Shanna's Samba

Shanna's dance concert (2 performances) was today. Ericka took video of the afternoon performance and I took video of the evening performance. I have uploaded this at photobucket and facebook and both places don't seem to want to play it well so I will try here and see if it works better. We are so proud of her!! Edit by Ericka: This video is of the evening performance. A video has not yet been uploaded of her afternoon one.

Dani Kaye On Thanksgiving

Post To Kara

This post is mainly for myself. I made a comment on one of Kara's posts about Renee and the grieving process. I am absolutely stunned by the level of emotion that I have felt at the loss of little Riley. But Kara has been through a similar situation and she has a lot of words of wisdom on her blog for people experiencing the loss themselves and those of us who are grieving with those experiencing the loss. So I wanted to put my post to her on my blog so I would remember about her words.

Kara - I so enjoyed our chats today, both on facebook and on the phone. I was telling my RS pres that it is so interesting that at times like this, even though the grieving is horrible, that I am grateful to be able to have family to talk to and share my feelings with and listen to them share their feelings. Thank you for sharing so openly about Renee. Shanna asked, "Do you think Renee saw Nathan when she died?" I absolutely think so and I think that they both saw Riley. We are so blessed to have the knowledge of eternal families!

That book looks amazing and I will do my best to pick it up tomorrow. (Tear Soup)

I also read your post where you talked about your experience at the cemetery (with the girl who had lost her dad). I think that post is something that would help Jeffrey and Kelli when they are ready.

Thanks for being in my life Kara. I love you and Aaron tons - and that's like at least 4,000 pounds! :)

No video, no pictures, just thoughts

I have been looking at others' blogs and just felt the need to express some of my feelings. First of all, our family had another wonderful and humbling Christmas. The Lord has blessed us as we have paid a full tithe this year in so many more ways than financially. He really does pour out blessings, so many that we cannot receive them all. We were also blessed again by a "Secret Santa". I was nursing Dani Kaye and the girls were downstairs putting Michael and Lexi to bed when the phone rang so it did not get answered. Then I thought I heard a car out in the snow. When the girls came back upstairs I had them check the caller ID and it was a cell phone from Vegas. I told them they had better check the front porch just in case and sure enough we found a cute little penguin ornament that opened up and inside was lots of "green". We have been visited by one or more "Secret Santas" every year that we have lived in Provo and it never stops being a humbling experience nor does it ever get easier to express my gratitude in words. Most people would probably look at our situation and almost pity us - old furniture, old cars, old clothes, etc. We, however, could not feel more blessed. We own our own home! We own a working vehicle! We have food to eat! And most of all, we live in a wonderful ward with wonderful friends and neighbors. We are truly blessed.

On thanksgiving, we went around the table several times and mentioned some of the things we are greatful for. I had a lofty goal of posting them all here but, for now, I will just mention one that I said. I am thankful for brothers who take care of my mom. I feel so far away from her here in Provo and wish so much that I were in a position to do more for her. I do, however, have wonderful brothers who help provide for her. She just recently moved in with my brother, Rick, and his wife, Nancy. I am so greatful to them for opening their home to her so that she does not have to live alone any more.

As my mom would say, "One down, seven to go." Rick finished his first semester of college with all A's and B's. He is an amazing man! I am so blessed to be his wife. There are so many times that he would have been justified in walking away from our marriage - nobody would have blamed him. I am so greatful that he stayed. During the early years (like the first 15) of our marriage, if someone had told me that we would eventually be this happy I would have never believed them.

Life is good. I am happy. That's saying a lot.

Shanna's Swing

Rick, Sierra, and I had the pleasure of attending Shanna's first ballroom performance today. Ericka, Sierra, Michael, Lexi, and Dani Kaye went back this evening for the 2nd show. Shanna did one dance. The title on the program was "Dancing Around the Christmas Tree". We are so proud of Shanna!

Halloween 2008

This is quite a bit late but cute anyway. Enjoy.

Lexi's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Lexi's 3rd birthday Tuesday evening. It was a great time with Anne, the little girl that Ericka babysits, over. We had cake and ice cream. The funniest part was when Lexi got a glimpse of TJ Bearytales. I couldn't quite get the "muvee" to capture it but it was pretty funny. Later, Sierra asked Lexi what she was going to name the stuffed elephant that she had gotten for her and Lexi said, "Phhhhhht". Can't quite capture that one either but it is the sound that Lexi makes for an elephant. I guess she thought that since she has a cow named "Moo" that she should have an elephant named "Phhhhht". Enjoy the video.

Cute Smiles and New Sunday Clothes

We took some pictures on Sunday of Lexi and Dani Kaye's first new matching dresses and Michael's new suit.

Dani Kaye's Early Steps In Her New Birthday Jammies

Dani Kaye got some money for her birthday and, since it is starting to get cold here, I decided to use it to get her some warm jammies. Here she is wearing them for the first time and showing off her newly-learned walking skills:

Dani Kaye Is 1 Year Old!

Here is an overview of Dani Kaye's 1st birthday party via videos and pictures (put together with my muvee program). And I changed the font, Ericka!

An E-Mail From Diane

This didn't happen to Diane, she was just kind enough to pass it along. : )

I asked my friend's little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?'

She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.'

'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'You don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and rake my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give
him the $50 to use towards food and a new house.'

The little girl thought that over for a few seconds while her Mom glared at me, and then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work and you can just pay him the $50?'

I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'

Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Another Version

I just have not been able to get the song out of my mind that I posted last night. I found another version of it that touched me just as much as the other one. I know that others are just as capable of perusing youtube as I am but I really love this song so I am going to post this version too. (Remember to click on "view origianl post" if you are reading this in facebook.)

Who Am I? (From Youtube)

Guess It's My Turn...Oh, Homecoming 2008

For those of you just waiting with baited breath to know who Sierra's date was for Homecoming...(drum roll please) it...was...(ready?) CHRISTOPHER SAGE NELSON. Surprised? We were in shock too! ;) In case you haven't been privy to the Sierra and Chris saga thus far, they started "going steady" about the time Lexi was born (November 2005) but just this past summer decided to break up so they could both see other people. Totally amicable (as you will see in the video). Anyway, these were pictures that Ericka took before they left for the dance.

Sweetie and Daddy

This is a video that was taken several years ago and I have wanted to share it but didn't have the ability or didn't know I had the ability until recently. I hope nobody is offended by the music I chose to accompany it. It just seemed so fitting for these clips - or at least it does if you know Sweetie and Daddy. LOL Thanks for taking the video Kerri.

Somewhere Out There II

On the same theme as my last post here is one especially for Mom.

Somewhere Out There

There are so many things I have wanted to blog about and nothing has been blogged so I decided to start with this one after reading my mom's "Lund Letter" tonight. She asked if anyone had seen the MOTAB sing "Somewhere Out There" this morning. Normally I would have been able to say that I had but this morning was... well, another blog. She talked about how the first time she heard the song Kerri was in Germany and now Kerri is in Germany again. (Actually, Kerri was waiting to join Daddy in Germany when Mom first heard the song but it was still kind of our special song - Mom's, Dad's, and mine, while Rick and I were stationed over there.) Anyway, it's so funny how things happen. I had JUST last night made a backup copy of our 21-year-old An American Tail video tape to DVD and had been having the same kinds of thoughts that mom described in her letter as she listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing it this morning. Anyway, I'm still spending way too much time playing with new toys and programs that I have had for a long time but have not known what to do with so I decided to post a video along with this blog. Hope it brings back as many memories for those who read this as it never fails to for my mom and I.

Our Play Date At Michelle's and Mike's

(Be sure to read this post to the end and view the video I have included!)

At church on Sunday, I was talking to Michelle and found out that she has started watching a couple of little girls during the day. She only has both of them on Fridays and the older girl is quite a bit older than their little boy, Rowen, so, since we have been talking about getting our kids together to play in her back yard anyway, I suggested that we could take the little ones over on Friday when she had the older little girl. So, yesterday, Ericka, Michael, Lexi, Dani Kaye, and myself walked down the block and around the corner (as opposed to over the river and through the woods) to Michelle, Mike, and Rowen's house. What an adventure!

The first thing we saw when we walked through the gate was their baby swing. Dani Kaye sat in it first and LOVED it.

Mike, to Michelle's chagrin, immediately let all their birds out. They have chickens, 2 turkeys, and 2 geese. The geese even "talk". They call, "Mike, Mike." LOL None of the birds are scheduled to become dinner but if anyone needs to have a turkey butchered for Thanksgiving, Mike says he does it himself when it needs to be done. The chickens live in a beautiful "coop". If it were round or octagon (it's rectangle), it would look more like a gazebo instead of a coop. There is a sign on the door that says something to the effect of, "Come on in, our day is already 'fowled' up."

We saw and heard about Mike's gardens of vegetables, flowers, and cactus and took home a bag of 4 delicious red, ripe tomatoes.

Mike has a new "fish pond" (a BIG green tub) with brown trout and bass that he has caught down at the river. I wish Rick wasn't so busy with school and work! I would love to have Mike show us the good fishing spots down there.

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed visiting in the back yard for quite a while. I was tickled to hear that the girls names that Michelle babysits are Savannah and Scarlet. Even after 22 years, there is still a special place in my heart for Savannah, Georgia. Michelle also served her mission in Savannah.

Michael went in to go potty and set his sites on a play tool set of Rowen's. He was so excited when we let him bring it outside to play with. Eventually though, the kids convinced us that it was time to go in and play with the toys so we visited for a little while in the house before finally leaving for home.

Michelle took Ericka and I on a tour of their house and I have finally seen the inside of one of the houses that you enter by climbing stairs to enter the front door.

Mike entertained us with his mermaid joke: Why do mermaids wear seashells? Because D cups are too big and B cups are too small. He did say that some people are very offended by that joke though. He said he told it to a set of Siamese twins and they were so upset they were just beside themselves. He also filled us in on some local news. He said that someone had gone down to the police station and stolen all the toilets.

Too soon, it was time to go and, except for having to pry the toy tool set out of Michael's fingers, that went smoothly. It was an absolute blast and I think that Ericka and I will be spending a lot more time with Michelle, Mike, and Rowen. Ericka told Michelle about a piece of "flair" that she had seen on Facebook: "I am going to marry you so plan your life accordingly." I need to make my own rendition that says, "Michelle, you are my new best friend forever so plan your life accordingly." I think after 20 years in the Army and almost 4 years of civilian life I am finally ready to let go of my fear of making (and saying goodbye to) friends.

Thank you Michelle, Mike, and Rowen for a wonderful time!

About the person who stole the toilets from the police station, Mike also said that the cops don't have anything to go on. ; )

Dani Kaye - 09-19-2008

I took some more really cute pictures of Dani Kaye tonight and then played with a program that came on our laptop called muvee. Then I converted the file with my Movavi Video Suite and *poof* my next post. I hope it works.

Girls Day In

Today was the day that Ericka takes Michael to his speech preschool. That leaves Lexi, Dani Kaye and I home together while they are out. I decided to get my camera out (which I haven't done for far too long) and I got some cute pictures. I even got some good pictures of Kerri's cat, Moonstone. She is just as soft as she looks and I think would make a nice pair of slippers. (Love you Kerri.)

Christian the Lion

The Lucky Lund Family

Jeff and Kelli are married! Our family spent a wonderful day attending Jeff and Kelli's wedding in the Mt. Timponogas Temple and their reception in the evening. Kelli was a beautiful bride and it was so special to have 6 of the 8 Lund children together again along with some of the grandchildren and even a few great grandchildren. My heart was filled with the reminder of how special family is and I am so grateful for the wonderful family that I am a part of. Tomorrow night we will celebrate the weddings of Golden and Sandy and Jesse and Laura Lund.

Lions and tigers and bears...and SPIDERS

(This is an update of a 2008 post. One of the images wasn't showing up so I added a different one.) Tonight, after Dani Kaye had convinced me she was done nursing, I sat up and noticed something on the pillow I had just had my head on. I keep the room dark except for the light of the very tiny t.v. because, otherwise, Dani Kaye will not lie still to nurse. I looked again and realized I was not imagining that there really was something crawling (I have a VERY good imagination) and decided I'd better turn on the light to get a better look. It was a HUGE (I have witnesses!) red spider. I opened the door and screamed, "Bring me the Raid - NOW!" I somehow managed to get Dani Kaye and get her off the bed without passing out from fear and then I drowned the spider in Raid. My sheets are now in the wash and I will let you know when I have the courage to sleep in my bed again. Rick says he will help me "Deep clean" the room. This picture really does not do this spider justice. I think I should tag it, "It's MR. SPIDER to you!" The second image is from the web and does the spider justice. 

We Have The Best Home Teacher Ever!

RICK AND I AND DANNY AND MARY GUNNEL ON TEMPLE SQUARE

RICK AND I BEFORE OUR DATE WITH DANNY AND MARY GUNNEL

A week ago, we went on a date with Danny and Mary Gunnel (see their blogspot). It all started a few months ago when the ward had a ward auction and one of the things being auctioned was a date with the Gunnel's. Sierra, being the sweet thing that she is, bought the date for us to go out with the Gunnel's. We finally got things together so that all of us could go and Wednesday night was the night. We got all "gussied up" and took pictures before we left. Danny suggested that we go to Salt Lake and go to a restaurant called "Ruth's Chris". He also suggested the New York Steak, and who were we to argue? It was the best steak I have ever eaten in my life! We also had sides of bread, salad, mashed potatoes, asparagus with Hollandaise sauce, creamed spinach, and sweet potatoes. The whole meal was scrumptious. After dinner, we walked around temple square - it was Rick's first time! We took a lot of pictures there too. To top off the evening, we went on a carriage ride! Our horse was named Rex. We were all worn out by the time we got back to Provo but it was the funnest evening that Rick and I have spent in a very, very long time! Thank you again Danny and Mary!!

THE 4 PICTURES ABOVE WERE ALL TAKEN ON TEMPLE SQUARE

BELOW IS BEFORE THE CARRIAGE RIDE AND ABOVE IS AFTER THE CARRIAGE RIDE

I LOVE FACEBOOK

A friend of mine from 1980-1985 sent me a friend request from facebook and since I had set up an account to view Jeff and Kelli's pictures but hadn't done anything with it I decided to go check it out. I have been obsessed with it ever since! It is so fun to see so many family members there and I even reconnected with my best friend from Savannah who I had lost contact with for the past 7-1/2 years! I have been reluctant to use something other than myspace (Ericka told me that facebook was not user friendly) but now that I have I am so happy! Several people I have reconnected with at facebook also have blogspots so I decided to post something here too. I will upload some pics after my computer is done scanning for viruses. (I am using Rick's right now.) It crashed this morning and we had to run system recovery! Luckily, all of my photos are still there and safe. I'll try to either be better about blogging or better about making Ericka blog for me. *grin*

Family Home Evening

Okay, so we stink at blogging. However last night something super cute happened during FHE. I figured we could at least blog SOMETHING!

Last night Dani had the lesson with my mom's help. I, Ericka, gave the lesson that they prepared because my mom was busy holding Dani. It was about us being children of God. The first thing we did was a game where I threw a bean bag to each person and said "I know a child of God named..." and then they would say their name. I did this for Michael and Lexi last figuring that they might have grasped the concept while I did it with everyone else. I tossed Michael the beanbag and said my part and then after a second of silence said quietly "Hey, what's your name?" and he smiled and said "Michael!" We all cheered and said "Very good! That's exactly right." Then I did it with Lexi. After I said my part she was just looking at us all and I said "What's your name?" She said "Um..." and then got a huge grin, pointed to herself and said "ME!" We all laughed and thought that it was adorable. But maybe we're just biased ;-)

And the Kimball Family Grows...

Well, unfortunately we do not yet have pictures of Adam and Kerri Kimball's latest addition but here is his information:

October 28, 2007 (Shannon aka Niecy turned 3 on October 27!)
Frederick Brian Adam Kimball
Almost 20 inches
6 1/2 lbs. according to Adam

He was named after his grandfathers and father.
He will be called Derick (as in FreDERICK).

A Quote-
Sierra: Does he have hair?
Adam: He has more hair than me.

He wasn't due until November 18th- his aunt Lexi's birthday- but Kerri was induced early because of preclampsia. She was able to have a VBAC but was unable to have an epidural due to the preclampsia. I think I got that right...She was given Nubane but by the time she had to push it had all but worn off. Go Kerri!!

Congratulations to Adam, Kerri, and Shannon Kimball :-)

As soon as pictures are available we shall post.

It may be a while.

They still do not have a computer.

Until then...or next time!

The Clan is Complete and More

Well...we haven't updated in a very long time. Since then a LOT has happened. Here's a quick sum up of everything. So after Kerri went to Germany she found out very quickly afterwards that she was pregnant. Kristen was about a month pregnant when she left. Very Father-of-the Bride only not in the same house- thank goodness! Kristen found out that she was having another girl and Kerri and Adam found out that they are expecting a baby boy. Kerri and Adam also went to the temple for the first time with Shannon to be sealed as a family on September 1, 2007. Very exciting and we are all SO happy for them. On October 11 Kristen gave birth to Dani Kaye Clayton. She is the seventh and final Clayton baby to be born to Rick and Kristen. Kerri is due in November and would like any possible advice on how to relieve itching during pregnancy.

There's the last few months in a nutshell. Now on to Dani!

As stated, she was born October 11, 2007 at Orem Community Hospital. She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long.

After Kristen uploads the millions of pictures that she has taken this last week we will try to post them. The older kids are so funny with her though! Lexi loves her and tries to hold her every chance she gets and will lean over and kiss her as she holds her. Michael is either indifferent, unhappy, or very confused. He never wants to hold her except for that one picture at the hospital. He will occasionally go over and look at her though. Oh well...guess he needs more time to adjust.

As for the name....

Obviously it was the seventh baby and the sixth girl for us and we were having trouble thinking of a name that we like, hadn't already used, and was in no way a family name. Kristen has this thing about never re-using family names even if it's like your second cousin's great uncle or something unless you are actually naming the baby after that person. One night (before we knew if it was a boy or girl) she woke up and just thought "Danny/Dani" and immediately liked the idea because our home teacher's name is Danny and he has been the most awesome and best home teacher we've ever had and we love him and his family so much. We all agreed. So Dani ended up being named after Danny and he couldn't be any more proud about it as you can hear from their blog here: http://www.gunnellfam.blogspot.com/

After Dani had been established as the first name Kristen thought about the actor Danny Kaye because he had been one of hers and her father's favorite actors.

Hence Dani Kaye Clayton.

Here is a picture of Danny and Dani.

Danny Gunnell and Dani Clayton

Until Next Time!! The Claytons

Big News!

Well...as some may know, Kerri has been anxiously waiting for the day that her and Shannon and Adam would all be together again as a family. Adam went to Army Basic in April of 2005 and was in training until Oct. 2005. He then came home for a small two week break, most of which him, Kerri, and Shannon spent in WA with his family, and after coming down for a couple of days here...he flew off to Germany where he has been ever since. It is now (obviously) February 2007! They were expecting things to go smoothly and for Kerri and Shannon to be in Germany with him within maybe 6 months...did that happen? Not so much. There were passport issues, paperwork issues, etc. FINALLY Kerri and Shannon got their passports...and six months later their military orders. The next "official" step would have been to wait to be contacted by a military office somewhere, and have the military make travel plans for them, and tell them when they are flying out. That could've taken anywhere from 2 weeks to another 6 months. So....after they discussed it, and got paid, Kerri and Adam decided to purchase tickets for her and Shannon to Germany and the last week or so has been CrAzY! The night they got paid they bought tickets, made flight plans and Kerri rented a storage unit for their stuff until they get back from Germany in 1 1/2 years or so. The next day my dad helped her take most of it to the storage unit and called some military numbers for Kerri. He found out that it is perfectly OK for them to make their own travel plans, but they may or may not be reimbursed for it by the Army. He also found out that after she is over there, her and Adam can still arrange to have their stuff (furniture, boxes, household goods etc.) shipped over to Germany and they can just list Mom and Dad as the people to sign for it. So that should also (theoretically) happen within a few months. That same day she also got a call stating that the flight had been delayed from last Sunday (which would have been the next day) to this Saturday (tomorrow) It's been nice having an additional week to adjust to the "Oh my gosh...Kerri and Shannon are leaving. Really leaving! They are moving out...not going to be here anymore" shock factor. Most of the exciting stuff happened tonight though. Kerri got the rest of her stuff to storage and out of their old room, we moved Michael and Lexi into the room along with all of their stuff and so far Michael's old room has become a workshop for Dad to refinish an old dresser and to build a couple of things in. After he is done, it will be used for a variety of things. So...all in all...KERRI AND SHANNON ARE GOING TO GERMANY! They couldn't be any more excited (no, really, I think Kerri would explode or something) but we will definitely miss them and our fun family times together. Now I am off to go help Dad with the dresser project! FUN!

P.S. Kerri and Adam had been thinking about just paying for Kerri and Shannon to go over there on their own for a while, but decided to wait until they had their military orders and would be under military jurisdiction or protection or something...basically they figured it's best to wait to go to an overseas destination until the military knows you're supposed to be there and wants you there!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, we haven't updated in a bit so I just wanted to say that Christmas went well and was fun...all the babies enjoyed ripping off the paper and Michael especially got the hang of it pretty quick! Then for New Years Kristen, Rick, Ericka, Shanna, Michael and Lexi went to Las Vegas to see Debbie, Jenni, Janell and John. We had fun there (we hadn't actually been to their house since we moved from AZ six years ago) and appreciate all they did for us and the time we got to spend together. On the way home Lexi FINALLY cut her first tooth!!! That wasn't the greatest car ride we've ever taken but at least we know she won't be toothless forever. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures from Vegas (or at least none that have been uploaded to the computer yet) Anyway...church starts early tomorrow so we're off to bed.

Testing 1, 2, 3...Testing

The Beginning of the Clayton Clan in 1983


The Clayton Clan's most recent and decent looking family picture...about 23 years later!

We did it!

This is Ericka typing...my mom asked me to try and figure out how to make a blog spot since that seems to be the preferred family friendly blogging site as far as keeping others up to date and all that. I came, I conquered, I'm going to bed...and possibly waking up for Institute in the morning. ;-)