Anasazi Foundation

The event I attended in Phoenix was for the Anasazi Foundation. They are a wilderness program for at-risk youth and they held a scholarship gala to celebrate 20 years of existence plus raise some money for scholarships. It was very fancy and had quite a few tearful moments telling of the impact their program has had. They had a silent auction with a lot of great items - gift baskets, jewelry, art, autographed sports and music stuff... I'm amazed at the support they have. My boss sent to to see how they run their fundraiser and get some ideas. I also met up with some others in the treatment industry who are hoping to coordinate fundraising efforts. We were treated to music from Brooke White (an American Idol finalist) and Nathan Pacheco (an amazing tenor who is touring with Yanni). Steve Young was supposed to be there but his wife just had a baby and he stayed with her. He just sent money (acceptable substitute).

Living the good life

My boss sent me to Phoenix to attend a fundraising event. I get to stay at the resort where the event is being held. It's a really nice place and I have the room all to myself. The bed is amazingly comfortable and I have a little patio with a view of the golf course.

Dexter as Pharaoh ("Elvis")

Thanksgiving

Sharon came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us this year. Since Dwayne had to be at work by 1 pm, we decided to eat at noon. Thanksgiving is the only day I really enjoy cooking and that's only because it's the only time people really seem to like my cooking. It's so rewarding!! The food turned out fine and no disasters to add to my list of cooking horror stories.

Black Friday was mellow by comparison to previous years. We hit JC Penney at 4 am to get the free Disney snow globe ornament and then traveled to WalMart for the 5 am sale. We usually avoid WalMart on Black Friday, but we got brave this year. Fortunately, the downturn in the economy kept the crowds to a smaller size. I did finally have to ditch the shopping cart in order to maneuver or else I would have ended up with a full blown panic attack.

Most of us have been enjoying having some time off (other than Dwayne). I'm going to be heading to Phoenix next Friday for an event my boss wants me to attend, so next week will be pretty busy. Dexter has some concerts next week and Emerson is finishing up some of his classes for the special education certification.

I'm dreaming of a manageable Christmas 2008

For the past 2 years, the George family has drawn names for Christmas gifts in an effort to keep the holidays happy. Each family has been randomly assigned another family to get Christmas gifts for. Sharon prefers to handle her gifts differently, so she will not be part of the drawing. There are no real limits on gifts, just do what you can for the family or for the individuals in the family. I'm going to list the assignments here. Let me know if there are any problems/concerns. So far things seem to be working other than the fact that I didn't remember to let you know this information until now this year.

Bill's family will be sending gifts to Rick's family
Rick's family will be sending gifts to Kathy's family

Karen's family will be sending gifts to Bill's family
Kathy's family will be sending gifts to Karen's family

Rejected

I ended up being rejected for the BYU job - by email....
That's okay. I prayed only for the right thing to happen and I have faith that staying at Heritage must be the right thing for me right now. It was humbling to not even make it to the interview and I am trying to focus on doing my job even better. Grow where you're planted - right?

The King

I mentioned before that Dexter is in his high school's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." He plays one of the brothers (Levi), appears as a guard in a few scenes, and is the Pharaoh. Tomorrow night is their last show and I can honestly say he is the highlight of this production. I watch people fight each night to sit in the "Pharaoh seats" so they can be close to where he comes out to sing. The audience goes wild and girls scream as Pharaoh/Elvis takes the stage. Dexter really gets into the character and looks, sings, and dances like Elvis. He's pictured here after the show with Amber Sorensen, a close friend of his. I hope to eventually post some video since his performance is something you all MUST see...

His name is Shadow

Our new puppy has a name - "Shadow." Scout seems to be getting along with him okay and he's starting to learn the routine of our household and some commands. It snowed overnight and that didn't seem to phase him when I let him outside this morning.

Here he comes to save the day!

Meet my new puppy. He is 13 weeks old and has an awesome personality!

(The picture of him in the grass is when he was 9 weeks old)

He slept most of the way home from Salt Lake (in my arms). Scout seems to like him and he looks like a keeper.

Now the hard work begins:

1. To pick a name we can all agree on. Snickers, Ringo, Halo, Blackie, and Demon are the suggestions thus far.

2. To get him trained. He really needs to learn some boundaries and some basic behaviors or we're going to be miserable real soon. It takes time to do that, but Emerson's pretty good and will have him following commands before too long.

I'm happy to have this little guy and look forward to the peace I enjoy when working with my dog.