What the?

So, I decided to climb out of my hole here in Palm Springs to let you all know that we are alive. It has been an extremely rough couple of days for us, but we have definitely been blessed with peace....definitely a lack of understanding, but peace, nonetheless. It has been extremely confusing for us because Steve got contacted by so many teams and was promised at least free agency by several of those teams. So, we definitely feel like we must not have understood the process as well as we thought-who knows? But, Steve has absolutely shown such resiliancy, he's almost relieved! I am so proud of how hard he has worked over these past few months and I have gained even more respect for him because of how quickly he has decided to move forward with his life. His dedication is completely with Bo, the up and coming baby and me. He now feels like he can take his future into his own hands! So, definite positives have come out of this! It's been extremely emotional and hard to see Steve's heart get broken, but like I said, I am so proud of him! By the way, the report that Steve is going to Tampa Bay is not true and we are confused about where people get their information!
Anyway, Bo is loving it out here in Palm Springs. The first thing he says every morning is, "Swimming in the watuh?" I am scared to death if he even walks next to any sort of a water feature, because if I weren't right next to him, he'd leap in.
Please know that I am so grateful to you all as my family. You have been SO supportive of Steve and I! I wish this could have turned out differently, but one day we will be grateful that we are heading into this new path! I love you all and promise that I will be a better sister and will call all of you more!
Love, Savanna

GOOD LUCK IN THE DRAFT STEVE!!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR STEVE. HERE IS A MESSAGE FROM THE COLORADO FAN CLUB.

LOVE YA, BENTLEYS

Polygamists in Texas

HEYA,

I'm going to use our Blog to make a political statement. Frankly I am outraged with what is happening in Texas and can barely stomach thinking about those kids being taken from their mothers. I guess I am posting hoping that all of us will write and take action against the maverick state of Texas. I just wrote to Governor Rick Perry and told him that I was outraged. I also told him to return those children to their mothers and put the fathers in prison where they can experience being one of many "wives" to a disgusting inmate.

I worry that if we all sit by without voicing our concern that we are all in danger of having our rights taken away ... not to mention our children.

Anyway, it was easy and fast. Thanks for being so great. We love you all so much, Marisa and family

Crazy and Exciting week ahead!

So, not only have I had a crazy, crazy week, but we are heading into another one! These past couple of weeks have been out of control busy. I am sure you all know that I have been moving out of our little cottage to move into mom and dad's basement. Cute mom and dad have been so nice to let us move in and it's seriously like our own little apartment down there! But, cleaning out our tiny house made me realize that we have way too much stuff! Now I know what everyone is talking about when they say that moving sucks....it does! My hands are now officially man-hands from all the cleaning and scrubbing that I had to do down there, I am just so relieved that tonight we are officially OUT! It was a nice little crooked house for 4 years!
Anyway, this Saturday, the Tate family is taking a vacation to Palm Springs. We are driving and I am scared to death that my body is going to be angry about that long of a drive! I sit for a half an hour in front of the TV and I start to black out from being uncomfortable, so I'm pretty sure that that means the same for the drive....although, it might be a blessing in disguise to pass out and slip into a coma during a long drive like that, it probably will make it fly by! But, the most important thing about this weekend is THE DRAFT! Holy freaking cow it is going to be here so soon and we have quite a few prospects! For those of you who don't totally "get" the draft...which is more normal than getting it....Steve will probably be a late round or free agent which means that on Sunday, we know where our life is headed! Kind of excited for that! But, the second we know, I will let all of you know....hopefully we have some good news!
Well, that's about all that is going on with us. Kind of big stuff, but I do feel bad that I have neglected to be in contact with anyone during this time. I have been so, so busy! Please know that I am thinking of you and miss you all so much!
Love, Savanna

Waz up!!! Hello everyone, thank you all for writing on the blog because I friggin love it! I'm especially proud of you Alecia, well done! I am writing from sunny Arizona where it is going to be a perfect 86 degrees today :) Yeah, I'm on vacation everyday suckas! It was really great to have Mom, Dad and McCormack down here last weekend. I was able to take a lot of time away from school and hang out at the pool with them. It was the typical vacation with Mom reading an entire book by the pool while telling McCormack and I to get in the sun more and pull up our swimsuits to give our "lily white" legs a tan, and Dad getting up before everyone in the morning to go on a walk and then later swimming laps between his naps on a poolside lounge chair - getting burned of course ;) (sorry Dad) We also ate some great food but it was usually really late by the time we ate, so all of us would go to sleep stuffed and wanting to puke throughout the night - we were just trying to empathize with Eliza. Also, Dad, McCormack and I hiked up "A" mountain overlooking campus one evening. The hike was rough at first and Dad wondered if we were going to have to bury him alongside the trail underneath a cactus, but we made it to the top like a bunch of Viking conquerors, or like a bunch of tired and out-of-shape men, but I like the sound of Viking conquerors better.

Anyways, love ya'll. Keep Kara and I in your prayers that we pass our finals!

- Christian

PS - Go Jazz! ESPN has them going to the finals but losing to Boston in six. I say Jazz in 4! Keep the Jazz in your prayers too! =)

I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THE BLOG!!!!!!!

Hello Familia!!!
So freak I am so sorry, I seriously forgot about the blog, until was just sitting at mom and dad's computer and saw the blog. I freaking love you guys. Peter and I are doing great. Peter is doing a great job at work and things are really looking good for him. We went to St. George with another couple this weekend and it was sooo nice to have a relaxing minute without work and stress and stuff! I went about a week without feeling sick (granted it felt like a two weeks!) and then I got this stupid cough adn I am back in full swing of being the VOMITING QUEEN. Seriously it is so dumb. I was putting my makeup on today and out of nowhere I threw up in the sink. This pregnancy thing is a blast!! No I am loving it. Today the doctor told me that I should relax and that it is normal to feel better and then get sick again, she said it will do that for a while and then all of a sudden I am not sick anymore, so cross your fingers that that day will be soon! I heard the babies heart beat today, and it is so exciting, it beats so fast. I kind of forget that I am prego, and then I hear that and it gets me soooo excited. I am think I am going to apply or a job at some baby place so that I can get a discount on baby stuff and then all the extra cash I am making, put towards the baby. I am getting so excited. I can find out in two and a half weeks what I am having. Holy cow, crazy that i am having a baby! I love you all and I went through and read all of your blogs, you guys are so awesome. Thanks for being such a great family. Love you.

Love Eliza and Peter!!!

What makes a good day?

As many of you know, our good friend Rich Lloyd is dying from brain cancer. It has been so sad to watch his health rapidly deteriorate. He writes in a blog nearly every day and what he wrote yesterday, I found so profound and such a good reminder not to take life for granted. This is what he wrote:

Good Days, a Personal & Current Definition

For everyone, one of the things you hope for is that you have almost all "good days," but more importantly, we recognize them and appreciate them. Most people are pretty good at this, but for some it takes a very conscious effort to remember these, replicate them, and always be grateful for them,

That, I have found recently, is a lot easier to do in the in a trial like cancer or another tough trial, as others can attest as well.

Just for fun, here is my short but sweet list of what presently, strangely enough, makes a "good day" for Rich Lloyd... :)

1) I Slept Well. Not sick at night or coughing or having other health issues.

2) I am productive. I get a lot of Peruvian Connection work done.

3) I see my kids and wife a lot. I am out of bed at least half the day.

4) I am not at the hospital as an inpatient :)

5) I get to play the piano sometime that day.

6) I get to help a friend or loved one with something -- advice, help on a business plan, you name it.

7) I get all my treatments done and make time to do Physical Therapy and complete my exercises as well.

8) I get to see friends or visitors and have a voice to communicate with them.

9) I can serve and help others- this is the most gratifying part of any day.

10) I have time to read, study and learn


So go and have your own GREAT day, however you define it...


Wow, we all sure have so much to be grateful for. Today, someone on Rich's blog wrote there are two questions that we should ask ourselves everyday:

1)What are you doing today to make a difference in how your life turns out?

and

2)What are you doing today to make a difference in how someone else's life turns out?

Lots to think about. I sure love you guys.

xoxoxo
Alecia

The Last Lecture

Hey everyone. I don't know how many of you watched Diane Sawyer's interview of Randy Pausch tonight, but it was incredibly touching. You can see excerpts and watch his full lecture on the good morning america site: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LastLecture/. Honestly it was so inspiring. Randy is dying of pancreatic cancer and just has a very positive message about life and living every day.

I am also including another link: http://www.alice.org/kelleher/storytelling/download.html. Storytelling Alice is a computer program specifically designed for girls to help them understand and interact better with computers. I thought Marisa and Alecia would enjoy it and play with Cora, Thomas, and Lauren. The site was mentioned on the above program.

That's about it. All is well here in San Fran. I missed the chaos of the protesting today with the torch relay because of class but after watching the news tonight I don't think I missed much since they kept changing the route.

Love you all!

Kara

Can this be true?? Alecia is posting???

Okay, everybody leave me alone. I am sorry that for whatever reason, posting a blog, using itunes and texting make me feel like an old woman. I almost feel like I need to put on reading glasses to do this. I guess that I am not as cool as I think.

I hope everyone is doing well. We had a rough night last night. Little Christian got sick and was up with fevers and horrible nightmares. He told me about one of them and it made me worried that I was going to have a nightmare from just hearing about it. Poor guy was so disturbed....I wonder where he gets that? So needless to say, I am a zombie.

Thomas and Lauren have both lost teeth in the past two days. Lauren's teeth have been loose for a while now but I keep telling her not to touch them so that we can get her picture taken before the buckies come in. Well, this has been going on for weeks. She ate an apple the other night and her two bottom teeth were basically dangling and she looked at me and said, "Don't worry mom, I won't touch them." I realized that I was a fool and Romney pulled it without any resistance whatsoever. So she feels very grownup and actually likes the lisp it has given her.

Overall things are going well. Romney has really been enjoying his work lately and it looks like the CEO position with the cash debit cards might actually start very soon. They have agreed to at least pay him for 2 days a week for his time until they get funding. So between that and his other consulting job, it feels like we might be headed down a good path. We'll see. We feel blessed.

I sure love all of you. Thanks Marisa for getting this going. This is the most we have from Christian since he got home from his mission. Just kidding Christian.

Please have a great day everyone and know that you are loved.

xoxoxo
Alecia

The Tate's are BACK!

So, we just got back from San Diego and had a freaking GREAT time. It's great to be home though! I posted a huge blog on my blog site but I wanted to let you all know that we had a great time! This is a picture of us in Africa....aka Wild Animal Park!

WUZ UP?!

Hey we miss you all like cray. I thought you would enjoy seeing a few more pictures. I'm jealous that mom, dad and Corm are going to see Kishan (as he is respectfully referred to at our home). We have been sick all week. What is wrong with us? I even lost my voice today just like Loopie. Happy Birthday again Eliza. We are glad that you were born. I can't believe this picture of these little kids. They are looking like adults now. We really enjoyed conference today. Rick's brother and his family came over for the day and watched it with us. We love having some family here. What is it going to take to get someone else to move here. Peter they have commercial realestate here ... Steve - the Broncos ... Romney, I think there are businesses here ... Mac I've looked into it, and yes they have doctors and hospitals ... Christian and Kara ... they need lawyers and Corm ... work for the Rockies ! Think it over. Cora attended the Young Authors' Tea and felt really honored to be there. It was a pretty big deal and she even did some of the voices with an accent when she read them aloud. She is published now so she feels very special. We love you guys. Lincoln's teachers say that he is doing so great right now that they can't keep up with him. He is really into cutting things with scissors .. like our power cords for our phones and the blinds. He also loves turning the hot water heater off which is really fun when you want to take a shower. He really is funny. You can just tell that he has a job and he has to do it. We love you guys, Talk to you soon! Marisa and clan

Hello my darlings!
I LOVE that we can receive messages and share pictures with everyone immediately. Savanna called this morning and rudely shared that they were headed for the beach in San Diego. I talked to Bo and he jabbered about the birds and 'Grandma' and then when he had had enough, he said goodbye and gave the phone to Savanna. What a fun trip they are having.
Speaking of trips, your dad told me last night that he had had enough of the cold and wanted us to get out of town next week and go to Arizona where it will be in the 80,s.
So, Sunshine here we come, Jeff, Kathy and McCormack. Look out Christian, we're coming to play, relax and enjoy the sun. I loved having Marisa's family here last week and what a joy it was to see you all together (except Kara and Christian). What a fun family.
Mom got back from Richfield and is doing well. She is planning to go to Florida for a visit in two weeks. She looks great and sends her love. Enjoy Conference! (Hey, I LOVE not working!
Remember you are always in my heart and in my prayers,
Love, Yo Mutha

Marisa, thanks for the pictures! But I'm a little confused, I didn't know Eminem joined our family. Nice hair Corm. Dad, I think you should do the same thing!

- Christian

PS - Alecia, I expect to see a post pretty soon after what you were telling me the other day, and don't think I'm not going to hold it to you sucka!