Learning Joy

 
Morgan sparkling in the sun (she’s part vampire, you know).  Michelle taking a picture of Jaymie.  

The “rainforest” – we encountered a good bit of snow!!

The Times of London has revealed that the study, published by Lancet, a British medical journal, which links autism and the MMR vaccine was faked. I found it interesting that so many people were willing to believe this study on its own, when the study had such a small sample – 12 families. However, Hot Air notes that even though the sample was small & others tried to recreate the same results and came up empty, the public still believed the study and vaccinations dropped. Now two children have died from measles, something that should have never happened in our 21st century world.
I have friends who don’t vaccinate. While I respect their decision, I don’t understand it. The problem I have is that they are not only putting their children at risk, but they are putting humanity in general at risk. Measles are a virus. We’ve already seen cold viruses get stronger, more resilient, due to people using antibiotics and the virus adapting. Measles was gone, now it has the opportunity to adapt, to change, to become a stronger, harder-to-get-rid-of disease. The threat that the terrorists were developing ways to spread diseases through the air and other means didn’t phase me much ’til I realized there are people who aren’t vaccinated anymore!!!
Technology & science have come so far. We no longer fear for our children dying of simple things like consumption (pneumonia) or bigger things like polio. The mortality rate of kids has increased exponentially. It wasn’t that long ago that you had to wait until a child was over 5 or 6 to know for sure they were going to really live.
Anyways, I digress. Read these articles and see for yourself. The MMR vaccine is a good thing. 🙂

Thought this was a neat tree.
Taken 2.7.09 @ First Beach, La Push, WA

 
First Beach, La Push, WA

 
Ok, so it was really a dog’s footprint, but I thought if I got close enough, I could make it look big and people would think it was a wolf-print! 🙂 (I’m such a nerd!!)

 
I don’t think I saw Bella & Jacob’s tree, but there was a lot of driftwood to cross in order to get to the water’s edge!

 
God is so cool. Forks is supposed to be *THE* rainiest area ever, but we were blessed with two days of bright sunshine. The ocean was magnificent! I love the ocean.

 
First view of the Pacific Ocean at First Beach in La Push, WA.