SUPRISED!

Yesterday I went up to Park City and met Michael for lunch, dessert, and a little Christmas shopping. It was great fun! Actually, we started with dessert: chocolate mousse from a little cafe. Dessert first is exactly how it should be done! After chocolate mousse Michael introduced me to some cute girls in a makeup store that he delivers to. Then we made our way down the street where we had soup and sandwiches at Quizno's. Next we visited another store where he delivers and talked with the shop keepers there. Everywhere we went and everyone we talked to absolutely adores their UPS driver, Michael. He is pretty awesome.

Just to prove it, and to make me practically hyperventilate with excitement and surprise, Michael brought me home a present. New boots! New adorable, too cute to even talk about without becoming delirious boots!

I am going to have the best dressed feet at Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow! I told Michael how sad I was that I would have to take my boots off at his mom's house (it's a shoes-off household). He said he didn't want me to ruin "my look," so he gave me cute tights to wear! They are turquoise with stripes and purple flowers! I think I truly may have died and gone to footwear heaven!

Even without the surprise presents Michael is pretty awesome. Admittedly, though, the presents (shallow Sal that I am) do make me like him all the more! Yep, Christmas came early at my house. Hope your holidays are equally exciting!

GLAD HE'S NINE!

And super glad he's MINE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSHUA!

Yes, a very happy Birthday to you, Joshua! You have been an absolute joy in our lives. You are smart, kind, witty, and (although you might be slightly picky when it comes to eating) you like the same birthday cake as me! Angel Food Cake with strawberries and whipped cream--YUM!!

The first thing I heard after you were born was not, "It's a boy!" or, "He's here!" or any other much anticipated proclamation. Instead I heard the nurse exclaim, "Look at those feet!" Your feet were so big that everyone was amazed. I had purchased darling little white dress shoes for your blessing day which you never fit into; in fact, your first shoes were a size 5! I bring that up because people often comment on how tall you are, and, judging by your shoe size (your feet are bigger than mine!), how tall you're likely to be as a grown up. They all expect you to be a great basketball player. I'm sure you would be, if basketball interested you much. You'd rather be skiing on a winter Saturday, than making it to any Saturday basketball game. And anyway, if you had your way, you'd be playing football!

Too bad your mom's too mean to put you on a team...

When I was pregnant with you, your dad and I were so positive that you were going to be a girl. You are definitely anything but! Still, you did look an awful lot like your cousin Jane when you were a baby (minus her super-blue eyes). Aunt Dana might disagree, and Jane is definitely prettier, but until I learn how to scan your baby pictures in, Jane's face is the closest resemblance I can find!

I hope Aunt Dana won't mind me thinking that you looked an awful lot like Carson when you were little, too. I know that's not entirely possible, since Carson looks just like his handsome daddy, but this is my blog, so I can believe what I want.

You had a great conversation with your Awesome-Dude Grandpa on your birthday. He asked you questions in typical crazy Grandpa lingo (where else would you learn words like "vituperative," "apocryphal," and "malodorous"?); I loved overhearing this:

Grandpa: Well, Joshua, I have a very important (although I'm sure he didn't use a normal word like "important." It was most likely something I'd have to look up in the dictionary to spell, but "important" was the meaning) question to ask you: Do you like being Joshua?
Joshua: Yes.
(You are not a man of many words, Joshua.)
Grandpa: So, Joshua, what did you learn while you spent a whole year being eight?
Joshua: To be kind.
Grandpa: That's a great thing to learn, Joshua.
(At this point Grandpa began telling you the etymology of your name, being derived from the Hebrew form of Jesus, etc, etc. or some such stuff...We actually just named you Joshua because I like the name, not for any sort of meaning or importance...)
Well, Joshua, are you going to be kind everyday when you're nine?
Joshua: Probably not.
Grandpa: That's probably true.

Kind or not, Joshua (and you are mostly kind), you are LOVED. We are so glad to have you in our family. I'm so excited to get to know you through the years. Thanks for nine fabulous ones. We love you.

SHARING

This has to be a highlight in Michael's life: a conversation any father would be proud to overhear...

Evan: Mom, do you have any make-up I can borrow?
Mom: Go ask your brother Lane. He used some yesterday.

Now let me explain. Evan and Lane are in their school musicals. Performers, even guys, have to wear makeup on stage. So they both came to me. Well, Lane came first, and then Evan went to Lane...

Lane performed last week and was BRILLIANT as Frederick, the romantic lead in "Pirates of Penzance." He really was darling and if I were a junior high aged girl, I would have been sighing along with the rest of them! Word is, "He's HOT!" I am merely quoting what I heard in the hallways.

Evan's show opens tonight. His high school is performing "Damn Yankees." They had two matinees this week for the local elementary and junior high schools but sadly, no one came. I guess nobody wanted to send their classes to something that has a swear word in the title. Actually, I don't blame the schools. There would have been hell to pay from many a parent if their children had gone. Funny thing is, it's a pretty tame show. It came out in the mid-50's, and it's the story of a baseball player who sells his soul to the devil in order to win the world series (am I getting this right?). Good wins over evil (well, love does) and I don't even think they swear...but I could be wrong. Wrong, or just calloused to such a vocabulary, after years of working in the theater. HA!!!

I do have to admit to a measure of excitement at seeing my children taking to the stage...and at being good at it. I didn't mean to push them into it, and I don't know that I did. But it is what I do, so I probably pushed in one way or another. Of course, I read a lot, too, and spend an enormous amount of time doing laundry and dishes (despite what previously posted pictures may portray...), and that hasn't seemed to push any of my family into similar action. So go figure. Maybe performing is just plain fun! I'm happy to share my love of it, and my makeup, with anyone!

MESSY

Recognize this? I do. Apparently the placard I bought to inspire the "hired-help" to actually help, doesn't.

If it were just my laziness, or even just my children's children-ness, that would be one thing. But then they have to have friends over, too! Lane and company were jumping on the trampoline when his friend cut his lip (darn braces) and came in to clean up the blood. On his way to the bathroom, this happened:

I was cleaning up the above mess when I found the below mess.

Michael and the Park City toy store owner are buddy-buddy. They both share an appreciation f0r giant ape costumes and fake poo. I'm not sure, however, that the cable man has that same sense of appreciation. Either that, or perhaps (is it possible?) he just didn't see Michael's joke on me when he used our restroom. The cable man didn't seem to have much appreciation for my messy house or overly-friendly dog, either. Imagine that! Would you? Well, then come on over. I can't promise what you'll find (last week there was a big fake-poo footprint in our entryway...), but I promise it will probably make us laugh. Later.

FEELING PATRIOTIC

Marianne, my mother in law, and Lane, my son, and I went to a concert Tuesday night performed by the United States Air Force Band and the Singing Sergeants (the Air Force Choir). It was phenomenal. I know this not only because of what I heard in my ears and felt in my heart as I listened to the music, but also because Lane told me afterwards that he didn't completely hate it.

One of the songs they performed was "America the Beautiful." It was so glorious. The YouTube video doesn't do it justice, but at least it's a good reminder to me of what I heard, and what I saw a few years ago when Michael and I went to Washington D.C.

I suppose the entire concert may have seemed even more poignant to me because it took place on voting day. I had my "I voted" sticker on, and listening to those American songs was very overwhelming. I felt such gratitude for this country that we live in and for its governing system.

Yes, I voted that day, and yes, one half of the items I voted for were voted down, but we all had a say in the matter. That is what matters. I hope you made it matter.

So enjoy the video and the song. Hopefully it will inspire each of us. At the very least it might get us traveling to Washington D.C. or another one of the great historical sites of our country. Hopefully it will also inspire us to do something great, like vote when the opportunity comes, or to raise another person higher, or to stand for a cause we believe in. The freedom to do that is what makes America BEAUTIFUL.

P.S. Alma 58:40 "But behold, they have received many wounds; nevertheless they stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free; and they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day; yea, they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually..." That is how we do it.

ENTERTAINED

The last few days have been very fun! It was U.E.A. (Utah Educator's Association) weekend so school was out and there was time to play!

Saturday we spent the day at Lagoon.

Sunday we went to the Daniel's.

Monday we went to see "Triller" by the Odyssey Dance Company--a family favorite every year!

Tuesday we went back to Lagoon for "Frightmares." My friend Trevor is a performer in the "Monster Classics" show there.

Then we came home for a great Scavenger Hunt with our church youth group.

Wednesday was an Owl Chorale performance for Joshua and me.

And, of course, we had a great time Halloween night with dressing up and trick or treating. We being everyone except Evan. Sadly, he had to work at Wendy's.

Tomorrow is the Vance family Halloween/October Birthdays party.

Saturday Michael, Evan, and Lane are going to Manti for a church group trip to the temple there.

Joshua and I will be staying home for his final soccer game.

Monday night we are going to see "Little Shop of Horrors."

Tuesday night we are going to see the United States Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants perform at Temple Square.

Wednesday night it's back to rehearsal for me, but I think that's great, too!

I love being entertained!

CONGRATULATORY

Lane is 15!

Sweet! (His word, not his temperament.)

To celebrate his birth, Lane had a party:

(Too bad we don't have a picture of the girls he invited: they were GORGEOUS. I didn't even know that it was possible for girls to be so pretty in junior high.)

He went out to eat with his Grandma and Aunt:

And spent the day at Lagoon Amusement Park with us:

(playing hackey sack with brothers and best friend Cody)



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LANE!