clipper front page 2 years in a row. Good job Riley!

Each year that Riley turns this yard into a haunted fun fest he adds a few more attractions. I was able to help him set up this year which was very hard to say the least. Riley begins setting up a week in advance, setting up props and nailing things together. The wind was so bad this year that while we were covering the porch with black heavy plastic onto a wood frame that he built, half way done a heavy gust of wind blew down half the frame and ripped the plastic off. With a discouraging look and... a few bad words .?!*?!*^!*?@!* he improvised and took a huge piece of black sheet that he had and proceeded to re-hang the frame. This was his new prop this year so it was stressful. When it was all done he hung up black lights through out the porch, a ghost in the corner and spay painted spiders and goblin hands with long fingers on the sheets with glow in the dark paint. All the goblins who came trick or treating had to go through the porch to get their treats. Lance passed out glow bracelets for all who entered, even the adults...of course they loved it. Lisa, the lady of the house and I served a mixture of candy out of a big coldrun, hot chocolate, hot cider, and rice krispie treats. The kids loved it when they walked through the porch and their costumes would glow white with their glowing bracelets. The adults were fun to watch as well. "Honey look my teeth glow", or "Look at your contacts their weird". The large clown hanging in the tree this year was not alone! Riley had a neighbor friend stand on stilts and slide up inside the clown who talked to the kids as they walked by. Frightening? Oh Yeh! Mom comes every year to check it out. This year she came with some lady friends and when they walked passed the clown, it moved so mom stuck out her hand and touched it saying"Is this real?", only to be scared out of her wits when the clown replied,"Hey, watch where you touch!" They laughed hysterically!

Landon, Riley and friends dressed up in costumes that are in Rileys collection and wondered around the yard following the trick or treaters as they would run screeming or laughing all caught up in the fun of the evening. It was an eventful evening and look forward to it again next year.

For those of you who live in the Davis County area, look it up next year, you won't be disappointed. Thank you Riley for your hard work, all the treats, glow sticks and a fun evening. Thank you neighbors and family for donating to the cause. Thank you Lisa for letting Riley use your yard every year, you are awesome! slivers, cracks, broken nails, lots of dirt, is worth it!
sign posted outside of the yard
Lisa the home owner
one of the goblins in the grave yard
grave yard
hanging in the grave yard
who could this be?
setting up the corn stalks and pumpkins
oops! sideways...goblin sticking his head out of an old wood stove
"HELP! I'm caught"
another goblin
screaming head hanging at the entrance
Carl and Nathan a bit intimidating!
Landon, Carl, Nathan and Todd
grave yard at night
head at night
"Hey, cut me loose and I'll get you lots of candy!" Hanging in the porch above the drinks
hanging with the black light
Riley stands up from behind the wall scaring everyone as they walk by

Originals by the Goodman Fam

Pumpkin Carving est. 1994

Our family gets together every year to show off our creativity in pumpkin carving the night before Halloween. We were missing Clints and Landons creativity which is amazing every year. They had other engagements . We also were missing Lacey and Chris who of course live in Oklahoma. We all missed you guys! Happy Halloween.

Lacey, you'll love this one carved by Riley

Special Moments With My Grandchildren

80 Years Young

Congratulations Mom and Henry are engaged

I wasn't surprised when I got the phone call. Mom

sounded excited and at peace with her decision to

remarry. I did reminisce a little about dad and all the

great times he had with his family, and laughed inside

thinking of his sense of humor and how funny he was.

It made me feel sad for awhile. I'll always miss my dad.

Life isn't to be spent alone and mom has been alone for

10 years. Henry is a wonderful man and I am happy for

them both. Mom can wake up every morning now and

have something to look forward to....a companion!

I found you on Desperate LDS.org

Happy Birthday Great Grandma
Mom reading cards from grandkids with her friend Henry
The band "Reminisce" was a great blend of salsa, oldies and romance
My brother Daryl who is the gourmet chef
Kimberly and Kent tieing on the "Bills" to the money tree
Great dinner at Log Haven up Millcreek canyon
Front..Me, Mom, sister LuAnn. Back.. brothers. Brad, Daryl, Randy
Mom with her desert.. a piece of chocolate singed Happy Birthday

80 Years Young

Recently My siblings and I had the privledge and an honor of celebrating our mothers 80th birthday. It was comical when we all started e-mailing back and forth as to what to do for mom's birthday. I often thought , "wait a minute, what ever happened to talking on the phone?" since I'm not real savoy when it comes to computers, however I'm learning a ton having this blog. When it was all said and done.... it was still not all said and done! But we pulled it off, high 5 to all. We took mom to a classy resturant up Millcreek canyon called Log Haven. The atmosphere was perfect and the food was like none I've ever had before. I think the waiter had to explain everything on the menu, TWICE! The food was French and the menu had names of dishes that were, well, French. The food was divine, the company was great. Too pricey for my budget to ever go there again, at least not again this year. We presented mom with a Saphire ring which was gorgeous, and fit to boot. Sunday afternoon we had a fabulous BBQ at my brothers house. The weather was perfect to sit outside, listen to the great band, "Reminisce" and visit with family. All the great grand and grand kids hid in the garage just before mom showed up. She was asked to get something out of the freezer which was in the garage. She opened the door and, you guessed it, SURPRISE! It was a lot of fun. Mom was presented with a money tree from the grandkids. Estimated to be around $250.00 and a book of tributes written to her from all the family members. The next surprise was when "ACME SINGING TELEGRAM" came and did a comedy act. I've never laughed so hard. The guy was dressed like a total nerd with a capital N! He brought mom a baloon boquet and said he found her on the internet under, ''Lonely Mormon Women.Org." It was absolutely hilarious since her girl friends put her profile on a singles site just for kicks and she found someone and has been dating for 3 months. The act went on from there. I highly recommend Acme they are worth your money. Acme Singing Telegrams. com We listened to more music, then went in to watch a dvd that was put together with pictures of mom over the years that family had donated, Kleenex's anyone? We served cake and ice cream. Sorry mom, you didn't do well blowing out all the candles. No there was not 80 of them. The night was a huge success. It was one of those times where you sit back, take a sigh of relief and count your blessings that you are a member of an amazing family. With all the differences and uppity attitudes that come with a large family, when it comes time to party or honor someone our family Kicks Butt!Especially when my brother who lives in Vernon Washington drives up with his entire family,with high gas prices for the occasion. Thank you Brad and Trudy.I know first hand how that can be when money is tight and no longer growing on the tree.I love you both. Thank you mom for your compassion,love and example.

DEBATE

I gather that everyone watched the Presidential debate on Tues night. If not, shame on you. They actually got to the meat of campaion finally and sitting down was a very good idea after the last debate when McCain walked in front of Obama blocking the camera a million times.Good job. A little heated at times when McCain wouldn't give up the "Who slammed whose campaion adds?" Okay, you big baby. I watched adds from both parties slamming each other, so whats new? It's politics. I'm not saying that I agree with their behavior, I just don't pay attention to it and try to focus on the real issues. Obama tried to put it to rest, but McCain's temperment just wouldn't let it go. I learned a lot about both canidates, especially health care,and was a little disappointed. I'm not sure Oboma's plan is the best way to go. McCains idea on the school vouchers and education was pretty poor. It was a good debate though and what I concluded after the debate is this...
The majority of Congress is Demecrate, so who ever is elected President needs the support of Congress to get any bills passed anyway. And I'm sick of hearing about the national debt! I shouldn't have to pay for their freakin debt. Go after the money grubbing jerks who approved all the crapy Mortage loans to people who couldn't afford it. And all the hoity-toity government idiots who over spent.Go after those who profited!!! Take away their big fancey homes and their Hummers and sell their yaght's, vacation homes, and whatever else to help pay back the debt. Make them accountable for their GREED, and not the average American who work their butts off just to keep their humble little home, pay taxes and high gas prices! I want a President who will make them PAY and step up to the plate and take their medicine.