Counting our Blessings

We have survived the superstorm Sandy but are definitely still feeling its repercussions. Tomorrow will be the 3rd day of no school - and I will be very surprised if there is school on Friday. By some beautiful fluke of luck our power was only out for 5 hours - many of our friends have been out since Monday night and it does not look like it will be restored until over the weekend - as a result we have been sharing our freezer space - having an open door policy for friends who need to warm up, charge devices, etc. tonight we had the Schleckmans, Kemps, and Hogya families over for dinner. Luke made 2 awesome grape pies for dessert. Certainly makes you think about the supplies you want to have in hand in case of emergencies. I have to say I am particularly glad that Luke has had the opportunity to catch up on some sleep between sports, seminary, school and work. It has been like having a little bit of summer in the middle of October - except for the fact that it is rainy dreary and cold! Very much appreciating our warm and comfortable house - life is good. It was a very non-Halloween, even before the storm hit- they had postponed trick or treating to next Sunday night so perhaps then it will feel right but it was an odd day for sure. I love you all - Mom

Hugh Laurie

I'm freaking out here. Hugh Laurie is the dad (Mr. Little) in Stuart Little. It's insane. I can hardly handle this.


-Sir Jacob van Heemskerck Duker DeBaltzo Esquire

Pumpkins

These are pumpkins.

From left to right:
Top Row: Max, Corey, Shannon Brown
Bottom Row: Sam, Jack, Emma


-Sir Jacob van Heemskerck Duker DeBaltzo Esquire

FHE

In light of the inclement weather - it seemed like a perfect night to finally assemble our 72 hour kits (at least the food portion of them!). I found a great site www.foodstoragemadeeasy.com and I get a weekly email to break down the task. Our next project is an emergency binder with copies of important papers- etc. feeling like we got something accomplished tonight. One thing we did was put the expiration date in large print on each item. I love what the styles family does to keep their kits updated. At conference time (April & Oct) - each person goes thru their bag and eats the items that are expired or close to expiring. Anna makes a list and then replenishes the kits that week. We packed them all in an old backpack (thanks Jack!) along with some bottled water. We will keep this backpack aim a Rubbermaid tub in the garage for easy access along w a change of clothes for all. I love you and will text everyone when dad finally drives in from Detroit on this stormy night. I live you guys - you are the best. Mom

Cleveland Rocks

Grateful like Elder DeBaltzo says it...

Tonight I decided that I really needed to post. I am in a profoundly grateful mood as we hunker down in the wind and rain that seems to be the part of the storm that we will be getting. It is very wet, all the leaves are being knocked out of the trees and while I do not think that we will have any major issues here in the Cleveland area - it certainly is giving validity to the "be prepared" mentality and I am thinking about ways to improve my food storage, etc. As I have always believed - all this prep stuff isn't for the end of the world - but it sure is smart for things like these storms! On to grateful. I am grateful that I have terrific kids. While I am often sad that time flies - I have to say that this stage of life is a really great one. I am grateful that my big kids in Provo choose to get together frequently. I am grateful for Corey as my first daughter-in-law who willingly opens their apartment to be a home away from home for Jack and Luke and her sister Emma. I am grateful they have dinner together there most Sundays. I am grateful Den has a good job that provides us a home that I love and the freedom to do the things that I wish to do. I am grateful to be able to work on projects that mean so much to me like Wa-Wa's book. I am so excited to have that completed! The last revision is in the works right now. I am grateful to live in a country where we can vote and choose. I am grateful to live in Ohio where despite the CRAZY amount of political calls, mailings, media, etc - I know it is somewhere where my vote really matters and it makes me appreciate that privilege. I am grateful that when Den travels we have a chance to just kick back and although we miss him when he is gone - the kids and I have a different kind of good time. However, I am grateful that when he comes home - it is always a very happy reunion! I am so very glad that I met Dennis more than 29 years ago. Life has been very good together and I am looking forward to celebrating 25 years of marriage this next year. I am grateful for the example of solid marriages that we have in our families. That is a blessing. I am grateful to be able to worship in the way that I see fit for me and for my family. I believe that Heavenly Father watches over each of us. I know that this gives me tremendous peace - and that my children feel the same. I am grateful that my kids are making choices in their own lives that have purpose and positive direction. I am glad that Sophie and Luke are my tail-end kids and that I am able to go to all of their sport activities. I am thankful for thoughtful texts, phone calls and emails from all of my children and glad that we live in an information age where distance is not nearly what it was in years ago. I am grateful for all the techie gadgets that make life so easy. I'm grateful for good health - for happy siblings and parents. I am glad that we have each found our own lives - and that they are happy ones. This month I have reflected on all the fun October family times we have had in recent years - specifically at Sean, Brooke and Jake's weddings. Happy Anniversary to all! And so - I needed to post this tonight because although it seems easy to "wallow" when things are slightly off, it would really be ungrateful to not take the time to be joyful when life is good. Happy day - with love from Lexi

You guys

My beautiful, beautiful kids - thank you Corey for posting and sharing the picture of the apple dipping. You guys look great - and although Jack likes to claim the distinction, you are EACH "kind of a big deal."

It is rain rain raining. Knocking all the leaves of the trees - Luke, Soph and I are having a mini Twilight marathon - it's that kind of a day. I am supposed to go to a meeting at church later tonight and have to admit that my motivation is lacking - but I am sure I will get if together by then:-)

All time classic story to add to DeBaltzo lore. While Luke was on a campout this weekend, one of the kids from the stake (kid named Kelton - please take that name off the list of my future grandchildren names...) - but I digress. Kelton came up to Luke and asked him if Sophie and he had "a thing" - Luke said -"Sophie? My sister?!" Kelton, "wait - who are you?" Apparently there was some confusion with the various Lukes in our ward. Ah- pretty hilarious.

Just when I think I've heard it all - I am encountering things with my one son and one daughter at home that I never imagined. Count your blessings that none of you big boys had to be aggravated by the propensity of feminine hygiene products cluttering the bathroom:-)

You are all great - you look great - you make my heart happy. Absolutely cannot wait to be there for Thanksgiving week.

Love
Mom

Halloween Festivities

Last night we had Sam, Emma, Jack and his friend Shannon over for Caramel Apples and Pumpkin Carving. Super fun! Thank you for providing the Caramel Apple supplies, they were delicious. :) Happy (almost) Halloween everyone!

Love,
Corey and Max

Pretty Sure

As in - Moses is pretty sure that the fire place is on just for him. And alas, tonight it is. Soph and Luke both at parties and Dad is in sunny San Diego. I am working on my new little business - check out my progress at www.etsy.com/shop/lexiconetc

We are expecting rain and wind from this Sandy hurricane/storm but hope it won't be too bad for our east coast families - Rourkes and Wakefields.

I love you all - and I miss your busy-ness!

Love
Mom

Ducks!

These are ducks. I played* with the ducks today. They have now accepted me as one of their own.




*They mostly just wanted to walk around. But that's cool. That's all I wanted to do.

-Sir Jacob van Heemskerck Duker DeBaltzo Esquire

I Live in a Beautiful World

I love going outside when the fog is slowly drifting through the mountains. It's getting cooler outside and the world is awesome.


-Sir Jacob van Heemskerck Duker DeBaltzo Esquire

Old Heritage, New Heritage, Helaman Hairitage

Someone is living in Helaman Hairitage.

I shaved my leg. Not my legs, but my leg. And it feels marvelous.

-Sir Jacob van Heemskerck Duker DeBaltzo Esquire

Beautiful Day!

It is a fabulous fall Sunday here in Lakewood. I took a picture of the front since I know that Max, Sam and Jack are sad to be missing the future lea raking activity! We should have a bunch this year - great exercise.

We had a full weekend here started off with a clambake at the beach house on Friday night for Claus's 60th birthday. You might remember him as the friend of the Cordill's who plays the guitar each Christmas eve. It was a cool night but great for that activity.

Saturday started early. Luke left to take the PSAT at 7:30 while Mom, Sophie, Elena and I left for Harding at 7:35. The bus was leaving for the west shore conference 8th grade volleyball tournament at 7:45. After dropping off the girls, mom and I drove over to Becker's, home of the best donuts on the planet. I had ordered 7 dozen donuts for the the fall youth activity that took place last night. We also picked up a few for the family. Their glazed and coconut creme donuts are amazing!
We them drove to Avon High School to watch Soph and her team get trounced in the first round by Vermilion. The only bright spot was that we didn't have to spend the entire day at the school!
I should also mention that we stopped to pick up a Romney sign that is now in our front yard. Hopefully it won't get stolen. Word is that the Romney sings are being stolen in highly democratic Lakewood.
The fall activity was at the stake center - tug of war, capture the flag, donuts, cider, hot dogs, bonfire, etc. About 70 youth came so I would consider it a huge success. Sophie and I left a little early for Brecksville to see Luke's team get trounced by Brecksville in the soccer sectionals. The positive thing about that was Luke had nothing to do with the loss.
Fortunately the Buckeyes won yesterday since the Cougars lost. We are now chilling after Church and scout committee meeting. Great news of the day - Corey and Max are coming for vacation next August - yeah!!!
I love you all and miss you. I am thankful for eternal families.
Dad

Doodle

Well I guess I'll put in my plug for the blog. Life is really just doing a good job of being amazing! Honestly I have no complaints whatsoever. Went on a really fun date with the roommates and Jack and Max and Corey last week, lots of fun. They all loved Bree (the girl I took); she's a super awesome friend, totally my savior for poli sci 200.
So my life currently: let's see...
First of all I am busy researching the effects of battleground states on voter turnout in presidential elections which is pretty awesome! I know not the most interesting thing to you all, but I like it. It makes putting in 15-20 hours into a paper not as rough when you like the subject.
I'm currently in the midst of trying to woo a girl, wish me luck!
Tonight I'm gonna see humor u on campus which I am so excited for, it was by far one of my favorite events of freshman year. Jack's taking a girl on a date so hopefully my roommates and I can annoy him a little bit. The weekend should be quite exciting and full of bonding time with the library, the paper's almost done.
Welp, here's some pictures to get you in my life a bit more (and you can see the enjoyment I've gotten out of my doodle app :))
Much love, Sam

BYU Girl

Dean's birthday

Mom, Sophie and I called Dean and sang happy birthday to him last week. His mom sent this video of him back out to us. He is a cute boy!
I will text it to all of you since I can't attach it to this blog.
Jack - your video is awesome! You sound great.

Love to all - my weekly blog is to come in the next couple days.

Funny boy

I'm sitting in the living room right now and Max is in the kitchen baking something. Just a second ago I heard him shout so I look over and he's making this face like he just ate something that tasted really bad. I asked him what's wrong and he pauses before saying "Vanilla always smells so good..."

Good thoughts

The other week I heard a talk at church where President Hinckley was quoted. I was reminded how much I miss him - his positive attitude and practical advice. Lds.org is great for finding those quotes you are searching for - and not surprisingly, it was hard to narrow in on just ONE part of the talk because it was all good, but i did resist and kept it to 3 paragraphs! Enjoy!

"The best antidote for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is to help someone even more tired.

There is no substitute under the heavens for productive labor. It is the process by which dreams become realities. It is the process by which idle visions become dynamic achievements.

Most of us are inherently lazy. We would rather play than work. We would rather loaf than work. A little play and a little loafing are good. But it is work that spells the difference in the life of a man or woman. It is stretching our minds and utilizing the skills of our hands that lift us from mediocrity. It is work that provides the food we eat, the clothing we wear, the homes in which we live. We cannot deny the need for work with skilled hands and educated minds if we are to grow and prosper individually and if our nation is to stand tall before the world.

Be Smart. By this I do not mean be smart-alecky or anything of that nature. I mean be wise. Be smart about training your minds and hands for the future. Each of you is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each of you is a son or daughter of God. You have an obligation to make the most of your life. Plan now for all the education you can get, and then work to bring to pass a fulfillment of that plan.

You live in a complex age. The world needs men and women of ability and training" - Gordon B. Hinckley (2000).

Love you guys- Mom

Very disappointing

So I attempted to post last night. I wrote about five paragraphs on my iPhone and a call came in. When I went back to the posting, it was gone! Have any of you had this happen before? Oh well, kind of like in the old days when you were typing something on the computer - it locked up and you lost everything.

It made me very happy again last night that my boys were together in Provo. Thanks to Corey for being such a trooper and hanging with them on a regular basis. I am sure she is glad there is no Super Smash out there.., maybe there is? I do love you all and am so glad Corey is in our family!

As you all know by now I was in Canada last week. It is kind of a funny place. Most Americans think of it as an extension to the USA, but after this trip I assure you it is not. We are separate and very different in many ways.

First off and very noticeable last week. AT&T is not there, neither is Verizon. With the addition of an international plan, you are blessed to have a data transfer cap for $30 per month in addition to a $.59/ minute fee for calls. Yippee.

Second, they are a socialist nation and still a part of Great Britain's monarchy. Even though Queen Elizabeth has no power, they still recognize her as their Queen. They have their own parliament that rules their land. Because of the socialism, every good and service costs more so they can pay for the social programs. They are highly taxed for everything.

So while it looks the same, once you pull out your passport to cross the border you are clearly in a new
Land. One funny thing, they gladly accept our cash, yet we can't use anything larger than a Canadian quarter here. I took out $$ just to have enough to get by.

Changing gears, conference was amazing. It is such a blessed and warm feeling to know we have Church leaders that love and care about us enough to pray for all of us. It was really uplifting and worth every penny!

Luke and I will watch Priesthood in the next few days. We missed it due to his soccer game on Saturday night. I missed not having my boys with me for that session. I am glad our family watches and listens to the words o Prophets and Apostles!

Luke had his last regular season soccer game tonight and played great! They beat Avon in the new conference. Sophie also played volleyball and mom reports that she did well. I should also mention that they played on Monday also and I was able to watch.

Mom led a great FHE on family preparedness last night. We are going to work over the next month to truly prepare with 72 hour kits and longer term kits. There is more to it, but this covers the basics - having things in order and being prepared for a disaster natural or otherwise.

I am thankful for an eternal family and I love you all. Keep smiling and know that I love you all. You are truly the chosen generation.

Conference Weekend

Rainy gray perfect snuggle inside on the couch and eat waffles day as we watch conference. We will be catching up on the Saturday afternoon session since Luke had soccer yesterday during it. Soph went to Halloweekends so maybe she will blog about that herself:-). Big news re missions - not sure whether it will change our family plans or not but I agree w Sam that the peoplescape (you know, like landscape?!) will change at BYU! I especially think that it is exciting for young women who want to serve. I love you guys. Have a great day -

Bye bye Helaman

How nuts is that announcement?!? 18 year old missionaries! Helaman halls is gonna be like all upperclassmen guys in a couple of years. That is just so awesome, I'm flippin stoked. The only bummer is I have like no one to date now, caus everyone my age is married and all the girls younger are going to go on missions. Welp, getting married should be an interesting adventure! Love you guys!

Count me in!

Hi family,
Sorry that Max and I have fallen so far behind in blogging! I feel like our life is pretty hectic right now but I know that many of you are much busier than we are so I'm willing to commit to a weekly post. :)

Things are going really well for us this semester. Max is working so hard with school and his TA job, I'm very proud of him. On top of that, bishopric responsibilities add significant time commitments to his schedule and he is much better at handling long days than I am - he is never running on empty, but is always positive and energetic! I look up to him for a lot of things, but that ability is definitely on the list.

I love my job! We've hit our busiest time of the year now and I spend most of my time trying to figure out how to accomplish 60 hours of work in my allotted 40 hour work week but it's super fun. I had my first ever performance review and my boss had incredibly positive things to say about my work this year which was very encouraging. I've taken on a couple of big projects with regards to compensation and market research which is challenging and I'm really enjoying learning all I can about the subject. Also, one of my big goals for this year has been to establish myself as a trusted resource for our Practice Managers and I think that I'm making good progress so far. We'll see how things go as the year wraps up!

This next weekend is kind of a bummer for me because it's Homecoming Weekend at Hope and all of my good friends have made plans to attend this year. They've rented a cottage for a few days and it sounds like it will be a blast. I would love to be there, but we couldn't make it work this year and I'm disappointed. Max and I have made "couple friends" out here in Utah, but my close friends are all back east and I haven't gotten to see most of them since our wedding. It's OK though, my hope is that I can convince them all to commit to be there for our five year reunion when Max will be done with school and we will be much more likely to attend. :)

Anyway, we love you all and are very excited to see you at Thanksgiving time! I hope all is well back in Ohio and wish you a happy conference weekend.

Love,
Corey

PS. Here are some pictures from the Grandparents' visit.

Neglected to mention

Dad neglected to mention that the lovely picture of 5 of our 6 kids is actually a Sprite commercial...

Poli Sci is running my life

So I just wrote a super long blog and I totally got deleted so I'm gonna try again. Anyways, my poli sci class is straight up running my life. Like it is all I think of. The worst part is its not like I think about politics non-stop, it's that I just totally think in an analyzing way now and I think about my English and sentence structure (though I'm sure Jack would argue that I still speak horribly). As I was saying, any social phenomena I see I want to automatically put it into a theory and I think about hypotheses that I could use to test that theory, it's flippin ridiculous!
Something cool I've learned however is from my most recent research assignment. I'm studying the voter turnout in swing states during presidential elections and its actually some pretty sweet stuff. Random cool fact: Ohio has voted for the president every election since 1950. How nuts is that?!? Every president for the past 60 years has won Ohio! That's so cool, it made me realize how important of a state we are. Which leads me to agree with dad...if you believe in a candidate you should definitely vote because your vote matters in Ohio (less be honest, Utah is sort of decided who they'll vote for). Speaking if candidates, I enjoyed the debates but it reminded me of one of the many reasons politics drive me crazy; politics turn good men into cutthroat politicians. They're smart people and on general good people but they have to be so heartless in elections, not enjoyable to watch. Well that's my two cents.
Now the best part by far of this week was las night. I don't know if you Gus remember me telling you about Cameron, but he was an inactive guys that I worked with for a long time in Tierrasanta who reactivated himself in early may. Well he has just been on fire since then and this week he came up to Utah for general conference with his girlfriend (he met her in the SDSU singles ward; she's awesome) and last night they stopped by! It was such a blast getting to see them and catch up with Cameron especially and see how strong he still is in the church. Definitely reminded me how much I love the people that I got to meet on the mission. Hopefully I get to see him again before they head back to San DIego
Love you guys!
-Sam
So I know I whined a bit about my poli sci class but we did have a fun lab a couple of days ago. So we have to define things super specifically in order to measure them so our TA decided that we should try and identify how to measure the perfect first date (only at BYU). Hope you guys enjoy, it made me laugh.

In the game

I have been more than lame with my blogging and am committing to now be a regular blogger. I have loved reading Sam's posts and hope to see all of you reporting regularly. As Sam said, if all 8 of us blog once a week it would be am awesome family site. Please join me in taking a short time each week to share your story, including Corey as one of our eternal 8! This of course will also require Luke to jump on also.
So as not to bore you all (I will begin that next week) I will provide some highlights of the past month or so. In pictures I begin with a favorite photo of my kids at Abby's wedding. You are awesome kids and I am so very proud of the people you are.
The next pictures include one of Sophie alone and of she and I at Cedar Point last month. I had an amazing time with her riding roller coasters for the day. With a cloudy morning keeping people away, we were able to ride every roller coaster with the longest wait being 30 minutes or so. We went on the Millennium 3 times and I had my first ride on the dragster. What a great time we had. Sophie particularly liked my being silly. I had to remind her over and over we didn't know anyone so it didn't matter!
As I am in Canada this week on business with Kevin Shuman, we were at a conference in Niagara Falls today and I snapped a picture from the Canadian side. The mist coming up in the air was amazing.
We are having a good business week and although I am ready to get home I am pleased with what we are accomplishing. It has been a bummer without normal cell coverage since it costs about 10 gazillion dollars per call or data use. Fortunately I have been able to face time with both Jack and Mom. Jack made me laugh like crazy when we talked. I going to try Max and Sam tomorrow night.
I watched the debate tonight and hope my boys have registered for the mail ballots so your voices can be heard. It is one of the basic rights we have in this country that we must take advantage of and exercise.
I love this family and look forward to conference weekend and being together as a family. I am amazed at the blessings I have received and am thankful for the grace of God.

Talk to you soon - Love,,
Dad