as part of its democratic right in a free election.
Members of the Church in California and millions of others from every faith, ethnicity and political affiliation who voted for Proposition 8 exercised the most sacrosanct and individual rights in the United States — that of free expression and voting.
While those who disagree with our position on Proposition 8 have the right to make their feelings known, it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.
Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same-sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information.
So I thought that I had another year for this day but because of Joshua's personality we thought that it would be good for him to start preschool. I have been doing homeschooling preschool I he has loved it. He loved the one on one time we had with each other during the girl's nap time. The problem was that he has a hard time concentrating and participating when he is in a large group. So we thought putting him in preschool would be a great opportunity for him to learn how to behave in a group, makes some new friends, and learn to listen to someone besides Mommy. HE LOVES IT!! Yesterday (Tuesday) the first thing that he did was lay out his school clothes for the next day and wanted me to make his lunch. He
only goes on MWF so he was ready for school a whole day early. He told me that he didn't want to be late. Due to the fact that we only have one car Joshua goes to all day preschool. James droppes him off on the way to work and then since we pay for the full day we usually wait to pick him up until the last minute so that he can play all day. It is so much fun to drop him off in the morning because he is so excited to go but it is also fun to pick him up because he is so excited to see the family especially his sisters. He comes home everytime and has to tell them what he did that day and show everyone his picturs that he made. Here are pictures of his first day of school. The one of him on the step is a Mansius family tradition. Every child gets a picture of their first day of school on the front steps of the house. We have to decided to continue the condition. Eliza is also getting a lot out of this because she has learned that she can make her own descisions
when Joshua is not makeing them for her. Her personality is really starting to come out. I'm also seeing the relaionship with Eliza and Aubrey starting to get stronger. Joshua and Eliza have been so close for so long. They share a room and while they were playing they would lock Aubrey out and tell her it was their room. Joshua going to school has brought a few changes to our house that are fun. We will wait to see if we put Eliza in preschool or not next year but for now I'm doing a little bit of homeschool preschool with her when Aubrey takes her morning nap. Lots of fun!
So much was packed into this fun filled weekend I don't even know how we got it all in. The wedding was not until Monday but everyone was getting into Las Vegas on Sunday evening. Since James and I had lived in Las Vegas for a year we thought that we would get there early and go to church with our old ward. The first night we stayed with some close friends, the Morris'. Joshua and Justin were best friends and were so excited to see each other. Julie and I stayed up really late catching up. It was nice to visit a lot of old friends. A lot of them had moved since we moved here to Bakersfield and we didn't get to see them. But there were enough still
around. After church we met up with Mom and Dad Mansius, Susan and Will, Will's family, Lee, and Neal and Rachael and to check in. We were all staying at the Excalibur which is also where the wedding was to be held.
agreed to watch the kids while the rest of us walked down the strip to see the Bellagio Fountains. We got there just in time to see one of their water shows and then stayed a little longer to see another one. After that we headed over to Ceasar's Palace to see the talking statues. We looked at a few shops, got a little lost in the casino, laughed like
crazy, and finally got to see the statues about the Lost City of Atlantis. On our way back we got lucky enough to catch another Bellagio Fountain show. Wow! Three different shows in one night. When we got back we found Joshua fast asleep in a chair in the most awkward position. How do kids do it? They fall asleep anywhere at anytime unless it is convenient to you.
Mandalay Bay. The kids loved it. It was hard to get them through because at every stop they never wanted to leave. At one point there was a touch tank. At first Joshie and Eliza were afraid to touch the sting rays but once they saw Mommy get her hands in and was touching the rays they wanted to try too. Of course as soon as they were brave enough we could not get close enough to one and their little arms were just not long enough to reach. But once they saw the sharks and the very large sea turtle they forgot all about the rays. Joshua had his face pressed up against the glass but there was no way Eliza was
going any where near the glass. It is funny because usually Eliza is the brave one.
was so kind enough to watch the kids during the wedding. Olivia used to live next door to us and her little boy Zach was another one of Joshua's best friends. I got to chat with Olivia for a little while then had to run back. I got back to the wedding with extra time to spare and was able to help Suzie get ready. The wedding itself was beautiful, Suzie was beautiful, the whole family was there, and we were all excited. It was fun to see Dad give Susan away and he had the look of a very proud Dad. I'm so excited for all these weddings this summer and that I have been able to be at
all of them to show my family my support. After the wedding we got lots of pictures. Joan was the ultimate photographer and she was taking photos from every angle. She put her energy into taking those photos. I love her energy and wish I had more of it! After the wedding the family headed over to the Excalibur buffet. While
we were waiting for the rest of the family Rachael picked out an oyster to get a pearl and Joan had her age guessed by one of those carnival booths. He thought she was younger and she got this goofy looking hat that was passed around.
and only trip of the Titanic. Then at the end you find what happened to that passenger. As you make your way through the museum they make you feel as if you were on the ship. You walk through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class areas, walk by the ballroom staircase, and out on the deck all while seeing actual artifacts from the ship. The
last part and for me the most memorial was when you got a chance to touch an iceberg to see how cold it was and then to think that the water was even colder. I can not even imagine what it would have been like and how cold it would have been. This museum was an eye opener for me even the second time seeing it.
were routing for Norway but he was out at just about the first dual. The food was good and it was fun getting into the whole experience. I've got a fun photo of that night but I need to scan it so give me a couple of days.
figured out what we were trying to do and said that they didn't want their car decorated. That didn't stop us though. Believe it or not I got brave enough to ask the front desk what their room number was and the manager was able to give it to me. So we headed up to their room to decorate their door and realized that
we had no tape. We tried to make the best of what we had and what happens next: BUSTED! Will showed up and caught us. He promised he would not tell Susan what we were doing and even unknowingly let us in the room. As quickly as we could we decorated both the inside and outside of the room and just as we were finishing up in walks Susan. So we were caught but still had lots of fun. I guess we are not very good at this. By then it was getting late and we still needed to pick up the kids before we made the 4 hour trip home. We ended up getting home at about 2 am that night.
