Beware of the Dog(gett's)

Easter

2010-04-30T02:19:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter just with ourselves this year. Simon's dad has been unwell and my parents live too far away, so this was it. We left at the crack of dawn to do our tradition of an Easter devotional. Things were a bit different this year, with Conference, but our tradition remained the same. Easter is probably my favourite holiday!

One of the things I love most about my children is that they are up for just about anything. This is right before we headed off for our devotional. It was cold...it was early...it was wet, but this is what we were greeted with! They are so fun!

Egg hunt

This was at our spot this year.

Our Greek feast. Simon cooks for us. Grilled lamb, stuffed vine leaves, fried aubergines, grilled haloumi, greek salad, tatziki, olives, feta...DELICIOUS!!!

Off to hear Conference in our Easter best. I love going to the chapel for

Conference. It was so fitting for it to be on Easter.

Lucy Sparrow

2010-02-16T02:14:00.000-08:00

Chloe put this pirate hair on Lucy and she loved it! Once I figure out how to get my home filming on here, then I'll post the video of Lucy. I just don't have the time, at the moment!

On other news, Chloe has lost her 2 middle bottom teeth! She lost the first one a few weeks ago, when she swallowed it at dinner time. The other one she lost about a week ago.

One day, I left James to look after Lucy while I took a shower and this is what I came back to:

He was reading to Lucy and pointing out all the things that the hungry caterpillar ate. I love these moments!

I know, I'm rubbish at posting. I've been keeping journals of all the children, though and I make sure to keep things up to date in them, which means I get behind on here!

The best packages!

2009-12-30T05:01:00.001-08:00

A few days before Christmas, I got the best package from my parents. I'm always getting packages for us from my parents and we love every one of them, but this year was the year of the best packages.

My mom has always had a wonderful tradition for us on Christmas, where each year she has bought us or made us an ornament to remind us of that year. When I got married, she gave me my ornaments. I love it! My tree has real meaning. I love putting the ornaments up and thinking about my life and the memories. Here are some of my favourites:

After I had finished school, I worked as a substitute teacher for a bit. My mom got me a teacher's mug that year.

Taz reminds me of an alarm clock that I had (still have). The alarm was Taz coming up out of a whirlpool and snorting, "wake up!" It used to scare my room mate every morning, when I was in college.

This one was for the year that I was chosen to model for a New York modeling agency when I was 14 years old.

My mom made me this one when I went to London for university. Little did I know then, that I would be here for so much longer than 3 months!

This was the year that I graduated from college. I always think it's funny how I tower over people in pictures. I'm a blondie, too!

This year, my mom got ornaments to remind us of the time that she spent here with us when Lucy was born. She, lovingly, wrote a little note to go with each one, telling us why she got us that ornament. We will cherish it forever. Thanks, mom, for all the lovely memories!! I love you!

James is mad about Thomas and kept my mom busy building tracks for him.

Chloe started her first year of school this year. This is a backpack with her school picture in it. Yia Yia (my mom) took her to school for me.

This is probably my favourite one this year because it is so perfect. This is Lucy's baby one and it's a baby in a pea pod. It reminded my mom of how Simon was planting peas with the children whilst she was here, awaiting Lucy's birth.

This one is perfect, too. It's Sophia's because she reminds my mom so much of me. She is so much like me. I've got a mouth to battle when she's a teenager! I sometimes have to laugh, though, because it's as if I can hear myself talking.

This reminded my mom of how I am, actually, a good cook. I do love to cook and bake, but I wish I didn't. It's not so kind to the hip area!

This was Simon's. He loves The Office and my mom was watching it with him. We really loved the UK one, but ended up throwing the dvd's away because we didn't think they suited the household standards, so we were thrilled when the US came up with a cleaner version of the show!

I wanted to mention another package that I got this year, too. I have a hard time getting on here, so I don't always get to post when I want to, but a few months ago my Grandma Petersen sent me a most cherished package, too. My grandpa (Pata) died this year, as you've probably seen in a previous post. We went out to see him last Thanksgiving and we're so grateful that we had that opportunity, but I really wish I could've been there for the funeral, too. Anyway, my grandma sent me the book that he was studying before he died. It is so precious to me. She had written a note for me in it and all through the book were notes that my grandfather had made. My grandfather spent his life studying the gospel and he was such a good teacher. I couldn't have had a better gift. Thank you, Grandma...I love you!

Autumn and so on...

2009-11-04T22:33:00.000-08:00

My blog is all about keeping in touch with those across the pond, so I rarely (if ever) have anything inspirational or flabergasting to say, and this entry is no different! I'm hardly able to get on here much these days, so I have to cram our goings on and pictures into one entry, every so often! Here goes the last few months!

Some of you Americans may not have known that the London temple now has a statue of Moroni on it's spire, so I thought I'd include this pic from our last trip to the temple. We also have a visitors centre with a Christus statue. It's wonderful!

A few months ago, we had a new arrival in the Doggett family. Simon's brother, Paul, and his wife, Lisa, had their first baby...a girl, Isabella. They came to visit us and we got to meet her. She is beautiful! Although, have you ever seen 2, full blood siblings look more different than Simon and Paul? It is bizarre!

We've been filling up weekends with getting out and about. We visited Farleigh Hungerford castle, which has a lovely setting and the kids love running around the ruins!

Chloe is 5...Hooray! We went to stay with Granny and Grandad for her birthday and then she stayed on her own for a few days after. She got stuffed to the brim, as Simon's mum's answer to any of life's dilema's is food. Chloe loved it! We also too her to the Dartmoor Pony Centre, as Chloe loves horses. She was in her element!

The other kids loved it, too! Lucy just spent the time being cute, which is what she does best!

Simon was busy planting vegetables in the garden this year and telling the children off when they pulled them up. Sophia pulled up one of his pumpkin plants and planted it in the flower bed. The result was amazing!! Her plant went from the bottom left corner of the picture to the top right.

It had 3 pumpkins on it. One the kids ran over. One of the other ones was enourmous!

We decided she could carve it for Halloween!

This year, James was a ghost for Halloween...and he was the cutest ghost ever! Easiest costume ever, too! I just love this boy! He is the sweetest little man there ever was!

Chloe went as Tinkerbell, which couldn't have suited her more!

Sophia went as a witch again, with a nose addition on last years costume.

Primary had a Halloween party. James and Chloe just stood around being shy for musical statues. Which worked well as a strategy for winning.

Hope you're all well and happy!! xx

8 Years

2009-09-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to me and Simon! What a fantastic 8 years it has been! I never envisioned that I could be so happy in my life. Simon is the best husband and father I could ever have hoped for. I am so blessed!

Chloe's First Day

2009-09-02T03:08:00.000-07:00

Chloe started school today. She was so excited to get her uniform on, she just kept staring at herself in the mirror and saying how she was a grown up girl now. I'm freaking out today, though, b/c she just seems too young to me. I think she'll really enjoy it and do well at it. It helps that most of the children she is in her class with were also in her preschool, and her teacher is the same one that Sophia had. I just don't want her to grow up so quickly!

Sophia started Year 2 and the thing she's most excited about is that she'll get to stand on the back row in the choir. She's scared that her teacher is a strict one this year, too.

Where does the time go??

St Tropez

2009-08-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

We're back!! We had a lovely time, but it went all too fast! Our alternator belt broke on the journey (which took about 20 hours). We made it there, though, so that was a huge blessing! Poor Simon did all that driving and then he had to walk 10 miles from a Ford garage, twice. I would have volunteered, but I don't speak French, so I just sat around the pool with the children. I guess there are some benefits in my ignorance towards learning a foreign language!

St Tropez had a really lovely old harbour. I loved all the buildings with shutters on them. I have never seen so many yachts in my life, though. They were ginormous! The rich just go there to show off their wealth, and it works! People just crowd around and take pictures of them. I thought the people must be famous or something, but I didn't recognise them so I didn't waste any pictures on them. My children make far better subjects for pictures! I think they were just rich, anyway, not famous. I don't have enough time to write about the bazaar behaviour of the people in St Tropez, but it was interesting. I've just realised that there is not a single picture of me on our holiday. Not that you'd be missing much, but I can't believe I don't have at least one. I was there...really!

Anyway, we had a fab time and, most importantly, we had sunshine!! The weather report this morning said to get geared up for Autumn this week. What?!? We haven't even had summer yet! Don't get me wrong, I really love it here, but I don't know how I survive the weather. I must really love this Simon fella!

Summer

2009-08-20T02:07:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd try to get as much as I could of what we've been up to this summer into one post, so here it goes! More pictures, than words, as I just like them. We've been having a lovely time, although the weather has left something to be desired. We've really taken advantage of the days when it was nice, though. Firstly, can anyone disagree with me that my Lucy is one cute baby?We started things off by taking a trip to Monument in London, a very overlooked little gem of a spot in London. It was really inexpensive and had beautiful views around the city. The 300+ steps offered a good workout, too!

For the 4th of July, we had all our church friends over for a BBQ and it wasn't raining for once! We always sport our stars and stripes. Thanks for the kit Yia Yia!

We went to visit Granny and Grandad in Devon and rode the steam train. James loves Thomas the tank engine and anything that moves!

Searching for crop circles is a typical July/August activity for us in Wiltshire. We did find a few, but they weren't very spectacular ones, and they are really hard to take pictures of if you're not in the air. It was nice to hike around, anyway.

The girls had a few days where we did hair and nails. James only participated with clear nail polish.

We also enjoyed a couple of beach days at Swanage beach in Dorset. We visited some lovely friends from our Britannia days in Surrey and went to West Wittering beach with them.

We've have had a lot of fun, but it's raining today, and all I can think about is leaving to St. Tropez tomorrow! It is going to be so much fun...sunny...warm...lovely!

A Legacy of Faith

2009-08-05T02:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to get on here in ages, due to being the RS President and a full-time mother of 4, but it was about time that I got around to it now.

My grandpa, Taylor Petersen, died last week. We had been expecting it for some time, and he hung in there for a lot longer than was originally predicted. We went over to visit him in November, as it was thought he might not make it to the New Year.

My grandpa was a great man. He was a man of faith! He was constantly studying the Gospel. He taught Institute for a number of years and served a mission with my grandma in Hawii. His faith and service in the gospel, and his love for the family is all that matters now. He always lived a life of righteousness and I know that, if I do the same, I will live forever with him and my family.

I really love my grandpa so much! I am eternally grateful for the example that he's been in my life. This example has made a great impact on the person I am today, and on my children. I miss him so much. I've spent a lot of time feeling sad that I won't see him the next time I visit America, but I'm really happy for him. He gets to be with all his family who have passed on, he even had a child that died that I know he'll be able to be with now, but most of all he gets to be held in the loving arms of his Saviour, Jesus Christ. What a wonder that must be!

The funeral is tomorrow and I'll really miss being there and seeing everyone, but I am so grateful that I was able to go in November.

I love you, Grandpa, and I'll see you again!

My Family Tree

2009-07-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

I've completed my latest project! We made a family tree for FHE a few years ago, but we painted it on poster board and the children glued all the pictures on, so it was all a bit messy. We loved it, though. We would look at it every morning and talk about all the members of our family. I really thought it was a good way for my children to stay familiar with my family in America, and also to keep us thinking of all our family every day. So, as our family tree started to bite the dust, I decided to make a more permanent one. I love it! I can't stop staring at it. It makes me so happy and it makes me feel so blessed to have the family that we have. It also makes me sad a bit too, to think about the heartache and sadness that some of the family has known over the years, and that some family don't realise how blessed they are and it's all there for them. I hope that there is nothing but happiness for our future generations to think of when they see us on their trees, at least for the most part. I really believe it's possible with the Gospel in our lives and that's what I'm aiming for!

My Family

Simon's Family

35 Years...and an eternity to go!

2009-07-21T03:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I'm so glad you got married. I love you both, more than you know!

Lucy Lou

2009-05-29T02:38:00.000-07:00

Lucy Louise Annora Doggett was born on the 25th May, after a grueling 1 hour and 30 minute labour. I know, it's not long, but it was intense. I was induced with pre-eclampsia again. I learned something new about pre-eclampsia, and that is that I'm, apparently, allergic to being pregnant! The doctor said that labour that is induced due to pre-eclampsia is usually quick b/c your body is eager to get the baby out b/c it's making you sick. Nice, I know, but my 3 babies that I had pre-eclampsia with have all been labours under 2 hours. Chloe was the only baby I wasn't allergic to and she took 2 days to get out! I just think the whole thing is hilarious! Anyway, we're happy and healthy. Lucy is a good baby and a good feeder. We've had a couple of sleepless nights, but what's having a newborn without a lack of sleep? All the children have been ecstatic about having her. She is a well-loved baby!

Easter Hullabaloo and Good News

2009-04-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

I've got a lot of catching up to do, so hopefully this won't be too draining for everyone to read. My mom arrived in England to help out and spend a couple of months with us on the 2nd. WOOHOO!! I'm so excited b/c I've always wanted to have my mom around when I've been having a baby, and now my dream has come true! She's really enjoying spending the time with the children, too, as they are really enjoying her! I think James' favourite word is 'Yia Yia', which is what my children call her. We're having a blast and I get to put my feet up! It was Easter break, pretty much from the time she arrived here, so no school and we took her to Cornwall for the day, when we visited Simon's parents in Exeter.

Easter is such a lovely holiday! I used to always be a Christmas person, and I still love Christmas, but Easter is my favourite. I love that the flowers are all blooming and we get some sunny days, we also have some lovely traditions that always make Easter special for our family. We start out Easter morning by going and having a devotional in the countryside at sunrise. Simon always finds us a lovely spot for it and we read the Easter story in the scriptures, sing a hymn together, and have a prayer. It is always a really spiritual experience. I love it! We then have church and the talks and lessons were so uplifting this year, especially the talks in Sacrament. Afterwards, we have a special Greek Easter feast. When Simon was on his mission in Greece, they celebrated Easter more there than they did Christmas, so we decided as a family that we could do a Greek Easter. Simon grills a lamb, and we have stuffed vine leaves, fried aubergines, pitas, Greek salad, etc. It is soooooo delicious, and I don't do the cooking, which is always a bonus! I love our Easter traditions. There's not a more significant event that's ever taken place in the history of man, than that of our Saviour's atonement and resurrection, and our traditions have made it even more special for me to have that extra bit of reflection on things.

The rest of the Easter break was eventful, to say the least. James broke his leg, in what they called a toddler fracture. It wasn't anything major, but he had to get a cast on it for a week. When I took him into A&E, it was 8 days after he hurt it. I know, I'm a bad mother, but I didn't actually see the accident and Simon insisted that James was just over-reacting to a little twist of his ankle when he was coming down a slide. Anyway, Simon went away for a day to visit his mum, so I took James to A&E, where I was, again, treated like the delinquent mother. The report that the receptionist wrote up even said I was referred by the police, which made me feel like a criminal! Next time, I'm sending Simon!

The really good news is that Simon's mum is now at home. It is a miracle!! She went from having a 20% chance of living and being in a coma, to now being at home for her recuperation. She was supposed to have something like 4 weeks more in hospital, then have to go into a home for a couple of weeks of rehabilitation, but she's bypassed all of that and is now at home. She's still quite weak, but is doing amazing. I got to see her for the first time last week, when she was still in hospital, and she looked good to me. She's always been a determined woman and strong, so this has proved no different to her character. I'm just amazed by it all! The Lord has blessed us so much! I could never be in doubt of his love and mindfulness of us!

Anyway, that's what we've been up to. Hope you've all had a lovely Easter and Spring!

Major Progress

2009-04-09T02:07:00.000-07:00

Just to keep everyone in the loop, Simon's Mum came out of intensive care, yesterday. Hooray! We're so thrilled with how blessed she's been and we feel confident now that everything is going to be okay, although it will be a very long recovery.

She tried to walk for the first time, a couple days ago and finds it very frustrating, but she's determined to work at it. She's also talking now and we were able to talk to her on the phone on Monday. It was amazing!

Simon's Dad has been unwell and not able to see her as much, but is managing very well in the circumstances, especially as she is doing much better.

We just feel very blessed and know that the Lord is watching over her and that the Spirit has blessed us with a great calmness and reassurance at this time. Thank you for all your love, concern, prayers, and well wishes. It's all helped, tremendously!

Mum Update

2009-03-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send an update about Simon's Mum. She's doing much better than we could have expected at this stage. She is still in intensive care, but has regained some consciousness. She can open her eyes and breathe on her own, unaided. She is no longer on dialysis, either, so her kidneys have started to function again. Also, the bacteria has started to go down for the first time. Basically, instead of failing, all her organs have started to function again. We're so happy that positive progress has been made, but the doctors told us not to get too excited, as patients in her condition often have relapses and go back to stage one. We feel positive, though, that the Lord is looking after her and she is fighting to come back!

The recovery for her would be a matter of months, though. After intensive care, she would be in the hospital for weeks and then into a sort of care home for weeks after that, so we're not hoping that she'll be coming home soon anytime, but that she'll just continue to make positive steps in progressing. We feel blessed that she has been getting better.

The Lord really does hear and answer our prayers. Keep praying, though! xx

Families are Forever

2009-03-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

In the last few months, our family seems to have moved from one crisis to another. At times, some things have been more than we thought we could ever bear. Some of it has been brought on by others and totally beyond our control, some of it has been health related and, also, beyond our control. I don't write about any of it too much because I always try to remain positive, especially on my blog.

Last Thursday, Simon's Mum, was taken to hospital. She had been in bed for 8 days, not talking or eating. She was having problems breathing, so Simon's Dad phoned an ambulance. Now, she is in the intensive care unit at the hospital. She developed a condition that is, basically, very rare and life threatening. The name of it is streptococcus. It's some form of the the strep throat virus, as far as I know, and her immune system worked too hard to fight it off and started to poison her, instead of help her. The doctors have had to shut down her immune system, completely, because of it, and she is in an induced comma. With this sort of illness, the odds of survival are generally 20%. The doctor did say that given the fact that Mum doesn't smoke or drink, and that her general health is good, that the odds could be up to 50% chance. What a blessing it is to have the Word of Wisdom. In some circumstances, it really could mean the difference between life and death! We don't know what will happen, but that's a significant increase of odds in her favour.

Right now, we're all just waiting. It can take 7 days before there is any sign that the treatment is working, but she is stable. Our prayers are just constantly with her. The whole thing has just come out of nowhere, and has been a complete shock for us all. We have much faith, though, and we can certainly feel the calming power of the Spirit in such a difficult time. We're also very aware of our Heavenly Father and His mindfulness of us. We're doing okay.

One thing that has really helped us through this the most is the temple. We are so grateful for the temple and the prospect of our family being eternal. Simon's Mum always lives to the utmost degree of righteousness. Sometimes, I've even teased her for going a bit overboard, when she's told me she doesn't even watch commercials because they can be against her standards. I could never feel anything but gratitude to the way that she lives her life, now. We find it so comforting that we know, without any shadow of a doubt, that whatever happens we will be with her forever. She is an example to me in my life of the standard that I want to live up to. I really do love her.

I'll continue to update everyone on any news that we get. I just wanted to express how grateful I was today.

Happy Birthday, Momma's Little Helper!

2009-03-03T05:49:00.000-08:00

James has turned 2 years old today! We had his party on Saturday with Granny and Grandad, where he enjoyed stuffing his face with cake! We went walking in Long Barrow, again, for the afternoon. The children love it there, and James loves climbing all over the place.

He's been such a blessing to have in our lives. The sad thing is, he is surrounded by women who are never going to let him go! A few things his family love about him...

-He is just so stinking cute!

-He is overly helpful and will get really cross if you don't let him help you with something.

-He is constantly singing, beautifully in tune! He can't talk, but he can sing!

-He loves to cuddle...something I could never deny him of, no matter what I'm doing!

-He goes in for a kiss like he's going in for a major snog!

-When he walks to school, he puts his hands in both of his pockets and strolls along like an old man.

-He loves helicopter's, and will talk to you about them for ages, demanding all your attention, and you can't understand a word he is saying! This doesn't bode well for his future wife!

-He is usually very placid and happy, but when he loses his temper, he goes on a major head banging session!

We just love our little man! Happy Birthday!

His gift from us was a Thomas The Tank Engine airport. It was a good choice for him.

He didn't really know what to make of Daddy and Sophia blowing on his cake. He just wasn't going to let go of his baloon and his helicopter.

Climbing around at Long Barrow.

Half term hum drums

2009-02-28T09:48:00.000-08:00

Our half-term for school was the week before last and this half-term was, needless to say, somewhat eventful. I had a midwife appointment on the Monday, which indicated high blood pressure. The midwife was threatening to send me to hospital, but Simon was away and there way just no way that I wanted to spend time in hospital, so I protested...and won! Whilst we were at the midwife appointment, James ran around the room and knocked his eye on a chair...which ended up in us all having to spend an hour in A&E. Not very helpful in lowering blood pressure!

Wednesday, I had to get some bloods taken for my hospital appointment on Friday. The problem is that I spend ages at the surgery and about 5 pokes later, the nurse decided she couldn't get blood from me, so I had to get it done at the hospital anyway. Not an unusual experience for me, as I'm cursed with deep veins!

Friday was my hospital appointment in Bath. I was paranoid that they were going to keep me in hospital for ages, so I prepared for the worst. The good news is that my blood pressure had returned back to normal. I got to see the thyroid specialist, too, who upped my dose of medication. Yipee! I'm feeling more energetic from it already! The bad news is that they think I'm just going to get pre-eclampsia again, so I have to go into Bath every 4 weeks for a scan until I get induced. I also have to see the midwife and get bloods in-between hospital appointments, so I'm just going to be spending my life at hospitals. Apparently, with pre-eclampsia, you have it the first baby and never again, or you have it with every pregnancy. The obstetrician was shocked that all my children were from the same father b/c I didn't have pre-eclampsia with Chloe, my 2nd child. I'm not sure I even convinced her that Simon was, indeed, the father of each of my children! Never mind! I did have another scan, but they still couldn't tell what the sex was, so I'll have to wait until 30 weeks.

Other than that, half-term was relaxing. I loved not doing the school run. You wouldn't think it was such a big deal b/c school is only a 2 minute walk down the road, but I hate how it rules my life! I loved not having to get everyone dressed until 10am! Life is grand!
I was pleasantly surprised to find the children cuddling on the couch while I made dinner. The silence was scaring me b/c that usually means I'm going to have some major clean-up!

James is always filling bags up and wearing his dressing gown. All of my children start out life by closing their eyes when I tell them to smile for the camera. My eyes are small and squint when I smile, and my children interpret the squinting as closing. The children I nannied for in London also started closing their eyes for pictures. I really don't know how to prevent it!

For one night during half-term, the children got to sleep in their tent in the girls room. James was not meant to be part of the equation, but he was so gutted that we had to let him. The children didn't get much sleep that night!

Another snow note...

2009-02-16T13:04:00.001-08:00

I found some pics on my friend's facebook profile that reminded me of something else I wanted to share about our snow day. I was REALLY, REALLY ill the first day of the big snow. I don't remember the last time I was so ill. I could hardly move. Anyway, that morning my friend Grace called me and asked if she and another friend, Lauren, could take James and Chloe out to play in the snow. They saved the day for them because there was no way that I was going to be able to do much with them, even inside in the warmth. I was bummed to miss the snow, but I'm so grateful they came and made sure my kids had a fantastic time. I feel so blessed to live where I live and be surrounded by the fantastic friends I have here. Chippenham is the best!

Lauren and Grace

My froggy man

Chloe having fun

The next day, Grace called me again and asked if she could come and play with all the children for the day. She's awesome, and the only reason I got a nap and didn't have to feel guilty about giving my children a rotten day because I was ill! Thanks Grace! xx

Snow

2009-02-16T00:11:00.000-08:00

Now that the snow has, finally, melted I decided to post some pics. It was so bad here that Sophia's school and our church was cancelled. It lasted for a couple of weeks, but turned into ice. It was fun skating along the sidewalks!The girls making a snowman.

James in the back garden.

Chloe, posing on the night before the big snow.

James attempting to shovel.

The front of the house.

25 Randoms

2009-02-03T05:43:00.000-08:00

I did this on facebook and thought it was so much fun! I believe everyone on here has 25 things about themselves that I would love to hear more about, so please do it! I'm not going to tag anyone, individually, I just want you all to do it! I'll add some more pics later, too, as I have some really great ones to go along with this post, but my scanner is out of order at the moment.

Rules:Once you've been tagged, you have to write a post with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1) I have become completely normal and boring and I could have never envisioned that my life could be so happy, being as completely normal and boring as I truly am!

2) I stalked Simon. I knew I was going to marry him before he even asked me out. I freaked out after he first talked to me b/c he was going home for Easter and I thought he would forget about me. To prevent this from happening, I looked up his parents address on a Greece Mission website and sent him an Easter card. It did the job and I'm glad it didn't scare him!

3) My brothers are pretty strong guys and whenever they would come after me, my only defense mechanism was to moon them. It worked! They wouldn't come near me!

4) When I first came to London I didn't have anywhere to stay, so I booked myself into a youth hostel and stayed in a room with 4 Australian guys and 2 German girls. It's one of the most random things I've ever done b/c I didn't know a thing about London and I didn't know a soul in the whole of England.

5) I hate it when it's cold and wet outside. Can you believe I actually love living in England, though?!

6) My biggest pet peeve is blind, uneducated voting. Is it really so hard for people to take the time to find out about what the candidates really stand for and what they've voted for in the past before making a stupid decision?? I'd rather you just didn't vote if all you're going to do is listen to the rubbish that the candidates throw out at us and not actually look at what they're going to do when they get into office!

7) When I was 14, I was in a model search and chosen by the New York modeling agency, NAME. There were 400 potentials at the search and only 20 of them were chosen by 10 different agencies from NY. I know it's hard to believe that it happened to me, but it's true!

8) Tedi Herlihy and I used to go around Page in my convertible and slap tourists on the butt as we drove by them. It was so funny! I love small town fun!

9) I would love to serve a mission with Simon in a place like Africa. I also want to serve a temple mission, but Simon isn't as into it. I love the temple!!!

10) I wish I was more acedemic. I'm not stupid and I can carry on an intelligent conversation. I just worry b/c Simon went to one of the top universities in the UK and I believe he's going to be really disappointed if any of our children are as unacedemic as I was.

11)When I was in college, I used to go skinny dipping with my church friends in high school swimming pools at night. We nearly got caught one time!

12) I wish I had an amazing singing voice. I can carry a tune and I'm not tone deaf, but I would love if my voice was just beautiful!

13) I used to intern for the MTV show, 'Singled Out'. It was the funnest job, ever! I also used to help out doing wardrobe at the 'Tonight Show', occasionally.

14) Here's one that the Page folk probably won't believe, considering the cars I used to drive growing up, but I am completely uninterested in materialism. I don't have a fancy car, my house is pretty normal, and I could care less what label my clothes have. I hate how materialism rules so many lives. Can't we get our priorites straight?

15) In college, my friends used to call my car the 'Pope Mobile' b/c if I was driving they couldn't cuss, drink, or go home with anyone other than me. We had a problem with some girls going home with random guys they met in Hollywood, so that's why the last rule was included. Oddly enough, my friends always wanted to go with me and they would always go on about how much fun they had that their parents would entirely approve of. I didn't go to a church school and none of my roommates were Mormon.

16) One of the reasons I wouldn't want to move to the States right now is b/c my children would lose their English accents. Is that silly or what?

17) I'm an open book, but there are some things that I just think would be too shocking for this note. I'd tell them to you if you asked me, though.

18) Here's a random about Simon. He's really musical, so most people just think he listens to classical music all the time, which isn't far from the truth, but the other type of music he spends most of his time listening to is rave. I always have to laugh at his conflicting musical interests!

19) I used to be employed by a modeling agency in Beverly Hills to scout new talent and to style their photo shoots. It was fun, but put me off the whole world of modeling.

20) We really want to have a house in Page and a house here when Simon retires, but I worry that I won't really want to spend as much time in Page anymore b/c I've made my home here.

21) Simon didn't kiss me for a whole month after we started dating. It was torture!!!

22)Simon and I have never had a fight in all the 9 years that we've known each other. The funny thing is that whenever I have a dream about Simon I'm always really angry at him b/c of the horrible, unreasonable person he is in my dreams.

23) I have hypothyroidism. It's the most common genetic disease in America. I have to take medication for it for the rest of my life and I still am always cold and tired from it. I also have to work harder than anyone I know to lose and keep off weight.

24) I'm 6 feet tall and I've always considered that I was a tall girl, but Simon has 2 cousins, who are girls, and are taller than me and they don't think that I'm tall.

25) I've been blessed to have everything I've ever wanted in life. I've had some pretty lofty goals that I've fulfilled, but my biggest goal was always to get married in the temple and have lots of children. I am just so grateful that all of my dreams have come true. I love life!

National Health...Ha Ha!

2009-02-02T04:42:00.001-08:00

For the past 4-5 weeks, someone in our family has been ill, pretty much every day. All three of my children had slapcheeks disease, which I couldn't discover until they came out in the rash, by which time it's too late. I seem to get a bug, just when someone else recovers, just so I don't miss out on being forced to sympathise with all the sick patients in my home! It was all just getting a bit ridiculous!

Anyway, James had a high temperature for 4 days in a row last week and he was just a mess. I couldn't do anything without him getting upset and clinging onto me for dear life, so I resorted to the idea that all I was able to do was sit and watch dvd's all day. I couldn't understand what was wrong with him, though, b/c the only symptom he had was this temperature that just didn't want to take a walk!

On the third day of his temperature, I decided it was time to see the doctor about his temperature, hoping for some advice. The only problem is that over here, my children don't get to see a doctor for the first visit, they get to see the nurse and if they want to see the doctor after that, then you have to make an appointment for the doctor to call you to book an appointment with them. It's such a hassle, that I rarely ever bother to go through with it! So, I booked with the nurse and took James to the surgery, where the nurse saw that he had a high temperature, checked his ears, breathing, etc., and then proceeded to check the internet to diagnose what was wrong with him. Can you believe it?! After a million possibilities showed up on the search engine, she turned to me and said that she didn't know what was wrong with him, as it could be a number of things. Thank you so much for the information!! I could have come up with that conclusion all on my own! She then proceeded to tell me that it was not necessary to go to the doctor and just go home and keep loading him up on the Calpol.

I then mentioned to her that I had seen on the internet that slapcheek can cause complications to pregnant women who have been exposed to it, after which she again turned to her computer and found that what I was saying was right, but as I was over 20 weeks, the computer said that I shouldn't worry about it.

Uh, thanks for the confidence! You put all my worries to rest with your Googling! I can't believe that our tax money is paying for service that seems to be the equivalent of something out of a dodgy back alley!

To all my fellow Americans, you're in for a rude awakening when Obama starts throwing out his National Health policies at you! Most of you I know didn't vote for him, but for those of you who did...thanks a ton!

I love Wiltshire!

2009-01-11T21:16:00.001-08:00

I really think we live in the coolest part of England, although there are many places that I love. I just love how ancient Wiltshire is, and whenever we go out on a walk we seem to find something cool that's a thousand plus years old. This time we decided to go to Longbarrow West Kennet, which is about a 10 minute drive from our house. We've always driven past it, but you can't see much from the road, so we didn't think there was much to it! It turns out that it's one of the coolest things I've seen here. It's an ancient tomb that's from about 500 years after the time of Adam. How cool is that! And even better is that it's completely free of charge! It has a proper tomb entrance and about 3 different rooms inside, which is a bit freaky when you're in there and start thinking about all the bones that were once piled up there. I just couldn't believe that it wasn't advertised more b/c I thought it was much cooler than Stonehenge (also near by), but I guess there always has to be the famous ones.

As a tradition for Easter, we always go out somewhere at sunrise on Easter Sunday and read the Easter story in the scriptures and sing a hymn. We were thinking that it would be really cool to go to Longbarrow this year, as it's a proper tomb and it faces the East. That would be cool!

Anyway, I do love living in Wiltshire. I'm happy that it feels like home to me now and I look forward to raising my children here.

Christmas...catching up!

2009-01-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

I'm very behind on my posting, so I thought I'd catch up with a Christmas report. I have a picture of our stockings, because my mom always made stockings for us and I've carried on as the tradition for my children, and I'm making one for Simon, too. Sophia's is the one on the left, the one my mom made me in the middle, and Chloe's is on the right.

I'm very proud of Chloe's b/c I just finished it this year. The detail on it was impossible!! I've been working on it for a couple of years now.

I hate the amount of toys we have around our house, so we've decided to get one big thing each for the children, or just one big thing for all of them. This year the girls got a proper wooden doll house that I've always wanted for them to have. Their Yia Yia and Pops (my parents) got them all the people and funiture to go inside. They are having fun with it, and I can't wait to wallpaper and carpet the inside!

James enjoys the dollhouse, too! He got a parking garage and a bunch of cars to go with it, as he didn't really have any yet. His favourite gift is a £2 helicopter I got from Woolworths. Go figure!

We had a really lovely time, but I was eager to get the decorations down this year. Probably, because we finally got carpet for our lounge. Simon went mad and bought new couches, too! We've been saving up and they were all much needed. Below is a pic of the children with their reindeer and sleigh that they made. Sophia is Santa and Chloe is an elf bride (her own idea). I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Review...

2009-01-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

I, finished the Twilight series a couple of weeks ago now and have seen the movie, too. So, here is what I thought:

Twilight - fantastic! Couldn't put it down!
New Moon - Not so good. I pretty much read it just to get to the next one.
Eclipse - Loved it! Another one that I couldn't put down!
Breaking Dawn - Alright, but not my fave. I thought it was very predictable and all the typos really annoyed me!
The movie - FANTASTIC! I've got to see it again!

Mormon Love. Okay, I'm as hopeless as the rest of you!

2008-12-29T07:25:00.000-08:00

Before I continue with this blog, I'm sure some of you are wondering why I haven't blogged about my recent trip to America. The reason is simply down to the stack of Relief Society stuff that I had waiting for me when I returned...and because I can't seem to find the disk where I stored all my America pictures. That will all just have to come at a later date.

I probably wouldn't even be bothering to blog yet, but I keep getting bewildered by just how hopeless I have become. My mom gave me the 'Twilight' book when we were in the States. I thought, given the current hysteria that seems to have engulfed most of you with book and movie, that it was going to be rubbish, especially when I found out it was written by a Mormon, but at last I now knew why all of my Utah friends and family had blog entries on vampire love. I was confused there for awhile. Anyway, I knew that I'd get a chance for some reading when we went to Simon's parents for Christmas, so I took it along with me...not expecting much out of it. Boy was I WRONG!

I started to read the first couple of pages, very skeptically, and then I just kept reading and reading! If I had to stop, then I would just think about it every second. It consumed me for the 3 days it took to read it. It wasn't because I thought I was anything like Bella. I definitely would run if I ever had 4 dodgy men approaching me, and I have actually screamed when I thought someone was following me in London, before, although I think the guy was just normal and thought that I was the mad one! The one thing I could relate to is how my friend Candace would always remind me that if there was a weirdo or scary guy in a 1 mile radius of me, that I would have attracted them. Simon is definitely no Edward, either, (nor would I dream for him to be) although he does serenade me with beautiful songs that he's composed on the piano just for me. A talent that I will definitely be imposing on James and any other boys I have.

The thing that grasped my attention the most was all the (what I like to call) Mormon love! If anyone ever asked me what it was like to date the person you were madly in love with and not act on it, I would have them read 'Twilight'. It just brought me back to those dating days with Simon and all those overwhelming feelings of just wanting to kiss him forever, but then having to stop and compose myself before things got out of hand. And the electricity of the simplest brush of his hand on mine. I just have never read anything that described those feelings better. It just took me back!

So, at 5am this morning, I ordered the rest of the series, but I did make an effort with some self control in not paying for express delivery. That means I have to wait at least 4 days for them to be delievered. Ugh! I don't know why I'm letting myself get so consumed b/c I really don't have any time for them. I'm just going to have to stay up all night until I'm finished. I just hope that when I'm finished, that I'm satisfied and I can get it all out of my head. By the sound of the rest of you, that seems to be a hopeless wish.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm too scared it will disappoint me. The trailers look as if they changed too much, but I probably still will watch it.

4 TAG

2008-11-17T23:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you've all seen this tag before. I was wondering when it was going to happen to me. It's your 4th picture file and your 4th picture on your computer. I was, unfortunate, that mine was one of Sophia when she was about 2 years old, with her pants on her head! This was typical for her, though, so I'm not surprised that it's the picture I landed on!

This is my last post before I go to America tomorrow...YIPEE!!! I'll, hopefully, be keeping up to date from across the pond.

I tag: Pam, Mandi, Maria, Sarah R. (Sarah G. never does these things!), and Tricia

Remembering...

2008-11-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

This was meant to be posted yesterday, but I was having some technical problems with my broadband. I still thought it was an important post to include, as we should always be remembering.

I've never been a soldiers wife whilst her husband was away for months on end, struggling with children on her own, and the horrible feeling of not knowing if he would ever come home to her. I've never been a daughter or grandaughter, who's experienced what it would be like to have the closest men in her life in the same circumstance, although I am a daughter and grandaughter of a loving father and grandfather who've sacrificed the same in Vietnam and World War II. I have been a sister to a hero of a brother who did leave his wife and 2 children (at the time) to sacrifice his very life in Iraq. I know that, although, they've all come home safely, they have all sacrificed their lives in the sense that their lives would never be the same again, and they did it for me. These are the heroes I'm remembering today. Whether we agree with the wars or the politics behind it, the fact remains that our brave soldiers and their families are sacrificing all that they have so that I can enjoy the incredible liberties that I have. I'm so grateful to them. They are my heroes!

*I didn't have a picture of my grandfather, but the top picture is my brother Brett and his wife Beth. The bottom picture is of my mom and dad when they were engaged and he was off to Vietnam.

I Will Fight!!!

2008-11-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

I didn't really want to write much about politics on my blog, b/c it's all so draining and everyone feels strongly about their views, but this is my blog and I feel that it's important for me to let everyone know just what I feel about the election today. I know it's late, as I won't be able to change any one's views before the election, but I did feel it was important to put it down on how I stand on things.

It's easy for me to avoid all the constant debating, commercials, campaigning, etc., as I live in the UK. I don't know all there is to know about the issues, but I try to educate myself the best I can. Some friends of mine posted a couple of items on facebook that have really shocked me and left me feeling frightened for the times ahead. Both items have to do with Proposition 8. I'm not a resident of California, although I have been in the past, so I don't vote as a resident of California. What happens in California does affect me for many reasons. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The guidelines for me are clear on gay marriage and that is that marriage is sacred and divinely appointed between a man and a woman. Does this mean that I hate homosexuals? No, but I will not in any way endorse their lifestyle as being anything other than against the will of our Heavenly Father. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I even went to a university that specialised in fashion, where I had many friends who were gay. I was able to express my views freely there in a manner that wasn't hateful, as I don't hate people who are gay, and I expect to be able to do the same here.

The impact on this issue in America is even greater than the impact here. If gay marriage were taught in schools here in the UK, I would have the option of taking my child out of the sex education classes. That option does not exists for residents of the United States. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't fight heart and soul against it here, if it were happening in my children's school. You can bet that I would fight it to the end. Who has the rights when the school gets to decide what's morally appropriate for your children over you as the parent?

It shocks me that some Americans who are supportive of proposition 8 would turn around and vote for Obama. Do they even pay any attention to what he has voted for in the past? If they would not want gay marriage to be legal in California, why would they want a President who has voted to legalise it in the past? If I have to say it clearer, I would not vote for Biden as our President, and I certainly would not vote for Obama. I know that when our forefathers wrote the constitution, they were inspired of God and for Obama to tell me it has flaws, offends me personally. For me, it was McCain all the way, although I wish it were Romney.

If you are curious to know more about Proposition 8, then check out this website:
http://www.whatisprop8.com/

The time is at hand where we will all need to be prepared and strong enough to make a stand against the immoral ways of the world we live in. Faithful members of the Mormon church and other Christian congregations have already had to do so in California. I've never felt stronger the need to be spiritually strong. You can guarantee that I won't be missing my prayers and my scripture study. My faith in Jesus Christ is the only thing that will give me strength in the times ahead. I wish that we lived closer to a temple, too. When we lived in Chorley, and the temple was only a 15 minute drive away, I was there every week. I felt all worldliness disappear in me as my heart was turned even more to my Saviour, Jesus Christ. This election has made it more clear to me the times that we are in. I know that the divide between right and wrong will get wider and wider. I think of those pioneers who sacrificed so much in the beginning and the horrible experiences they had so that I could have the religious freedom that I have and it frightens me how likely I see those times coming...rapidly.

We can not afford to be ignorant to the impact of saying no to proposition 8 will have on the residents of California. I could only fight more if I were living there and able to wave the 'yes' banner, as well. I could go on all day about the issues and I'm sure this blog entry seems to jump all over the place, but I feel that I needed to tell the world that I'm up for the fight and I'll do what it takes. I want to reiterate what my Aunt Pam said in her blog in regards to her new favourite hymn, "Who's on the Lord's side, who? Now is the time to show!"

I Voted Early

2008-10-29T02:00:00.000-07:00

I sent my ballot in last week, as you get to do as an early ballot voter abroad. I'm grateful that I still can vote, even though I don't live in the States at the moment. I'll always be American and I'll always be concerned what's happening in my beloved country.

I feel that as an American, we can be much more educated voters than people have the opportunity of being in the UK. I do feel it's important to educate ourselves and not just vote for what our parents vote for. I found a great website to help you in making an educated decision in who you vote for, as the time is at hand. Forget all the campaigning and the drama of the commercials, which I'm grateful to miss out on. Read the issues, compare the ideas of the candidates, and vote accordingly!! I found a great website to compare the candidates with the issues. You can read about the issues, quotes from the candidates on the issues, and even see what their vote on the issues was. Very helpful!!

http://www.ontheissues.org

I vote as a resident in the state of Arizona. I'm grateful that as an American we get to vote on propositions that directly affect us in our own States. I voted "Yes" on prop 102, to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. We need to make a stand for our morals, whole heartedly, so that things are not watered down for our children's children. I sympathize with my family in California who are labouring intensively to get a "Yes" vote on prop 8. If you do go to compare the issues with the candidates on the above website, it's easy to see what the candidates opinions on this (and all) issues are. McCain got my vote, although he's more liberal than I would like on some issues. Obama comes across as not having a conservative bone in his body, though. It'd be better if we were to have Biden as our President, which is why Obama chose him. I don't really want to get into too many issues on my blog page, as this is not what I intended for my blog to consist of. I just feel there has never been a greater need for us, in particular those who are members of the church, to make a stand!!

Happy voting! I only hope that we still have a chance!

Happy Birthday, Cuddle!!

2008-10-28T01:06:00.000-07:00

Chloe turned 4 yesterday, in English time, today in Las Vegas time. To celebrate, we had a birthday dinner with Granny and Grandad, and a Halloween birthday party with friends, yesterday. It was loads of fun, but I wasn't well and did my back in before the party, so I was ready to just chill out the rest of the day. Chloe loved it, though, and kept saying,"Happy Birthday to me!"

Some of my favourite things about Chloe are:

- She gives the best cuddles and kisses...ever!

- When I do her hair in the morning, she goes to the mirror and says, "I look fableous!"

- She always tells me, "You're my mummy in the best world!"

- She is genuinely excited for her family, especially her big sister Sophia, when they do something well.

- If you ask her if she's feeling well, she says, "I'm feeling quite better, thank you!"

- She's good at everything she wants to do...singing, dancing, playing the piano, writing, reading...everything!

I could go on forever...like any mother who loves her children. I'm just so grateful to have her as part of our family. She really is a special little girl and I love you, my little Chlo Chlo!

James, obviously, enjoys any function with food involved!

I made the cake for the family party. We had spider cupcakes for the Halloween party.

The children loved their fangs in their party bags. This boy is the one that Chloe loves, but he only has eyes for Sophia. So sad.

Life is just too busy!

2008-10-04T01:03:00.000-07:00

I actually have a quiet minute of time, so I thought I'd fill everyone in on what the Doggett's have been up to. You know about the pregnancy news, so the rest is just icing on the, already extremely tired, Jaime cake!

We're going to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Hooray!! I'm really excited to see everyone again, but the occasion really isn't a joyous one. My grandpa Petersen is really unwell. These times are always the hardest to be away from my family. I only just saw him in January, and we weren't planning on going to the States again until 2010, to try and keep our 'every other year' trip going. After news of my grandpa's condition, though, I just wanted to be there. This was complicated b/c, as you know, I'm 6 1/2 weeks pregnant, so I couldn't go straight away. If I want travel insurance (which you'd be crazy to go to the States without), I have to wait until I'm out of my first trimester. Secondly, money was a big issue. To make a long story short, we didn't have money for all of us to go out there this year, so it would have been just me and James. Luckily, I married into a generous family who loves me and my family, and Simon's parents and his grandad all put money towards our journey, so that I and all of my family can visit with my grandpa. I'm so grateful to live in a time when I can travel so easily, and I'm so grateful for all the family I have. Our third obstacle in this is that Simon didn't have enough holiday to go out...I know, it's crazy when he already gets a month of paid holiday, but he didn't have any left, so he's now working most Saturdays until we leave. I found this particularly stressful this morning, considering some things that you'll learn about as you read on. But, he's doing it and I'm so grateful that he's doing it b/c he wants to see my grandpa too. I couldn't ask for a more considerate and loving husband. Thank you, Simon! All in all, we just can't wait to see everyone.

As if I didn't have enough on my plate at the moment, I've just been called as the Relief Society President in our ward. I know...WHAT????!!!! The Bishop told me that I let out the loudest laugh he's ever heard when he told me. I just couldn't believe it! Apart from feeling not at all qualified in any way, I haven't even been in Relief Society for a decade. I don't even know how the opening exercises go. Along with my new calling, I've had meetings almost every night this week, and I'm worn out! I must say, though, that if I have to be Relief Society Pres., at least I'm doing it in Bath Ward. I love my ward!! I love all my brothers and sisters in my ward! They really are my family away from home. I know they have a true love for me and my family, so I do look forward to serving them. I also look forward to instigating fun. I got to be a part of this 'fun' recently, when some ladies from my ward kidnapped the Stake Presidents wife, also our very good friend, dressed up (which you know I love) and went to see Mama Mia. The show was cute, but I just enjoyed the company and the look on Debbie's face when we showed up at her house and did a choreographed dance. Some of you will recognise the costumes!

Something's going to have to give, though. I'm on the parents committee's for Sophia's school and Chloe's preschool. I don't really care much for being on the preschool committee, but I do love to be on the school one. Sophia had a disco at school last Friday. It was a beach themed one and she had nothing to wear, so I made her a grass skirt out of pond reeds from our garden and a laie out of fuchsia's from our garden, too. She looked fab, although she didn't enjoy the beetle that came out for a visit on her head from the fuchsia!

Chloe is a bit of a trial for me right now. She is a joy, though. Chloe is probably my least confident child, but she is always thrilled for everyone else's accomplishments. Sophia has recently learnt how to ride her bike and we went out with her to show us her new moves, and Chloe just ran along behind her saying how fantastic she was doing. She always cheers on James and Sophia. She doesn't seem to possess any jealousy of her siblings. She tries me in other ways, though. Chloe is never in a hurry to do anything. Whenever I ask for her help in getting dressed or tidying up, she just goofs around and never gets to it until I'm at my wits end and ready to throw her out the window! I really don't know how to get her going. I've just started to add another 30minutes onto whatever we need to do, just to compensate for the fact I know she won't be quick, but nothing ever seems to happen without drama and running to wherever we need to go.

James is active. He loves to walk and just cries when I put him in the buggy. He is a little muscle man, too. It makes me laugh b/c his calf muscles just poke out like he's some kind of body builder. He loves his food, too. I already feed him quite big portions and he gobbles them up in no time and just looks at the girls and moans at them to give him their dinner. I don't know where it all goes b/c he's not chubby, either. He's usually very happy and mild nature, too, but when he gets mad...he really gets mad. His tantrums always consist of him throwing himself face first to the floor, knocking his nose so it starts bleeding, then banging his head repeatedly...as if the original pain of heading to the floor, face first, just wasn't enough! He reminds me of Brett when he does it and how Brett just never seemed to feel the pain of giving us head butts. The funniest thing about it is how happy James normally is. Everyone is always commenting on what a smiley, friendly boy he is. I'm going to have to get it on video sometime, when I'm not mopping up the blood!

So there you have it, our busy life! Keeps things interesting, though!

Tagged by Mandi

2008-10-02T23:38:00.000-07:00

Mandita tagged me. I don't have time to find a pic for this post, either...sorry! A bit of fun, but I found it really hard to think of 8 things, especially for places to eat and shows to watch!

8 Shows I Like to Watch:
LOST
Gilmore Girls
The Office
Smallville
the news
Ugly Beatty
Greys Anatomy
Desperate Housewives

8 Places I Like to Eat:
This is hard b/c we never eat out, so I've put some American ones in there.
Cafe Rio
In and Out
El Pollo Loco
Cafe India
old pubs and tea rooms
Chilli's
Domino's (although it comes to the door)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
Walked Sophia to and from school and Chloe to and from preschool
Walked into town to do some shopping.
Got Sophia's school pics back...they're way cute!
Tried to sort out my Relief Society mess!!
Took Sophia to ballet.
Cleaned up the girls HUGE bedroom mess.
Called my parents.
Fell asleep at 9pm!

8 Things That I am Looking Forward To:
Visiting my family for Thanksgiving
Having baby #4
Christmas, I love Christmas!
Visiting my family in South Carolina.
Chloe's birthday, but especially her cake!
Meeting Simon's old mission friend and his family at the temple.
Seeing Cindy again, I think she was trying to make it out next year.
Candace coming to visit, I know she will before too long!!

8 Things on my wish list
My Grandpa will get better
A healthy baby
To lose the weight after having my healthy baby
All my friends to be converted.
To have my family come visit me, I love visitors!!
Time, time, and more time!
No housework, so I can play with my children all day!
Getting some decorating done.

I tag anyone who wants to take it on!! Love ya!

New news, or old...if you've been reading my comments!

2008-09-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, everyone, I'm expecting Doggett baby number 4! We're all thrilled! I wasn't really trying to keep it a secret, but I'm only 6 weeks along now, and I've had a miscarriage before and I try to avoid having people feel weird about not knowing what to say if it happens again. I'm waiting to get through the first trimester so that I can have travel insurance to visit my family in America. I'm feeling great, but very tired, with swollen ankles already. I'm certain I feel kicks sometimes, too, which I know is impossible, but really bazaar! Hopefully, the midwife can sort me out on this dilema.

Thank you, to those of you who've already left your congrats in my comments. And Trisha, don't feel bad, as I'm very open about these things!

This also marks my first post without a picture. If you can tell, I'm really into the picture thing. I'd put a picture of me pregnant up here, if I ever actually looked like I was pregnant. I just get super fat and no one can tell that there's even a baby in there, even when I'm just about to pop! So, it will be a shocker if I ever put up a prego photo, but never say never!

Dreams of the Dentist

2008-09-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

I went to the dentist a couple days ago. I know most people hate the dentist, and completely dread going, but I couldn't be more opposite. I love the dentist. I always look forward to going to the dentist because I know I'm going to get a major self-esteem boost. I grew up having dentist trying to set me up with their sons, which was a bit freaky, but flattering. They just wanted grandchildren with teeth like mine. Now, I go and soak it in as the dentist tells me what beautiful teeth I have. My dentist now is Norwegian, so I always need for him to repeat his compliments. I know I'm sounding really vain and silly, but it must be okay to be vain about ones teeth. I used to be vain about my feet, but they're no longer something to brag about, due to all the walking that I do. I have to be satisfied with the fact that the dentist only wants me to come every 9 months. Little does he know that I dream of coming more!

Tales of the Tooth Faerie

2008-09-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

Sophia lost her first tooth yesterday! Actually, I pulled it out, but it didn't take much effort.

She was so excited to have the tooth fairy come. I had mentioned to her that I wondered if the tooth fairy would let me keep her tooth and the next thing I knew, Sophia had written a letter to the tooth fairy asking her if she could keep her tooth. She then put the note in a little container with her tooth, under her pillow.

I then wrote a letter to Sophia from the tooth fairy saying that she could keep her tooth, although it was a rather pretty one and the tooth fairy would have loved it in her tooth collection. I wrote it on a tooth-shaped piece of paper and put it in her container, taking the note she wrote away. I then sprinkled glitter (fairy dust) everywhere! She was so excited this morning. I had a blast!

I just had to add this photo because even though she just woke up and she's in her pajamas, with a missing tooth, she still had to pose! So like her mother!

7 Wonderful Years

2008-09-07T23:44:00.000-07:00

Today is my 7 year wedding anniversary to Simon. We celebrated on Saturday, to take advantage of a free day and babysitters! I didn't know what we were doing for the day, so it was all a complete surprise to me. Simon started by driving me to this random place in Devon and we started walking through the countryside. I was waiting to see a castle or something of the sort and when we came to a marshy estuary he asked me if I had any ideas and I told him that it sort of looked like something out of the movie Sense and Sensibility. I was right, and for anyone who knows me you know how excited I would be because it is my ultimate, all time favourite movie and the scenery in the movie is so beautiful. It was so cool!

We then went to an island off the Devon coast called Burgh Island and had dinner at a 14th Century Inn. It was like something straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean. The food was amazing, though. It actually came from some posh hotel on the island.

All in all, I had a fantastic time and the past 7 years with Simon have been the happiest years of my life! Oh l'amour!

Back to School

2008-09-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

Sophia's first day of Year 1 was yesterday, so now I feel like a full fledged 'School Mummy'! The nice thing about her school is that it is really small, by American standards. (By English standards, it's not so small. I've seen village schools here that only have 2 children in them!). The children in her class are all the same children as last year, only her teacher has changed. I think this takes away a lot of the adjustment of going back. These will be the same children that she builds friendships with for the next 6 years. It makes it easier for me, too b/c I feel like I know the parents and their children pretty well.

We all really missed Sophia yesterday. The house seems so quiet without her. Chloe really misses her, too. Life is suddenly going to be overloaded with being busy now! Sophia will have Art, Choir, and Ballet after school. Her school also has a really excellent music program, so we want to look into violin lessons (her request, I don't know if I would choose something so noisy!).

The crazy thing is that Chloe will be starting school next year...aaaaaaaagh!

She is just too young to me. I'm going to have to try and forget about it until it happens!

Tuesday (or Wednesday) Tell All

2008-08-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Tell All is something I found through my friend, Sarah Coyne. It seemed like a good way to write about something random and make a bit of a personal history, although if I don't like the topics, I just might change them! This weeks seemed appropriate, though, as everyone seems to be thinking about school. Sophia starts 1st Year on the 4th September. Time just flies!

So, for the first Tuesday Tell All: What is your earliest memory of school, what did you love about the first week of school, who was your favorite teacher, subject, or playground game?

One of my earliest memories was in Kindergarten and I was sitting at a round table with about 4 other children. The teacher had instilled in us that you must get permission to use the toilet, so I raised my hand and the teacher just never called on me and I wet my pants...really bad. There was puddles, and one of the girls I was sitting with just kept looking under the table and saying, "Uh ohh!". I also remember in 3rd grade, our bathrooms were in the classrooms, and I was on the toilet singing opera songs at the top of my lungs. I thought I sounded pretty good, so the singing got louder and louder and more dramatic. When I came out of the bathroom, the whole class clapped for me! The boys thought it was hilarious, too, and kept doing it when they used the bathroom after that! I seem to keep getting bathroom experiences in my head, so I'll stop those with that one!

My favourite thing to do at play time was to play hairdressers. My name was always 'Vicky'. We had a babysitter named Vicky, and I thought her name was so cool! I also loved to twirl on the bars on the playground. I can't remember any favourite teachers. I pretty much loved them all! I don't have any school pictures with me in England, so here is the closest one I could find to being school-aged.

Ward Camp

2008-08-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the New Forest near Bournemouth, for our Ward camp. It's a tradition that our ward has started this year. It was also our first experience camping as a family.

The New Forest was such an interesting place. It's completely wild and said to be the same as when William the Conqueror used to hunt there. There was wild horses and ponies everywhere. Chloe was obsessed with them, but one of the ones in these pictures charged at me and snapped at me, so she kept her distance after that! One horse opened a tent and went in for a sneak. It was mental.

We were pretty lucky with the weather b/c this year has been a complete washout. We only had one night of rain. The clearest night was also the coldest one, and I didn't sleep at all! It was also a bit nippy in the day time too. We went to the beach for one of the days and it was me and a bunch of English friends. Now, the English seem to have some sort of thermal protective skin that enables them to enjoy a cold, wet, windy day at the beach...for me (being an Arizonian), it was a bit more difficult. The last thing I want to do when it's cold is hang out on the beach waiting for the sun to shine. I'm just not built for it. I need my sunshine. It only made me miss Lake Powell and the warm rocks and water. I don't know how long I'll survive in this cold!

I did enjoy being with our ward, though. I love being in the Bath Ward. It feels like having a family to me. The people in our ward really do care about and love each other. We got to know each other a lot better, too. So, despite freezing to death, I am looking forward to going at it again next year.

I've not included a lot of pictures b/c they have my friends children in them and I haven't asked them if it was okay to post their children on here, so I had to not post a lot of the best ones.

I've Been Tagged!

2008-08-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

My lovely Aunt Pam has tagged me, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her tag. This is a few things to know about Jaime.

My Joys

1-I've made one thing combine all the obvious things in my life, just so this wasn't 3 of the obvious things, b/c the obvious joys I have are also the most important to me (did you get all that?). I'm married to the most amazingly perfect and wonderful man and I've been blessed with 3 wonderful children to go along with him. I have the most supportive and loving parents, that live too far away. My awesome brothers and their families, all of my fantastic extended family...which, again, live too far away. I have some really wonderful friends. And, of course, having the Gospel is something that keeps me in awe every day.

2 - Chocolate. I love chocolate, especially Cadbury's. I'm not tempted by any other sweets. Only chocolate!

3 - Talking. I sometimes don't let others have a word in edge-wise. I just go on, and on, and on.

Fears
1 - Dying before my children are raised and Simon gets remarried (which he has had to swear he wouldn't do) and someone else raises my children. Call me juvenile, but this is seriously my deepest fear!

2 - The dark. I still can't go downstairs at night by myself.

3 - Someone hurting my children.

Current Obsessions/Collections

1 - Collecting costumes. My parents are burdened with most of them in their garage. I'm slowly getting them here. This kinda goes along with my obsession with fashion in general.

2 - The temple and family history. I love going to the temple and anyone that has spent any time talking to me knows this, too. I never shut up about it. The place is just amazing, and I've had so many wonderful experiences there. I wish we lived closer to one, but my goal is to have a Bristol Temple, someday.

3 - Missionary work. I am secretly, or not so secretly, trying to convert everyone! This goes along with my Bristol Temple goal. I am always looking for ways to share the Gospel.

Surprising Facts

This was hard b/c I'm such an open book that I think everyone already knows everything about me, so I tried to think of some things that would be somewhat interesting.

1 - I knew I was going to marry Simon before he ever even talked to me. This had my father seriously worried about me b/c I told my parents and they thought they were going to have to come to England and save me from a broken heart.

2 - I spent my teenage years being seriously obsessed with Def Leppard. My wall was covered with them, I bored my family by talking about them and singing their songs constantly! I even obsessed about marrying one of them and converting them all. I was a complete loonbag!

3 - I'm not a very tidy person, but my house is so clean you could eat off of any surface in it. I owe this to Bobbi Jo and my houseboat cleaning days. She taught me what clean meant. I also get really annoyed if anyone else tries to clean my house or do the dishes b/c they just won't do it as good as me!

Some things about the person who tagged me (I added this one):

My Aunt Pam tagged me and she is the funnest person, ever! She's always happy and positive. She's a great mother and has two of the most handsome, good boys. I try to be more like her.

People I've tagged

1-Sarah G.

2-Lindsay

3-Ally Pally

4-Sarah C.

5 - Maria

The aliens are coming!

2008-07-31T07:03:00.000-07:00

Summer has been in full swing, so we decided to enjoy the hot weather by hiking around and seeing all the crop circles. Wiltshire is the home of crop circles. I don't know why the aliens love it so much, but if they're going to invade, this is where it will be. I find it very suspicious, though, that at all the crop circles there's big tour buses full of people to come and view them, and a bunch of fruitcakes that come to get 'taken'. There's also loads of gypsy caravans, to bank in on the idea. This one was selling baskets.

We spent the rest of the day hangin' at Bowood. It's such a great place for lazy afternoons, and kicking a ball around.

We thought James looked hilarious on Saturday. He had this really bad farmers tan and we put suncream on his hair and it made him have punk rock hair. He also gives me the funniest looks when I say 'no' to him (as pictured). He, usually, is just full of smiles, though.

The girls are just always looking for opportunities to pose for me, which I don't complain about! Sophia never stops talking, though. I don't quite understand how she never needs to come up for air. Seriously, she can talk your ear off!

All moved in...

2008-07-25T13:08:00.001-07:00

We are in our house now and it is bliss! I love living here! Our little street is so quiet. There's children playing everywhere. I just might want to have a house here forever. Just in case this causes any of those other lovley Americans distress, this 'forever' comment is made with the intention that we'll also have a house in America, when Simon retires, so don't worry! I'm not giving up America!!

It's taken some time to get back on here, but that's just one of the drawbacks of cheap call/broadband plans. There's no changing it, though b/c my calls to America are all free of charge...and I'm sure some of you are wondering why I don't call you more, now! We're up in running now, so I have no complaints. I've also had plenty to fill my time with in my new house...plenty!!

The last couple of weeks have been the winding down of school for Sophia, and have been soooo hectic. I can't believe Sophia has already completed her first year of school. This is a picture of when she started school, last September.

I took another picture of her today, which was the final day of Reception.

I've been so impressed with how much she's learnt this year. She had an excellent teacher, Miss Harding. Her school is such a nice school, too, and is currently tabled as the 2nd best Primary school in the whole of Wiltshire. It just has a lovely feel to it, and I'm so happy that my children will all go there. Here is Sophia with Miss Harding, who is better off not knowing that I'm posting pictures of her on my blog. I think she already thought I was a bit mad just getting a picture of her. I just blame it on being a cheesy American. She was telling me today how she remembers Sophia visiting the school for the first time and telling everyone how she had on her American dress that day. It was, actually, the 4th of July when she visited. We were also recalling how she told everyone that she is half English, half American, and all Chippenhamish!

I'm still in shock that I have a child who just finished her first year of school!

Chloe finished her first year of preschool as well. She isn't so into it, so I only take her 2-3 mornings a week. I'm not bothered that she'd rather spend her time with me. It makes me feel like I get to know Chloe in a way that nobody else does. I know this can probably be said about most mothers and their little ones, but Chloe really does just save some things for me. She's a whole different ball of wax than Sophia. Chloe is really sweet and childlike, but she gets really cross if you interrupt her when she is talking!! When she needs a plaster or medicine, she always tells me, "That will feel me better." She has the cutest little voice, but the accent seems to be more New Yorker than anything else. We think that's what happens with an English/American accent. She'll start sounding more English when she goes to school.

Here's Chloe at her preschool party. She always insists on wearing this Belle dress that is too big and falling apart. She says it's not a Belle dress, it's a Christine dress from Phantom of the Opera. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of those on sale. Most children opt for a princess!

Summer is coming!

2008-06-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

I know, for most of you, summer is probably already here, but in England it's coming...and sometimes it never even makes it! I'm optimistic, though, that it will come this year. Everything is green, blossoming, and beautiful! It's even more beautiful to me, because we're moving in 3 days, so you won't see me on here for a couple of weeks.

I thought I'd share some photos from some of the fun we've had in the last couple of weeks. The top one is from Cornwall. Chloe was stropping, so she's not in the photo. It's not a good idea to strop on the edge of a cliff, but she never chooses the right moment! Cornwall has some of the most dramatic, beautiful coastine I have ever seen in my life. It's the English equivalent of the dramatic coastline of Lake Powell, just completely different! Green vs. brown!

The bottom photo is from the grounds of a manor house near our home. It's called Bowood. We have season tickets to it. The grounds and home are gorgeous, and there is a big adventure playgound, where Sophia particularly loves to go down the death slide...when she's feeling brave. We spend most of our free days there.

Anyway, I look forward to getting back on here and seeing what you're all up to, as soon as my move is over and we're settled in! Take care.

Nightmare Neighbours Can Be Wonderful Blessings

2008-06-20T01:45:00.000-07:00

Lot's of people are asking me about my batty neighbour, so I feel it's time to fill you in a bit. We live in a 200 year old terraced house, at the moment. As a house I love it! It has some really cool old features, and I love the historical documents that we have of it, and I love just thinking about the people who lived here throughout history and what they wore. It's also only a 5 minute walk from the shops in the town centre. The houses on our street are all Georgian style homes, in the same style as houses in Bath. They're just really cool! We also, bought this house b/c it was a lot bigger than new homes, or ones that were semi-detached, and we thought we found a place where we could live for a long time.

Then, Mary moved in right next door to us, just a week before we moved in. At first, we thought she was nice, a bit strange, but nice. The bad behaviour started when James was about 3 months old. It had been a hard day with the children. They were screaming and crying, and throwing tantrums all day. Simon had been away the night before, and I was at my wits end. Mary had decided that when the children were loud, the best thing to do was to bang, as hard as possible, on the walls. So, all that day I had her banging and banging, along with all that my children were up to. Simon got home that night and we were having the usual struggles in getting the children to bed, when Mary came to the door to tell us how loud we were that day, and all Simon said to her was, "I don't know what else we can do, other than lock them up!" Well, from this point on, Mary would no longer talk to us, she just kept sending letters through the post, accusing us of being irresponsible parents, saying that she had spoken to the police about us and that she was taking their advice. She also accused us of harming her dog and sending us a vet bill for £500, and a bill of £2,000 for the fence. It's hard to really give you an idea of how horrible this all was, without posting the letters, but it was all the time. She also continued her banging on the walls and shouting at us through the walls. In all this, there was so much we were tempted to do, but we refrained and turned to the Lord with our concerns.

Anyway, we sold our house, and now we've bought a detached one in the nicest neighbourhood in Chippenham (to us, anyway). Teachers at Sophia's school keep informing me of all the children who live on the street and who will live around the corner of us and everyone seems so happy that we'll be moving there, and we can't wait! In some ways, I'm really grateful that Mary has turned out to be the neighbour that she was b/c we wouldn't have moved from our house, but there is so many disadvantages to family life at it. There's no place to park cars and it can be a real hassle if you can't find a car park. Also, it's a town street, so there's no playing in the road or riding their bikes around for the children. We just wanted a big house, and this was the best way to get one. If Mary hadn't turned out to be a nightmare, we wouldn't have been able to afford a detached house, either. So, in the end, her behaviour has been a real blessing!

We've learned alot about faith, too. The housing market here is so bad at the moment. There's about 6 houses on our street, and nothing has been moving. We decided that we had to be completely honest about the house sell b/c we didn't want anyone with young children moving into the house and having the same problems as we did, so we turned in all of Mary's nasty letters to the solicitors, so the people buying our house saw them all. We were worried that no one would ever buy the house once they saw the letters. It just goes to show what being honest and following the Lord can do b/c we not only sold our house, but it was the only on the street to sell and it sold in just a few weeks! To us, it was a miracle. People keep asking me how we sold our house, a number of who are trying to sell theirs, and I just tell them we did a lot of praying, and they new all about how we turned the letters in too.

The fact of the matter is that the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy. He has blessings waiting for us, if we only turn to Him and have faith. I hope I will never doubt, again.

Prima Ballerina

2008-06-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

Sophia is taking ballet. It's all very serious here in England. She doesn't have any performances, only exams. Parents are only allowed to come in to the last lesson of each term and watch the little ballerina's do their thing. It was special to get to watch Sophia for the first time last term. She was really enjoying herself. She looked all the part, and I thought her posture was amazing!

She did have some troubles keeping her outfit in place. At one point she got all tangled up in it. She wouldn't be 'Sophia' without some sort of hoopla!

Late Night Meanderings

2008-06-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

James sleeps with us. It's not the situation we want, but it's all that can work until we move. It usually starts at about 3:00am, when James cries and Simon brings him into bed with me, which means Simon goes down to the couch. This is all fine and dandy, and it's not the end of the world, but we don't believe in sharing our bed! We've never had this problem before, but our current situation consists of a batty neighbour who bangs on the walls whenever she hears the children cry. That's another situation though, and we've sorted it out because we'll be moving next Thursday, so I don't really need to go on about it anymore.

Anyway, last night was another one of those nights and instead of lying in bed, wondering why I can't sleep, I decided to go and mess around on the computer. At last, I've been able to get this blog up and running...it's been in the process for about 6 months now! Another thing I had fun with is making temple pictures with over-lying wedding photos. I was just messing around, but I'm really pleased with the results! This is especially nice for me because I was married in England, where you have a civil wedding ceremony in the church and your temple sealing on the same day. I was married in Exeter, Devon, which is a 3 1/2 hour drive to the temple, and after all the shannanigans were over in Exeter, we got to the temple too late to take a decent picture.

It's a bit of fun, but I really love it! My favourite is the kissing one!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2008-06-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

Just to let you guys know, this page is under construction. I have no time, at the moment, to post anything. They keep me busy over here in England, and I'm moving on the 26th, so I'm just in packing mode at the moment. I'll let you know when my blog is up and running. It's up, but not running! Love ya!