GIVE THANKS...

In this month of giving thanks.....I would like to "Give Thanks" for my teenagers. A word of advice if you have been blessed with teenagers at this stage of your life. Never buy blocks that form lovely sayings, such as "Give Thanks".

Your teens will undoubtedly suddenly become very adept at vocab..... and anagrams, and whatever other creativeness flows through their spunky little bods....








A little story behind this one.......I have to constantly watch to make sure things are on the "up and up". We nearly had a disaster moments before Ward Book Club in my home started.....however, I was unable to avoid the above "blockage". I become so used to them being switched around that I invited a friend in, only a day after "Give Thanks" was back in place.....But Alas, we were visiting in the family room and she was seated right across from the fireplace......of course. And of course.....it wasn't until after she left that I noticed the "Give Stink" blocks. What must she think of us???

TWILIGHT.....

Oh boy. It was cheesy. But fun. We went with one of my BFF and Katie's BFF and we had a great old time. Nicole and I mostly just giggled and made fun while at times our daughters were in tears and mostly just had rapturous faces. Good casting for Bella and James. The dad grows on you. Pretty good for Billy but I picture him older in the book. Edward.....well he grows on you too. Jacob.....could have been better lookin'. Nicole was telling me about the fun spoofs on You Tube. So in case you don't feel like watching the movie, you can get the general gist from this clip....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dompotjTeIA

I keep getting error messages and I can't seem to post the clip on the blog.....but you can just access it for a good laugh!

SILLY NIGHT

I am posting twice today because I think I forgot a day. And I can't NOT post this one. Okay, last night my girlfriends and I had a very fun night. The plan was to celebrate cute Melissa's birthday by doing our usual......dinner and a movie. Which is always a blast. Melissa had actually never seen "Mama Mia" and since she looks and acts like Meryl Streep we knew it was a given which movie we should see.

Well, I decided to throw a kink in the plan. Make a Wish sometimes offers us free tickets to events since we are a Wish Family. Well, they offered New Kids on the Block tickets. FUN! "Zachary", I said. You have to take someone to NKOTB. I think they were a pretty big thing in their day and they are BACK! "Never heard of them" he says. I tried to get him excited by showing him clips. "Weird" he says. So he fizzled out.

So when they called me the next day to ask how many tickets I wanted, I had to fess up that Zach was less than thrilled and would not be going. "That's okay if you still want the tickets" she said. "It looks like its all the moms who want to go". "How many do you want?" "Six?" I boldly asked. "No problem" she says. So I called my bestest girlfriends and told them our change of plans. Needless to say we had a blast.

t was like a time warp. NKOTB did not alter their 80's moves in the least. Or their clothes, or anything. We laughed and laughed and did some pretty good moves in the parking lot. I think people thought we were drunk. Then it was off to Albertsons for the pie/ice cream deal (two of them) where we were offered free hot chocolate which turned out to be steamed milk. We laughed about that too. Well, about 12:30 we rolled in and now we are back to our real selves, heading to church and thinkin' fond memories of our fun night out.

MY GIG IS UP. (sob sob)

Well, my loyal blog followers - all two of you.....I have some very sad news. My gig is up. Yep, no more surfing the net and reading blogs and having a "post-a-day". It was a lofty goal but all good things must come to and end. No more lunching with friends and shopping...... Tomorrow I re-join the work force. My spending habits have caught up with me.

I am someone who has always had a little something on the side. Unfortunately the little somethings always turned into big ventures that took a toll on the old family life. (Pampered Chef with a downline of over 100 comes to mind.....) Apparently I am a bit of an over-achiever which surprises me because I am so not an over-achiever.

Anyway, I have chosen to leave the home since my babies are in first grade. (sob sob) I will get dressed in workin' gal clothing and drive 1 mile or so to 1-800-Contacts. I will answer phones and sell contacts (I'm pretty sure anyway) and then when my shift is up I will drive the two minute commute and be back in my jammies. No worrying about if I am doing enough or about the person who wanted two boxes and ordered only 1. No stress here. When I am done, I am done. Now, I do know myself and I will probably get caught up in sales goals and my over-ahiever side will rear it's ugly head. But I can't bring it home with me. I can't have over time. When I am done, I am done. And I think that is what I am looking for right now. Wish me luck!

THAT IS WEIRD!

Someone once told me I have a weird life. I got to thinking today......I so do!. No one else seems to have the weird drama the Rogers seem to attract. Does my aura attract drama? If it is not one thing, it is another with our family. Other families seem to just cruise on through life.

Today I got to spend the afternoon (again) at Primary Children's Hospital because S & H had to have echo cardiograms! Their birth mother sent me an e-mail saying that herself and two of her children have been diagnosed with Atrial Septum Defect, basically a hole in the heart, and that it only shows up on echo and cannot be heard in an exam. So, we wanted to get that ruled out. We won't know anything for a few days but I am not worried. Obviously if it was something serious they would show some signs...I would think.

Other weird things.....


Jim and I both carry a funky Ashkenazi Jewish gene. That's weird.

Seth and Hannah were selected by the government at birth to be followed through Kindergarten on their development, etc. That's weird.

Both Katie AND Hannah have had H.S.P., a very weird condition indeed. especially since it's very rare, most common in boys, and they are not even blood related. That's weird.

Zach was asked to be part of a study having to do with a skeletal find of some sort. That's weird.

We had issues through no fault of our own with the I.R.S. and State Tax Commission THREE times this year. That's weird.

And the list goes on and on......that's just all I can think of right now, besides the obvious....Zach's rare syndrome and having the privilege of adopting twins with five weeks' notice.

I would never trade my life for a boring one.....would I?

EMBARRASSING THINGS MY KIDS HAVE DONE IN CHURCH PART III

Might as well finish up these stories. Today's post is a simple little number. Seth never misses anything. He may not seem like he is listening but he is all seeing and all knowing. Always has been. Well, one day in Sacrament meeting when Seth was probably 2 1/2 or so (and of course we were sitting in the soft seats up front for once) Seth stood on the bench beside me, placed his hands on my head and proceeded to "give me a blessing". No warning. Out of the blue. I think he had recently seen me set apart for a calling. How do you quickly and gracefully stop him? I believe I snatched him swiftly and took him on out the door for a little chat. I warned you these posts might be a bit blasphemous. Just wait til tomorrow.

IT'S NOT FAIR

Today I just have to write about what I am feeling. I am sad! On Sunday, after an emotionally uplifting Sacrament meeting, where all of the YM and YW sang, a member of the Stake Presidency stood and dropped a bombshell.....They will be taking parts of three wards, including ours, and making a new ward. No one saw it coming. We all thought we were "safe". We are still reeling from the last one.

We were told to meet at the new Stake Center at 4:30. During our other Sunday meetings we were all in a daze. No one could concentrate. We cried. The youth, especially the young women, were completely beside themselves. We all knew what was probably coming. Bridle Point, probably the strongest part of our ward, would be cut off. Sure enough, not only was Bridle Point made a part of the new ward, but we lost many other great families as well; families that have been in our ward forever. Some were made part of the new ward. Others were made part of an existing ward. The young women lost pretty much all of their leaders, including the president. We lost our great RS President. We lost so many friends! The kids all lost friends. We are all still numb with shock. Seth and Hannah even lost their best friend, Cheyanne.

We will have to recreate our ward. I don't know what my calling will be, as I was the "Assistant" Webelos leader - and of course the leader is gone. We will need to recreate new YW Presidencies and a new RS presidency. Jim got his new calling - he is now the ward clerk. But it will be nothing compared to the new ward who will be faced with making a new ward from scratch.

We will not even be in the same building so we will not even meet in the halls. This is so hard for all of us, especially the youth. We had heard many times that "our ward would not be affected". We were wrong. I think we were hit the hardest.

I try and be thankful that we have growth. I think about when we visited Heidi and Gary's ward in Sugarhouse, where they fasted and prayed for growth in the ward. The wards were shrinking and the buildings becoming empty as more and more non-members populate the Salt Lake areas. I guess that is a lesson to us. We should be thankful for growth. But it is too hard when you are so sad. I would rather murmur right now.

YES I PLAY BUNKO - AND PROUD OF IT!

Although I have many more funny church stories, I don't feel like talking about those today. Today I want to talk about friends. I am not a very social gal; I tend to keep to myself. For being as overly exuberant as we all are, my sisters are the same way. We tend to keep to ourselves but are very social within our own family network.

I wish I were more social.....I just don't seem to have the time that I once did. My one strong exception is my BUNKO group. Yes, I play BUNKO. I have been in the same group for 15 years now. Yes, 15 years. Long before the "suggestion" from church leaders to abandon this heathenish practice. In fact I remember when the "ban" came out. We had the YW president, R.S. President, and former Bishop's wife in our group. Of course we were all wondering about this as our group did not gamble, talk bad about our husbands, spend exhorbitant amounts of money redecorating out homes to host BUNKO or go topless on cruises together. (These were all rumors we had heard as to the reason for the "ban". ) So one brave soul set up an appointment with the Bishop and voices our concerns. He wanted to know exactly what we did, how it worked, what we talked about, who was included etc. He then decided that our particular group was harmless and gave us his blessing! So, 12 years or so later, we are still claiming the permission from that Bishop even though Bishops have come and gone, members have come and gone, and we are all better people for having been in this group togethter.

No one leaves by choice. It would be too painful. Openings only come up in the most dire of circumstnaces, moving out of state, total change of job or calling, etc. We are not clickish in any way. We love and respect each other. We have members and non-members of the Church. We have been through so much together. We have laughed and cried together. We have raised our babies together. We have supported each other through births of babies, death of a spouse, divorce, death of parents, marriage of children, serious illness and most recently a tragic pharmacy error that happened to of one of our member's children. We have countless brought meals in to each other and have helped each other through personal crises and moves.

Today we did something different. We crafted together! We made the cutest Christmas Countdown blocks you have ever seen. Those of us who were available met at a church for our "BUNKO ENRICHMENT" and spent the entire day working together to make 35 sets of these darling creations. Because we know each other so well we were able to stream-line the process and call on each other's strenghts. We had Cafe Rio take out (of course) and watched each other's kids when needed. We drank Diet Coke and laughed and worked together. I love these women. And I am thankful for friends.

EMBARASSING (OR FUNNY) THINGS MY KIDS HAVE DONE IN CHURCH - PART II

Boy, the stories keep coming back to my head...... posting once a day is going to be a breeze! And I will have my family journal caught up!

This is a very sweet story. It is the Sabbath after all. No Blasphemy allowed. I'll save that story for tomorrow.

Seth was fascinated with music as a baby. He would just stop and listen. He loved music. He knew by then that when we sang there was always someone up front leading the music.

When Seth was probably 18 months old or so, a woman in Sacrament meeting sang a beautiful musical number. Well, in the bench behind us sat Chris. Chris was a wonderful man in his 20's or so in our ward who had Down's Syndrome. Chris also loved music and loved to sing. Well, as the woman started to sing, so did Chris. He thought it was a congregational hymn. It was sweet.

Well, Seth seemed concerned that no one was "leading" her as she sang. Then I think he decided that the woman appeared to have things in control with her singing. When Chris joined in Seth looked from the woman to Chris then back again. Then he made his decision. He stood up on our bench, directly in front of Chris, and began to "lead" Chris in his song, using both arms quite dramatically but amazingly accurate for his age. Chris approved and kept on singing, watching Seth lead him. So sweet. I did not stop him. Of course no one was concerned that Chris was singing so why should I be concerned that Seth was leading?

EMBARASSING (OR FUNNY) THINGS MY KIDS HAVE DONE IN CHURCH

My mom was reminding me the other night of the funny things my twins have done in church. (I rely on my mother's memory as I have none....thus the blog to document things). After our conversation my mind wandered back to my own childhood. My Dad (now Mr. High Council, church-going, inner-city mission serving, dry pack cannery worker, temple goer) was....in his own words "a heathen" when we were growing up. He would take his mug of java down to the basement and watch "his political programs" as my Mother gathered up all of the children to go to church. I am quite certain we never missed. NEVER. My mother was and is still a very strong LDS woman of faith (and "hope" as she never gave up on my Dad). Anyway, we have heard tales of me taking off and running up onto the stand DURING Sacrament meeting and Lisa chasing after me. Oh my. I am embarrassed for my 2 year old self. Then the time when my baby brother threw his shoe and it hit someone a few rows up. As we got older we would do our best (shame on you Lisa!) at trying to get the privilege of getting to take the youngers out when they "misbehaved". I remember Lisa "casually putting her palm" on my little brother's head and applying what was I am sure "gentle pressure" until he screamed in frustration, then she would take him out. Oh Mom. We are SO SORRY!

Well, here are some of my twin stories......

Seth was born a people watcher. Some babies are. I can always pick them out now. They study people and make their own assumptions. Seth was blessed with his verbal skills long before his walking skills so he was able to put his thoughts into words at a young age. Once there was a perfectly normal man sitting alone on the row next to us. I don't know who he was, probably a visitor. Well, Seth started studying him and I knew early on that we were in for trouble as I saw Seth's little face begin to change. Be it the curve of the poor man's eyebrows, his side burns or his shoes, I do not know......But Seth decided then and there that he meant trouble. he started saying in a normal voice...."that man hates Hannah". I shushed him but he kept repeating it. Luckily at that time the man was oblivious. But as Seth's stress level about this poor man grew, so did his voice decibel. He became louder and louder and as I was dragging him out he was pretty much shouting and pointing, saying, "That man hates Hannah!!!!". Poor man. I didn't come back in to find out what happened next.

Well, I will move on to Part II tomorrow. I hear Jim's car in the garage and I have to get something done today!

ANOTHER FLASHBACK

On Wednesday night as I was at Pack Meeting and working with the Webelos on the Flag ceremony, I remembered this funny thing that happened last year at a 4th of July celebration while we were on vacation. (you might wonder how my mind works from this to that---so do I!)

Let me give some background.....just as many of you know that Seth went through a major "Jesus phase", Hannah similarly went through a "Satan" phase. Now I am not trying to be blasphemous here. Really. Sometimes when kids with active imaginations attend church every week and are taught the Gospel their little minds go haywire and well.....I don't know what to say. This is S & H we are talking about.

Anyway, during this phase Hannah would unexpectedly talk about Satan, i.e., so-and-so is following Satan because they "chose the left" (instead of the right) and gave demonstrations of how Satan ate and drank. I wish I had a camera with me on that day at Costco where she suddenly said "Mom, this is how we drink" (polite sip-sip smile) and then "THIS IS HOW SATAN DRINKS" (growling, gnashing of teeth and devouring of lid, straw and cup). (I will never forget Cousin Jacob Hyatt's face as I related this story shortly afterward - I am still not sure what he was thinking about this child of ours!)

Well..... back to the post at hand. Anyway, we were at a fair getting ready to see the fireworks and we all stood to put our hands over our hearts as the flag was displayed. Hannah then whispered to me: "When WE see the flag we put our hands over our hearts. But when Satan sees the flag he puts his hand over his PENIS!"

I don't know what else to say.

ALWAYS A GOOD TIME

Okay, so I cheated. I admit it. Well, I haven't cheated yet but I am about to cheat and back-date this post to continue with my post-a-day challenge from Nicole. I left at 7:50 a.m.....and through the events of the day I was not home until 11:35 p.m. Too late to post.

Today (yesterday you big liar) Zach and I headed up to the hospital for his every-six-weeks- IVIG treatments to boost his immunities. I just want to say how enjoyable my almost 17-year-old son is to be around. He is pleasant, fun, polite and witty. He has a good attitude about everything. He looks forward to the possibly painful and uncomfortable day because he gets to miss school and gets to order "room service" (always New York Steak, seasoned potatoes, and mozzarella sticks - I make him order a fruit smoothie for good measure).

He watches movies and plays games and chats with his mama. He is sweet and polite to the nurses and doctors. He is patient with the IV team, even when they mess up and have to poke him more than once or "dig" for a vein....and laughs on that rare occassion when they squirt blood all over the place......He is amazingly optimistic. I think that is why he stays so healthy.

I felt especially blessed as I spent time with my son and saw all of the sadness around us. I am sorry to say that it was standing room only yesterday in the Oncology/Hematology waiting room at Primary Childdren's Hospital. The staff is amazing but it is heart-wrenching to see so many young infants and children with cancer or other related issues. It is truly sobering. When we were in treatment for Zach's cancer FIVE (yea five!) years ago we were told that when you feel sorry for yourself you can just look around you and see there are so many others who are worse off than you that day. And it is true. Let us count our blessings this November - the month of "Thanks".

Now, I am not particularly fond of "downer posts" but since this is kind of my personal journal of feelings, it will occassionally be the case. However, yesterday as we were driving home I was thinking about a very funny incident that happened on the way home from an IVIG treatment exactly a year ago. So, for your light-hearted enjoyment I now refer you to go to the BLOG ARCHIVES and click on last November where you will find a post entitled: Unexpected Passenger in the HOV lane.

REWIND TWO MONTHS AGO....

Committing to BLOG everyday gives me an opportunity to blog what I meant to blog but never did. Rewind two months to Seth and Hannah's 7th birthday party back on September 6th. They always want to "go someplace" for their party but this year I put my foot down. We have an awesome backyard and they were going to USE IT! Having boy/girl twins is sometimes tricky and you have to be creative if you want to get away with having only one party. Hannah wanted a "Frog party" and Seth wanted a "Pirate party". To invite all their combined friends we had 25 kids. Whew!

We had decorations for both frogs and pirates and a pinata that was decorated one side frogs, other side pirates (and underneath it was Sesame Street). Which freaked them out. But I had gone to great pains to recover it but alas, when you swing a bat at something it is hard to hide the deception.

We played Musical Leap Frog on lily pads. We had leap frog races. We walked the plank! We had a treasure hunt.
















But the highlight? The part that had to have parental warning and permission??? The tomato war. Seth really wanted a tomato war. (Apparently he saw it on a Veggie Tales pirate movie from the library about 5 years ago..... )So, why not? I said. Jim wasn't so sure but I provided parental notes beforehand and supplied large t-shirts to cover their clothing.... I was able to get over ripe tomatoes free from LaNa's garden and Reams. Participation was optional and only one brave girl participated. Katie and her BFF Jordyn had the most fun of all! And Jim was pretty soaked. Here's some fun pics down memory lane.

POLITICS IN THE ROGERS' HOME

With the election being today, there is understandably lots of election talk in our homes. For my daily November post, I'd like to share some of our family discussions...

Zach: "Katie, You're for Obama?"
Katie: "I like some of the things he stands for but I really can't decide"
Hannah (yelling): "DON'T VOTE FOR OBAMA! HE SAYS WHITE PEOPLE DON'T WORK!"

Jim and Natalie: "WHAT?????" "Where did you hear that Hannah?"

Hannah: "From Aaron". (her friend).

Here we go again. Racialism in the Rogers' home once again rears its ugly head. (sigh).

A proud moment for Jim:

Zach: "In my psychology class today I was the only one who knew about the Bradley effect so I got extra credit."

Jim: (big smile. big proud smile. the boy was listening after all!)

THE MEDIA:

CNN HEADLINES: "BREAKING NEWS!" McCain and Obama urge their supporters to vote.".

What? What? Do they think we are idots? You mean this wasn't just a media circus? They want us to vote? I am so happy they made that clear with their "BREAKING NEWS" headline.

i am worried.

NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL BLOG MONTH!!

November is National Blog Month!

A dear friend of mine named Nicole alerted me to this event! The goal is to post daily! There is a website devoted to this: NaBloPoMo. Nicole: I accept the challenge! But accepting the challenge and writing about it counts as my post. Fellow bloggers on my blog.....DO YOU ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE TO POST DAILY??

OKAY I FIXED IT!

For those of you who have been annoyed with my blog - or maybe it was just me who was annoyed with my blog because no one is reading it - I HAVE FIXED THE VIDEO CLIPS! They no longer contain duplicate images, stuttered pictures and range from 3 - 16 minutes. GH (Good Hello) I don't even have that much time to watch my own family pics, let alone expect you all too! I have edited, reposted and revamped and the times now range from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. I have placed them in the proper order for my enjoyment and hopefully yours. However, I still only have the sample music, Beethoven, to put the slide show to as I am inept at music and all of the music is on the other computer and I can't access the network and I can't ask Jim for more help because he thinks I spend ENTIRELY too much time on this BLOG and thinks I need to get a job. Which I agree. My gig is up. (sob) (sob)

FALL TRIP PART I - GOBLIN VALLEY

We had a great time on our UEA trip. We headed down to Capital Reef via Goblin Valley on Thursday (definitely the long way) and spent a couple of fun hours playing in the Goblins. Interestingly enough, the park official said that UEA was the second busiest weekend of the year (Easter being the busiest) and you have to book it four months in advance (max booking time) to be able to camp in the park. For those of you who have not been, it is a natural wonder - a large playground of amazing rock formations. While you are there you cannot help but wonder "How did this happen?" - and Jim will be happy to explain. While you view my attempt at slide shows (and those of you who know me know that I am positively crippled when it comes to this type of technology) please don't wonder "and why is Natalie not in any of these pics?" Well you all know how un-photogenic I am......but I want to point out to you that I AM THE PHOTOGRAPHER and as such I actually had to get into these places to take the photos! So if you think I was back at the car eating bon-bons, think again! The kids had an absolute BLAST, as did we. We are blessed with three of our four children being natural climbers, and Seth gave it a pretty good try as well. They AMAZE me! The area was originally named "Mushroom Valley" by the original explorers who discovered it but it was appropriately renamed Goblin Valley and was made a State Park some time later. Now of course Jim had to point out some phallic symbolism in the park. And boy was there plenty! But alas, with a 14 year old and a 16 year old one cannot even think of taking pictures of this phenomenon. They were curious enough when Jim and I started snickering. Now, get your mind out of the gutter and enjoy my feeble attempt at a slide show.

PART II - ANASAZI STATE PARK AND INDIAN RUINS

We were able to see some Indian ruins near Goblin Valley and went over Boulder Mountain to Anasazi State Park. Those of you who know me know that I love Indian ruins! They fascinate me. We went to Mesa Verde a few years back and I fell in love. Now, being the somewhat shallow person that I am, my interest in the ruins goes no further than seeing them and taking pictures while on vacations..... I wish I could say I studied their lives and habits while at home but alas, there are other things that need doing.... But Jim knows that if there are ruins in the area we must find them. I think it is an important for our children to see these as well! I will now attempt another flimstrip of the misc. Indian ruins that we were able to see.

CAPITOL REEF STATE PARK, PICNIC ROCK AND NARROWS HIKING

Here is the final little slide show of our trip. I love Capitol Reef State park. There is nothing earth-shattering there; just quiet landscape and history. Fruita was once a small little town that made it's living by growing fruit trees and selling the fruit. If we would have gone a few weeks earlier then we could have picked a few apples. We made some valiant attempts to get the last stragglers and are lucky no one broke a leg. The kids enjoyed the pioneer house and you will see Hannah grinding corn into flour. She really got into it. She is a never give up kinda gal and would have made a great pioneer woman! She even ate the corn meal that she ground.

One day we found a HUGE rock and had our lunch on it. We named it Picnic Rock. I know, I know. So original!

We tried to take some old-fashioned pictures of our kids in front of the old Fruita schoolhouse but Seth did not cooperate, to put it mildly. He threw a knock-down drag out screamin' fit and everyone stared at us......and of course him. I left a few photos of the tantrum for your enjoyment. Needless to say. No photo. We were then forced to go on a drive for about 2 hours where Seth "could have no other human contact".

Capitol Reef has deer a plenty. But for some reason they are really ugly and straggly looking mule deer and not overly cute.

Lastly, Hannah insisted on doing the Narrows hike that was set aside for the olders. Seth and I waited in the car for about 3 hours. Seth watched a movie and I read a great book. The weather was gorgeous and not too hot or cold. It was not practical to go back to the hotel (long drive) and Jim wanted us close by in case of emergency. (I was nervous but I knew Jim would put safety first) They all had a great time. Personally I don't see the intrigue in the close walls, dangerous falls and getting stuck. You'll see a good clip of Katie's butt as she was stuck for a bit......