Now get out there and vote!

The Real American Dream

An American Creed

I Do Not Choose to Be a Common Man

It is my right to be uncommon—if I can.

I seek opportunity—not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, “This I have done.”

By Dean Alfange

______________

*Originally published in This Week Magazine.
Later printed in The Reader’s Digest, October 1952 and January 1954.

The Honorable Dean Alfange was an American statesman born December 2, 1899, in Constantinople (now Istanbul). He was raised in upstate New York. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and attended Hamilton College, graduating in the class of 1922. This is from Dave Ramsey's website and he has asked that we pass it along.

My favorite quote:

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. -Pres. John F. Kennedy

I love this country and am proud to be an American! Now get out there and vote everyone!

Thanks for the inspiration Rachel.

More Family Pictures

It was a very cold day and Jaycee was such a trooper.

Ethan loves the camera.

I'm not quite sure what we were looking at. Probably the homeless guy. Mike said he was pondering different ways he could save the world. I'm pretty sure I was just making sure the homeless guy wasn't trying to steal my children.

Small Town in a Big City

I really love this time of the year. Last Saturday the weather was spectacular so Mike and I did yard work all day long. We got the garden and dying flowers all pulled up, the grass mowed, and one last go at weeding. After a long day of working our tails off we had some good, old fashioned fall fun. There is a family owned farm not too far from us called Farnsworth Farms. They had free hay rides around their orchard, tons of treats like homemade apple cider, caramel apples, doughnuts, well you get the idea. Then as it got dark they played the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin Halloween special on a giant projector. We all snuggled in our blankets and lawn chairs and enjoyed the flick. These are the kind of experiences I hope my kids remember as they grow up. We don't live in a small town, but I believe it is the small town experiences that are so much fun and so memerable. One more example to drive the point home. Every summer in July the country is inindated with parades of every shape and size. We could go to the big one in Salt Lake, or even just watch the parades on TV. But every year we go to the Draper Days parade in Draper City. It has a small town feel with people throwing candy out of their fancy cars, and the local fire trucks and police cars following the floats of pagent queens and school bands. Two years ago Jaycee was actually in it. She was the cute little girl in a fancy convertable, throwing candy at the crowd, but in her eyes she was a princess in a coach, waving at her dominions. No Macey's Day parade could ever top that.
I will always be a city girl, but there is a little small town girl inside of me that manages to come out a few times a year and make an appearance. My family is just along for the ride.

Family pictures, just a taste

Last week we had the most amazing photographer do some family pictures. We wanted something different and fun and that is exactly what we got. It was an adventure really. We met at some abandoned warehouses just south of the Gateway mall in a questionable part of town. The top picture was taken just outside of a club that burned down awhile ago and as we were scoping out the building we disturbed a man who smelled like pot, but turned out to be quite nice. Go figure. The picture of the kids was taken in front of a warehouse that was white and bright blue. I think the owners must be greek. The bottom picture was taken when we got really brave and went inside of the burned out building. We expected to see dead bodies and rats, and thought maybe we would uncover the crime of the century, but to our disappointment there was just a lot of burned stuff. Oh well. We had so much fun and we can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. Thanks Shelly for doing such a spectacular job!

Disneyland Blues

The last 2 years we've gone to Disneyland, once in August and once in October. This year we aren't going and everyone is bummed but Mike. Although he has fun, it isn't his favorite place on earth. As for the kids and myself, we could live in Disneyland and be perfectly content. I'm hoping we will make it out there next year. I'm pretty sure I'm going to make it happen. Until then, I'll reminisce.

Catching Hail!

Since the weather in Utah has been really boring for the last month I thought I would share this photo of a piece of hail that, along with all of its millions of gigantic friends, decided to pelt us while hiking at Mt. Rushmore this summer. It was so painful it was funny. Jaycee ran around trying to catch the painful pellets yelling, "I'm catching hail, I'm catching hail!" to which our reply was, "Not until you're a teenager, dear."