Reba and Kelly Clarkson

Well, I went to the concert Friday before last. What can I say? It was awesome.
I have video on my phone from the concert but I don't know how to get them on the computer or if it is even possible.

I am from the old concerts of: no filming or photography where they would actually frisk you when you go in. I guess they don't do that anymore.

My seats were awesome and they sounded just as great in concert as in the studio.

I still really wish my mom would have gone but hey, I have to respect her "no". She has a hard time saying "no" to anyone so when she says it... I need to respect it.

If the duo is coming to your town, I would suggest you go see them. They will not disappoint you.

The Beautiful Zoe

My friend had her baby shower for her beautiful baby girl. She got tons of great gifts. I am so happy for her.

She had discussed naming her daughter another name besides Zoe and so I used the name for my dog because I loved it. Well, she changed her mind and now the baby's name is Zoe as well. I hate now that my dog has the same name. I hope she doesn't really mind.

Here is a picture of the sweet girl.

I have also included a picture of Delaney with the Hostess' dtr. She was adopted from Vietnam.

Family

Paul's sister was in town so we went out to eat with her and his other sister that lives in town. It was great seeing them again. Paul actually saw his sister in St. Louis last week when he was there for a seminar.

Zoe Girl

Zoe is such a great little dog. She is so loving and loves to cuddle. Her little bark is so cute although she is starting to get demanding when she doesn't get her way.

She has an awesome personality. The whole family has fallen in love with her.

Tying Knots

The Cub Scouts learned to tie some knots. I think they learned a couple but they enjoyed just being together. Joshua was our photographer that night as well.

Bowling Pros!

The kids have been playing a lot with the Wii that they received for Christmas. What a great concept for a video game. It is different in that you have to be standing and moving to play the games. We have all worked up a sweat playing some of the games.

We love to play the Sports as a family. Joshua thinks he is a bowling pro since he can get a Turkey (3 strikes in a row). He decided that he wanted to go do some real bowling since he was so good. He learned that doing the real sport is not quite as easy. We had a blast. Paul was out of town so he missed out.

I have also included a typical Delaney video. She is such a camera hog-- NOT!

Party Fun!

The kids went back to school on Jan. 3rd. They weren't quite ready but what are you going to do??

Joshua had a party to go to on the 5th. His friend is now 9 and Joshua will be soon following him. It is so hard to believe that he is almost 9. Next year and he is in the double digits. Where did the time go?

Zoe Gottes

I know one shouldn't teach their children that the best way to deal with the death of a pet is to just go out and get another one, but that is what I did.

I remember as a child that if a pet died then you just got another one.

I told the kids that I am still missing Abby and they definitely saw and heard me grieving last night.

I started looking at puppies last Friday when I had given up hope on finding Abby. My plan was to wait at least a month to make sure that she was indeed lost and never coming home.

After last nights tragedy, I decided to go ahead and pursue one of the puppies that I had looked at on Friday.

We went to look at the puppies today and found our darling Zoe (I am sorry about the name Rhonda-- I really like it though).

She was born on October 12th so she is only 10 weeks old. She is so sweet. She has been laying on my chest all night long. She is really helping to soothe my hurting heart.

Christmas Pictures

We did have a great Christmas. The kids got everything that they wanted. They felt it was a great Christmas. Yes, they are a bit spoiled.

Paul and I didn't really get anything for each other. I had recently bought Abby so she was my Christmas present and Paul bought a Jeep so that was his Christmas present. It is so nice to feel content and have a want for nothing. We really are happy at this point in our lives.

We celebrated Christmas at my dad and mom's house with my brother and his family. We had a good time.

The day after, we celebrated at Paul's mom house with Paul's sister. The kids then stayed there for a couple of nights since Paul and I both had to work Thursday.

I definitely am needing to get back to the gym after all the wonderful food and treats.

Rest In Peace My Baby

It has been a terrible week for us in the dog dept. As you have read before, we recently adopted our dog Abby.

She was a puppy mill mommy and was not use to human touch. We adopted her from the Humane Society in hopes of not only allowing me to have another dog but to give her a better life as well.

We were making progress when the ice storm hit. She and Sam were placed in a vet clinic for several days in order to stay warm.

Once we got power we brought them back home. We again were starting to make progress.

Last Thursday, Abby escaped our back yard and was missing for two days. We looked all over and were unable to find her. I had pretty much given up hope but still hoped my Missing Pet posters would help.

I was very upset Friday night because I was missing her and because 16 years earlier, I was losing my beloved Bud (a Cat) due to his being poisoned.

At 7 am, on Saturday, my birthday, we heard the door bell ring and Abby was returned home. I was so excited. What a great birthday present!

On Sunday while we were out getting groceries, we received a call from our neighbors that they had Abby and that she had escaped again. We had really felt that we had patched all the damaged areas on the fence that would have allowed her to get out. Paul found an area that was messed up at the bottom and he saw that Abby's hair was on the fence at that point. He placed a rock in front of that area to prevent any further escapes.

I worked 7-7p on Monday night (New Year's Eve). When I came home, Paul said that Abby wouldn't come to him so she had not been fed. This was not unusual as she was still very timid around others.

I searched in her usual places and decided that maybe she had escaped once again. I finally saw something white over by the fence. Tragically, Abby had been trying to go under the fence and became strangulated when her collar caught on the fence.

New Year's Eve was not what I had wanted it to be. After intense grieving for an hour or so, I sucked it up and played games with the kids and celebrated the end of 2007.

I feel so bad, Abby deserved to have a happy life. I tried to teach her love and loved her for the short period that she was here with us. To her, it seems freedom was more inticing than anything else. I will miss her. She was a great dog, I just wish someone had given her love from early on.

Gingerbread Men

The kids were not impressed with the taste of the gingerbread house. They decided that they wanted gingerbread men instead. So, we made more treats.

Best of Friends

Ice Storm

Russian Christmas Party

We were invited to a Russian community Christmas Party. It was at the Circle Cinema. The man that coordinates it had games, gifts and treats for the kids. We went with Joshua's friend, Alex. We have an annual Christmas gift exchange and night out with the boys.

We saw the movie, Father Frost. The boys really enjoyed it!

Parties Galore

We have been blessed to attend several parties this holiday season. I attended a party for the hospital. One of the doctors hosted it and it was wonderful!

Paul's work had one at a local lodge. It was beautiful. We were entertained by the Downings. They are a local group that has performed at Branson.

The kids had their parties at school. They had been out the week prior due to the weather and only went through Wednesday last week.

Resemblences

We received another letter from Joshua's birth mother. I still need to get it translated.

She was kind enough to send us a picture of the hospital that Joshua was born in plus additional pictures of herself. It looks like it is already snowing in Ukraine.

She had mentioned that Joshua reminds her of herself when she was little. I have to agree. She is definitely his mother.

She was also kind enough to send us a picture of her passport verifying that she is indeed his birth mother.

We feel so very blessed to have found her!

ICE, ICE! Everywhere Ice!

Oklahoma was hit with a record ice storm on Sunday night. What a mess!!

We did not have electricity from Sunday night to Wednesday night. We luckily had a place to go to stay warm. We stayed at the hospital for two nights. It was quite comfortable and the kids loved going to eat at the cafeteria. Seriously!

We put the dogs at the vet to be boarded since the house temp was in the 50s. BRR.....

We were able to come back home on Wednesday night, there is no place like home!!!

Paul has the fun job of cleaning up the fallen limbs. As for the fallen fence- we will hire some one for that job!

Concerts

I have wanted to take my mom to a Reba McEntire concert for some time. I just knew it would be something that she would enjoy.

Reba rarely comes to Tulsa. Even though she is from Oklahoma originally, her concerts rarely come to this state. Much to my surprise, she is coming here in Feb with Kelly Clarkson. I called my mom, and much to my surprise- she is not interested since she doesn't care for Kelly's music.

I decided to go anyway! It is going to be a great concert.

A couple of days later, I found out that my favorite Christian band, Casting Crowns, is coming one week after Reba. I called a friend and we have front row tickets!!! Awesome!

Gingerbread house

Joshua had been begging us to buy a gingerbread house kit so we finally did. They had fun decorating but were not impressed with the taste. Next up, gingerbread cookies- stay tuned.

Newest Member

We have a new member of the family. Meet Abby!

I had not planned on a new dog. The kids and I went to Petco one day and I saw a very cute and well behaved dog. The dog was with the Tulsa Humane Society. I went and applied for the dog's adoption but was turned down since they thought it was too small to be an outside dog.

I continued to check their web site and saw that they had a few Shih Tzus come in from a Puppy mill. I met Cutie- aka Abby and fell in love. She was a puppy mill mommy. She was obviously not use to humans. She has really made a lot of progress in learning to trust us. She is really sweet and cute.

Thanksgiving

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving at Paul's mom's house. Wonderful food shared with the ones we love.

The kids enjoyed decorating Grandpa's and Grandma's tree.

Job, job and job

I am currently doing three part-time jobs. People are amazed but really they don't equal the hours of a 40 hour week job.

I work the 2 12-hour shifts during the week for the hospital. Dwindling hours at home for Dillon International and hours at the fertility center during IVF cycles.

Much to my surprise, after only three weeks, I was asked if I would be interested in working as a manager at the fertility center. I am very torn. I started working there to learn something new, not necessarily to leave my job at the hospital.

Both jobs have pros and cons. What to do?? I told my friend that I would let a fortune cookie decide my fate. Well...."Others want to get to know you better". HMMM....

I was suppose to let the center know my decision by today. Last week's meeting at the center between Office Management and the Docs to discuss the position and salary was canceled due to the ice storm. The office manager said that she was really studying the position since it will be a new position. They will hold a meeting Monday. I am starting to wonder if they are looking at different options that may not include me. Who knows. I guess if it is meant to be then it will happen.

Awesome Movie~~~

'Bella' receives critical acclaim while literally saving lives
By Michael Foust
Dec 6, 2007


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)-Movies often are judged on their entertainment value, but one particular low-budget film gaining steam in theaters is being judged on something else-the number of lives it has saved.

It's a bold claim, but one that "Bella"-a pro-life movie that surprised film observers by winning the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award-apparently can support.

"It's been amazing," lead actor Eduardo Verastegui told an audience in Nashville, Tenn. "We've received so many e-mails and letters from young ladies who just days before were scheduled to have an appointment to have an abortion, and after they saw 'Bella' they kept their baby."

But "Bella" is making headlines for other reasons as well. On its opening weekend Oct. 26-28, it finished second nationally in per-theater average, finishing behind the horror flick "Saw IV." "Bella" opened in 165 theaters that weekend but ia now showing in more than 450 theaters passing the $5 million gross mark, according to figures at BoxOfficeMojo.com. By comparison, another recent low-budget film, "Facing the Giants," grossed $10 million during a 17-week run.

Despite the fact it's been in theaters now for more than a month, "Bella"-rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief disturbing imagery-still ranks No. 1 among all movies on both The New York Times' reader's review poll and Yahoo user's poll. Fan reviewers at the movie Web site Fandango.com have it at No. 2.

The movie's story follows a young unwed pregnant mother, distraught over her situation. A co-worker, played by Verastegui, befriends her and helps her cope.

"Bella"'s recognition at the Toronto International Film Festival put it in the same company as "Chariots of Fire" and "Hotel Rwanda," both of which won the same award. It was made for a reported $3 million.

"This is not "King Kong" or Spiderman," Verastegui said. "It's a small-budget film-a little film with a big heart. The only way this film is 'flying' is by word of mouth."

It's also been helped along by several pro-family organizations. Focus on the Family has promoted it as has the Family Research Council and other pro-life organizations nationwide. It's even received high praise from secular reviewers who have applauded, among other things, the performances, screenplay and cinematography.

The movie impressed veteran movie producer Stephen McEveety ("Braveheart," "The Passion of The Christ") enough that after seeing it, he signed on as executive producer to help promote it.

"Bella" is the first film released by Metanoia Films, a new company formed by Verastegui and four other partners. Verastegui himself is well-known in Hispanic cultures, having starred in Spanish soap operas and even being named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in People en Espanol. But after taking the lead role in the U.S. film "Chasing Papi," Verastegui had a change of heart as to his involvement in edgy productions. Metanoia Films subsequently was formed.

"In my opinion I was poisoning our society with the projects I was involved 'with'," he said. "One day, I made a decision, made a promise to God that I would never use my talents to do anything that will offend my culture, my family. That's when I had this conviction to open a production company to produce films that will have potential not only to entertain but to make a difference."

Verastegui, one of the movie's producers, said he wanted to make films so clean he could "invite my mother or my grandmother."

"At the same time I was so passionate about promoting the gospel of life, the sanctity of life-to show in a very subtle way and a very artistic way why life is sacred, life is a gift from God," he said.

The movie certainly has filled that life-affirming role. About 18 months ago, Verastegui learned of a young man in Miami whose girlfriend was pregnant and had made an appointment to get an abortion. Verastegui talked them into cancelling the appointment, went to Miami and showed them an early version of the film. The woman decided to keep the baby and named her Bella.

"Even if 'Bella' doesn't sell one more ticket," Verastegui said, "I rejoice in the Lord for Bella and for many other babies . . . who are around because of this film."