Friday, December 19, 2008

Van Turns 16

Todd and Van with a birthday bag. Todd cleaned his closet out and gave Van all his Cougar gear. That put a smile on Van's face and so will his drivers license.
We spent the day out in sub zero temps and loved every minute of it.


16 comments:

shannon said...

Happy Birthday Van!!!
I heard it was a good one!

Lisa said...

Happy Birthday Van! Hope you like the Maroon5 jacket (seriously, who's your favorite Aunt? I mean, next to Margaret, of course. . . ?!)

C. Jane Kendrick said...

Watch out Ladies!!!

P.S. I thought I was Van's favorite aunt?

Anonymous said...

Now where were you hiding those birds? The count was only 4 when I left. I guess I shouldn't have left early huh? Thanks for the good time.
David

Anonymous said...

"We should by every means in our power impress upon the rising generation the value of life, and how dreadful a sin it is to take life. The lives of animals even should be held far more sacred than they are. Young people should be taught to be very merciful to the brute creation and not to take life wantonly or for sport. The practice of hunting and killing game merely for sport should be frowned upon and not encouraged among us. ...he does not justify men in wantonly killing those creatures which he has made and with which He has supplied the earth."
--George Q. Canon

Matt said...

Dear Anonymous

That is a wonderful quote and couldn't agree with it more. We do not kill for the sport as we eat everything we shoot. My sons are learning more about the creations of this life and gaining an appreciation for it by being out in it. I have a great respect for the animals we hunt. This was something my father taught me out hunting when I was young and hope my kids will share with the same their sons.

Anonymous said...

Matt--
I understand that you probably eat all the ducks that you kill, but do you need to? Do you remember the part in the Word of Wisdom that says "eat meat sparingly...only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine"?
Many prophets and church leaders have said that unnecessary killing is wrong, so how do you define necessary killing?
Also, don't you think it would be more appropriate to go out in nature, see the animals, and enjoy them for just being there? Don't you think that would be more powerful than teaching them to take the animal's life, so it can't live again?
The more animals that are killed, the less other people have the opportunity to teach their children about the beauty of nature.
What do you think?

Matt said...

Dear I wish I knew your name-

Did you know that the current prophet Pres. Monson is a very avid hunter who raised his sons hunting ducks, geese and pheasants? To this day his still raises hunting dogs and enjoys the falconry sport.Different people are raised in different cultures and it is obvious that hunting is a very foreign activity for you. I can appreciate that but I don't think that you should criticize those who do hunt. My sons and I spend a lot of time helping the same animals we hunt by improving their habitat, placing nesting structures in the marsh and being active in several conservation groups which protect the land which they use. You need to know that without the money that is raised from sportsman(hunting,fishing) wildlife as we know would not exist.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous,
Do you have nothing better to do than to worry about what other people are doing? If you dont like hunting then please stop visiting this site. Matt and his family and friends are involved with conservation that help this states wildlife flourish and grow. I know they personally spend money and time to help Utahs wildlife succeed. And while you are busy walking on water, remember to stop "casting your stones."
David

Anonymous said...

Matt--
That's interesting that President Monson hunts, but do you remember that some of the past prophets, including Joseph Smith, believed that we should only kill an animal when it is necessary to save our lives?
Actually, hunting is not a foreign activity for me. My family hunts and I used to do it too, when I was younger. I've done my share of fishing and have hunted birds before. I know that culture that you are talking about, because it is in my family and I am surrounded by it.
However, I realized that the animal had as much of a desire to live and a right to live as I did, and I couldn't justify taking its life when I clearly didn't need to eat the animal. I realized that there were other ways to feed myself and family, mainly plant proteins, based on the Word of Wisdom.
I'm glad that you spend your time helping them out with nests and protecting their land, I admire that. But does it make sense to protect them only to kill them?
We are taught in our religion that animals have souls and are resurrected, so I'm just saying that maybe it's time we respected them more.

Anonymous said...

It isn't the fact that you eat what you kill-it is the glee on your face over their dead bodies. That is bloodlust my friend-and it is not holy. I'm sorry that you are public representing the Mormon religion-one that i as a Catholic respect, and I'm sorry that you have allowed this bloodlust into your heart, and are teaching a young boy to do. I'm sorry to tell you that you will experience cruelty in your life as long as you promote it. See yourself in others, Matt, than whom can you hurt, whom can you harm? Who would Jesus shoot? Not trying to be anonymous-my name is Clare.

C. Jane Kendrick said...

Like Jon Clare?

Now this is getting fun.

Chelsea said...

Wow. I came just recently to your blog from c jane... I was captured by this round of comments and could not help but comment myself. I am not Mormon, I am a Christian. I am not a hunter, I do love shooting pictures of animals. (I am so thankful for meat, though, as my diet would be dull without it!) But it seems outrageous to me that by choosing to have a blog (my guess is in order to share your life with friends and family) that you have to be willing to accept such criticism and judgment from strangers. I now understand why so many people make their blogs private, or do not allow anonymous people to comment. I apologize to you for your loss of freedom and endured persecution to share your life as you enjoy it with the people that care most about you. Happy Birthday to Van, as it should be!
-Another stranger's unsolicited opinion.

redhoney76 said...

Hi Cjane-What do you mean Jon? Now I'm curious.....

Matt said...

I respect the opinions of everyone. Although I disagree with Clare, I acknowledge his views on hunting and hope that through my blog I will get him excited about possibly going out with me on a guided duck hunt and wild game feast after.

Anonymous said...

I was impressed by your reasoning skills with regard to your justification for hunting, but your last comment was ignorant. You lose credibility with stupid comments like those...