Stock Report 2011

I was hoping to have a Christmas Letter of sorts posted on the blog, so when you received your Christmas card and dashed to your computer to bookmark our site you would have some current news to read.

Here's the truth... I don't write as often as I'd like. I do in my head. I just can't send it to the printer from there.

We (meaning Jon & I) can't believe that Christmas is next week. The kids have been counting down days all month. We've only undone two of the Christmas boxes to get the tree up. The stockings are still out in the garage along with the books and other misc. decor. Jon started a projects that had a domino effect (what other kind of project is there?). Now our wooden entertainment center is freshly painted with an added shelf - all prepped and ready for a new TV and speakers. Jon has been VERY good this year. He has been especially good to me. My cheerful self has been pounced on and repeatedly doused with chronic migraine pain. We are still on the hunt for solutions to fit my case.

While the year in review is being procrastinated, I did want to jot a couple moments for if I don't I will definitely forget them.

Jayson came to tell me how very windy it was outside. Then to clarify he added, "it's not windy in the backyard, only in the front yard."

Jacob recently made a delicious mix of peppermint cocoa. I asked the other children to stop snacking on the marshmallows. I wanted them to be saved for the hot chocolate. Jayson agreed and then added, "and we want them for when we are at the beach so we can burn them in the fire."

Jessica has been praying, "please bless Santa to bring us lots of presents."

Jacob's First Overnight Backpacking Trip - November 11-12, 2011

Looking For FANS

People are always requesting Facebook Friends and trying to get more Facebook Fans to "like" their pages. I was hoping to get some of my actual friends to come be my FANS in the audience during my concert.

Last year my parents flew out to see me for my first concert in Orange County. It meant the world to me. Jon, James, Jacob, and Jessica came too. It so fun for me to perform, but it means more knowing that I have a few fans in the crowd.

Well, my fans are sparse this year. But I know that so many of you would REALLY enjoy it if you just bought a ticket and got yourself there. The music is divine. Being in an amazing concert hall with live music is an unique experience. Having that music be familiar Christmas carol in amazing new arrangements will stir your souls in a good way. Seriously, skip one of the 3D movies this fall and buy a concert ticket - be one of my fans. Come to my concert. It can be your Christmas present to me - scratch me right off your list :)

Tickets can be purchased HERE

It's Saturday, December 3rd. Matinee Performance is 2 p.m. Evening Performance 7 p.m. Adult, Youth, & Children's Choirs will perform WITH ORCHESTRA. Plus you'll get some added guitar strumming and a bit of clappin' and snappin' for the Spanish number.

Pumpkin Patch

BOO-tiful

You may think our Halloween box exploded all over our front flower bed. I know that I did when I saw all the extra pumpkins and ghosts from our light strings in the shrubs and flowers. I checked to see if they had blown off the light strands around the door and they hadn't. Those were perfectly in tact. But I came to find out the Jessica & Jayson had "decorated" the front yard with all our extras - and isn't it CUTE.

Important Insights From my Three Year Old Lately

"Mom, we didn't go to Disneyland, the zoo, or the beach today. We need to go there."

*****

Goose: "Mom, why are we stopping?"

Me: "Because the light is red"

Goose: "But I don't want to stop"

Me: "Well you don't get to choose. There are rules for driving. We take turns so we don't crash."

Goose: "Mom, how long???"

Me: "Maybe a minute - not usually very long."

Goose: "No. maybe eighteen. I don't like stopping."

*****

Me: "It's time to brush your teeth"

Jayson: "No!!! I hate brushing my teeth."

Me: "It doesn't matter. You still need to brush your teeth. Every morning. Every night."

Jayson: "I don't like to. It takes a long time."

Me: "It only takes a couple minutes."

Jayson: "No!!! It takes seven minutes."

Me: "We can brush them for seven minutes if you want. Come now and brush your teeth."

*****
Upon entering a gated community....

Jayson: "Why are we stopping?"

Me: "I have to enter the code so the gate will open."

Jayson: "How 'bout just crash through it"

"Simple Saturday"

*Type & Print programs for Stake Baptism

*Attend & Give Talk at Stake Baptism

*Arrive Late at Church for "Simple Saturday" (formerly called Super Saturday) Craft Day & assemble two adorable soldiers made out of flower pots

*Manage desk clutter & sign school forms

*Scout out new photo shoot location

*Purchase Sweet Incentives for Smiles & Gift for upcoming Piano Recital

*Wait in line behind the shopper who has a coupon for every item in her cart (none of them would scan)

*Family Photo Shoot - first for the Christmas Card Season

*Clean bathroom

*Grab a bite to eat

*Take Jacob to after hours care to get three stitches

*Review Lesson I need to teach tomorrow

Blue Halloween Fing

We were are target to make it to preschool ON TIME today.

Front door locked.

Car door opened.

Jayson turned to me and asked, "Where's my blue Halloween fing?"

I thought real hard, even with abstract thinking I couldn't conceive what that could be. "I don't know where that could be. Don't really know what it is Goose."

"I can get it quickwee."

His eyes were the richest shade of blue holding the deepest amounts of sincerity. I couldn't refuse him.

Back to the front door, undo the lock, follow him through the entry to the family room to see what he would retrieve.

A navy blue bandana. That was it. His Blue Halloween Thing that he's been carrying around from the Halloween costume box since last night is this silly bandana. He loves it. He accidentally dipped it in his cereal milk this morning. He whipped me with it at family prayers last night. It is cooler than any of his toys in his room.

We made it to preschool. I completely forgot to pack him a snack, but he didn't seem bothered. He had his blue Halloween fing.

Book of Mormon - Messiah in America

That's me singing in the choir :)

Brain MRI

I had my brain MRI yesterday. It's kind of like being loaded on a platform and being raised as an offering for alien abductors. You receive earplugs, fitted face mask, and are rolled into a narrow tube just like in the movies. What I didn't get from the movies are the series of VERY loud noises. First the jack hammer, then the wood pecker. Then it's like you are lying very still on the floor of a dance club - not that I would actually know what that feels like, but I have an imagination. The ground beneath you is vibrating and rumbling. The bass drum is pulsing. You are wondering if the machine is TRYING to give you a headache. There's the far away wrapping at a door - is this a test?? Am I supposed to get up and get that? Am I asleep? Then the resounding reverb BOOM BOOM BOOM. Again far away - tap tap tap tap. Calm paaaaaause. BOOOM BOOOM BOOOOM BOOOM.

I am supposed to be very still. Don't smile. Is that a test too? Are they testing to see if I have any sense of humor? Because it's kind of funny. Who made this magnetic NOISY machine? I remain still. I am a good patient. I keep my eyes close because I told them I'm not claustrophobic, but I could probably get rather irritated by the close quarters if I allowed myself to see how confined I was. Instead I'm lying under an open sky. There are color fireworks. I breathe in and out. I should have put a pillow under my back. I am not a back sleeper. I would never just lie on my back on a hard slab for 15 minutes. Be still relax you shoulders, but don't move. Is this almost over? It's got to be almost over. I'm so thirsty. I keep swallowing. The picture is going to be blurry because I keep swallowing. BEEP BEEP Is a big truck backing up? I hope it sees me here lying very still. Did those earplugs pop out of my ears? I hate things in my ears. I'll probably have a headache from the earplugs. The swooshing sound is constant. It's been there the whole time. It makes me think of a baby in the womb listening to it's mother's heart.

I finished the test. They didn't make me do it over. I have the images on a disk to bring to my neurologist. I'm not scheduled to see him for 3 weeks. I should probably see if I can change the appointment.

ARE YOU GETTING EXCITED FOR GAME DAY

Includes video. Let's get fired up. Semi Finals tomorrow.

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She's Still Got IT

Mother of Four. My Dearest Friend. Amazing Woman.

It felt like torture when I insisted that we do a photo shoot together when we were child free for a couple hours. We are tired, wrinkled, and have stretch marks to prove that we are NOT spring chickens any more. We are full time mother hens that still have those blasted other pounds despite our best efforts.

I can't think of anyone more beautiful. Love you.

Happy Birthday!!!!!

One Year Older & Wiser Too....

Happy 39th Birthday to My Sweetie!!!! The week before the big event Jon was packing for a surprise business trip to New Jersey. We didn't know how long he would be gone. So we took the family out to Island's Restaurant to celebrate Dad's birthday. Wow were we able to down a couple Chocolate Lava desserts in a heartbeat.

Thankfully Jon was only gone a few days and not a few weeks. He returned for his actual birthday on August 24th which meant that we need to have an actual homemade birthday cake for him. His request was an ice cream cake. Mom's creations: a Snicker's Ice Cream Cake. He got to have FIVE candles - one from each of us :)

Jessica in her sweet style was the only one with a prepared gift. Wish I could find the video clip. She thought of EVERYTHING.

BASKETBALL MANIA

I am one PROUD Mom. We attended FOUR games on Saturday. Each team had to keep on winning to make it to the semi-finals. James and Jacob have each shown AMAZING improvement. I can't wait to share some of the video clips. Here's a teaser for now. Enjoy!!!

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The Root 66 Garden

Our church is supporting the Root 66 Community Garden. We are currently in the running for a $50,000 grant from Pepsi. The money would be used to fix a well so the plants can be watered.

Will you help us win by texting a vote? It only takes a minute - even faster if you are a whiz a texting.

Send to: 73744 (that's the whole phone number)

Message: 109075

If it went through you will immediately get a text back saying, "thank you for your vote."

You can text vote ONCE per day in September.

We have to make it to the 10 ten. We are in the sixties. We've got to get LOTS more votes.

Updating Address Book

Today I was trying to enter my Grandma's new address at LuRee's Legacy so I can find it easily when I send her notes. But I got all upset when I had to delete "Grandpa" off the listing on Belmont Drive. I should have just made a whole new contact card.

I went to his funeral and everything, but I've been in complete denial that he's actually passed on. I only see him once maybe twice a year anyway. I guess I keep figuring that I'll just see him next visit. I don't plan on visiting the Spirit World anytime soon. I worry about my Grandma. I worry about my Dad who always looked to his father for advice. It's kind of surreal.

Here's the slideshow I put together of our day to Honor Grandpa:

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My Grandpa Graduated

For those of you who don't know, my Grandpa Ottley graduated from this life to the next late Wednesday night. After a wonderful time in Pinto Utah with Grandma and extended family celebrating his 89th birthday, he had a bad fall and sustained injuries to his brain. Surrounded by music, family, love, tears, and support - even the urgings of an eternal spouse to go along - "I'll be there soon" he continued his journey to be greeted by our cousin Jody, his brothers Glen & Warren, his parents, and many others.

This was the image I was losing sleep over. I couldn't find it. These are hands of service - service to God, to country, to family, to friends. These hands scooped ice cream, tended to plants, pleated draperies, held babies, administered priesthood blessings, built gazebos, sheds, greenhouses, and playhouses, and navigated keyboards to create beautiful writings. I cherish that I've felt his arms encircle me and his hands on my head to bless me. I can finally catch my breath because I found the image that symbolizes all that you are, all that you inspire me to be, and all that you carry on with you. I love you Grandpa!

Others we Love:

Lunches on the Patio at the Millcreek Canyon House (LuAyne Heights)

Sitting in Kaysville Home & Family Tree Wall:

Grandma & Grandpa Great came to Jacob's baptism in Utah