Public vs. Private

Some background ...I have friends who have gone private with their blogs, and I did it for a while too, but anyone who knows us knows we are pretty open books about our lives. Who has not left a dinner with my husband and said at least once in the car on the way home "I can't believe he said that!"?

That having been said, my sweet daughter has someone bothering her online. They have tried to friend her on Facebook, sent messages after she has asked them not too, joined her networks as a sneaky back door attempt to see her profile, and NOW they are consistently viewing our blogs, and worse, our family photo site - looking at our precious memories and stealing our photos - creepy! She has let them know that their contact with her is unwelcome, yet they continue to behave this way.

So there's been some conversation in our home. She thought we should get a lawyer, send some kind of legal warning. We talked about making our blogs private, changing our Smugmug password to something only people we told would know. We talked about what it means to be respectful of other people and how best to respond when other people are not respectful of you.

The thing is, I don't mind sharing my life. I love sharing my pictures and smugmug has been blessing for my calling this summer - getting photos people wanted out a different way would have been a full time job for several people!

If you're reading this and you know me, chances are I love you and I'm glad you're reading this! If you're reading this and you're a stranger, let's be friends - I always love making new ones! Anyone is welcome here unless you have harassed my daughter - you're messing with mama instincts now! If you're reading this and you know I'm talking about you, please be respectful. Delete pictures you stole from me and don't return to this blog or Sara's or Geoffrey's or our picture site, and for goodness sake, leave her alone on Facebook.

September 11 was a good day to have this conversation. We haven't stopped getting on airplanes or going to public places because of terrorists and we decided as a family not to change the way we live online because of cyber terrorists.

Thanks for letting me share - Life is too short for worries, instead we'll focus on the fact that Life is Good.

Jack Bauer for Secretary of Defense

Sorry I couldn't get this to show up in the previous post, but here it is!

Don't You Just Want to Squeeze Her?

Look at this cutie - the new daughter of my brother Tim and his wife Romla. They are in Thailand, so it will probably be a while before I get to hold her. Yea for the internet - at least I get to see pictures of her!

Introducing Hana Madeline Markin:
And is just me, or does it look like Tim is trying to channel Jack Bauer? Tim after a few years laying on the beaches of Thailand: Jack Bauer after a few years in a Chinese prison:
That's OK - if we're lucky Jack Bauer will be our next Secretary of Defense:

I have two new blogger friends I'm super excited for! First is Kara - too bad for all of you, she's private. She's also one of the kindest and most creative people I've ever met. I never get to talk to her anymore so I hope she blogs a lot!

Second is Stephanie. Her kids are hilarious and she always says "If I had blog I could write about that ....". So now she can!

She doesn't have any pictures yet, but lucky for her I took a few while she was visiting a few weeks ago! We spent a whole glorious week at Education Week and then her family stayed one way-too-short night with us and were here for Nixon's priesthood ordination. Thanks Talon!!

She probably wants to kill me for putting this picture of Sarelle about to make a tasty snack out of our friend Wade, but I couldn't resist - how darling is that little princess?
And why couldn't our kids help us take a normal picture anyway?

Love you gals! Hope to see lots of updating and pictures :).

12 Years Already?!

Our little buddy is 12 today (oh, after midnight already? Make that yesterday!). I can hardly believe it! His big day started with presents before dad left for work (his dreams came true when he got a unicycle!).

His siblings made the traditional birthday breakfast in bed, which somehow was eaten at the table instead of actually in bed.

He registered for middle school - yikes! Don't you think if kids can actually fit in the lockers they should have breathing vents and emergency releases inside?

We were fleeced by George Lucas, er sorry, we went and saw Clone Wars, had his suit fitted for alterations, and finished the day with his request for dinner - peppery steak done by dad.

Nixon has always been our old soul, the man in the little boy's body. He can't wait for Sunday - he and his best friend Wade, who also just had a birthday - get to speak in church together, get ordained to the priesthood at the same time, and we'll have a BBQ with our families and friends together. Love you kiddo!

Is My Neck Glowing?

'Cause it feels a little red! These red neck symptoms have arisen due to a recent outing to the Summit County Fair Demolition Derby and the fact that it may have been one of the highlights of my sons' young lives!

Those drivers are crazy! Naturally, Nixon and Easton are already planning their entries into the demolition derby as soon as they are old enough.

We went with our fun friends - love you guys! Some other friends were driving one of the tow trucks, so the kids all hopped in for a while. They loved it!

In other fair news, the kids made some sweet cash off of their fine arts entries - in fact - everyone in my house brought home at least one Judges Choice - great job!

We already can't wait for next year!

Give Me a Break!

This is why I'm paying over $80.00 to fill the tank on my mini-van. Yes, my MINI VAN. I think this article says a lot about what is REALLY behind our high gas prices. You can't even buy a Natural Gas car yet in Utah, but believe me, our family will be getting one at our earliest opportunity.

Big Oil posts its biggest quarter ever

Profits of 6 top firms jumped to $51.5 billion on surge in crude price
Aug 02, 2008 04:30 AM

New York–Chevron Corp said yesterday record oil prices drove second-quarter earnings up 11 per cent to its highest-ever profit, but weak margins from gasoline production led to a big loss at its refining operations.
U.S. oil prices averaged slightly less than $125 (U.S.) a barrel in the quarter, nearly double the average from a year earlier. But gasoline prices only rose 25 per cent during that same period, resulting in weak profit margins for the fuel.
Chevron, the second largest U.S. oil company, said net income rose to $5.98 billion, or $2.90 a share, from $5.38 billion, or $2.52 a share, last year.
Analysts, on average, expected the company to earn around $3.02 a share.
Like its competitors, Chevron made the bulk of its money at its exploration and production arm, also known as the upstream, where income nearly doubled from a year ago to $7.25 billion.
Chevron said the average sales price for crude and natural gas liquids was $109 a barrel in the quarter, up from $57 a barrel in the year-earlier period.
In addition to Chevron, soaring commodity prices led to record quarters for Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Exxon Mobil logged the largest-ever quarterly operating profit for a U.S. company. Barring companies that made huge profits on one-time gains like bankruptcy settlements and spinoffs, Exxon Mobil holds the top 10 records for biggest U.S. quarterly earnings.
French energy company Total SA said yesterday its profit climbed 38.7 per cent in the second quarter to $7.38 billion as sales rose 23 per cent to $75.25 billion.
Total's earnings were at the top end of analysts' expectations.
Unlike some other oil majors, Total reported production growth of 1.3 per cent in the second quarter.
Altogether, the profits of the six companies jumped more than 40 per cent in the second quarter to $51.5 billion, the first time big Western oil companies have ever reached that level.
Also yesterday, Norway's state-controlled StatoilHydro ASA reported a 37 per cent rise in second-quarter net profits, to $3.7 billion.
At Chevron, the company division that refines and sells gasoline actually swung to a loss of $734 million in the quarter after earning $1.3 billion a year ago. The culprit: those same crude prices that lifted upstream earnings.
Like its peers, Chevron doesn't produce enough oil on its own to feed its refineries, forcing it to buy some on the open market.
Chevron said overall production in the quarter fell about 3 per cent from a year ago, hurt in part by production-sharing contracts.
It said startups will lift output in the second half.
From the Star's wire services