“During last week’s two-day summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thanked President Bush for leading the global war on terror. Mr. Brown acknowledged “the debt the world owes to the U.S. for its leadership in this fight against international terrorism” and vowed to follow Winston Churchill’s lead and make Britain’s ties with America even stronger.
Mr. Brown’s statements elicited anger from many of Mr. Bush’s domestic detractors, who claim the president concocted the war on terror for personal gain. But as someone who escaped from communist Romania–with two death sentences on his head–in order to become a citizen of this great country, I have a hard time understanding why some of our top political leaders can dare in a time of war to call our commander in chief a “liar,” a “deceiver” and a “fraud.””
“…My American citizenship has given me a feeling of pride, hope and security that is surpassed only by the joy of simply being alive. There are millions of other immigrants who are equally proud that they restarted their lives from scratch in order to be in this magnanimous country. I appeal to them to help keep our beloved America united and honorable. We may not be able to change the habits of our current political representatives, but we may be able to introduce healthy new blood into the U.S. Congress.
For once, the communists got it right. It is America’s leader that counts. Let’s return to the traditions of presidents who accepted nothing short of unconditional surrender from our deadly enemies. Let’s vote next year for people who believe in America’s future, not for the ones who live in the Cold War past.
Lt. Gen. Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the Soviet bloc.”
Mr. Pacepa has written some powerful essays and books that help to expose the links between the international communist movement and terrorism. Please read some of his work to get a feel for the powerful forces united to defeat the cause of Freedom in our world. He helps to expose the propaganda, tactics, and Marxist lies that have befuddled our society since the McCarthy era in America. Jenny Hatch
Petraeus’s progress getting harder to deny
“The only thing this surge will accomplish is a surge of more death and destruction.” That was the prediction of blogger and anti-war activist Arianna Huffington back in December of last year — one month before the Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as commander in Iraq.”
“…Operation Phantom Strike, if it is successful, will mean more “death and destruction” – mostly for America’s sworn enemies. No doubt, the anti-war crowd will both oppose that and pronounce it a failure even before it’s fully underway. But other Americans – if they learn what is really happening in Iraq — will support the troops. Most will favor giving them the time and resources they need to complete their mission.”
Yesterday my oldest brother stopped by with his oldest son who just returned home from his LDS mission in Brazil.
My brother had a compact disc full of photographs which he allowed us to put on our computer. The collection were pictures from my parents photo albums that he took the time to scan and organize for our whole clan.
As I browsed through these photos last night with Allison and Shelly, we marveled that so many pictures we had never seen were a part of the collection.
I grabbed a handful of shots of my own family from the years 1987 to 1998 and made a quick montage over at One True Media.
This is our final week with Michelle, who will be leaving for University life in a few days. Looking through the photos brought back so many good memories from when the children were small.
Here is the montage:
I added a video of me singing Come Thou Fount, which has been the theme song to my life these past few years, to the end of this montage. I memorized it during Ben’s pregnancy and singing it during the day, especially when I am tired, tends to recharge me spiritually.
I look at Michelle and all I can see is her cuddling things. Cuddling her dolls, her little sister, her brothers when they were babies. When Benjamin was born, I rarely had a chance to hold him during the day because Michelle always had him in her arms. This is one of the reasons to nurse a baby, because the family has to give the baby back for feedings!
Michelle is going to be a great mother. And I don’t believe it is any accident that she came first to our family. She has been such a mothers helper to me since she was just a little girl. Always wanting to help, always wanting to learn how to “do it herself”.
My favorite memory of her was from when she was learning how to ride a bike. We had been saving loose change for many months, and she really wanted to get a two wheeler without training wheels.
I shop at Childish Things in Boulder, a consignment store when we have purchased just about every thing we have ever needed for our children (Including furniture, clothes, and toys). One day we were at the store and we saw this killer red bike that was just her size. No training wheels.
It was a perfect match to my engagement bike. Red Schwinn cruiser that Paul had purchased for me instead of a diamond ring. I still use that Bike, had it completely redone a couple years ago with metal baskets, new wheels, chain, and seat.
Sidenote, when Paul and I were dating he wanted to buy me a diamond ring. I don’t wear much jewelry and have a horrifying habit of loosing just about every piece of metal ever given to me (I went through seven CTR rings as a kid). I hate wearing poky things on my fingers, and I told Paul that if he bought me a ring, I would probably never wear it. I asked him if he would buy me a brand new bike as an engagement present. He sort of balked….like “who is this woman???” But a couple days later he told me that if that was what I wanted, he would get me one.
So we went down to the schwinn store and I picked out my first ever brand new bike. Every other bike I had ever owned was always a hand me down from my brothers, or one that we picked up at a garage sale or thrift store. My mother purchased a bike for me at the D.I. in Provo, and I nearly lost my life riding that sucker around campus.
It was pure joy to pick out this amazing brand new bike, with huge metal baskets over the back tire which I used over and over again to do the grocery shopping. Still do when I am in the mood for a good workout. Since we have always ever owned one car, that bike has been my car, and hooked up to our double Burley trailer, I often would ride with a couple kids in the trailer, various park toys, and a couple bags of groceries in back.
Many, many times I pushed it up the hill from the grocery store to our house filled with hundreds of pounds of “stuff” yes, including the children, because as a one speed bike it was impossible to pedal with all that baggage. I have also lifted it numerous times onto the Dash Bus that goes into Boulder, somtimes while Ben was in a back pack on my back. I am woman, hear me roar…..
Anyway, I digress….we found this amazing bike for Michelle at childish things and Kerri, the owner, who had just bought the store, was so nice about our payment…..which boiled down to about fifteen dollars in pennies, dimes, and quarters. But Shell had her big kid bike, and was so very, very happy.
We spent a few days practicing in our apartment parking lot, while she learned how to manuever the brakes and handlebars. And then one morning I asked her if she was interested in going on a “real” bike ride. She said yes. I had this trail that I liked to bike on and it was pretty safe, except for the first big hill. Now, this was just a bike path of dirt, with grass and weeds on either side, so I figured it she crashed it would not bump too hard. I asked her if she was OK biking down that hill. “Sure Mom” was the confident reply.
“OK, I am going to head down and I’ll wait for you at the bottom. Don’t start until I am all the way down, K?” Confident nod.
So I start down this hill and before I stop at the bottom, I hear this “YEEEEEE Hawwwww” screamed out from Shellys four year old mouth. I glance over my shoulder to see her come barreling down that hill peddaling as fast as her little legs will go.
She did not even stop at the bottom, she just whizzed on past me and I had to hurry to catch up. She did not crash once.
On that day I decided that my little girl was going to be fun to watch as she grew up.
I plan to take a Blogging Break during the next few days to spend more time with her. Jenny Hatch
PS The BYU version of Come Thou Fount is a little more fancy than mine…. ENJOY!
Arkansas Couple Welcomes 17th Child Michelle Duggar, left, is surrounded by her children and husband Jim Bob, top left, while she holds her newborn daughter, Jennifer Danielle, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007 in Rogers, Ark. Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m., weighed 8 lbs 8 oz, was 21 inches long, and is the 17th child born to Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. (AP Photo/Beth Hall)
I continue to be inspired by this amazing family! Jenny Hatch
