Vacation week

This week has been a full week. Tara and I decided to use her Jet Blue benefits for the first time. We flew to New York to see the sights. We didn't want to stay overnight because of the hotel prices there. We just walked all over the city and sped around on the subway system. It is a colorful city, we were about the only white people we saw with the exception of tourists from Europe.

The Statue of Liberty was pretty cool. We were really cold and tired by the time we got there. The statue of Liberty has made its way into our group of immortal national figures, that artists and directors use regularly in their craft. Ben Franklin, George Washington, Honest Abe, The Bald Eagle, Francis Scott Key, Paul Revere, General Patton... in all these figures the Statue of Liberty embodies all the ideals that they stand for. I felt that most of the people there were just there to get a picture for their collection without realizing the gravity and the important message and purpose Lady Liberty has. Of course it was 30 degrees and everyone wanted to be on their way quickly.

This is a really cool poem about the Statue of Liberty. It is written by Emma Lazarus.

"The New Colossus"
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

That night, Tara had to go directly back to SLC so she could work on Sunday. I took the kids on the flight to San Jose, and we spent a day and a half with my Mom and Dad. We were at the Atlantic ocean one day, and the Pacific the next.

The kids had so much fun climbing the redwood tree. Ali got stuck, and I had to go up to her rescue. Isaiah climbed 2/3 of the way to the top. Tara couldn't have handled it, so it's good she wasn't there. At the beach, I dug a big ol' trench, and all the kids around gravitated to it. We were preparing for the beach invasion. While I was there, I beat Tara's score at Geo Challenge. It's pretty funny how competitive we are with each other. It's only a matter of time before she beats me, and I'll have to up my game again. That's how we keep the romance alive. Geo Challenge love.

Constitution of the United States

Constitution of the United States
Originally uploaded by The Adventures of Tiff & Sean

Looked like the real thing.

Catch up

Texaco Mexico Pepsico Calexico with the California kicks kicks kicks and the super cooley tricks. That is one of Ali's little jump rope songs/ryhmes. Sorry we haven't posted in a while tough times. I have been getting written up at both my jobs. Job security is good at UPS but not at the JLTC. All the orders I write up have a clause saying continuation of order dependent on funding. Funding might go away with Obama. We are going to St George for Thxgvg and hopefully take a trip to California for the first time on Jet Blue. The week of ThxGvg may be a problem.
Does anyone have a boss or management that breathes down your neck or watches your every move? I do and it stinks. I don't just stop at one mistake I dwell on it and get flustered and think about it intensely and then I make a whole separate mistake. I don't want to list all of them but I always get a UPS truck that takes unleaded. Last Saturday I get in my truck go to top off the tank and after I finish I realize I just put unleaded gasoline in a diesel engine. Hope they don't fire me after peak. They will use me until peak is over then fire me probably.
Good people of California came together and made their voices heard. The side that lost is now beginning to persecute the church. Its very touching that they put out these very personal human interest stories about how Joe was partners with Bob for forty years and they loved each other more than any straight couple ever loved each other and how they didn't have any visitation rights or whatever because they were "gay". I know how these journalists work. Just like Stephanie Meyer gets us to love Bella and root for her; these columnists make these characters in their stories very likable and endearing. Don't fall for it and let pure emotion and sympathy take precedence over righteousness and practicality. Don't be guilted into changing your view by people calling you "haters" hate the sin not the sinner as they say. If you haven't heard there has been a major increase in vandalism to LDS churches along the Wasatch Front. Broken windows and one attempted arson.
For those of you that have read the Book of Mormon I suspect that the Gaddianton robbers were homosexual. That I remember there is zero mention of females or children among them and they always want people to join them. Reminds me of the City of Sodom and Gomorrah "send your men out that we may know them". Genesis. I probably misquoted but that was the gist of it.
It is getting way late I am going to bed before I go further into abstract and meaningless subjects. Maybe I will write again this weekend.

A Halloween post, intending to make Christine so homesick- she comes home!

Cameron's sister, Christine, has been living with her husband and three boys in Turkey. Our goal in writing this post is to make her so homesick for her favorite brother, her in- laws, and all her nieces and nephews... that she realize that Turkey is no fun. Utah is better. Come home!

This first picture is poor, sorry! It's the very end of the night, and every kid in sight was chasing and tackling Jason, because they didn't want him to go.


Right before we left, Cam was teasing Ewan, tickling and grabbing him from the car. I picked him up and handed him through the window to Cameron, and Peter said, "Yes, take him home please, he eats way too much. You can keep him." Anna ran into the house crying. Peter and Wendy thought it was because they had told her she needed to go change into pajamas... Nope, she really thought her Dad was giving Cuppy away.

A Halloween video at the Morkel's home.

You Missed a good party! And they even had real, ORANGE pumpkins!Ali Jump roping from house to house. Cecily made a cute bumble bee.

Ewan said he didn't get that scar when he fell from his second story window, into the basement window well below... It's just part of the costume- don't worry.

This one you really have to strain your eyes on... They were running so fast they were too far away to get a good picture. It's Anna, in her pink princess gown, chasing Isaiah, the fearless ninja. As you can imagine, he deserved it.

Cam borrowed Ewan's glasses for this Gandhi Pic. This is between hunger strikes.



Here's Ian, Peter and kids on the trick- or -treating circle.

Happy Halloween

So getting Cori to wear a costume took bribery... Luckily we happened to have candy on hand. She was a slow poke, so she ended up on Daddy's shoulders half the time. Can you see her hiding behind her Nemo costume?
Ali and her cousin, Jessica at the Springville main street trick-or-treat.

Looks likes a candy coma, doesn't it?


Isaiah, the Ninja... he is a sneaky little crapper.


Our angel, Ali at the school halloween parade.