What's in a NAME.....

I agree with everyone. I think it looks a lot better than described. This also means that our family has great imagination because I too pictured something really really scary. But it's looking good Mom. I am glad you are cancer free and if you want some skin off my nose, I will gladly give it to you.

Today, my friend showed me this baby name website. You can type in your name it tells you what it means, so I did all of ours because I thought it was fun. Everyone's name was there except Shalene's which means she has the best and most original name out of all of us. Well done, Shalene.

Tanis= Serpent: Greek
Tyler= Tilemaker:English
Joni= God is gracious-Hebrew (you are a form of Joan, Joan is hebrew/ Joni is American)
Richard=Brave ruler: English
Denise= Devotee of Dionysos: French
Kelly=Bright Headed-Irish
Erica= Always ruler
Porter=Door Keeper: English
Hudson= Son of Hud (clever, I know) but is said that it was a spin off of Richard which I thought was interesting.
Claire=I can't remember

Marci=Warlike: American. So you better watch out. Sometimes I do feel warlike.

I come home in just 2 days. I can't wait!!!! Get ready to live everyone, this is going to be the best christmas ever. On Sunday I asked Porter what I should make for his Dad for christmas. He thought for awhile and decided that a necklace would be the perfect gift. Pucashells it is. Get ready Ty.

"Get Well Soon"

Well, I was actually getting on here to write a cheesy "Get Well Soon" note to you Mom, but I know that Tyler would gag at the thought of anything cheesy-but we do want to say that we love you and hope that your spirits are lifted and you get better soon. However, I would have to agree with Joni. You are definitely not Frankenstein and I also agree that it is NOT as bad as you were describing it on the phone. You still look beautiful and just like you said, when the stitches heal you can just cover it with make-up until it heals all the way! Easy as pie, right? We are just glad that you are okay, and not dying of cancer. That just scares us. I am counting on you being around forever since my parents are starting to get older...so scar or no scar we are happy to have you. Your eyes don't look bad at all in those pictures! Your black eye must have gone away really fast, or you have great make-up on. Don't worry, we won't kringe (once again, Marci I am with you on the spell check thing). We are just excited to be with you guys for Christmas!

Anyways, we are just here...ALL DAY LONG, if you need someone to talk to- any of you actually. Claire has double ear infections and a rash and Porter has been throwing up for about what....15 hours now? I think he has strep, because I KNOW I have it, but I can deal with it right? So, we are home bound. Except for I did get a HUGE order for BOWS! YEAH! I was excited and scared at the same time. Hopefully they will like them. So, I have to ship them out today, so I better run to go and finish them up! Love you all and can't wait to see you!

Love, Ty Erica Porter and Claire

Mom you are not Frankenstein!!!

MOM!!! Ok first of all ouch. I am really sorry that you had to go through that, but also it is not as bad as you think. So the way you described it to me I was picturing this monster. Do you remember when Shae Vargas got kicked in the head by a horse, and her whole face was blown up. That is what I was picturing!! You look great. All that matters is that you are ok, and I am sure we are all grateful for that.

As far as my life goes, it is just crazy busy. We are starting the Nutcracker here in Provo on Friday and my life officially consists of that until it is over. School is almost over. Only 1 more final YAY!!!!! I am so excited to be done with finals but other than that life is good. We performed in Idaho Falls last weekend so I got to hang out with mom and dad a little bit which was heaven on earth as always. Oh and actually the shows up there were SOLD OUT!!!! We were all so excited. It is so much fun to perform for a full audience. That show went really good because of it.

Well I miss you all so much, but are time apart is soon coming to an end. I am so excited to see you all. Oh and Marci do you have any ideas for your present??? Anyways, I love you and will see you soon.

Bye, Jones

my nose

Well everyone, I know that you are dying to see what is happening to me. The only ones who have really seen me is Tanis and Hudson and needless to say, Hudson didn't know if he wanted to come to me or not. It looks pretty scary but it feels even worse. My eyes were even more swollen this morning, it has come down quite a bit. I have to look at the positive and say at least it will lay flat without a hole but the stitches are quite a few more than I expected! I think it was for the doctor also. I thought if I gave you the worst shot then maybe when I see everyone you won't be so shocked. I don't plan on going to church this Sunday and probably to finish my shopping, I will have to shop early when no one is shopping otherwise I might scare everyone in the place. Maybe I should have gotten a face lift while I was at it because I look ABOUT that scary. Well, Pray for me because I am going to need it. Eveyone work hard on your finals and soon you'll be done. I love you all! MOM

And the list goes on.

So I thought I would just keep posting. I have so much to say and so many pictures to show you. First of all here is Hudson. Marci talked about the things she is thankful for and I have to continue with her long list and add- Washable Markers. This was Hudson's first experience with markers. He thought they were tasty, obviously, and just the greatest thing on this earth. He is now addicted to coloring and is constantly drawing on everything. I didn't mind until a little while ago, on evening, I heard Tim exclaim from my bedroom, "oh no, Hudson, oh no, no, no". I proceeded to walk in and see a huge dark line on my carpet and a magic marker in Hudson's hand......... Not good. I freaked and could see our security deposit flying out the window. Thankfully I acted fast and immediately ran for mom's carpet cleaner. I started scrubbing and by some unknown power, it came out. It was probably because I just kept thinking "please Heavenly Father, help me to get this out". Blessings come in all shapes and sizes.

Secondly, I thought I would post our Christmas cards that I designed. I couldn't decide which one I like more, and I just kept wanting to design more and more. It was a blast. I think designing cards is my new favorite thing!! And photoshop is my new love. I can't get enough of that program.

Thirdly, I am thankful that Hudson is showing me how he can jump, as we speak. He is trying SO HARD and with some much effort but..........he doesn't get even a little bit off the floor. I am also listening to a little Amy Grant Christmas right now, so his jumping is inter mixed with his version of dancing.....flailing arms and twirling. He is obviously multi talented. I love that I am able to spend everyday with him.

Well that is it more a moment. Marci, I hope your performance goes well tonight. It breaks my heart that I cannot see it. Please, please video.

Till I post again in an hour........

The Most Untraditional Thanksgiving...............

So, I realize that I have much to catch up on, and I think that is part of the reason that I have not written for so long. There is so much!! But I will try to make it as concise as possible and not bore you all to death.

First and foremost our trip to DC for Thanksgiving was as mom would say "fantastic". We headed down on Wednesday morning and drove straight to the zoo. The weather was unbelievable and in the 70's which was so nice. We had a blast seeing all the different animals and Hudson was having the time of his life. His favorite thing there was the house of birds which he insisted walking through himself and would point to every bird and say "mama" and then do the sign for bird. It was the cutest thing. Another highlight was when he walked up to these two statues of these little foxes and attempted to "honk" their noses.....his new thing. I am sure all of you will experience that in the next month. It was adorable. We spent the entire day hanging out seeing all the different animals and listening to our children go crazy. We went with two other families- Billy, Kristy and Lainey Hull and Jake, Lindsey, Emma and Kenna Irving. Billy is in Tim's class and Jake and Lindsey just moved in to our apartment complex. We had so much fun together and Hudson absolutely adores the Irving Girls. Anyway, after spending time at the zoo we headed to our hotel in down town DC about 2 blocks from the WhiteHouse. It was the Hilton and SUPER nice which we luckily got a great deal due to Hotwire. So we pull up with our three cars and proceed to check in and begin to unload our car. Ok, so picture this 3 young couples- 4 kids- 3 enormous piles of luggage- 3 full sized coolers- a MICROWAVE- a crockpot and a rice cooker, all going into the HILTON. Heaven help us....can we say White Trash. Oh the bonuses of being poor. So needless to say, we took all of our meals and cooked in the hotel except for actual Thanksgiving meal which we spent at, drumroll please........ESPNZONE. Nothing like a good old mushroom burger and fries in place of turkey, mom's stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. It was hilarious, but actually really fun. The men were in heaven with the 15ft. screen playing the football game with 4, 37" tv's on each side showing every other sport that was playing all across the globe. Even the bathrooms had their own TV in each stall. Classic. Anyway, so Thanksgiving day was spent at the Air and Space Museum, the Washington and Lincoln Monument, National Mall and ESPNZone. It was a great day.

On Friday, we woke up and split where Tim and I went to do a session at the Washington DC Temple. You know, you really don't understand how important the Temple is until you are 4 hours away and can only go once every quarter. How I have missed the Temple. I just love the peace and comfort I feel there every time I enter those doors. We are so blessed to have such a place on this earth where we can leave this world behind and have the opportunity to relish in the spiritual and wonderful things of this life. I love that place. We then swapped children and headed to the visitor's center while the others did a session. Needless to say Tim and I were both staring out the window by the time the two hours were over, just trying to get a glimpse of them walking back. We had both had it....four kids under the age of 3 is nuts. I am glad they come one at a time. After that, we headed down to the Holocaust Museum for a very educational and somber evening. It was fun though. Saturday was spent at the Natural History Museum, National Archives and JFK monument, and then we headed for home about 4 that afternoon. We really had such a great time on the trip, and it was the perfect place for us to go. There is so much to do there and we loved all the history. We had a blast, although I do have to admit I was craving the crusty, burned samplings of stuffing I would get before dinner. Mom, I hope you are ready to break it back out for Christmas....I need my stuffing fix.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that I am so thankful for ALL of you. We have the best family on this earth and I cannot wait to see all of your faces really soon. I am REALLY homesick right now and feel like I am not just counting down days, but hours until I get to go home on Tuesday. It is hard being an entire country away, but we are so thankful for this opportunity and all we are learning and experiencing in our life. We love you with all our heart.

I LOVE INSURANCE

Okay, so I know that this is my third post in what 24 hours? Well, I guess I am on a blogging high right now-or a spray paint high...I have seriously been in my garage for the past two days "flocking" these real greens that I got from Home Depot and Lowe's for the Christmas Party-they look beautiful but my brain is spinning and is taking the fall-I guess my garage isn't "well" ventilated. Anyway-I had to come and post about my LOVE for insurance-because for SOOOOO long we haven't really had great insurance, or no insurance at all! So atleast once each year, I have a "Lehman Girls" meltdown moment where I think that I am dying from something rare, or something common, but I am dying just the same. One year it was blood clots in my legs, one year it was a brain tumor, and this year it just happened to be something with my heart-still don't know what is wrong so the verdict of me dying is still out-Thyroid Cancer-that is still a possibility-I really do need to go to the doctor, but anyways, we got this "THIS IS NOT A BILL" in the mail, my heart was pounding to see that my short stay in the emergency room a few weeks back totaled $3,500!!!! I have been holding my breath now for a week or so since I got that notice. What in the world! I did have some extensive tests and blood work, but $3500? That exceeds the highest out of pocket expense to the emergency room by us so far-that was set at just under $2000 for my "brain tumor"...yes, we were SOOOOOOOO poor, so I think that about killed us-so we ate what ramen for a month? Or more than a month? I still cry when I think of how we struggled through MBA school-but it was for the best. Well, anyways, I was holding my breath until today-when we got THE BILL in the mail! I was panicking when I was opening the envelope-I opened it and closed my eyes and just dreaded that it was going to say that we had to pay it all in full-because come to find out I went to the Mayo Emergency Room-you know Mayo Clinic and I guess that for certain things-or most things you have to have special MAYO INSURANCE or you pay out of pocket-when I could have driven 10 minutes and been assured that I wouldn't have to pay it, but I was unsure up until today. I read through it and it took me a minute. Total cost $3564.00 and patient responsibility......$50.00!!!! Thank heavens, seriously-what a blessing it is for insurance to know that ok, that is a GREAT co-pay and that we don't have to shell out of savings for nothing. I feel sooo blessed for Tyler and how much he does for me and the kids and how hard he works for us-that through him we do have great insurance and my kids can go for well check-ups and get the medical attention that they need when they need it. Porter used to go for weeks sick because we couldn't afford to go to the doctor. I just cry to think of him sick like that. He was sick so often. I am soooo grateful for good doctors, for good husbands to work so hard and for good insurance...what a weight off of my shoulders to know that not only I am taken care of but my children-that is the most important thing. Life is GRAND...and I have a thankful heart!

Aren't these CUTE?

Okay-so I just did a post and messed up and put it on my family blog for Ty and me, but it was supposed to be published here! I too am still trying to figure out the blogging world...however, I HAD to post these pictures. This year we spent Thanksgiving Day at my Aunt Nancy's house with my extended family and my cousin Mike was there-yes, ladies, he is single...hint hint MARCI! Well, he lives down in Huntington Beach (that's convienent)...and he works full-time at Ernst & Young, but he has just started a little business on the side-which he should just do this full-time! He is soooooo GREAT at Photography-I just love looking at his site and all of the pictures that he does. He has a nact-is that the right spelling? Once again Marci, I am with you on the spell check thing...but you HAVE to check out his site. Right now it is under construction but he has forwarded it to a blog photo website-it is AWESOME. Claire's pics along with Elle's (my niece) are under the random section. Seriously folks-he is SOOO talented. This is the multi-talented kid. He cooks, sews-yes he made the most awesome pair of pants my bro in law Bob wanted some just like them-he does photography and he is just awesome in general-he's my cousin of course-awesomeness runs through our veins (j/k). But his site is http://web.mac.com/thedigitalorange/ . IT IS GREAT. I wish that he could have done my wedding. Some of his shots are just beautiful-well most are. So here are the pics that he posted of Claire-but you've got to check them out on his site-and MARCI, once again he is single...that's all I'm saying. My lips are sealed. Okay, enjoy family. (I do have to say-that day Claire had a hard day and I wish that her hair in that one photo wouldn't have been coming out-but you do what you can with kids right?)

Our Intelligent Sunday

We had quite the intelligent Sunday yesterday-from who? Porter of course! Sacrament meeting was quite the milestone for us! Claire sat through ALMOST the whole entire thing-we actually are getting this under control people! I had to take her out the last 10 minutes-and it wasn't even because she was being "bad" but she was talking so loud, even with the binki in that she was disrupting this woman's testimony-so I opted out of it! Not only did we reach a Sacrament Meeting milestone-Claire went to nursery BY HERSELF WITHOUT FREAKING OUT! I guess that most of you don't understand the joy that brings-Tanis, you soon will. I haven't been able to attend Sunday School and Tyler hasn't attended Priesthood for the past what...atleast six months! We trade off with Claire-sitting with her in nursery, but we are FREE! It was so wonderful to actually attend my meetings! Oh, how I loved it. Young Women's is always great though-so atleast I have been taking full advantage of that! I learn so much from those lessons-sometimes I think that they are geared more toward adults than youth-which is great for me! I love my girls and I love teaching them and being with them...but now I get to go to Sunday School! Can you feel the excitement people? Anyways, yesterday while I took Claire out of Sacrament meeting Porter had a moment. Tyler said that he was started to get a little "rialed" up (yes Marci, I too wish that I had spell check-or knew how to use it!). Then all of a sudden he stopped..."Dad, did you know that this bench is made out of molecules?" WHAT???!!!??? He noticed all of the different colors in the bench-blues, pinks, all put together. He had a moment and then went on to give Tyler a lesson about molecules and how everything is made of molecules and the different speeds they move make them solids etc. Then at the end of church we found him in the gym by himself writing on the chalkboard different words-granted they weren't HUGE words, but DAD, MOM, PORTER, HAT....what a kid! We love him-can you tell we are proud? I should say pleased! The joys of parenthood! They finally catch onto the things that you are trying to teach them...the day came to an end with his revelation at the dinner table-kind of like Tyler freaking out about what the o-zone layer? He was sitting in his chair across from me and he was sitting really still. He said, "Mom and Dad, did you know that if our planet was huge that we couldn't move at all and if it was tiny we could jump super high?" I was so confused and I still am, so I might have written it wrong but he was explaining the principle that gravitational force is proportionate to the size of the body/planet??? Still confused here! Really-I need Ty to explain it to me again!

We ended the night with a fun project that was SUPPOSED to be for tonight's FHE...but Porter couldn't wait! I bought him a 10 dollar gingerbread kit from Costco and him and I put it together for like 2 hours last night! It was a BLAST. He kept thanking me for buying it for him! He has always wanted to do one and so when I saw it on Saturday I had to buy it! We had so much fun and so I've posted pictures of him with his house. He did all of the decorations himself-no help! I was so proud of him. He is growing up and sometimes acts like the biggest adult. He is so much fun and we just adore him! Enjoy the pics and wish you all were here to have a taste of it.

We love you all and can't wait for Christmas...only a few more weeks. Pray for me this week if you will for this ward Christmas Party...I am doing all the decorations by myself and wish you all were here to give your ideas. I am not the greatest at this, but I will try my best!

Until next time!!!!

THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR

FOR SOME REASON I WANT TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT I AM YELLING THIS.

ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS AND I GET TO SEE MOST OF YOU. MOM COMES TO WATCH OUR GRADUATE CONCERT ON TUESDAY AND I AM SO EXCITED. IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I HAVE SEEN ANY OF YOU AND I MISS YOU SO MUCH. YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT I WILL BE THE MASTER AT THE DART GAME.

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM NEW YORK. I THINK I LAUGHED THE ENTIRE TIME THAT I WAS THERE. I HADN'T SEEN LINSEY IN LIKE TWO YEARS AND IT WAS SO NICE TO REUNITE. WE MADE A DELICIOUS TURKEY AS YOU CAN SEE. THE WHOLE MEAL WAS FANASTIC AND CYRUS WON THE BEST PIE, HE WAS VERY PROUD OF IT. LINSEY AND BRIAN LIVE IN A LITTLE BROOKLYN NEIGBHORHOOD. IT WAS SO CUTE. WE WENT IN THE CITY QUITE A BIT. WE WENT TO SOHO, CHINA TOWN ( NO I DIDN'T SEE OUR MONKEY FRIEND), UNION SQUARE AND DOWNTOWN A LOT. WE WENT TO THE MOMA AND SAW ENCHANTED WHICH I THOUGHT WAS PRETTY GOOD. NYC IS FUN AT CHRISTMAS TIME, EVERYONE WAS PUTTING UP THEIR DECORATIONS. THE STORE WINDOWS WERE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND I THINK ONE DAY I WILL SWITCH PROFESSIONS AND BECOME A WINDOW DECORATOR.

OF COURSE I MISSED ALL OF YOU. I MISSED THE NAP IN THE PIT AND THE DINNER AT THE CHURCH. I JUST MISSED SEEING EVERYONE. WE ARE TRUELY BLESSED TO HAVE SUCH AMAZING PARENTS. I DON'T KNOW WHY WE WERE SENT TO MOM AND DAD BUT I AM SO GRATEFUL I WAS.

A SHORT LIST OF THINGS THAT I AM GRATEFUL FOR:

THAT I CAN CALL TANIS AT 1:30PM HER TIME AND SHE STILL PICKS UP.
MOMS WILLINGNESS TO COME TO MY SHOW
DADS GOAL SHEETS AND DAD JUST BEING DAD
THE GOSPEL AND THE ATONEMENT
RICHARDS NOSE MOVING IN AND OUT WHEN HE LAUGHS HARD
BIG WHITE SNOWFLAKES AND THE CHANGE OF WEATHER
CHRISTMAS MUSIC: EXSPECAILLY HANSON CHRISTMAS AND THE OSMONDS: PINECONE SONG
FRIENDS THAT WILL PICK UP RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT OFF EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THEM FOR YEARS
A HEALTHY BODY
JONI'S CALLS WHEN SHE IS DRIVING HOME FOR TEACHING
PORTERS CRAZY DANCE
SHALENE'S SPIRIT AND ENTHUSIAISM
TY'S BOOKS IN THE BATHROOM
CLAIRES SCREAM (SOMETIMES)
HUDSONS PHONE CONVERSATIONS
RICHARDS HAMMICK
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA TUTTLE AND THE RITUAL OF SITTTING ON THERE COUCH ON SUNDAY JUST TALKING
COLORS
ERICAS BLOG POST: THEY MAKE ME HAPPY
TIMMY'S WILLINGNESS TO ALWAYS HELP
SUNDAY FAMILY MOVIES
AND I AM THANKFUL FOR POPCORN (THE SALT AND PEPPER KIND)

WELL ANYWAYS, I BETTER GET READY FOR CHURCH. I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE THAT YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY TODAY. TYLER I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU WANT ME TO MAKE FOR YOU- DO YOU WANT SOME CAROLERS FOR YOUR HOUSE BECAUSE THAT IS ONE OF MY SPECIALITIES. JUST THINK ABOUT IT?

WHY DOESN'T THE SPELLCHECK WORK? SORRY EVERYONE.

LOVE YA,
MARC