Yes Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir

Dad is 82... Basically Ancient

I understand there will be a family open house for Dad on his birthday.  As much as we would love to be there and be "creamed" with you all, we will not be there.  Hopefully next year.  We are just waiting for a good excuse to come out and meet Grandma Thelma.  One other thing we are waiting for and that is for air fare to come down : )  So it may be a while.

In the mean time I would love to extend and invitation to anyone who wishes to come to our neck of the woods.  Even if you would just like to send a kid or two for a week with me in DC.  That would be welcomed!  The east coast Tagg Family would be glad shuttle some cousins around and see the sights.  Think it over!

Anyways I have decided to post our familys letter to Dad on the KGC blog... here goes.

Eliza's Answers
1-What does she love about Grandpa?  "I love how he makes something for me...does he make me things?"
2-Eliza's memory about Grandpa is him saying "I have eyes in the back of my head" (it's entirely possible she is mixing up her Grandpas here)
3-Eliza doesn't know how she is going to live her life to honor Grandpa.  She is 4 so we'll give her some time to think about that...

Audrey's Answers
1- What do we love about him?  Audrey said "he always has something funny to tell"
2-Audrey's favorite memory is playing "I love you the most" with Grandpa
3-One thing Audrey wants to do to him is give him a big hug and squeeze all the blood out of him.  (Classy no?  She may have misunderstood the last question but I liked that answer).

Drew's Answers
1-Loves that Grandpa has a big house.
2-Drew's favorite memory is having a competition with Grandpa over who was the tallest by raising up our arms higher than each other.
3-Drew is going to serve an honorable mission for Grandpa Whatcott.

Evan's Answers
1-Evan loves that he has a big personality.
2-Flying airplanes with him is a memory Evan has of Grandpa Whatcott.
3- Evan is going to learn to fly a plane to honor his Grandpa.

Nathan's Answers
1- Loves that Grandpa is a happy guy.
2-"Him making cheese pancakes for us" is Nathan's favorite memory
3-I am going to buy one of those plastic toys with the substances that don't mix together and are different colors.... They look like this:

Troy's Answers

1-What do you love about him?  "I love his laugh"

2-A favorite memory? "I knew I was welcomed into his family when upon my first visit to the house he offered me a slice off of his huge hunk of 'adult only' swiss cheese."

3-What will you do with your life to honor him?  "I will treat his daughter with love and respect"

Kelly's Answers

1-I love that my Dad has such great self confidence.  Nothing gets him down for too long and he has a big gigantic heart and wants to help out whenever he can.  

2-A favorite memory of mine (and his I think) is when he rescued me during a blizzard after my car had spun out and ran off the road while I was driving home from Colorado as a young college student.  He had to finish up his work that day and then come and get me in white out conditions over through steep canyon roads.  For years afterwards I was reminded of this event when I was working as a hygienist in his dental office, and patients would come through and say "Hey, weren't you that daughter of his that he rescued in the snow storm?  I was a patient that day!"  

3-To honor my Dad I will try and live a perfectly honest life.  His exactness in this department has always been an example to me.  Except for maybe that time he went to Montana to purchase a motor home to avoid paying state taxes on the vehicle.  But that's a grey area I guess.  Happy Birthday Dad!!!

The Twins Turn 57!?

I can hardly believe I just revealed the age of the twins.  It's a good thing they don't read the blog or I'd probably be in trouble right?  I better be sure and state that they don't look their age at all.  No one in their right mind would think they had that many years behind them.  That is one good trait the Whatcotts have.  I hope to follow in those footsteps myself.

Some memories I have of Dawn and Diane will be shared in honor of their birthday today.  Please feel free to click on the comments button below and offer your own memories to mine.  This blog only really works well as a group effort.  And what a great way for us to keep in touch with each other right?  For those who live far away or don't get to see family much it could be a lifeline to the family.  Anyways- I will stop guilt tripping you all and get on with my post now : )

First Dawn... Dawn was like a little mother to me when I was small.  She was 15 when I was born.  We'd go on long walks in the mountains together.  She'd babysit me all the time.  I remember going on dates with her when she was a bit older.  Her dates gave me gifts.  It was a sweet gig.  She even brought me into the shower with her on occasion.  It was very informative and not at all creepy.  Dawny loved me like a daughter.  I had a great time with Dawn when she recently visited my family all by her big girl self.  Since her son has free air fare privileges, she has been a big-time traveler.  We saw the sights in DC together and she played with my kids a lot.  It sure was nice having someone dote on the kids.  She even slept in the girl's room with them.  No showers though.  Maybe next visit (just kidding).  I will always be glad that I have Dawn in my life.  She is a truly genuine nice person with a big heart.  A great sister,  I love her.

Care Free in DC

Now Diane.... Diane is also a great sister that I love.  She has the gift of gab and loves to chat with you on just about any topic.  She has been a great help to Dad in his time of need this past year ironing his shirts and cleaning for him.  She is determined and has pursued her education against large odds late in life.  I am so proud of her for getting her masters degree in education and for getting a teaching job.  She teaches 2nd grade.  I have a second grader and when I volunteer in her class I just think "whew!  Teaching in tough!"  I am ready to leave when my hour is up let me tell you.  I guess it's no big deal to Diane who has birthed enough kids in her lifetime to outnumber the rest of us.  Maybe she missed the noise so she had to go into teaching.  I will always remember the best Diane story from when we were traveling as a family in Mexico and we'd taken a boat to Puerto Vallarta.  She got to chatting innocently with a few frisky sailors.  Then it ended up in a cat and mouse chase around on the deck.  Luckily she got away unscathed.  I seem to recall one of the twins (could have been Dawn) having no clue when learning to drive and accidentally running into the curb, almost taking out a fire hydrant.  It would seem that the concept of turning the wheel back to the straight position after taking a turn hadn't quite set in yet.  Pretty darn funny when you think about it.

Though the twins have had their ups and downs I know that they both still care for one another.  I hope they can one day work out their problems.  It sure has made for some situation-filled Christmas parties though!  You know me, always looking for the bright side.

Happy Birthday to you both!

*Correction: I have been informed by Dawn that she was the one who ran into the fire hydrant and that it was due to icy road conditions...  My apologies!  


Also another update: Diane is recently engaged to be married in June.  Exciting news indeed!

Viva La Vida

Watch for Drew and Nathan playing in the orchestra here.  Also, please don't miss the great dancing in the first row of the audience!

Poetry from Nathan

Where I'm From

By Nathan Tagg

I am from kim-chi

From tasty subway deli-man-ju,

Processed milk shakes and

Bul-go-gi

I am from my card that I carried around in my wallet,

Which said who I was and where I was from.

From my trip to the other side.

I am from my first video games

My terrible first skateboard,

My dach-chi collection, which grew and grew with each victory

And from putting 100 won pieces in gumball machines,

As if they were quarters.

(Which was illegal)

I am from the military bases,

From the buildings that were once bomb shelters,

From the south of the boarder,

From the thirty eighth.

The cement step with the word “blessed”,

Permanently engraved in it.

I am from the great and terrible hill that,

Was climbed to get to church,

Every Sunday and Wednesday.

I am from the purple skies,

 The fourth largest city in the world,

The massive amounts of traffic.

The intersection of death.

The grammatically incorrect signs.

The misuse of ingurish

I am from Mr. O

I am from god

I am from Mister Kim

The underfunded school teachers

From troy

I am from “Everything will be over eventually”

From

“Pennies don’t really matter here”

And from

“The small choices you make will affect you forever”

From

“The door of fate swings on small hinges”

And from

“Will you run down the street and buy some milk?”

with our friend Buddha

Q & A with Candace

1.     1. Hi Candace!  What’s happening in your life?  Enquiring minds want to know! Does losing 25 lbs count?? Haha … Um see below?  #2 & #3 & #8 hold the most exciting news. J

2.     2. Tell us about your love life?  Who is that dashing young man we see on your blog? I have been dating the most handsome & incredible guy – his name is Matt Burch.  He is 32 and divorced with 2 kids.  A mouthful I know, but as cheesy as it sounds – totally worth the baggage.  He is a CPA for Ernst & Young and works REALLY hard to provide for his kids, which I find admirable. He has a little boy who is 4 and a little girl who turns 2 this month. They are the lights of his life. He is the perfect Daddy. They are also the lights of my life right now. I just adore them. Really. We have been dating for 7 months, and are talking saying the ‘love’ word so I’m getting pretty stoked to move from the W’s to the B’s.  J

3.     3. What are you doing these days at work? I work at HP and just recently got a promotion onto a team I’ve worked hard to get on. I am a Sales Specialist (which is basically a Partner Business Manager) for HP.  So I support all of HP’s partners/resellers in the West Region. I love it so much – I get to travel each quarter out to California, Oregon, Washington, etc.  I just love being the “go to gal” and that’s precisely who I am for the West.

4.     4. What do you think about the revelation that the writers of Mormon Bachelor Pad were really 40 yr old balding divorced men?  Wacky!!!  I was a little disgusted and just sad that they have such pathetic lives that they can live separate lying lives.  Their stories were pretty crazy….

5.     5. Do you find enough time to play with your kissy face BFFs lately? Nothing is more important in this life than the relationships we nurture with others in this life and with our Lord.  My friends buoy me up and I am proud to call them my BFFs.  I ALWAYS make time for those I love. Always.

6.     6. Are you remembering to be like Arial in the Little Mermaid and “keep singing!”  Though life takes me through the happiest of times and the saddest of times, I always having a song in my heart ~ I just don’t always torture other people by SINGING it.  J

7.     7. Have you been using your floral arranging talents lately?  The flowers you did for JoAnn’s funeral were lovely btw.  Thank you, it was an honor to do flowers for the family.  I recently set up a blog/website for my side biz for flowers (www.candacescreations.blogspot.com) and that has brought me 2 weddings so far for the spring, and this weekend I am swamped with orders for 2 different Proms.  I love doing flowers and foresee it being forever in my future.

8.    8. What does the future hold for you Candace…. Ideally.  If you had asked me this 5 yrs ago I would have the storybook answers of “Married in the Temple, Kids, Stay at Home Mommy, Gorgeous House, Nice car….blah blah”  But now?  Of course I still want to get married *to Matt ideally* and of course I will eventually want kids, but if I marry Matt – I got 2 right off the bat! YAY!!  And the house thing – well, keep it on the downlow – but we are already casually looking…. Just in case we get married. J  I do plan on working and even when I do stay at home (3 kids would definitely warrant staying at home) then I would like to start my own flower business from home. Matt is 100% supportive and I think it would be fun to eventually include the kids in my business. I also plan to FINALLY finish my Bachelor’s degree at Weber and/or University of Utah.  That is another story in itself… No matter what happens, I plan to be happy and always continuing up and up with my knowledge, work ethic, and relationships.

      9. Tell us an embarrassing moment why don’t you?  Embarrassing moment of the week: I was talking to a work associate that I admire for his hard work. I took my ring off and noticed my finger was green under it (while he’s talking). I decided to use spit to clean it off but instead of just wetting my finger like I had thought, I had this long spit string that attached from my mouth to my finger.  I was mortified when the associate just stopped talking and stared at me.  His face seemed to say “REALLY?”  It was way embarrassing      
     10.You are super pretty Candace.  I hope you know that.  But you are also nice on the inside which my mother taught me was the most important. Thanks Aunt Kelly, your mom is one of my most favorite people that has Ever lived. (definitely in the top 5)

Candace and Matt

Happy Ides of March Griever

Or is it spelled Greever?  I googled and went with Griever.  Although I am not sure if when we gave Chris that nick name that we meant "a term in Final Fantasy VIII; the name of a lion's head crest commonly associated with Suall Leonhart." We'll have to consult Roland on that since I think he was the one who gave him the name that stuck.  Probably he meant something more along the lines of "one who grieves" due to Chris complaining so much on a long hike.  Whatever it means, Chris will always have the alias name of Griever to me.

Chris was the sibling just older than me growing up and since he was 5 yrs older I had a difficult time keeping up with him.  I am sure that most of the time he saw me as a the pesky little sister always trying to tag along.  There are a few times I recall that he let me into his inner circle.  Like the time when he and some buddies were filming a western home movie and they let me be the 'saloon gal.'  Even though I was flat as a board I tried to live up to the part.  I was seriously flattered (although I was probably their only choice).  I dressed up in a old dance costume that was red satin with black lace and used one of the kitchen's metal pitchers to pour drinks for them.  I'm sure my role of bar maid will be remembered forever.  I remember being giddy with the excitement of being included.  Secretly I knew Chris really wanted me around because when he built the fort up in the side of the foothills across the street from our house he made a bathroom facility with two places to sit "boys" and "girls."  Who else would be using the girls potty but me?  Another time he included me was to let me into the pitch black piano room while he and some other brothers were shooting rubber bands at each other in the dark.  He was right to be hesitant about letting me in there.  It was traumatic.

Another childhood memory I have of brother Chris is his candy store.  Since sugar was pretty much off limits in our home the thought that Chris had huge stashes of it made me salivate just walking in his room.  I must admit to sneaking in there and helping myself on occasions.  He had a great money maker idea when he purchased a bunch of candy at the store and then sold it to desperate neighbor kids with lots of pocket money to throw away on priceless a priceless sugar fix from the neighborhood supplier- my brother.  I think his big mistake was selling a candy bar to Joey Covey for $5.00.  That brought down the hammer of justice on his sugar gig.  I also think the fact that Chris got a large number of cavities that year was a bit of a giveaway.  He had to give up sugar 100%.  No more jello-brand cheesecakes on Sundays even (lucky him).

Chris has always 'walked to the beat of his own drummer' so they say.  I really admire that about him.  The more I learn about mainstream people in life, the more I want to be different.  I want to be my own person, just like Chris.  Chris is super smart.  We always knew this.  Remember when he got straight A's and Dad had to buy a pool table for the entire family.  That was awesome!

He was the one who warned me all about the Russians who all wanted to kill us.  He was the one I listened to Dr Demento with on Sunday nights.  He was the one who took me to dollar movies when we were both in our 20's living at Dad's house still.  Sorry you had to miss Joe vs the Volcano Stephanie.  It wasn't really a great movie anyways.  I don't think she forgave Chris for taking his little sister to that one instead of his girlfriend for a few weeks at least.  Luckily she got over it and Stephanie and I get along great today.  She is really something too.  I really missed Chris's companionship when he moved out of the house.  He was/is a good brother.  He's a good family man and an awesome science teacher.  Too bad he lives so far away and we never see too much of Chris and his family.  Maybe they will take that East coast trip they have been trying to plan for the past year or so.  Hint hint : )

We hope Chris has a wonderful birthday on the ides of March (tomorrow).  Beware the ides of March Griever.  Each time it passes you will only get another year older!!!!!

And possibly a bit grayer....