A few more pictures at Shelbi's Party

We can tell where Shane gets his good looks from! His dad of course. They are such a 'special' family.

Seth was avoiding the camera and this was the best I got.

Like I said, a 'special' family!

Grandpa and Amanda hosted a great party!

2 November Birthdays!

Little Mary had her 3rd birthday just this Wednesday. She was so excited to share this day with both her dad's family and her mom's family. Mary had a pizza party at Round Table pizza where the food was so yummy and the party was so much fun!

Mary loved celebrating with all her cousins and auntes and uncles!

Shelbi had a birthday celebration on the same night as Mary! Elijah, Seth, and Shane stayed to celebrate while I took Jacob over to Mary's party. There was yummy food, even better cake, and some goofy company. We always have a blast with each other!

My beautiful sister in law's Jessi and Jessica!

This Is It

So, this was one of the best Graduation presents I ever received. Thank you so much Dorthy, Greg, John, and Danna. If you can't see well, this is a framed Michael Jackson album.
Oh yes, I said album. There is a very old and very worn record in that frame. Okay, it all starts back when I was five years old living in San Diego. I was in kindergarten and my friends Louis, Katy, and I loved getting together in our neighborhood listening to Michael Jackson. We would meet up with a boom box and our tapes and just dance. Louis was the best Michael Jackson dancer and we would practice all the moves from his music videos. We would meet up after school and on the weekend with our Jean Jackets with snap buttons and medical tape on our fingertips. I am pretty sure we were Michael Jackson's biggest five year old fans in the world.

Right around my seventh birthday my parents bought me the movie Moonwalker. I would watch that movie all the time. I still have it to this day. I used to watch it frequently up until 2004 when our VCR broke and we never replaced it.

I remember when Invincible was released and I was soo excited because it had been the longest gap between album releases since Michael Jackson started releasing albums. I loved it and listened to it constantly.

While living in Connecticut around 1993, my parents had a garage sale they were planning. They sold their 8-track player along with all their 8-tracks. When Jenn and I were helping my mom collect all the garage sale items, we came across the last of their records. They are gotten rid of a lot of records before our move to Connecticut and they were finally getting rid of the last of them. Jenn had a super rad tape, radio, record player in her room and I managed to salvage one record from the pile. Michael Jackson's thriller. Until Jenn finally got rid of her record player in 1998, we still used it to play that record.

It became my centerpiece for my living room for a very long time. I had it on the dresser or mantle in my bedroom until I moved to Utah for college. It graced my living room in Utah. It was the center of my bedroom after returning from college. The album came with me to Hawaii and was put up on the shelf when I was there. When I returned home it was still with me. When Shane and I got married and moved into our first apartment together it was on the mantle in our living room. We always had it out.

One day, my sister Dorthy came from Idaho to visit and saw it in our living room. Her eyes lit up and she said, "No way! My Thriller record! I thought this was gone! You salvaged it when mom and dad got rid of everything?" She was so excited and of course if it was hers I wasn't going to make a big fuss when she asked for it. After all it was hers. I swallowed and happily handed it over. When she walked out the door I just cried. I couldn't believe the record that was mine for so long... was gone. I was so sad. Both Shane and Jenn told me Dorthy wouldn't care and I should just tell her how much it meant to me. I just wiped away my tears and told them I was fine. If one of my siblings had something of mine I would expect them to offer it up, and I would be fine. I was still sad, but had no hard feelings for Dorthy. I cried a few times about that album. When I would look around the room, it just wasn't there anymore. It was never forgotten, but I was okay after a month. A few years later Shane found me a few albums which included Thriller at a garage sale. I was soo excited because they all were in mint condition, but it wasn't the same one.

Years past and I got wind of Michael Jackson's final concert. I was extremely tempted to get a ticket to Europe to go to one. It was my one of my biggest dreams to see him in concert. He was the best performer, amazing singer, and even more amazing dancer. I mentioned it to Shane, but we never seriously talked about getting a ticket.

Then it happened. Dorthy was with the family for Christmas last year and we all got together at Matt and Patty's house. We were all opening gifts from each other on Christmas Eve and Dorthy hands me one more. She says, "This is your graduation present from John & Danna, and Greg & I." I was so excited! I opened it up and just started crying. The Thriller album that was Dorthy's. She never even knew how much it meant to me, but had arranged to get it framed and returned. She said she just thought about it and it didn't really matter to her anymore. She knew I was a huge fan and she knew I liked the album, so she talked to Greg, John and Danna and they went in on it together. Until recently it was the only picture up in my living room.
My amazing siblings! Thanks again!
The day he died I was in Redding, CA driving around running errands. It was so sad. I was listening to the radio, when I heard. Then, I started receiving calls and texts from all my family and friends. They all knew I would care. I cried that night. I wouldn't get to see him in concert. Sad. Every now and then I would cry when I here his music. He was amazing!
He was the King of Pop!
R.I.P. Michael Jackson at age 50.
August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009
Obviously I had been awaiting This Is It. I got to see it on Friday November 6th with my sisters Patty and Tammy and my friend Jessica Byers. It was better than what I expected. I would love to see it again and again. I wanted to see it again right after watching it! I only cried 5 times and luckily managed to stop the crying after starting. The tour was going to be Epic. He had some amazing new material for Thriller and Smooth Criminal. He has been my favorite performer since I was five years old. I don't think I will see a performer in this lifetime that is as talented as Michael Jackson.

Pictures, Family, and Fun!

Today Jason came over with Tracey and Sarah just to visit and the property here looked so vivid because of the rain I robbed them from heat for a few minutes to get some good pictures. Jason played with his nephews the whole time he was here, but I don't blame him. I am not as cool to hang out with as Eli, Seth, and Jacob.
I have been wanting to get family pictures for myself on my parents property because of this very driveway. I just think they have the best driveway and trees for a backdrop. This is my sisters Sarah and Tracey for those of you who don't know them. I loved how a lot of the pictures turned out today.

This was such a silly picture of Tracey. We got a lot of great pictures, but I had to post this one. It was a goofy accident, but all three of us girls love it! It's going to forever make me laugh. She looks so 'one with nature.'

Sarah got a lot of great pictures too. She just looked great in them. It was so fun to have a couple of my little sisters over on Saturday.

Happy 28th Birthday Shane!

Daddy, we miss you and want to say, "Happy Birthday!" When I told Jacob it's your birthday he started singing, "Happy To You. Happy To You." He really loves you and misses you.

Seth says, "Happy Birthday Daddy. I love you. I'll give you this best toy, a Bakugan. I hug you. I like when you play games with me." Eli wants you to know, "I really miss you Dad. I wish you were here. I like it when we play games together. Happy Birthday! When you come home I'm going to give you a present. I like it when you're here. I wish you worked in Washington. I like it so much, so much when you're here. I wish we could do art together and go to the Wolf Lodge together and go to the Wolf Haven together and play together. This a thing I like about you, I like all the talent that you have. I hug you."

Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday Dear Dad!
Happy Birthday To You!

You want to know what I love about you? Everything. You make me feel safe and secure. When you are by my side I feel like I could do anything. You are a huge support financially, physically, and emotionally. When I am concerned, sick, or tired you're strong arms surround me with love and I am at peace. I would have never been able to skydive without you by my side. I would never have been able to go to BYU Hawaii and Graduate College or go to China and Mongolia without your support. You are amazingly smart. You have passed training classes with nearly perfect scores from lawn mower engines to wind turbines after a week long course, no prior knowledge, and a couple hours of study. You graduated college with a single A- lowering your GPA. You are soo funny. You are fun to be with. You are the best I know at any video game. You can usually beat the best player of any game on a first try, but every once in a while you need to play for 30 minutes, then you can win. You are amazing at sports. You are a great artist, even though you don't utilize that talent. I love your tender voice when you quietly sing songs to me. I really love everything about you, mostly because there is so much to love. I miss you.
Happy 28th Birthday.

Oh, and I can't forget the power of your kiss. Every kiss is like our first kiss. It sends shivers up my spine and I know I want to be with you until the end.

Halloween Night

This is what Seth gives me when I ask for an action pose. He is so sweet. He was so tired because the boys and I went for a mile walk this morning, then we walked another mile and a half for trick or treating. We met up with Mom, Sarah, and Tammy with Jason, Rosie, and Mary. Honestly? I was exhausted. I haven't been sleeping the best and I have been walking a lot lately, so after trunk or treat being last night I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie. Trick or treating was fun though. Seth was concerned about his whip a lot of the time, so Tammy and I ended up holding it most of the time.

Jacob really would not keep his Yoda hat on, so I threw it on and got this picture before he ripped it off. He was so sweet. He walked almost the whole way. I kept offering to pick him up and the response I got was No, Thank You. I also offered multiple times to hold his bag for him and the response I got was I Got It. He was so worn out that around 10pm tonight he climbed up on my bed and put himself to sleep. I have been holding him until he falls asleep for the past few months now. I have been too tired myself to do the constant him getting up out of bed and me needing to put him back, so we settled with the method of cuddling, holding, or rocking to sleep.

Eli needs to train his brothers what to do in an ACTION pose. See Seth? Eli did really well and I didn't see much of him because he was in the front of the group and Jacob and I rounded up the back. It was fun.

At this house, Jacob was determined to kick the little branches that were in his way. I had to pick him up and walk away to make him stop. It really was too much fun. We stopped at a house from a member of my church ward who was making scones and had hot chocolate for everyone who came by. It was so great and a nice break at our half way point. We went to Gamestop to show off Eli's costume and the two guys working there were impressed. The boys felt great going there as Sora, Indiana Jones, and a Jedi. We picked up a couple cheap used games and went home to try them out. We headed down to Grandpa and Amanda Boyd's to pick up spoils from them which was so nice. They really enjoy visiting with Grandpa and Amanda. Then we went home, showered, and off to bed. As for me? I posted pictures, blogged, and now I will be laying down to a movie with some toast and hot chocolate.

More Trunk or Treat pictures!

Rosie as Tinkerbell

Chris Byers as a Judo Master and Peter Corier as the Phantom

Action shot of Teancum as Snake Eyes, Jason as the Grim Reaper, and Seth as Indiana Jones

Xavier as a Lion and Mary as Dorothy

Trunk or Treat

The night before Halloween was fun. We went to the church building for some trunk or treating in the parking lot, a chili cook off, and carnival games inside. The kids all had a blast together. Chris took around Jacob for me, thanks guys for the help, while I passed out candy from the trunk of my car. Eli was Sora, Seth was Indiana Jones, Jacob was Yoda, Jason was the Grim Reaper, Teancum was Snake Eyes, Xavier was a Lion, Rosie was Tinkerbell, and Mary was Dorothy. It was very fun!

Jacob loved getting candy, but didn't care much for wearing the Yoda hat.

Seth loved the games and did a great job waiting in line. Eli loved that there were a couple of fourteen year old boys that thought his costume was the coolest thing ever. There were three video game characters that were all hand made costumes: Eli as Sora, Chibi Robo, and a ODST Halo guy. Very cool.

Here is my rock'n'roll trunk. You can't see the guitar, drumsticks, mic with a stand, and of course music playing. It was so fun!