Payson Temple!

It's not very often there's a temple announced in your very own home town! I am so excited that they announced the construction of a temple in my home town of Payson, Utah. I always thought we would get one there, though I thought it would be smack dab at the foot of "P" mountain. A farmers field is very fitting for this new design and I am happy to see that they have gone to great lengths to make it a really special one. Enjoy!

Everybody Hurts-Haiti

You wouldn't believe what our Prophets do!

I love conference time. It's like a holiday for our family. We have fun traditions that we usually enjoy, like crepes and strawberries for breakfast, and all the ladies hanging out together and chatting till we're blue in the face while the men are at Priesthood Conference. This season, when conference was still in the near future, Salem made a simple statement that had tears coming out of my eyes and my gut hurting fiercely. It was just as much the way she said it as what she said. I wish you could all hear her tone, but anyway...We were all going about our daily routines. We had NOT been talking about the upcoming conference (which was still a month or so away), or prophets for that matter when Salem came out of the bathroom with an out of the blue statement. She said loudly, matter-of-factly, and not without a heavy dose of sassiness, "Mom, I don't think the prophet goes poop." Can you imagine her shock when she learned that, yes, he does, and yes, so does everyone...even Jesus. She did not believe us. But hey, we're all human. And everybody poops.

Snippets of Italy and other Ramblings

I am still alive. Facebook is easier o.k. Went to Italy. Can't even tell you how much I loved it. It was like a fairy tale land. We stayed in a villa in the countryside of Umbria (the province next to Tuscany). Went to Florence, Pisa, Rome, Assisi, Perugia, Gubbio, Terni, and lots of little local communes. Posted a photo album of it on facebook. It's a work in progress because I have sooooo many pictures, most of which are vertical which gives me a headache to try to flip them all. Will post more when pigs fly. Kids are great. Growing up and oh so funny. James loves work, I love being a mom and for the first time we will have all of the ninos in school, if you count Silas being in preschool. Plan on picking up on my art again. The end.

The Man I Love

I just have to say that I have the best husband in the world. I am in here making dinner and I look out the front window and every kid in the neighborhood is on our front lawn. They're all lined up and taking turns twirling across the grass then finishing it off with a good summer-salt or two. And who is their ring leader, twirling right along with them? My James. I love this man. I love this man. I love this man! The sun is shining and the kids are smiling and I love this man.

Victory!!!

Niankoro Yeah Samake is now the new Mayor of Oulessebougou, Mali! Congrats friend and God bless! This makes Yeah Mayor over 44 villages in Mali, West Africa and is a pretty great resume addition for when he runs for President in 2012. SO STRANGE it will be if he wins the Presidential election. Hi, my name is Shelby. My husbands name is James. We have five kids and a dog. We like the outdoors and traveling. One of our best friends is the PRESIDENT of Mali! I don't doubt the possibility of it. He would be excellent.
James and I with His Excellency Abdoulaye Diop Ambassador of Mali. Through Yeah we've have had the privilege of the Ambassador's company at two or three of the Mali Rising dinner auctions and he and his wife are very kind, stately and impressive people.
Yeah and their extremely cute daughter, Carmen.
Marissa and their extremely cute son, Keanon, at whose birth I was present. We love you guys!

Anyone Up For A Trip To Cancun?

Our next door neighbor and his daughter have a trip planned for Cancun in May. How fun is that? His wife and I were talking about all of the positives about this exciting trip, like how they could be the ones who get to introduce the Swine Flu into Utah! And how we can rename our street. Here's some of the street names we brainstormed and we'd like to hear your vote on the issue as to which one has the best ring to it. We'd appreciate your votes as this will be happening soon. Happy traveling!

Swine Street
Deadly Flu Lane
Peaceful Plague Lane
Epidemic Avenue
Pandemic Place
Deadly Drive
Swine Circle
Lockdown Lane

Je Vote Samake!

We have some wonderful and amazing friends, Yeah and Marissa Samake. We have known the Samake's for around 4 years now and James works with Yeah on the board for the Mali Rising Foundation. They have become dear friends to us. We have had many good memories with the Samake's and have been through both tough times and wonderful times together. These guys are the cream of the crop and we're so thankful to know them. Yeah is now running for Mayor in Mali, West Africa. I just wanted to post a little blog and say, if I could vote for him I would! Best wishes Yeah, and you are in our prayers. Below is an article on Yeah from the Deseret News. The political artwork is for Yeah's campaign and was designed by James.

Ambition: Malian immigrant in Utah running for mayor of 44 African villages

By Carma Wadley
Deseret News
Published: Friday, April 10, 2009 2:01 a.m. MDT
Growing up in a poor village in Western Africa, Niankoro Yeah Samake did something that only one in five children in Mali do: He lived past the age of 5.
Later on, he did something accomplished by only 15 percent of the people in the region of Ouelessebougou (Wa-less-uh-boo-goo): He learned to read and write.
And then he did something managed by just a select few Malians. First he obtained a bachelor's degree in English as a second language in his home country. Then he came to Utah and earned a master's degree from Brigham Young University.
Samake now hopes to beat the odds once more: While serving as executive director of a charitable foundation in Sandy called Mali Rising, he is running for mayor of Ouelessebougou.
Politics in Mali are very different from politics here, he says. In Mali, each political party puts forth a slate of 23 candidates for councilmen. After the election, the party with the majority then elects the mayor from their elected councilmen.
"My name is at the top of the list," he says, "so if my party gets the majority, I will be the mayor."
Sadly, he says, corruption is a big problem in Malian politics. "It has taken its toll. My party wanted someone who would not want to use taxes for their personal gain. They wanted someone who could provide leadership and vision."
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They couldn't find a suitable candidate locally. Party leaders knew of Samake through his work with Mali Rising, which has provided education and other help in the area. "So, they called me here to see if I would be interested."
He was. He has spent time over that past few months campaigning in Mali and will return to Africa for the final two weeks of the campaign the last part of April. Election Day is April 26.
"If I am elected, I will be mayor over 44 villages in the area," he says. "It is a very exciting opportunity."
If elected, Samake will travel back and forth for the next couple of years, still doing work with the foundation here. But his eventual goal has always been to return to his homeland, which he loves deeply. "We will just need to find someone else to take over the foundation."
That has been a chief point of his campaign, he says. "People there don't believe that someone who has lived here wants to come back, so I have to convince them of that."
He has the support of the local Griot, and that helps a lot, Samake says. In Mali, the vetting process for candidates goes through the Griot, who is the repository of history in the village. "He tells the merit of each candidate through the family line. If the grandfather has done anything immoral or been guilty of misconduct, or if the father has, it can discredit you. But my grandfather was the chief of the village, and my father was known as someone who gave a lot to the community."
Samake is proud of that heritage and credits a lot of it for his own desire to improve his country.
Thirteen parties have put forth candidates for the election. His party, the Union for Republic and Democracy, is the second major party in Mali. "It is big and well established, but they didn't have someone who could play the major role they wanted. They are OK with the fact that I will be coming back and forth for awhile. My main role as mayor will be to provide the leadership and vision required to meet our goals."
Meeting goals is nothing new to Samake. He came into contact with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York in 2000 and joined the church. Through the generous sponsorship of a family in Colorado, he was able to go to BYU and earn a master's degree in public policy.
As director of the Mali Rising foundation, he has been involved in numerous projects, including building schools (the ninth school will be finished in June); medical missions that have helped more than 4,000 patients, including 300 surgeries and dental care for 1,000 residents; and providing computers for high schools and universities.
"When I first came here to do my master's degree, I had never even used a computer," Samake says. "Now our students can use them in high school. That's a tremendous thing."
Progress is being made, but there is still a long way to go, he says. "Ouelessebougou consistently ranks in the bottom 10 out of 703 municipalities in Mali." Through leadership and commitment, and the work of others, "I think we can be in the top 10."
He wants a better Mali for his children.
Samake met his wife, Marissa, who is from India, while she was a student at BYU. "She joined the church at BYU," he says. "We have talked about it, and she is OK with going back to Mali." The Samakes have two children, a son, Kenan, age 3; and a daughter, Carmen, 7 months.
Even if he is not elected, Samake will eventually return to his country and hopes to be more involved in leadership and politics. "I have enjoyed freedom, democracy and abundance. I want to help Mali reach a comfortable level. I think it can compete in a global market. I think my people can enjoy abundance, that they can enjoy the freedom of going to school, and escape preventable diseases. That is not too much to ask."
Samake knows it will not be easy. "It is never easy to reach such goals. But I also know it won't come from the outside, that's for sure. It will require the participation of all Mali."
For now, it starts with a vision of what can be. He hopes that the people of his country will share his vision, take it as their own. During his seven years in the United States, Samake has learned an important truth.
"Once the mind is stretched," he says, "it never goes back."

Harvard Student Represents Church

This little video is worth your time. Job well done Rachel Esplin. James and I enjoyed watching the other students as well. This discussion once again confirms to me what a good thing we have in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Enjoy!

http://hillel.harvard.edu/media/videos/550

When opportuniy Knocks...

When opportunity so conveniently knocks on your door, do you let it in? I have been thinking for many years now about a certain topic on which I'd like to state my opinion. I think there is erroneous thinking going on within the membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when it comes to members of other faiths. I am not sure what clicked in my brain that made me make the switch in thinking some 10 years ago. Perhaps it was the fact that I was now married with my own life and a desire to structure it in my own way. I recall when I was young, that when the Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on our door we were quick to shut it. "We're not interested!", my parents would say and close the door just as fast as humanly possible. Why do we do this? It makes no sense really. Maybe we are not interested in converting to their faith. But have we ever paused to think what we might be able to share with them? Or should we just sit on our high horses and keep the Gospel of Jesus Christ to ourselves? Better yet, have we considered that we just might learn something by inviting them in for a gospel discussion? I know I have. We don't have to agree to get along. We all interpret the scriptures differently and it is quite enlightening to discover that people of other faiths are not just a bunch of crazy wayward nutcases, but do in fact, have reasons (just as we have) for believing what they believe. This does not mean that I have to believe them to be right, but rather, that I recognize that most of them are just good people trying to serve the Lord in the best way they know how. How can we expect to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, however, when the opportunity knocks right on our front doors and we shew it away? We don't have to feel threatened by such encounters, but look at these individuals as our dear Brothers and Sisters in the Gospel, as friends, and communicate with them on that level. There is no need to get our panties in a ruffle when we disagree. We can politely carry on discussions in a manner that each party recognizes that we differ in our beliefs and interpretations but are interested in one another and why we believe what we believe. Though doctrinal differences can be a sensitive topic, those who truly seek the mind of God need not fear such differences in opinion. So...if you've ever slammed the door on a Jehovah's Witness, gotten in a tizzy with an Evangelical, or cursed the Muslims for their Islamic Extremists, I invite you to wake up. People are not so cut and dried. There is a better way. The world is full of the good and the bad, and there is no particular religion that can successfully be applied to either. I invite you to open your eyes and see what you may have missed before. Opportunity!

You Could Get Them In American!

Last night I had a laugh attack. Remember those? I mean serious laugh attack. And not just me either. James too. I used to get these often as a youngster. The kind where you are laughing so hard your gut feels like it's going to implode and you're crying your eyes out. Then snot begins to escape your nostrils and you start choking on your own spit. All the while you're rolling on the floor and trying your darnedest not to pass out as your laughs begin to sound more like wheezing than laughing. James and I came across a book that we'd lost. It's a little notebook that I made and we had decided to write down funny, witty, or special things said by members of our family. Here's what we read in this little book that kicked off the laugh attacks.

James Sleep Talking ( I was still awake but we were both laying in bed)
James- You could get them in American.
Me- What?
James- You know, and turn them into...I forget what they're called... Window wells! You could get them in American.
Me- But why would we need window wells?
James- For writing and distributing symbols and signs. The written word.

p.s. notice the horizontal marks on James' face. They are from falling asleep with a book on his face. Something that, oddly enough, he does on a very regular basis. I love that man.

Create!

Napoleon and other Random Characters

Would you believe me if I told you that the above child has never seen Napoleon Dynamite? Yet here's Mills fully decked out as her version of a ninja. Oh joy!

This is my little handsome devil. Is not he irresistible?

I Don't Wanna Go To Hell!

So it was family home evening tonight and James decided to take the kids on a boat ride through the afterlife. Can everyone say Egyptology? Odd, I know, but they're kids o.k. We do whatever works to keep their attention. The boat is in the jetted tub. It's big. It fits the family, so it works for a hypothetical "boat". While James is explaining the rules, such as, no turning on the water or touching the faucet he says that if anyone breaks the rules they will go straight to bed. Then Eliza pipes up in her chipmunk voice and states matter of factually, "Bed is Hell." We all laugh. Then to top it off, Drew chimes in, "I don't wanna go to Hell!" While in the boat we are having the lesson. Salem raises her hand and asks. "But how do we get to Jesus' house, like up to his door?" So cute. We explain to her that Jesus will show us the way to His house. If we believe He is our Savior and follow His commandments on earth then He will show us the way to His house. Gotta love it. One of my favorite things about being a parent is just the funny things my kids say. Happy Family Night everyone!

This video is of our "travels".

The Mormon/Christian Plight

I really could drone on and on about this topic but instead I'll just add this little thought that I posted on my facebook.

I have hopes that the Evangelical and other Christian communities will become more educated about the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and in so doing come recognize our deeply Christian stance. Though not all of our doctrines mesh with theirs, the one that makes us Christian certainly does; That Christ, as the divine Son of God, is our Savior and Redeemer and it is only in and through Him that we can be saved in the Kingdom of God! I have many friends of other Faiths and most of them have come to recognize Mormons as brothers and sisters in the Gospel of Christ. It is my hope that this sentiment will prevail, and despite our differences (for there are many, but not just between Mormons and mainstream Christians. There are many foundational differences in belief that are glaringly evident between Christians of all persuasions) nevertheless, we can all come together in the unity of the Faith and work together for righteousness in the world, a force to be reckoned with against the powers that seek the downfall of all that is praiseworthy or good in the sight of God. Differences will remain. But the basic belief in Christ as our Savior the one who atoned for our sins if we repent should unite us in Him.

Obama Gives Us a Lesson on How to Please the People

I've posted a link below. I don't know how to make it active because as I have said before, I have issues with this hunk of machinery in front of me. But you can copy and paste it into your browser to view it. Sorry.

Let me make it clear. I do not hate Obama. I seriously considered voting for him. But this is an interesting move on his part but not surprising. I should be pleased, but instead, I am very frustrated with politics. There are things that I liked and disliked about both candidates. Certain very important topics, however, led me to vote Republican as they most often do. I would love to think that this move on Obama's part shows some inner conviction on a much heated topic, I don't know. But even if it does, I can't condone the method in which he reveals such. He told the LGTB community what they wanted to hear in order to get a vote. It's dishonest and our country stands by and allows it with every candidate that runs for president, all in the name of politics. Politicians are given a special "I can lie to please the people" ticket while running and in office, and we just nod our heads and say "It's all part of the game". We don't realize that there is no game. This is it. Life is it. You are who you are and no cover will hide you when it is time for judgment. Not politics, or church positions, civic duties or any other title we assume or costume we don. We can pretend all we want but it will not matter in the end who we pretended to be, but who we are. I wish that someone would stand up and tell us what they believe in for a better America and then actually stand by it. If Obama opposes gay marriage then we should have heard about it during his run. I truly hope that he is a good man. I for one wait for One who is better.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081217/pl_politico/16693

Christmas Time

It's just been one of those good years that somehow worked out and has not been stressful. We have enjoyed lots of baking; everything from homemade cocoa & mallows to pumpkin rolls, have attended a few parties, made snowmen and sledded (4-wheeler style anyway) and have truly enjoyed it all. Here are a few pics minus the ones from our other camera. I'll have to post those when I have enough patience to convert them to my computer (something that is really hard for me for some reason). Enjoy!

Because of our involvement in Mali Rising Foundation, each Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years break we host a Malian student from Wasatch Academy. It has been so rewarding to get to know these amazing kids. They come from a very different world than ours and I think they are very brave to come spend their high school years here without being able to visit their families much if at all. They are very good students and are getting 4.0's consistently even though they are still learning English. This year we have Fatou Sene and she is such a beautiful and sweet girl. Christmas is always fun with these students as they get to experience all of the joy and beauty that surrounds this time of year and be introduced to Christianity. It has been an honor to be a part of that and teach them how Christ is so central to our lives. Because Mali is a primarily Muslim country they learn of Christ as a great prophet but do not believe him to be the Son of God. So it has been rewarding to see Fatou and some of the other students latch on to those idea's and not oppose them. Fatou loves the song "I am a child of God". She copied it down from our hymn book while we were at church. Doctrinally Muslims do not believe God is our father, but our creator only. Truth is truth however, and I believe that those seeking it will not turn it away no matter their religious orientation. Line upon line...

All tuckered out.