Farewell to the King of Pop

We were in LA when news broke out that Michael Jackson had died. To be more specific, we were at Sea World and saw that the cartoonist had drawn a picture of him and it was captioned, "RIP Michael Jackson". We were like... "what??!!" The whole city seemed to be in disarray. Everywhere we went people were talking about him, every car stereo was blasting his music, only 1 day after his death... already there were street vendors with Michael Jackson T-shirts for sale, commemorating his life. We were in Hollywood on Friday night and walked down Hollywood Boulevard's "walk of fame" We saw stars for Kermit the Frog, Britney Spears, Sandra Bullock, Jackie Chan, Jimi Hendrix, Duke Ellington and many more. What we were really looking for was Johnny Depp... Ciara was hoping to get her hands on his star. :) as we continued on, we passed people we had never even heard of... it became glaringly evident that something MAJOR was happening up ahead. There were police helicopters, fire trucks, news crews - it was chaos.

We soon realized that people were lined up for probably 2 blocks (I'd guesstimate approx 1000-1500 people) just to get close to Michael Jackson's star. Fans wanted to take pictures, put out flowers... and just somehow feel a little closer to the king of pop. Something I thought was pretty cool, was a street preacher that was in the middle of the line. I've heard of street preachers such as this, but never seen one. He was standing on a box above the crowd saying, "Michael Jackson was the king of pop... but there is a King greater than this, it's Jesus Christ..." What a message!

They were handing out fake money with the gospel message on it and come to find out - it was Living Waters Ministry. (Kirk Cameron's ministry.) Pretty neato!

In jr. high and my freshman year of high school, I was a crazed fan, myself. I loved his appearance, his music and of course his sweet dance moves. I'd stay up half the night just hoping that one of his videos would come on Night Tracks. Remember Night Tracks? :) Little did I know at the time that he was breaking all the rules - becoming the first black man to have his music videos aired on these shows. I was totally crazy about this guy that would soon become the king of pop. My walls were covered with posters of Michael Jackson. I swore that I would marry him one day. ha ha. (uh huh....) :) I recently found some Michael Jackson keepsakes including a gigantic satin silk screened poster of him in white pants and a yellow sweater vest. (This isn't mine, this is a paper poster, but you can see how cute he was!)

He was so handsome then. I also have a book about him that I'm sure (along with the satin poster) will no doubt be worth some bucks eventually.

Having been such a fan in the past, I'm surprised that I wasn't more upset when I learned the news of his death, but I am sad. I'm sad that a man with such incredible God given talent would end up this way. I guess I was naive to the fact that he was taking so much pain medication and that his health was so fragile. When you think about his lifestyle and what he put his body through, physically - performing, and also through the number of reconstructive surgeries... I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. And for all his fame and wealth, he wasn't seemingly a happy man. Just goes to show, fame and fortune don't necessarily = happiness.

I saw this video today, it displays a progression of the changes that Michael Jackson went through over the years. It's astounding! And yes, this too makes me sad. He was beautiful from the beginning, but as a People magazine article mentioned, his father teased him about his big nose. Eventually he did something about it, and while he only admits to 2 nose reconstructions, it's very apparent that much more had taken place. The face changes are incredibly drastic. I was a bit taken back by it. Just thought I'd share this for those of you out there that have ever loved Michael Jackson. Farewell Michael... rest in peace.



I'll be back soon with more to share about our fabulous California vacation!!! :)

California Dreamin'

Santa Monica Beach

I have been dreamin' about a family vacation like this since my kids were too little to even consider taking along on a vacation! When Ciara was young, she carried on about wanting to go to Disney World. We told her that when she was 10 we would go to Disney. Well... we're nearly 8 years past that promise and now her and I both get sick on rides at the amusement park (bummer) - so when the opportunity came up for the kids and I to join Luke on business and mix in a little family fun in the sun... we jumped on it! If we wait much longer, our precious grown up daughter will be too busy living her own life to join us on such a trip. Brandon and Ciara have never flewn on an airplane or seen the ocean... so we're gonna wrap it all up this go around and I can't wait!! Luke's travel schedule has been horrible the last few months. I feel like we've barely seen him. He's been flying all over takin' care of business for his ever growing division. (that's another post all together!) He will attend 2 meetings while we're in California, but we can handle that - there will be things the kids and I can do to occupy our time in sunny California until Big Daddy can join us. :)

We will leave Wed. a.m. (that's tomorrow!!!!) and drive to Denver, Colo. where we'll catch a 3:15 flight into Los Angelos. That would be enough travel for one day, but once we arrive in L.A. we'll take a rental car down Pacific Coast Highway and go on into San Diego where Luke will have a meeting on thursday a.m. Once that's done, it's Sea World. Should be a fantastic time. I checked the show schedule and it looks incredible! We are gonna try to get in some beach time too. Then on Friday a.m. we drive back into L.A. where Luke will drop us off in the Santa Monica Boulevard area to hang out while he gets his meeting there out of the way. I'm sure we'll find plenty to while we wait for him... what with the pier and beach right there and shopping galore! After the meeting we'll hook up for lunch and then spend the day sight seeing. Each of the kids picked one BIG thing that they wanna do. Brandon wants to go to the Getty Villa Museum which is a Greek and Roman Museum, Ciara wants to check out Santee Alley which is supposed to be pretty incredible shopping. Also on the list of things to check out are Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Sign, China Plaza, and Venice Beach. I hope we can squeeze it all into a day! :) Doesn't it sound fun??!! The girls wanted to go on a celebrity home tour - but I don't think the guys will go for it. Maybe we'll get lucky and see a celebrity or 2 out and about on our L.A. exploration. That would just be too cool! Saturday morning we catch an early flight out of L.A. back into Denver - hop into the hespe mobile and head for Larkspur, Colorado where we'll take in a Renaissance Festival. I think the whole family will will be highly entertained by that activity! We'll rest Saturday night in a hotel in Castle Rock then once we're up and about Sunday morning we are homeward bound.

We've never taken a vacation like this before - could be a once in a life time for all 4 of us... so I'm really excited about this precious time together experiencing something new. My cousin is staying at the house with little Shoogsie and taking care of the house and outdoor pets. I'm so thankful! Now we can just enjoy our getaway. Please pray for our safety and with a shutterbug like me... you can count on lots of photos when we get back!! Until next time... PEACE OUT!

Photo Booth Fun With Our German Girl

Wednesday's Walk is FUN! Wanna know more? Click the photo above, ya know ya want to! ;)

So I was thinking about what to share for Wednesday's Walk, then it dawned on me that it was a year ago (yesterday) that our German girl returned home from her 10 month stay with the crazy Hespe family in America. It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by. I think of Tina often and remember the fun times that we had, the hard times, the teaching times (Atheism vs. Christianity) and just everything in between. I took so many pictures during her stay here, but I stumbled upon these and felt like they were the most fun. It reminds me of the laughs we shared. Goodness, there were lots of laughs. She didn't always know the right English word to use and she would say things like, "Christmas Man" for Santa Claus, "Man Chicken" for rooster, "Pomice" for french fries (it's the German word)... then there was the confusion in the feminine hygiene ailse at Wal-mart. It turns out there aren't as many choices in Europe! ha ha. She was a sweet girl. Now I caution you prior to viewing this slideshow.... photos may be creepy/hideous, and certainly hilarious. I always thought of our family as fairly pleasant looking (see photos at the right of this page for "normal" ha ha) - but wow... these photos are doozers. So, without further ado... I give you Photo Booth Fun With Our German Girl ~ enjoy!!! :) Oh... and FYI... Tina is the blonde.

Other posts about our German Girl (click on the title to go read post) : Time Flies , Lots of Excitement , What's Been Going On At The Hespe Home, Tina's Here! , Mother/Son Getaway and a German Girl Named Tina!

Chocolate Fridays

Who wouldn't want FREE chocolate every Friday? I know I could use some chocolate right now!! Oh wait... it's Friday! :) Click on the link to sign up for free chocolate every Friday from the Mars company. My cousin passed this on to me, so I thought I'd share the love with you. :) Happy weekend!! Jami

http://www.realchocolate.com/

"The Whirlwind" - warning: long post

It feels good to be back on blogger!! It's been so long since I've been able to enjoy reading updates on my friends and family and sharing about what our family has been up to. I could have shared so much along the way... but to catch up on everything now would be impossible, too much has happened since my last post (May 14th!) . So... I will share bits and pieces of the whirlwind, but apologize in advance for the length of this update. That's what happens when you go a whole month without posting! :) So.....

Ciara graduated on May 16th and it was a great day! Her reception was really nice and we were blessed to have so much family there to help us celebrate. Here are a few photos of the graduate:

Mama steals a photo with the grad before the ceremony

Diploma in hand... she's a happy girl!

Our family at the reception

Ciara and her cake

Most of our out of town relatives left Sunday afternoon, then on Wednesday night my uncle and cousins from Nebraska came for a visit as they passed through on their way to Colorado. It was fun catching up with them, and I'm so disappointed that I didn't even get a picture of the adorable twins, Parker and Sienna. Guess I was too busy to think about it! ha ha.

Memorial weekend Luke and Brandon went golfing with a couple of my uncles and had a good time. The girls went shopping with Grandma Barbie. Well... Luke was running errands around town and called to announce that "there are the cutest puppies in front of the Orscheln Store." Oh geesh, do we need a puppy? So he tells me all about them and convinces me to go over and look at them. CUTE CUTE CUTE. This litter of pups was an accident and it was obvious that the owner could barely take care of the parents of these pups much less the 10 new arrivals that were 8 weeks old. Blue Heeler/Doberman mix. We chose a female. The thought process on the new pup was that our big outside dog, Trixie (the australian shepherd/border collie) needed a companion. She always looks so lonely and we thought a puppy would bring new meaning to her life and someone to snuggle with and play with. Enter "Snickers".

Just after we brought Snickers home, the big day finally rolled around - the day that I would transfer ownership of my Soap business. On May 27th the new owner came down from Colorado Springs to do some training. We trained Wed, Thurs, and Friday. We really did have a lot of fun. Jessica is a wonderful person and I feel like this was more than a business deal... I made a good friend! :) At the end of the day on Friday we began packing everything up. Digital scale, stick blender, oils, butters, fragrances. WHEW! There was a lot of stuff!! I put in close to 40 hours in 3 days down in the soap shop, but it was worth it. Luke and the kids helped me carry all those boxes up the stairs and into the garage so it would be ready to load when the new owners got here with the U-Haul. We had some fantastic team work going. I packed up the final items from the store room and we hauled it all out. We took a few pix along the way to document this huge life change.


Silly fun in the soap shop - I took this picture of us :)

The new owners pack their first internet order


The family is ready to go!


Going, going, GONE!

I am truly enjoying the freedom of not being the boss and making all the decisions. I find myself more relaxed and my home cleaner. The family is even being fed more organized meals, which I think they're enjoying. :) We turned the soap shop into a hobby room and it looks great. We're looking forward to hours of fun down there scrap booking and whatever else we feel like. Hey, maybe I'll finally get that quilt made for our bed that I bought the fabric for 3 months ago! :)

Back to the Snickers story... it turns out that Trixie didn't view Snickers as a companion, but rather a nuisance. She was jealous that we paid attention to Snickers - and while she did play with (tolerate) the puppy some... she mostly just ran off to do her own thing as usual and left the puppy barking/whining - which of course got the little indoor dog, Sugar, barking and whining. UGH. Things weren't working out. So, we got lucky and were able to move Snickers to the farm with my little cousins. She will be loved there, no doubt and seems to be very happy.

So what's next? I have interviewed for a part time administrative assistant position at FHSU, and should find out in the next few days if I'm employed. :) Luke is performing the wedding ceremony for my cousin and her fiance' this coming Saturday, so we will be at an out of town wedding. It's always fun to be with family, so that should be a good time! What's really special is that Jessica was our little miniature bride at OUR wedding. Oh how the time flies!! Then... on June 24th our family leaves for a MUCH needed vacation. We will drive to Denver and fly into Los Angelos. Spending some time in San Diego and LA... then finishing the trip by taking in the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur, Colorado and staying the nite in Castle Rock, nearby. Sunday we'll drive home and I'll have more to share! Can't wait. But until then... we'll enjoy our new 20 foot above ground pool. I'll leave you with one last photo until next time. Hope you're enjoying your summer too! :)