Mothers Against Blogging

This is just a short blog (but more than most of my family has done lately) to wish all of you a Merry Christmas.

Also, to let my family know how much I love them!

I’ll write more later,

Love, ME

It’s 4:00 am in the morning (I actually got up at 3:30) and I’m up cleaning, folding clothes, dusting, and doing whatever I can to pass the time until we leave for New York at 7:30. We’re going to watch the American Fork High School Band perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. I’m so excited. Like a little kid!

Jermie, our son-in-law, is the assistant director and we’re so proud of him for his talent and for having opportunities like this.

We’ve also just celebrated Thanksgiving with our family - plus. We had around 40 people at our house Sunday for a Thanksgiving Feast Buffet. It was fun - but the best part was getting the news that we have two little sweet grandchildren on the way. Preston and Jen are expecting their first - YEAH! - and Jermie and Amber will be having their third. I don’t know how we can love anyone more than we love the ones that are already here but it will happen!!!! We feel so blessed!

We also just said goodbye to Paula, Greg and Spencer. They were here to work their little hearts out finishing our basement. It’s going to be so nice to have some extra play/entertainment areas especially as the family grows!

Let’s see - it’s 4:26 - I guess that’s all the time I’ll spend on this update. But I’ll write more later and fill you in on the Fabulous New York Adventure.

Blogger MOM

As my husband loves to tell people I am now at “band camp”!  Actually I am in beautiful Chautaqua, New York, with hundreds of “over 40 - more like over 60 year olds” playing my cello.  Actually, most of the people are in a New Horizons Band somewhere in the country.  There are about 30 string students who are members of New Horizons Orchestras.  We are all at different levels of musicianship but it doesn’t matter in this environment.  It’s so much fun talking to people and seeing this beautiful part of New York.  I also love making music with these wonderful people.  Most of them took up this hobby after their kids were grown and are just learning like me! 

First I’d like to thank my husband for encouraging me to find new hobbies.  He is also the one who sent me on this fun adventure.  I don’t know of very many husbands who would do that!  (I also think he’s enjoying having the house to himself for a few days!)

Next, I’d like to thank my kids who also are so supportive.  They encourage me and tell me that I can do whatever I want - even as an old Grandma!

I’d also like to thank Jakie for calling me last night (while I was driving in the dark) to sing his part in the church primary program.  It’s a good thing I got back to my Inn safely - because he made me cry!  You did such a good job Jacob!

I love my family so much.  I am really going to write more later about the little ones - but right now I have to get to my String Ensemble practice!!!

So - I’ll blog with you later!

I haven’t written a blog for weeks!  Actually that makes pretty good sense for an anti-blogging person.  But I am going to write one more now before I leave for “band camp” for a week!

I have two mindless things to write about:   (unlike my family who write really interesting, informative blogs - really!)

1.  Anyone who knows me knows that………I love women’s magazines.  Not the racy ones.  I love Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, and Family Circle.  They usually have helpful, “clean” articles and I love browsing through them when I have nothing else to do.  But I have noticed that every article is pretty much repeated in every issue!  (under a different title)  For instance - “Walk the Weight Off” ……by Christmas, by summer, in 3 months, in two weeks, etc., etc., etc.  There is also the same article every month that teaches me how to organize my house, or how to clean anything, or how to decorate for nothing.  But it doesn’t matter - I love it all.  They’ve got me hooked.

2.  Ukrops - This is a grocery store chain in Virginia and there’s just nothing like it anywhere else.  When we moved to Richmond, Va.  20 years ago we made a visit to this family owned store.  We were practically attacked when we walked in the door with coupons, help finding things, welcome to the neighborhood kind of friendliness.  They are totally service oriented.  They won’t let you lift a bag after check-out.  Some young person (or sometimes an older retired person) helps to out to your car every time.  There are no shopping carts in the parking lot.  (a great way to maintain shopping carts by the way).  Also, almost all of our children worked there during high school and University breaks.  They are so flexible and work with sports, church and vacation schedules with these young people.  If you ever are in the Richmond area be sure to visit one of these incredible stores.

P.S.  They also have great eat in dining and catering services!

So - now to my faithful readers (you know who you are)!  That’s my latest blog!

If you ever need to see some interesting insights into life just sit in a parking lot (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Home Depot, etc) in the evening and watch what people do.

Here are 4 things I saw in the space of about 30 minutes one night:

1. A girl came out of the store, stood next to her car, took a new top out of her bag and proceeded to take off the top she had on and put on the newly purchased top.  Then she got in the car and drove away.

2. Same parking lot - a grandpa with a little boy took the time to floss thoroughly in the parking lot before he took his little grandson by the hand and walked into the store.

3.  A young man came out of the store, stood by his motorcycle while he smoked his whole cigarette - then he threw that down, put on his helmet and drove away.  Think about that a few times.  He had to smoke the entire cigarette before he put his helmet on for protection.  Maybe you had to be there - I thought it was a little ironic.

4.  This is a sweet one.  A young couple came out of the store with a baby.  The mom got in the front to drive while the dad got in the back to sit next to the baby in her baby seat.  That’s just not something you see all the time.

So, next time you have nothing to do there’s my suggestion for a fun and interesting night out.

Thumbs up to the Lindon Police Department.  We had an exterminator yesterday who locked his keys in his truck.  We called the Lindon Police Department and they sent someone over right away to unlock his truck!  I’ve heard that they also do that in other smaller towns.  Nice Service!

The funny thing is that when the guy (exterminator) came to the door after he realized what had happened he asked us if we happened to have a “slim jim”.  Silly me - I thought he wanted a piece of jerkey.  I thought it was pretty wierd - so then I found out that a slim jim is something you can unlock your car with!

Wow - I’m just constantly learning new things every day!

I’ve finally taken on the task that I’ve been dreading. Cleaning the basement. We want to finish it soon so that means going through all of our “family memory” boxes, sorting, throwing away, and probably re-boxing and saving most of the stuff. I don’t want this to be a mushy blog so I’m going to dedicate this blog to some interesting and hopefully entertaining background information about my children (because doing this basement thing is bringing back some fond memories):

Brooke - The oldest of our four children, Brooke paved the way for the siblings to come. She was the first grandchild on both sides so she definitely was an attention stealer. She won the hearts of her grandparents and in my opinion still holds them. Now, some funny things about Brooke -

When she was around 3 she felt bad that we didn’t have a grave to visit on Memorial Day. So she talked to one of her grandmas about it and said “well, think about how fun it will be when you die and I can visit your grave on Memorial Day!” I’m sure Grandma appreciated that one.

She claims that the other grandma gave her advice for her wedding night. The advice was “don’t do it”! We’re still laughing about that one! (By the way she didn’t heed that advice).

When she was probably about 6 she was asked in school what her favorite “possession” was. She said “lying down”. (thinking they were asking about her favorite “position”:)

In her teens she was very active and a little on the rebellious side although she never did anything really bad. At least as far as we know. She’s still fessing up to things that she did years ago (she’s 35 now). She says that it helps her to clear her conscience but it’s really getting old. So stop Brooke!!!!

At this time she is the ultra-blogging daughter (see plainadvice.com) and has become over the years a wonderful daughter, mom, sister, and friend!!!!

Zach - If you want to see the opposite of Brooke you need to meet Zach. Quiet, talks only when he has something important to say, technical/computer focused brain, and an all around great guy. We never, ever had a problem with Zach. The only problem we had was finding enough wires, boxes, tape and batteries for his projects.

He once invented a contraption that told him with lights and bells when someone was walking into his room (or something like that). He loved to take apart and put back together anything electronic. (Sometimes the putting back together took a lot longer than the taking apart).

When he was too old to go trick or treating he fastened a teddy bear on the back of his little brother and also hooked a bag onto the arms of the teddy bear. So when his brother went trick or treating he just had to turn around and say it again and in would go candy for his big brother. Smart, huh?

He began loving panda bears when he was pretty young and that love of pandas has extended into his marriage and with his baby girl (who has a panda theme in her room). Those girls (wife and baby) are really good sports about the panda thing.

Zach is now a great dad, husband, son, and very, very smart person. We really don’t know what he does at work because no one would understand if he tried to explain. But we know that he is really, really, really, smart:)

Preston - I could say a ton about Preston. Never a dull moment when he’s around. The thing that reminds me of him when I’m cleaning out the basement is that every Christmas he came down with mysterious back trouble. This back trouble seemed to plague him on the day we brought the Christmas decorations down from the attic and then again after Christmas when it was time to take them back up to the attic. It’s a strange illness - we really never had it evaluated but it occurred every year! We’ll have to have that diagnosis done by his wife.

Also, He was an avid soccer player. He was one of the best players but also was able to do an academy award performance if he thought he’d gotten the least bit hurt on the field. At first people took it seriously but then it became something that everyone just rolled their eyes about and kind of glanced at each other with knowing eyes. Sadly, there was one game he played (his mom and dad didn’t happen to be there) where he was kicked by the goalie and his leg had a major break. We heard that it took awhile for everyone to realize that he’d really been hurt and to get him to a hospital! So much for the boy who cried wolf…….

Preston is the life of the party. If you want a good laugh just make sure he’s there and you’ll be rolling on the floor the whole time. His little nieces and nephews think he’s the best and so do the rest of the family!!!!

Amber - Constant, goal-oriented, focused, reliable, and fun to be with. She ties with Zach for being easy to raise. She didn’t need rules or curfews. She worked hard in school (which didn’t come naturally for her as it did her other sister and brothers) and she ended up being the only one to attend BYU on a full scholarship! Way to go Amber.

She was the animal lover growing up. We went through 3 guinea pigs with her. (They are very hard to raise and don’t usually last more than a few months - at least in our family). But we persisted through three of them.

Amber is very persistent at keeping her goals - learning to play the viola beautifully, doing well in school and a ton of other things over the years. The only goal that I’ve known her not to keep is that she was determined not to get married until she was done with college. Then came Jermie and she fell head over heels in love - which is fine for us but kind of funny when we think back of how serious she was about that.

One funny thing about Amber. She loved it when she became the only child at home. We went on a trip to Disneyland when she was a senior in high school and the only thing she really cared about doing was having breakfast with Winnie the Pooh. (She was a major Winnie the Pooh fan). So we called to schedule our breakfast and the woman taking the call said, “That will be fine. Now how old is your daughter?”. She laughed pretty hard when she found out Amber was 17 years old. Oh well, that’s how it goes for the baby of the family.

Amber is a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, aunt and shopping buddy!!!!

Well, that’s it in a nutshell. All you wanted to know about this bloggermom’s kids and more!

We have a miracle in our family - and it’s not with a person, but a sweet bunny.  Honey Bunny is an important part of our family.  Jen was a package deal when she married into our family - and Honey Bunny was part of that package.  We’ve known the bunny as long as we’ve known Jen, I think, and she has been such a sweet and comforting pet for Jen.  Surprisingly Preston, our son, has grown to love her also.  The reason that is surprising is that he is pretty allergic (as I am) to most animals.  But Honey Bunny seems to be the exception.

The Bunny was extremely sick this week.  We thought we would lose her and I was trying to figure out a post I could write as a tribute to her.  But happily she has been cared for by a great vet and has miraculously started getting better.

So, even though I am not an animal lover - mostly because of my allergies - I love Honey Bunny and I’m glad she’s been given some extra time to be with Preston and Jen.

We love you Honey!

My last post caused a flurry among my family.  Everyone (almost) updated their posts so I am under extreme pressure to write an exciting and interesting article.

I’m going to write about the amazing people that were brave enough to marry into our family.  (Just a note, some are bloggers - some are not - doesn’t make any difference)

I have two daughters who I love more than words can say.  They were able to meet and marry extraordinary men who have added so much to our family.  These two men happen to be non-bloggers.  Maybe that’s why I love them so much.  I wasn’t going to mention names but I think I will anyway.

Jermie is a handsome, talented, hard-working husband and father.  His life is extremely busy.  He is #1 on the list for who his wife and boys would pick to spend their time.  He is positive about life, he is spiritually sensitive and has a fun sense of humor.  He takes very good care of my daughter and grandsons and I love him dearly.

Jorge is my handsome Bolivian son-in-law.  He is the greatest.  He has a huge heart and and an even bigger smile!  He might be the hardest worker and most determined person in our family.  He cares for my daughter, their two darling children and he has three children from a first marriage.  I’ll talk about them all later - but he is the greatest dad!

Now for those beautiful women who married my two sons:  (they are both bloggers but not in an extreme sense!)

Jen is the perfect match for Preston.  It’s hard for me to even try to write about how much she means to me and to the rest of the family.  She looks on the positive side of life.  Not much gets her down.  I love to spend time with her.  She has taught me so much about faith, and trust, and unconditional love.  We are so lucky and happy to have Jen in our family.

Last but not least is Kamille.  She is a dream come true.  When Zach met her he fell head over heals in love (a rare thing for Zach) and she returned the feeling.  Watching them has been one of the funnest things in life.  They have a sweet little baby girl now and watching this family together is a delight.  Kamille fits right into the family.  She wants to be part of everything and everyone loves her.

The thing I love so much about having these great people come into our lives is that now there are other people who love my children almost as much as I do and I know that they are caring for them.   So my tribute and blog today goes to four of my favorite people in the world.  Thanks Jermie, Jorge, Jen and Kamille

OK kids,

You guys got me into this blogging thing and there’s been a severe lack of blogs by you (except of course my ultra-blogging daughter).  So I have decided not to post an exciting and interesting blog until I read an exciting, interesting blog on your page.  (This is for everyone again except the UBD (ultra-blogging daughter).

Love, MOM