Jakie Poo

Jacob has always been a special kid. He's the one who helps even when not asked to do so. He's the one who has always been in tune with my feelings. If I was sad, he would make it his duty to get me to smile. Jake is also really funny...especially when he has his siblings as an audience. He's been the director and star of many of the Potter kid videos. As a youth he was in several plays, was student body president, played sports, earned his Eagle Scout and was a leader at church. Jake served a mission to the Belgium Brussels Netherlands Mission and served in some of the same cities as his dad...very cool. Jake is using the French he learned on his mission at NC State. He is currently going to school, working as a waiter and dating a cute girl....Anna Edwards.

My Married Children

Josh is our first child and has always been a great example to his younger siblings. From what I'm learning now, he also teased them quite a bit. I love listening to them tell on each other now that they are old enough not to get into trouble. He has always been a great student being very conscientious about his assignments. When he was a little boy he would read everything he could get his hands on. He didn't just read stories...he read information books on everything. He played basketball, football and baseball and ran cross country in high school. He and his brothers and his dad still like to play 2 on 2 basketball in the yard. Now that the girls are older it has turned into 3 on 3 games. Josh is very dependable and trustworthy. Josh is an Eagle Scout and went on a mission to Chile. He graduated from BYU last year and is living in San Antonio with his wife, Cari. They recently bought their first house and their first dog! I don't know much about Cari's childhood and youth. I do know that at their wedding reception, I had several people tell us that we got their town's "best"! At least two sets of parents said they wanted her for their sons. I also know she plays the piano and several other instruments. And I know from being around her that she is also very dependable and trustworthy. I really appreciate Josh and Cari and love them very much!

Jordan is our third son. He was 11 pounds when he was born and looked like a little football player. Not much has changed, he still looks like a football player. He was always so cute...ladies would stop me at the store to tell me how cute he was. Jordan is a very capable student...starting in kindergarten. His teacher asked everyone how far they could count and had the students demonstrate. When it was his turn, the teacher stopped him at 106 (the other students were good to get to 20). Jordan was headed for ten thousand. He loved to read, play and watch sports, and play board games. He still does. He played football, basketball, and threw shot put and discus during high school. He also participated in a community youth theater. His best part was Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof. He did such a good job even I was amazed. People laughed and cried. I even forgot I was watching Jordan and thought I was watching Tevya. He is also an Eagle Scout and went on a mission to the Philippines. He is currently attending BYU and lives in Provo with his wife, Mandy. Like Cari, I don't know much about Mandy's youth and childhood, but I do know that the people in her hometown think very highly of her. At their wedding reception we heard nothing but compliments about Mandy and her family. Mandy is very frugal and is helping their little family stay out of debt and get ready for children. They are expecting their first baby May 31st. Mandy and Jordan take good care of each other. I'm happy they found each other and love them more than they know!

If you want to get to know them better go to http://joshandcari.blogspot.com/ and http://jordanandmandypotter.blogspot.com/

Anna is Great!

This blog is going to be kind of like a family history. Today I'm going write a little about Anna. Being the first girl after three boys, she pretty much held "Princess" status in our family for a long time. Yesterday, Dwight and I went to the BYU game with Jordan, Mandy, Anna and Spencer. After the game we went to dinner at Ottavios. During dinner we were talking about how Anna, as a baby, had tons of clothes each with matching hair ribbon, shoes and binky. When we found out we were going to have a baby girl, I got out a pair of pink baby shoes that I had been saving for years...Dwight slept with them under his pillow. Our little girl was destined to have her daddy wrapped around her little finger. Anna has always been very creative...doing art projects, putting on programs and writing, staring in, directing and producing original videos along with her siblings. She is very athletic and played volleyball, basketball, and soccer and ran track in high school always seeming to earn the "Most Improved Player" award. When she won "Most Valuable Player" in soccer she was almost disappointed because it broke her streak of most improved! She was captain of several of her teams. Anna was a cheerleader in 8th grade, but I think she'd like to keep that a secret. In elementary school she would play football with her big brothers and their friends. They came home one day saying Anna had made one of the boys cry. She said all she did was growl at him at the line. Anna took ballet and drill team for a couple of years, but always seemed more inclined towards sports. She didn't start playing soccer until her freshman year in high school, but it turned out to be her favorite. Anna ran away from home once because her brothers were being mean to her. She got halfway up the street when the Bishop's wife, Carolee Gay, found her crying. Carolee took her into her house, calmed her down and gave her treats. After a little while with Carolee, Anna figured she could go back home and knew she had a place to go if her brothers ever got out of hand again. It turned out that Anna is now really good friends with her brothers! We moved right before Anna's senior year, which she wasn't very happy about; but she got involved in sports and made good friends and was able to have a good year inspite of her mean parents. She found a new talent at CVHS. She took a guitar class and really enjoyed it. Another talent she developed about this time is cooking. She's like her daddy...loves to create masterpieces in the kitchen and watch people enjoy them. She also graduated from seminary after three years of early-morning and one year of released-time. I took Anna on a cruise after high school graduation. We had a great time. When we got home she started working in the office at Circle 4 Farms. It was nice becuase she could ride with Dwight to work. She went to BYU last fall, but didn't really like it (mostly because she missed her friend, Michael that was still in Cedar City going to SUU). So she came home the next semester, started working at Circle 4 again and then broke up with Michael, and went back up to Provo. In the meantime, Michael who wasn't a member of the LDS Church, took the missionary lessons and was baptized. The whole family went to the baptism where Michael bore a sweet, pure testimony. We are really happy for him. Anna and Michael are still good "just friends" and get together when she comes home to visit. She is still in Provo. She is roomming with her cousin, Kali, and working and hoping to go back to BYU soon. So to summarize, Anna is a great girl with lots of gifts and talents. I love her more than she can imagine and am very proud of her!

Lucky Benji!

First let me tell you about Benji. He is a rescue dog. We've had him for about two months. In the beginning he was very shy and would bark at men. I believe he was abused before he was picked up by the animal shelter as a stray. Since we got him, his personality has really blossomed. He does lots of things he didn't do two months ago like chasing thrown toys and bringing them back, following me around the house, and even approaching Dwight. Well yesterday, as the kids were leaving for school, he ran out the front door and started prancing around. He ran out into the street just as a cement truck was coming up the street and got hit. Dwight came in the house and told me that Benji was dead. Joseph brought Benji to the front porch. His legs were stiff and he wasn't breathing. Joseph and I (in my pj's and barefeet) got Benji into the car and took off to the vet. I told Joseph to start pushing on his chest and to keep him warm. I glanced back at him and just knew he wouldn't make it. Then I glanced back and I saw his eye blink. I told Joseph to keep pumping his chest and rubbing him and talking to him. He started breathing before we got to the vet...less than 5 minutes from our house, but he kept coming in and out of consciousness. By the time the vet got there and looked at him, Benji was responding to noises and looked much better. The vet looked at Benji and said, "You are one lucky dog!" The pics are of Benji at the animal hospital. You can see blood on his leg that dripped from his nose...his only external injury. After taking on a cement truck, I'd say he's lucky! When we got him home he was a little wobbly on his feet and very sleepy...partly from the pain medicine he was given. Today he's starting to act a little more like himself although he's sleeping a lot more. We are all so glad Benji is still part of our family....even Dwight....and that's really saying something.

Caroline's Concert

Last year, in fifth grade, Caroline took her first year of violin. She decided not to take orchestra in sixth grade, because she wanted to try choir. She loves to sing, but as it turns out choir is only a small part of her "arts" class along with drawing, crafts and music appreciation. Caroline gets out her violin and "fiddles" with it (like that clever little pun?) often. She hopes to be able to be in orchestra again in seventh grade.

Joseph & Shakespeare

I'm going to be making random post about past activities. The first one: Joseph & Shakespeare. Last year (eighth grade) Joseph was in Romeo and Juliet. It wasn't something he would have chosen to do. It was a requirement for his honor's English class. He tried out for and got the part he wanted: "servant #2." He had three lines and got to be in a sword fight. He did a great job. Most of the students rented costumes from the Shakespearean Festival, so it didn't look like a typical eighth grade production. Notice the smile on Joseph's face as he's engaged in a life or death sword fight.

Alyssa's first formal dance!

Alyssa went to homecoming on Saturday. Her date was one of her best freinds, Kaden Keller. They went on an all-day date in St. George and then went to the dance. Alyssa was a little upset that I wasn't there to help her get ready (see post below), but it all worked out. Her good friend Kassidy Carter did her hair and Caroline took pictures. Alyssa wanted to make sure her dad knew that his little girl would be safe and revealed her concealed weapon!

Dwight's June Birthday in October!

For Dwight's 50th birthday, June 13, we celebrated by having a "pig picking." For those of you not familiar with this Southern tradition, it's where you cook a whole pig (using a low heat for many hours), and after it's cooked, each person "picks" the meat off the bones. Now doesn't that sound appetizing? Actually, it is really good especially with Dwight's southern barbecue sauce. Anyway, all of our kids were there, as well as, lots of friends. I think Dwight had fun even though he had to cook the pig, dutch-oven potatoes, and baked beans. He thrives on feeding people, so it really was a nice way for him to spend his birthday. One of the gifts I bought for him was tickets to Les Miserables at Tuacahn Theater in St. George. The tickets were for last Saturday. I wasn't thinking at the time that it would be General Conference and Dwight would miss the Priesthood Session. And I had no idea that Alyssa would be going to her first big formal dance that night. Yes, homecoming was that night. Saturday morning we woke up to lots of rain. It rained all day. Tuacahn is an outdoor theater, so we called to make sure the show wasn't going to be cancelled. No, the show must go on. So we went to St. George. During the dinner before the show it started sprinkling. It didn't stop. Up until intermission it drizzled. Then it stopped! We were getting pretty comfy! Then with 15 minutes left to go, it started to rain and the wind started whipping. It was nice timing with conflict, running, hiding in a sewer going on on stage, the adverse weather added to the atmosphere. A couple of big trash bags that people had been using to keep the rain off of themselves blew up on the stage right by "Jean Valjean." He did a great job of ignoring the distraction, even though there were scattered giggles throughout the audience. It was a great show, and I'm surewe'll never forget it...."the show must go on" has new meaning to us.