Why yes, that is me in the NYTimes

Apparently, one good way to get the attention of reporters is to stand in the back of the room with a baby on your back and a toddler running circles around you.

I took the boys to the Mitt Romney rally in Elko last week. While the boys entertained themselves looking at the helicopter in the back of the hanger, I noticed a reporter talking to someone nearby. I overheard a few mentions of, "The Church."

Hmm...

When she finished talking to that man, she approached me.

Uh oh.

"Hi, I'm with the New York Times. We're doing an article about whether Romney's large support base in the Western States has anything to do with the concentration of Mormons out here. Can I ask you a few questions? Are you Mormon?"

Oh boy. It's worse than I thought. (You all know how I feel about media sensationalism.) Well, the only thing to do is take the Gordon B. Hinkley approach: do your best to give thoughtful, honest answers, and let the chips fall where they may.

After I finished talking to her, I was approached by someone from the Elko Daily Free Press. That was slightly less intimidating. I like how his article turned out too. Okay, it reads mostly like he was trying to fit in a quote from everyone he talked to, but what's wrong with that?

I actually didn't expect to be quoted in either article, so I was surprised when I read the Times article. I was also surprised that she mentioned the Harry Reid angle and that so many mentioned him to her.

It is kind of too bad they didn't use my picture. That would have been classic: housewife with more kids than she can handle. I even happened to be wearing a skirt that day. Oh well. Here's the picture Beeper took of me talking to the guy from the Free Press:


Then he took this one:


That was how he kept himself entertained during the rally - going around taking pictures. Here's some more:

The helicopter was the most important thing there, of course:




One advantage to being small is being able to worm yourself close to the stage. (Those of you from Elko: that is Grant Gerber on the end. He said the opening prayer.)


Here's the press box. He took this one "because that guy over there looks like one of your brothers."


He was the most excited, though, to get a picture of himself with one of the policemen outside:


He told me it was taken by "the other policeman." He even asked me, "Would you like to get your picture taken next to a policeman?"

(BTW, I would have liked to take them to other rallies too, but the only other candidate who came this time was Ron Paul, and I didn't find out about his until it was too late to attend.)