Dreams -- not mine

A while back I was teaching Exodus to my classes in seminary and we decided to have some fun.  We were looking at the story of Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, the butler and the baker. 

It seemed like a good idea to let the kids try to draw some of their impressions of the story.  Never underestimate the minds of 9^th graders!!

Here are a few of their gems.

I think this is the butler returning to his job??  He looks more like a witch... and Pharaoh looks like a skeleton.

The baker loses his head after this dream.

Corn can look good and EVIL.  Guess who wins?

Fat and lean cows have much to say.

A different baker who still loses his head

I think this is another corn field

Successful butler.

More wicked, nasty corn.

Cows that are harder to see.

These youngsters are pretty creative and had a lot of fun with the project.  Now if they could just stop talking so much!!!

Let's Talk

Last night my regular reading of the Book of Mormon took me to the 12^th chapter of the book of Helaman.  In some ways it is a dismal and depressing message because Nephi (3) is chastising his people for their lack of consistency when it came to following the Lord.

It is also sad because so much of what he says relates to the days in which we live.  See if this doesn’t ring a bell or two.

And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them ; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One – yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

Helaman 12:1-2)

I’m not a doom and gloom kind of guy but I do wonder what it will take to get us to come back to Christ as a nation.  We have a candidate for the Republican nomination that seems to be trying to get people to think about this possibility but I don’t know if he is sincere or just pandering to a particular group.

On the other hand, another candidate in the Republican group has said little about his beliefs because he is trying to avoid conflict.  Is he really committed to seeking to make our country better?  I think so and I have faith that his credentials show he will do his best.  Is he perfect?  No, but neither am I.

But what if we retain the same fellow that is in charge?  Will we continue down this road that leads to some pretty unsavory experiences?  It is my opinion that the vast majority of those who lead our country right now are inclined to continue the course we are following and if they remain in charge we will increase the rate of decline.

My personal hope is that there will be changes, not only in government, but in the way we live and relate to one another.  Unless that happens, the days of leisure, pleasure and good times are about to end and life will become much more difficult.

I’m not a prophet and do not offer this as a prophetic utterance except as it has been spoken by those who truly are prophets.  We have them, you know?  Maybe if we listen we can avoid some difficult days.  If not – well, I guess we get what we asked for don’t we?

Family Dinner/Birthday

Every month we get together with all the kids and their families for dinner and a project.

We try to rotate whose house hosts the happenings so we can do something at their place.

Sometimes the project is tilling a garden or maybe trimming roses.  We have even painted sheds and dug 'crypts' on occasion.

Other times, when no one has a project, we just do something fun..  

 March was one of those months.  Josh and Heather were hosting but they had no big project  (Thankfully, they have gotten rid of most of their roses).

 There's a nice park near where they live (Brian and Paula too) so we all gathered there and let the kids have fun.  

 After an hour or so of feeding ducks, throwing rocks in the lake and other "childish" things we let the little ones have some fun on the playground equipment.

We are really glad everyone lives so close -- and hope they keep it that way.

In case you didn't get the hint!!!

NO MOVING

Photos Finally

Some weeks ago I promised to post a few photos from the 50th Anniversary celebration we had for my folks.  They have finally been sent out so here is what it looked like for part of the time.

This is the happy Anniversary couple.  Doesn't Dad look happy?!!??!!

Dad has never been one to offer much in the way of hugs and stuff so this is a nice photo.  I know it gets him nervous but maybe with Mom he has gotten used to it.  Several of us make it a point to give him a hug -- because we love him -- but also because we like to see him squirm to get away when we encircle him with our arms.  It's High Entertainment for all present.  Thanks Dad for the good times.

My niece, Jennifer, was successful getting Dad to smile ---- sort of --- whatever she did must have been really good cause Mom seems to have lost it.  Way to go Jen.

These are the surviving children of Rex and Catherine Whitmer.  Sort of a motley crew, especially that front row group (not Mom and Dad-- but the rest of us).  At least we all cleaned up well and seemed to be having fun.  Someone said David (1st on left) and Jim (2nd from right) look the most alike.  I think all the ones on the back row look similar so I guess that leaves Rex III (also known as "little Rex or Rexie") (all the way right) and me (2nd from left) as the outcasts.  We do have one other brother but he is waiting for us in the Spirit World.  Kinda wish we could have known him more here but it will be a sweet reunion when we get there.

Teresa and I were the only ones from our part of the family to make it down for the celebration.  I'm almost smiling -- must have inherited that from Dad.  What you can't see is that Teresa is pinching me SEVERELY in an effort to get some reaction.  That's probably about all she can get from an old duffer like me.  :-)

And this is the whole group that was down for the event.  Lots of heritage for a couple of normal folk like my Mom and Dad.  We sure loved being there and hope they enjoyed the time we had with them.  

Only a few more years and Teresa and I will have a similar party with our kids.  I better not be drooling on myself by then!!!

Crypt View

Well, it's finally time to consider the project complete.  You know, the one that has been interminable in its duration.  Yes folks, the "Crypt" has been completed.

See the nice solid, shiny floor of concrete.
Thanks Jennie's family for the help.

We are so happy to be done and finally have a place to put all our food storage and stuff.  Come on by and we will give you a little tour (cause it's only a little space).

This is the view from the door.

This is the view from the other side of the room.  Cool eh!!??

Now, I wonder what will be next on our list of things to do???

Oh, Brian

A few days ago I posted a blog on birthdays. It was mostly in fun but there was a serious note in regards to my parents.

Yesterday was Brian's birthday so Teresa and I went out to wish him well. He is, after all, nearing the big three-oh and we don't want him to suffer alone.

When it came time for presents, we started to give his out and he said:

"Dad, you have to go first." 

I had no idea what he meant until he reminded me of my blog from the previous week. As a good son, he went out and got a present for me, giving thanks that I had not eliminated him from the earth during his teens.

Wireless Headphones

Teresa will love these because I won't have to turn the TV on so loud

To say I was surprised would be putting it mildly. Now I guess I need to get something for my own parents.

Thanks mucho Brian!!!

And Happy Birthday for the 29th Time.

BTW, Paula surprised Brian with the following:

He was pretty dang excited.  Now we have another reason to go visit.!!??!!&&##

Politics Again

The other day I was invited to write a personal review of the Republican debate that took place on Wednesday, February 22.  The idea was to get some ‘everyman’ thoughts on each candidate and their views.  Since my time was limited right then, I decided to decline the offer but here is what I might have said had I accepted.

Teresa and I watched the debate together and our common take was that Mitt Romney was the pretty clear winner.  While there were a few moments where he was attacked very strenuously, he was able to answer quite effectively and put the others on the defensive.  He seemed well prepared and I particularly liked his response to John King (the moderator for CNN) when an answer was challenged.  Without missing a beat, Mitt said “you get to ask the questions any way you want so I will answer them how I want.”  

Nice to see him stand up for himself.

Rick Santorum was the frontrunner so he got most of the abuse from the others.  It was interesting that he admitted he had made some poor judgments in his voting while serving as senator and congressman.  His dodging, by suggesting that politics is a ‘team sport’, really backfired on him – as it should.  Probably the most concerning thing with him was his voting for “Planned Parenthood” when his personal ideals are so against it.  He had a rationale for the vote but it seemed lame and really made me wonder how committed he is.  I am unabashedly a Mitt Romney backer but if it turns out that Santorum gets the nod, I will still feel like we are in pretty good shape.  But dumb votes like the one mentioned above make it harder for me to be totally happy.  (Personally, I don’t think he can do well against Obama but I hope I’m wrong).

For the first time in all the debates we have watched, Newt Gingrich was solely an afterthought and jester amongst the others.  He had a couple of good lines (calling himself Cheerful) but my impression was that he was relegated to the back of the pack by most folks.  Sitting here, two days later, I can’t remember one idea he presented that was new or interesting so I guess that might be the biggest statement of his current standing.

My wife asked me why Ron Paul is still running in this contest and it took me a moment to find the right answer.  There is no chance he is going to win this nomination so my only guess is that he is jockeying for power at the convention.  He has yet to win any primary or caucus and most of his constituents are the Libertarian crowd – the ‘nut jobs’ of the party.  I think his whole purpose is to get enough delegates to force one of the others to come to him for support and then he can get some of his own agenda on the platform.  If that ISN’T the reason, then he must have a lot of money he wants to get rid of in a campaign. 

Just a funny side note.  Our son Joel and his friend Gabe were watching the debate with us.  Both are young men, recently returned from missions, so they were trying to learn a little about the political process.  During one of the breaks, Gabe and Joel went into the kitchen and Gabe whispered to Joel, “Do you understand anything that is being said?”  To which Joel replied, “Not a thing!” 

Here’s hoping things become clearer to them and others in a very short time so more effort can be spent defeating that guy who lives in the White House.  We don’t need four more years of his silliness.  

Another One

For years, I have held that we celebrate birthdays incorrectly in our world.  What, exactly, did the "birthday person" do that is so worth celebrating?

Really, the one honored only had to live!!

It was the parents who provided all the amenities of life and helped the celebrant continue to exist.

What we should do is send a present to our parents every birthday to show them how much we appreciate them not killing us as teenagers!


You might have guessed -- I had another birthday yesterday.  It was grand and I am now that much closer to the dirt bath that is coming.

The family was really nice and even the kids at school got in on the act.  Thanks to you all.

And maybe I will get a present for my folks to thank them for the things they made possible when they decided not to terminate my existence during those horrible years.  :-)

Thanks Mom and Dad.  I love you both.

He's Back

Well, he finally made it home.  On Wednesday, February 8th, we went to the airport and picked Joel up from his two year mission to California.  He looks good and acts pretty normal (or at least as normal as a newly returned missionary acts) so we decided to keep him.

When he got home, the whole family gathered round and let him regale us with stories and experiences of his travels.  There was a lot of noise so I'm not really sure what he said.  Maybe we can go over it later, when I don't have so many distractions.

These little folks were most excited to see "Uncle Joel" because he is their favorite uncle.

I took some pictures at the airport but when we got home I discovered they were really videos (too big to put here).  For some more good shots, chug on over to Missy's blog and take a gander.  I will have more on the whole experience in a few days.

BTW, those of you waiting for more pics of Mom and Dad's anniversary, hang in there.  I haven't gotten any from the dudes who were doing the picture taking.  I WILL get some and put them up as soon as I can.  

Big 50

In December my parents celebrated their 50^th anniversary.  Sure doesn’t seem that long to me but I guess since the calendar says it is so I will have to agree.

Better picture coming soon.  

Catherine at 22

As dutiful, loving children, we all decided it would be nice to get together and see if we could encourage them to extend their union for another fifty years.  Only seems reasonable that since it has been so productive for so long that it should continue on.

Rex at 27

Seriously, we wanted to have a party but with 9 living children and many, many grandkids, friends and celebrators, it was difficult to get things done before the year ended.  Last weekend (January 28-29) was the chosen date for the little soiree.  Some of those closer to home made the arrangements and we slackers who have moved from Arizona did our part by simply attending.  It was a great festival and I think Mom and Dad were pleased with all the things that happened.

Dec. 23, 1961

Same couple -- NOW

When the pictures of the event are available I will post them.  Until then, these will just have to do.  But aren’t they sweet!!!