My Christmas present to myself!

To start off my first entry ever I wanted to share a few quotes that have changed my perspective on life:

"Your networth is determined by the size and the quality of your network."

"If a 100 ft. oak tree had the mind of a human, it would grow to be only 10 ft tall."

"God has a far greater desire to bless us than we have a capacity to understand."

"The only two people that hold us back our, 1. ourselves, and 2. satan."

"There are only two times that we fail; right before we try, and right before we succed."

"Successful people see challenges as a green light."

"No dream is too big!"

In line with these quotes, I decided the best christmas present I could give myself this year would be a bigger and stronger network. It was a natural conclusion that I should first begin with the people who have to love me. In other words, my christmas present to myself is to have a meaningful relationship with every member of my family.

Gerald and Dad and I had a huge bonding experience just before thanksgiving. In going to a conference we had time to talk about our life goals, we learned about others likes and dislikes and opened up on a really meaningful level. I realized than, that my relationship with my family before that point had been on a really superficial level. I don't know anything about any of you, and I've never let you get to know me. I'm sorry for that.

So my goal for this year is to let you get to know me by sharing with you my long term and short term goals. I'm also going to ask for your help, and I pray that you will do your best to help me. It is so easy to reach your goals when you have an army of amazing people working with you.

More than anything though I hope that this will be a chance for me to get to know each one of you. I want to know what your goals are. I want to know how I can help you reach them, either through my prayers or in doing something you don't have time or the capacity to do. I hope that this blog will be filled with daily and weekly updates on how everyone of us is taking steps to acheive our goals, and how other family members can help.

I'm grateful for eachone of you. In the past I have fealt like I could never live up to the legacy that each one of you has left on my life. Now, I know that I can't, but I'm grateful for the great examples that I have in my life and the opportunity to know each of you. So tomorrow I'll write down my goals and ask for help. Just let me know if you will help me. k?

Love ya all,
Jonny

Visiting Santa

Hi everyone. I am going to the north of Finland this week to an area called Lapland. This is where Santa Clause has a house. (http://www.santaclauslive.com/)
So please let me know if there are any messages you want me to give him for you? Is there anything you would like me to tell him or ask him for you?

(P.S. I had reindeer pizza this last week, but don't worry, i don't think it was one of Santa's reindeer)

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone,
Some of you may know already, Im guessing most of you do by now, and those who dont know probably arent reading the blog but I thought I would leave you with a little announcement. We are expecting a new little baby sometime this summer. Hope you had a good thanksgiving, we sure did.

Fall Fun in New England

I wanted to show some New England in the FAll. With the help of my friend Kayla we got some great photos of the kids and a video!! (I had to use her computer, too.)

Okay Anastasia really just layed there, but the others thought that was fun too.

Enjoy - this may be the only video I upload.

I'll put up more photos when I have a chance to do so on my computer.

Announcing - A Family "Reunion" Conference Call - For Free and Just For Fun

Hi Everyone,

Dad and I decided it would be fun to have a family conference call, so we have scheduled it on Sunday November 25th at the following time (for any who want to participate):
Detroit, Hartford, Orlando - 7:00pm
Houston - 6:00pm
Salt Lake City - 5:00pm
Portland - 4:00pm
Joensuu - 2:00am (Monday)

All you need is an Internet connection, a microphone you can hook up to your computer, and be ready for a fun talk with each other.
Go to www.skype.com and get the free download - then either email me your Skype name, or post it as a comment to this blog entry. I will initiate the call with everyone.

I do this kind of a thing with my cross-cultural research team all of the time (which is 8 students from 8 countries) - and it works quite well, so I imagine it will be similar for us too.

Does that time work for you? It is flexible right now so you can suggest an alternative time. If you refer to the World Clock Meeting Planner - it might help)

Anything in particular you think it would be fun to talk about?
Perhaps everyone can simply take a few minutes to talk and share something new they have been up to and how things are going?

posting questions

I think at some point in time I heard people say that they wish they could get an email or notification if something was changed on the website. If you go to settings then comments, you can add your email address to mine to get notified when a comment is left. I think you would need to add a comma, or maybe my name wont show up on yours since it may be up to who is signed in, but if you want to feel free to try it that way. there are a few other settings things that you can look at and maybe it will have other options that I have missed. Good luck, hope this helps

An Idea for a Christmas Present for Mom

Hi Fam,

As I was waking up this morning I had an idea for a present that we could give mom this year, if you are interested in helping.

I have lately had a goal of wanting to make a quilt. So I thought perhaps we could make one for mom that is similar to the one that grandma had years ago.

Each kid, kid-in-law, and grand kid would have a square with their hand-print, and maybe even a screen cast picture on fabric. So each family would have to create the squares for their family and then send them to our house in Utah. Then over the Christmas break, I could assemble them into a comfy quilt - and mom could even help if she wants - to make sure it is a quilt she likes.

I remember how fun it was over the years when we visited grandma Pugh to see the quilt and find my handprint and compare it to how big my hand was now. So I think it would be a fun one for all the grandkids too. I also remember how one of my favorite presents of all time was the quilt Marie and Becky had made for me when I returned from Africa.

But I don't know much about making a quilt - do you know what dimensions the squares should be? Or what is the best type of material, or ink to make the handprints, etc?

What do you think of the idea? Even if you are reading this mom, what do you think? I think it would be fun, if everyone is up for it, and we get some direction from people who know more than me.

the Elusive videos

Here are the videos I encouraged you to watch on the other blog but you could not access. (Great trick huh) The blog belongs to my sisters family and kids so I decided to stop being so lazy and post them here. This first one is about Death Baby, a craft that the Jeremiah and Eliah made and name and decided that they must be burned. Poor death baby.




This next one is from Michigan at my sisters house on a swing her daughter Bethany made. Eliah and Eliza had a lot of fun on that swing.

Two Rogers in Finland

Hi all. It has been great to have dad with me here in Finland. It snowed this morning in Joensuu as we caught the train back to Helsinki. Here is a picture from earlier today. I will be sad to see him leave tomorrow, but happy he was able to visit.

I asked dad if he wanted to say anything. He would like to say: "Nothing particular. Had a great time."

If you want to see some more pictures and read more about my experience in Finland so far, I posted a blog entry on my normal blog: http://www.clintrogersonline.com/blog/?p=82

FALL LEAVES ARE FALLING!!!!

My mother has this great huge maple tree in her yard that has the prettiest red leaves on it; I thought I need to take pictures of the boys having fun in the leaves before they all fall off the tree. Blake was scared to get in the tree I had to put him in it, with the promise I would not let him fall out. Matthew on the other hand is a monkey in the tree and loves to climb trees. Hope you enjoy I took about 25 to 30 pictures of them having the time of there life but thought I would share a few.

As you can see Matthew is a natural born climber and loves it.

Blake at first wasn't sure what to do in the leaves but once Matthew started throwing them at him he really got into the spirit of fun as you can see by his face I have capture in this picture.

The more the boys played the more at ease Blake was till I couldn't get him out of those leaves.

I loved watching the boys just being boys it was a fun day.

Just a little Holiday Reminder

So in Rogers family tradition I believe that present giving will go as follows...you are now in charge of the family/person three above you. So that goes like this

The Michigan Rogers=Clint
The oregon Rogers=The Hollemans
The Shaws=Jon
The Florida Rogers=The Michigan Rogers
Clint=The Oregon Rogers
The Hollemans=The Shaws
Jon=The Florida Rogers

Please correct me if I am wrong, and start thinking of ideas. The time to mail the presents is soon at hand!!! Love you all.

Happy Halloween!!!

So here are the official Halloween pictures!!! Ashlyn as Ariel-Mermaid style. I have to say, it wasnt easy finding hair color for this, and I was debating a wig, but I think this turned out perfect. Her Aunty Em was the stylist, and it turned out so adorable!!! Rylan was a little stinker (as always) and some people even called him flower from Bambi, whatever way you look at it there's no doubt he is the cutest thing ever, at least his mom says so. And Jayden's $6.00 Once upon a child find, turned out to be just the perfect fit for him as well.
We started out the night with some Los Cucos, (sorry Lynette, hope you dont gag too much) and then we went to a trunk or treat, which I have to say sorry, but enough with the cheap candy already!!! If you are one of those cheap candy hander outers, let me be the first to plead, we want real chocolate!!! Think of all those hard working moms who then look forward to reaping the rewards of the outfits and all the walking around. We want to see something good in there, am I right?
Anyways then as Jayden indulged in a lollipop, and Rylan took a nap, Ashlyn and her cousin Carson did some serious trick or treating. All in all it was a fun night, and they were so darn cute all dressed up!!!! Hope you enjoy them as well, in all 3 entries! (ON MY OTHER BLOG)

The joy of videos

I am thrilled to have figured out that I needed to use another browser to be able to post video. So now I hope you enjoy our video clips.







I would post more but they take a long time to upload and I am going to bed now. More coming later. Have a great week y'all.

Love,
Jana and the gang

Greetings From The Michigan Rogers

Hey everyone, just wanted to send some family pictures. Thought everyone might want to know what Blake looks like with the family.

This is Blake trying on some of his new clothes for school.

This is Scott, Matthew and Blake standing in front of one of Michigan's many lighthouses on Lake Michigan. It was really cold that day but it was August.

This is Blake playing on the Harmonica that Matthew gave him. He reminds me of one of the blues brothers in this picture.

This was the Jeep tour we took in Silver Lake Michigan. It was tons of fun driving on the backroads of Michigan Wilderness. I am the one driving this Jeep. This was the top of a huge hill with very deep holes. It was quite a rush doing this.

This is the boys at the Toledo Ohio Zoo. The Teenager in the picture is Devon. He is Blake's Biological Uncle. He is also in our ward. Blake's birth mom wanted a family to adopt Blake who would keep Blake's Aunt who is 16 and Uncle who is 13 in Blake's life. Especially Devon who has a very special bond with Blake. When he knew his family was trying to get Joie(the birth mom) to let a family adopt Blake he went around to a few families in our ward who have adopted too, to see if they would adopt Blake. Devon did not know us very well at the time or knew we were adopting. He is very happy we have adopted Blake and he has grown to become a special person not only in Blake's life but our whole families. We enjoy Elyse too but do things more with Devon. Well thats it for now I hope you enjoy the pictures.

About Being a Mormon

Howdy peeps,
(side note: speaking of peeps, I got a package today from a friend and guess what was in it - shaped like halloween figures? Yep. I'll share them with my Finnish friends - but it probably won't be as fun as "sharing" them with Marie :).
I was listening to some of conference, mostly in English, and I liked so many of the talks. I have already tried to start to do what Elder, or I mean, President Eyring recommended (in keeping a daily journal of ways in which I think I see God's love or guidance in anything).
The other thing I have now done is something like what Elder Ballard recommended. I went a little out of my comfort zone and posted a blog entry on my pseudo-professional about Being a Mormon Christian: Facts about Mormons - and I hope that it at least does some good.
I'm kind of addicted to watching all the debates about the presidential election, and somewhat surprised/sad when I see a lot of misrepresentation about the Church. But I guess at the very least it makes life a little more interesting.
Anyway - if you want to see my post and give me any feedback feel free.

(I apologize in advance that the only picture I could find on my hard drive of our family was only part of our family, and not the best picture either - not that I think anyone will pay that much attention, but you know)

Okay, here we go

I have tried to upload pictures a few times and I am giving it one more shot before I curse blogging out the window. I have wanted to share these video clips for a while they are so funny. (At least to me) I hope they work. So here we go hope you enjoy....Just kidding. I still can't upload. But hey, I got the photos to work. There are photos from our trip to Michigan.
Eliah racing around in Scott and Michelles backyard.
Eliah chasing Blake.
A SINGLE scoop of icecream. These were enoromous! Gerald and I both got one and it was the first time for both of us to not be able to finish our ice cream and just throwing the rest away.
Serena loved Scott. She helped them win our Yahtzee game.
Dinner at our home. Gerald usually eats with 2 girls on his lap. All the kids fight over who gets to sit by daddy pretty much every meal that he is available for sitting by.

Well, I am not completely happy with my blog and how it turned out but I hope you get a taste of life for us and maybe I will become a great blogger and be able to share more.

Love,
Jana

Two Recommendations

So I saw the movie Evan Almighty, and was a little weary at first because the first installment Bruce Almighty was a little sac religious, but this one was not what I expected. I didnt find it sac religious at all and in fact found it to be a pretty enlightening movie as to what it must have really been like for Noah. For me I always read the scriptures and think, why doesnt everyone listen, of course its gonna flood, because I know what came next, but this movie made me think of how people must of viewed him, what his wife must have gone through, and his kids, and really opened my eyes. I thought they did a really good job of making a modern day Noah story. It wasnt that funny, but I really liked it, so if you are so inclined, I think you should check it out with that in mind. It wasnt the best movie, but for that reason alone I think its worth a shot.
Also Oprah featured a book called "deliciously deceptive" or Deceptively delicious, I cant remember which one, but it was all about how you can cook with veggie purees and hide them in everyday foods like mac and cheese, chicken fingers and even cakes and cookies. I thought it looked really interesting and as soon as I buy it I want to give it a shot. So thought Id pass those two little things on...if anyone is listening. I always know Clint will read it but beyond that Its getting a little quiet out there...Hello....anyone?

Please check out all posts, you may have missed something

Hey just thought Id also say there may be some posts in the past you missed, so go back and make sure youve caught everything.

Happy Birthday Josh

Well Im a couple days late posting this blog, but seeing as how there are only a few people who check it, and you probably don't check everyday, it shouldn't matter much. But just wanted to get on here and give a little shout out to my fantastic husband. He was supposed to work but got the day off so Ashlyn decided for his birthday it would be a good idea to go to chuck e cheese. Josh and his two sisters came, and we all had a blast. They gave him 1 free token for every year old he was, so he got 29. They tried to earn enough tickets to win her a princess castle, 10,000 tickets. We thought we were doing pretty well until we counted up the tickets and we only had 1,500. We decided it would be cheaper to buy her one than win it. But we all had fun.
Then we went to dinner, just me Josh and Rylan and then went to the local fair to help set up Joshs dads booth. He's selling stars that he makes. (I spent this week bugging Dad and Jon getting them to help me make a website so if you want to check it out, www.thestar-factory.com)Gerald and Jana will probably remember their trip to the rice harvest festival. It was a fun day. I know sometimes I give him a hard time but I am so thankful everyday that he is my husband. It seems more and more people I know are having really difficult times in their marriages and I see now how easy it would have been to end up with someone that wouldnt have been as great as he is. So again Happy Birthday Husband. Sorry I dont have any pictures to go with this, we have a couple from the night while we were setting up, but those were on his sisters camera and she hasnt sent them to me yet.

Go Get a Hissi

No one has correctly guessed what a "hissi" is yet (although I think Serena may be on to something), so here is your first picture clue...


Does this help at all? Any more guesses?

Shaw Update

I feel like life has been a little crazy. We took a little jaunt back to Utah to see Amy (Cory's sister) get married. We had another picture taken of our family -since Stasia and I had matching dresses (courtesy of Ma Shaw). Alexander had just woken up from his only nap that day (about ten minutes during the ride to the temple). Still I don't think we look too bad. Well it took me too long to do this much so I'll have to do more later.

My New Slogan

Traveling through Jiuzhaigou, in Western China, (see picture below)...



I think I found my new life slogan:


Either that one, or this one:


Which do you think is better?

:)

(PS For more pictures you can go to my normal blog: http://www.clintrogersonline.com/blog/?p=70 )

Answer toJana's unasked question

Everytime I have tried to upload pictures and movie clips it has failed. Can't I drag and drop it anywhere?
In answer to your question...its not a drag and drop sort of thing but if you look up in the toolbar there is a picture of a mountain, click on that it uploads pictures, and the one next to it that looks like a movie reel is for movies, then something that looks like an eraser on the right hand side. so it goes ABC check mark, picture tab, movie tab, eraser. that should help. Some movies take one or two tries to get them up, especially if they are long.

A Plea for Help

So Im sending out a little plea for some prayers, and if you have fast Sunday tomorrow, (it's almost conference) maybe you could fast as well. Rylan has a rash on his face that is not going away and is sometimes getting worse. Its pretty bad. Last night it pussed all night and he was itching it and crying a lot. Im worried it will continue to get worse and Im also worried that it might leave a permanent mark. Ive seen the doctor three times and they dont have any idea how to help him. So I need the faith of all of you as well, it seems as if my faith alone may not be enough. The sad thing is this picture was taken a week ago, and now it looks so much worse then it did even then!! There were a couple times this week I thought it was almost cleared up and then it comes back with a vengeance. Thanks for your help, love you all.

Reviews of Dad's Book

I just read the Amazon reviews of dad's book, The Art of Virtue, (mainly because I wanted to get removed the silly review I had written for it way back when I first learned how to use the Internet) and I was so impressed with the things other people had written.

I thought I would copy some of them here, so you can enjoy them too.

I'm really starting to think about reading it sometime.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Love Ben Franklin, January 23, 2007 By L. Jerez (FL) - See all my reviews Great book on Benjamin Franklin's life. This book will make you a better person. Read it and digest it.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful: The "Right Way", October 17, 2000 By Karina A. Suarez (Walt Disney World, USA) - See all my reviews A book like this should be mandatory reading for everyone. Particularly people who represent other people's interests for a living, such as World Leaders, Presidents, Kings, etc., would find it absolutely useful; a kind of constant tool, a compass that keeps them on the right track once and again. This is a book that shows not only Franklin's wit and wisdom, but also his vulnerability, that wonderful human quality, thus making it enchanting and insightful. Buy this book, learn and practice these principles, and enjoy the new breath of fresh air you'll experience in your life.

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful: Looking for a mental challenge? Look no further., April 3, 2000 By Edward Yang (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews I saw this book one day when I was browsing Franklin Covey planners in the mall. It had been awhile since I read something not business related so I thought I'd give this a shot. I'll be honest when I tell you I enjoy a good read but this book took me about one year to read from beginning to end. The first few chapters weren't too bad but then it got into a section about a debate between two philosophers on the definition of virtue and why one should practice a virtuous life. I've never read anything that mentally straining in my life (my degree is in Mechanical Engineering BTW). I enjoy the arts but that one section took me about a month before I could fully digest what the philosophers were saying in the span of less than 2 pages. This one section proved so enlightening that my head hurt for about 2 days after I had a chance to chew on the content. If you had any doubts that the founding forefathers of this great nation were anything but geniuses, this should dispell any and all myths. I must say that I even had to break out the dictionary for some of the diction used in this book in that it was definitely not your everyday conversational english. If you enjoy mental challenges of a higher level and your mastery of the English language is proficient enough to understand the fine nuances of sentence structure and double, sometimes triple meanings, I would recommend this book. If you're looking for something a little more entertaining and easier on the mind, then definitely look somewhere else. But I will admit, when I did finally complete this book one year later, I actually felt a major sense of accomplishment. I guess that makes me just a little more virtuous?

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful: A primer in basic American values. Insightful, witty, genius, April 29, 1999 Reviewer: A reader If you ever doubted the basis upon which our great country is built, read the ideals of one of its creators. Benjamin Franklin demonstrates that his contribution to the creation of the United States was purposeful. I am now jealous of the resource that Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Washington, et. al. had when he added to their discourse. The Art of Virtue organizes and describes Franklin's perception of a virtuous life, defines happiness by his own values, and shows how every person has the power to pursue a virtuous life to become a happy person. Those famous inalienable rights which Jefferson quoted in the Declaration of Independence come alive with Franklin's wit and wisdom. It is not often I acknowledge a wise man, but Franklin was no doubt an oracle in the field of character. Most impressively, this wisdom is just as applicable today as it was 200 or 2000 years ago.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful: SUPER-CALA-FRAGA-LISTIC-EXPI-ALA-DOSCIOUSE, April 6, 1999 Reviewer: A reader I am actually in the process of reading this book right now, and I love it. The things that Rogers decided to include in this book about the life and wisdom of Benjamin Franklin has definately given me new insights into who he was, but more importantly, insights into specific ways how I can better my own life. In an instant I would strongly recomend to people to not just read it, but find ways to apply the things they learn in thier lives. It's just good, what else can I say?