A Thief at FSU

Well I am sad to say that there will not be new pictures on the blog in the next little while because our camera was stolen. Yes, stolen. I (Jen) am at Florida State University finishing up my research for my final paper. On Thursday the graduate students told me I needed to see campus and so they walked over to Starbucks and showed me the beautiful campus. I left my bag in the choral library with at least 4 other bags. They have left their belongings in this room for years without any incident. So upon our return (we were gone about 20-25 minutes) I walked into the room to get my bag because I had an interview with the Director of Choral Activities, Andre Thomas and my bag was not there. Neither was one of the other students bags, but all of the other bags were untouched. Everyone started a search while I went into the interview because he only had limited time. Everyone sprung into action and looked in garbage cans, dumpsters, bushes, etc. but the bags were not found. What was in my bag? My wallet, camera, cell phone and.....all of my research for my final paper that I have collected over these last three trips. I couldn't even think about it. I just prayed....I was interviewing Andre Thomas and at the same time praying! Finally a policeman came and we had to fill out a report. I called Matt and he immediately canceled everything. Then he proceeded to figure out how to get me on the plane, how to get me some money (since that was in the bag), etc. He was amazing.

But there is a pretty happy ending. The dean's of the school of music were also looking for our belongings and came across my bag and the other students stuff in a men's bathroom in a different music building. They walked in and I was afraid to hope....my black notebook was inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hooray! Prayer does work I tell you--never doubt! So I am sad to say the thief took my beloved camera and cell phone and some money. But those things can be replaced. So please be patient while my amazing husband searches us out a new (cheap but excellent) camera.

I am so thankful to Grandma and Grandpa Garrett who came to play with Abby so that Matt could still teach and write his dissertation while I was gone. This was the first trip I could not take her on (couldn't leave her in a very cheap hotel with lots of little ants in the bathroom during the day). It was so, so, so very hard to be away from her. She's my traveling buddy. But Grandma and Grandpa have taken wonderful care of her. She will not want them to leave! Florida State was wonderful (except for losing my things) and I am very excited to go home tomorrow!

More October Adventures!

First of all, Abby is just cute! I can now braid her hair in various ways and this was our first attempt braiding pig tails!
On October 24th my ASU Women's Chorus performed at Camelback Bible Church with the Men's Chorus. The women were truly amazing and I am so proud to conduct them. I will later post a recording of their performance, but this is a picture of me conducting their processional. They surrounded the audience and sang three African pieces. Way to go ladies!
I have an incredible seminary building to teach in. We are very lucky to have it and recently an air hockey table was donated! But the seminary building has some issues--one of the doors will not unlock so we prop it open (birds have flown in twice!), and we have some bugs. Here is a picture of the scorpion that almost stung me last week. I was all alone after the students left, packing up my things and I looked down and this was maybe 2 inches from my big toe. Yikes!
This past week (October 27-31) Abby and I flew to Minnesota to do research for my final paper so that I can actually graduate! Matt stayed in Tempe to teach his classes and work on his dissertation. He had a very productive few days. Abby and I went to Northfield, MN to see St. Olaf College. My cousin Melissa just happens to live less than a mile from the school so we were extremely fortunate to be able to stay with her. Abby absolutely loved Melissa, her daughter Lexus and husband Jeremy. We are so very grateful that they allowed us to stay. Melissa was so wonderful--watching Abby while I went up to the school and even having dinner ready when I finished each day. Lexy played with Abby and Abby just loved her! Thanks Melissa & Lexy!
While at St. Olaf I had the opportunity to see some amazing choirs and very dedicated directors and students. I saw two rehearsals of their St. Olaf Choir and was blown away by the dedication of the students. They have an incredible program and I feel I gained much more than my research while I was there. I feel renewed as a conductor, teacher and person. I was fortunate to interview a renowned conductor, Anton Armstrong for two hours at his home. Here is a picture of my with Anton Armstrong after their Friday rehearsal.
Abby and I flew home on Saturday--Halloween! She was able to sit in her own seat like a big girl! She kept saying, "side, side" which means "outside." She loved looking out the window and trying to climb up the seat she was sitting in. It was a long process to get from Minnesota to Phoenix, but we both made it safe and sound! She is the best traveling buddy I could ever ask for!
Our Church had a wonderful Trunk or Treat with dinner outside and a Harry Potter theme inside. It was designed like Diagon Alley and featured Olivander's Wand Shop, Flourish and Blotts and more! It was a great party. Here is a picture of one of the Wand Shop.
Matt, Abby and dressed up as witches and a wizard. Matt with his amazing ability to find great things on-line for low prices found his wizard costume and my witch costume. Abby's very cute costume came from my sister Tiff. Thanks Tiff! Our costumes were a hit. No one knew who Matt was, I was mistaken for one of the young women a couple times (must be the wig), and everyone, I mean everyone thought Abby was simply adorable. They were still talking about how cute she was at Church on Sunday!

Abby and her very cute friend Indy Lee!
Matt and Abby "Trunk or Treating!" We didn't really get much candy. We don't need it!
Jen and Abby at the cake walk. We won yummy cupcakes!
What an incredible October!

The Adoption Circuit

So Jen, Abby and I are now on the adoption circuit. That is my informal name for it. We are going to different schools and speaking to classes about adoption, and trying to help teens and young adults understand that it is not a scary shameful thing, but that it is a very real option for people trying to make the best of a difficult situation. According to one study, adoption only accounts for 1% of unplanned pregnancies. Some 50% keep the child and a shocking 49% turn to abortion. It is so sad that in a world with so many who want to be parents there are so many more who'd rather terminate the life. Many really just need to understand how wonderful adoption can be for them, thier child, and the lucky couple.
Today we spoke at a school in Gilbert. After one of the classes a young woman came up to Jen and asked to see Abby, and then confided that she just last week she learned she was pregnant. She only told her parents a couple days ago, and did not know what she would do. She said that after our presentation she felt more inclined toward adoption because she saw how much joy it could provide for everyone involved. Gone are the days of secret backroom exchanges, closed and hidden adoptions, and 18-year old identity crises. Today a birth-mother can hand pick her child's parents and keep in touch with them, often as much as she chooses. To illustrate this, we tell classes that we visit Amanda (Abby's birth mom) every so often, and even attended her wedding (Abby was the flower girl).
We were excited that somebody already benefited from our comments, and though there is only a TINY chance the young girl will chose adoption, use our agency, and select us, we feel certain we have helped her, her child, and the couple she may eventually select. Adoption really can be a blessing to all.

Abby's New Sounds

Abby now sings along to some nursery songs and can make many animal sounds! Take a listen!


Abby and I (Jen) tried out a music/dance class with her playgroup last Thursday. It's called Musikgarten and we are thinking of doing it on a more regular basis.
Abby has an amazing "stink" face. Sometimes she makes it just as I am telling her to smile!

Visit to Cali

So Abby and I (Jen) left on Tuesday for southern California to visit USC to do research for my final paper and to visit the Garrett's (and Urry's!). It was a very productive and exhausting time of observing lectures and rehearsals and conducting interviews. USC has an amazing long history of excellence in the School of Music and everyone I met was extremely friendly and open.
I was able to interview excellent faculty. I was especially excited to interview an amazing composer Morten Lauridsen. I conducted one of his song cycles with the ASU Chamber Singers and it was an honor to sit down and ask him questions.
While I was busy during the day, Abby had the most wonderful time with everyone! Grandma Barbara and Great Grandma Ruth really enjoyed their time with Abby and constantly laugh at the many funny things she says and does.
Grandpa Roger also spent fun time with Abby and also drove me everyday back and forth to USC! Thanks Grandpa!
Abby and I were hoping to see a new cousin! Aunt Heather was due last Tuesday, but unfortunately we are all still waiting! We cannot wait until we see a new little baby boy. In the meantime Heather was painting the side door of the garage! What a woman!
Abby climbs on everything and this shows her trying her best to get over the baby gate! She was trying to get into "Grandma's special room" and there are a lot of things to break in that room!
One more thing! Abby loves animals and this shows her feeding Duke, the Garrett's dog!

October fun

Abby really enjoys playing with Natalie Taysom! The Taysom's have a turkey and Natalie took pictures of Abby trying to play with the unpredictable turkey!
I (Jen) had an opportunity to once again work with choral director and teacher, Weston Noble. He is an amazing man who is considered by all to be a choral icon. I feel blessed to be able to work with and meet amazing people. Dr. Noble quoted Robert Shaw and said, "Music is the voice of the Spirit." Oh, how I know this to be true!
Abby's playgroup usually meets on Thursdays, but this week we were able to get into the Phoenix Zoo for free on Wednesday! Here is a picture of Abby and a baby mandril and one of the playgroup!
Abby's hair is getting longer (we haven't been with Aunt Tiff in a while) and I was able to bribe her with dumping out all of the colored rubber bands on the floor so that I could quickly braid part of her hair! She's so darn cute!
It is finally getting cooler here in Arizona and so we went with a few friends to Mitchell Park very close to our house. Matt and Abby experimented with the slide and Jen and Abby just love to be together!
I look forward to General Conference throughout the entire year and so I was so happy to watch this morning! The best part was having 7 of my seminary kids join us for breakfast and watching the first session. Matt cooked all of the food and cleaned up--what a man!
Abby is experiencing all kinds of new things! She now can sing part of "Twinkle,Twinkle" and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbean" (I still have to catch it on video), knows some of her body parts, can say many animal sounds and has played with playdough! She is so smart! Here are some of her body parts and a few animals while she plays with playdough for the first time!

More fun & hard work too!

I realized after I posted yesterday that I did not post anything about Matt. So I thought you should know that he has been working night and day on his dissertation and has finished two chapters. I am sure he thinks they need a lot of revision, but I thought you should see the proof of his diligence!
Besides the hard work, Matt of course plays with Abby all of the time! Sometimes he says to Abby, "how can I get anything done when you're being so cute?!" One of her new favorite games is bouncing on the exercise ball with Daddy's help! I think she even bites her tongue and just keeps laughing! Take a look!


One more video. Abby LOVES to dance and I caught her on video this morning while we were listening to a CD. Anytime music comes on she begins to dance. You can also see our kitchen chair turned on its side. That is because she climbs right up on the chair and on to any table or cupboard she can get to. She can accomplish this in a matter of seconds! She is quite the little monkey!

More Abby!

Okay, so I can't help myself. I see an adorable picture of the cutest girl in the world and I want to share it with everyone! So here is a picture of Abby at playgroup. She actually went under the water this time, although I don't think it was planned. She spent most of her time on the step and making me chase her around and around the pool!
One of Abby's favorite things to do is to climb. She can get up on just about anything. I don't have a good picture of it, but she also likes to turn anything into a chair for herself--a box, a toy, anything! So her car seat often serves as her personal chair.

This picture is just plain cute!
Here is a picture of part of my seminary class after an awesome Friday review game.
We have so much fun. They are the best!
My ASU Women's Chorus performed for the ASU High School Leadership Conference on September 19. There were over 330 high school students and teachers and they were a fabulous audience. We performed 2 pieces of music and one was called, "Heaven Bound Train" by Stephen Hatfield. They've only had 5 rehearsals and they already sound pretty darn good. I cannot wait to hear what they sound like for our October concert!

September Adventures

Teaching seminary is a blast! It is a little bit difficult to prepare a lesson each day, but the kids are the best. One day, while studying the book of 1st Nephi a few of the kids put their interpretation on the board as we read chapter 8. One of the girls, Veronica had a very creative interpretation and I wanted to post it on the blog. I learn more about the students each day and I quickly found out she loves to draw.
I (Jen) performed last night and will perform again tonight with the ASU Choir and the Phoenix Symphony. We are performing a piece by John Adams in honor of the people that died on September 11th. It has been a very long week with multiple practices, but a really unique and awesome experience. Here are pictures of the choir and our view of Symphony Hall.
Abby doesn't really hold still, so I haven't made any efforts to paint her toe nails. The other day she kept looking at my toes, so I grabbed her and tried to paint her toe nails really quickly! It certainly isn't a masterpiece, but a fun start!
We've also enjoyed some fabulous BYU football games the last 2 Saturdays! The BYU vs. Oklahoma game was truly amazing and we had friends over that were standing up and screaming multiples times last week! Abby would just stare at us and then start to smile and clap! Here is a picture of us today (I realize the hair is a bit much for a football game--it's for the concert tonight!). Our friends, Jeremy, Roshelle and Kylee joined us today for the game. Kylee was singing the BYU fight song when I took the picture!

Catching Up

First things first--I (Jen) PASSED! I PASSED MY COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS! Woo hoo! I studied all summer long (plus all of the years prior) and took my written August 10-13 and the oral on September 1st. When they say "comprehensive" they are not kidding. I answered 12 questions in the written and then each question was revisited during the orals. Then they added any other question they thought I should know. It was a bit frightening because the five professors on my committee are like walking encyclopedias--so it was difficult to know what they would ask and I hoped that they would be pleased with my answers. I could not answer every question, but I felt good about the things I said and the professors seemed pleased. All in all, there was a lot of laughter and when they asked me to step out at the end I could still hear them laughing. After a few minutes they opened the door and Dr. Gentry (they head of my committee) shook my hand and said "congratulations." I was extremely relieved and very excited! So now I need to do the research and write my final paper. I do want to add one more thing about this subject--Matt is the best husband in the world! He gave me time each day to study and the week before if I came out of our bedroom he would say, "what are you doing--get back in there and study!" I appreciate all of his help, I could not have done this without him. He's my inspiration.

On to other things, we obviously started another semester. Matt is teaching two classes--one on-line class and one normal class. He is excited about having great discussions with his classes. He is trying to write his dissertation, applying for post doctorate opportunities and the few jobs that are available. We are not sure when he will graduate, so we are attempting to plan for every possibility!

I am directing the ASU Women's Chorus which now has almost 90 members! A few years ago they had a total of 30, so we are really excited about the numbers and more importantly, about the sound and positive energy! I'm honored to conduct them! I also conduct the Arizona Deseret Choir, teach private lessons and play for some vocalists. What is missing? Classes--no classes for me! I just love spending all the time I can with my Abby! She is the sweetest little girl with endless and I mean endless energy! She now climbs on everything. Yesterday I came into her room and she was standing on her changing table dancing. She saw me and squealed with excitement. I find her on the table and anything else and she has bruises from falling off of things! She is saying many more words and we are currently working on "football" and "BYU" as we are currently watching the first BYU football game! We are having a football party as we speak--blue and white balloons and all!

So it has been a while since we've posted pictures, so here are a few pictures from the past. It took a while partly because we were busy and because my computer crashed after the second day of my comprehensive exams. I lost every file, video, picture, etc. I just wanted to cry. Here is one from July--Abby now likes to put on my shoes, especially if they have high heels! Take a look closely at her feet!

Here is just a cute one--Abby actually sleeping! She doesn't do this for very long, so I had to get a picture.
This is just a good picture of Matt and Abby and a picture of Abby and I (we match!).


The morning after I took my written exams, Abby and I boarded a plane for Utah to see Brent (my brother) graduate from BYU. So here are a number of fun pictures from Utah!

Abby and Grandpa Mark:

Proud siblings! Jen, Tiff, Brent & Kevin

Christie and Abby
Abby actually eating--watermelon, yum!

A trip to Park City with Christie, Kylee, Kennedy, Tiff, Abby, Jen
The girls at dinner
We were also happy to see Amanda (Abby's birth Mom) and her new husband Richard.

Abby has no fear! She went right up to Aunt Cindy's big dogs and didn't think twice.
Jen and 3 of the students from Wasatch High--Brandon, Brian, Austin! What a reunion!
Kylee, Brynley, Jen, Kennedy at the Salt Lake Temple.


Abby sees the Salt Lake Temple!

To finish things off, here is a funny video of our darling Abby. She LOVES to dance and try to jump so she will turn on her little farm toy and it plays music. She will push the button and then dance all over the house!

Okay, last thing! Abby climbs on everything now and she often climbs up on the piano bench and plays. Watch and see!

Birth-mother Meeting

Last night we attended a birth-mother meeting at the local LDS Social Services office. We agreed to go speak with them all to share the adoptive parent side of things. Our caseworker said we would be good to illustrate to the mothers that there are good adoptive parents out there. I thought that was a strange twist--would-be adoptive parents always want to know there really are birth mothers out there.

I would not be honest if I did not admit were were a bit disappointed that every single woman there had either just given up a child or had already selected the adoptive parents--not a potential prospect in the bunch--but it was still really nice to just chat with them and get to better see their side of things. We have a really good relationship with Amanda--Abby's birth-mother--but this was another opportunity to see the other side of the coin.

We really do believe that birth-mothers are amazing women.