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We have had a very unseasonably warm winter. We have therefore been able to enjoy some nice time outside in the sun. This past Monday was one of those days. We went for a bike ride, and finished off the day at the park, which included a hike in the woods.

Jeff got us these awesome new phones for Christmas. One of my biggest complaints about my blackberry was the horrible quality of pictures its camera took, so when we were shopping for new phones, a quality camera was one thing I was looking for. This phone has a very nice camera.

So I was taking advantage of its quality camera by capturing a moment with Rachel and Gabi making ice cream. That turned into a solo recital for Gabi, performing all of her favorite numbers.

Enjoy Gabi’s first solo recital (with occasional accompaniment by Scout).

The ice cream turned out pretty good too. Here’s Rachel enjoying her handiwork.

A very long time ago, I acquired a calendar that had recipes using jell-o. I hung on to it because several of the recipes were awfully good, and pretty easy (two very important criteria). Rachel has on many occasions admired the delicious treats pictured there, and as she is growing up, she really likes doing stuff in the kitchen. So today we made dirt cups together.

Rachel is the kind of cook that likes to taste all of the ingredients. That is especially true when the ingredients consist of things like oreo cookies (although I’m cheap so I bought the off brand – Great Value), chocolate pudding, cool whip (again, Great Value whipped topping), and gummy worms. So if you are ever interested in sampling our fare, be warned that Rachel probably licked the spoon, and possibly her hands too, and I can’t promise that it is the most sanitary dish ever prepared. But my philosophy is, it’s all good, just a little extra protein.

This is an email I had intended to send to Mancow Muller, but his email form is for premium members only. Enjoy. (Any premium members want to forward this text on for me?) This isn’t the first time in this past week, I’ve taken a radio show host to task. I gave Tony Cruise a call. I found out he was for the true flip-flopping, cheating Newt Gingrich. Anyway, here’s the letter:

This morning you asked, “What conservative Republican is going for Mitt Romney?” I’m here to tell you this TEA Party supporting, Conservative first, Republican fully supports and endorses Mitt Romney for President of the United States of America.

Why? Because he has the executive experience in the private, non-profit, and public sector arenas to get the job done. What is the job? To turn around a flailing and failing economy. Who better to do it than a person who’s job it has been to do this for 100s of companies, the Salt Lake City Olympics, and the State of Massachussetts, and to institute conservative policies in the face of heavy liberalism, massive corruption, and antagonistic parties.

Why? Because he has a jobs plan more extensive than and thought out than any other candidate. We aren’t getting Hope and Change from Romney, we have 57 steps to job recovery. We aren’t getting platitudes, we’re getting promised action with a proven record.

Why? Because he is the only one organized and able to take on Obama toe-to-toe on every issue.

Why? Because I have supported Mitt Romney from way back before 2008 when Rush Limbaugh called him the embodiment of the three legs of conservatism. Romney has moved more conservative on his positions even since then.

You mentioned that some vote counter claims to have counted 20 extra votes for Romney. Why did he do that? Why is he coming out now? What is HIS agenda?

Mitt Romney buying the election? Well, yes, that’s what politicking is. Every candidate is “buying” the election. They have to to get their word out. The fact that Romney has garnered $20 million in donations in the past quarter of earning, not to mention the $15 million before that, and whatever else before that is a testament to the number of people that really do support him. Sure, there are some fat cat, former Obama supporters on Wall Street that have donated the most they can: $2500 per person. But it also means there are a lot of middle class folk, like me, who have given our piddly $20, $50, or $100 to support him. There are a lot of people in the grass roots efforts, volunteering their time to make phone calls for Mitt Romney. There are a lot of people pounding the pavement for him.

It really does make me sick, the media slandering, slanting, and misrepresenting who Mitt Romney really is. Fortunately, there will be enough people, the voters, that will see through the misrepresentations of the so-called conservative media. This is really why I am actually going to send this email, in the hopes that you would re-evaluate you language and attitude of Mitt Romney. He is the best chance to win the election and actually get stuff done.

On and end note, Ron Paul would be great, but he could never win the nomination or general election. Even if he did, he would not be able to rally the legislative branch around his ideas. He’s had 30+ years to do that and has not succeeded.

Today we did something that I have not done in way too long! I got to ride a horse. It all started when I called a friend of mine who works with a charity called Hearts In Motion. (I was passing down some clothes that Gabi has outgrown.) I brought the clothes to her house, and she happened to be in her barn, saddling up her horses for a ride with her daughter. So we walked down to the barn to say hi and to pet the horses. While there we let both Rachel and Gabi sit up on the horse’s back.
Having nothing better to do, we stuck around to watch them ride. Before long she offered to let me ride too. Unfortunately I was not prepared, and was wearing sandals. Fortunately our feet are the same size, so she let me borrow her hiking boots, so I got to ride for a while. It was GREAT. It has been much too long since I have ridden.

While I was riding Blondie, she and her husband helped Rachel and Gabi take a ride on Honey. They both really liked it! Now I can’t wait to do it again.

After 4 separate and distinct Trick or Treat outings, I think we have plenty of candy.

Outing #1 – The Worlds Largest Halloween Party at the Louisville Zoo.
Outing #2 – Our ward’s trick or treat. This year we did it a little different. Instead of “trunk or treat” in the parking lot going to the different cars, people decorated the classrooms and handed out treats at each different classroom.

Outing #3 – We crashed Jeff’s mom’s ward’s trunk or treat.

Outing #4 – Halloween night we went to Jeff’s mom’s house and went trick or treating in her neighborhood. She lives in a more rural area, so we walked a little bit further between houses. It was good for 2 reasons – 1. Since those houses don’t usually get as many trick or treaters, each house gave out quite a bit of candy. The last house dumped several handfuls in each girl’s bag. 2. The girls had to walk further, and that night they crashed! Didn’t hear from either of them until 9:00 the next morning.