President Potter...Now That IS A Laugh

Well for many of you who may not know, I was put in as the Relief Society President of the Fontenelle Ward on Sunday. When the Bishop extended this calling to me (2 weeks prior) I did what any good woman would do...I cried, for two weeks and you can ask my sisters to verify this as they listened to me cry for two weeks about it! I am NOT a leader, I HATE making decisions...I do NOT visit teach and I SWEAR way, way, WAY to much. However I was taught to never turn down a calling and so I said yes. It came at a very tumultuous time in our lives as the next day we left for Utah to say good-bye (we thought) to Jim's mom. But through the tender mercy's of the Lord, we left Jolene better and she gave me some good advice: lead on your knees and always have a great shade of lipstick on. Well, not sure about lipstick thing but the prayer thing, I can do.

But as time goes on and I have come to 'accept' the call I have realized that I love it. I am so looking forward to getting to know the ladies of the ward, my presidency and all the challenges that come with this calling. I am glad that we have a Heavenly Father that has a great sense of humor because I am thinking he is having a great laugh with this one!

"Mom...I think I am Sick"

I think the next time one of my three cute sons tells me this I may want to think of asking them what they are sick of? Elijah came into our room last night at about 11:30 PM and said he needed to throw up and he did...in our garbage can...without a garbage sack...and now the garbage can is in the big garbage bin outside. (I am sorry, I just can't deal with throw up, it just takes me back to being pregnant and throwing up everyday). He then threw up again at 1:30 AM. Luckily for all of us, it was in the toilet and the last time he threw up however I felt I should keep him home from school, just in case and well, I think that was a good idea. But now I am questioning whether or not Elijah was sick from a bug or just sick of school...you be the judge?


watching Cartoon Network

Showing off his 'sick' face...not so sure about his acting skills

Noah And The Ninth

Reflections of the last 9 years...ah, yes, the last 9 years...
"I'm 9 bay-bee"
Noah is still geeking out that he got a Nintendo DS
Well, what do you expect, his father is an Engineer for pete's sake...Noah hold up his Math Shark

Okay, when did my baby boy turn nine? When did I get old enough to have a nine year old baby? These questions are baffling my brain right now...okay, okay I know it doesn't take me much to get baffled but still, how in the world did nine years just pass us by?

Noah was able to celebrate his birthday over two days, the lucky kid. Jim and Noah started out the weekend by going to Wheat Fields, a local eatery and an amazing one at that, for breakfast. Jim had a Belgium Waffle with fresh fruit piled on it while Noah stuck to his regular favorite breakfast of French Toast. Noah was at first a little put out that he wasn't going to IHOP but after he ate, he quickly was grateful for the good eats...how can you not appreciate a kid that appreciates good eats?

After breakfast, Jim took him to get his present which was a big surprise for Noah...he had asked for one but we acted like he wouldn't be able to get such an expensive gift but how can you deny that face? So Jim got him a Nintendo DS...he was stoked and so excited! He picked out the grey and two games: Pokemon and Brain Teaser (don't tell Noah but I keep sneaking his DS to play the Brain Teaser games, they are so fun...maybe I should get one for my birthday).

That night we had a dinner of Shrimp Scampi and birthday PIE. Yes, my kids don't ask for cake, they ask for their mother's world famous (okay Potter famous) pumpkin pie. So we broke out some good fake-sparkly and had a good dinner with pie.

Sunday was his actually birthday but with less fan fair than Saturday. He did get his presents...the remaining one, of a math shark and his favorite breakfast made by mom: pancakes, eggs, and sausage.

We ended the night with a call to his Nana which he loved. Noah is such a great kid and I still marvel that he was sent to us. He is a rather mature boy, with the heart of gold. He is very aware of what is going on around him and feels others pain and joy. I am excited to see him grow up but at the same time I want him to stay my baby forever. I love you Noah as well as the rest of your family who adore you and your two brothers that look up to you. You have a Dad that loves you as much as a father could love a son as well as a Father in Heaven that loves you beyond measure. You have two sets of grandparents, here and in heaven, that see an amazing young man emerging as well as countless of aunts, uncles and cousins.

Cancer REALLY REALLY Sucks

Well for most of you, so I guess if I include me and my two sisters, the three of us that read this bog, may know that my mother-in-law was recently diagnosed, for the second time, with cancer in October. We knew it was bad...she had it in four different places now, the first time just being in the breast. But this time it was in breast, lung, liver, and femur bone. We were blown away, much like taking a drink from a fire hose, with this news. But Jolene remained hopefully and steady as she entered this new phase of her life. I know there were times where she was thinking, as we all did, "why now," "why me." But she had the class and the grace to never show any doubt to us, her family.

But with time and treatments, her body just couldn’t handle all that it needed to handle to rid her body of cancer and she became deathly ill. As we were told that she had something like 3 days left to live, Jim and I rushed to pack the fives of us and get ourselves to Utah to say good-bye and say hello to a life without Jolene, Mom and Nana. It was a hard 14 hours…lots of sudden crying and lots of sudden laughter as we were all silently recalling wonderful memories of this amazing lady.

As we entered her home in Utah , it was shocking to see such a vibrant women become such a limber body of life. It was upsetting to me to see her like this…barley able to speak and her eyes unable to recall my face. She did however recognize Jim, Noah and Elijah and after a few minutes she was able to remember me, but she could not recall Spencer. Again, the pain of somebody who has been actively in your life for so long, to not look at you with loving eyes was a harsh reality of what cancer can do to a body. That night as we said goodnight, I wondered if this would be the last but much to my surprise, she lasted the next day. In tender moments that I will soon not forget, Noah read to her “I love you as much” I saw Spencer give her a kiss on the check and say “I love you Nana” with absolute and pure love. I saw Jim look at his mom with so much love and tenderness that one can not put it into words. Again these moments will not soon fade from my mind.

As we were physically and mentally preparing for Jolene’s death, she once again surprised us with a strength that is well beyond any of us. She started to talk and request things to eat and drink. We were all shocked as her doctor gave her maybe 3 days at the most. We were ecstatic that she would ask for such things, but in our hearts we all know that she will not make it much longer. As the week wore on we started to get that nagging feeling that we needed to come home, so once again we had to say good-bye. It was a hard good-bye as I feel this will be our last earthly good-bye. But as we started our 14 hour journey home, I couldn’t but help feel a sense of peace that we will have a glorious hello one day. One in which she will not be confined by her earthly ailments. I am grateful for this knowledge and know it to be true. I love Jolene and am happy that she raised such a wonderful man who became my husband and a loving father to three wonderful boys.

Crazy Hair Party

So you know when you don't drink and you don't drink, one has to become creative in throwing a party. Here at Village Green where we don't drink and we don't drink, we do just that...get creative. One such theme, "Crazy Hair Party...Because You CAN" Here are some of the ladies that put ego's aside and brought their crazy-hair, whacked-out A GAME to the table. By the way, if scientist suddenly notice a giant hole in the Ozone over Omaha, I have a good feeling I know why...I used more hair spray tonight than I have in the last 15 years of my life...but then again, most did in this picture.

A ClockWork Spencer Orange Face

Handsome Orange Face
EVIL Orange Face
Deep In Concentrated Thought Orange Face
Extreme Close up Orange Face

On Friday (okay today) Jim and I ate lunch with Spencer before sending him off to school (Spencer and Jim). As of late, one of Spencer's favorite treats are quartered oranges. He puts them in his mouth, and well the next is picture and blog magic...enough said.

And The Rocker Goes To...SPENCER

The other day Spencer could not get his sweatshirt off of his head and to my surprise he started to laugh and do this little rocker pose. Of course I had to grab the camera for it was such a Kodak moment. Just thought I would share...I am pretty sure that right after this, he threw a fit about me not letting him play the Wii and ended up on time out but that is for me to know and for you to not find out.

The Triple "B"

Noah holding up his loot

Yes I know, many things run through ones mind when they see a heading such as "The Triple B." Could it stand for "boogers, bad-breath and bugs" or could it stand for "balls, blimps, and bloopers." Well here in the great state of Nebraska it stands for "Bancroft's (the elementary school the boys attend) Best Behavior" and our sweet Noah was the recipient of this award. His teacher, Miss. Bacome recognized Noah with this award because he cleaned up after others and she wanted to show him her appreciation. Noah then had the opportunity to go the the Principles office (well, not sure if that really is an opportunity but whatever) and pick something out of the treasure box. He choose a dream catcher and a book, in which the picture clearly shows how excited he was. The cute part about this is story is when Noah was walking away after showing me and Jim and of course taking a picture, he said to himself "this was a good day." What a great kid! We very fortunate to have been blessed with such a good kid in our family....we love you Noah!

Happy Valentine's Day

On Saturday the boys were outside (okay like the first time in about 3 months that they could go outside because we weren't experiencing sub-zero temperatures) and Elijah found this little heart. He swears up and down (hmm not like his mother who actually does swear up and down) that he found this heart already made by nature. He set up an 'ice museum' to showcase the other ice sculptures he found. To be honest, I couldn't see the Virgin Mary on the one nor could I see the state of California in the other but I could definitely see the heart. And with Valentine's Day rapidly approaching I thought I would share, because to be honest, most likely this will be my one and only V-D present.