Everythings bigger in Texas - except lemons from Morgan Hill

Jansen - enjoying a Morgan Hill lemon wedge courtesy of the Pollard family.

The mighty lemon was passed around the family tonight at Mom and Dads and everyone marveled at the size of this Cosmic California Citrus! 


Thank you for sharing the lemon! We love you Brian, Karen, Jessica, Joe, Laura and Ethan!

"She wore lemon

To colour in the cold grey night
She had heaven
And she held on so tight" - U2

Practicing with Michele belle

Just a heads up my Lacrosse Season has started and we beat Logan today 17-7 It was a great game and for all of you ogdeniers (don't know if thats what it is) my Weber Game is on the 31st at 4:30 at Oak Lawn Park. if you want to come.

Basin with the DUDE!

Spent the day trying to keep up with Herr Volkl!  He is one fast dude!  He was skiing injured so I didn't slow him down too much.   I have almost recovered.  Thanks Greg!

Happy day! Katie Simpson

today was such a special day! - thanks everyone for coming! We love you all! katie was so serious and excited- It was so neat to have her baptized in the same dress that Emily and sophie and Elizabeth all wore

Kathryn Barbara Simpson - Baptism

congratulations Katie - We love you!

Final Cuts

WEBER HIGH BOYS SOCCER

(Final cut)
Parker Hansen Jacolby Griffin Shaun Shaw
Bryson Howell Broc Gunderson Chase Virgil
Tommy Stewart Ethan Erickson Colby Huerta
Curtis Child Drew Harris Blaise Mendenhall
Kenny Gordon James Richardson Jordon Taylor
Tyler Murdock Parker Dixon Jason Skinner
Bryce Child Michael Call Austin Pulver
Austin Toone Troy Bouchard Joe Wheelwright
Colby Wight Zach Barker Ben Westbroek
David Welch Stratton Nielsen Luis Stakebake
Colby Ferrin Ryan Patrick Chance Blackman
Jaden Bybee Taylor Kunz Jacob Howell
Jesse Krey Dyllin Rumsey Taylor Burrows
Zac Dixon

We survived three cuts with 95 great young men reduced from 135 who tried out.  We are grateful the boys get to play together this year.

Happy Birthday Regan

Happy Birthday Regan !

Sorry that we fed you so much as a child. (But you were always so Hungry!)

Love Mom and Dad

“SALVATION: The Great Plan of Happiness” by Ethan Pollard

“SALVATION:  The Great Plan of Happiness”

Talk given by Ethan Pollard in Sacrament Meeting in the Morgan Hill 2^nd Ward on January 23, 2011.

Good morning brothers and sisters.

I’m thankful to speak to you today about the Plan of Salvation. 

I was thinking that if you could make a video game out of the Plan of Salvation, it would be, like, the best game EVER!  I mean, think about it, it has all of the elements:  great adversaries and challenges, great heroes, an epic quest . . . Everything!

I think the game would be called “SALVATION:  The Great Plan of Happiness.”

The graphics in this game are very realistic.

The music always fits what’s going on—sometimes it’s happy, sometimes it’s sad.  Sometimes it’s calm and peaceful, and sometimes it’s frantic.  Sometimes it’s scary, and sometimes it’s triumphant.  I’m pretty sure it would win an award for Best Music in a Video Game.

“SALVATION: The Great Plan of Happiness” has these levels, or stages, that you have to progress through.

There have been some complaints about the rating for this game because its rated “E” for Everyone, but it really has some “mature themes” and “scary images” and “sequences of action violence,” et cetera, so it probably should be rated “T” for Teen at least.

The first level is called the Pre-Earth Life.  In that first level, you’re in this idyllic place when a plan is presented and then this TOTAL WAR breaks out—it’s very exciting!

See, the story line is that there’s this Great King who is very wise and very happy.  He wants his children to be happy like he is, and so he plans to send them on a quest so they can learn by experience to choose good over evil, happiness over misery--so they can become like Him.

The Boss in the first level is called the Adversary and he wants to change the plan so that no one can choose, and he wants to take away their glory, or life force.  That’s when the war breaks out.  The Adversary is defeated in this level but he doesn’t die; he gets “cast out” so you have to fight him again later. 

Anyway, because that battle was won, we have AGENCY—that means our choices influence how the game progresses.

Then you go through this transition called Birth.  The music in this part is beautiful and everyone is happy.  This is when you get assigned to a family, who are like your closest team and allies, and you receive your body, which you need for this level.  So then you’re in the level called MORTAL LIFE--this is when your quest really begins.

You get certain HELPs.  Like two of the players are assigned to be your PARENTS so they protect you and provide for you.  They’re pretty important. 

Every player gets a light that acts as a compass, and helps you know where to go.  It’s called a conscience or the light of Christ.

You get these instruction packets—they’re called COMMANDMENTS.  You’re supposed to follow those, which means you are supposed to stay on this path that’s kind of “strait” and “narrow.”

You would think that following these commandments would be pretty easy, because there are really only two: 

Love God with all your heart, and

Love your neighbor as yourself. 

But you’d be surprised—it’s harder than it looks.  You see, there are these mists of darkness that come along and make you lose your way. 

In the beginning of this level, you have to search for the tools and weapons you’re going to need to help you accomplish your quest.  One of the first ones you need is the shield of faith.  Once you get that one, it can help you get the other ones—like, there’s the Sword of the Spirit, the Breastplate of Righteousness, et cetera.  If you get the whole set, that’s called the “Whole Armor of God,” and that’s really good because then you get certain IMMUNITIES.

When a game is really complex, it’s worth it to get the GAME GUIDE.  The GAME GUIDE for “SALVATION:  The Great Plan of Happiness” is called the SCRIPTURES.

And you can get other Abilities. Like, you can get SCRIPTURE POWER.  According to the Game Guide,

SCRIPTURE POWER keeps you safe from sin,

SCRIPTURE POWER is the power to win.

So that’s pretty handy.  These other ABILITIES can help you defeat your foes.

Then, all of these challenges come along and there are these obstacles you have to overcome.  I mean, there are a lot of them.  What’s cool is for every challenge you overcome you gain life points; that is, you get stronger.  In gaming, we call this “leveling up.”  If you make bad choices, you lose life points; that is, you get weaker. 

Sometimes you mess up and then you have to go back to the CHECKPOINT at the beginning of that section.  Sometimes there’s this helper there called a BISHOP.

There’s a hero in the game and every player needs his help to go back to the King.  His name is Jesus Christ.  No one can go back without his help.  He has power over the Adversary, so you can defeat the Adversary if you have his help.

Then you have to enter into these agreements called COVENANTS.  They are administered by the representatives of the King, in these things called ORDINANCES. 

If you do that you get certain ABILITIES.  Like, after you get baptized, you get the GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST.  It’s like your conscience, only stronger, and more specific.  It gives you certain protections. 

Anyway, after all of this quest, you go through another transition called DEATH.  The music here is very sad, because you are going to be separated from your team for a while.  The good news is that it’s only temporary.

The next level you go to depends on how many life points you earned during the Mortal Life Phase.   I haven’t made it to that stage yet but I hear that if you make it to the highest level, the ending credits are beautiful, and then you go on to have other adventures.

Like I said, SALVATION:  The Great Plan of Happiness is the greatest game EVER!

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.