Gratitude: Kate

I've been so bad about not posting lately, and the guilt has finally caught up with me. I am so grateful for Kate - my spunky little 6 year old, my middle child (by one minute!)and my kid who always keeps things interesting around our house! Kate is a very thoughtful, clever little girl. She is my biggest helper and loves teaching Halle new things. She also loves to see how much she can get away with and can talk Annie into just about anything. Kate is the family Nark - I swear that girl even tattle tells in her sleep! She loves to read and write short stories and has darn near perfect handwriting.

The other day, she was reading one of her chapter books for school (29 chapters - geez!) and after she had gone to bed, I came downstairs, and on the sofa where she had been reading, I found her book with a little sticky note inside, with the word "interesting" (spelled "entresting") written in yellow highlighter. The next morning I asked her why she did that, and she said her teacher mentioned that it's a good idea to make notes while you read and she thought that page was interesting. Love it!

And a few weeks ago, their school celebrated "100 days left of school" and she brought home this "100 Day Activities" worksheet. The italicized words are the words she used to fill in the blanks:

I wish I had 100: toys. I wish I had 100: candy. I wish I had 100: dreams in one nigt. But I would not want 100: hollahoops.

I could eat 100: ice cream paks. I could eat 100: mackorony. I could eat 100: jello salid. But I could never eat 100: persons.

I could hold 100: hamsters. I could do 100: flips on the bing bag. I could make 100: chocklate pretsles. But I could never: eat 100: poop.

Priceless!

In Memory of Cam

This is a journal entry by my brother Bryan after he lost his best friend Cameron Court Jr. four years ago today. Cam was an amazing guy and was a great friend to our family growing up. Whenever I think about Cam or listen to his music (he was a country songwriter and singer) he reminds me to appreciate all of my blessings - especially my two little brothers who I love so much. I know that every single day with them is a blessing - life can change in an instant.

"This time of year is always very difficult when I think back to the tragic loss of my best friend. I have decided to share a journal entry that I made shortly after the accident. I miss my friend every day and am so blessed to have such a great family and group of friends to lean on during this difficult time.

This is merely a recap of events on the tragic day of Feb 4th 2005, a day many of us will never forget.

Feb 1st, 2005

This was the last time that I saw Cam alive. Cam came over to my house in Draper, Utah in the evening to see my new puppy Max. Cam also brought over his dog Alta. Janalyn was not home and Cam came alone. Its funny how those couple hours at the time seemed so irrelevant, and now they also bring me so much peace. We laughed and talked about different things in our lives, Cam was very proud to show me how he taught Alta to dance with him by jumping up on Cam’s back and wrapping his paws around Cam’s waist and doing the Cha-Cha! Truthfully I don’t remember what we talked about that evening other than logistical plans on going to Jackson Hole, WY. However, I do remember giving him a hard time about not coming with us on Thursday the 3rd to do some skiing before our annual friends snowmobile trip. He told me that he had too much school and work which did not sound like Cam, but apparently he was taking it much more serious than I knew.

Feb 3rd, 2005

Jon Baclayon, Shawn Cheney and I left early on Thurs the 3rd of February to do some skiing in Teton Village, WY before the snowmobile trip. Once we got to Jackson we realized that the snow was not as good as it was in Utah so we decided not to waste the money, and didn’t end up skiing at all. Instead we went into the city of Jackson Hole and had some lunch waiting for the others to arrive and pick up the rental snowmobiles in town. Brandon Fairbanks, Brandon Woolston, Jim Horton and Rich Tripp all showed up around 6pm and we met them at the same place where we had rented the snowmobiles in the past. After we got all of our snowmobiles and finished our last bit of food shopping in town, we headed 30 miles away to the Hoback Ranches. For years now we have been going to Brandon Fairbanks cabin, snowmobiling, hunting or some of the best fly-fishing in the Western U.S. Once we arrived at the cabin and got everything unloaded, we all sat around, ate food and played poker ‘til the late hours of the night. We called Cam late that night and he assured us that he would be leaving Salt Lake early on Friday Feb the 4th in order to get here in time to do a full day of snowmobiling, his intentions were to meet us at the cabin around 9 – 10am. We all knew that Cam would be late because Cam went by his own watch.

Feb 4th, 2005

We woke up around 9 am to one of the most beautiful mornings that I can remember. There was not a cloud in the sky, and a blanket of fresh white powder. Jon Baclayon woke up a little earlier than everyone else to make his famous spam and eggs breakfast. While we were eating around 10am the phone rang. I picked it up knowing it was Cam. Very typical of Cam, without even saying hello, he went into about a minute and a half of singing. Cam knew that I loved his music, but also knew that I lack patience; therefore he would always begin a phone conversation with a song just to bug me. I even remember holding the phone cord and letting the receiver dangle for about a minute until he was finished. Finally when he was done singing we both had a good laugh. He told me that he was in Coalville, UT; which meant that he was still about three hours away. He laughed and told me that he had a panicked message from Rich pleading with him to go to Rich’s brothers house to bring an XBOX video game up to the cabin. Cam apparently did not get this message until he was well past Park City. When he did get the message, he turned around and went back to Salt Lake to get the game, therefore causing his tardiness. The ironic thing is that Cam didn’t even like video games, but he did not want to disappoint. Cam then assured me that he was coming straight to the cabin and told us to meet him there at lunch and instructed us to leave him a snowmobile and helmet in the parking lot at the bottom of the canyon. This was the last time any of us spoke to Cam.

After finishing up our breakfast, we all got bundled up in our snowmobiling gear and left for a morning ride. We rode down to the highway and set a snowmobile and helmet next to my car for Cam. We set out on a beautiful three-hour ride across the highway where we normally ride. Around 1:30 to 2:00pm we decided to start heading back to the cabin to meet Cam for lunch. Brandon Woolston and I went to my car on the highway to get the food for lunch and I noticed that Cam’s car was next to mine, and his snowmobile was gone. I remember being excited that Cam had arrived and figured that he was waiting for us at the cabin. We then drove the three-mile ride through the snow to the cabin. I noticed that when we arrived, Cam’s snowmobile was not there. I really didn’t think anything about it at the time, knowing Cam, he was off on a ride looking at the beautiful surroundings; it was a perfect blue-sky day. We all eventually ended up at the cabin for lunch, while choking down our partially frozen “lunchables,” everyone remarked that Cam was not at the cabin but we knew that he was here because we saw his car. We waited about ten to fifteen minutes figuring that he was out looking at some deer or on a leisure-ride and he would be pulling up any minute. The thought then crossed our mind that Cam could be stuck in the snow somewhere between here and the car. This would not be an uncommon event, seeing that the majority of us, Cam included were average riders at best. In fact, we generally spend at least half of the time digging someone out of a large powder hole to get going again.

Shawn Cheney decided that he would ride back down to the car to see if he could find Cam and help him out if needed. Nobody was even worried at this time because this was a very common event. Shawn brought a two-way radio with him so he could tell us if he needed more help digging out his snowmobile. I personally didn’t even think he was stuck in the snow, I was sure that he was out taking in natures beauty because that was what Cam would do.

Around 2:15pm Shawn radioed in and told us that Cam may have been involved in an accident but was not sure. We were all immediately concerned and were praying that this was not the case. The messages from Shawn continued to worsen as he radioed from the highway. Shawn was down next to the car and an ambulance or two pulled up as well as a couple of police cars. Shawn started getting reports that a man in his mid twenties on a black Polaris snowmobile was the victim of this accident. We still had no idea what had really happened. The rest of us frantically got re-dressed in our snowmobile gear and hurried down to the highway. I remember riding extremely fast down to the highway to see what had happened. I thought that at the very worst, Cam had broken a leg or clavicle. I remember feeling very bad for Cam thinking that he had wrecked Brandon Fairbanks snowmobile and would not be able to afford the repairs. I was already planning the trip in my head with Cam to the hospital in Jackson Hole for some broken bones. Not once did the thought ever cross my mind that the situation was grave.

I was the first one down the canyon, and I remember making the last turn around the hill and seeing the highway littered with police cars and a couple of ambulances. My heart immediately dropped in my stomach. As I approached all of the vehicles I had a terrible feeling come over me. I jumped off of my snowmobile and threw off my helmet only to see Shawn with his hands in his face sobbing. I’ve known Shawn my whole life and I know that no amount of broken bones in Cam’s body would make Shawn cry. I’ll never forget looking at Shawn’s face with red eyes and snot running out of his nose as he muttered the most painful words I have ever heard; “Cam’s dead!”
I immediately looked to my left and saw a body with a blanket over it lying on a sled. I have never been so scared in my entire life, praying that this was not really happening. I knelt down and peeled back the blanket only to see my best friend lying lifeless on a sled in Wyoming. His body was still warm and he was the same Cam with a scruffy beard and long ragged hair, only he was not breathing.
The next twenty minutes or so were somewhat of a blur. I remember hearing a lot of crying and sobbing coming from the rest of the group as they pulled up to the same horrible site. There were now a lot more cop cars and by-standers wondering what in the world had happened. After filling out police reports and answering as many questions as we could answer I walked back to Cam’s body by myself, wondering what we were going to do. At that time I had a very strong spiritual experience and comfort come over me, I knew that Cam’s spirit was still lingering with us at that time. It’s very hard to explain, but it almost felt peaceful. I even felt guilty at the time for not being more hysterical. I remember hearing over and over in my head: “Please try and be strong for now, your time to mourn will be later”. I didn’t know why I kept hearing this until I had a very ugly thought enter my head; his family, friends and girlfriend Andrea had no idea what had happened! This was a very painful thought because I knew how much pain this news was going to cause. At that same time a female police officer approached me with her cell phone and told me that it would be a good idea to tell his parents. She informed me that the local police in Salt Lake would be getting the wire soon and would be delivering this horrible news to his family in person fairly soon. We all felt that it would be a good decision for me to call his family and to hear it from us rather than a police officer that might not have the proper information at the time. I really struggled with this phone call, I even dialed the number a couple of times, heard Cam’s mom Diane answer, then hung-up without saying a word. Eventually I gave the phone back to the officer and decided that I needed a little more time before making the call, I simply could not do it at this particular time.

The coroner then showed up and explained to me that he was going to take Cam’s body to Pinedale, WY and then bring it to Salt Lake in a couple of days. I remember trying to explain to the coroner and police officers that we didn’t need a coroner and we would take Cam’s body back to Salt Lake to a local mortuary. I obviously wasn’t thinking straight and eventually had an officer pull me aside and explain to me that this was obviously not a legal option. To me, he was still “Cam”, in my mind nothing really had changed except that he was not breathing. I wanted to take care of him, keep him with us and bring him back to his family where he belonged. We eventually lifted Cam’s lifeless body into the vehicle and watched as one of our best friends was driven away to a small town in Wyoming. This was the most gut-wrenching, terrible feeling that I have felt in my entire life. I then got back on my snowmobile and drove the longest 3 miles back to the cabin that I can ever remember. Once at the cabin, nobody said a word. Rich, Shawn, Brandon Woolston and I quickly packed our things and loaded them onto our snowmobiles, we were going home.
Rich and I went in my car and were followed by Brandon and Shawn who had agreed to drive Cam’s car back to Salt Lake. The only smile that I can remember on that day came when Shawn turned Cam’s car on and Michael Jackson was blaring in the CD player in the car. I can picture Cam very vividly, driving through the country singing to Michael Jackson at the top of his lungs! We then filed into the two vehicles and started the long trek back to Salt Lake. I knew that I had to call his family now and deliver the tragic news that would forever change their lives. I pressed the “Onstar” button in my Chevy Trailblazer because I lacked cell phone coverage. The operator then connected me to 801-942-2629. This is the same number that I have dialed for the past 20 years to see if my buddy Cam could play, now I’m having to tell the people who love Cam the most that he will not be coming back home. When I was finally connected and Diane answered, once again I hung-up, lacking the courage to deliver the news. Rich then made me pull the car over, gather myself, and my thoughts to make the call again. Diane answered again with a very happy “Hello”, just the sound of her voice made it very difficult to even breath, I had no idea what to say, or how to put this into words. Finally I said, “Diane, this is Ozzy, I’m sorry but there has been an accident and Cam is dead”. Now being removed from the situation I can think of many different ways to break this news that may be more tactful, but at the time, I was just doing whatever I could to force these words out of my mouth. Diane was obviously hysterical and kept repeating “Ozzy, please tell me it isn’t true”, she then ended the very brief conversation by saying that she had to call his father Cam Sr. right now.

The next 300 or so miles were very painful; I remember having very mixed emotions. On one hand, I wanted to be with his family to help them in any way that I could, on the other hand, I was afraid of seeing this incredibly happy family in the utter depths of despair. This was the longest drive that I can ever remember. We eventually arrived at the Court home to a multitude of people who all love Cam very much, trying to make sense of few tidbits of information that they had received to this point. I then explained every detail that I could remember, that may help in some way to make sense of what happened earlier in the day. After spending a few more hours at the Court home, I drove back to my house to be with my wife. I remember feeling incredibly grateful for Janalyn and her love. I was exhausted and fell right to sleep around 2:00 AM, the next feeling I had was the absolute worst feeling that I have ever had. I woke up around 7:00 A.M. and the strength from Cam that I had felt the day before had completely left. The reality of the situation had finally hit me, Cam really died!

I was hysterical for the next few weeks my brother Carter, my father Dwight and by brother-in-law Eric Smith all came over the morning of the 5th to give me a blessing. I knew at this moment that everything that happened the day before was real, and that these events would forever change my life. Even now, three months removed from Feb 4th, the pain is still there and I imagine it always will be there. I am definitely starting to laugh a lot more when I think of Cam, and the thought that gives me the most peace is that I know that I will see him again someday!

Cam, the best way that I can express my feelings to you is simply that I miss you. My wife and I found out on the night of Cam's funeral that she was pregnant, on Oct 7th 2005 we had a little girl and appropriately named her "Camryn".

Via con Dios!!!

Bryan “Ozzy” Osborn"

Stay-At-Home Mom OD's on Rock Band 2

Headline: "Stay-At-Home Mom OD's On Rock Band 2"

Draper, UT - Late Wednesday night, officials found a stay-at-home mother of three paralyzed in her Draper home from an apparent attempt to achieve "Expert" status while playing the lead guitar on a FooFighters song in Rock Band 2. Officials found the mom frozen in a standing position holding her cherished Fender guitar, eyes glazed over, one hand with her fingers cripled tightly around the upper frets of the guitar, and the other hand raised over her head in the universal "rock on" hand signal. She was surrounded by several empty Diet Coke cans and crumpled up bags of "healthy" sweet potato tortilla chips (see story on Oprah's dramatic weight gain.)

Friends say the mom began her addiction to Rock Band early last year, but ever since her husband began working late nights during the week, the mother seemed to become more and more obsessed with perfecting her new craft. Over the past few weeks, neighbors recall overhearing extremely loud versions of songs like "Livin of Prayer," "Today" and "Give It Away" and even considered calling child protective services until they heard her girls cheering her on and calling her their "hero."

It is unknown whether or not the 36-year old mom will recover and once again attempt this amazing feat. She is currently in Rock Band rehab, taking time away from the game and doing the healthy, productive things she used to do with her time in the evenings before games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero were invented: watching educational shows like 24, American Idol, The Biggest Loser, American Idol again, Lost, American Idol yet again, The Office, etc. etc.

To be continued . . .

Validation

This is so great! If you can, take a few minutes and watch it - you won't regret it!

Gratitude: World's Best Dad

Well here we are on the 24th of December and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! And it's not because I'm excited about anything I may or may not get - in fact, that's one of the beauties of having a "financially challenged" Christmas budget for each other - our expectations are really low which frees us up to focus on the giving to others instead of the getting.



I was just thinking this morning that I hadn't posted in a few days and that I still had so many people to post about, when I checked our voicemail and there was a message from my Dad saying "just calling to wish you all a Merry Christmas and tell you I love you." This is the same Dad who we will see in just a few short hours for Christmas Eve dinner, so it's not like he lives half way across the country and had to call to wish us Merry Christmas. He just gets caught up in the Christmas spirit and had to share it - that's so my Dad!


Most of you have met my Dad and if you haven't then I'm sorry for you because he is truly one of the kindest, most easy going people you'll ever meet. He's the guy who whistles almost 24/7, smiles at complete strangers, can sit down and play the guitar and piano beautifully, by ear miind you, and never gets too fired up about anything (unless it has something to do with the Utes - then watch out!) He is so humble and yet so disciplined about certain things. He's the guy who you'll be talking to one Friday evening and asking him what he's doing the following morning and he'll say "oh just gonna go run a little marathon." How am I related to this person?

This is the same guy who accidentaly drove a golf cart into wet cement as the contruction workers who had just poured the cement watched. He's also the guy who cheerfully used to ask "who's this?" when I - his only daughter - would call him and say "Hi Dad" on the phone. He's actually gotten better about that - I think he's been practicing or something.

That's just my Dad - mellow, kind, cheerful, a little flighty sometimes but always means well and does it with a smile. I love him so very much and love watching my girls with him as well. He's a wonderful Grandpa and would really do anything (except change a diaper) for his grandkids.

Merry Christmas Dad - you truly are the best Dad a girl could ever hope for!

Gratitude: Old pianos and older friends

Santa came early to our house yesterday - well, sort of! My good friend Ali (whose been a friend since I was a Brownie!) had our old piano delivered to us yesterday morning. My Grandma Osborn gave us this piano when I was six or seven years old and I immediately became addicted to playing it. I took lessons for several years, but soon realized that I got more enjoyment from just playing by ear - like my Dad does. I loved going down stairs in my parents basement and always having that piano there to welcome me. It has got to be at least 100 years old and sounds horrible compared to a good piano, but I never cared. It's the perfect piano to have with little kids around because there's nothing they can do to hurt it, and besides, I think it's charming!

When my parents moved about 10 years ago, they no longer had room for it and gave it to me and Eric. Then when Eric and I moved into our Sugarhouse home about eight years ago, we didn't have room for it either. Ali, who needed a piano at the time for her darling little girls, helped us out and gave it a home. I honestly didn't think we'd really ever need it again and didn't think too much more about. I was happy that it was in a good home with little girls who loved playing it as much as I did.

In the midst of the financial roller coaster that we've been on over the last seven years, Santa brought me a beautiful baby grand piano several years ago, which later had to be sold to help get us through some difficult months earlier this year. We were hoping to be able to get another, less expensive piano in the near future, but I wasn't holding my breath. So it was such a blessing to get Ali's phone call last week telling us that they were buying her Aunt's piano and wondering if we wanted my old one back.

If I didn't know any better, Ali (my friend on the left - Nic's the one on the right) probably got wind of our "pianoless" state and decided to buy her Aunt's piano in order to have a reason to give ours back. She's always been a wonderful friend to me, and even though we can go months and months without contact, I always feel like she's there for me - through good times and bad. Thanks a lot Ali! Now I need to stop crying and go over there are start playing that piano!

Gratitude: "All I Want Is You Mom"

Yesterday I asked Kate what she wanted for Christmas, just to see if her list has stayed the same, and she gave me a big hug and said with her goofy face "All I want is you Mom!" Now I'm smart enough to know that she was on a little sugar high from the candy she was eating at the time, and anyone who knows Kate knows that she can get a little silly sometimes. But it did make me stop and think for a minute about how true it really is - amidst all of the holiday craziness that seems to surround us at Christmas, all our kids really want is more time with us.

I had been looking at past Christmas pictures earlier in the day and couldn't hold back the tears as I realized how quickly they're growing up and how fleeting these little moments are. I realize that the best gift I can give my kids this year and every year is my time, my unconditional love and my attention (even when I have a million other things to do!)

Gratitude: Tutus and tiaras

I'm sorry, but there's just nothing cuter than a little girl in a tutu and a tiara! No wait, there is - lots of little girls dressed up in tutus and tiaras!

Halle had her first dance recital last Saturday night and did such a great job. We were really only expecting her to stand up there and pick her nose (which would have been okay 'cause she looked so dang cute in her costume, who cares?) but she actually danced and had fun. Her cousin Camryn also performed and was, of course, wonderful too.

These pictures just remind me of how much I love having little girls and all of the fun and frills that come along with it. I do realize that ten years from now we'll be living in a state of drama and tears 24/7, which makes these pictures all the more precious!

Gratitude: Grandma "O" (my wonderful Mom!)

To say that I am only grateful for my mom at Christmas time would be a lie. We are grateful for her 365 days a year, and if my kids had their way, that's how many days they would get to go to her house! But there's something extra special about my mom's house at Christmas time. Her already beautiful, comforting home is transformed into a magical Christmas wonderland made specifically for her grandkids. It's every kids dream - full of twinkle lights, vintage toys, singing snowmen and candles lit for the sole purpose of letting the grandkids blow them out.

She has this special "grandkids" room that has a lot of our old toys in there, like my old dollhouse that she and her mom made for me one Christmas, and my little wooden cupboard, and Carter's space shuttle - it's awesome!

Some days, I feel like my mom was put on this earth just to be a grandma - she's that good! Since Eric's mom passed away while I was pregnant with the twins, my mom has had to do double duty as grandma, and even though I've told her this a million times, I know that Grandma Linda is grateful to my mom for making up the difference.

My mom has been there for us through thick and thin and is involved in almost every aspect of our girls lives. I see what a difference it makes to my kids have such a wonderful grandma who is so interested in them and gives them such unconditional love. Thanks Mom - you're the best!!!

Gratitude: Old Christmas Movies Like "Holiday Inn"

Everyone has a favourite old Christmas movie. For some it's "A Christmas Carol", or "Miracle On 34th Street", perhaps "It's A Wonderful Life." For me, it's Irving Berlin's "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby, Fred Astair and Marjorie Reynolds made in 1942. Made long before I was born, I remember watching it with my Mom growing up and for some reason, it had an influence on me. Maybe it's the black & white war-time feel or the amazing dance numbers, or the comforting sound of Bing Crosby singing White Christmas for the first time. Did you know that "Holiday Inn" was the the first time the song "White Christmas" appeared? It wasn't until 1954 that the more popular movie titled "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen came out, which is also wonderful movie. But for me, there's just something about "Holiday Inn" that feels like re-visiting old friends at a magical, mythical place.

Santa Has Problems

I'm sorry, but if I don't write this down now I'll forget. I was sitting at dinner with the girls tonight, and telling them about the news story that I saw last night about how Santa's workshop might not be able to get all of the toys made this year because there were so many good kids. I was just trying to put a little doubt in their minds that there's a chance that they may not get what they asked for - it's more fun that way on Christmas morning.

So anyway, I'm telling Annie and Kate this and then Annie sets her grilled cheese sandwich down and says, "but Mom, Santa doesn't have any problems." And as I'm trying not to laugh as I think about all of Santa's "problems" Annie holds a finger up and says "except for, of course, the sleigh crash of '64."

Yes, of course Annie. The infamous sleigh crash of 1964. Where does she come up with this stuff?

Gratitude: Amy and Janalyn

Today I was very grateful for the two awesome women my little brothers were fortunate enough to marry: Amy and Janalyn. I was thinking about them as I was driving over to Amy's house this morning. Amy babysits Halle for me every Wednesday so that I can volunteer in the girls' classes. I was thinking about how lucky I am to actually LIKE the girls my brothers married, let alone be able to call them two of my very best friends! Since I grew up without a sister, I had always dreamed of having one. I don't think I knew what I was missing out on until my brothers got married: first Carter to Amy, then a few years later Bryan married Janalyn. I admire so many things about both of them. Amy is one of the most laid back, easy going people I've ever met. She's a little more on the quiet side and is definitely not one show off or put herself in the limelight. I think her worst fear is speaking in public, especially in church! She is loyal, genuine and would do anything for her family. She shares Carter's love of all things football - specifically Utah and Oregon and is one of the most dedicated mom's I know.




And Janalyn, well, what's not to like about Janalyn? She's spunky, vivacious and always has something funny to say. One of the first things I remember noticing about Janalyn was what a great listener she is: whenever you talk to her she makes you feel like she totally understands and hears every word you said. When Bryan lost his best friend Cam, almost four years ago in a snowmobiling accident, Janalyn was there for him 24/7 just listening - which was exactely what my little brother needed. And for as stylish and put together she may seem on the outside, one of the her best qualities is that she'll be the first one to poke fun at herself and won't stop until everyone in the room is laughing! She's a great singer (she even played "Annie" when she was little!) served a mission in Brazil and can shop like nobody's business! Like Amy, she too helps me out with my girls when I need it (our whole family lives within 5 minutes of each other - how cool is that?)

They both are amazing people and I am so blessed to have them in my life. And the best part is, I have several other amazing sisters-in-law on the Smith side of the family who warrant an entirely separate post to this blog, so stay tuned!

Gratitude: Christmas Music

This weekend I was grateful for Christmas music and the ability it has to bring peace and even, yes, Christmas cheer to a snippy conversation with my husband.

For example, Eric and I were driving in the car with the kids, on our way home from a "lovely" afternoon spent waiting in line to see Santa and get pictures. Eric was THRILLED that he had a chance to wait in that marvelous line and got just a little bugged with a nice lady in front of us let another family "butt" in line. I'm sure you can see how this ended - no, there wasn't a brawl, but Eric just couldn't resist confronting the lady and I was mortified and the rest is history.

Needless to say, we were both bugged at each other in the car, and just at the right moment "Frosty The Snowman" came on the radio. Now I'm someone who was raised by a mother who started playing Christmas music in September. I physically can't help singing or humming Christmas Carols in the car - especially Frosty The Snowman. And apparently Eric can't resist either. So before you knew it, we were both singing loud for all to hear and there was peace in the land.

Thank you Frosty!!!