2016 in a Flash

Thank you God for blessing us with all we have and for the people in our lives. You made 2016 super duper!

Santa's Checkride

Trump

100 Day Plan

FIRST, propose a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress;
SECOND, a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health);
THIRD, a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated;
FOURTH, a 5 year-ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service;
FIFTH, a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government;
SIXTH, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.

On the same day, I will begin taking the following seven actions to protect American workers:

FIRST, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205
SECOND, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership
THIRD, I will direct my Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator
FOURTH, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately
FIFTH, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.
SIXTH, lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward
SEVENTH, cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure

Additionally, on the first day, I will take the following five actions to restore security and the constitutional rule of law:

FIRST, cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama
SECOND, begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States
THIRD, cancel all federal funding to Sanctuary Cities
FOURTH, begin removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back
FIFTH, suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered extreme vetting.

Next, I will work with Congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my Administration:

1. Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. An economic plan designed to grow the economy 4% per year and create at least 25 million new jobs through massive tax reduction and simplification, in combination with trade reform, regulatory relief, and lifting the restrictions on American energy. The largest tax reductions are for the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35% tax cut. The current number of brackets will be reduced from 7 to 3, and tax forms will likewise be greatly simplified. The business rate will be lowered from 35 to 15 percent, and the trillions of dollars of American corporate money overseas can now be brought back at a 10 percent rate.
2. End The Offshoring Act Establishes tariffs to discourage companies from laying off their workers in order to relocate in other countries and ship their products back to the U.S. tax-free.
3. American Energy & Infrastructure Act. Leverages public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives, to spur $1 trillion in infrastructure investment over 10 years. It is revenue neutral.
4. School Choice And Education Opportunity Act. Redirects education dollars to gives parents the right to send their kid to the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school of their choice. Ends common core, brings education supervision to local communities. It expands vocational and technical education, and make 2 and 4-year college more affordable.
5. Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act. Fully repeals Obamacare and replaces it with Health Savings Accounts, the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines, and lets states manage Medicaid funds. Reforms will also include cutting the red tape at the FDA: there are over 4,000 drugs awaiting approval, and we especially want to speed the approval of life-saving medications.
6. Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act. Allows Americans to deduct childcare and elder care from their taxes, incentivizes employers to provide on-site childcare services, and creates tax-free Dependent Care Savings Accounts for both young and elderly dependents, with matching contributions for low-income families.
7. End Illegal Immigration Act Fully-funds the construction of a wall on our southern border with the full understanding that the country Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such wall; establishes a 2-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence for illegally re-entering the U.S. after a previous deportation, and a 5-year mandatory minimum for illegally re-entering for those with felony convictions, multiple misdemeanor convictions or two or more prior deportations; also reforms visa rules to enhance penalties for overstaying and to ensure open jobs are offered to American workers first.
8. Restoring Community Safety Act. Reduces surging crime, drugs and violence by creating a Task Force On Violent Crime and increasing funding for programs that train and assist local police; increases resources for federal law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors to dismantle criminal gangs and put violent offenders behind bars.
9. Restoring National Security Act. Rebuilds our military by eliminating the defense sequester and expanding military investment; provides Veterans with the ability to receive public VA treatment or attend the private doctor of their choice; protects our vital infrastructure from cyber-attack; establishes new screening procedures for immigration to ensure those who are admitted to our country support our people and our values
10. Clean up Corruption in Washington Act. Enacts new ethics reforms to Drain the Swamp and reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics.

My Vote

Albert Einstein quote

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Camp Paradise

Kurt and I went to Camp Paradise together this summer. Kurt is a good kid, pre-adolescent, and I loved every bit of our time together. The 8-hour drive, our deep talks and playful times. My personal takeaways were that I need to slow life down a bit, honor God with everything I do and the rest takes care of itself.

Annie Update

Annie sent out this email update yesterday ...

I just wanted to give you all a heads up to pray for Erik on Monday. After 3 years, he’s having his bar removed from his chest. It’s not as invasive or as painful as the first surgery, but still very serious. He will spend Monday night in the hospital (Lutheran General) and will be out of school for the week, receiving daily infusions of Von Willebrand factor from a nurse who will make daily visits. The doctor said that he should feel a release of pressure as he has grown significantly since the bar was installed.

Erik is much more at ease with this surgery and has talked to friends and teachers about it as the date has approached. He’s looking forward to ordering BLT’s and ginger ale from the hospital menu and watching cable TV (we are cord cutters). He just finished middle school volleyball and is looking forward to caddying again at Biltmore Country Club in our neighborhood.

As far as a family update, we've just returned from Spring Break in Cocoa Beach, FL. New home to Mary Esther’s sister Anna! Unfortunately, she was in Colorado on Spring Break so we didn’t get to see her and her family. We did see a night rocket launch and lots of sand and surf. That was our 3rd year at Wakulla Suites, and we really enjoy it there.

Peter finished his freshman diving season in February. 10th place in JV conference. We were super proud! Hoping he’ll go out for the team again next year. He also was in charge of the lighting board at the HS production of Aida. Big job! He’s now focusing on school and looking for a summer job.

Kurt had a busy winter with 3 sports (never again!), hockey, basketball and middle school wrestling. He sublimated (almost dislocated) his shoulder in wrestling right before the regional tournament which brought his athletics to a halt for 2 months. He’s getting really good at Call of Duty on the X-Box. Not sure that’s something to brag about. I will be happy when he’s cleared for baseball. This boy needs sports!

Life is busy but fun! I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy.

2015 in Review

Crazy haircuts, chickens, 50th anniversary, zion & grand canyon, mt tallac, silver lake cabin, baptism, friends, family, growing up...