Great movie to check out

So if you are a procrastinator like myself, you may need to still get some Christmas gifts. Or maybe you are just looking for a cool flick for yourself. Either way, we would like to suggest that you check out the movie "Darius Goes West" (http://www.dariusgoeswest.org/). Donovan's research at the University of Florida involves children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) (see http://mpl.phhp.ufl.edu/muscular-dystrophy/), and a local Gainesville family put on a showing of the movie on campus where the entire cast/crew came and met the audience after the movie. This is a movie about a young man with DMD whose friends decide to take him across country so that MTV can "Pimp his Ride" (his wheelchair). The movie is not a "downer" movie full of doom and gloom, but it presents a wonderful message about how important life is and how much joy can be had through living.

Donovan enjoyed the movie so much, he purchased a dvd of it and watched it again with our kids last weekend. They also loved it and talked about all kinds of cool topics with us after it was over. So please check out the site and recommend the movie to others if you hear a showing is coming to their city! And you too will be laughing when you hear the word, "Glosabi!!"

Jyllian's 3rd Birthday

Thursday, December 11th was a very busy day. Jyllian and I sent the three older kids off to school. We did some Christmas shopping, birthday shopping, and grocery shopping. I still had to decorate Jyllian's birthday cake. She wanted a Barbie cake, and I knew it was going to take a while to decorate it. Usually, I decorate birthday cakes the night before the birthday. I was exhausted the night before, so I decided to wait until the actual day of her birthday. I don't think I'll do that again. It was a miracle the cake even was finished before we ate it. Jyllian kept wanting to help me. Of course she wanted to lick the frosting and put the food coloring in the different bowls. Decorating the cake took a lot longer than expected. But the important thing is she was so excited about her cake!

Of course she had to lick the candles as she removed them from her cake. She didn't want to blow the candles out. I think she was a little overwhelmed by her siblings telling her to blow them out.


Grandma Lott makes quilts for her grandchildren, when they turn three years old. Jyllian was so excited about her quilt. She immediately wanted to go show Mrs. Theanna (our next door neighbor) her quilt. All of my children love their quilts. Over the weekend they each had snuggled in their blankets that Grandma had made. Thanks Grandma. We love you.

We also attended Dominique's band concert that evening. This is not a very good picture due to the poor lighting. Since, Dominique is in the back it is difficult to see him. He plays the trombone in the symphonic and jazz band this year. He enjoys playing the trombone. After Jyllian's birthday activites and the concert, my pillow never felt better than when my head it at bedtime that night.

Our children do listen

We have tried several things to get our daughter Jasmine to stop sucking her thumb. I know she is too old to be having such a bad habit. We have put yucky thumb polish, but she sucks it off. Each night before she goes to bed we wrap her thumb with an ace bandage and place a thumb guard around her thumb. She has figured out how to get her thumb out. I will go check on her right before I go to bed, and she is asleep with her thumb in her mouth. Well, I told Jasmine that she will not be allowed to go to her friend's party if she doesn't stop sucking her thumb. I also told Jasmine she will not be playing with any friends after school until she stops. I guess she is finally starting to see the importance of not sucking her thumb, because last night she wrote a note to Heavenly Father and Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father and Jesus,
Please help me . I need your guyses help. I need you guyses to help me to stop sucking my thumb and stop getting in fights with my friend Morgan Lynn Markle. I am thankful for you guyses and my home, clothes and my friends, also my family. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. P.S. I love you Jesus and Heavenly Father. Love, Jasmine Danika Lott

She can be a tough cookie and she tries my patience daily. But she can also be a sweet girl. She would be very embarassed if she knew I posted her written prayer, but I thought it was very impressive.

Thanksgiving Weekend

It was really nice to have my parents in town. Every other year my parents host the Thanksgiving dinner for my side of the family. This was their off year, and my brothers and sisters and their spouses ate with their in-laws. My mom and dad did most of the cooking at our home this year. It was very helpful to watch them make the stuffing and cook the turkey. No matter how many times I try to make certain foods that I grew up eating, I just can't make them taste the same as when my parents cook them. I did make a "to die for" cococut cream pie. I got the recipe from my sister Julie. After dinner, Grandpa took the kids to see Bolt (the new disney movie). Grandpa loves to take the kids to see movies.

Friday morning, we drove to Orlando to go to Disneyworld. We have season passes, and my parents bought a 10-day pass last year. Donovan was not able to go due to the fact that he is still recovering. He is back to work and doing fair to mostly sunny. He just has to take it easy for the next four more weeks. He said he will be snow skiing when we head to Utah. The doctor said he could do whatever he wanted after eight weeks. Dreyton is really looking forward to skiing for the first time. I sure hope it snows in the Rocky mountains by the time we get there.


This picture was taken at the entrance to Magic Kingdom. Jyllian does not like her picture taken. I remember Jasmine at this same age. She didn't either.This is Cinderella's castle at Magic Kingdom it is so pretty at night. It looks like icicles hanging from the castle. There were so many Christmas lights and decorations around the parks.


At the entrance to Hollywood Studios, there was a very large Christmas tree. I couldn't get the full length of the tree with my camera. There is a new ride at Hollywood Studios called Toy Story. It is a fun ride and I recommend trying it, but it is very popular. My kids love this ride. We got fast passes at 9:45 am, but they weren't good until 5:45pm. Fast passes allow people to wait in the fast pass line and get on the rides quicker, but you have to get them early in the day. I don't ride any rides without fast passes. It just takes too long to stand in the stand-by lines.

At night, Hollywood studios has a street with millions of lights. The lights coordinate with music and it is an amazing light show. It is so pretty at night.
Jasmine was able to ride most of the rides with my sister Alicia. Jasmine really enjoyed Alicia's company. Jasmine told her friend Morgan that Alicia would paint their nails and toe nails for them. Alicia did paint their nails but not their toe nails.

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving weekend with lots of turkey (or tofu), family, and recreation and/or rest!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

My parents flew in town late last night. I convinced them to come spend Thanksgiving in Gainesville. I spent most of the day shopping with my mom. We went to Sam's Club, because they don't have a Costco here,(hopefully one day). I love Costco and I have been going through withdrawls. Our next stop was the grocery store. I absolutely hate the grocery store, but when your mom pays the cashier, I love it... We came home and emptied the car and then drove to Bed Bath and Beyond. My mom said I needed a roasting pan to cook the turkey and a turkey platter. Of course, I didn't argue with her. It's hard living so far away from family, but I do feel a little spoiled when my parents and in-laws come to visit. I am so blessed to have such wonderful caring parents and in-laws that are so helpful to me and my family.

Here's Johnny!!

While out of commission and recovering from surgery, Donovan realized the lack of talents he has developed over the last “29” years. So he decided he would work on “making more
of himself” with his time at home. Over the course of 3 weeks, he did his best to grow some facial hair. This tedious task required multiple facials involving combinations of Miracle Grow
and manure, but he was pleased with the end result. He tried his best to imitate Jack in Janae’s favorite movie of all time (ha ha ha, yeah right!), but the facial mixture just didn’t have the same result on the bangs and receding hairline as it did on the facial scruff. Maybe he should just stick to other more obtainable talents like casting shadows?



Today was his first day back at work at the University of Florida, so we thank all of you again for keeping Donovan in your thoughts and prayers during this time.

Tag...I'm it!!

7 weird things about me
1. I always manage to plug my nose with my hand before I hit the water when I am waterskiing.
2. Sometimes I laugh so hard I don’t make any noise but look like I am choking.
3. Legally I am short enough to receive government support as a dwarf. Ok, not THAT short, even for Uncle Sam.
4. I never wear hats because they mess up my hair I spend “so much” time on every morning.
5. I went to the airport when Donovan came home from his mission expecting to break up with him that evening as there was another guy who I had been dating for the last few months. Well, those plans ended up changing, now didn’t they?
6. I have lived in 12 different homes since graduating from High School (and 9 of those were after I was married).
7. I have a shoe fetish, but my current income limits my indulgence at this time. So I have to fill the void painting my toenails.

10 years ago
1. I had two children in diapers.
2. I was managing an apartment complex in St Louis and worked with my good friend, Shelly Pierson.
3. I worked part-time in the evenings for Northern Reflections to get some way cool discounts on clothing that I would not end up needing when I moved to Las Vegas in a couple of more months.
4. I was getting all excited for my husband to finally be done with school. Little did I know that he would have another 5 years of more graduate school in the future.
5. I was getting all excited to go to Utah for Christmas and do some skiing and see my family.

5 things on my to do list
1. Paint my kitchen.
2. Finalize the organization of my bedroom.
3. Continue to cheer on the Florida Gators football team to victory.
4. Go over all of the mail we have received from William (AKA the bills).
5. Take care of my recovering husband enough that he will owe me Big Time come the Holidays! ☺

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Fudge Brownie a la mode from Baskin Robbins with mint chocolate chip and world class chocolate ice cream with fudge topping and whip cream (but no nuts)
2. Mashed potatoes with gravy
3. My mother-in-law’s famous mint brownies
4. Mozzarella cheese sticks from Sonic
5. Milky Way

5 things I would do if I was a Millionaire
1. Pay off my husband’s remaining student loans…Ugh!!
2. Go on a shopping spree
3. Buy a Toyota Landcruiser to pull the waterski boat I would also purchase.
4. Pay off the mortgages for my siblings’ and inlaws’ homes.
5. Buy a houseboat and put it on glorious Lake Powell

5 places I have lived
1. Newberry, FL
2. St. Louis County (and city), MO
3. Las Vegas, NV
4. Provo, UT
5. Orem, UT

5 jobs I have had
1. Accounts Payable for Better Built Manufacturing (the family owned business for the Petersons in Orem, UT)
2. Travel agent for Morris Travel in SLC, UT
3. Retail for Mervyn’s (Vegas) and Northern Reflections (St. Louis)
4. Waitress for Lone Star Steakhouse (Vegas)
5. Day care from my home in Las Vegas

I tag Kristen, Angie, Julie Haskins, Julie Huntington, Amanda, Anne, Diana, and Karen.

Donovan's Home

This is a picture of Donovan Monday, Nov. 3rd, after surgery, in the ICU. He was in and out of it all day. It was very difficult to get a picture of him with his eyes open. I have not seen so many tubes hooked up to one person. I kept trying to pull up his gown and he told me to leave it alone, but he doesn't remember even discussing that. Isn't that a beautiful scar?This picture of Donovan taken on Wed. Nov. 5th. He was moved to intermediate care and most of the tubes were removed. He has to hold the heart shaped pillow close to his chest everytime he coughs. We don't want that chest busting open!

Friday, Nov. 7th, Donovan home on the couch. He is still very sore and stiff. The doctors told him no lifting or moving anything over 5 lbs. for 8 weeks. He will be home for the next three weeks and then back to work. Thanks Anne and Wayne for flying to take care of us. Anne watched Jyllian everyday, so I could go spend the afternoon at the hospital. It's always nice to have Wayne visit. I had a to do list ready for him. He never complains about my list.

Post Surgery

I wanted to give a brief update. Donovan is doing as well as expected, but in a lot of pain. Hopefully, he will be getting out of ICU today. Everything went well with the surgery. The doctor was able to repair the valve without replacing it. Dr. Klodell said, his valve was in bad shape and it's good he didn't wait too much longer to repair the valve. But he said his heart looks great. We appreciate all of the prayers that were offered on his behalf. Thank you for your phone calls, e-mails, and your support. Donovan is a very independent person, but it's good to know we have such a wonderful family and friend support group.

4 Riddles

1. I never was, am always to be;
No one ever saw me, nor ever will they;
And yet I am the confidence of all
Who live and breath on the Earth's ball.

2.A strange book I saw:
Its foreword came after its epilogue,
Its end came before its introduction,
And its index, was in the first half!
What kind of book is this?

3.My first in sausage, but not in meat,
My second in pretty but not in neat,
My third in chance but not in risk,
My fourth is in circle and also in disk,
My fifth is in sun, but not in sky,
My last in kiss, so what am I?

4. They have no flesh nor feathers,
Nor scales nor bones,
But they have fingers of their own.
What are they?

When you answer, then answer like this:
4. _________
or
2. _________
Search Engines are not allowed, and Grandma and Granpa Lott cannot answer.

Sincerely,
Dominique

St. Augustine, FL...oldest city in the USA

While Donovan's parents are here with us in Florida, we decided to head to the oldest city in our nation, St. Augustine (http://www.oldcity.com/), which is about 90 miles due East of us. It was a kind of drizzly day, but we had a lot of fun seeing some pretty cool historical sites and shops. The highlight of the trip was Castillo de San Marcos (http://www.nps.gov/casa/). This 300+ year old fort was pretty amazing to see, and they shot off a cannon from on top of the fort that was VERY loud.

Here we are in front of the old fort with a few cannons on top.


Here are Grandma and Granpa Lott with their favorite redneck grandchildren.

Dominique found a shop with a lot of medieval armor and weapons.

We even found a knight in not-so-shining armor.

Happy Halloween

We hope everyone had a wonderful and frightfully entertaining Halloween. Jasmine went as Corida Florida...um, I mean Hannah Montana. Jyllian was a cute lil' Dora. Dominique and Dreyton dressed as a caped Joker and a skeleton. Grandma Lott pulled through by making capes that they just loved for their costumes. Dominique built a "Box of Terror" placed on the front porch where he or Dreyton would crouch down inside and await trick-or-treaters to come up to it for candy. Then they would jump out yelling, "Death in a Box!" and scare the bladder contents out of the kiddos. They were good not to scare any small children, though. The biggest scare came when Donovan put on a scary mask and came up to the box on his knees so that Dominique thought he was a kid. When Dominique jumped out, Donovan screamed at him and scared Dominique so badly that he knocked the Box of Terror over backwards. Dominique may have voided his bladder a little at that time too.

Dominiqe's Challenge

It is Dominique again. Instead of a riddle, I come with a challenge. Who can guess who this is?

(Grandma and Grandpa Lott can't answer.) Good Luck. You're going to need it!

Heart Surgery

Go to the post about Donovan's birthday. It will explain it.

Surgery Date

Many of you have asked when Donovan's surgery will take place. As long as he remains healthy,(no cold, fever, etc.), it will take place Monday, November 3rd. Thank you for all your concern. This next weekend is fast Sunday. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Are you a good traveler?

We have the worst luck when it comes to traveling. As you know we live in Florida, which requires us to travel a lot to see family and other events. But we dread traveling because we know something is bound to go wrong. On Thursday, Donovan left for a conference which was to be held in Vancover, Canada. He had been invited to be one of the presenters at the conference to discuss work from his dissertation. When he was invited to go several months ago, he asked if it was necessary to have a passport ot enter Canada. He was assured that a passport was not necessary. So when he left to go to the airport, I handed him an envelope that had his birth certificate inside of it. When he arrived at the Gainesville airport the gentleman asked for his passport in order to get all the way to Canada. Donovan said, "I don't have a passport, but I was told I only needed a birth certifcate." He showed the man his birth certificate and went on his way. He left our home at 8:30 am. He arrived at the LAX airport around 4:00p.m. our time. His flight had been delayed out of LAX. At 8:00 pm our time, I received a call from Donovan. He was not able to travel to Vancover, because the envelope he had picked up at our home only had a copy of his birth certifcate and not his orginal birth certifcate. The airline employee in Florida indicated the copy of the birth certificate would be suffcient to get to Canada, but at LAX they refused to let him board the plane to Vancouver. They told him that he could fly to Seattle and rent a car and that he would be able to enter Canada driving with only his driver's license and a copy of the birth certificate "because the laws are less stringent for drivers versus airline passengers." So off to Seattle he flew (albeit quite disgruntled at this delay, further expense at renting a car, and the need to drive a couple of hours once in Seattle). Well, at 1:00am he called and said, "I'm in Seattle, but here thay assure me that I can't go across the border without a passport or an orginal birth certificate." At 3:00am EST, the airlines finally put him in a hotel (where he was able to sleep for a little over 2 hours and get a shower), and then he was back at the airport to be able to get on a flight to get back to Gainesville. He arrived at the Atlanta airport at 1:40 pm and was told his flight to Gainesville had been cancelled. After spending six hours in the Atlanta Airport, he was able to get on a puddle jumper by being on standby and fly to Gainesville. He arrived last night at 9:00pm. He was exhausted and doesn't want to see an airport for a while.

Last year, we flew back to Utah for Bryan's wedding (Donovan's brother). It takes us 12-13 hours to get to Utah from our house. We have to drive two hours to the Orlando airport. (It's much cheaper to fly out of Orlando.) There are no direct flights on Southwest from Orlando to Salt Lake City. So we generally have a connection or a stop over. Connections with four kids is not fun. When we arrived at the Orlando airport last year, we had forgotten Jyllian's birth certificate. If you have a child under the age of two, you must present proper documentation to prove she is not two. They were not going to let Jyllian on the flight. The ticket agent asked if we could call our doctor and get shot records. I called the Dr's office, and they were able to fax a copy of the shot records. This delayed us quite a bit, so we really had to hurry to catch the flight. Well, as you know going through security is not so fun. I had taken a carry on with some valuable contents inside. My thoughts at the time returned to a trip to Boston Donovan and I had taken in Feb. 2007 when the airlines had lost our luggage. That luggage eventually did catch up to us a day later, but I didn't want to be without my stuff for the wedding on this trip to Utah. The carry on bag for this trip contained my video camera, my digital camera, two portable DVD players, all of my Mary Kay and Mac make-up, DVD's, all of my earrings and my wedding outfit. So in Orlando, we were so stressed and in a rush not to miss the flight, I left my bag in the security scanner. After I realized, I didn't have the bag Donovan rushed back to get it, but it was no where to be found. I cried the whole way to Utah and all night. We arrived at the Lott's house at 1:00am which is 3:00 am our time. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. I cried all night over that bag. Donovan said, he had never seen me so upset over something that much. I did receive a call Utah time 8:00am. The bag had been taken by security because it had been left. I did get the bag but it cost me $75 to have it shipped to Utah. Thank goodness, I have so many wonderful sisters. They let me borrow their make-up and clothes. Right after the wedding I went to Kohl's and found me another new outfit for the reception. (Thanks for the outfit Anne.) The things we go through for family and to support them, and often they don't even realize it. This was a good learning experience for us. We all realized that we need to be grateful for what we do have and not put so much importance on material possesions. We are a happy and healthy family, and we have each other. I guess that is all that matters.

Donovan and I traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in 2000. Yep, we forgot our birth certificates, but we didn't even know we needed them. Luckily, we had checked in early enough, and Donovan's wonderful mother who was at our home in Las Vegas caring for our kids drove to the airport and gave us our birth certificates. I hope you are all better travelers than we are (although I admit that as travelers we are not too great of a standard to surpass). Here's some advice I'll offer (even if you didn't ask for it) because I care about you. Always remeber to get a passport if you plan to travel outside of the United States (no matter what anyone else tells you). My wonderful mother-in-law asked if we wanted passports for Christmas. I told her that was the best idea. It will be a gift well worth it. In 2009, no one can enter or leave the country without a passport. An orginal copy of your birth certificate is no longer valid. We would love to hear about any wonderful/awful experiences you have had.

Potty Training

I have potty trained three kids and I haven't experienced any like Jyllian. She has not been cooperating with the whole potty business. She has peed on her bedroom carpet five times and I really don't like it when kids pee on the carpet. Last night, I told her I was going to quit using pull-ups and put her back in diapers. I told her that she was not being a big girl and she was still acting like a baby. She said, "Mommy that was so rude." She is very stubborn and won't even sit on the toilet. Donovan said, "Oh, Janae it can't be that hard. Just make her sit on the potty." I told him to go for it. He put her on the toilet and she cried for a half hour and still didn't do anything. I guess he got to see how difficult it can really be. The strangest thing is she will use the toilet at the church. She has discovered she can get out of Sacrament meeting if she has to go potty. Three weeks ago, Jasmine asked to go to the bathroom and Jyllian wanted to go with her. I was so excited because she actually sat on the toilet at church. The second week she peed on the potty at church, but this last week I told her we weren't leaving sacrament meeting to go potty, but she did sit on it after sacrament meeting. I'm losing my patience with this whole potty training business. She's almost three and I don't want to buy anymore diapers. I could save that much money each month.

I have purchased a bag of smarties, a bag of dum dum's, a bag M&M's and princess shoes to bribe her. Not one of these items have worked and I haven't given them to her either. I will show her the candy and the shoes but she just says I can give them to her sister. Does anybody have any suggestions?

New events

Each season (or at least at a twice/year minimum) we try to encourage our children to pick a sport or activity. I asked Dreyton if he wanted to play soccer again or try football. Dreyton decided to go with football for the first time (his father tried not to jump with joy when he heard this). He really didn't know much about the sport and was very nervous. He is on the Newberry Panthers football team, and he seems to be enjoying learning and playing football. Donovan is a little excited too! Go Gators and Go Panthers!!

Yep, we bought a brand new Toyota Sienna. This is our first brand new car. Donovan and I had a talk with our kids about the van. We wanted to make sure they understood not to scratch or do foolish things in the minivan, or we would freak out! The kids are so excited about the DVD in the van and power doors. I have found Jasmine in the van serveral times messing with all of the switches and gadgets (but then again, Donovan has found me doing the same thing!). It is a novelty to the children. We were hoping to get a different mini van in Aug. or Sept. The air-conditioning was not working properly in our old Caravan and we had an oil leak. The brakes were also having troubles. It is very hot here in the summer months and to not have air-conditioning in a car can make people very cranky. And as you who know us are aware, we are already WAY ahead of the curve when it comes to crankiness in even temperate, mild temperatures, so you can just imagine us in hot humidity. We took the Caravan to the repair shop in June and decided to wait to fix the van. Since we had been discussing buying a new car now for a year, we decided to buy a new van rather than pay for the Caravan's costly repairs.
Dominique wanted to make sure we took a picture of the spoiler. I didn't really care if it had a spoiler or not as I was hoping for cool hydraulics and low rider rims and wheels (ha, ha). There weren't many 08's on the lot to pick from, but we were happy with our pick. We are officially a Toyota family. Donovan drives a Toyota Corolla and I drive the Sienna. I know there are some that would never own a minivan (maybe John Bauer for one), but it gets ok gas mileage and is very nice to travel in. I would prefer a toyota Sequoia, but that is a little out of my price range. When we have our next child (which will be a boat), we will have to worry about getting something to pull it like that.Jasmine started her first week of piano lessons. Her teacher said Jasmine seemed very excited to learn and was happy to have her as a new student. We hope Jasmine will continue with her enthusiam towards piano. I would like to take lessons again myself. My mom let me quit my freshman year, because I was involved in other extra curricular activites. I wish I would have stuck with it. Maybe my mother-in-law will give me some free lessons when she visits in November as an early Christmas present...:)

Fun in the Heat

We told the kids that daddy would not be able to go to St. Louis. It was like we moved all over again. They all shed a few tears and now have accepted the idea that we will be staying here in the Gainesville area for now. Donovan is finalizing all of his paperwork to start as a Research Assistant Professor. It has been a very long time in coming, but we are happy to report he will be phasing out of clinical care and he will have one job. Can you believe it? One Job!


It was so hot in Florida that the girls had to cool down their backsides to keep them from melting off. We call it the Florida Butt Shrink-off. Janae is working on getting her backside to heat up even more for that!

Jyllian! Be careful! You may have melted away too much of Jasmine's pa-tootie.
Take a close look at Jyllian's face in this photo as she gives commands to the dog, Daisy. The youngest has to have someone to boss around, doesn't she? She holds the ball in front of Daisy and says, "You want it? Go get it!" And then she throws the ball.

These are the best dart guns ever. The kids just love them, and we highly recommend them for all parents needing to take out some aggression on their offspring! Protective eyewear included to avoid any difficulites with Child Protective Services.

Donovan's 36th Birthday

Most of our posts have been fun activites that we have done as a family, but this post is about Donovan. On August 25th, Donovan had his annual visit to the cardiologist. He has to see a cardiologist annually, due to his Mitral Valve Prolapse. On August 27th, the Dr. called to speak with Donovan. He wanted to meet with him at his office. We all know that getting called into the Doctor's office after tests are run, is not a good thing. On Friday, August 27th, Donovan met with the cardiologist and he said, his heart continues to show good function, but it is leaking more than previously. The Dr. has some concerns about some of the chamber dimensions in his heart. Because of these concerns, the Dr. thinks it will be best to repair his valve, even though he is asymptomatic. To repair the valve, Donovan will need to have open heart surgery. The Dr. said it should be done sooner rather than later. If he waits until there are problems, he could have permanent heart damage. So, we have had some major decisions to make in our life. Donovan was scheduled to go to St. Louis, MO for an interview at Washington University. He was supposed to arrive Sept. 14th, but that has all changed. We were also offered a job to stay here and work as a research assisant, but Donovan wanted to interview at Washington University first. Donovan is currently a Post-doctoral Fellow and doing clinical care as a Physical Therapist part time. After the surgery, Donovan will not be able to do any clinical care for two months, because he can not lift or overdue it. Well, most people can't be out of a job for two months and support a family of six, so we decided it would be best to stay here. Donovan will take a job Sept. 15th, which will increase our income, but at the same time he will stop clinical care. We had been praying as a family and trying to decide where to go next in life and the Lord has given us a few signs along the way.

I will keep everyone posted when the surgery will take place. Most likely it will take place in November.

Characters at Animal Kingdom

On Tuesday, August 12, we went to Animal Kingdom with the Pittards. It was also very crowded, but I guess that's what we should expect during summer break. Laura told me about a petting zoo inside the Animal Kingdom. I didn't even know the petting zoo existed. It's impossible to fit all of the activites of one park into one day. In order to get to the zoo, we had to ride a train. The kids enjoyed the train ride.

I was walking around the petting zoo with my children, and we came upon a few Disney characters. I absolutely hate waiting for my children to greet characters. I feel like it is such a waste of time, but I know the kids like it. There was no wait, so I actually was happy to take pictures with the not-so-popular characters.

Universal Studios and Islands of Aventure

Laura and Brian came to visit us and enjoy Orlando on Aug. 7th. The kids (and us!) are always excited for any visitors that are able to come our way. On Friday, Aug. 8th, we all drove to Orlando to spend a week enjoying the amusement parks and the beach. On Saturday and Monday we were able to visit Universal Studios and Island Of Adventure. The kids had a great time. Here are some of the pictures that we took while visiting.

Here Dominique is quick to point out the paparazzi with the camera trying to take our picture. Luckily, we wrested the camera away from this Lindsay Lohan stalker to post his work on our blog and deny the National Enquirer of yet another photo of the glamorous Janae. Dominique really wanted to go on the Jaws ride, but we weren't very successful in doing so. The line was an hour long. After we were almost to the front of the line to get on the ride, there were mechanical problems, and they stopped the ride. It was so hot and humid. We were ticked after waiting that long for nothing. Below is Brian who was sooooo disappointed as he had been totally psyched to go on his FAV ride Jaws. But don't tell anyone that he wet himself the first time he rode on it! :)

Kylie and Paige got ahold of my camera and snapped several pictures. Did you know Kylie and Paige have matured enough (Ok, maybe "matured" is not the best term to use as they definitely are not mature, but they have racked up a few more years here on Earth) to become infected with that devastating disorder of loving to shop? They didn't come back to Universal on our second day, because they wanted to shop and hang out at the hotel pool. What crazy teenagers!!

Here Paige is taking a picture of Dominique and herself. Paige is trying to demonstrate to her cousin the proper puckering technique she uses to practice her kissing on her Jonas Brothers doll.

Now she snaps one of her and Jasmine. Here Paige is trying to teach Jasmine the proper gang sign for, "Don't kill me because I am a ditzy blonde not smart enough to disturb your turf." We were glad Jasmine didn't quite master that one.

And here are Paige & K-Y. Don't they both look extremely ill with that horrible shopping disorder? We are willing to donate these two as subjects to any science research project that is trying to find a cure for this disease, and we are still willing even if it involves invasive or non-approved methods. It is a risk we are willing to take for the betterment of mankind...womankind??

Laura, Paige, and Kylie were resting while the boys were inside a dinosaur museum. Don't these two teeny-boppers act MUCH better when they are around their loving, doting mother?

Donovan joined us for one day of the trip, but he would much rather vacation at a Lake House with a boat.

The kids were able to splash a little in a water area. Did I mention it was soooo hot?!

Jyllian kept drinking this disgusting pee water. Yes, she peed in it too, so the ool is definitely a Pool. At least it wasn't too cold of water (around 98.6 degrees F), and it acutally had kind of a lemony taste. A little sugar, and it would have been not-too-bad tasting lemonade.


Ohhhhhhhhh, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?! DOM-I-NIQUE & JYL-LIAN!

This is the statue that Jyllian fell off and hit her head. She was on the platform and fell back smacking her noggin' into the not so soft concrete. Her eyes rolled back and forth in her head, and I knew something was wrong. We took her to the health services at Universal, and they tried to put an ice pack on her head. It appeared she was Ok at the time. She fell asleep shortly after hitting her head, but when she woke up, she started throwing up. She threw up about five times. We ended up taking her to the emergency room later that night. The E.R. took cat scans of her head, and they told us she did have a minor concussion. Fortunately, she was fine the next day, and we had to pull her down from climbing up on other objects several times. The kid is a climber! It's amazing how quickly toddlers can climb (and recover). We are just glad she is all right.

Dominique on the same statue acting as if he's holding up the pizza. Maybe he should consider a pizza delivery job? Besides, that whole FBI dream job of his would never have the fringe benefits of free pizza, and nobody shoots someone over a pizza pie.

The Universal ball with the cool mist coming out and around it as the zombies leave their hiding place beneath the ball for their nightly feast of remaining Universal patrons. I guess that is why it is half price to get into Universal after 6:30 pm?

Which Muppet are you??

So while we were in Utah, Kristen commented how Jyllian acts like Animal from the Muppets as she roars and shakes her head full of hair from side to side while running around. We decided we would look around and find out what Muppet character most suits us...

Jyllian:Animal
Wikipedia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_(Muppet)) provides the following aboout Animal: "Animal's vocabulary is generally limited to guttural shouts and monosyllabic grunts, often repeating a few simple phrases. During performances, Animal is usually chained to the drum set, as his musical outbursts are extremely violent." Wow!! That is our little Jyllian to a 't.'

Jasmine:Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy is infamous for being a VERY independent and hard-headed lady who at the same time is the princess of princesses when it comes to her Kermit. Jasmine can also be stubborn and packs quite the whallop when she unleashes her inner beast (just ask her brothers!). HII-YAAAH!!

Dreyton:Fozzie the Bear
Dreyton is like Fozzie in being "good natured and loves his friends." He has a warm heart and likes to tell jokes (and most of them are much better than Fozzie's bad humor).




Dominique:Scooter
Dominique is like Scooter mostly due to the glasses and age, but we also think he is "brainy and computer-knowledgable." Go, Scooter, Go!



Janae:Janice
When we saw this picture of Janice, we knew it was Janae. In part due to Janice covering up the letters "i" and "c" in her name so that it could be "Janae" in the lettering behind her. Also, we could tell that her eye shadow was soooo Mary Kay (just like Janae's!).

Donovan:Statler
Statler is one half of the old pair of "ornery disagreeable hecklers" from the Muppets that sat in the balcony. We thought Donovan looked a little more like Statler than Waldorf, so this was an easy pick. He continues as (at least) a third generation of ornery disagreeable men for the Lott family.

Daisy:Rowlf
Brown dogs...enough said.


So, which Muppet are you?? Leave a comment and let us know.