Good-Bye Brooke

The media is saying she gave a weepy farewell . . . weepy is putting it lightly.  This girl obviously puts her whole heart into what she does and really cares for those around her; hence the tears each week, and the full sobbing tonight.  I'm not surprised that it was her turn to go.  She is a beautiful person and has a wonderful voice, but compared to the other contestants, and who can be marketed, she was up against a tough bunch.

Last week, she sent an e-mail to my sister and friends entitled: 

WHAT?!  TOP 5?!  SERIOUSLY... THANK YOU :)
 
Hello to all you amazing people...
Well... Tuesday night was strange, turns out I totally forgot the words and actually asked if I could start over... hmmm, I seriously have no earthly idea what happened and why it happened, I both laughed and cried when I walked off the stage....a manic moment!

Live television is a trip... Let me tell ya!  I adored the song and committed my whole heart to it, and absolutely loved working with Lord Andrew Loyd Webber, what a brilliant and lovely man he is. Very kind...

I want you all to know, after what happened on Tuesday, I was certain it was my time to go... I woke up early Wednesday morning and packed up everything and prepared to go back into the "real world"... I tried to make peace with it, tortured about the starting over incident, yet knowing I did everything I possibly could, ... and realizing that making the Top 6 isn't so bad:) Knowing that Carly and Syesha gave such stellar performances, I felt mine paled in comparison. And as far as these boys, they're not going anywhere. 

Well... this is a crazy show and anything could happen, and it did... ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! A GIGUNDO (ji-goon-do) THANKS TO YOU ALL.... I AM STILL HERE!!!! WHAT?!?! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

People, you took me to the TOP 5 and I am INCREDIBLY stunned and grateful, and overwhelmed to be here yet another week, very surreal.

Carly is such an amazing vocalist, and a great girl, I will miss her, she is wonderful. I've heard through the grapevine that there was voting by the masses, voting until fingers were falling off, seriously this thing is so beyond me, Really this is such a group effort in a big way, I promise you, that even though it doesn't always turn out the best, when I'm up on that stage I always give it my best... those judges will say what they will, then it is COMPLETELY out of my hands, and in yours, and I just want you all to realize, in all seriousness, we're all in this together! It is a collaborative effort! I thank you, truly and sincerely, I want you to feel of my gratitude. When I started this whole thing, waiting in line in Philadelphia for 20 hours to audition, I thought it was a long shot to even get through the first round, I'm absolutely floored that I made it to
the TOP 5... 

Now it's on to Neil Diamond, we're singing two songs this week, I thought our schedule was crazy before, its about to get impossible, the pressure is definitely on, but I am super grateful and looking forward to having some FUN with these songs! Y'all are amazing, and I am so glad you all could be a part of making this happen...
Love,
Brooke:)

Mutual Night

I love being involved with the Young Women's Organization.  I teach the 14/15 year old girls and they are so much fun!  We have mutual every Wednesday night and tonight was supposed to be at the President's home for a fun activity:  each girl bring a dish that begins with her first initial.  Britney brought broccoli, Chantelle - chicken, etc.  I planned to do milkshakes for dessert.  At the last minute, the Pres received some difficult family news that she needed to attend to and wouldn't be able to do the activity at her house.  

So, they all needed to come to mine . . . 

my messy

busy

kid-filled

husband out-of-town

house.  

Kids: kick it into high gear!  Christian overheard me and came into the room with the Swiffer Vac saying he was ready to help!  Sooo cute!  We got the place pulled together and had a fun time with all the girls over here.   Each girl also brought a shoe that described them.  For example, one had a bling-ish flip-flop that described how she likes to dress up, wear jewelry, but her love is the beach.  

Toward the end, we checked out songs on itunes and sang while Ashlyn danced for them. 

 I wish I got a picture of these great girls . . . and the feast we ended up with!

Get Ready to Read and Expand Your Imagination

Yesterday we met author Brandon Mull at our school assembly.  He put on a great show for the kids encouraging them to read, use their imagination, and write.  

Later, at Borders, he was doing a book-signing to promote his new book Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague.  We went to pick up a copy of the book, but did not stay for the signing as the lines went clear to midnight!!!!  I gave my book to my friend who was going to stick it out.   Luckily we were able to talk with him at length at the school, and have him sign our other books.  It was a good experience for Madison and Brooke to see the excitement of a new book and the "book-signing" process - and be amazed at the die-hard fans.  It was a school night and elementary-aged kids were there so late . . . unbelievable!    

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday!

Here are 70 things about him!!!!

1. His name is Richard,

2. but is known by his middle name, “Lee”

3. He was born on TAX DAY in 1938

4. Served in the army

5. Has six children

6. Three boys and three girls

7. Laura

8. Matt

9. Chris

10. Marrianne

11. Steve

12. Andrea

13. Is the 3rd of five children

14. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah

15. Comes from a Pioneer heritage

16. Grew up on El Segundo, CA

17. Married his bride, Gloria Wadsworth, in November of 1961

18. He introduced her to the Church

19. Has been married for 47 years

20. All six of his children have been married in the Temple

21. Has had many pets

22. Currently has a Great Dane named Debbie

23. Is very interested in HAM radios

24. Has served as a HAM rep for the stake for many years

25. Likes to collect things

26. Many things

27. Like radios

28. Cameras

29. Calendars

30. Tools

31. Magazines

32. Anything that may provide some sort of value to something

33. Or somebody,

34. Somewhere,

35. Someday

36. Has a strong work ethic

37. Is a strong person

38. Can be stubborn

39. Likes to be right (who doesn’t?)

40. Has 13 grandchildren

41. With ages from 19 to 2

42. “Papa Lee” loves being with his grandchildren

43. And taking them places

44. Like the Zoo

45. Or on walks 

46. To teach them all about plants

47. And insects

48. He willingly babysits

49. And will even change a grandchild’s diaper

50. But probably never did on his own children

51. He loves photography

52. Especially photographing flowers 

53. And animals

54. And bugs

55. And spiders (probably to annoy child #4)

56. Has been a stake missionary for several years

57. Loves to talk to people about the Gospel

58. And hand out pass-along cards

59. Like to total strangers at the gas station

60. Always willing to drive the missionaries anywhere they need to go

61. Even to a faraway transfer

62. Enjoys taking them to lunch or dinner

63. “Brother Norris” is a dedicated home teacher

64. Has given much service over the years

65. Loves eating out 

66. Can fix anything

67. Retired from the Department of Water and Power 

68. Wears hearing aids

69. Goes to the gym regularly

70. And out to lunch with friends or family often

Random Thoughts for the Week

This past weekend we got a little sampling of summer with a heat wave that hit the upper 90s. I have thoroughly enjoyed the warmer nights and how the kids have been finally playing in the backyard again! It really makes getting dinner on the table a lot easier, too. However I've used the excuse of John being in Portugal to not cook dinners all last week. Life was just too crazy to stress about it!  

He returned on Saturday night, so he missed out on the track meet. There was no way Ashlyn and Christian would have been able to handle hanging out on bleachers in Moorpark (or me them) in the heat all day, so I am tremendously grateful for my Dad to step in and watch them for me. He came out bright and early Saturday morning and took them on fun adventures. He even got them to walk all the way down to 7-11 and back . . . it's a very steep hill coming home and over 1/2 mile. He braved ice cream (and the mess that it comes with), the park, neighbor kids popping over to play (and destroying the house), and feeding my kids all while keeping them happy and relatively clean (even the house was tidy) when I came home. However, I did notice how quick his exit was when he had the chance! :-)

Christian has been very clingy to John since his return.  The little guy really missed his daddy.  He told his primary teacher yesterday that he didn't want to sit on her lap, he only wanted to be with his daddy.   John took the "day off" today as most people on his team were still partying in Portugal.  His day off really translates to "working from home".  Though I did use this to my benefit and scheduled my doctor appointments for today.  My good friend Wendi also invited Christian and Ashlyn over to play so John and I could go out to lunch.  However, after like many of our dates, most of it was spent at Home Depot, then we went to the Road Runner store to check out some new shoes for me because my feet were hurting after my run this morning.  It's really pretty cool there . . . they did a treadmill test on me and other computerized pressure tests to see how my step is and what shoe would best suit me.  We never did eat, but had a great time anyway.  

Good news:  I had my 4-month post-op eye appointment and everything is perfect!  My vision is 20/15 and my eyes are healthy.  I am so relieved and glad about this.  It was been such a wonderful thing to not have to worry about contacts or glasses!  

Bad news:  I had to go back to the dermatologist today because they founds some a-typical cells in my last biopsy.  Now I have a lovely compression patch on my back hiding even lovelier stitches.  Doctors orders:  no exercise for an entire week!  What? No boxing class tomorrow?  No spin?  No running?  No pilates?  I just got new running shoes today!   So what do I do this afternoon?  Vacuum the entire house and mop all the wood floors.  I was half way done before I realized that my stitches were becoming uncomfortable and this movement is exactly what he said I can't do in order to minimize scarring.  GREAT.  Too late.  Ashlyn tried her best to help me finish up.  

Yesterday (Sunday) was a very interesting day.  We were invited to attend the First Communion of one of Madison's friends.  Maddy, Brooke and I went to 9:30 a.m. Mass and it lent (no pun intended) itself to wonderful gospel discussions and was definitely a learning experience.  Some our favorite parts were the priest walking through the congregation splashing water on people.  It was kind of him to try and cool down the patrons on such a hot day.  However, some people got hit in the eyeballs and I don't think they appreciated it too much as there was much wincing.  I noticed some people who wore just the right type of shirt revealed nice water marks all over them.  Another memorable moment was a little old lady, presumably the matriarch, carrying a huge cross that nearly toppled her over.  I also liked the full-scale videographer in the front capturing the entire event.  I asked the lady next to me why this was being filmed.  Is it for a TV show?  Is the news here?  You never know if Britney Spears has decided to get religious or something.  No, it was the deacon's son filming the mass so the families of the kids receiving their first communion could purchase the DVD.  How convenient.  Towards the end, Brooke said to me, "I'm getting really tired of sitting, standing, sitting, standing."  Another cute and innocent comment she made was, "How come most people are wearing regular clothes?"  In her innocent 6 yr old world, she didn't understand why people did not dress in their "church clothes" to go to church.  

Afterwards, we went over to our friend's house for a little reception.  I helped do the chocolate fountain since my friend had never done it before.  I spent a while melting the pounds of chocolate and after the lunch was served, went to pour it into the machine that was already set up (by her father) and ready to go.  She helped me scrape out the bowl and many awaited the "ahh" factor as she turned the switch on to "flow".  It immediately began oozing and pumping and in an instant I said, "it's going to blow!" and then the fountain mechanism spun wildly out of control spewing dark brown chocolate everywhere.  The wall behind it looked like Spin Art Heaven!   That definitely  caused  the "ahh" factor and we had a good laugh about it, not to mention a lot of chocolate to clean up.  Amazingly enough, none got on my white skirt, which I am so grateful for because we had to hurry up to get to our own ward and didn't have time to go home to change. 

Now ready for another week and the heat wave is over.  Back to chilly nights and nice sunny days.