12 year spin.

I love you Kory! Happy 12 Year Anniversary!!!

before she knew.

Before she knew she had cancer she would borrow babies from mothers arms to make them giggle in church. She would make her own wheat bread, and famous egg rolls. She would loudly proclaim her love for her kids...with an emphasis on loudly. She would brag about being Gordon's first kiss. She would bear her testimony and teach us all to be better people. She would wake up with a positive attitude each and every day. She would live a life full of adventure and fun. She would speak her mind and give us all a dose of humor.

Of course, after she knew...she did all that too.

We will miss you Eileen!!!!

36 years and counting. a tribute from my brothers and sisters.

thank you to malinda and aaron for putting my happy b day up on the big O tires billboard!!

Today, I turned 36. This morning, on my run, I nearly got chased down by a dog, ran over by a driver who was on the wrong side of the road, and twisted my ankle. The dog did not rip my Lycra outfit off of me, the driver corrected himself, and my ankle rebounded in seconds I however, was grateful. I continue to be AMAZED at the people I have in my life who love me unconditionally. My brothers, sisters, and their spouses put together this most fine tribute for me, and I LOOOVE IT!!!!! Thank you to all of you for making my day special. :) I had to put all of Todd's in one number or else I would be 40!

Aim,It has been so fun to read the tributes that you have done for each of us this year. In that spirit, here is one to you! In celebration of your 36th birthday, we are going to come up with 36 reasons we love you! Here are my top 15.....over to you rest of the fam!

Reasons I love Aim from Jeannie:

1. Amy is the epicenter of fun in the family. Who can deny this for someone who does high kicks in her driveway?

2. Amy has a gift for knowing when someone needs her. I have often been put in awe of the promptings she responds to in order to help heal someones heart.

3. She's gorgeous. And sets the standard for cutting edge fashion in the fam. I love when she buys me presents because they are always way more fashion conscious than I would buy for myself!

4. Amouse is motivated. She is constantly coming up with new plans and schemes for projects. I have no idea how she can pull all of this off but manages to! It feels like life is constantly in motion around Amy. I love that!

5. She is a GREAT photographer! Every new set of photos I look at -- I love more!

6. She is a compassionate friend. Her service to Eileen, and others, speaks to this.

7. Amy is very complimentary. You are bound to feel great when she is around!

8. She makes pretty much the best peach pie on the planet.

9. If you needed a road trip partner, you'd probably pick Aim.

10. She has great taste. Her house is so fun to look at! Holidays and parties at her house are so classy!

11. Amy is constantly improving her talents. At this point, not only is she a great photographer, she is a great writer. I love to read her blog. She is funny, endearing, and insightful.

12. She remembers nearly all of our childhood. I lean on her for my family memory!

13. When she watches my kids she says they are nice : )

14. Amy keeps track of everyone. I wish I was as good as she is at calling and keeping in touch. Every time I have lived away from home, it is Amy that keeps a steady stream of fun and encouraging news coming my direction. Sometimes her letters would make me laugh so hard I would keep them for weeks and read them over and over again -- to anyone who would listen!15. Amy is bold, fun, courageous and beautiful. I love having her for a sister.Happy Birthday Aim!

I'll take 16-20: (from Darin)

16-Amy has an understanding heartwhen there's a test she's first to start

17-She's the timber that whethers stormsLittle hands she holds and warms

18-Head of light and heart of hope

19-She's my Sis, my friend,

20-and totally dope Love you Amy, Darin

Reasons why I love Aim from Toots:

21. Amy is known by so many and loved by so many. She is a friend to all and has a large variety of friends herself. She even befriends those who are much older than her--such as the sweet old lady in her ward who came to Emma's party last year--oh, I can't believe I forgot her name!!!

22. Amy does very well to be a valuable employee in her position at Marketstar. She is highly respected and well recognized since being there for over 10 years.

23. Amy doesn't stop short at anything...she will go the extra mile in whatever she does. No pun intended---but she is going to run the Half Marathon this May and we all need to root her on for that!!!! It's awesome!

24. Amy lives life to the fullest and is often expressing how happy she is. That is something we can all try to be a little more of--HAPPY!

25. Amy has established a great family and home. We LOVE to come visit her in Brigham and be in the "country" for a while and feel the atmosphere in her inviting home. Her kids are so fun to be with and I love that she always makes sure to show them affection. Amy was always one who was very tender-hearted and showing love to others.

26. Aim is so GOOD at ideas. She can come up with a plan that everyone loves and all the activities etc. to go with it. She is so very, very smart when it comes to thinking things up.

27. I have to second what Jeannie said about both fashion and the fact that Amy is gorgeous. It is true. Amy ALWAYS looks so good. You can tell she loves to shop! It's fun to see what new things she will wear when I see her. Also, her skin is much younger than her years and she will continue to look youthful for a long time to come.

28. Aim is often led by the spirit to do some amazing things such as sending roses to Marie Morris, drawing the beautiful picture of Marie Pettingill (with angel wings), and of course, doing the photo collage for Eileen and taking it to her home.

29. Aim is a wonderful artist. She has made some beautiful pieces of art--some of my favorites are: the pencil drawing she did of Mike and I, the oil painting she did of Kory's old dog, and the one of Marie.

30. Amy is involved with her kids!!! She even goes to their school to teach art each month. How great is that? Hayden, Emma and all their classmates get to learn a new skill as well as get the chance to be with their Mom for a time.Lots of love from Toots!

From Abs:

31-She shares her love. Love for life, for people, for fashion, for things, for her kids, for Kory, for me, for all of us. I just finished putting all of Justin's old pictures into an album for him and there were lots of pictures of him and Amy hugging and having fun together. There were also a few special notes she had written to him over the years telling him how much she loves him. I appreciate all the love she shows to my family - unconditional.

32-She's not afraid to try new things. Aims is full of fun and never one to sit in the back row of life. Two of my favorite memories thus far are 1- Aims riding the Honda at Flaming G. and 2 - Aims driving the 4-wheeler all the way up Mantua with me on the back. So fun!
Aims is motivated! Once she has a goal in mind she will conquer it. I love how she decided to be a runner and boy did she decide to be a runner! In all my years of running I haven't done half the races she has and I can't wait for the results of the Half Marathon. I'm so glad we could run some races together last summer.

33-She never gives up. No matter the circumstance or situation she will follow through to makes things better, make someone feel better, make something look better...she just makes life better. :)
34-She's got mad skillz - photography, home decorationatization, fashionability, business savvy intelligized, creativitiveness, artisticality, and utilization of all things Amouse. (That was for you Lynn!)
35-Aims is beautiful inside and out. She makes me want to be better. I know I feel blessed every single day to have her as a part of my life! (That goes for everyone.)
Love ya, ABs

From Todd:

36-I love it that Amouse took up running with no prior experience and now kicks butt. Those legs aren't just hot, they're fast too.Aim's blog is tops.Aim's book is wonderful. I'm hoping to read it to my girls someday. I love how it jumps around but maintains a clear development.

i wonder.

pre-bday celebration...



I wonder if the grass is ever really greener on the other side.
I wonder if Kory is having fun collecting some nice racks with Ladd.
I wonder if guys really pee in the shower.
I wonder if Jack Johnson secretly has a crush on me too.
I wonder if Abs and I will ever make it to Greece.
I wonder what Heidi and Seth's daughter will look like.
I wonder if Emma will ever just do what I say.
I wonder if there really is a paperboy.
I wonder if if I am too old to have more babies.
I wonder if all men have a Molly.
I wonder if peeps eyes really don't ever digest.
I wonder what the weather is like on the other side of the world.
I wonder if I ever will own a jeep.
I wonder if I will be at my job for another 10 years.
I wonder if I will learn to surf one day.
I wonder if joe sako really knows something about bowling after all.
I wonder how my mom raised six kids.
I wonder if my friends little bean growing inside her is a boy or a girl.
I wonder if people are nicer on facebook than in real life.
I wonder if it is all just circumstance.
I wonder when my dad started to get gray hair.
I wonder if I will learn how to ride a horse this year.
I wonder if my drummer friend James will be famous one day.
I wonder how you know if a friend is someone you can trust.
I wonder what I will snack on tonight while watchin ER.
I wonder how I got so lucky to have so many amazing people in my life.
I wonder if my Grandpa has met God.

italy here she comes!!

This is a shout out to my friend Kim who is leaving for ITALY!!!! My experience with Italy is limited to the show 'The Golden Girls' and 'The Bachelor'. Now my friend Kim is heading out, for the time of her life. HAVE THE BEST TIME!!

Here are a few things to do while in Italy:

Take a night ride on the #1 vaporetto in Venice

Spend 15 minutes with “The Last Supper” in Milan

Overdose on Renaissance art at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence
Climb Florence’s Duomo

Eat pizza in Naples

Visit the Greek ruins in Sicily

Tempt fate driving along the Amalfi Coast

Sunbathe on Sardinia

See an opera in Verona

Wander the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome
Go back in time at Pompeii

See an Italian soccer game

Hike the Cinque Terre trail
Eat two scoops of gelato daily
Get lost in Venice
Go for a drive in Tuscany

toots

Happy Birthday to my favorite younger sister!!! Anyone who knows Toots aka Tami, knows that out of all of us siblings she is the most thoughtful. She is a wonderful mother of four of the cutest kids ever, and a wife to one of the nicest guys in the whole world. When Toots and I were kids we shared a room together and sometimes if she couldn't sleep I would make up a story for her. She loved gum, ABC or otherwise, so I remember I made up a story of how she took a long slippery slide into a huge empty swimming pool filled with hubba bubba. She loved that story. Toots never brags. She instead is the best listener and really truly remembers details of the lives of other. Even some of my friends who she has never met, she finds great interest in reading their blogs and understanding the trials they are going through. She is a walking Rolodex and remembers names of people from my graduating class better than me!!! We always count on Toots for helping us remember names. My favorite memory of Toots is when she was working at Jackson Lake Lodge and Bobbi Jo and I decided to surprise her and go for a road trip (from Logan) and go visit her. We went into the restaurant where she was working and sat at the bar. A few minutes went by, and Bobbi and I kept pretty quiet...then I said, "TOOTS!!!", and she turned around and started crying and laughing at the same time. That was a pretty cool day. She has been there for me for some pretty low and high times in my life, and I consider her a sister and a greatest friend. So Toots, I hope your birthday is as perfect as you are!
Love you! Amouse

if neil diamond were my valentine.

ladd, erica, kory, me, dan, bobbi jo - feb.13th 2009

If Neil Diamond were my Valentine he would send me flowers and sing me love songs. We would wear jeans pretty much forever all day long, and life would be so good sooo gooood sOooooOO GOOD!!! I would go to all his concerts, buy his t-shirts, glue his loose rhinestones back on his black stage jacket...and possibly have Thanksgiving, but not Christmas, in Brooklyn with his family. If Neil Diamond were my Valentine we would go to dinner and he would bring his back-up singers just in case we felt like busting out a little tableside number. And every time we were apart and then together again, he would say, "Hello, my friend hello." It is also highly likely that I would be a wine drinker. Red. I don't think we would break up, pretty much ever, but if we did, it would be no surprise. Maybe under all that Brooklyn soul and continuous crazy magnetic energy is just a regular guy, a guy like mine. My Valentine...well, he sings to me too. He sends me flowers, and of course he prefers jeans. He let's me buy clothes for him, and he spends all our holidays with family, mine, his, and ours. He is just my regular Valentine. Mine. Who whenever we are apart misses me more than he can express.

My Valentine who let's me get up and dance at the Neil Diamond concert like I don't need the money....

Happy Valentines Day Kory XOXO!