David

Well, David, I just wanted to let you know that we love you and your family very much. I know that this is a very difficult time for all of you but I know that it will work out and will be fine. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Good Luck!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have an important mile stone in my family's life. Today Lillian went in the potty. We are so thrilled. She definitely had an ah-ha moment. This happened around 1:00 in the afternoon. Then she stayed dry the rest of the afternoon and this evening, around 5:15 she came in, still dry and insisted on going again! Of course she was cheered and praised and given copious amounts of candy. Then the light bulb went off over her head and she was back on the potty not five minutes later wanting more M&M's. Needless to say, she didn't get it! My hope is for us to be out of diapers by her third birthday. Keep your fingers crossed!

Me Again

Well, school has started and life rolls forward at a break neck speed.
I have an interesting class this year, with a lot of 'needy' students. I am a much 'meaner' teacher- or at least stricter and we've only been in school a few short weeks!?!? I am also teaching piano three nights a week- which I love, but might kill me off if I'm not careful.
In any case, I am loving my new apartment and enjoying Shauna as a roommate, even if we don't see a lot of each other (about fifteen minutes each morning). I LOVE walking to church. To bad school isn't that close. I would love that even more.
We have been having wonderful weather, for the most part, cloudy and often rainy most afternoons. Funny, though, I am getting excited for FALL and my wood burning fireplace. Martha has already offered me some of the pine they've got stacked at their place. Apparently it burns fast and messy, but hey, it's free!!!
So, I've just read this book I've been wanting to share with you all. It's called The Five Love Languages. It's mostly about husbands and wives, but I enjoyed it because really it's about relationships. I've been thinking a lot about it in regards to my co-workers and how I am trying this year to have a better relationship with the people I work with.
In any case, the author (Gary Chapman) talks about how there are five different ways people express love and some of the problems we have is when we do something we think is showing another person we care and they simply don't see it because they express love in a different way. The five love languages are: Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. Most people have one that springs to mind, but often a second one comes close.
Mine is Words of Affection, but I haven't decided if the second one is Quality Time or Acts of Service?!?! The entire point, of course, is that when you love someone, you are willing to show them in their love language -even if it is hard work and out of your comfort zone. I haven't figured out my co-workers yet, although I know a few it is not.

SO- What's yours??? I'm curious to know.

Pictures of our trip to Colorado

Although we took our camera with us, unfortunately we forgot to pack good batteries. Therefore, we didn't actually get any pictures of our trip. But Tyler's Aunt Judy did. She sent us a CD with a bunch of pictures on it and I thought I would share some of them with you.

This is Jayson with Judy and Mark's dog, Izzi. He was absolutely fearless with her. Katy, on the other hand, ran screaming every time Izzi so much as look at her. It made for a very interesting week. =)
These are just some really cute pictures.

And here's one of all of us on Sunday. All in all, it was a really fun trip. I wish we had pictures with LaDale, but that's okay. I hope everyone is doing great! I love you all!

health update

I got a call this morning from my doctors office. My blood work came back and I am severely anemic. In fact, it is so bad they have now referred me to a hematologist. I am still supposed to keep the cardiologist appointment and I am also supposed to see a GI specialist in case it is my hemangioma's acting up. Great! Whoopee! I will be all doctored out shortly!

Amy & David

Some news about David and Amy. Amy is doing well. She is continuing with her treatment as an out patient for now but only for a little while. That's the good news. David lost his job. The company is downsizing just a little but because David has missed too much work because of Amy's problems he was the first one fired. They, David and Amy, are handling this set back as well as can be expected. David has already contacted the employment placement people at ITT Tech. They are now working on helping him find new employment and Amy and I have talked about how to help her to keep this from happening again. Please keep them in your prayers. I just want you to know that I love you all very much.
Telima, I did terrible on the Snow White Quizz. I got only Question 6, 10, and half of 12 right. I also haven't watched the movie for some times, years actually.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

While we were in Colorado, Katy and I went over to visit Aunt LaDale quite a bit. During one such visit, Katy discovered that Aunt LaDale owned the greatest movie the world has ever seen (or at least, that's what she thinks)...Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Since we have returned from our visit there, we must have watched this movie about 300 times. (I'm serious...okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but not as much as you may think). Today alone, I think we've watched this movie about 5 times. His third time through watching today, Tyler came up with some trivia questions. They're actually pretty hard! We thought we would post them here for your enjoyment. The answers are in the comments section of this post. Here you go!

1. At the end of the movie, Snow White kisses six of the seven dwarves before riding off into the sunset with Prince Charming. Which dwarf does she miss?

2. When the dwarves leave the mine after finishing a long day's hard work, which one is in the front of the line as they leave the actual mine?

3. What is the order of the dwarves as they march home?

4. Snow White sends the dwarves out to wash up before dinner. Which dwarf do you never see wash?

5. The dwarves all sleep in the same room, with two rows of three beds and one by itself. Which dwarf sleeps in the solitary bed?

6. As they go outside to wash, two dwarves don't make it out on their first attempt. Which two?

7. How many times and where do you see the fly that constantly bugs Sleepy?

8. How many people play the cymbal during The Dwarves Yodel Song? Who were they?

9. How many people play the drums during The Dwarves Yodel Song? Who were they?

10. How many dwarves have long beards and who are they?

11. As the dwarves leave for work the next morning, Snow White kisses each one on the head. Which one does she miss?

12. There are 8 different kinds of woodland animals that help out Snow White. Name them.


Well, there you go! Good luck and let us know how you did!

Re: Potter and other such stuff

I would like to say that I am personally outraged at the decision made by Warner Bros. to postpone Harry Potter 6 for a further 6 months. If it were for a reason like an earthquake, or a different natural disaster, or maybe one of the main actors tragically dies, or a real tragedy strikes that closely resembles those events that will soon be depicted on the movie (Sum of all Fears), I would be OK with the delay. But the stupid pigheadedness of them saying it is so they could boost the worth of the movie by giving it a summer release instead of a winter release is purely selfish. They don't even try to hide the fact that they are doing it to boost the 'life' of the movie in the theaters. They try to keep us satisfied and placated by telling us all that even though this movie is being delayed they have no intention on delaying the first part of Harry Potter 7. What a bunch of garbage, in my book. This is, in my opinion, one of the most outrageous showing of 'we can do what we want because it will give us more money.'

There. I did it. I got through to the end of my rant about Harry Potter 6. As for that, I agree with Jen. I did read that article about those sueing the Catholic church. Too much time on their hands.

Love you all tons. SKT

PS Keryn, send the book to my wife. Love ya.

Health woes

OK, I am going to start at the beginning to catch everyone up on my life.
I think everyone in the family is familiar with the symptoms of low blood pressure. Cold hands and feet, and the slightly dizzy, graying feeling if you stand up too fast. Well, for the past several weeks I have noticed a few things. Mostly that the dizzy, graying out was starting to go to the extremes. It was happening every single time I stood up. Add to that that I actually had to sit back down several times to prevent more than just graying out. So I decided it was time for a doctor appointment. I went in yesterday and explained what was going on. They also managed to connect the increasing number of headaches I have been experiencing with this problem as well. Anyway, I guess there are quite a few things that could be causing these symptoms. High blood pressure as well as low blood pressure, artery clogs or anemia, etc. They decided to check on the low blood pressure first because that is what I had mentioned. They laid me down for five minutes, took my blood pressure, stood me quickly, and took it again. Apparently, my pressure dropped quite a bit when that happened, from 108 to 96, whatever that means! They took six of those vials of my blood and set up the first elimination tests. I guess they want to rule out the scariest of the possibilities first, so today I had a carotid artery ultrasound, which came out normal, so yea! The next step is a cardiologist. My appointment is Sept. 5, their first available appointment. I was actually thrilled to be in so soon, considering the retirement population in Phoenix, I think two weeks is not bad! I promise to keep everyone updated. For now, the best advice they could give me was to hang on to something when I stand up, and not to lean over to pick anything up, to squat instead!
Love ya all!

Amy is home!!!

Amy came home today. I picked her up at 2:00 and took her home to my house. As soon as David got off work, he picked up the kids and came here. They just left. Amy is feeling better. She is on a lot of different medicines right now but will be able to get off some of them. She is going back for several hours for the next 5 days and then she will be able to get in to see a new doctor. Please keep them in your prayers and they are dealing with a lot of issues right now. I say them because it is effecting all of them. Things are better right now though.

Oh, Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone has to read this article!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93613600
I think some people have way to much time on their hands to come up with this stuff!

who has it?

i'm just wondering who has the girl's writing book. I haven't seen it in a long time.
Sorry i've been antisocial lately. I blame it on the kids and the three therapies i have going on in my house. Not to mention kids in two separate preschool times. i need to organize my time better. I still love you people. I'm just cuckoo pretty much a lot of the time.
love ya!
caren

Misc.

Third trimester achieved! (On the other hand...three more months. Sigh.)

Cool about the Twilight movie, Jen. Bummer about the Harry Potter one, though. Money rules, though.

I am watching three extra kids today--Jacob (5), Taylor (3), and Karlee (10 mo.). Their mom is in the hospital following having her kidney removed (cancerous) last Monday. The ward is really pulling together--we've arranged childcare for two full weeks, dinners for at least that long, and hopefully we can keep it up as long as needful. Nobody but me is watching the kids more than once during the two weeks (and I'm only doing it twice), so hopefully nobody gets burned out and we can all take another turn.

The kids are turning out to be a breeze. They are very self-entertaining, except the baby occasionally (as babies are). My children are sharing nicely, and (okay, it's only 11am, and since Camille is still in the hospital, we might have them until 7 or 8 pm (so Andy can visit his wife)) all is well.

I went to Uncle Tony Pendleton's funeral last week. I didn't know anybody except Grandma and Wendy and Dawn, but that's okay. It was a very nice funeral (as funerals go).

I'm going to buy a very very expensive stroller. Maybe. Here it is:It is almost $350, but it holds up to 100 lbs and at least three kids can fit in it (although there's only seatbelts for two. And the kids can get in and out. And I need to be able to get out of my house and take walks by the river.

And that's all. Love you all. Thinking about you, Amy, and praying.

Twilight

I visited Stephanie Meyer's web site today and discovered something interesting. Because of Harry Potter's release date being pushed back, Twilight will be released early. The new release date of the movie is November 21. Comments anyone?!
PS.Telima- please call me, I can't find your cell number and I don't think you've gotten your phone hooked up yet,
Also, David, I hope Amy feels better soon. You are all in our prayers. We love you!

Harry Potter six

I just read that Harry Potter six will not be released in November like was planned. Instead, they are pushing it till July. The only reason they are giving for it is that they want to boost their summer movie lineup with an essentially proven blockbuster.
I am not happy about this!
What does everyone else think?

FYI

This is just to let you know about some sad news. Grandma Tobler's brother, Uncle Tony Pendleton, passed away on Saturday morning. He had been doing poorly for some time now but no one here knew how badly. Anyway, he was in the hospital for a week and then released and sent to a rehab center. While there he fell and hurt himself and was sent back to the hospital. He just kept gong down hill until on Wednesday he went into a coma and died on Saturday morning. I do not know when the funeral is but I assume it is sometime this week in Sandy. Grandma has been in Idaho with JoAnne and due home sometime today and I don't know if she will want to come up for the funeral or not. I will not be able to go. I have a committment on Saturday that I can't get out of. If anyone wants more information, call me and I will find out.

Traveling, Harry Potter and Breaking Dawn

Yes, Keryn, we're having a wonderful time here in Colorado Springs! I can't believe it's already Saturday. We went to our friend's wedding yesterday and tonight we're headed to her reception. We found out that the reason she got married yesterday but is having her reception tonight is because her sister is getting married today and they are combining their receptions! Crazy, huh? Anyway, it's been great to be able to hang out with LaDale and Tyler's aunt and uncle and cousins. We're not really looking forward to the drive back, but it'll be good to be home again.

As for Harry Potter, I've heard the same as Samuel. Personally, I think it was an oversight that she tried to explain away later, but that's just me. And I haven't read Breaking Dawn yet, but I'm excited to. If you buy it, Keryn, I want to borrow it after your done reading it! Anyway, we'll be home Monday night and I'll give you a call when we get home to let you know. I love you all!

RE: Thestrals

Except Harry didn't actually witness Cedric's actual death, either--his eyes were closed. But thanks for the info from her site, Samuel. I need to go check it out.

And Telima and Tyler--US 6 was closed last night for a mudslide (but it is open now)! But don't try to go around to the 80 on Sunday--Parley's Canyon into SL Valley will be closed from like 4pm on Saturday to 4pm on Sunday (if all goes well) with bridge replacements. LaDale, are you having a great time with Katy and Jayson?

Love you all!

Harry Potter

In regards to the threstrals, there is another aspect that you have not mentioned: why didn't Harry see them at the end of Book 4? JK Rowling answered this on her web-site. She says that Harry did not witness his parents actual death. She also mentions that Harry needed to be over the first shock of death and really feels what death means in order to see them. She clarifies this point as well, or at least she tries to, by saying Harry needs to "fully appreciate that Cedric is gone forever and that he can never come back, which takes time, whatever are you are."

So there it is. Aside from that, Caren and I finally finished reading Breaking Dawn. I would agree with Jen, I was not sure which direction she was taking the story. I was NOT disappointed in the book. I thought it was a nice way to wrap up the conflicts presented in the previous books.

Love you all. SKT

Keryn's Harry Potter Question

I think we have too much time on our hands, Keryn, because I have thought about this exact question. I seriously have always thought that Harry should have seen the Thestrels right from the start but as that wasn't the case my thoughts are that the person must have to be aware that they have witnessed a death. All the kids we know can see them and we know the reason were older when the death occurred.
Yes, I finished Breaking Dawn. Interesting. I won't say a lot but she didn't go the way I expected. But I did enjoy it. She wrapped it up but left the possibility of more.

Harry Potter Question

Hey, I'm reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire again, and I have a question--Harry can't see the thestrals until Book Five, after he "sees" Cedric get killed by Wormtail. But he doesn't actually watch this happen, because he has his eyes closed during the actual murder. But close enough, right? Except didn't Harry watch Voldemort kill his mum? So then wouldn't he have been able to see the thestrals from the start (book three is the first time we are introduced to the horseless carriages)?

Yes, a very important question. Hee hee.

Oh, and has anyone read Breaking Dawn yet? Don't tell anything, but if you did, did you like it? I haven't gotten my hands on it yet.

Telima and Tyler, are you having a great time with LaDale? Did you run into the big US 6 closure? Brad and I heard about it on the news the morning after you left and thought...oops, bad timing.

Love you all. I'm waiting for the FAIR conference to begin--vacation for me! Hope all is well at home with Bradley and the babes, and swimming lessons and all!

New Callings

Well, Tyler and I have received a calling in our new ward. We are now officially the East Bench Ward Nursery 3 leaders. Nursery 3 is for the 3 year olds who will be going into Primary in January. We're actually really excited about it. We didn't know what we were doing today and we had no direction, because the Nursery Leaders were out of town this week. Next week, we'll be in Colorado, visiting LaDale and Tyler's Aunt Judy. So, in two weeks, we'll figure it all out. Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know! Love you all!

ready set bumbo!

A new bumbo video was released today.
Here is the link
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3126987/8881871