Dad's New Favorite Drink

This was a very comical story that I think you all will get a kick out of. I'm sorry dad, but it must be explained. Dad and Mom came up to my meet in Montana this weekend. On the way up they stopped at a gas station to refuel and get some treats. Dad buys a drink and some m&ms. He goes back to the car, opens the drink and takes a sip. He looks at the label and asks mom, "Deb, what does 'hard' mean?" Mom replies, "Bob, that means it has alcohol in it." Whoops! Dad accidentially takes a swig of an alcoholic beverage. Prior to telling me this story, I asked who drove most of the way, mom said she drove about half. Was it the half after dad had drunk the lemonade? Was he passed out in the front seat sleeping off his hangover? I just had to say that to tease dad. This isn't the end of the story. Later, after Riley, mom, dad, and I had went out to dinner and were laughing about the story, Dad had mentioned he still had the drink in the car. Riley says, " uhh, you can get a pretty severe traffic violation for having an open bottle of alcohol in your car, that's illegal" Dad's reply, "Well, the lid is on." No, the bottle was already opened and drunk out of, the cops could get you for that. Sorry, if this embarressed you dad but it was pretty funny.

janelle

So, I think Tom Cruise gets a bad rap. Am I the only one who thinks he is a good actor? He is in so many good movies. Michael and I love to watch him run...he puts all his effort into it.

I am bringing this up b/c I did a face recognition at http://www.myheritage.com/ for Michael and Tom was one of the ones that came up for him. Funny?! I think they have similar eyes, but that is about it. Speaking of face recognition...Lance Bass came up in mine along w/another male actor that I don't know. That makes me feel good about my femininity. But the face recognition was fun to do...thanks Ryan and Mel! Here are just a few of my favorite Tom Cruise movies...

Did you know that he has never won an academy award?

Mitt's a nice guy

Mitt Romney came to my school last Wednesday and Mel and I were sure to be there for it. After his speech and the question and answer session, I was satisfied that he is the best republican candidate. I went to shake his hand and I told him loudly, "You won us over today!" and he let out a hearty politician's laugh. Too bad the party is too bigoted to nominate him. It seems like the republican party leaders in Colorado are backing Romney, or at least the colorado chapter of the republican party leader has voiced his support for Romney. The best thing Romney has going for himself is his financial savvy. Romney's message is the message of fiscal conservatism. No other candidate can compete with him in a financial discussion. He also advocated a clean energy research and technology, which I thought was interesting. Healthcare is an important issue to me, but I haven't been satisfied by anyone's proposal yet or I don't understand a lot of the politicians' solutions. I think its definitely a problem in our country, but I don't have anytime to figure out which solution I would support. School keeps me very busy. Mel and I were just called as ward missionaries and within that assignment we are going to be tutoring a recently baptized Sudanese family how to read and write English so they can pass the immigration test. Apparently, the wife has learned quite a bit but the husband struggles as his native language is sudanese arabic. That's kind of what's going on with us.

janelle

I have become obsessed with talk radio, specifically Laura Ingram. I never used to listen or like it. I am becoming more and more conservative as I get older. But anger comes with listening and I feel so sad for the state of the world. I am reminded of Johnny's conversation with Michael Medved regarding homosexual rights. Yikes! Jon, that was a very interesting point you were trying to make....yet, Michael M. steamed rolled you and your argument became just as shaky as your quivering voice. But it was funny to hear you talk about gay rights to adopt and get married.

As Laura would say....

Evan got his braces off!

A little surprise...

Our new school is .7 miles away but we are still "walkers" not "busers." Even though its a little far, I like to walk to pick them up rather than drive. The weather's been beautiful here too! Anyways today, shortly after we left school, it started to literally pour down rain. Usually you can feel if its going to rain--the air gets really heavy. But today I just didn't think it was going to rain. We walked the whole way home in a torrential downpour! We laughed and had fun but I'll definitely be taking my umbrella with me the next time it looks like rain.

Goal

Hopefully this image will inspire you to do what I'm asking you to do by next Saturday. I want every single person this week to do some form of exercise.

I promise you, if you exercise more frequently you will have more energy, you won't be as depressed, and you'll lose weight in the process. I don't understand, what is so scary about exercise. Yes, sometimes it might burn your lungs but it's worth it.

Here's a goal i'm setting for you all this week:

Do some form of exercise whether it's jogging/walking, playing a sport (probably basketball in our family's case), aerobics, etc. whatever you like to do.

The KEY is to do something that gets your heart rate up. That means your burning calories and its benefical for your heart.

By the way, I'm not even asking you to do this everyday (although I know some of you do Ryan, Melanie, and Evan bravo). Just to start out, I'm asking you to exercise two days out of this next week by Saturday October 13 for at least 30 minutes. I believe this is a realistic goal for you to accomplish. Just take an hour out of your week to get your heart rate up by doing some type of physical activity.

I'm suggesting this because I worry about the general health of our family. I really, really, believe it's important to exercise and I hope all of you will take my challenge.

Amy
Report back to me on how you felt.

I am officially a domestic diva

This is me:

I thought it would be helpful to post a picture to compare my face with that of Parker Posey. Unfortunately for me, there are many dissimilarities between the two of us. I have a prominent nose inherited from the Blodgett side, a very freckled complexion, and small uneven eyes. I do like my new haircut though.

We have an apple tree in our new yard. It has really good green apples on it. So we decided we'd try to be self-reliant and use the fruit. So Ron picked apples for 3 hours on Monday and Tuesday night.

I talked to Grandma Boyer on the phone for 3 hours (Mom, you were at work today) and she instructed me on the art of canning. She included her own tried and true recipe for apple pie filling. So my friend Jen and I canned 9 quarts of apple pie filling today. It was fun to learn something new and feel a sense of solidarity with my pioneer forebears (or something like that). I recommend canning for anyone who's 1-year-old is napping and who's 4-year-old is watching Veggie Tales. Tomorrow we're going to can applesauce.

The finished product and all my supplies.

My water bath canner purchased off craigslist.com for $10.

Gracie enjoyed a power nap while we canned. And Joseph watched Veggie Tales with his buddy Brigham. We had a good day. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Don't be surprised if you receive canned apples for Christmas! Keep up all the great posts on our blog. It means a lot to me to keep in touch.

Love,

Jen

All
Jon, are you saying that you have a sad health situation by placing that story in our blog? Mmmmm. I am not sure I agree with you. Very funny on the celebrity-lookalikes Janelle.
I am at work and for the first time can remember how to sign on to the blog! I have just spent
the last hour and a half trying to figure out how to make a check mark on a digital roster for this
class. We use to just use a paper roster and pen. So dumb. Well I learn something every day.
It has been constantly blustery and cloudy now for about 4 straight days here in the Tri-Cities.
So I have been hiding in the house with the windows shutup, hoping for just a couple more
warm sunny days.
I have successfully taught Evan how to drive the Sentra! He hasn't ground the gears once.
Totally amazing! So now he wants to drive me or dad anywhere all the time.

I am so excited that I got some tomatoes off my garden and a few green beans and peas.
Lots of yellow squash and zuccinhi too but that stuff will grow anywhere. I made a pasta
sauce with the tomatoes and peas, oh and tons of basil that also is growing in the garden.
It was good. I enjoyed making the garden and planting but it wasn't very productive.
Maybe next year will be better. love from mom

celebrity look-a-likes (kind of)

-Jen-Ron

-Evan

-Mom-Dad

-Riley -Amy
-Melanie -Ryan

-Jon
-a younger Michael

& the huffs

Someone who understands

Tyler Savage: he is fed through a tube in his stomach



The boy who is allergic to almost EVERY food
01.10.07
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Tyler Savage: he is fed through a tube in his stomach
A boy of 12 suffers from so many allergies that he is able to eat only five foods.

Tyler Savage is violently ill every time he is given dishes containing dairy products or wheat, gluten, eggs, lactose and soya.

The sole foods he is allowed are chicken, carrots, grapes, potatoes and apples.

To help him survive, minerals and vitamins are pumped directly into his stomach through a tube.

Tyler started to fall ill at the age of six when even a morsel of food would leave him writhing in agony from sickness and diarrhoea.

His mother, Lynne Savage, 43, said: "We asked for help but kept being told that he was suffering from a stomach infection. As a result his weight dropped drastically.

"He ran out of energy really quickly and couldn't do the things other children were doing. He just seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"It's been a real struggle. We didn't know what to do."

Tyler - from Earls Colne in Essex - was seen by a paediatrician at Chelmsford's St John's Hospital and had his appendix removed in December 2005.

Although the operation was a success it failed to solve the problem and he was referred to Colchester General Hospital for further tests and treatment.

That shed no light on the mystery illness and in April last year Tyler was sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for checks on his stomach and bowels.

The tests led to a diagnosis of eosinophilic enteropathy, a rare and condition in which the intestines produce too many white blood cells.

These act as a miniature immune system and attack food passing through the gut to the stomach.

The condition saw Tyler's weight drop to barely three stone.

"He was becoming malnourished," said Mrs Savage, a married mother-of-three and housewife.

At first, Tyler was fitted with a nose tube to help get food direct to his stomach, bypassing the rogue blood cells in his gut.

Then, this May, he had a tube inserted into his stomach allowing him to be fed for up to ten hours through the night.

"Even though this will continue for the foreseeable future, it is a godsend," said Mrs Savage.

"Last year he was only at school for about ten days, but in the first two weeks of this new term he's only missed one day.

"We've got a long way to go but at least we're now getting some answers."

In the day, Tyler, whose father, David, 60, is an engineer, can eat the five foods he is not allergic to.

Striking resemblance to Riley Cook

We were watching previews to a movie we had rented and they were advertising the McGyver special collection dvd. Absent the mullet hair, I found Riley resembles this action hero. Can anyone else see it?

Ryan