A Very Late Update

So... we no longer live in Burbank. In fact we have been out of there for two months now. To make a long story short, John's job at Disney didn't turn out quite as magical as we had hoped. Due to budget cuts Disney decided they no longer needed a workforce analytics department thereby terminating John's position. Bummer, I know.

John likes to joke that he is just doing his part to ensure everyone that we truly are in an economic downturn....=)

Fortunately we were able to fill our apartment thereby relieving us of the $2100 a month we would have owed until May (that was a bit steep for no income).

We are also blessed to have wonderfully supportive family who don't mind having us move in with them until John finds another job. So- our stuff is in storage, our bodies are at my parents house and we had to say goodbye to Burbank.

I want to dedicate this post to Burbank and all the wonderful people we meet there.

Here goes my ode to Burbank and formal farewell:

Goodbye house

The library next door to our apartment complex....sigh

Natalie at the library

The park, adjoining the library, next to our apartment

John and the kids playing at the very convenient park

Goodbye mouse

John worked at The Walt Disney Company headquarters which is on their studio lot in Burbank. It was only a 10 minute walk for John from our apartment. Working on the studio lot was an interesting experience for John. His cubicle was on the same floor as some of the ABC offices so among the actors he saw at work (that he recognized=) were Terri Hatcher, Tom Arnold, and Dustin Hoffman. The only actor I saw while living in the LA area (other than those living in the ward=) was the computer guy on the Oceans Eleven movies. I spotted him at the Elmo gathering with his daughter.

I will most definitely miss our silver passes. They allowed us and our guests (up to 4 people total) to get into the Disney parks for free as often as we wanted (we did have a few black out days). Though we only had them for a few months I managed to make it to the Disneyland and/or California Adventure 6 times and took a few friends and family members with me.

Farewell little friends...

Dewy, Analisa, Natalie, and Ethan

Dewy was Natalie's first boyfriend. She loved playing with this cute little guy (conveniently, I loved hanging out with his mother). One day out of the blue Natalie informed me, "Mommy, Dewy's a MAN!" It was surprising and a little alarming...but mostly just funny.

Natalie and her friends Hailey and Analisa by the ponies at Griffith Park. Natalie calls them "my girls."

Natalie and Analisa on a train ride at LA's Griffith Park. Griffith park was only a 5 minute drive from us. This huge park not only houses the LA Zoo, but a train ride, an old fashioned carousel (which happened to be the very carousel that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland...there's a little Disney trivia for you), a museum, horse and pony rides, along with the standard park equipment.

Travel Town was another fun part of Griffith Park. It was a train museum which included several real trains.

Natalie at Travel Town. Not pictured:all of Natalie's cute friends who went along with us (Chloe, Ethan, Dewy, Timmy, Ben, Hailey, Analisa, Ethan #2....)

Natalie and Chloe at Disneyland

...and big friends too

I made many friends who I absolutely love at the tri-ward playgroup. Pictured are Rachelle, Christina, me, Becky, and Aprilanne.

Another good friend, Rachel, became my running partner for a while.

WE WILL MISS YOU!

Give yourself a pat on the back if you made it through this lengthy post. Yikes.

A Thanksgiving Post at Christmas Time

I just wanted to express my gratitude for a wonderfully awesome family. We spent Thanksgiving in Phoenix and the whole Cottam family was able to get together, down to the last grandchild. With 4 of the 6 of us married, and 10 grandchildren, we are becoming quite a large group. It was wonderful to be together and to be happy to be together. Up until June some member of the family was living far away so it was nearly impossible to all be together but now we are all out west representing California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah and making it much easier to congregate. Special thanks to my big sister Lindsey for hosting us and putting together a beautiful and delicious Thanksgiving feast!

The First Thanksgiving

My mom and I spent the better part of a week trying to finishing off these bad boys. She had extra from an enrichment activity so we decided to paint and assemble them as gifts. To me it seemed like there were so many pilgrims and indians we needed to complete, that we were trying to represent all in attendance at the first thanksgiving.

Half Marathon

On November 8, I ran the Snow Canyon Half Marathon with my mom, and let me tell you, it was a BEAUTIFUL run. I seriously loved it. Half marathons are particularly enjoyable because they are not exhausting and painful like a marathon, but you are still running 13 miles so you can feel good about yourself. The route was fast (quite a bit of downhill) and scenic, so the race went by pretty quick. It wasn't organized very well with lame-o gift bags (the bag was a lovely plastic Target shopping bag ....at least they were recycling right?) - and the race started 25 minutes late (talk about anticipation...) - but I excuse all that for their choice of course. I still fully endorse this race for potential half marathoners out there. We were supposed to run it with my sister, Tracy, but she got sick the morning of....no really, she wasn't faking, I promise...we missed you Trace!

I hope I am still running half marathons at 55. Mom, you are amazing!

A special shout out to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law Anne for coming to St George to cheer me on and spend time with us. We had a most excellent time.

For pictures of us enroute, click here (bib #618). I have a few choice expressions which may amuse you.

Natalie playing with her cousins Michael and Timothy as they wait for us to finish.

Sabbath Day Greetings

Natalie smiling with the Pillsbury Doughboy

Henry still smiling as Natalie squeezes him tighter...

...and tighter

...sometimes when I am not reverent at church, I have to practice

On a side note: despite some post Prop 8 passing protests... I am so happy to have seen so many church members come together under the direction of our prophet to fight the good fight and help Prop 8 pass.
I fear this victory will be short lived but I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to heed the call. John spent hours disributing door signs, making calls, visiting neighbors and attending meetings.
I held up signs at a busy intersection one Saturday morning. During my 2 hour shift I encountered 16 "birds," was met by several "colorful" words, and received many encouraging honks and waves.

Halloween Spooktacular

Having kids is so fun because you get to be a kid again through them. We have had a fabulous Halloween this year complete with trunk-or-treating, a Halloween party, carving pumpkins, making Halloween shaped sugar cookies, and good old-fashioned trick-or-treating. Plus we got to play dress up and eat sweets. What a fabulous holiday! Aside from the icky goory stuff I love Halloween. We even had a witches brew apple juice along with our chili dinner. Good times.

Fun at our Burbank playgroup's Halloween party. Natalie has made some nice friends.

Natalie informed me she wanted a "scary" face

Dry ice + apple juice = witches brew

Ready to TRICK-OR-TREAT!

Natalie already had cowgirl boots so she decided she wanted to be a cowgirl at the ward trunk-or-treat. My mom had cowboy boots so decided I would be a cowgirl for the evening as well.

28 candles

Yesterday we celebrated John's birthday. He was 28 on the 28th, so it was his golden birthday. Apart from [cheese]cake (I made a pumpkin pie too... yum!), candles, and presents, we celebrated the day by going to the LA Zoo. Natalie loves animals, so she had an excellent time. John and I enjoyed ourselves but decided we won't return to the zoo if it's 100 degrees outside. We are hoping November will bring an end to the summer heat....

Special thanks to mom and Dad for talking us to Cask and Cleaver for dinner and to Tommy for introducing us to "Trash Can Racing" which is a whole new way to get recreational use out of your trash can. I am sure many of you have heard of the wildly popular sledding on trash can lids - but trash can racing can be enjoyed at any season and in any climate (we Californians don't see much snow...). You simply lay your large, wheeled, trash can on its side, straddle yourself in the back over the wheels (but not too far, or you will flip it back right side up and and you will land on your keester) and race down a slanted surface. In our case - my parents' driveway. So the fabulous day concluded with trash can races with my very fun brother Tommy.