Disney on Ice

Never been to Disney on Ice before last Thursday. It was only ten bucks a ticket but that's because it cost twelve bucks for a bag of cotton candy that has the Disney logo on it. Anyway, not sure if I'm the target audience but that's alright. Should have heard the roar of squeals when various characters came out. I can honestly say I have never heard 10,000 kids scream at the same time before.

Afterwards we asked Henry what character was his favorite, he said it was Minnie Mouse. When we asked why he said because she was cute. Not quite sure how I feel about that. We just kept giggling about this SNL sketch. Too bad there isn't a Disney on Ice like this.

Volunteering

Let’s be honest, there are plenty of reasons to do academic studies on Mormons. Some good, some bad, some embarrassing. But to study Mormons and our habit to volunteer is a good one. I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of professional clergy over the past several years and I feel bad about it but I find myself smirking on the inside as I hear them complain that Mormon volunteers make their collegiate efforts null. Recently one clergy coworker remarked that she will never move to Utah because hospice chaplain duties are almost entirely performed by volunteers. But for those who have not seen it here is some of the results discovered by the University of Pennsylvania:

Time Travel

I've always been fascinated with time travel. Maybe its because one of the first movies I went to was Back to the Future which also happened to be the film Heidi and I watched prior to our first kiss.

This clip was discovered several months ago but it has been on my mind since I first saw it. Heidi says it creeps her out. The clip is from a Charlie Chaplin movie and distinctly shows a woman talking on her cell phone! I knew time travel was possible. Of course after playing Red Alert for almost two decades maybe it isn't a good idea after all.

Yet another reason...

There are many reasons we don't plan on living in Utah even though it is where the best Mormons go and the list of reasons just keeps getting longer. This was a recent article we stumbled across that is just mind blowing:

"Legislators passed Senate bill HB363 19-10 after a short debate during which many senators expressed their belief that sex education is meant for the home, not school.

'To replace the parent in the school setting, among people who we have no idea what their morals are, we have no ideas what their values are, yet we turn our children over to them to instruct them in the most sensitive sexual activities in their lives, I think is wrongheaded,' Republican state Sen. Stuart Reid said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The bill lifts the current requirement that all public schools must teach sex ed in grades 8 through 12. Districts would decide whether to offer sex ed classes that teach an abstinence-only curriculum, or not offer the course at all.

Teachers would be barred from talking about homosexuality even if asked about it by a student. They also must restrict their sexual education curriculum to advocating abstinence before marriage and remaining faithful to your spouse."

Can someone clarify this law for us? Maybe we are missing something here. Don't get us wrong, we are pro-abstinence only in relationships but is this law as ignorant, self-righteous and obtuse as this short article suggests? And the part about homosexuality, even the Bible talks about that so how does ignoring it help?

Hopefully the bill will stop there because this just seems like a step backwards. I know there are many in Zion that really want to "fit in" with the extreme views seen in other states but this is just silly. Lets be honest, the best way to pound anything in the minds of young people need to be done in the home and the school regardless what Stuart might think.

The Dog Park - 17th Street Paw Park

*** Our ongoing recollections of our adventures at Dog Parks across the USA ***

Located in Sarasota, FL the 17th Street Paw Park was the last dog park we went to during our stay in December 2009. As you can see the park is quite large and completely grass covered which is kind of nice because many dog parks have large portions covered in dirt. There were also a lot of obstacles for the dogs to play on, run through and jump over. Myla loves that kind of stuff, Bentley just barks at her. The only downside was there was not a lot of shade which is a little weird considering how many trees there are in Florida. You wouldn't think this would be an issue in December but in sunny Florida it is always an issue.

MEMORABLE EVENT: It wasn't so much the park but the situation. Only a couple days later our baby boy, Henry, had his first birthday. It was the only dog park we went to with the Springer Spaniel, Ivy, it was fun for all of them. It was also only a few days before Heidi's parents moved out of Florida for good. We haven't been back to that sunny peninsula since then so the 17th St Paw Park was one of our last dog adventure in that state. I miss going to Florida.