It's those McGettigans AGAIN!

I know this is going to be really long, just because I don't have a paper space constraint, but I'll try to not make it TOO much of a novel!!

We decided to get a membership to Thanksgiving Point this year, and it has been a great thing! We mostly go to the Gardens and wander. The kids take their walkie talkies, play hide and seek, and just run around. We've rented golf carts and Glenn has given the boys "driving" lessons. It's just a great place to relax with all the lawns, trees, plants, waterfalls, etc... It almost feels like you're in the country!

The biggest change for us this year is that the church reorganized some boundaries in our Stake, and our subdivision ended up in a Ward that has been really struggling. I think our whole Stake has been struggling with active people moving out of the area, and people who move in who are either inactive or not LDS. So basically, they took 4 wards and made them into 3 wards. This happened the first of June, so it's been about 7 months. It's been very different, but it's also been a mostly positive thing. Jana was immediately called as Choir Director/Ward Music Chairman, (Yayyy!) since they had neither. Glenn was called as Gospel Doctrine Teacher, which he is very good at, and Tyler and Sam were called as pianists for opening excercises for Priesthood Meeting. And Kara is, as always, making new friends and loving it.

Glenn is still working at LDS Business College (going out and slaying those dragons - making sure Jana can stay home - thanks!) Glenn had the opportunity to give a presentation for one of the College's weekly devotionals. Since it happened to fall close to Independence day, he decided to give it on the constitution. He did a great job - so great, in fact, that they asked him to give it again in September around the anniversary of the Constitution. Then he volunteered to give it for a combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting in November.

I (Jana) still love being a mom. I miss having Tyler & Sam home with me, but they are learning a lot at their school. I already said a little about this in the 2007 news, but just quickly, I was very excited to receive the 2007 Deseret Dramatic Award from the LDS Church for a production I co-wrote with a very good friend of mine, Dianne Kilburn. In February of this year, the church had a fun luncheon with the honories, and the script committee who chose the "winners". David Warner, who is the Director of the Cultural Arts Department, spoke about the similarities between the Creation of the World and the things we "create" in this life. It was such an interesting talk! I think the main thing I got from it was that we need to look at the reasons we create things. Our Heavenly Father didn't create this world to put in a frame. He created it for us - to use. And Brother Warner said our creations need to be for other peoples' benefit. Anyway, it was great. Then that night they presented portions of the "winners'" productions at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. It was very fun to hear someone else perform my song without any input from me! And thanks to those friends who came that night! So, now that I've gotten an award from the church you'd think I'd be done, right? Not so! Dianne and I have basically finished up another production, ready to be performed by unsuspecting fellow ward members! For this one, we asked my brother Lanny to write the script (he's got a million ideas!), then Dianne and I wrote the music. It's a Christmas play, so we'll have to wait until next year to see how it works onstage, but I was able to use a couple of the songs from it at our Ward Christmas party this year. (If they're gonna ask ME to put together the program....well) :)

On Jana's side of the family, she has what we call double cousins (our dad and his sister married our mom and her brother - I know, it's confusing). Anyway, some of them decided to have a Double Cousin reunion this year. It was held in Marysvale, UT. It was very fun for Jana catching up with cousins and their children, take a 3 hour ride in a big ATV, and play horseshoes. The following pic is all 5 of Jana's double cousins, and 6 of the 10 of Jana's sibs.

In August, the kids and I (Jana) took a trip to Emery County for their annual Fair. Last year when we went, the kids had so much fun they made me promise that we'd go back again this year. Not even the death of an aunt could make mebreak that promise... So we did the Emery County Parade (tons of candy) and went to the farm to let the kids run around with Uncle Lanny's dogs. Tyler even found a snake! Ahh, the country life!

Dave & Kristin are still in Buffalo, NY. Dave graduated from dental school, and now he will be going to orthodontic school, which will take about 3 years. He was accepted to a school right there in Buffalo, so they will stay there for the next three years.

Chad & Rebecca are doing well. Their daughter, Tierra, turned 5 this year. Her birthday is too late for the deadline for Kindergarten, so she'll stay in pre-school for another year. Rebecca says she's OK with that. Eli turned 3, and is the cutest kid ever! We're understanding more of what he's saying now, and he says the cutest things! For his birthday this year, we gave him a lion costume, and when Tierra saw it, she said, "Beauty and the Beast!". She ran and got her Belle costume on, and made Eli dance with her like Belle does with the Beast. Too cute! (Yes, "cute" is the operative word here!) Chad & Rebecca are also expecting Baby #3 in February!

The following picture is one time when Rebecca, Tierra and Eli came with us to the Gardens. There are countless Kodak moments at the gardens, expecially with grandkids there!

If you want to know more about what's going on with Chad & Rebecca and their family, there's a link to their blogsite in the sidebar under "Chad & Rebecca".

Scott is still attending the U of U, studying Civil Engineering. He will be graduating in May! Scott also plays guitar and sings in a band. We saw them perform at the Farmington fair this past July, at which time the band was called "Moderately Bright", they sound really good! While we wait for their first album, they continue to evolve. Scott was asked to speak in our Ward for Father's Day, and he did a great job "eulogizing" Glenn! :) He had some fun stories, and some touching points about fathers. It was a really great talk! He continues to work part time for Utah State Division of Water Resources.

Brett went into the Missionary Training Center on April 30th, and left for the Italy, Milan mission the first part of July. He's had some great experiences teaching people, and has even had a baptism. He wrote about an experience about a month or so ago, which I think he'll remember for the rest of his life. I will let him tell it in his own words:

Yep that's right, I'm not just saving souls here in Italy... Ok this is how it all went down. We were at this branch activity with a bunch of members, which is like 20 people, and everyone was eating and talking. I was talking to Gilberto when all of a sudden I hear this gagging noise. I look over and there's this Peruvian lady who's a member just choking on her food! My first thought was "Alright, her husband' is there he's obviously heard of the Heimlich maneuver he'll know what to do," but I guess they don't teach they kind of stuff in 3rd world countries so he was clueless. INSTEAD of the Heimlich this is what he does: He rips this calender off the wall, runs over to his wife, and starts fanning her like a mad man. Yeah that's right, he starts fanning her. I was dumb-founded, but I still thought, "OK he's just freaked out, but someone here knows what the Heimlich is, right?" Wrong. Everyone there starts crowding around her doing the most ridiculous things. The branch president(bishop) starts blowing on her face, the relief society president starts patting her on the shoulder, and this other crazy Peruvian lady who doesn't speak a word of Italian starts waving her arms like a bird. Then I hear someone yell, "Cover her mouth!" And all the while the branch president's wife is so scared that she's running around yelling in Spanish, "Que paso! Que paso!" Utter chaos. Right about then I figured it was time to take over. I look back at my comp - the only other calm person in the room, and who was by no coincidence the only other American in the room, and say, "Heimlich?" He says, "Go for it." I walk up to her give her the Heimlich once, and the problem is solved. Everyone was silent, and then I heard our investigator Jerry say, "You're a hero, man..."

Just all in a missionary days' work! Go Brett!

Brett with Grandpa McGettigan

Tyler, Sam & Kara had 2 piano recitals this year, one in April (which is a solo recital) and the other in November (which is a duet recital). They all did well on both, but for the duet recital just recently, Tyler and Sam paired up with 2 boys that they've been friends with who take from the same teacher, and they played an eight-hand piano piece of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". It was awesome!

Here's the Halloween Pic from this year - Sam decided after he watched the new Indiana Jones movie back in the summer, that's what he wanted to be. Kara got a pretty red dress for her birthday a few days before Halloween, so she decided she'd be Santa Claus' daughter, Holly Noel. Tyler couldn't decided if he even wanted to dress up, but at the last minute decided he'd be a "deranged" Ute fan if people were BYU fans, and an "enthusiastic" Ute fan if people were Ute fans. Everybody was happy, and Tyler got LOTS of candy!

I think the following news ended up in the 2007 news, but here's a pic to go with it. Tyler and Sam were involved in the Lego League club at their school, and got to go to Montana in January for a competition. They had a lot of fun, and their Lego robot got Best Design!

Tyler and Sam were also chosen from their school to go to the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair held at the U of U. It was a great learning experience for them, and they had a lot of fun showing off their projects. Tyler's project was testing to see if the PH level in orange juice changed if the temperature of the OJ changed. Sam's project was testing people's eyesight to see if they saw better or worse in different colored lighting. Sam's actually helped a couple people decide to get their eyes checked - one of whom really needed glasses!

Tyler is 14 now, and advanced to a Teacher in the Priesthood. He now gets to gather fast offerings AND prepare the sacrament! Tyler is in the 9th grade, and doing very well. He is very concienscious about getting his homework done and doing it to the very best of his ability. So far this year, he is getting all A's. Tyler is involved with Robotics Club and Peer Leadership Team, and as part of that has been tutoring other kids in Math at the school.

Sam turned 12 this year, which means he received the Aaronic Priesthood, and which also means he has started attending Young Men. Yep, they're growing up! Sam received 4.0 every quarter last year for 7th grade, and is doing really well again this year. Sam is involved in 8th Grade Student Council, Creative Writing, and Drama Club, and even wrote part of the script for a play they did for Christmas. A couple years ago Sam wrote a poem and submitted it to the Friend (Church) magazine. This past summer when we got our July issue, there it was! I don't know who was more excited, him or mom! Here it is, for those of you who don't get the Friend!

Tithing-

You should always pay your tithing,

One-tenth of what you've earned.

Pay your tithing before you go buying,

And that is what I've learned.

By Samuel Moroni McGettigan

Sam also recently entered a Lego building contest. It was a Batman theme, so he made a Lego Joker, took and picture and sent it in. He got a letter back saying he'd won third prize! He got a Batman computer game for his prize. He was very exited!

Well last, but certainly not least, Kara is 9 now (I can't believe it!), and she just keeps us hopping with all the things she wants to do! First off, if you didn't know already, Kara played Young Emma in the new movie that's out about Emma Smith. So if you haven't already gotten a copy..... :) Kara and I got to go to the premiere, which was fun! Kara is also involved in a group called Liberty Girls. They read the American Girl books, then do activities and field trips that have to do with that certain time period. She really has a lot of fun, and she gets to do her favorite thing - be around people! Kara is so unlike me in this area! I'm still pretty introverted, but wherever we go, Kara always has to make a new friend. She has so many "best friends" I've lost count! Kara is also the most perservering person I know. If she wants something, she will WEAR YOU DOWN. Which is how she got a cat. Well, the cat is basically hers, but it lives somewhere else. (Whew!) Anyway, she talked her piano teacher (good friends of ours) into getting a kitten. They love cats, and already had 2. But our friend finally told Kara that she could help pick out the new kitten, name the kitten, and go and play with the kitten any time she wanted to. Wow, talk about the best of both worlds! Anyway, we have a lot of fun trying to keep up with Kara and her enthusiasm for life!

This year, no one in our family got into "A Christmas Carol" at Hale Theatre. This would have been our 9th year. But every year I've told the kids that they may want one of them, they may want all of them, or they may want none of them. I've told them every year that if no one makes it we'd have a RELAXING Christmas! So, this year when we didn't get the call, I turned to Kara and said, "We'll just find something else to do this year." She looked at me, and said, "What else IS there?" So we've been trying to help her see that there are other things to do for Christmas besides Hale Theatre!