Lonely in Santa Rosa but busy too!

Well, Richard has been gone since Tuesday morning and he took my camera with him to record his adventure for Gwen as well as us. I will post pictures when he gets home which will be Monday night...Hurray!!! I miss him terribly.

Last weekend was the Nativity Exhibit and we sang in the choir. Dan Earl was very, very pleased with our performance. He said it was the best, most prepared choir he has directed. We were happy to have pleased him and the audience. Here are a few pictures from the exhibit.

This is what people see in the exit foyer as they are leaving.

This is a brand new nativity from Ecuador. I loved it!

This a my all time favorite nativity that has been shown many years. It was purchased on ebay and was made in Italy. To me it shows most realistically what it might have been like the night of the Savior's birth.

This is a close up of the cave and the Holy Family.

Tuesday I got home from the airport and went to the church to "take down" the exhibit and get our nativities. I brought it all home and then began decorating our house for Christmas. I worked for 9 hours and got a lot done.

Wednesday I did some more decorating before work and then after work I put the finishing touches on it in preparation for my part in the ward party on Saturday.

Thursday I drove out to Sacramento to be with Noelle, John, and the grandchildren. What a great day that was. I sat for Jenna and Isaiah while Noelle went Christmas shopping. That was a grandma's delight!! Then we walked to school and picked up the other 3 and walked home. There are few words as sweet to my ears as "GRANDMAAAAA!!!" There was snack time, homework time, dinner time and then bed time. Wow, what a busy household. Good job Philpott family. That night John and I went to a very special Zrii business meeting and I was really glad we took that opportunity. (Thank you, Noelle for sacrificing John to let him go with me. You will be glad he did. :o) I spent the night, thank you Abby for giving up your bed, and then left Friday to come home and go to work.

Friday night, Chris and Em invited me to their ward Christmas dinner and party after work so I went there and really enjoyed that. Then I went to their apartment to watch "Horton Hears a Who". What a great movie. Very entertaining and the animation is fantastic! A fun evening.

Yesterday I finished the decorating, except for the Christmas tree which we don't have yet cause Richard and I will do that together next week. Then I cleaned house and set up for the group of friends coming here for the first course of a progressive dinner. We had a great time and then I went to the two other homes for the rest of the meal. It was a great ward party with way to many scrumptious desserts.

Today was church and then tonight is choir practice and then the Single adult Christmas potluck fireside and program at Pres. Wiseman's home. I don't know if you have been counting but I haven't had to fix but two dinners for myself the whole time my sweetheart has been gone. Like I mentioned, it's been a busy week.

November highs and lows!

November was much more than I bargained for and very busy as formerly noted. As the Philpott family likes to do, we had some real highs and lows this month so that is how this blog will go. Fortunately most of them are Highs!!

The Election was a high because it's finally over and things are changing, some for the better and others for the worse but they are changing and we have to live with the results no matter if they please us or not.

One "high" was a big wedding floral contract that was a lot of work but with many gorgeous flowers. I loved the colors the bride chose (Dusty rose, burgundy, and ivory) and the romantic feeling she wanted in the arrangements. It was truly a delight making her happy and being surrounded with all those flowers for three days while I worked with them. I was afraid that I would run out of flowers at one point but it turned out to be just right with a few to spare and the bride was very happy with the results...she said they were, "perfect". I also did the flowers on the cake that was made by my neighbor and good friend, Jan Dold. Here are some pictures of them, see what you think.


The Bride's bouquet.













The large church arrangement, there were two.








Another "high" was the Single Adult T-giving dinner and movie night we had at the institute on the 22nd. The food was great and the attendance was about 32 which is extremely good for a movie night. I think we always need to serve food if we want more people to come. Everyone enjoys a meal with friends, especially if your single. We ate and then watched the movie, "August Rush". If you haven't seen it, give it a try. It was our second time seeing it and we enjoyed it twice. Be sure and have some Kleenex ready at the end. Here's a picture of our feast and friends.

Then there was a huge "LOW" that has effected all of our family. Gwen (this picture of her and Yasir was taken fall of 2007) told us about her brain tumor that was growing rapidly between her brain and her skull causing the loss of her sight in one of her eyes and the need for speedy neurosurgery. Through the stress of finding a very good surgeon and getting it covered on her insurance, she finally had the surgery two days before Thanksgiving and everything went well for the 7 and a half hour procedure. Her sight has been restored (a high) and she came through the surgery really well (a high) but her short term memory is temporarily "out of order" and that is a" big LOW" and a tremendous concern for all of us who love her so much. They expect a full recovery but we have to have patience and wait! How grateful we are for such a big family on both sides, her wonderful loving Yasir, and so many amazing friends in New York. They have all gone the extra mile to help her in her trials. Thank you to her sisters who have gone out there and helped so much and of course her mom, Daisy for all you are doing to support and help your daughter. We thank all of you for pulling together and loving her and us. Richard is able to go out there this coming week to be with her and help in any way he can thanks to the generosity of our immediate family. Words cannot adequately express our gratitude for this marvelous gift of love and joining us with all your fasting and prayers in her behalf.

Thanksgiving brought us a big "HIGH" with the addition of one more grandchild in the Philpott family... sweet Isaiah (2 and a half) and the youngest brother of the other three new grandchildren. Because of his timely arrival, they canceled their planned trip to Utah and stayed here giving us the opportunity to go out there and be the grandparents fixing the feast they provided and playing with the children. It was a wonderful day full of activity!! We colored in coloring books (aah the smell of crayons), watched movies played charades (I was a turtle and Dad was Cinderella), played outside, and the two youngest girls, Emma and Jenna, each made me a beautiful bracelet. We were happy to be there and share in this fantastic day of gratitude. Our family has so much to be grateful for.

Another "High": starting back in October and through November in with all the other activities, Richard and I were also practicing with the Stake Nativity Choir with Dan Earl. As always it has been a thrill. The exhibit is this weekend starting yesterday and going through Monday. The Choir performances are tonight, Saturday, and two tomorrow. We love it and consider it a huge part of the Christmas season. The Spirit is there so strong there. I was working in the set up all this past week and it is beautiful with many new nativities and my personal favorites as well.

My final personal "high" to begin the season and to look my best for the holidays, I got a perm and a haircut Thursday as my hair was getting really straggly and hard to make it look as good as I like because my hair is thinning out and most of the curl was gone from my perm in June. I am grateful for the money from my wedding flowers to be able to do that. It feels much better and I've gotten very nice comments from friends and people at work.

Hope you enjoy the fun "hustle and bustle" preparing for Christmas. Just remember to keep the reason for the season in your heart and mind to bring you peace and happiness as you sing those beautiful/fun songs and wrap those gifts of love.

Busy, Busy BUSY!!

This is just a short note letting you all know that I look at your blogs daily and love you all. I haven't had time to do a good blog with pictures and all, for a month now. It is the Stake Nativity Festival time and I've been busy with that, working my longer hours and trying to get the Christmas/ Birthday shopping completed so that you will get the gifts in time. Then trying to figure out Dad's trip to NY and haveing wonderful holidays thrown into the mix...whew, just writing about it makes me feel tired!! So I have pictures and I will blog but probably not until Saturday, unless we go and get our tree that day and I start putting up decorations... I promise I will get to it in the next 3 days. Till then.....

The Election is over and there is Hope in America!

We support and pray for the new President elect, Obama, that he will be able to get this country back on track and back to being a strong country united together. He has a huge job ahead of him and needs all of our prayers.

Yesterday, Richard received an email from the wife of the brother in charge of the Prop. 8 campaign in the Shiloh Park ward. She gave a quote from a talk that was given in 1978 at a devotional by Neal A. Maxwell. Of course it had nothing specifically to do with Proposition 8 in this past election, however... his prophetic counsel is certainly appropriate in our standing strong and fighting for family values and the sanctity of marriage in this election. I take comfort in his counsel confirming that the Lord is always aware of us striving to forewarn and encourage us and He knows our present battles and at the same time tells us that the battles on many fronts are long from over. I hope that this will give us continued courage to face the challenges ahead. So here is the quote...


"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the
Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.

This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel.

There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

I'm a Blue! As A Child

Congratulations you are a blue, 46.47% (AS A CHILD)

Blues (Motive: Intimacy)

Blues are motivated by Intimacy. They seek to genuinely connect with others, and need to be understood and appreciated. Everything they do is quality-based. They are loyal friends, employers, and employees. Whatever or whomever they commit to is their sole (and soul) focus. They love to serve and give of themselves freely in order to nurture others' lives.

Blues have distinct preferences and have the most controlling personality. Their personal code of ethics is remarkably strong and they expect others to live honest, committed lives as well. They enjoy sharing meaningful moments in conversation as well as paying close attention to special life events (e.g. birthdays and anniversaries). Blues are dependable, thoughtful, and analytical; but can also be self-righteous, worry-prone, and moody. They are "sainted pit-bulls" who never let go of something or someone once they are committed. When you deal with a BLUE, be sincere and make a genuine effort to understand and appreciate them.

Joy, your personality profile indicates that you have significant portions of other colors in your overall makeup that help shape your unique personality style.

When I have the time, I will take it as an Adult. Thanks for doing both Rachelle, I wondered how much validity was gained as an adult thinking of yourself as a child when you take it.

Happy Halloween to everyone!

Hope you are all having a fun Halloween tonight. The children we have had at our door are mainly the little kids and they are so adorable and they are all polite too. There have only been about 25 though. That's about the average for us these last few years. They all go to the mall or up to the "Sky Hawk" neighborhoods.

Well, I will do my TAG from Emily so here goes:

My 8 obsessions right now!

1. My Family (checking all their blogs daily!!)

2. Get through this election and all it entails!

3. Get out of Debt

4. Our Zrii business

5. The Nativity Exhibit

6. Be better organized

7. Get the Christmas presents I'm making done.

8. Waiting for "LOST" season 5

8 words or phrases that I use often...

1. "Oh My Goodness!"

2. "Oh My Stars!"

3. "How in the world...."

4. "Awesome."

5. "Good afternoon. Thank you for calling Santa Rosa Chiropractic Neurology Center. This is Joy. How can I help you."

6. "Fantastic"

7. I have a question for you

8. I love you.

8 Things I want to do before I die...

1. Go on a cruise.

2. See a Broadway Show on Broadway!

3. Get all my pictures organized and not get behind again

4. Finish the Books of Remembrance I have waiting

5. Serve at least one full time mission with my husband

6. Ride on an elephant or a camel

7. See a Koala Bear for real

8. Travel with my husband

8 Places I want to go...(only 8?? Drat!)

1. Australia

2. Hawaii (again)

3. Norway

4. New York City

5. Disney world etc.

6. Europe

7. Zion National Park

8. Yellow Stone National Park

8 things I want or need right now!

1. A perm

2. A Pedicure

3. a Treadmill

4. An invention that will keep Bermuda Grass from my yard permanently!

5. Enough money to be debt free so Richard can retire and we can do all of the things in the last two categories.

6. TIME to accomplish all I have to do

7. The ability to bring all my family home for Christmas!

8. A new car

8 people I tag...

1. Brook (double tag)

2. Rachelle (double tag)

3. Christy

(Okay let's get some guys in this)

4. George (I doubt he'll even see this but oh Well)

5. Jeff

6. John

7. David

8. Christopher

This was much harder than I thought it would be and I got help from my honey on the "words and phrases". I'm sure those who read this could have come up with them much faster than I did.

Busy, Unique Thursday

First things first... Happy, Happy Birthday, Michael!!! Hope your day is fantastic!!

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8:45 this month (I only missed one when I had my Dr.s appt.) we have been having an exercise class at Church. There are about 12 -14 of us who come and Andria Pulu in our ward is our instructor. She is great!! She is young and really cute and in very good shape, but she is our friend so there really isn't any intimidation. I love the class. It actually started in Sept. but I went once that month and it was very aerobic and I didn't get there at the beginning so I was really struggling. This month she changed the format and we are doing our whole hour with our exercise balls, mats, and weights. I love it!! and I can really feel it. I have taught Dad some of the exercises we have been doing and will teach him more. We already had our exercise balls but the little booklet that comes in with them give you about 6 exercises to do with the ball and that is all. How boring. Now I have a whole hours worth and we can work out together which was the point of getting the two balls in the first place. We're going to get into shape yet!! i hope we keep doing it with the balls all next month. I know we will for at least next week from what Andria said this morning.

At work things are changing somewhat. One of the ladies who works there and has been with this office for about 25 years (she worked with Rob Jones before Blake took over when Rob moved to Utah) fell when she was walking last Friday and broke her elbow. Ouch!! She had surgery on Tuesday and will be out of the office for a while. Therefore, they have asked me to come in and work more hours. For how long remains to be seen. I will be going in at 12:30 PM Mon., Wed., and Fri. for now, starting tomorrow. I have to take a break during our lunch break so that I don't work more than 6 hours without one. So that will help our finances for now as I continue to work with Zrii to build our business.

Then I went into the office today... yep, I don't normally go in on Thurs.... but it was for a very different reason. Dr. Ambridge is having a commercial made to be shown on local TV and I was in it as part of the staff. I even had to sign a model's release with the film company who is making it. It was fun and really different. The two crew guys were very, very nice and made all of us feel really at ease. It was something I've never done before and I hope that I don't look really goofy or too ugly in it. You know we are our own worst critics but I'm kinda scared to really see it and see how I look on camera. It isn't very often I really like pictures of me and so we will see. Autographs anyone??? :o)

Yesterday before work, I went to the institute for their blood drive. I gave a pint of blood in 4 min. and 43 sec. They said I was the fastest one they had all day. I really "flow freely"!! Wouldn't Dracula love me!!!