http://rickyvanveen.com/post/51748798/after-hearing-matt-damons-brilliant-comparison-of

please watch all of this

Sarah Palin




Sarah Palin on Foreign Policy


Sarah Palin talks Bailout Proposal

Nana

I feel so bad. Here it is 11:53 at night and I never got to talk to you and wish you a Happy Birthday. I hope you had a extra little skip to your walk today and felt special. You have NO idea how much we love you. The kids went to bed late, but they are all wrapped up tight in their new Nana Niceys. They love them more anything. The other the day I was desperately trying to get the house clean in a hurry and every time I turned around Bella's new blanket would be back in the living room. In too much of a hurry to say "Who got this out again?", I would just quickly pick it up and throw it on her bed, just to see it again back in the living room. Finally Bella asks"Who keeps putting my nicey away?". I wish I had it in me to go in their room and sneak a picture of them for you. But I'm too tired and afraid to wake them up. I can't go to sleep till I say Happy Birthday to you though. I love you Nana. And I'm so happy you found such a cute place to live, that is so close to the rest of the family. I can already picture how cute and comfy it is going to be in there for Christmas. Sad to think that that will be the first time we will be able to come visit you in your new home. But then again, you never know. We are Beattys. A few pictures from this week. And don't worry Nana, I have not forgotten the one thing you have asked of me. We haven't done it yet. But Hopefully we will get one done this weekend so you can have it by next week.


Oey and Jarom in a little village all decked out for Halloween and look what we find, a Halloween a cat. It even followed us into the bathroom. This little cat, his name is snowball, actually lives where the kids and I got Addie's little b-day gift.

jarom, today he told me that he is use to school now. this is a big break through for us.

Oey, the little guy always breaks my heart. This was just the other day, but he loves to climb up on the big chairs and eat like a big kid. It gives him so much pleasure, it is just way too cute to watch and then he eats whats left on the table. Not so cute. Notice his new outfit from addie and art. he loves all of his new shoes, you can just tell by the way he walks with his great big smile, and he is always looking down at them. I think he feels pretty special.

This was yesterday at story time. Oey had to climb in the books. he even sat in one of those little holes and read. Again- compliments to Addie and Art for the clothes.

Today, Bella and Oey making a cake. Oey only wanted one thing - frosting. So he got it. Do you think he is spoiled?

I'm wishing you a happy birthday. Love YOU!!!!!!!!! and miss YOU! love, amy

Beatty blessedness

I found this online today. I was researching for anything about Walter Kirker Beatty and wondering about any Irish roots from Dad's side. I was listening to old irish folk songs and loving them and then I craved a Guinness so I was just wondering how Irish we are!
We are definitely of Irish or Scottish descent. I mean, the name Beatty for sure....

read how rad this is!
From a website

"Beatty

From the Celtic Biatach. Anciently, in Ireland, lands were assigned by the government to a certain number of persons who were appointed to keep houses of entertainment, and to exercise hospitality in the different provinces; they were called Biatachs. The office was considered honorable, and besides the lands assigned by the king, they were the lords of seven boroughs or villages, feeding seven herds of one hundred and twenty oxen each, besides the grain raised from seven ploughs every year. Beathaich, in the Gaelic, signifies to feed, nourish, to welcome, to support. "Beata mor," Irish, to have a great estate. Beatha, Gaelic, life, food, welcome, salutation."

zzzak zak rerererebecca

welp, we were all there and yet, you know me...document, document, document.

how lovely to be together as a family supporting our favorite little zack/rebecca combo. i will personally thank matt and amy for coming out from utah, all the way to silver lake and then back to p'ville and also for helping with the amazon order of our gift. you guys are awesome and i miss you already and i hope your drive home went okay.

dad, thanks for the use of your camera, that was a real lifesaver for me.

and mom, you did well being upbeat despite your house concerns. by the way, congrats on the cutey new home! we are so excited for you and i know you will make it absolutely comfy and adorable. can't wait to see you work your magic.

some of my personal favorite moments from the wedding day/night include but are not limited to:

- watching zack get DOWN to "girls just wanna have fun"

- mikie, jamie, travis and kent doing the marriage RAP

- jarom blowing bubbles with his mouth and people running up to matt and amy and exclaiming, um, excuse me, i think your son is eating bubbles and it is frothing all down his chin! and matt and amy just smiling and nodding their acceptance of the sitch.

- jarom saying at the lake, "if nana's goin in, i'm goin in."

- nana going in.

- looking at beautiful pregnant mary in her wrap dress

- joey and emily's AWESOME dance moves

- watching amy gallop out onto the dance floor in her adorable outfit

- bella making sand-towers at the beach to the chagrin of all the boys

- witnessing the maher parents dancing every song

- finding out that our table-mate, josh, lived in the same house darin grew up in on fort jim road and now owns the property across the street with his sweet wife amber. our new friends!

- a preteen girl being so shy and starstruck by mikie that she ran and hid behind the curtains when he asked her to dance

- how beautiful and sweet it was to see zack and rebecca publicly expressing their love and devotion and considering the true meaning behind all the hoopla

- how beautiful and sweet all our family and friends were as we enjoyed just hanging out together

here are some of my favorite photos from the pangbroehrn weekend. i am not entirely sure if i am spelling that conjoined last name correctly, but it's a doozy.

setting up on friday - a homespun affair:

i love that they are gazing at each other as they meticulously cut out zack's creation:
me being oh-so-helpful, of course: getting ready at the lake in our makeshift tent:

what the???? suzanne and eva having a beauty moment:

"calmer'n you are..."

lovely mother and daughter:girl power!!!everyone is amazed by matt in this picture, truly amazed. just take a look, close up. then, also, look at ridiculously jolly darin and/or zack. to look at these two men and imagine them best friends is just simply scary.the little family, now official: sweethearts:
see what i mean, if nana's going in, i am going in:
beatty ladies:
and our lucky men: chillin in the green room (look at those feet in the mirror!)
i put this in cause i love the love in the background and i like me in it: darin's fave picture of himself (i'm not even kidding)
little monsters!
delicious dinner courtesy of magpie catering:
I want somebody to share, share the rest of my life, share my innermost thoughts, share my intimate details... migs and candice trying to dance accompanied by rugrats:
candice keeping pops company:
goofball dancing queen: old friends:
dancing to erasure?
my favorite dancing pic of the night:
stunning couple!once she was out, she was OUT:
adie, what song was this??? keepin on groovin:
this is what i'm talkin about (see zack's moves)
oh WOWSERS, after-party at my house. i love matt and amy's little moment here.
cutie loves:
And, the final moment, doniella mopping my floor the next day. what a job, and thank goodness for sweetheart friends!

more photos of our tiny girl

so, the medical troubles continue with itty bitty harvest, but all the while she is just an angel.

her little personality is just perfect. she loves all people, she purrs every time anyone holds her and she just tries so hard to be a good girl and go potty in her box. she also has taken a real liking to her big brother bandini and follows him around and bats at him and plays with him. for a little cripple, she has loads of energy and spirit!

WE JUST GOT A PHONE CALL!

AND SHE IS ALIVE AND RECOVERING AND SHE HAS HAD A NEW ANUS CONSTRUCTED BY THE BRILLIANT MIND AND HANDS OF DR. RANDY ROBINSON AND WE ARE PICKING HER UP AT 5:30 AND SKIPPING OUR WORLD RELIGIONS CLASS TO CELEBRATE WITH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL CREATURE IVE EVER KNOWN!!!!





(more updates to come. and photos)

our Harvest Moon gift

this beautiful little girl that Heather found on Forni road covered in dirt and skinny and hungry. look at her. perfect precious innocent soul of enlightenment. We named her Harvest, after Harvest Moon. It was Emmas idea. Maybe we can call her Harvey. She has no tail, most likely a Manx bred for money, dropped off because of her disorder. Manx cats dont have tails and they are desirable and sweet. This little girl however had a problem. She is a tiny kitten and she had a swollen rear end, and she was leaking like she had problems with her bowels. It was altogether a very odd and unusual looking butt area, but she was so perfect and beautiful. So we kept her here last nite. She slept with me and Emma and had a really rough nite. She is unable to poop and obviously constipated badly and in a lot of pain. It was difficult and heartwrenching. So this morning around 8am we (me, heather, emma) took her to the vet, good old kindhearted Randy Robinson on Missouri Flat. She is so sweet and good-natured, did so well in the car, just slept and purred. And also in the waiting room. Finally when Randy came to see her, which was surprisingly quick on such a busy day for a good vet like him, he noticed something very very crazy. Little Harvey actually was born without an anus. She has nowhere to poop from. Her urethra is connected with her colon tract, so her urine and poop come out of the same place. This is very painful for her, but she has kept such a good attitude despite it all. Randy Robinson was blown away, he has never seen anything like this before. He was surprised she has been alive this long (we are guessing about six weeks). ANd I know thats because she has such a pure and strong little soul. Anyways, he is a smart man and proposed a surgery to literally create an anus. But we told him we're students, we dont have much money. so the good man is only charging us for cost, only 141 dollars for a major operation. The thing is, it may not work, the odds are unknown. Its worth a try, all of us agree wholeheartedly, but if the surgery goes badly it is the most compassionate thing to do to have her put to sleep. Doctor Robinson is trying to save her sweet beautiful little life. We'll see. If she makes it, she'll be a very special little creature who will always have some problems, but at least we'll be able to love her and always be with her. If she doenst make it, she will live on forever in our hearts even tho we've only known her barely a day. She has made such an effect on me, and all of us im sure, that i cant even explain it. Ive never seen such innocence, beauty, and perfection in a being. And if she doesnt make it, I truly believe better things can await her. Be it Nirvana, Enlightenment, Heaven, or Moksha, she is closer to those places than anything I've ever seen. Here are some pictures of her. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers everybody please. We should find out at any time the results. She is beauty.

heres some fun stuff

Sarah Palin:
1. Totally supports offshore drilling in some of the most beautiful and preserved places in our country.
2. Totally supports oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. She argues that it is such a small region of acreage in such a large expanse of land, and that it is so very far from the nearest tree...so that, to Governor Palin, justifies extreme ecologic destruction of the pristine area.
3. Claims that Polar bears are far from endangered, that they are in fact thriving. That their population has grown in the last thirty years. She is SUING the federal government for putting them on the endangered species list. Advanced protection of this beautiful animal would hinder her goals to "DRILL, BABY, DRILL!" all over alaska. In order to ensure "Energy Independence."
4. She at one point claimed that man had nothing to do with global warming. That it is not a result of many of our actions as the ever-indulgent, wasteful, and selfish human race. She now claims, after increased questioning and pressure on the issue, that man may have slightly contributed to the problem, but really, its just the natural way of our planet.
5. She signed to legalize aerial hunting of arctic wolves. She even offered a reward for each kill. To make things easier for Big Oil.
6. She is attempting to sway John McCain on her position regarding ANWR. She says she is "working on him."
7. She initially supported a multi-million dollar project to build a bridge to a small island off the coast of Alaska. The issue became a bit of a national embarassment, and she changed her position. She now claims that she was never in full support of the project, even before congress refused to fund it.


John McCain seems to almost have disappeared behind the shroud of excitement over the two-year governor of Alaska whom he chose as his Vice Presidential candidate. Before she served her two years, she was the mayor of small town Wasilla....and they call Obama inexperienced? Issues need to be examined here. John McCain, sensing a weakness in his campaign, chose this fiery young lady as his running mate, simply because of the appeal she would draw. Palin can FEEL for us Americans, RIGHT? shes just like US, RIGHT? Oh and we can feel for HER, cant we?! She has a pregnant 17 year old daughter, a son who conveniently left for Iraq on Sept. 11th of THIS ELECTION (we're still sending kids to Iraq? is this a joke?), and a four month old baby with downs syndrome. Sarah palin is JUST LIKE US, right? hmm...

please everybody just vote for Obama. If you're thinking you're in any way swayed toward McCain, please, just think for a second. Think. ACTUALLY think. Please

Los Adventeres

Yo dudes. It's saturday. Candicio is putting water in a Begonia, and I'm sitting in my pajamas.

Yesterday I traveled for a total of: 21 hours.
Expenses: $96 plus $20 for food/fun.


I hiked the great Grand Canyon of Burbank yesterday. In flip-flops and a backpack I hiked between 9am and 7pm, to the monumental Disney Channel building and then back to downtown Burbank. During my travels I talked with many an individual, some of whom I haven't seen in a few months and some I'd never met before. The interesting thing about any sort of travel is how seeing unusual or new things provides different perspectives for our everyday life. This is a really basic idea, but in order to really get it you have to just go out and do it. Example: Havasu Falls. We could imagine a lot about that trip. But our imaginations are reflections of things we've already seen, and I think none of us excluding Dad had ever actually seen Havasu Falls before.
Gross Domestic Input, or the total amount of input experienced over the course of a year by a nation, is one way of getting motivated to try new things and learn new skills, or simply just observe other ways in which human beings just like us live their everyday lives. Hurray for new input. Go out and put some in! Huzzah! Input!














Anyhoo, that's all I have to say about the trip. I was tired, ate good food, talked to people and now I'm back in Santa Cruz with the loveliest person in the world. Next time I'm dragging her along.

Peace out homies
Love, Mikie