I am just realizing that it has been so long since I last posted that I haven't posted about Bosco yet. Most of you know our dog Bosco. We adopted him from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary almost 5 years ago. He has been the best dog anyone could ask for. Unless you are a cat person and then you really would not have been a fan. Anyway, in October of last year, he developed a tumor on one of his back legs. After a failed attempt to remove the tumor, we had to amputate the leg to keep the cancer from spreading further. We had wonderful doctors (Thanks Dr. Bagley!) who did everything possible but a month ago he developed another tumor on his remaining back leg. We took x-rays to see what was going on and the cancer was back and had spread to his lungs. I don't know how he made it as long as he did. We took him home that day and spent that last night together and then we had him put to sleep the next morning. I have had many dogs in my life but I have never had to put one down before. I was really hard. I am crying now remembering him taking his last breath in my arms. We all loved our Bosco and we miss him everyday. I know that eventually we will get another dog but for now we are taking a break. Thanks to everyone who has been supportive thru that ordeal. Emily still reads Dog Heaven almost every night and they sleep with their Bosco Webkins (complete with amputated back leg). Thanks to the Landers, Joostens and Dastrups! We love you all!

For those of you that have completely given up on me, I am sooo sorry! I have two more weeks then I am finished with this semester. I promise it will get better! The sad thing is with all the studying, I really haven't done anything interesting. I did get a new car. Well, newer. Let's face it the Trooper had seen better days. I am still getting used to our new addition, a silver Chevy Tahoe. It's bigger but it is very comfortable. My main complaint is I feel like nothing sets it apart from the other 52 silver Tahoes on our street alone. I am going to have to find a way to set myself apart. John has suggested racing stripes. Thanks honey! Any OTHER ideas? Please no stickers representing my family on the back. :-) More. later. Promise.

So I guess the studying is paying off. Last week I was invited to become a member of Phi Theta Kappa. It is the international honor society for 2 year colleges. Hopefully it will help me get into the U when the time comes. I wish I would have done this 15 or 20 years ago but I guess had some partying to get out of my system. ;-) I hope I can keep the grades up next fall when I go full time. Thanks for all my friends and family who are so supportive of my mid-life crisis!

O.K. yes, I am slowing down again on the blogging. Sorry, we really haven't done anything worth telling anyone. Now that the first couple of weeks of school are under my belt, I have a better idea of what the work load will be. So far, it seems like as long as I don't get behind it will be manageable. I had my first French test today and I think I did really well. By reading my blog, one might assume that I speak French really well. Yeah, not so much.

The girls have added dance to their repertoire. Lauren takes Ballet and Modern Dance and Emily takes Ballet and Hip-Hop. They are really enjoying. Lauren's BFF, Seattle, has taken dance there for a long time and has gotten the girls interested. I am so glad. Who couldn't use a little help on the coordination department?

Back to School

O.K. So today I checked on my friend Julianne's Blog. Julianne, If you were talking to me, sorry! This one's for you baby! I will have to admit that it is sad when your 9 year old posts more than I do. Really, she probably has more to say! Seriously, the kids started back to school today and I have one week before I go back. I am trying to catch up on the laundry and little unfinished projects around the house. Christmas was wonderful! We woke up early to open presents with Parker before he had to leave for work. We love having Parker here with us! I have started to worry that every year might be the last year that he is at home with us. We try not to cramp his style but I know that no matter what he will want to be out on his own at some point. After breakfast and presents, we spent a lazy day at home. CD, Leslie, and Keimon stopped by to do yet more presents and John's parents stopped by for dinner. John made prime rib with all the trimmings. It was amazing! He is the best cook and that is only one of the many reasons that I am so glad I married him. :-) New years was uneventful. Another lazy night and day. We never go out anymore. Too old I guess. This year everyone made it to midnight. Believe me that's a feat! Here are some pics of the fun and festivities. Well, here are some Christmas Vacation pictures.

Happy Birthday Seattle!!!!

It is Seattle's Birthday today! She is one of Lauren's friends and we love her! We have done so many fun things with her and her family this year. She is also in Lauren's class! I know it can be hard to have your birthday so close to Christmas. Sometimes we get so busy, it's easy to let things slide by. But not YOUR BIRTHDAY SEATTLE!!! We love you Seattle! Enjoy your day gorgeous!

I is more smater then I look!

It's official! I got my grades in and I got an A in Psych and an A in French II! I am thrilled. My parents are shocked and proud. It's about time huh? I have 18 units under my belt and a 4.0 GPA!

Finals are over!

Yes! I finally finished my finals! I keep checking my grades on line even though they are due until the 17th. I know I got an A in French. Yea me! I will have to wait and see the Psychology grade. So now I can really focus on Christmas and the shopping I still need to do.

Friday evening was the Marquette Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun! This year we had dinner at a brand new place. It's called Cucina Nassi. The owner is Valter Nassi, the same chef/owner of Cucina Toscana downtown. They took the old post office building in Sugar House and turned in into an amazing venue. It is not a full service restaurant, they only do events and receptions but the food is just as amazing as the food in the restaurant. So those of you who are looking for a different place to have a reception you have to check this place out.

The only thing I did on Saturday was take Lauren to her rehearsal for her Christmas violin recital. I love listening to all of the students play together. Some of the older students really make me want to keep Lauren in class, they are so good! If Lauren could do that in 5 or 6 years I would love it!

For those of you not in Utah, we got a lot of snow yesterday. (P.S. I LOVE the Audi in the snow!) The girls couldn't wait to play outside. It ends as it always does...about 30 minutes later, they are shivering and crying and want to sit in the tub for an hour to thaw out! Gotta love it! Here is a snowman Emily made and a snow chair that Lauren made and was actually sitting in. (I wonder why they were so cold?!)

Christmas Tag

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper mostly but I do like to mix it up under the tree.

2.Real tree or Artificial? Real (See yesterday's post!)

3.When do you put up the tree? As soon as I can after Thanksgiving

4.When do you take the tree down? Usually the first week after New Year's Day. I try to have it done before I go back to school

5.Do you like eggnog? It's o.k.about 2 times a year. Otherwise it's too rich.

6.Favorite gift received as a child? Rub-a-Dub Dolly. Yes I just totally dated myself.

7.Hardest person to buy for? My Dad and my Father-in-law.

8.Easiest person to buy for? John

9.Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. 2 actually.

10.Mail or email Christmas cards? Christmas Cards????

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I'm sure some sweater from a grandparent. There were so many of those.

12.Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas and Elf.

13.When do you start shopping for Christmas? If I see something throughout the year I will buy it (but I usually forget about it by Christmas). It mostly begins in November in earnest.

14.Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so, but I may have.

15.Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? ANYTHING! I love anything baked. Our neighbors, the Gustafson's bring us a loaf of the best Coffee cake kind of treat. It has an almond flavor with a crispy sugary top. It's really tasty but we are also fine eating the Pepridge Farms Gingerbread Family Cookies.

16.Lights on the tree? 1,500 multi-colored.

17.Favorite Christmas song? Baby it's Cold and Angles We Have Heard On High.

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay at home for now but when the kids are older, I wouldn't mind spending Christmas someplace tropical.

19.Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Most of them but I get confused with Snow White's dwarfs. Sad, I know.

20.Angel on tree top or star ? Bow. I haven't found a topper I love yet.

21.Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? On Christmas Eve the kids open their gifts from John's Parents (we spend Xmas eve at their place with all the family). Then all the rest on Christmas Day.

22.Most annoying thing about this time of the year? I'm not into big crowds or rude people. Too many years of retail. (Sherilyn, aren't you glad it's over!).

23.Favorite ornament theme or color? Our tree has a random assortment of colors and themes. we buy a few new ornaments every year that say something about what we did that year or something special to us. For instance, we have a new mickey mouse ornament from Disneyland this year. So, I love that next year when we decorate the tree, we can't help but talk about where we were and what we were doing.

24.Favorite for Christmas dinner? We usually do hors d'oeuvres
and finger foods but I would love to have Prime Rib. Last year we were DONE and I think I was sick so we actually had Chinese take out! It was soo Christmas Story that we had to order the duck!

25.What do you want for Christmas this year? I Think UGG's maybe? I don't really know.

26.Who is most likely to respond to this? I don't know, since like two people read my Blog. :-)

Real or Fake?

No, I am not talking about boobs! I am talking about Christmas trees. Christmas Psycho that I am, we went to get our tree over the weekend. Yes, we still get a real tree. Every year I am reminded of all the reasons why an artificial tree would be so much more convenient. I could find one that is 8-10 feet tall with out a 16-20 foot wide base. My husband wouldn't have to spend hours putting on the 1,500 lights. (I am NOT exaggerating!) I also could put it up right after Halloween if I wanted to. I would not have to trudge through snow in the dark to find the "perfect" tree. There would be no gaping holes to cover with huge ornaments or to turn to the wall. I would not have to wait with the tree naked in my house for a day until it "settles" (ask John about this, I still think he just does it to toy with me.). I would not have to shell out the big bucks for an already dying plant that I will throw away in 6 weeks. I will not step on any pine needles, barefoot in the middle of the night. I will not ruin another vacuum cleaner cleaning up after my fire hazard of a tree finally gets dragged through the house and chucked into the back yard. Wow. Why do I get a real tree every year? I will tell you, the smell (no, the candles are NOT just as good). The kids giggling and running up and down the aisles at the tree lot shouting, "This one, Mom". I know this list seems really lop-sided but we do it every year and even though I complain heavily, I will keep on "Keepin' it real".

Things I am Thankful For:

This has been a great year with so many things to be grateful for. Some of the things at the top of the list are: my health and the good health of our friends and family. That we are still doing well in this crazy economy. That we have been blessed with wonderful friends and family to lean on and celebrate with. That I have John as my partner in this life. I couldn't love him more. For the wonderful opportunity to be a mother to the amazing children (all four!) that we have together and the lessons they teach me everyday. (good and bad!). I am so grateful for all the blessings I have been given and I love you all!

Blogs Finally!

My kids have been nagging me to help them set up their own blogs. (ha-ha since I am such a pro!) I could barely post on mine much less spend time on theirs. Well, I finally did it. The Henderson Girls officially are blogging. Nothing earth changing but you never know. I tried to give them more security than I have here so it's private but just let me know if you or your kids want to visit and we will invite you.

Glittery Mormon Vampires and Fat Chicks!

First I would like to say that I do enjoy reading and I did enjoy the Twilight series. That being said, I have a life and I did not custom make my own t-shirt identifying my favorite character, nor did I dress up or do my make up weirdly. I did, however, go to the midnight showing at Jordan Landing. I had a blast! Amber and I were with about 8 other people and it was so fun. We mostly people watched while we waited for the movie to start. What a freak show! It was hysterical. We were actually asked what "our Twilight story" was. Uh, what? Uh, I read the books and I liked them so we are seeing the movie? Please do not tell me yours!

I had pretty low expectations of the movie because the books are always better but I thought the movie was good. I didn't cry or anything but I found it entertaining if you can over look the teen sappiness of the whole thing. No Oscars here folks but I will see it again with my girls and they will love it. So, all in all money well spent. But I know something very important about myself now...I am too old for that kind of thing!

Last night, we went and had the kids' pictures taken with Santa. When I say "kids" I mean, the Hendersons, The Landers, The Joostens, and the Dastrups. That was one fun group picture. I will post it when I get it. For now here is the pic of just Lauren and Emily.

After the picture we went to Olive Garden and had dinner. Needless to say we kept our waiter BUSY. I hope the tip was worth it! We all had a blast. Thanks everyone!

O.K. so the amputation is over and he is doing well! It was a rough couple of days for us. I took the kids to visit him at the hospital and that was probably a mistake. He was completely out of it and the incision was pretty gruesome. It was shocking to say the least. I assumed that he would have a bandage over the incision but if i had thought about it i would have realized the near impossibility of bandaging that area. Once we got him home the next day and the heavy drugs wore off; he started to be our Bosco again and it was easier for the kids. Did I mention that he isn't supposed to go up or down stairs? Yeah, that's fun. I should say that this picture looks like he has no back legs at all. The other one is under his body.

Both girls have told all of their friends about Bosco and yesterday when we came there was a raw hide bone with a big bow and a get well card from Avery and Taylor Pizzuto-Ward. Thanks guys! That was the sweetest thing ever and Bosco loves the bone!

Bosco Update

So, I took Bosco in last week to have his staples removed and the tumor has grown back in just two weeks. It's already almost as big as it was right before we had it removed. Proof enough for us that the Vet was unable to get it all. So we really feel that we have no other options. So...tomorrow morning we take him in to have his leg amputated. Keep a good thought for me. I know the dog is in good hands. I will be a wreck! I really don't know if we are doing the right thing. I hope so. They will do another ultrasound right before surgery to make sure that it hasn't gone any further than the leg so at least will be reasonably sure that this will be the last of it. But as with everything, there are no promises. This dog will be my Christmas present that's for sure.

O.K. so this weekend was full of nothing but Science Fair stuff for Lauren. Noble Prize here we come...for our (I mean MY) ground breaking work in TOILET PAPER! Yes. That's right. We spent the weekend researching toilet paper and testing the absorbency of various brands. I am sure I will soon regret this topic choice as 5th graders really don't need another excuse to talk about these types of bodily functions. Ooh well.

Another Sweet Puppy!

So, Check out this blog! Julianne is a friend of ours who used to work with John. I blog stalk her from time to time. Sometimes I oppose her politically (O.K. a lot of the time!), but I find her writing really funny and smart. I read her blog a few days ago and saw a letter that she sent to President Elect-Obama about her dog. I thought it was cute and now she has gotten national news attention! How crazy is that? Her dog really is quite cute! http://www.julianneiam.com/

My sweet puppy

Thanks so much for all the good wishes for Bosco. Unfortunately we found our yesterday that his tumor was malignant. He has a particularly aggressive form of cancer in dogs. Hemangiosarcoma. It's a cancer that attacks the blood vessels. I don't mind telling you that I spent the better part of the day yesterday crying or on the verge of crying. It's been such a long time since I have lost a pet, I forget how they really become such a huge part of your life. We are now faced with the prospect of amputating his leg to make sure that we got all of the cancer or praying that we did and letting nature take it's course. John and I am both struggling with this decision. How much is too much? When do you stop? What will his quality of life be? We don't have the answers. All I know is that for now, he sleeps on the bed whenever he wants to.

Poor Bosco

For those of you who haven't met him. Bosco is our dog. He is the sweetest guy. (Kijah may disagree!) We rescued him so we really don't know anything about his pedigree or even how old he is but we love him. Over the summer he developed a tumor or his front leg. (Kinda where he would have a wrist.) We were relieved to find out it was benign. So in the last few weeks he has developed another tumor. This time it was on his hind leg by his "knee" joint. We had this one removed last Thursday. So far, we have been through one chewed off bandage and two replaced staples and we are anxiously awaiting the news on the biopsy. I know this may seem ridiculous but we are on pins and needles. So, keep a good thought for the dog.