Family Fun in May

During the month of May, we made a visit to Utah before Chad had to leave to New Mexico for his second of three clinical rotations prior to graduating from Physical Therapy school in December. We had so much fun. We went to St George and played at the lake, among other things. Here are some of the pictures. This was a very fun and hard time because it was our last chance to be together as a family for the next few months. Natalie and Cameryn are staying in Utah, while Chad travels on his clinical rotations. Cam is such a cute boat driver. Just think, soon she will be pulling her daddy as he wakeboards behind the boat!!

When in Rome. . .

Read the following letter and see what you think...

David M. Bresnahan

April 1, 2006

NewsWithViews.com

Dear Mr. Bush:

I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this. I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.
2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.
3. All government forms need to be printed in English.
4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.
5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down.
7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.
9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws.
10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English.
11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don't enforce any labor laws or tax laws.
13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely. However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

Sincerely,

David M. Bresnahan
2006 David M. Bresnahan - All Rights Reserved

My take is that there are some serious problems with immigration. People are going about looking for reform the wrong way. These types of protests to me look like they love their homeland more than the US. If that is so, they need to live in their homeland and make it better.

I am going to relate a little story. A few years back I met a guy who complained about the state he was living in and always compared it to another state. Day after day he told us that our state was inferior to his. Now my question to him is, if our state is so bad and yours is so good, why are you here? He had the freedom to move to his beloved state, yet he remained and complained more and more about how bad everything was. The same thing is happening here with this style of protest. Are they protesting being Americans, or are they wanting to take over. Raising your flag as seen in the picture to the left & below illustrates a take over. I don't think that is what they want.

On another note, I have absolutely no problem with diversity and I welcome it at every opportunity. My problem is people coming to a country illegally and expecting to be taken care of by that country and doing nothing to earn it. I know that not every immigrant that comes to the country illegally is straining government programs, some are here working very hard. I have problems with coming here illegally and avoiding paying taxes like the rest of us and expecting to be taken care of here. Life in this country is a privlidge and needs to be earned. How you might ask? Well by coming here legally. I have traveled to both Peru and Mexico. Every time I went legally. I lived in Mexico for 2 years and I had a valid visa the entire time. I use my passport to travel as a tourist and even pay silly taxes that I didn't agree with. (I had to pay $30 to bring my own little portable DVD player into Peru, while laptop computers were not taxed) As I travel I am of the mind, "When in Rome, do as the Romans." I am fluent in Spanish and the second I cross the boarder into Mexico, or landed in Peru, I spoke to all natives in Spanish, even if they spoke to me in English. I did not expect them to conform to me, I tried to conform to them, after all, I am the stranger.

What do I mean with all of this? I want everyone to obey, honor, and sustain the laws of the land. I would be naive to think this possible since I sped today and broke laws myself, but the point still remains, people need to come here legally and, "do as the Romans."

Tne Never-ending Task of Finding Card Players

I don't consider myself a hard core card player, but my wife and I do like to play, a lot! We enjoy several card games and find them to be quite relaxing, and at times very tense. We live for the moment.

The real topic of thie entry is how to find friends with whom to play cards. It is almost like dating. In the past 5 years we have only really liked 2 other couples for card games. Why is that you ask? I have no idea. And for us it always seems like we find them only months before they move.

Our first group of friends to play cards with were Kim and Leslie Beam, a.k.a. "Team Beam". After work and dinner we would meet up to play tennis while it was still dark. When we could no longer see the ball, we would get cleaned up and meet again for cards. It was addicting. And I must admit, in some of the games I would get very frustrated because I was the one with the least experiance. Some months later, Team Beam moved to Arizona so that Leslie could persue a graduate degree as a Physician's Assistant. So, Leslie and her husband, Kim left for Arizona.

Then, in 2005 we met Jared (pictured above) and Chrissa (pictured above and below with Natalie)

who loved card games just as much as we did. The only problem was that we had already waisted a few months before we discussed cards. In fact, it just kind of came up in a discussion. Almost from the get go we would play cards 4 and 5 times a week. We were addicted. It was great because we were able to have all kinds of wonderful discussions, tell funny stories, and even jokes. Then in November Jared and Chrissa moved to Ohio and our discussions have been reduced to blogging. Why is it that good things never last?

We have since tried to recruit other players and we have only found disappointment. In fact, one couple had their own crazy rules for Canasta. Their disorderly manner of playing drove me crazy. They even seemed offended that we had brought "face cards" into their house. They seem to feel that the association with gambling made them evil and they should be shunned. It is kind of a fanatical way to think. Some people I have met in the past have felt the same way, but because the cards have originated from the Terrot Cards used by fortune tellers. I figure that we are using the cards in a harmless way in having fun and getting to know others.

We will be looking for another couple to join our card games in about another year and a half, since that seems to be how long our cycle of looking for players seems to last.

Card Games

The Rattlesnake Round-up

Here in Texas they have some funny ways to pass time. Today the family is going to the "Rattlesnake Round-up" in Sweetwater, Texas. Back in Utah, I was told to go if I ever had the chance. Now we have the chance and are taking it. We will be going with the Rhodes family (Some friends from PT school). I don't quite know what to expect. We will have to let you know.

If you have participated in some crazy town tradition, let us know. We would love for you to share it with us. You never know, maybe we might check it out sometime.

Baby Blessing

This Sunday we will be blessing our baby. We love having Cameryn in our family. In fact, we don't think we will be getting a baby-sitter any too soon. We love taking her everywhere. I am happy to have the opportunity to bless her and I think it is something every father should want to do for their child. God wants what is best for us and blessing a child is wonderful for both the Father and the baby. Of course, the rest of the family enjoys the experiance as well.

Blog for Chad, Natalie, and Cameryn Simons

And so we begin our adventure with our blog. We hope you will enjoy it and visit us often!!

-Chad, Natalie, and Cameryn Simons