The Daughters of December Delight in Their Birthday Celebrations

This month, my two princesses celebrated their birthdays. I, without bias, have the cutest daughters in the entire world.

Kimmie awoke on her birthday to find a makeshift "throne" awaiting her. I got to perform the coronation as we placed tiara on her head, with matching earrings and "royal insignia ring."

Here "wii" see our Princess (Peach?) in her royal throne, proudly holding her royal wand and wii remote; all ready to play Enchanted Journey or Hannah Montana.

Incidentally, as part of the passage-to-princesshood, Kimmie decided she was old enough and too big for her binky and burpcloth (which were the "security blanket" for going to sleep.) She promptly threw them in the garbage birthday morning, never to be seen again. We're proud of our princess.

Later, Kimmie was presented with her palace (which "ruled" because she got to eat it after!) And what's this?! Disney Princess toys to keep and play with after? Uh-BOOYA!

This castle cake was freakin' cute; especially her her royal-higness' picture on top in a fun stand-up frame.

She wasn't proud of her cake at all. Heck, skip the cake; Kimmie's cute enough to nibble in this picture. :)

And what birthday would be complete without a microphone that lets you sing with FM radio?! That's right... it's Hannah Kimtana! :) Princess and Pop-Star... Pop-Star Princess; it truly was 'the best of both worlds.'

... Then came Mandi's Birthday ...

Mandi received a new addition to her Littlest Pet Shop collection when she awoke on her birthday.

... She wasn't at all excited ... Mandi and Kimmie immediately began playing with it; and it must've been some kind of crazy cool, because Brennan even got in on the action for a few minutes. (No I don't have incriminating pictures... and if I did, they'd be saved for his dates when he comes of age.) ;)

Our family has been really into the original Knight Rider show. It has become a family tradition as we watch through the entire collection (we're in the middle of season 3 currently) and all the kids eagerly anticipate the next episode. They nag us on a nightly basis to watch another "new" episode (which I don't mind... I'm loving going back through the show; but that's another story for another day.)

Needless to say, Mandi included the Knight Rider video game on her birthday wish list. We, thanks to Amazon were able to deliver!

This is Mandi after receiving her game... with myself being silly and exchanging giggles with Ryan. Proof that being a Daddy sure has its moments and is completely worth it.

Mandi's "cake" was comprised of pumpkin-chocolate-chip cookies stacked together with frosting between for "mortar." It was tasty and we had a good time enjoying it. Mandi's bowling birthday party is this weekend with her friends; and she'll have a cool cake that she picked out for it. I haven't seen it yet, so I look forward to it; especially if it's cool like Kimmie's!

I caught a fun shot of Mandi blowing out her candles. The smoke from the candles came flying at me and I started coughing directly after... but was able to snap the shot before that happened.

I hope you get your wish, Mandi!

And finally, Mandi enjoying her "cake" ... Mommy's food is always so yummy!

For the record, Kimmie took this picture. I'm thinking she has a bright future in photography if she wants.

Happy Birthday Mandi and Kimmie! I love you my sweet darling princesses!

Thoughts About This Year's Election

1. Educate Yourself
2. Pick Your Candidate
3. Vote

1. Educate Yourself
When I say "Educate Yourself" I'm not talking about watching TV and learning about things through that medium alone. As you may or may not know, they only give the limelight to the two "major" parties.

There are 7 sets of candidates running for President/Vice President this year. You need to know about each and every one of them to truly be an "informed voter."

I'm providing links to all of their websites so you can go find out what they're about on your own without media influence (well, unless you find YouTube videos or other places with these candidates on television programs, etc.)

The Presidential/Vice-Presidential Candidates: (in alphabetical order by Presidential candidate's last name; list comes from the 2008 Utah Voter Information Pamphlet)

Constitution Party
Charles O. "Chuck" Baldwin (President)
Darrel Castle (Vice President)
Constitution Party Website
Baldwin/Castle Campaign Website

Libertarian Party
Bob Barr (President)
Wayne A. Root (Vice President)
Libertarian Party Website
Bob Barr Presidential Campaign Website

Party for Socialism and Liberation
Gloria La Riva (President)
Eugene Puryear (Vice President)
Party for Socialism and Liberation Website
La Riva/Puryear Campaign Website

Republican Party
John McCain (President)
Sarah Palin (Vice President)
Republican National Committee Website
McCain/Palin Campaign Website

Green Party of the United States
Cynthia McKinney (President)
Rosa Clemente (Vice President)
Green Party of the United States Website
Cynthia McKinney Campaign Website

Peace and Freedom Party
Ralph Nader (President)
Matt Gonzalez (Vice President)
Peace and Freedom Party Website
Nader/Gonzalez Campaign Website

Democratic Party
Barack Obama (President)
Joe Biden (Vice President)
Democratic Party Website
Barack Obama Campaign Website

Remember, there are SEVEN candidates, not TWO... learn about them all, then:

2. Pick a Candidate
When I say "Pick a Candidate" I don't mean for you to fall under this bullcrap notion that I've heard all year long that "Well, I really like one of the 'third party' candidates, but they'll never win, so I have to vote for the 'lesser of two evils'..."

I've heard this from more people than I've actually heard people wanting to vote for John McCain or Barack Obama. Think about it, people... if everyone voted for the person they really think should be President (including write-ins) this attitude wouldn't exist and the elections would go MUCH differently than they do now; they'd go how they were MEANT to...

If you truly want to make your voice heard, vote for the candidate you really think should be President; especially if they are third party! So, again, educate yourself and pick the candidate you feel is best suited for this election... (and that's fine if you think McCain or Obama is best-suited... but please DON'T vote for them if you like another candidate better; VOTE FOR YOUR CANDIDATE!)

3. Vote
The one thing the media-at-large has done RIGHT this year, is to portray how important this year's election is. I don't need to spell out for anyone how many interesting (and scary) things are going on in our society right now. If we truly want "change" we need to shout out the message by voting for the APPROPRIATE candidate (see section 2 above.)

Remember, "If you don't get in line, you'd better not whine..." and "If you don't make a choice, you don't have a voice."

I'm not going to tell you who to vote for; and I'm not going to reveal who I'm voting for... because you need to educate yourself and make that choice. I'm actually still in the process of making mine... I'm about 90% sure about a couple of people I'd like to vote for, but am still making sure I read up on everyone and make a truly informed decision. I exhort everyone else to do the same...

... and not just for Presdiential/Vice-Presidential candidates; but for everyone you'll be voting for on 04 November.

God bless the United States of America... get out there and vote!

High School Musical 3 - Senior Year

Our family is a huge fan of the High School Musical series. We're excited to be taking the kids to the first showing on 24 October 2008.




For those of you unfamiliar, High School Musical is a series of films (the first two made for Disney Channel) by director and choreographer Kenny Ortega. We've been a fan of his work since Newsies. If you haven't seen anything he's done, we'd highly recommend checking out Newsies, any of the High School Musical movies, and/or The Cheetah Girls 2. He does an amazing job taking huge groups of young talent and making them shine. The dance numbers in all of these movies are incredible.


The films are extra special to us because the films have been made here in Utah.

So go see the Wildcats' final year together and the end of a fun film franchise. And if you haven't seen the first two, we'll be happy to show them to you. :)

State of the Art Tech-hot-ogy

Techotogy: That One Gwen; She's tech-savvy, she's hot and she's a blog prodigy.

Welcome to the world of blogging, honey.

Shopping by Kimmie

Jeff said I have to introduce myself. I'm Gwen. I'm the supermom Jeff tells you all about. I'm the mom of the Q-T-Pie kids in all the pictures. I don't have as much time as Jeff does to blog, and I'm not as great at writing as Jeff is either. But I'm trying my hand at it anyway!

Today, my cute little Kimmie announced she wanted to go shopping. She grabbed her purse, put on her slippers and invited me to go with her.

At the moment I was changing one of the twins, so I asked Kimmie what she was shopping for.

She simply replied, "Shopping."

I realized I had to explain myself. "Are you shopping for food? Are you shopping for clothes? Are you shopping for tools? What are you shopping for, Kimmie?" I asked.

"Dress-up" was Kimmie's response.

I asked where she planned on doing this shopping.

"My room."

Before I was even done changing one on the boys, Kimmie went to her room, gathered up her spoils, and returned with an armful of too-big clothes she had shopped for! My cute little Kimmie is a true girl.