Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother
While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service
That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, "Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome
My noble, most excellent son."

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception's just fine,
But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two
Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward ? there's work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.


Anna M. Molgard
January 27, 2008

February 1st is National Wear Red Day! You too can help fight heart disease!

OK - this is a cause thats important to me.... and I imagine is to a few of you too so, let's break out the red tomorrow! :)

Your support is a vital part of the Go Red movement. So please, wear RED on February 1st, and support the cause throughout the month by shopping for Go Red products, taking the Heart CheckUp or getting involved with the movement in your community. Do what you can - for your health, for your life, for the women you love.

Please help us Fight Heart Disease!
http://goredforwomen.org/

Don't forget to shop with a purpose at the "Shop Go Red" site. They have some cute jewelry, t-shirts and even a cute sweatshirt. :)

photos...

Just thought I'd add some photos that I was just sent.... These are from the Vivace Party after the Symphony on the 5th....

Don't our name tags just look silly? Oh well... Haha!
Here we are chatting with the conductor - Michael Christie
And here is the upstairs party room at Squatters...

Fun weekend...

Yeah... I was so happy to see some new posts today from the family! Adorable photos of Trevor, and his masterpiece artwork/plate! And even though Carly tagged me, I still loved reading all the info! I promise I will get to the list as soon as I can... maybe after the gym tonight. :)

So as I mentioned, Paulette was here for a few days last week and we just had a wonderful time together.... too short, but wonderful none-the-less. Madison and Ashleigh have grown soooo much and are just the most beautiful girls. Madi is also very proud of the fact that she is almost as tall as me.... not a major feet given my height, but a pretty big deal when you consider the fact that she is only 11! I only have her by about an inch... maybe and inch and a half if I stand up really tall. Haha!

Anyway, us four girls went out for dinner and Madi got bored when Paulette and I got too detailed about the families, etc. So she started quizzing me on my favorite music, where I shop, etc... it was pretty funny. And, I was thrilled that I got to hear all about her next dance recital, how much she loves pointe class, and how she thinks modern dance is weird. Haha! At least I was able to impress her with the fact that I have season tickets to the ballet. :) Ashleigh wasn't feeling very well, so she wasn't very talkative that night (but I am anxious to see the video of the yellow dance outfit!).... Hope you are feeling better now, Ash! :) I miss all 3 of you girls so much already! Love you!

The rest of the weekend was just filled with goofing off and having a great time! It seems like we always have commitments of where we need to be and when... this weekend we really didn't have much of that, so we just enjoyed hanging out together! It was great! We found Troy some awesome new running shoes, and a silly new swim suit for me (its very bright and a bit out of character for me, but it was on sale and I needed an extra suit for when I swim laps on back to back days.. haha), we stopped by a birthday party for Mike Bunker's daughter, we made dinner and watched the X Games— yet, I still haven't managed to get all the Christmas stuff put away.... haha!!

Anyway, we also cruised up to Deer Valley to meet Brian and Amy Clarke for lunch. We were going to ski, but that just didn't quite work... so, we had a lovely lunch, and got all caught up. Jackson and Taylor are just adorable, and growing so very fast! Jackson seemed to enjoy his first day of skiing, which is great because that means they will be back next year too! :) [And a special thanks to Troy for being such a good sport, when I am sure that Brian and I were boring him (and Amy) to death with all our chatting about old friends. Gracias, mi amorcito!]

Now I am off to try and stretch out my sore muscles from yoga/pilates.... holy cow, I never knew I could have such sore shoulder muscles from plank, crocodile, up dog, swimmer, etc...

He will be greatly missed...

President Gordon B. Hinckley Passes Away at 97 Officials with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced this evening that Church President Gordon B. Hinckley has passed away. He passed away at his home about 7 o'clock this evening with his family was at his side. President Hinckley was 97 years old. He was the 15th president of the church.

snow, snow, snow

Wow…. Lots of snow and some very cold temperatures going on here! Sunday night/Monday we had a nice large blizzard which while it made the roads a mess, at least it didn’t keep everyone away from the Opera. Here is what my street looks like…

Troy and I went to see Puccini’s Tosca on Monday night…. Just loved it! It’s one of those romantic tragedies where everyone dies in the end. Haha! Tosca is a singer who is in love with a painter. The painter helps out an old friend who has escaped from prison, and the torture of Scarpia (the equivalent of a police chief, I would guess). Scarpia has a thing for Tosca and when he finds out that her painter boyfriend is helping the escaped prisoner, he captures him and tortures him. He forces Tosca to listen to her lover being tortured so that she will tell him where the prisoner is, and so that she will give herself to him, in exchange for the painter release. Tosca gives in but kills Scarpia. The prisoner kills himself rather than being captured again. The painter is executed and Tosca throws herself off the parapet. Wow… that’s a lot of drama! Anyway, it’s Troy’s favorite Opera, and I can totally see why! We both just loved it!

So this week Paulette is in town and we are having a girl’s night out on Thursday. I am very excited to see her! We are going out for dinner and some shopping. Yeah!

And coming up this weekend – we will be hitting the slopes! Brian Clarke and family will be in town, so Troy and I are going to go join them for a ski day. Neither Troy nor I skied at all last year, so hopefully we remember how! Haha! Brian promised to ski slow with us all day, but I have a feeling that will last only a few runs. Haha! Maybe Troy and I will go join his son, Jackson, in ski school!

And just for fun.... here is the video Brad sent of Madde, Granny and the puppy playing the piano. So cute! :)

It's my first video upload, so I hope it works! haha!

Birthday Weekend...

What a fun birthday weekend Troy and I had! Friday night we went out for a nice quiet dinner at one of our favorite italian restaurants - Primo. We had appetizers at my place beforehand and then headed off to the restaurant..... 3 1/2 hours later, we were stuffed and ready to crash! Haha!Saturday we had a nice lunch and headed off to the Auto show... you all know how Troy love his cars. :) We enjoyed the auto show immensely, and spent a good 2 hours chatting with my friend Bryan who works for Porsche. Bryan and Troy talked about everything from race cars, to hot rods, to Porsches, to collectors, etc. The good news is, Bryan may know someone interested in buying both 32 cars—the roadster and the fayaten (sp?)— and all the extra parts too, which would be fabulous! That still leaves the T-Bird, but I think we will be able to find a buyer for that one fairly easily, considering its all original, right down to the original bill of sale.

Anyway, the weekend also consisted of more dinners and lunches, movies, the gym, and just goofing off. I cooked dinner for Troy on Sunday... and finally gave him his present. He was VERY surprised and seemed very happy with the gift— a gift certificate for a massage at one of my favorite day spas. He has been working out so hard at the gym, that the massage will really be good for him. :) He said he is very much looking forward to it.
Thanks for the calls yesterday, Mom and Carly (Craig and Elliott too!)! That was so very sweet of you all to call to wish Troy a happy birthday, and he loved it! :)

Feliz Cumpleanos, Mi Amor!

Troy doesn’t read this thing often, but every once in a while he surprises me by mentioning something that he read on here…… which, of course, means that I have to be sure to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on here, as well as, in person!!

So even though it’s not until Sunday….. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Dear Troy! Happy Birthday to you!

And I know I have said it all before but, seriously, Troy is my other half – he completes me, my life and my soul. :) He is sweet, thoughtful, fun, loving, supportive and kind (when he isn’t driving… haha!). I love being with him, and nothing makes me happier than seeing his adorable smile and hearing his sexy voice. Not to mention, I just simply love being his “very nearly almost fiancé”.

Te quieres, mi Amorcito! No puedo esperar estar contigo por tiempo y eternidad.

why do i do this to myself?

Why do I keep planning fundraisers and getting involved in all these non-profit groups? Sometimes it seriously makes me question my own sanity! Haha! But seriously, I love it. It's crazy and insane, and makes me get no sleep for months at a time, but I love it!

And while Troy grumbles at times at all the work it creates for him when I take on a new project... I seriously could not have asked for a better partner to help with these events! He is so very supportive and always willing to help... I love him and am so grateful for his support each and every day! :)

Anyway... back to me being insane... haha! My current project is the Annual Cabaret of Fools for the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. Its a black tie, silent auction and big party that will take place in March. Its a fundraiser mostly for the education programs that the dance company has... they do special performances and hold classes for at risk youth and schools throughout the valley.

So... I am raking my brain looking for ideas for auction items, ways to get more people to the event, corporate sponsors that would want to buy a table, trying to decide how many volunteers I need for each registration table, etc. etc. I dream about this stuff and it drifts into the back of my mind throughout the day while at work, at the gym, out with Troy, etc.... it seriously cracks me up how preoccupied I become at times. Haha! I just hope I don't completely forget Troy's birthday this weekend because I am trying to figure out how to get Thurl Bailey at the event (long story). Haha!

So anyway.... if anyone has any ideas for auction items.... please let me know! :)

This weekend I will be out scouring garage sales and thrift stores for luggage we can paint black as part of the decor... don't ask....

nice relaxing weekend....

What a nice relaxing weekend we had..... went to the gym with everyone on Friday evening, and Troy and I went out to dinner too.

Saturday we were on a quest to find supplies for swimming laps.... swimsuit, cap and goggles... not easy tings to find when its 20 degrees outside.. haha! But, we found them finally and they were even on sale - gotta love that! We tried out the pool at the gym and I loved it. I had forgotten what good exercise swimming is! I can't do a flip turn to save my life, but I enjoyed the swimming even without the fancy turns. Anyway... Troy had a minor asthma attack, but said he still wanted to try swimming a few more times before he heads back up to the treadmill.

Anyway, we skipped the Symphony this week so that we could go to dinner and watch a movie with Tina, Darren and Avery. I think Avery is especially loving our new gym routine... she gets to see both Troy and I far more than usual, and she really seems to be enjoying the playroom at the gym.

Colleen is off on a cruise with her dad this week, so Troy and I have been driving around in her cute new Mercedes.... haha! Teasing! She forbid us from even taking it out of the garage while she was gone... it's as if she doesn't trust us? Humm.....

Anyway.... Sunday I made dinner on the fabulous new grill and we got to work taking down the Christmas decor from around the house.... I guess its about time.... haha!

And now back to a busy week at the office, a board meeting, tae kwon do, the gym, and of course Troy's birthday... and next week Paulette comes to visit!! Yeah!! It sucks when your best girl friend lives so far away - but I always love when she comes to town!

It’s too small of a world!

So as I mentioned, Troy, Tina, Darren and I have been checking out a new gym to see if it’s the one we all want to join. Avery even came along last night to check out the daycare…. She loved it, by the way. It's a huge play room with all sort of fun goodies for the little ones.

Anyway…. I am just not sure we can do it! We ran into entirely too many people that we know last night! Some of them good, some of them not so much! Haha! It’s just too small of a world!

I hadn’t been there 3 minutes and I ran into a Heidi… a very nice, fun girl that I happened to know through Joel, and hadn’t seen in 2 and a half years. She joking said Joel would be there in a few minutes…. And boom, 10 minutes later Troy, Tina and I are on the elliptical machines and Joel walks by. Then our friends Rachel and Kim walk by… And then one of the many Steve’s that I am friends with walks by, and tells us that he just ran into another acquaintance of ours, Bryan. And while we are chatting with Steve, Jeremy walks by.... and just to make it more entertaining, I was on a first (and only) date with Jeremy more than 3 years ago, on the night we all saw the first photos of Elliott. Haha!! It was seriously nuts… especially since we were there for less than an hour!!

We jokingly told our membership consultant that we couldn’t join because there were too many people that we knew there and he got a slightly panicked expression… Haha! It’s just a bummer that we all like this particular gym so much! Guess we’ll have to join anyway! Haha!

So anyway…. This weekend we are off to another Symphony and to buy me a new swimsuit so that I can swim laps. Something about swimming laps in a bikini just doesn’t seem right. Haha!

New Year’s Resolutions…

Troy, Tina, Darren and I have all set New Year’s resolutions to get into better shape! :) As part of that we have been shopping for a new gym for all of us to join. So the other night Troy and I went around to all the gyms that are close by and checked on the pricing, child care, classes, etc. We went over to Tina and Darren’s afterward to review it all.

I hadn’t seen Avery since about the day after Christmas and she was so excited to see us, she just stood there grinning from ear to ear. So while the other 3 talked about gyms, Avery and I read Curious George, played with her baby dolls, and played with the dogs. Then Avery decided that she wanted to wear my boots…. So on they went! Then she wanted to carry my big green purse (and for those of you that know how large my purse is, I am sure you can imagine that this was a very humorous site!).

So there she is trying to walk across the room in 4” heels carrying a purse that is as big as she is, all while laughing hysterically with every step since she was toppling over. She could barely stand up, she was laughing so hard. Then my orange scarf was added to the ensemble and the look was complete!

We tried to snap some photos, but we were laughing so hard that they turned out a little blurry….. here they are none the less…. :)

Some new photos...

Troy and I had such a fun weekend.... we hit some after-Christmas sales (got some cute new jeans and some shoes I had been wanting for months! Yeah!!), went to the Symphony, and even to a fun after-party with the Vivace crowd.

The Symphony was amazing, and we both really enjoyed the three pieces - Ligeti's Concert Romanesque, Dvorak's 7th, and Khachaturian's Concert for the Violin. They were all very lively piece's with a bit of a Russian feel to them. At the after party we met the guest soloist, Karen Gomyo, who was very fun to watch and listen to. We also met the guest conductor, Michael Christie, who we were very impressed with. We hope that the Utah Symphony will hire him to replace Keith Lockhart when he leaves, but they don't usually consult us on these things... not really sure why. Haha! :)

So anyway... we tried on Christmas to get some family photos, but the dogs weren't cooperating, and then the camera wasn't working, and finally we gave up.... but we got a couple that weren't completely horrible... hahaha! Here's a little sampling... And I was so excited to see photos from Mom this morning from Christmas/New Years!! Yeah! It's so fun to see Madde and Hunter playing with the things that we sent them! :) Troy was especially excited about finding this little husky for Hunter... and from what I hear, Madde has been enjoying it too. Yeah! :) And since she's such a whiz kind, I am sure this puzzle was done in no time flat! And I just thought this photo of Ava and I was cute, so here it is. :)

New Year's Eve Extravaganza....

So there I was last night... Sitting on my couch eating some white chocolate (Thanks Mom and Dad!), downloading my photos from my new camera (Thanks Mom and Dad!), and sipping some milk from my fabulous new mug (Thanks Trevor!!!).... all while grilling up some chicken on my new grill (Thanks Mom and Dad!), watching Wild Hogs (Thanks Shelly, Brett, Mom and Dad!!), and trying to decide which new book to read next (Thanks Shelly, Brett and Tevor!). And I was even wearing my new earrings... thanks Carly!
What a perfect start to the new year!!

Anyway... so here are a few photos from the last few hours of 2007....
Ameya, Scott and Elliott watching the fireworks....

Troy and Jen, ready to play peanuts! Shelly being very silly and oh so sneaky, as you can see by her head in the photo at the right.... hahahaa.... :) What fun it is to have such a silly, fun sister and Mom! :)
Elliott decorating cookies...
Luke hanging out with Papa..
Craig, just before saying "no really officer, we weren't setting off any fireworks".. haha!
Mom making cookies...
Ameya decorating cookies...

The Train Ride and The Petting Zoo..

What a fun last day of 2007! We all headed down to San Juan Capistrano on the train to go to the Petting Zoo. Everyone seemed to enjoy the adventure... young and old. :) And since I got such a wonderful new camera for Christmas (Thank you Mom and Dad!!!) here are some photos....

Troy hanging with the pigs... The whole gang checking out the alpacas (I think they were alpacas... I really don't have any idea. Haha! )
Nate and Elliott petting the bunnies...
Troy and I...
Nate, Ameya and Kenyon riding the wild horse!
Kenyon and Jen taking a short break from feeding the bunnies...
The adorable Morris Family....
Ameya and Jen with the bunnies and guinea pigs...
Trevor is a pro at this whole petting zoo thing.... he just sits right down with the animals...Trevor on the train... headed to see the animals!
The kids—including Carly (waving) and Mandy(at the back)— on the train...
Ava smiling at her new favorite Auntie Jen and Troy. :)
Luke, Kenyon and Ameya on the train....
Elliott the train engineer! :)
Baby billy goats..... say that 10 times fast.... haha! They were soooo cute to watch.... they just jumped around and played, when they weren't sleeping by their fake fireplace. haha!

back home...

We are back home and it is FREEZING here! We are all ready for another trip to sunny warm southern California! Haha!

When we got to the car at the airport last night, I think the temperature gauge said something like 12 degrees. Yuck! All the way home we were trying to think of reason why we live in Utah... we didn't come up with very many.... we may have to move! :)

Sorry we were so sick the whole time we were there, and hopefully we didn't get everyone sick! But thanks for all the FUN! We loved seeing everyone and had such a great time!! We miss you all already!!

Happy New Year! We are hoping that everyone has a wonderful 2008 filled with happiness, health and fun!