Adam on Idol

I am sooooo unbelievably jealous of my mom right now ... actually all day!  On American Idol the top 3 contestants go home this week.  Well, Adam went home to San Diego and there was a parade and a short concert in MY community at MY high school!  It is no secret that I have been cheering Adam on since before the show even started (and I have said from the beginning that he would win) but aside from my personal connection he is the best there has been on the show!  (Carrie Underwood could be a candidate for that position as well).  Whether you like his style (or him personally) or you hate it, musically speaking he is the best.  I feel fortunate to have had 6 years of higher level musical training and I am able to recognize true musicianship. This year all of the contestants are better singers than the past seasons, but Adam is the best musician.  I am so excited for Adam and for the success that he will see in the future, whether he wins or not.  And again ... I am SOOOO JEALOUS that my mom got to go, but I CANNOT believe that she didn't let my siblings ditch school to go!  Poor Sarah and Alex! (watch next week if you want to see exactly where I grew up!  In fact my former band escorts him into the high school ... "GO MARCHING SUNDEVILS!")

Someone on facebook told me that I was on a picture on one of Adam's fan sites.  I took a look and sure enough there I am, puffy hair and all!  They couldn't even scan in a senior picture, although I have puffy hair in that one too.  Oh well!

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UTAH:  Day 8

This day is the reason that Evan and I came to Utah.  This day is the reason that my parents extended their trip.  This is the day that we met with Dr. Swoboda, a specialist in SMA.  She has done studies using the drugs that can potentially help Evan.  We figured that the best way for us to understand the good, the bad, and the ugly about the medication we should find out from the source,  so that we can make an informed decision as to whether or not to put our baby on the medication.  

We were with her for a long time and talked about soooo much!  Thankfully I had my parents there as well so they could ask questions that I didn't remember, or hold Evan (who was STARVING because of the procedure he had done) while I filled out papers.  As long as the appointment was (several hours) it was exactly what we needed to be able to make the decision about putting Evan on the medicine.  We give a big thanks to Dr. Swoboda and her team for taking the time to give us all of the information that we asked for.  Thank you mom and dad for coming with me to all of the early morning appointments.  Thank you dad for staying with me and helping me keep all of the "scientific" lingo straight.  I feel like I could anyone a lecture on SMA now.  :-)  

After the really long appointment we had an appointment at the archive library on the UofU campus.  We are direct relatives to Frederick Kesler (and prominant member in the early church)  and he was an incredible record keeper.  He built himself a chest and put all of his treasures in it.  He willed it to his family and requested that it stay in the direct family, so they can learn of their heritage.  The Kesler family grew so large that someone donated it to the University with the stipulation that any direct relative can go through the treasures anytime they want.  I remember seeing the chest when I was younger, but this was a different experience because I have a greater understanding of the objects.  Among hundreds of written documents the highlights for me were: 

1) His hand written Patriarchal blessing by Hyrum Smith (brother to Joseph Smith)

2) An original copy of the Doctrine and Covenants

3) rocks that he picked up from his trip to the Hill Cumorah

4) His Nauvoo legion sword

I actually have pictures of all of these, but can't figure out why my computer won't download them right now.  Hopefully I will post these pictures soon.  

Other than that we just hung out as a family.  Ben told us disgusting stories about his job (he picks up dead bodies and takes them to the mortuary) and we just laughed all night!  Don't ask me why mom isn't in any of the pictures ... I didn't have control of the camera most of the time.  

do you like the evidence of my giraffe neck??  This is the only picture that I think Ben and I totally look the same.  It is kind of weird actually.  Everyone says I look like Brandon (and I do), but in this pic I totally look like Ben.

All the siblings ... yeah we're hot!