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!