Better late than never...

I'm just now getting on board with this blog - I haven't even read it in over a month, so I just realized that I'm supposed to say something..... sorry. First of all, I agree with Tiffany that it seems awkward to make such a list, especially since I do feel like "pond scum" if I don't list all the obvious things. So, in no particular order:

I am thankful for:

Modern medicine and surgical techniques - I think you all understand this one
Well-trained transplant surgeons and other personnel - ditto
Children and sons-in-law - you all rock!
Grandchildren - the brightest and best in the world, of course
Blogs!! - I check all of yours daily just to feel connected
The Internet in general - Google in specific
My abilities and talents and a reasonable amount of intelligence (no rebuttals allowed)
Airplanes and the ability to visit despite the distance
MLB and the Red Sox - intense but wonderful
College football and the NFL - lots of fun and enjoyment
My calling to teach - what I love doing more than anything else
Romance novels (haha - thought you'd like this one - Christian romance novels, that is)
WeightWatchers - yes! 29 pounds and counting!
Christmas trees and lights, but not Christmas cookies... (see above)
Steroid shots (couldn't do what I do without them)
Arthritis meds (ditto)
Comfort and safety in today's troubled world
My personal knowledge of the restored gospel
God's love for us
Christ's atonement
A wonderful husband who constantly tries to be and do better
Repentance - for all of us

I could go on and on, but I guess that will do it for today!
Love you all!

So many things

There are, of course, obvious things for which I am grateful:

· The restoration of the Gospel
· Heavenly Father and his son, my brother
· That I was taught about the gospel and was baptized
· That I met, and fell in love, with one of Heavenly Father’s choices daughters; a women of great faith, patience, compassion, love and is blessed with eternal vision
· For parents who taught me many important lessons (even when they did not know it)
· For children who are wise and are aspiritual reflections of their mother
· Grandchildren
· A brother and a sister (and their families)
· My health; eyes to see, ears to hear, arms to hug, hands to feel, legs to walk and a heart to love

Other things for which I have been and continue to be blessed:

· Friends
· Earthly comforts
· Christmas and Easter
· Education
· Ability to use my mind
· Forests and mountains
· Love and laughter (numerous connections)
· Diversity
· COLOR
· Music
· Pain
· Bright morning sun
· Hot tubs scuba gear and snow skis
· Sports
· Modern medicine

I'm thankful for my wife

My list is simple; I am thankful for two things: A knowledge of my Heavenly Father and my wife. Less directly, but still meaningfully I am thankful for

• God's Plan of Happiness
• Children my wife gave me
• Food my wife makes for me
• The house my wife keeps for me
• Jokes my wife shares with me
• The friendship my wife forges with me
• Covenants my wife made with me
• Strength my wife strengthens me
• Motivation my wife is to me
• The beauty my wife presents to me
• Everything my wife is to me
• et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

The little things

So, I know you all know that I'm grateful for the Church, the Savior, my family, my husband, the scriptures, our baby, etc.... but I want to take this opportunity to list the things that don't always get mentioned, but I'm really grateful for!

1. My husband's razor - life is so much nicer when he's clean shaven
2. Deodarant
3. Salsa - yum yum give me some!
4. My silly voice students who give me something good to laugh about each week
5. That it's okay for me to be fat right now!
6. The Rejoice and Be Merry MoTab Christmas CD - seriously, my new favorite CD
7. The fact that I only have to sit through West Side Story at Kearns High School once - tonight! (Although I like some of the music from it - I really don't like that musical!)
8. Anything BBQ flavored!
9. Netflix instant viewer that happens to have every episode of Murder, She Wrote on it!
10. Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and other fun board games
11. Warm showers on cold days, and cold showers on hot days!
12. Sales at the grocery store
13. Tylenol Rapid Release Capsules
14. Green Slime Dessert
15. Lotion and Vaseline - how else would I make it through the dry Utah winters?!!?
16. whattoexpect.com
17. Betsy Brannon Green books
18. Cookie Monster (our car or the big green muppet - you choose!)
19. Remote Controls
and, finally.......
20. Craft Projects

Obviously there are many more, but that's just a sneak peak into how blessed I feel for all the little things in my life! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Why I Don't Like Thankful For Lists

I don't want to come across as ungrateful, but I really don't like making lists of things that I'm grateful for. I think many people feel the same way. It's because there are those big and obvious things that you feel like you need to point out that you're grateful for or otherwise you're pond scum (and not only point out in general, but point them out first!). But it's annoying to say the exact same things that everyone else said. Also, there's oftentimes too many to list. Having put it out there what a Scrooge I am, here's my list.

• our Christmas tree - even without decorations and only half a strand of working lights
• my husband - who doesn't feel very good right now yet is still so so good to me
• my children - 'nuff said
• my camera - I don't love the camera, but I do love the pictures that I have from the camera
• my sewing machine - same thing as the camera, don't love the sewing machine itself, but I love what it enables me to do
• the view from my house - I don't think anyone has a better view year-round from their front door than we do...BEAUTIFUL!
• BYU - love that place and what good it's done in our life
• Ragu Sauce - I love that sauce
• cough drops - at least I can get some sort of relief for my throat
• the Gospel - life is hard, good thing we have the gospel
• everything that goes with the Gospel - Jesus, Heavenly Father, Plan of Salvation, etc.

I don't want to cry

I am thankful for my tear ducts, but I'm not going to be super sappy on this post...

I am thankful for -
my husband, he rocks
my family, hi guys!
my house, and a fireplace that warms up the downstairs!
food, glorious food
my ward - I LOVE Avon!
my friends (part of the reason I love Avon)
my down comforter that I got for $30 back in 2003 - it's heavenly
airplanes and cheaper tickets to fly to see my family :)
my cocomotion, which makes the best hot chocolate ever!
the fact that all of my 5 senses work
the Gospel
the Book of Mormon
The Savior and my Heavenly Father

Love you all! Have a Happy Thanksgiving

Okay, you lazies!

Really, I know we've all been very busy and had much on our minds. However, as this is the Thanksgiving season, I think we can all take a moment to stop and reflect on the things that we are most thankful for in our lives. Will you all find a moment within the next week to share with us on this blog those things that you are grateful for?

Happy Thanksgiving all!

South Carolina or Bust

My favorite family vacation that I have experienced at the moment is the one where I am writing this blog thingy!!! ( This is when my wife hit me on the head!) Aint it great?!!!

Just so you know, Kristen wil be reviewing this blog and make sure that everything is spelled correctly.

I don't think that there is one vacation that would be my favorite/ the best one. Some of the memories that I remember are going to South Carolina when I was in third grade. During this vacation we saw a mountain goat climing on the back of mount rushmore. We were sure that we saw it on G.W.s head! We also played mini golf and claimed that we all had a hole in one on the last hole. This intitled us to a prize. The only thing that we recieved was a flag. It was rather small considering how hard that hole was. My brother got a free golf token since he had the best score and still has it today. So if you are going to South Carolina, someone can go minigolfing for free!! Just let me know.

So all of you know that I didn't cheat by claiming that I had a hole in one on the course, my grandpa marked the score card!!!! He he he he he . . . . .

American History at its Best!

Although I have TONS of favorite vacation memories (I LOVE traveling!), one that sticks out in my mind more than the others is the family vacation we took back in the summer of 2004 (July 30 - August 13 to be exact). It was right before my freshman year of High School. We visited amazing places like Williamsburg, Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston. I truly believe that that was when I fell in love with American History. Although my least favorite memory from the trip is throwing up in the car somewhere near NYC (I think that's the city it happened in!), there are more memories of how much I learned about myself and about history. I kept a really good journal during that trip, so I thought I'd share some of the things that my fourteen year old self wrote.

Sunday, July 31, 1994 - "Today we actually went into the town of Williamsburg. It was fun. But, near the end we were getting sick of historical things. My two favorite things happened at the end though. The Governer's Palace and the Military Encampment. The Governer's Palace was the neatest place. The inside of the house was very nice but what impressed me was the gardens. They were absolutely gorgeous! I almost couldn't catch my breath. I had never been in gardens like this before...One neat thing about the garden was the maze made out of bushes. My whole family had a blast running through the maze and getting lost! (We eventually got out!) On the military thing we were pretending that we had just joined the army back in 1760's in Virginia. our guy acted just like one of the guys you see in movies; screaming and hollering; and yelling "putrid" all of the time."

Monday, August 1, 1994 - "I'm probably the only person in the world who likes those dumb American History videos.... we took a twenty mile drive out of our way to go see the Berkley Plantation. Why did we? Because our house is modeled after it. It was really neat because the plantation building looked exactly like our house - except it was so much more beautiful than our house."

Tuesday, August 2, 1994 - "We...walked by the Reflection Pool and on to the Lincoln Memorial. After that we walked over to the Vietnam Memorial Wall and monuments. That hit me hard because near one part of the wall at the bottom lay a family picture flowers and a card. It was from the parents to their son. I think it was his birthday. how tragically sad. It was very overwhelming."

Wednesday, August 3, 1994 - "After the Hard Rock Cafe we walked to Ford's Theater. This was really neat because I was able to look into the exact box where Lincoln was shot. There was also a museum there. That was even better because in the museum they had the real pistol that he was shot with and the clothes that Lincoln had worn hen he was shot." Talking about our trip to the Senate - "We got to see lots of things that most people couldn't get to see. Like Senator Dole working at his desk, and Senator Kennedy, and we also were able to sit in on a real Senate meeting." Later on - "My feet hurt a lot!"

Thursday, August 4, 1994 - "Boy, I thought that my feet were tired yesterday! They are throbbing right now! Our day started out with our White House tour. This was a really neat tour! We (of course) weren't able to see the family's private living quarters or the Oval Office, but we saw everything else. Guess What? These gardens were just as gorgeous as the one behind the Governor's Palace except they weren't as great. After the tour I concluded that I'm spoiled.....after the White House we all went to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving where we saw them printing actual money. Then we bought shredded money....." Later On "After the Museum Erika, Mom, and I went to the Holocaust Museum. In the Holocaust museum there was the most incredible feeling. It was a really overwhelming thing. I mean you know the information before you go but you haven't really register it. But, trust me when you see this - it registers!"

Friday, August 5, 1994 - "After we went to the Visitor's Center [for the temple] then we went to the Church Bookstore. Dad first said one thing per person. But we talked him out of it so he ended up spending over $200.00." A funny story I wrote about: "My mom thought something was wrong with her camera because it wasn't advancing. So she threw out her battery and bought a new one for $8 dollars. But it still wouldn't advance so we went to a Camera Store so they could figure out what the problem was. Well the guy took her camera in the dark room to see if something was wrong with the film. When he took it in there he found out that there was no film in the camera. My mom had been taking pictures without any film in the camera!"

Saturday, August 6, 1994 - "Then we took off for Valley Forge. Where we all (but my mom) sat around because we were so tired."

Sunday, August 7, 1994 - I talk about going to church with the Daniels family in New Jersey. Also, meeting up with the Heubergers in New York City.

Monday, August 8, 1994 - "When we got to the Subway we got on and rode all the way to the Statue of Liberty. We got off and walked over and bought tickets to ride the ferry to go see it. It was actually a short wait to get on the ferry. And the ride over there was fun. But, we decided not to climb to the top because the wait was 2 - 3 hours long. So we took tons of pictures and then rode the ferry back....then we all got ready to go see Les Miserables (Erika, Mom, and I). It was awesome. I loved it so much. We had 11th row seats in the center. The guy who played Marius was breathtaking (I'm so boy crazy)."

Tuesday, August 9, 1994 - "Then...we drove to Horseneck Beach to meet my mom's sister Marney and her husband George. I figured out why it's called horseneck beach (other than its location on the cape)! It's because there are enough flies to cover 200 horses fully! No joke!"

Wednesday, August 10, 1994 - "Well today was definitely different compared to the ones that we've been having lately. I woke up late...to DJ playing Bumper Pool outside of our door. I went upstairs and had the traditional breakfast at Grammy and Pop's house. I say traditional because it's the same breakfast I've had for as long as I can remember. Life Cereal (or cornflakes), blueberries/raspberries, and milk. Then we all got our swimsuits on and went next door to the Hart's house to swim. I only stayed for a little bit because I still felt sick. So I came home and showered. After my shower I sat and talked to Grammy and Pop about piano music. They know so much more about it then I do!" Later on: "Today also Pop taught DJ, Tiffany, ad I how to play croquet. I'm not very good None of us were to begin with. But Tiffany and DJ (especially DJ) caught on quickly. It actually is a nice game. Much more fun than I had expected it to be."

Thursday, August 11, 1994 - "The room that DJ and I have to stay in is what I call the History Room. There are pictures of my old ancestors all over the room and tons of photo albums! Personally, I think it's neat!...It was kind of sobering though today because Dad and I were going through Pop's Senior College Yearbook. He had marked a D next to each man who had died. More than half (or so it appeared) had D's next to them. My dad was saying how someday someone would be looking at his yearbooks like that. How Sad!"

Well, thanks for bearing with me through that - it was really fun to go back and become reacquainted with my teenage self. Obviously, this is only a snippet from what I wrote. I purposely left out all the teenage angst! That was a wonderful trip, and I have always looked back on it with fond memories. Thanks Mom and Dad for making an effort to bring our family closer together through vacations.

Can't Top Snugglefest 2008

Erika stole my favorite vacation story! I guess that's what I get for waiting. Some other good times were Seabrook Island (the one by Hilton Head) in South Carolina (?). You guys can correct me if I'm wrong with any of this information. I believe we went two times, yes?

I remember one time DJ and I got put in this daycare kind of place, but they covered that up by calling it an activities program for kids or something like that. Anyways, they were taking us to the beach and were putting sunscreen on everyone. I remember watching as one of the teachers chased DJ around the room trying to get him to put on sunscreen while he kept saying that he doesn't wear sunscreen.

Is that also one of the places that we went crab fishing? For some reason, the whole concept of crab fishing is fascinating to me. There were also good times on horses, going fishing, the ocean, and various other things. I also always thought it was funny that the grocery store was called Piggly Wiggly.

Erika's Favorite Family Vacation **Updated**

My favorite family vacation was in August 2008. DJ had just returned home from his mission earlier that summer, but he had dubbed the vacation two years prior "Dorff Family Snugglefest 2008." We started planning it months in advance in order to get everyone's schedules aligned.

It was a fantastic week in southern Michigan near the lake. We went swimming, played games, did so much fun stuff as a family.

Oh, one of the really funny experiences from it was when we played charades. The three boys who married into the family got over all their shyness that night! I remember Shawn impersonating a duck and Mason kept guessing it had something to do with Peter and a cake. Tim does the best ballerina impersonation ever. Kristen shouldn't be allowed to drink soda and laugh at the same time (good thing that towel was near by!). Tiffany and the boys made a valiant effort at acting out "the three little pigs," but once again, Benjamin stole the show. Mom and Dad... well, that was hilarious. As they pretended (without words) to be contestants on the original "the Newlywed game show" who had gotten the answer wrong... without speaking! That was hilarious! Ahhh, and I had to try and perform the running man - did I ever mention that I wasn't really the star of the show at church dances? ummm, yeah, I know... it was obvious. **And how could I forget DJ?! His skit combining impersonations of every member of the family - I won't say I wasn't offended that he made me appear quite conceited (it may be true), but he made up for it by imitating Benjamin trying to walk really fast, then falling down; replicating Peter's silly picture grin; and he was dead on with mom's laughing/"i have to go to the bathroom" scene (see below). DJ - he's the man!

Anyway, all of the fun times in Dorff (extended) Family Snugglefest 2008 made it my favorite vacation ever!

**If you haven't heard, Mom was reading a print out of this post while eating dinner, and after making it through without choking/wetting her pants - Dad proceeded to read aloud the part about Kristen, soda, and the towel... well, chocolate milk, hamburger, and fruit in the sink, along with a change of pants - need I say more? :)

Topic for the month...

What is your favorite family vacation story?

It can be either a story from when you were growing up,
after you left for college
or since you got married.

Enjoy -
Love, Dad

Okay, Okay, here it is.....

Although it all started 30 years ago, there are some things about which memory never really fades. I don't know if this is going to be a ten-minute version or much longer: I'll just start typing and see where it leads.

I returned from my mission on December 27, 1977. In early January I was called to be the Ward Fellowshipping Chairman (a singles ward made-up calling which meant I was to watch out for the investigators and new members) and to teach the Gospel Essentials class. I was also asked to speak in both Stake Conference and Sacrament Meeting on the same Sunday (we used to still have a late Sacrament Meeting on the day of Stake Conference). I remember both my talks, and I remember being very enthusiastic and confident in both talks, but I do not remember meeting anyone new that Sunday. The following Sunday (still in January) I attended a large Ward Council meeting (thanks to all those made-up callings...) and was told by the ward mission leader about a few investigators and/or new members who would be in my Gospel Essentials class, which I was teaching for the first time that day. One investigator in particular was cause for some real excitement in ward council: David Dorff, because apparently they had been working with him for awhile without much progress, and suddenly he had told them he wanted to be baptized. He had attended church the previous week (when I spoke) and was going to be at church that day. Anyway, it took me awhile during my class to realize that the guy who was acting and sounding like a well-informed returned-missionary type, answering all my doctrinal questions and asking lots more, was this investigator I had heard about that morning! At first I thought he was really rude to come to the Gospel Essentials class and do all the talking, when we were supposed to be teaching new people about the basic doctrines; but when I realized he WAS a new person, I was blown away by his understanding and the depth of his questions. As the next few weeks went by, I realized that there were several awesome people in the class and that their faith was really growing, and I put lots of time and effort into preparing the lessons - there was no manual for the class - I created all the lessons myself, sort of expanding on concepts from the missionary discussions. The other thing I did as part of my calling was make a few phone calls and write notes to each of the people in the class to "fellowship" them. So I think I got to know them as well as anyone in the ward did. I remember one gab session with my friend and former roommate Jennifer (Moulton, now Hansen), where we discussed who the most eligible and interesting guys were. I remember having a list of 6 guys I thought were "interesting," and David Dorff was on the list, but he wasn't really near the top, probably because I thought of him as a new member, an untested believer, and I thought I should probably look for a good solid returned missionary. But he was definitely interesting! We saw each other at ward activities a few times, and I remember clearly attending his baptism on February 19, when his parents and little brother came to visit from California. His little brother was a new priest, and a lot smaller than David, and David had to kneel in the water in order for Michael to baptize him. A couple of weeks later I remember running into David in the church building between Sunday meetings and having him casually ask me if I would like to go to a Hasty Pudding production with him. I knew all about Hasty Pudding, but I don't think I had actually been before (memory is a little fuzzy on that....). Of course I said yes, and he said he would call me with the details. (Editor's note: many months later I found out that he had had the tickets for awhile, and his girlfriend was supposed to come from Smith for the weekend and go with him, but she dumped him when he joined the church, so he had 2 tickets and nobody to go with. He knew it should be someone from church and had narrowed it down to me and one other girl. I just happened to come around the corner at church first, before he had completely decided which one to ask!) Anyway, later in the week, just a few days before the date, he called to ask me if I had a long dress, because it was supposed to be formal! I had just come home from a mission, hadn't been to a prom-type event in many years, and none of those pre-church dresses were temple compatible anyway. Luckily I did have a Sunday type full lenth, short sleeved dress that I had actually sewn myself. It would have to do. He wore a tux, and it was more than a little awkward to be about the only female there in a modest (and homemade!)dress, but I survived. I drove my car and parked near his dorm on the side of a narrow Cambridge street. The dinner was at his "club" and he had orderd me Perrier (bubbly water) which I did not care for - not a good start. I felt pretty uncomfortable. We enjoyed the show - I don't even remember what it was, though. Afterwards it had started to snow quite a bit, and we walked back to the club and decided to play some pool. I remember winning (my claim to fame for many years afterwards, since I don't know if I ever beat him again), and then it was time for me to go home. We walked to my car and discovered that it was snowed in pretty well - the plows had come along and left a wall of snow for me to push through. Now, here's where the story differs depending on who tells it. I was an experienced snow driver, and David was a Southern California boy who had never driven in snow. We cleared away some of the snow, and then it was necessary for him to push my car forward so that I could get onto the pavement and get some traction. I thanked him before I got in the car and we said goodnight. He pushed a few times, the car rocked, and finally it pushed over the bank and into the street, and, having gotten some traction, I continued my forward motion and drove home. Apparently he was left behind face down in the snow after a huge last push, and he was astounded that I did not stop and come back! I drove home, thinking it had been a nice evening, but he wondered if I drove away so abruptly because I never wanted to speak to him again!

Well, he decided it was worth another try, and he called the next week to ask me out again for the weekend. I don't remember what our next dates were - we saw some movies, played more pool, sat and talked, went to church activities together.... He never got around to asking the other girl out! We dated through the month of March until it was Harvard's spring break, and he went home to California for 2 weeks. I had no idea that he would call or contact me, but he did! He sent flowers and called frequently! His mother later told me that she was amazed that he didn't go out with any girls the whole time he was home - she knew then that this was really serious because he had always dated multiple girls at the same time. Anyway, when he returned things took a serious turn - we started talking seriously about the future, even though we had really only been dating a few weeks. On April 12 (I think - I might be wrong though...) he was over at my apartment and we were sitting on the living room floor talking, and the conversation eventually went something like this: David: "Well, I guess I should ask you to marry me, shouldn't I?" Andi: "Yes, you should!" David: "Will you marry me?" Andi: "Yes!" To this day, he claims that I'm the one who proposed!

To back up a little bit: although my emotions were flying high all this time, I was also proceeding with caution and uncertainty because he was such a new member. As with all converts, he had so much to learn, and it made me scared and a little uncomfortable that his "instincts" weren't all where they should be yet. I was a recently returned missionary with definite ideas about what kind of man I should marry, and he wasn't it! He was also 4+ years younger than me, and still in school, while I had been on my own and a college graduate for 6 years already. Using reason alone, there was no way I would have chosen to marry him. But I didn't want to use emotions alone either. So, I prayed and prayed - I prayed hard! I got my answer, not as a powerful Ka-Blam, but as a feeling of peace and a gradual dissipation of the worry and concern. I was in love, but my eyes were also wide open. We had a lot to learn about each other, but we had time to do just that. We agreed that we would not be married outside of the temple, so we needed to wait until David had been a member for a year. He was graduating and returning to California for a job in June, and I had a job in Massachusetts. So I put in for a transfer within the Bell System, going from New England Telephone to Pacific Bell. The transfer came through in August, and David flew back to Boston from California, we attended my sister Marney's wedding, and then left right from their reception to begin the cross-country drive together. We stayed with a friend in Chicago, and another friend in Salt Lake, and finally chugged (literally, in my heavily loaded Vega hatchback, which couldn't go more than 45 up the hills) into Palos Verdes, California. David had gotten an apartment with Scott Frazier (the stake missionary from Cambridge who had taught him, then graduated from Harvard Business School and gotten a job in Los Angeles), and I moved into a room in his parents' house for 6 months, August 21 to February 21, our wedding day. It was an enlightening 6 months, to put it mildly! The Dorff family was very different from my Harriman family, more demonstrative, more casual, less modest, less reserved, and less proper. It took me awhile to loosen up, but I was happy there. David's one year anniversary, February 19, was a Monday and the temple was closed, so on Tuesday evening, after both of us had worked a full day, we went to the Los Angeles temple and he received his endowment. The next night, Wednesday, February 21, again after we both worked almost a full day - my boss kicked me out around 2:00 p.m. - we were married in a sealing room which was packed with San Pedro Ward members, but absolutely no family members for either of us. David's family waited in the foyer of the temple, but my family did not come to California, in essence boycotting the event which they could not accept. We never really had a honeymoon, although I guess Thursday was a day off for both of us and we moved my stuff into our new apartment (David had already moved in at the beginning of the month). Friday we flew to Boston, had a family dinner with both families, and Saturday was a reception at my parents' house in North Andover. Sunday we attended our old singles ward and then flew home to California and went to work Monday morning.

It was a whirlwind courtship (6 weeks from first date to engagement, including 2 weeks when David was in California and I was in Massachusetts), a long engagement (10 and a half months, including 2 months when he was starting his job in California and I was still at my old job in Boston), and 30 years after we met, here we are as grandparents!

Well, this took a lot longer than 10 minutes to write! There are lots more stories involved, and I'm sure David will mention some of them, but that's my version of our courtship and marriage. When I think about it now, I sure lucked out! I got a good man, even though I didn't understand just how good at first! I would never recommend that anyone make decisions as quickly as we did, especially where one is a new member, but the Spirit guided us, and has continued to bless our family all these years.