We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Week!

Activities too numerous to mention, dinners, showers, farewells, family dinners and spending time with dear grandmother Amy at the LDS hospital in Salt Lake where she underwent successful gallbladder surgery at age ninety-one and a half. Time to rest for a few minutes!

Family Home Evening, November 26, 2007

We attended Kent and Joan Burgon's missionary farewell on Sunday. They will enter the Missionary Training Center on December 3rd. They will serve in the visitors center at the San Diego California Temple. A couple of thoughts that were shared at their farewell:

George Bernard Shaw wrote:
"We do not stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing."
Kent changed it to:
"We do not stop serving because we get old, we get old because we stop serving."

The scriptures say:
"As I have loved you, love one another."
Kent changed it to:
"As I have served you, serve one another."

Many older people feel they have earned the right to relax and lay back and let the world go on. Deciding whether to go out and serve on a mission may seem hard and not what one may want to do at this time of life. Yet, it's not about the individual; it is about what the Lord wants the individual to do. I know there are many wonderful blessings waiting for Kent and Joan as they serve.

Hey, we are constantly learning, growing, and progressing--that doesn't happen by just sitting around.

True purpose has no time limit. True purpose has no deadline. Whether an accomplishment takes fifty years or fifteen minutes, the purpose behind it remains the same. Purpose in life exists apart from time, space and material artifacts.

Can you feel the real purpose in your life? It is not in any hurry, and it cannot be deterred by anything. Purpose does not linger, but moves steadily along with you, whatever you do and wherever you go. Purpose has no use for compromise, and finds its way forward in every situation.

When you live from your real purpose, you live beyond time. If you feel fear, anxiety or despair, dig deeper, for you have not yet fully connected with true purpose. Purpose is now and purpose is always. Live with true purpose, and leave any limitations behind.

Love to all, Mom and Dad xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo



After speaking at Church services on Sunday, Joan and Kent Burgon's home filled with friends and family, probably close to a couple of hundred hungry souls.

Stephanie has a bridal shower at the Valentine's home!

Mom Angela (Robert's sister) admires one of the gifts as Stephanie looks on.


Lots of friends and family attended the bridal shower on Saturday morning, November 24! Food and fun! Shauna put on a fabulous event!

Good Luck and Bon Voyage, James Valentine

James Valentine says goodbye to his Mom at the Salt Lake City International Airport as he flies off to join Adam, Jesse, Micky and Matt for their European tour. Come back for Christmas! (By the way, Maroon 5's new album, "It won't be soon before long," would make a great gift!

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner in Salt Lake City!

Thanks to the generosity of James Valentine and Maroon5's success, we ate fish at the Market Street Grill in downtown Salt Lake City the night before Thanksgiving. The place was empty for a change. Out waitress Amy was fabulous and so was the food. Oysters in the shell, calamari and all kinds of special seafood dishes! Nevertheless, we were ready for turkey the next day!

Meanwhile, in Nashville, Amanda Valentine cooks her first turkey!

Piece of cake, she says. Boyfriend Derrick Brown (www.brownpoetry.com), Derrick's father Cliff and their good friends Todd and Jamie Valentine (no relation) eat turkey.

Thanksgiving at the Valentine Home in Highland

November 23, 2007. James Valentine and his best friend Shannon (who grew up across the street in Lincoln, Nebraska) and Shannon's friend Jessica drove up from LA. Alas, Thanksgiving night, after a day of conversation and eating, James had to fly to London to begin the Maroon5 European tour. On Wednesday night, we all ate at the Marketplace Grill in Salt Lake City, skipped breakfast on Thursday in order to get ready for Shauna's delicious Thanksgiving meal.

Family Home Evening: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving, may you live thankfully every day.

For the beauty of the earth, For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.
(Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917, LDS Hymn # 92)

As we grow up, we start to obsess that our families, partners, homes, cars, country, and jobs need fixing. Some tweaking here and there may be in order; but this kind of focus may make us dwell on regrets: "If only I had . . . " This internal dialogue makes-peace-of mind elusive.

When we feel gratitute on the other hand, we become more fulfilled and peaceful. Accept what we have and where we are WITH GRATITUDE.

For the beauty of each hour, Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow'r, Sun and moon, and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.
(Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917, LDS Hymn # 92)

Taking time in a busy world to remember God's blessings is one way to invite the influence of the Holy Ghost.

We cannot remember what it was like to be with our Heavenly Father and his beloved son in the premortal world; nor can we with physical eyes or reason alone, see the hand of God in our lives. Seeing and feeling such things require the Holy Ghost.

Forgetting God is the persistent problem for humanity. Too often those who are abundantly blessed forget the source of all blessings.

"It is easy to begin to feel the blessings were granted not by a loving God on whom we depend but by our own power. It can also be hard to remember him when our lives go badly. In trials, some question that there is a loving Father, making it difficult for the Holy Ghost to minister. All men have the Spirit of Christ, if not the Holy Ghost, to help them remember the goodness of God." (President Henry B. Eyring)

For the joy of human love, Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above, For all gentle thoughts and mild,
Lord of all, to thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.
(Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917, LDS Hymn # 92)

May this be a season of gratitude and thanksgiving!

We are especially thankful for each one of you.

Love, Mom and Dad, Shauna and Robert Valentine

Sunday Nights at the Valentine Home in Highland!

First, feed the kids, then sit around and visit!

Kent and Joan are going on a mission!

Retiring after 40 years as a stock-broker, Kent and Joan are going on a "Mission" for the LDS Church to the visitors center at the LDS Temple at San Diego, California. Shauna and Bob held a dinner in their honor. All of Shauna's brothers and sisters celebrated the occasion, except for Shauna's sister Lynette who is helping her daughter in Denver with newborn triplets!

BYU Basketball!

Shauna is in Phoenix making a presentation on mentoring to a national organization. Bob has an extra ticket to see BYU whallop Jackson State 100 to 61 in the amazing Marriott Center on campus. Grandson's choice. First, we ate hamburgers at Wendy's, then stuffed ourselves with ice cream and popcorn.

The Valentine Clan Hits Las Vegas!

Waiting for the sound check!




Maroon 5 put on their final show of this fall's successful tour at the Palms. James set us all up in wonderful rooms and fed us tons of food. Maroon 5 puts on a perfect, seamless show. The fans loved it! The place was packed! James now sings, too! These are just a few of the dozens of photos we took. We drove down to Las Vegas and back in Chris' van, which was a hoot! James is still James, nice to everyone who stops him for an autograph or to chat!

Robert attends the Licensed Utah Real Estate Instructor's Workshop

On Thursday, November 8, Bob attended his fourth workshop and learned new ways to teach real estate in the classroom. On Friday, November 9, we spend most of the day discussing real estate, mortgage and appraisal FRAUD in Utah. Too many trusting Utahns have been cheated! Pictured above are some of the sharp people at the Utah Division of Real Estate. In the rear, Mark Fagergren takes care of licensing and instruction. In the center, Derek Miller, the Division Director, a BYU law graduate, has done a fabulous job of prosecuting real estate fraud, and he is just beginning!

Amanda Valentine - Entrepreneur in Nashville

By Tracy Pulley in ALL THE RAGE http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007711080319

After spending a quiet afternoon in 2005 helping Ben Affleck shop for jeans, Amanda Valentine started reflecting on her life. Sure, Ben's a great guy, and there's nothing wrong with shopping as a rule, she mused. In the end, though, it's just picking out jeans.

So the L.A. stylist decided to venture beyond the world of celebrities and their fashion needs. Today Valentine can be found most days at Local Honey, a small vintage clothing store she bought into this year along with original owner Shea Steele. It turned out that the answer to Amanda's early-life crisis was right here in Nashville.

It's hard for some people to imagine walking away from a fame-and-fortune lifestyle, but for Valentine it wasn't a tough choice. She has great memories to look back on while running the store and stitching up custom creations, but she doesn't have to worry about irritable directors or running for coffee anymore.

"It was great picking out socks for Billy Corgan, trying on hats with Ozzy," says Valentine. "I worked with the Osbournes a lot, especially Kelly as she released her album. She was a good learning experience; she would fight me on my choices." Amanda even ended up in Kelly Osbourne's "One Word" video when an extra failed to show for the shoot. "I'm on-screen for about three seconds, which might have been cool except that I was probably on my 20th hour of work. Those overnight shoots are brutal."

Valentine was almost ready for a change when her boyfriend's career moved him to Nashville. She was going to stay in L.A., but when his calls started coming in — "This place is great! I love it!" — Amanda made the move.

She settled in Spring Hill and quickly jumped not only into fashion but music, too, forming the Spring Hill Spider Party ("I like to call us the Spinal Tap of dance music," she says, laughing) and The Valentines, a post-punk rock cover band.

Freed from the nonstop L.A. workload, Valentine found time to do what she loves most: reconstructing vintage clothes. When she found Local Honey, she realized that everything could come together — love of fashion, need for a job and desire to make an impact on her new hometown.

When Valentine isn't minding the store, playing bass or creating hybrid T-shirts ("I love vintage tees but hate the way they feel, so I use the collars and shoulders and splice them with soft cotton shirts"), she's out exploring the city. She recently moved to east Nashville and is already addicted to Alleycat's nachos and the hangout vibe at Red Door East.

One thing Valentine doesn't do is read tons of fashion magazines. She's more inspired by what people wear every day. "I scan street fashion blogs. They're doing much more interesting stuff than designers."

TAKE NOTE

To check out Amanda Valentine's creations (under the label AValentine), visit Local Honey, 1207 Linden Ave., 297-6977, or visit myspace.com/tailorval.

DAD'S COMMENT: Amanda has always loved collecting vintage clothes, which filled our house in Lincoln, Nebraska. "Mandy" has a BS degree from the University of Nebraska in "Clothing and Textiles," a challenging major, one of the top programs in the country! Mom and Dad are very proud of her accomplishments!

Monday Night Family Home Evening Activity: A Movie Premiere!

Lisa and Chris Clark star in "Stalking Santa," a DVD about a professor who tries to prove the existence of Santa Claus. The Utah launching was at the Jordan Commons movie complex, which was packed. The DVD is on sale at Walmart stores across the country. It was filmed three years ago, when Lisa was preganant with Hugh. (She is pregant again!) Buy the DVD and tell your friends. Go to www.stalkingsanta.com for a preview!

Amanda and James in Atlanta

This brother and sister act is the best!
Shawn takes good care of the boys in the band on the road.
Let's work on the make-up!

Mandy drove with friends to Atlanta from Nashville to rock with Maroon5. I love this backstage shot of James and Mandy, who in the next picture is hugging Shawn Tellez, one of Maroon5's road managers who always takes good care of all of us. Mandy celebrated a goulish Halloween, too, with her band! When are James and Amanda going to make an album?

Valentine Grandkids and Kids Rock Halloween Night!

James took a break from the Maroon5 tour to attend a Hollywood Halloween party as "Mystery," a magician and self-described "pick up artist." The blue-haired bomb is James' friend Bitsie.
The best part? I took it from my sister's bag!
Ohmygosh! We have to wait another year?
Mom? What are the symptoms of sugar overload?
This is so cheesy! I don't want anyone to recognize me.
Hey! Stop calling me cute!
I will play this silly game for candy!
Just wait until I am a teenager with a driver's license!
Some kids never grow up!
Above all, elegance.
Hey, is Batman supposed to smile?
What can I say? Meow!
Grandma Shauna sewed the Ice Queen's cape and the sparkling witch's costume, too!