Vegas Photos by Jenny

"The Wii Fitters"

This week I actually exercised more than my minimum goal which feels good. The yoga and strength exercises on Wii Fit are really helping to strengthen my back, legs and ankles. I'm improving very slowly in the balance and Wii plus games. I'm doing fine on the basic aerobic exercises on the Wii but need to increase their difficulty. The first and second aerobic exercises I have set to the more difficult setting but not the 3rd exercise.

I still have to make it a priority to do the Wii Fit or I won't. Exercising has never been something that I can't wait to do every day. Are there some of you that really look forward to exercising and really get excited about it? Just wondering.

Like some of you suggested, we should really keep up our exercise during the holidays even though it will be hard. We might have to count mall walking but that's good too. What are your exercise plans for the month of December? 

Gift ideas?

What gifts are you buying your parents, children, grandchildren, friends, etc? I need some ideas. After taking a quiz to earn pet cash on Petville, I realized that I get my best gift ideas from others. Please help!!!

What has been the best gift that you have ever received on Christmas?

"An Apple a Day Bunch"

How did everyone fare after Thanksgiving? I haven't gotten on the scales yet today but I've been a lot more careful this week. I have to write everything down or I just overeat. The first of the year we'll see who lost the most weight this year. It won't be me but if I keep it up I'll still be down from where I was last January and at a better place to start the new year.

"Wonky's Book Worms"

The Lord knows everything about me - my thoughts, my paths, my ways, my words, and my heart. There is no where that I can flee or hide from the Lord. During the week I need to pray to God to know his will for me and to give thanks to him in all things.

"Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence." (Psalms 140: 13)

"Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness." (Psalms 143:10)

The reading for next week is Psalms Chapters 146 to the end and Proverbs Chapters 1 -10. 

Grandma and Grandma

Brother Tom emailed us these photos and I don't think that he would mind that I'm sharing them with you. Grandma Davis was so sweet. She lived two doors down from us in our condo in Provo for awhile right after we first got married. It was fun having her as our neighbor.

Grandma Osmond had so much spunk and energy. I remember her hopping in Wayne's airplane to take a ride just like she was a teenager. She was so nice to babysit our red factor canaries when we were traveling back and forth from Utah to California during the Donny and Marie Shows. 

I have such good memories of both grandmas. They would both travel together with us on tours once in awhile. I remember one specific time when they both went to Vegas with us when the Osmonds were performing at the Hilton. I haven't ever seen these photo before and it brought back some wonderful memories. I miss Grandma and Grandma!

Thanksgiving Puzzle

Wayne finished the puzzle this afternoon that Kandilyn had started before she and Marc drove their car back to Utah. He said it was even harder than the last puzzle. Now you know what he did all Thanksgiving Day. He just exclaimed, "I'm never doing another puzzle!" We'll see how long that lasts. Ha! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday to Amy! This photo was taken when she was in the 6th grade and missed school to travel with the Osmonds on their Christmas Tour. 

"Stages: An Autobiography"

Jay's ebook is available on Kindle now! 
Here are a few features:

   - 72 pages of new photos at the end of the book
   - New cover
   - New stories throughout the book
   - Lots of new stories in the "inspirational stories" and "quotes" sections


  
Click Here to view 

60 Year Anniversary!

Happy 60th Wedding Anniversary Dad and Mom!!! 

We all love you so much and appreciate everything you have done for our family all these years!

"The Wii Fitters" and Happy Birthday to Kandi!!!

After getting on the Wii today I've decided to go back and count calories on the "Lose It" program. It's hard to believe how much damage I can do in just a few days. Telling Wayne that I can't eat anymore because I've used up my calorie allotment seems to help control him. Ha! Like I couldn't just say "no."

I made my exercise goals this week. Seeing the red line on the Wii Fit weight chart go up is too hard to watch. Maybe if I start back keeping track of what I eat this week (except for Thanksgiving dinner), I'll be back down to where I was. One good thing about having Thanksgiving in Branson is that I won't have any left-overs. Ha!

How are your exercise goals coming?

Happy Birthday to Kandi! I think she turned 29 this year!

"An Apple a Day Bunch"

This week has been totally blown and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. Wayne bought and kept throwing me my favorite boxes of candy every night and after throwing them back a couple of times - I ate them. Needless to say I gained weight so I'm going on a no candy diet now. I love Hot Tamales, licorice and peanut M&M's.

How has everyone else been doing this week? I probably should go on a no sugar diet like Laura but I have to enjoy some pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

"Wonky's Book Worms"

"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." (Psalms 119:142)

The Lord is righteous and will always be righteous - forever. The Lord's laws are the complete truth. The Lord's law is always truth and the only truth - no matter where it is found. I will continually seek the Lord's truth and try to keep His commandments.

"Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them." (Psalms 127:5)  This is a scripture that Mother Osmond quoted quite often referring to her children. I wonder why?

New Friends

We had an enjoyable evening at Yakov's Theater watching the Osmond Brothers Christmas Show. Julie and Vicki met for the first time. I was impressed that Julie hadn't met Vicki before but knew her name. Did you see Vicki on Facebook or recognize her from somewhere else?

Darren and Vicki are here in Branson celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary this weekend. They share the same anniversary date on Monday as my parents and Kandilyn's birthday. November 22 is a very special day for sure! Having communicated with Vicki online for awhile it was fun to finally meet my new special friend and her amazing hubby!

Diane and Vivian are here visiting the United States and Branson for 2 weeks. Wayne had mentioned to me that Diane and Vivian were here from the UK, so I was happy to finally meet them. 

I also got a chance to say "hello" to Cathy and Pat after the show. There were many others that I enjoyed visiting with but didn't get a chance to take their photos. Thank you everyone so much for attending the show tonight! 

Wayne's New Website

Most of my time this past week has been spent on the computer changing the look of the blog, twitter, Facebook and Wayne's website. I don't have that many photos here on my computer in Branson with big enough files to do much with the photo slide show on Wayne's new website.

If you have a cute or fun photo of Wayne that you think would look good on Wayne's website - I'd love to add it. Please size your photo to 625 pixels width and 500 pixels length and email it to wonkthedonk@gmail.com

Many of you have sent me photos in the past with large files but I don't have them here in Branson. Most of the photos were re-sized when I added them to the other website and are too small to put on this new slide show. You might also see some of your photos already added to the slide show because I don't have a record here in Branson of who sent these photos to us or when. Let us know if you see one of your photos displayed and/or want me to take it off.

Hope you like the changes. The past couple of years I have learned so much about designing and administering websites, blogs and social networking sites. Let me know if you have any changes, suggestions or ideas that I can implement for the new year.

Also don't forget to sign up for the newsletter on Wayne's new website! If you signed up for the newsletter on Wayne's other website then you have already signed up for the newsletter and don't need to do it again. The site won't let you sign up twice unless you use a different email address. If you are signing up for the newsletter for the first time, please make sure that you activate the newsletter after you sign up by going to the email address that you used. There should be an email from Wayne's site where you click on a link to activate your subscription.

Click Here to go directly to Wayne's new website.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Wayne has done jigsaw puzzles his whole life. He doesn't have any idea how many he has done over the years. After he finished the last puzzle backstage, Cassie brought another puzzle to the theater for him to work on. He claims this puzzle was even harder than the last one and definitely the very hardest one he's ever put together because of all the white in the background.

I'm pretty excited that he actually took a photo of his puzzle on his IPhone and brought it back to the hotel for me to post on my blog. I didn't think that he had any interest in my blog at all.  I also now know that he can take photos on his IPhone without me giving him instructions if he wants to. Maybe I can get him to take some embarrassing photos of Merrill and Jay on their drive back to Utah after all the Christmas shows are over. Ha! Wouldn't they be surprised!

Kandilyn left Wayne 2 more puzzles and a Puzzle Stow & Go before she and Marc drove back to Utah. Kandilyn had started the puzzle but didn't get it finished before they left for home. We had never seen a Stow & Go mat that you can roll up after you're done working on the puzzle for the day. The next time you want to work on the puzzle you just unroll it and start again.

It might be a good gift idea for someone that's crazy about putting puzzles together? The Stow and Go is on it's way to the theater tonight with Jay and Wayne.

Does anyone recognize the carpet from their travels?

"The Wii Fitters"

I did the very minimum exercise this week - the Wii Fit for at least 45 minutes three days. It makes me feel so much better if I can at least meet my goal but I do need to get more exercise. It will be a lot easier when I'm at home and not living in a hotel room. Is everyone else making their exercise goals?

"An Apple a Day Bunch"

My goal until the first of the year is not to gain any weight and just maintain my current weight. I did lose a pound last week which was a nice surprise!  I'm taking a break from calorie counting.

What is everyone else planning on doing for the holidays? Is anyone going to keep trying to lose weight through the holiday season?

"Wonky's Book Worms"

Psalms 112 gives many instructions for us to follow. I've listed 10 of them to remind me what the Lord wants me to do.

1. Praise the Lord
2. Feareth the Lord (which to Wayne and I means to love the Lord so much that we wouldn't want to do anything to disappoint him or have him disapprove of our actions.)
3. Delight in the Lord's commandments
4. Be gracious
5. Be full of compassion
6. Give favors and lend to others
7. Guide our affairs with discretion
8. Not be moved when keeping the commandments
9. Don't be afraid of evil tidings but trust in the Lord
10. Give to the poor

"The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance."

What instruction did you receive in the reading this week that you can apply in your life?

Next week's reading is Psalms 116 through 130.

What traditions do you have for Thanksgiving?

Thursday, November 25th, is Thanksgiving in the United States. It would be so interesting to hear how everyone else celebrates the holiday. After talking to Franki at the theater last week and hearing about some of her traditions, I realized what we are missing by not being exposed to what others do to enjoy the holiday. I hope Franki will post some of her traditions and will share her recipe with us?

Traditions at Thanksgiving have gone down the tubes since I've been traveling with Wayne the past couple of years. He's been doing shows on the evening of Thanksgiving here in Branson so we have been going to McFarlain's in the early afternoon to eat Thanksgiving dinner with whatever family is in town and wants to go with us. In a more positive light, we are making new traditions. Right?

I really miss my mom's delicious homemade Thanksgiving dinners. She prepared the whole dinner for us for who knows how long - way over 30 years. It was so fun to meet at my parent's home with my family and Debbie's family to celebrate Thanksgiving each year. We all have such wonderful memories.

I also remember going to my Grandpa and Grandma's house when I was growing up on Thanksgiving to celebrate with my mom's side of the family. My mother had 5 sisters and the youngest, Jennilyn, was only 3 years older than me. She was more like a sister than an aunt.

Some of my most cherished and happy memories were with her at my grandparent's home and farm. I wanted to do everything that Jennilyn did, so I'm really thankful that she was such a good example in my life. She influenced my life probably more than any other individual outside my immediate family. I'll always be grateful to her for putting up with her annoying little niece all the time. She would even let me tag along with her friends and boyfriends. I'll bet they really loved that! Ha!

My Grandma Rhees always made everything from scratch. Jennilyn, Debbie and I would have contests to see who could eat the most homemade rolls. Wow! Were her rolls delicious! I never could duplicate her or my mom's homemade cooking.

I could write volumes of all my memories spent at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We'd gather eggs, pick fruit off their fruit trees, snip the ends off the beans and dig up potatoes - which was more like finding buried treasure. I remember helping grandma hang out the wash on the clothes line in the back yard, churning butter, eating homemade ice cream and playing lots of games. My favorites were "Kick the Can," "No Bears Are Out Tonight," and Clue.

Sadly, my Aunt Jennilyn passed away at 33 years old from a brain tumor and left a husband and 5 beautiful children ages 10 years old and under. The youngest baby boy was just barely a year old. That was the saddest funeral that I have ever attended. I knew that Jennilyn would be fine even though I would really miss her, but looking at those little cousins of mine without a mother was heartbreaking.

I guess I've rambled on enough. Jennilyn's husband later married a beautiful woman that coincidentally was in Wayne's elementary school class. Sharon has been a wonderful mother and together she and Craig have raised 8 outstanding children.

Top row left to right: Donna (my mom), Sharon, Janet, and Beth

Front row left to right: Grandpa Rhees, Grandma Rhees, Jennilyn and Paula

We would love to read about your traditions so we can get some ideas on starting new traditions!!!

Thanksgiving Daily

I was emailed this message and thought that you would all enjoy it.

Click Here to view the short video.

Branson Christmas Shows

Franki took these photos when she was at the Christmas show last Thursday night and graciously agreed to let me share them with everyone. It was so fun to finally meet Franki! She is darling, bright, articulate and has such a fun, pleasant personality! Thanks Franki for being such a great support and sharing your photos with us!

Osmond Family History

Alan has requested that we let everyone know that the most complete and up to date book of Osmond family history is "Osmond Ancestry and Genealogies." Mother Osmond spent many years researching their family history. 

     

The book is now on sale and available through Amazon.com for only $9.95.


The most updated online source for Osmond family history is osmond.org

Jason and Lauren are engaged!

Last night Jay told us the news - Jason and Lauren are engaged and thinking about a March wedding. I heard from a very reliable source that they are like "two peas in a pod." Congratulations! You are a beautiful couple!  Everyone is excited for the upcoming wedding in the Salt Lake Temple!

"The Wii Fitters"

My exercise goal was met even though I know it isn't a very hard goal. Ha! I exercised with the Wii Fit three times this week for at least 45 minutes each time. Even though it's a rather lame goal I can tell that my lower body is getting stronger and my balance has improved.

How is your exercise program coming? Have you found new ways to exercise now that the weather is getting colder outside?

"An Apple a Day Bunch"

The first of the week I started out really strong and recorded everything I ate, but as the week went on I didn't keep track of how many pretzels I ate - so I just quit. Today I'll start over again.

I'm maintaining my weight though and not gaining or losing. That's the good news. It's going to be a challenge over the holidays but if I don't keep trying I'll gain back everything that I have lost since last January.

How is everyone else coming in their goals? Any ideas for the holidays? 

"Wonky's Book Worms"

Our reading for this week was Psalms 86 through 100.

How can I apply what I have read this week? In Psalm 94:11 it says "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." Wayne thinks this means that man generally have thoughts of worldly ways, how they look and what they want instead of centering their thoughts upon God and his mercy.

As I go about my week I am going to try and remember to be conscious of all my thoughts because God knows all my thoughts and I will be responsible for them. I'm going to try and notice how much time I spend thinking about myself, talking about myself, writing about myself instead of God and others. What I do, become or have been given are only because of the Lord and I should continually thank and praise his Holy name.

What do you think vain thoughts mean? I'd be interested in reading your ideas and comments. Were there other scriptures that you read that you could apply in your daily life?

Next week we are reading Psalms 101 through 115.

Christmas Spirit

Now I'm in the Christmas spirit after watching the Osmond Brothers show at the theater. 

Loved the show! 

It was also really fun seeing and chatting with many friends at the theater.