Pictures from the Fall

Here are some new photos that we have taken from September and October of 2009

Click HERE to view photos

Love

M N & C

What was it about Portland?

Lay 'Em Down

Charlotte Pics

Great Article - Yahoo Finance

Laura Rowley Money & Happiness

Why I Canned the Cable
by Laura Rowley
Posted on Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 12:00AM
This week I went cold turkey and eliminated our cable television service entirely -- even the basic channels.

Despite our family's participation in the library summer reading program, educational camp activities (including the dissection of a sheep's eyeball), trips to museums, daily swim team practice and the new trampoline in the backyard, my kids still zoomed back to the big screen whenever they had a second of downtime -- a 48-inch, high def, Pied Piper living in the basement.

The breaking point came when my 6-year-old, Holly, got $5 from the tooth fairy and offered some of her stash to my 9-year-old, Charlotte. Charlotte said, "That's okay Holly, you should save your money." Holly literally glazed over and responded: "Save money. Live better. Wal-Mart."

My decision to ditch Comcast was fortified by a recent interview with researcher Angela Lee Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Harvard, Duckworth taught high school, and found a number of students were reading far below grade level despite high IQ. A lack of self-control was the problem.

She returned for her Ph.D. at Penn to study something she calls "grit" -- a combination of courage, focus, the ability to delay gratification and persevere over the long-term -- that leads to success. (It's something I talk about in my values class at Seton Hall University, but we call it fortitude, one of the cardinal virtues of Western philosophy -- along with prudence, justice and temperance.)

Duckworth has conducted a range of studies with students, from middle school, to Ivy League undergrads, to West Point cadets, testing both their ability to delay gratification and their intelligence. "The basic findings are that we could predict grades much better from self-control scores than from IQ scores," Duckworth says. For example, a study of eighth graders she conducted with Penn's Martin Seligman found self-control was twice as predictive as IQ in academic success.

Learning Self-Control

Duckworth's research builds on the work of Walter Mischel, who pioneered self-regulation psychology. He conducted a series of experiments in the 1960s with four-year-olds, offering them a marshmallow treat and then testing their ability to resist. He continued to follow the participants and found that the pre-schoolers who could delay gratification had better outcomes as adults in a variety of areas. The child who could wait 15 minutes had an SAT score that was 210 points higher than one who could wait only 30 seconds. The more impulsive children also had a higher body-mass index as adults and were more likely to have had problems with drugs.

What does all this have to do with our cable service? Self-control is not just a genetic blessing, but something that can be taught and enhanced with practice. Duckworth and Mischel have both found that one key is simply eliminating distractions that hijack focus and attention. (Although we don't allow the kids to watch TV during the school week, the stations were constantly churning out new inane junk I had to ban on weekends and holidays. Ever seen "Total Drama Island" on Cartoon Network? Or frankly, most of the programming on Cartoon Network?)

Another technique that boosts grit is goal-setting and planning. "It's good to have a specific goal that's challenging as opposed to just a vague inclination: 'I'm going to do great in school this year' is not a good goal because there's no clear feedback," says Duckworth. "A better goal would be 'I'm going to turn in homework five days out of five in math class, which I'm always struggling with' because when the week comes along and it's four out of five, you have clear feedback."

Researchers also favor basic parenting rituals that encourage kids to wait and make waiting worthwhile -- whether it's not eating snacks before dinner or requiring them to do chores or practice piano before they play on the computer. If a kid asks for an iPod or other expensive item, offer to match the funds they save up. It was amazing to watch my oldest get entrepreneurial and save up $75 for her half of the Nano. Don't abandon your expectations in the face of tantrums or sulking.

Another key to self-control is managing the background cues. Researchers Andrew Ward of Swarthmore College and Traci Mann of the University of Minnesota have conducted a series of studies on what people pay attention to and how that affects their self-control.

For instance, in a study of smokers who expressed an interest in quitting, participants were exposed to cues encouraging them to quit (including an ad for the annual "Kick Butts Day"). When their attention was unconstrained -- that is, they weren't focused on any task in particular -- participants exposed to the "quit smoking" cues tended to rebel against the messages and smoke excessively. But when their attention was narrowed with a cognitive task, participants exposed to the background antismoking message substantially reduced their smoking.

In other words, once attention is focused on a specific task, supportive background cues can boost someone's ability to accomplish a goal. "Try to arrange (the) environment such that the most prominent cues aid self-control efforts," Ward wrote in an email. "So, for example, try keeping salient reminders around that help one stick to a (task)."

Setting Specific Goals

For short-term tasks like homework, that might mean prominently posting the assignments for the night, time limits and a possible reward for finishing everything on time. Have kids write out longer-term goals and deadlines for the month or semester and post them in their study space. Minimize distractions such as television, cell phones, iPods and the like.

The same concept works for parents trying to reach a financial goal, Ward says, because the wrong background cues can actually undermine discipline. Certain distractions "can sabotage attempts at self-control, such as when someone sees an enticing ad on TV for an attractive product and ends up impulsively purchasing it," Ward notes. "Remove from that environment those stimuli that try to undermine your efforts; turn off the TV, especially when distracted or fatigued -- times when we might be most susceptible to the influence of advertising."

Another strategy: Put a piece of masking tape on your credit card with a reminder of your larger goal ("college," "retirement" or "home down payment") to thwart short-term temptations.

One of my biggest goals as a parent is consciously guiding my kids toward the things in life that are worth paying attention to (and away from Total Drama Island).

"Deciding what to pay attention to for this hour, day, week or year, much less a lifetime, is a peculiarly human predicament, and your quality of life depends largely on how you handle it," writes Winifred Gallagher in her recent book "Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life." "We must deliberately select targets, from activities to relationships, that are worthy of our finite supplies of time and attention."

Self-control psychology is enormously important in personal finance, as well. Over the years I've found the biggest financial blunders are not made by investing in the wrong stock or launching an ill-conceived business, but by failing to pay attention, by earning and spending unconsciously and by ignoring the basics. The people who focus on identifying their values, set specific goals with crystal-clear dollar amounts and timeframes, and show enough discipline to monitor their progress, typically succeed, even when life throws them curveballs -- or marshmallows.

For other techniques that boost academic achievement and finances, see my blog.

Two Cows

Two Cows

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank,
then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called ‘Cowkimon’ and market it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

Baby Charlotte

How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable

A Republican and a Democrat walk into a bar — a coffee bar, that is.

That's the plan, anyway.

But, as Republican Mark DeMoss and Democrat Lanny Davis will tell you, a civil conversation can take place anywhere.

They are behind The Civility Project, which launched in January. Their goal is simple but lofty: To get Americans to agree to disagree without being disagreeable.

DeMoss and Davis are calling on liberals, conservatives, Democrats, Republicans and people of all faiths to take the "pledge," which reads:

I will be civil in my public discourse and behavior.
I will be respectful of others whether or not I agree with them.
I will stand against incivility when I see it.

To take the pledge, enter your first and last name and country at www.civilityproject.org.

DeMoss, president of his own public-relations firm — The DeMoss Group — said the project took shape during last year's election season.

"I had spent about two years volunteering for Mitt Romney, and I saw a lot of ugly rhetoric and behavior aimed at Mormons and then at me," he said. "And then the results of the Proposition 8 vote in California contributed to my thinking — when you saw gay activists responding to the (marriage-amendment) vote by vandalizing churches and temples.

"I decided to launch a project where I would talk not about unity, not about tolerance, not about getting along, not about compromise, but just about civility."

DeMoss' unlikely partner in the project is Lanny Davis, a longtime adviser to the Clintons who has served three terms on the Democratic National Committee.

Their paths crossed last year, as Davis was immersed in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. DeMoss was so impressed with Davis' civil tone that he wrote him a letter.

"I suspect that politically you and I may have nothing in common," he wrote. "But as I've watched you conduct yourself in the public arena, I've always appreciated how you handled yourself, how you handle your adversaries, how you show respect for those who disagree with you, and for modeling civility in an increasingly uncivil town."

Davis is used to getting mail — but not this kind.

"I'm getting all this hate mail, and I get this amazing letter from a perfect stranger who identifies himself as an evangelical Christian," Davis said. "I always try to give deference to somebody who disagrees with me. That is the point Mark made in his letter, that he noticed that about me, that I always try to be respectful of people who are of a different opinion.

"The letter was so beautifully written and moved me so greatly. It's now framed on my bookcase."

DeMoss invited Davis to join The Civility Project late last year.

"When Mark called me about the project, the concept was exactly what I had written about in my book in 2006," Davis said. "It was like two parallel roads could cross. He was using exactly the vocabulary, the values, the approach to political debate and disagreement that I had been using already. It was almost as if we were brothers who had never met.

"Apart from everything else, we liked each other and respected each other," he said. "Mark understands that words matter, the way you express yourself matters, and the way you talk about people matters."

Davis said he is liberal on "every issue" and believes DeMoss is "wrong about almost everything."

Yet, they like each other.

Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, has repeatedly suggested that his staff invite those who disagree with them to share a cup of coffee — his own civility project.

"I use that coffee expression as a real-world way of saying, 'Let's have a conversation, face-to-face, get to know each other and what informs our worldviews,' " he said. "And when we hit a subject on which we don't share the same values, let's talk about those issues with boldness and passion, yes, but with mutual respect, too."

Daly said it's important for Christians to remember that we are called not only to stand up for our convictions, but to love our neighbor, as well.

"Those are not mutually exclusive exhortations," he said. "Every human being deserves dignity and respect. The Civility Project, from the perspective of those of us who are Christians, calls us to remember that we are followers of Christ first, members of a political party or ideology second."

DeMoss said there are plenty of options for civil discourse.

"Writing is a terrific way to argue and debate," he said. "And that's one of the positive things about the information age — anybody can be a writer. Sit down and write a reasoned argument. Submit an opinion piece to a newspaper. Publish a blog. And if you're in a face-to-face debate, just be respectful. Make your case. And know what you're talking about."

Davis said America needs more people who believe in civility politics to speak out.

The first step, he said, is to "take on people of your own ideology." Next, "we need members of Congress and others in the political arena to sign on to these principles."

Those who sign the civility pledge will not receive e-mails or fundraising requests. DeMoss said he hasn't even counted the signatures.

"I decided — and this runs counter to modern-day marketing principles—I was not trying to build a mailing list," he said. "I'm not trying to raise money. I've not sent a single e-mail to people that have taken this pledge."

Early Adoption of Language

Unraveling how children become bilingual so easily
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical Writer
Tue Jul 21, 3:08 am ET

WASHINGTON – The best time to learn a foreign language: Between birth and age 7. Missed that window?

New research is showing just how children's brains can become bilingual so easily, findings that scientists hope eventually could help the rest of us learn a new language a bit easier.

"We think the magic that kids apply to this learning situation, some of the principles, can be imported into learning programs for adults," says Dr. Patricia Kuhl of the University of Washington, who is part of an international team now trying to turn those lessons into more teachable technology.

Each language uses a unique set of sounds. Scientists now know babies are born with the ability to distinguish all of them, but that ability starts weakening even before they start talking, by the first birthday.

Kuhl offers an example: Japanese doesn't distinguish between the "L" and "R" sounds of English — "rake" and "lake" would sound the same. Her team proved that a 7-month-old in Tokyo and a 7-month-old in Seattle respond equally well to those different sounds. But by 11 months, the Japanese infant had lost a lot of that ability.

Time out — how do you test a baby? By tracking eye gaze. Make a fun toy appear on one side or the other whenever there's a particular sound. The baby quickly learns to look on that side whenever he or she hears a brand-new but similar sound. Noninvasive brain scans document how the brain is processing and imprinting language.

Mastering your dominant language gets in the way of learning a second, less familiar one, Kuhl's research suggests. The brain tunes out sounds that don't fit.

"You're building a brain architecture that's a perfect fit for Japanese or English or French," whatever is native, Kuhl explains — or, if you're a lucky baby, a brain with two sets of neural circuits dedicated to two languages.

It's remarkable that babies being raised bilingual — by simply speaking to them in two languages — can learn both in the time it takes most babies to learn one. On average, monolingual and bilingual babies start talking around age 1 and can say about 50 words by 18 months.

Italian researchers wondered why there wasn't a delay, and reported this month in the journal Science that being bilingual seems to make the brain more flexible.

The researchers tested 44 12-month-olds to see how they recognized three-syllable patterns — nonsense words, just to test sound learning. Sure enough, gaze-tracking showed the bilingual babies learned two kinds of patterns at the same time — like lo-ba-lo or lo-lo-ba — while the one-language babies learned only one, concluded Agnes Melinda Kovacs of Italy's International School for Advanced Studies.

While new language learning is easiest by age 7, the ability markedly declines after puberty.

"We're seeing the brain as more plastic and ready to create new circuits before than after puberty," Kuhl says. As an adult, "it's a totally different process. You won't learn it in the same way. You won't become (as good as) a native speaker."

Yet a soon-to-be-released survey from the Center for Applied Linguistics, a nonprofit organization that researches language issues, shows U.S. elementary schools cut back on foreign language instruction over the last decade. About a quarter of public elementary schools were teaching foreign languages in 1997, but just 15 percent last year, say preliminary results posted on the center's Web site.

What might help people who missed their childhood window? Baby brains need personal interaction to soak in a new language — TV or CDs alone don't work. So researchers are improving the technology that adults tend to use for language learning, to make it more social and possibly tap brain circuitry that tots would use.

Recall that Japanese "L" and "R" difficulty? Kuhl and scientists at Tokyo Denki University and the University of Minnesota helped develop a computer language program that pictures people speaking in "motherese," the slow exaggeration of sounds that parents use with babies.

Japanese college students who'd had little exposure to spoken English underwent 12 sessions listening to exaggerated "Ls" and "Rs" while watching the computerized instructor's face pronounce English words. Brain scans — a hair dryer-looking device called MEG, for magnetoencephalography — that measure millisecond-by-millisecond activity showed the students could better distinguish between those alien English sounds. And they pronounced them better, too, the team reported in the journal NeuroImage.

"It's our very first, preliminary crude attempt but the gains were phenomenal," says Kuhl.

But she'd rather see parents follow biology and expose youngsters early. If you speak a second language, speak it at home. Or find a play group or caregiver where your child can hear another language regularly.

"You'll be surprised," Kuhl says. "They do seem to pick it up like sponges."

Cash Crops to the Rescue

Leave it to Puru Saxena

Trials Come to Test our Faith

James 1:2-8

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

Given the economic circumstances we all face trials today some greater than others. God tells us to consider it "pure joy" because it stretches us and we develop perseverance and a reliance on our creator. It's easy to say when you are not going through a trial yourself to persevere. It's in times like these God will reveal His perfect will in our lives. I have seen it in my own life and I know His timing is perfect. My prayer is that we grow in our faith. God gave us everything and our lives should be lived to serve Him and only Him! Thank you Lord for sending your son that we might live, face trials, and grow in your word and wisdom.

Drive Texting

Huntington Lake

Our family joined my Dad's side of the family to disperse Grandma Junes ashes in her favorite camping place while she was alive. It was a great time with family and getting to know some of my Dad's cousins that I had never met before.

The lake sits at 7,300 ft elevation and while it was beautiful it was not very warm, especially out on the lake. Glad we brought our coats! It was a fantastic trip with the highlight being spending time with our family. We hope to make more outings of this sort in the near future.

Click HERE for the pictures of Huntington Lake.

Enjoy,

N M & C

Carmel California Pictures

We made a stop at our favorite California beach community Carmel. We had a wonderful two day visit which included taking the Pebble Beach Tour and spending time walking on the beach.

Click HERE for the pictures

Enjoy,

N M & C

Yosemite Pictures

We are back and now are getting around to updating our pictures

Overall a wonderful vacation and what a beautiful creation this place is. God's finger prints are all over it.

Click HERE for pictures of our Yosemite Trip

Enjoy,

N M & C

Jesus is Everything!

Home Prices to Keep Falling?

"CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY"
June 7, 2009
ECONOMIC VIEW
Why Home Prices May Keep Falling

By ROBERT J. SHILLER
HOME prices in the United States have been falling for nearly three years, and the decline may well continue for some time.

Even the federal government has projected price decreases through 2010. As a baseline, the stress tests recently performed on big banks included a total fall in housing prices of 41 percent from 2006 through 2010. Their “more adverse” forecast projected a drop of 48 percent — suggesting that important housing ratios, like price to rent, and price to construction cost — would fall to their lowest levels in 20 years.

Such long, steady housing price declines seem to defy both common sense and the traditional laws of economics, which assume that people act rationally and that markets are efficient. Why would a sensible person watch the value of his home fall for years, only to sell for a big loss? Why not sell early in the cycle? If people acted as the efficient-market theory says they should, prices would come down right away, not gradually over years, and these cycles would be much shorter.

But something is definitely different about real estate. Long declines do happen with some regularity. And despite the uptick last week in pending home sales and recent improvement in consumer confidence, we still appear to be in a continuing price decline.

There are many historical examples. After the bursting of the Japanese housing bubble in 1991, land prices in Japan’s major cities fell every single year for 15 consecutive years.

Why does this happen? One could easily believe that people are a little slower to sell their homes than, say, their stocks. But years slower?

Several factors can explain the snail-like behavior of the real estate market. An important one is that sales of existing homes are mainly by people who are planning to buy other homes. So even if sellers think that home prices are in decline, most have no reason to hurry because they are not really leaving the market.

Furthermore, few homeowners consider exiting the housing market for purely speculative reasons. First, many owners don’t have a speculator’s sense of urgency. And they don’t like shifting from being owners to renters, a process entailing lifestyle changes that can take years to effect.

Among couples sharing a house, for example, any decision to sell and switch to a rental requires the assent of both partners. Even growing children, who may resent being shifted to another school district and placed in a rental apartment, are likely to have some veto power.

In fact, most decisions to exit the market in favor of renting are not market-timing moves. Instead, they reflect the growing pressures of economic necessity. This may involve foreclosure or just difficulty paying bills, or gradual changes in opinion about how to live in an economic downturn.

This dynamic helps to explain why, at a time of high unemployment, declines in home prices may be long-lasting and predictable.

Imagine a young couple now renting an apartment. A few years ago, they were toying with the idea of buying a house, but seeing unemployment all around them and the turmoil in the housing market, they have changed their thinking: they have decided to remain renters. They may not revisit that decision for some years. It is settled in their minds for now.

On the other hand, an elderly couple who during the boom were holding out against selling their home and moving to a continuing-care retirement community have decided that it’s finally the time to do so. It may take them a year or two to sort through a lifetime of belongings and prepare for the move, but they may never revisit their decision again.

As a result, we will have a seller and no buyer, and there will be that much less demand relative to supply — and one more reason that prices may continue to fall, or stagnate, in 2010 or 2011.

All of these people could be made to change their plans if a sharp improvement in the economy got their attention. The young couple could change their minds and decide to buy next year, and the elderly couple could decide to further postpone their selling. That would leave us with a buyer and no seller, providing an upward kick to the market price.

For this reason, not all economists agree that home price declines are really predictable. Ray Fair, my colleague at Yale, for one, warns that any trend up or down may suddenly be reversed if there is an economic “regime change” — a shift big enough to make people change their thinking.

But market changes that big don’t occur every day. And when they do, there is a coordination problem: people won’t all change their views about homeownership at once. Some will focus on recent price declines, which may seem to belie any improvement in the economy, reinforcing negative attitudes about the housing market.

Even if there is a quick end to the recession, the housing market’s poor performance may linger. After the last home price boom, which ended about the time of the 1990-91 recession, home prices did not start moving upward, even incrementally, until 1997.

Robert J. Shiller is professor of economics and finance at Yale and co-founder and chief economist of MacroMarkets LLC.

Charlotte Eats a Pickle!

From Spring Summer 09

Click on picture to start video.

New Pictures of our Family

We have in this photo real (Faye's baby shower, random house shots of Charlotte, Graduation from George Fox, Nathan's MBA party, Charlotte and Leonardo, Charlotte's first pickle experience, camping at Smith Rock, and last Charlotte's six month old party that is today!)

All that is in these photos. We have some good ones, hope you enjoy them!

CLICK HERE

Love,

The Sackett's

Worst is Yet to Come

Youth Magnet' Cities Hit Midlife Crisis

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124242099361525009.html

Interesting article on the job scene in PDX.

Enjoy

1934 Cartoon - Still True Today

Laugh a little

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

Tax Day Tea Party!

Anybody else fed up with a President and Congress who spend our money on failed companies and organizations? Well it's time to unite and demonstrate (peacefully of course). None of us can complain about it if we are not working to fix the problem or at least show our disgust with what is happening in this country. Here is the plan and details below. We will be meeting at Pioneer Courthouse Square on tax day April 15th 2009 and will march from there to the waterfront to raise awareness that we are fed up with frivolous spending, bailouts of bankrupt companies, and a President who is looking at converting our currency to the Amero! We need fiscal responsibility and the capitalist system to work without government intervention. We have perfect examples (Japan) of what happens when you try and print your way out of a recession. It does not work and it further weakens our currency, the surviving companies, and builds huge debt. We (USA) now are the largest debt holder of any country in the world - does that not scare you? It should! We have a President and his Treasury Secretary who do not get it. Join with us on tax day and let's start moving in the right direction.

What: Tax Day Tea Party.
When: Wednesday April 15, 6:00pm - 8:10pm
Where: Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, OR (see below to find one near you)
Why: Liberty is all the stimulus we need. If you want to pay less taxes, this is the party for you. In honor of the Boston Tea Party, Tax Day Tea Party Protests are being held all over the nation on, you guessed it, tax day; 300 are planned nationwide, with 15 in Oregon. To find one closer to you, go to taxdayteaparty.com/your-state-name-here I'm going to Portland because TV crews will be there, and several conservative pundits plan to speak; its a non-partisan event, BYOTB, bring your own tea bag! If you want, make a personal picket sign, see www.oregonteaparty.com for ideas. 6 -7:15, rally at Pioneer Courthouse Square, 7:15 - 7:50 march to the waterfront and ceremonial tea dumping, 7:50 - 8:10, back to PCS & Closing.

Pay Close Attention - Farming is the Future!

April Fools - Kind Of

More Bad News for our Economy

Employers slashed another 742,000 jobs in March and the signs of slowing down this recession are no where in sight.

I found this LA Times Article highlighting the bad news today.

Check it out (Click Here)

Video Montage of our Beach Condo

From Spring Break 1

Click on the Picture to watch video

From Spring Break 1

Click on the Picture to watch video

From Spring Break 1

Click on the Picture to watch video

We arrived yesterday afternoon in Glenedan Beach Oregon for our vacation. It has been raining off and on, but there has been some breaks in the action for us to get out and take in the ocean. The little condo we rented is just fantastic! Very clean, quiet, just one block from the beach, and a few blocks from Salishan resort we are feeling pretty blessed. I will post a video montage below so you can get an idea of what the place looks like.

With love,

The Sacketts

New Pictures of Charlotte

We have some really cute new photos to share with y'all

Enjoy

She's getting bigger by the day!

Click (HERE)

NPR and Twitter

I heard this on NPR the other day and got a good laugh on twitter and tweets. If you don't know what that is listen carefully.

Enjoy,

Click (HERE)

3 Month Party at Sarah's

Sarah was our birthing instructor for the Bradley Classes and is now watching our little cupcake. We are very happy that Sarah is helping us out and she is wonderful with our daughter. Here are some pictures of the 3th month old party Sarah and her two kids (Grace and Evan) had with Charlotte and Mommy. Grace and Evan made Charlotte's birthday hat as a craft project for the day. Very cute!

Charlotte is 3 Months Old

Yes our baby is growing and she is getting bigger everyday! I have not posted any photos for some time and I figured I should put some on here as she will be walking before we know it. Charlotte continues to get cuter by the day. We had an older man ask us if she was a boy or a girl in the grocery store the other day and when we told him Charlotte is a little girl he chuckled and said, "that's good because she's to cute to be a boy". She get's all her good looks from her mom and her wrinkled forehead from her daddy. God has truly blessed us with a wonderful daughter. The best part about her 3 month old birthday was that she is now sleeping through the night!

Click (here) for pictures

River Dance Baby

From Spring 2009

New Pictures of Charlotte

Here are some winter shots of Charlotte and she continues to grow and get bigger every day. She is getting so cute and her hair is starting to grow a little bit longer. She still has her mullet mama hair in the back and really nothing on top, but she rocks it well if I do say so myself.

Click here for pictures of Charlotte

With Love

Live Stream of Leadership Symposium

I am wrapping up my MBA this weekend and if you would like to watch the leadership symposium from the comfort of your own home here is the link:

http://stream.georgefox.edu/live/som.sdp

Simply cut and paste or just simply click on that link above.

For everyone else I am sure we will have some footage taped so you can review the discussion on leadership. The symposium is Saturday February 21rst and starts at 8am and will run until 4:45pm.

Until next time.

N

Advertising Wars

This is an article I found on MSNBC - The religious battle has started in the heart of London via a red bus.....

Christians, atheists battle on London buses
As anti-God ad campaign ends, religious groups prepare rebuttals
The Associated Press
updated 11:35 a.m. PT, Fri., Feb. 6, 2009
LONDON - Christians are soldiering on in the battle over God's existence by putting ads on London's famous red buses urging people to have faith.

The posters are a response to an atheist campaign that told people to stop worrying about religion because God probably doesn't exist.

The Christian Party has paid $22,000 to run ads declaring: "There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life," in red, pink and orange letters.

The ads will start appearing buses Monday, just as a monthlong campaign by atheists ends. In that campaign, atheists paid for bus ads saying there is probably no God, so "stop worrying and enjoy your life."

The atheist campaign, organized by the British Humanist Association and backed by Oxford University biologist and author Richard Dawkins, sparked a debate over religious — or anti-religious — messages in public spaces.

Ad authority wouldn't intervene
More than 300 people complained to Britain's advertising watchdog, arguing the atheist ads were misleading and denigrated people's faith. Christian groups decided to respond after the Advertising Standards Authority dismissed the complaints.

"The atheist campaign has been something of a red rag to Christians and was begging for a response," said George Hargreaves, the head of the Christian Party, a religious group that fields candidates for elections to the European Parliament. "I got tired of seeing these messages on buses driving past my window and want to give people the chance to read something with hope."

Another Christian group has also joined the campaign, with a more confrontational message from Psalm 53:1, which reads: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." That ad will run for two weeks.

And the Russian Orthodox Church has joined in with an ad reading: "There is a God, believe. Don't worry and enjoy your life."

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Society, said the society supported the right of religious groups to post their messages but said the advertisements were "dogmatic and declaratory, leaving no room for reason and debate."

"Our ads were undogmatic and funny, with the addition of the 'probably' in line with the continuing openness of humanists to new evidence," she said in a statement on the British Humanist Association Web site.


Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29056903/

William McDonough

I want my bailout money

You get your bailout money yet?

Baby Reunion 2009

(Charlotte at two month and two weeks old).


"Charlotte and her best Peruvian friend Leo"


Left to Right (Charlotte, Adilene, Leonardo, and Donald. I love the face on Adilene she does not want to be taking photos here =)



Most of you know that we had our birthing classes in Tualatin with four other families. Last weekend we all got back together now that our babies have been born to reconnect and see all the precious little ones. We had a wonderful time, shared our birthing stories, and took some fabulous photos. My favorites are when they we're all sitting on the couch together. Just adorable these little babies. Charlotte was the youngest of the bunch but being that we have a biased opinion she is also the cutest little one =)

Thank you Jesus for babies! Their a joy to all of us. I will also put some recent shots of Charlotte as now she is 2 months old she is starting to smile and make cute noises with her mouth. We love her more everyday and as her personality comes in we are always laughing and smiling with her.

With love,

N & M & C

Proud To Be An American

In all my 29 years I can't recall a time in my life when our country had as many issues that we face and yet still be optimistic because change is coming. I have to admit that Obama has captured my attention and I am excited for what he is doing. His speech today was captivating, the benediction was heart warming, and I as a citizen of this great nation am ready to roll up my sleeves and become part of the solution rather than complaining about it. We live in the greatest nation in the world, with the brightest minds, the best ideas, the environment to make our dreams a reality, and now - nothing standing in our way. Let's unite and get behind our President, for we face grave threats and it will take all of us to work together for change to truly happen.

As Dr. Lowery so eloquently put it today -

"And in the joy of a new beginning - we ask you to help us work for that day"
When black will not be asked to get back
When brown can stick around
When yella will be mella
When the red man can get ahead man
and when White would embrace what is right

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say AMEN

SAY AMEN

GOD SPEED

When it's Family....New Years 2009

Click here for Pictures of our trip

We rang in the new year in the rugged location of Birch Bay in northern Washington with the Thorne side of the family. We spent a cozy weekend together with my brother Matt, his wife Krista, and their two spirited, and beautiful daughters Avaya and Alivya. The weekend began on New Years Eve...it was the first time my brother and I had spent New Years together since we were in college. It is funny how this time around I had to take a power nap in order to make it to midnight , and both of us were calming fussy children in between sips of champagne.
There are many memories I will treasure from this weekend....our dinnertimes, frigid walks on the beach, watching the Polar Bear dive from the comfort of our cars on New Year day, and watching my nieces in their fascination and exploration of everything around them. The memory I will treasure most, we don't have pictures of... our late night game of Texas hold-em on New Years Day when the chips were down and everyone around the table stepped out of their shells. In the background of this game was a song titled "family" by Dolly Parton ....a song my mom sent to make the moment special. Even in her absence, my mom has a way of elevating an ordinary event into something extraoridinary. Thank you mom. Here are the lyrics to that song...Here's to FAMILY in 2009,

When its family, you forgive them for they know not what they do
When its family, you accept them, cause you have no choice but to
When its family, theyre a mirror of the worst and best in you
And they always put you to the test
And you always try to do your best
And just pray for God to do the rest, when its family
Some are preachers, some are gay
Some are addicts, drunks and strays
But not a one is turned away, when its family
Some are lucky, others aint
Some are fighters, others faint
Winners, losers, sinners, saints, its all family

And when its family you trust them and your hearts an open door
When its family, you tolerate what youd kill others for
When its family, you love and hate and take, then give some more
Somehow you justify mistakes, try to find some better way
To solve the problems day to day, in the family

You take the trouble as it comes and love them more than anyone
Good or bad or indifferent, its still family
You choose your lovers, you pick your friends
Not the family that you're in, nah
Theyll be with you til the end, cause its family

And when its family, you forgive them for they know not what they do
When its family, theyre a mirror of the worst and best in you
When its family, when its family
Let me be all that I should be to the family