President Kortman, Christmas Stuff & How Disneyland improved one son and destroyed another....

So it's that time of year again! Christmas! I do love the shopping, crowds, the smells and the happiness and sense of togetherness, family and traditions so thick in the air. It is a time of magic. I love it! Gage is so freaking fun this year for Christmas. Gage and mom took a ride on the Polar Express and Gage was beside himself with excitement. He even found in his limited vocabulary to say Santa. yay! Santa gave Gage a bell on the train and Gage really really liked him, which was great because I thought he'd freak out.

So I was looking forward to Santa's annual visit to Jon's Aunt Jerri's. Santa came in ringing his bells with everyone singing. Gage seemed pretty ok with him there and seemed like he wanted an M & M candy cane he was handing out. But as soon as I went to transfer him from my lap to his, he completely freaked out kicking all red faced and crying. And honestly, can Brock smile any wider in this pic than he is? Love his enthusiasm for sitting on Santa's lap !





Gage has been so beside himself scared of things ever since our Southern Cali. trip last Spring. I guess being a small 2.5 year old didn't help. So innocent, not knowing what to expect. We visited Disneyland/Calif.Adventure, Seaworld, Universal Studios,etc. And there were scary things around every corner for Gage. For example, some of the 4-D "theaters" squirt water at you, there were scary loud noises, ghosts in a haunted house, theater seats that moved and blew wind in your face, special effects with fire and booms, water rides that splashed you, and rides that gave you tummy butterflies... and the list goes on and on. See Gage so excited to be in the Special Effects Stages at Universal Studios...


at least he LOVED Sponge Bob




Since April, Gage cries the first half hour of every theater movie and constantly points at the exit because he's worried that he'll get squirt or something. When he realizes it's only a movie theater after .5 hours, he's totally fine, content and happy to be there. The water fountain thing at the Gateway now scares him. And now the Christus at Temple Square scares him. We totally did the Christmas Lights thing last night and he was so excited going up the ramp. But once we made our way through the crowd to stand before the statue, Gage looks up and threw a massive fit complete with the crying and he kicked his legs so hard that his snow boots went flying off and the poor sister missionaries came over to console him with a picture of the temple, which didn't help. He made such an embarrassing scene. He didn't calm down until we were out of site of the statue that Gage probably thought would come to life and grab him or squirt him, who knows?



At least our Southern Cali trip made Brock a more fun & confident boy. He had never dared go on a roller coaster before, but once he dared go on one, he went on all of them. What a brave studly kid!



And you can just call Jon Prez. for the next while, he is now President Kortman to all the people of the good Northpoint 1st ward. He is Elders Quorum President. I am so proud of him and have already seen so many positive changes in him. He's kinda cute here...



We all want to wish you a very Merry Christmas. Remember the significance of the birth of the baby who would later grow up to save us all. And may 2009 be the best year of your life. Be safe.

Gage McGregor Kortman is 3!!

So big changes in the life of the Gager-man. Jon and I strangely gave him the middle name of Xavier at birth because it sounded cool. The past few years it has bugged us, so we just legally had it changed to McGregor. Jon's middle name is Gregory, his father's name is Gregory, and his grandfather's name is Gregory too, so we incorporated "greg" into Gage's middle name. So now it has some sentiment. Gage also just started Pre-K Special Education Preschool for 2.5 hours Tues & Thurs. He even has a school bus come pick him up and drop him off. He has a speech pathologist work with him during preschool. We need to get this boy talking! Gage also celebrated his 3rd birthday with his buddy Jon and Kangaroo Zoo and Grandpa and Grammy came over for dinner & cake. He also got the coolest Thomas Train Ultimate Choo-Choo set. It keeps him busy for hours. We are so greatful for Gage and the silly and sweet little person he is!

Christmas Tag Thing- I have been caught

Christmas Questionnaire

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa definately wraps his own presents. Bigger gifts or complex gifts that require a lengthy set-up are left unwrapped and put together by his elves I think. How nice of those elves - gosh!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Never have... lame huh.

5. When do you put up your decorations? I start the day after Thanksgiving usually

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Veggie trays with ranch at all parties

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Getting together with all Warner cousins for the Christmas Eve party and opening presents from eachother

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think I was 10 years old, and I was so upset ever since. But I can still relive it through Brock and Gage and see the magic again

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, from our Christmas Eve cans

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I kind of coordinate with earthy colors and white twinkle lights, but I also throw on different favorite ornaments. You know me, I am not picky when it comes to decorating the tree!

11. Can you ice skate? Nope

12. Do you remember your favorite gift? My barbie house that was almost as tall as me and custom made

13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Remembering the true meaning of Christmas. I really feel the Christmas spirit when we go to see the Forgotten Carols or Glenn Beck's Christmas shows. Oh my gosh, can't wait to see his new production this year "The Christmas Sweater" I loved the book.

14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Fudge and mom's carmels

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve cans with the fam.

16. What tops your tree? an oversized fabric bow thing

17. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I love to give, come on, my love language is gift giving, so what do you expect?

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Oh Holy Night sung by a powerful female voice

19. Candy Canes? Yes, the jolly rancher kind or the really thick peppermint stick ones

20. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized? Yes, it takes away from the true meaning.

I tag Kara you're IT girl! :)

Another Halloween Come & Gone

I LOVE Halloween ok. I love decorating my house all scary. I love Halloween parties, and I love dressing up. The first weekend in October, I very excitedly started pulling out the Halloween decorations knowing that Gage would be so cute and fun playing with some of them and helping me. The first thing I pulled out was a 4 foot tall skeleton in a tuxedo that we usually hang from the light outside the house. I thought it would be funny to make him peek around the corner at Gage as he was sitting downstairs on the couch. So that is what I did. Then all of a sudden, I saw Gage inching along the wall on the opposite side of the room and once he saw it was me holding the Mr. Skeleton, he started to cry. Needless to say, with each new decoration, Gage got more and more frightened. And seriously, most of the decorations were on the cute side, like the dancing mummy and boogie bones. He was even terrified of the fog that came out the fog machine. We had tons and tons of laughs over Gage's reactions. He was so happy to wave goodbye to Mr. Skeleton when we put him back in the box for another 11 months. It's become a tradition to take take the boys to Cornbellies at Thanksgiving Point every year. It's very entertaining and totally fun and worth every penny. This year, the corn maze featured David Archuletta. We took Brock's friends along for the ride this year. But of course, there were certain parts that made Gage cry. :) They had the huge jumping pillow, Halloween Hayride, tower of carved pumpkins (my favorite was the President Hinckley one, it was uncanny how accurately it looked like him), the Haunted Creature (giant inflatable monster lizard thing with huge teeth that you walk inside), corn cannons, cow train, princess pumpkin park, peddling go-carts, the famous dried corn box (a huge sandbox, but you play in millions and millions of pieces of dried corn kernels - not popcorn), the singing chickens, pig races, bounce houses, etc. We enjoyed the annual Warner Halloween party and I sadly missed the long awaited Ward Party which brings every member out of the woodwork. They do a teriffic job every year. Enjoy the pics. I'm getting ready for Christmas!

One of Many Summer Highlights - Meeting Glenn Beck!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh, Hello ya sick twisted freak! As Glenn would say at the beginning of his radio show! Oh my heck, Jon and I met him on the 4th of July this year at his book signing of "An Inconvenient Book". He also hosted the Stadium of Fire, which we totally scored tickets for and had to go to because of him and the Blue Man Group. So getting tickets was a must, who cared that Miley Cyrus was the big ticket performer. I was definately in my element seeing Glenn and watching BMG perform. It was a stunning performance. THEY ROCK! Back to Glenn. We waited in line for 3 hours at Deseret Book in Orem waiting for Glenn to show up and to be one of the first in line. Jon and I hung out with other die hard Beck fans, the excitement was in the air awaiting his arrival. And let me tell you, when a member of the Church is a celebrity, as Glenn is - then his Utah fans are Insane! :) It was fun... watch this footage of him coming in, just watch the first part when you see him and then stop it, it's not a good recording - but he walked right past me, like 1 foot away - I had no idea he'd come in through there. I got to shake the man's hand and he's seriously for real, he even jumped across the table to sign Jon's Glenn Beck shirt, he didn't even ask him to... he was like, "hey man, cool shirt" and did that! Jon was quite proud. God Bless America. We need all the blessings we can get at this time.

The Brockster's 9th Birthday Par-tay

So Brock turned 9! Holy cow, I can't believe he's that old. The party was a success, even though I stressed out bad at all the gray clouds (see the pic). It did rain a little for like 2 minutes, but Father in Heaven blessed our little party that night and there were storms and lightning all around us, but not in our little back yard. As soon as all the guests left, oh boy did it start to pour. We had lots of fun. He got a Nintendo Wii for his birthday, we had it in storage for 6 months waiting for the big day. I decided that little boys play video games, and if they do, then at least I want him bouncing up and down, which the Wii allows him to do. Happy Birthday to the Brock-ster.

Gage's first pony tails!!

Ha ha ha ha, so there is a first for everything. I was in a strange mood the other night, so I put 4 pony tails in Gage's hair, he pulled out 3, but left the biggest one up top. We were laughing so hard. We love our CURLY HAIRED.

Gageanese finally has a new name... Developmental or Verbal Apraxia

My little Gager-Man was diagnosed with Apraxia - Finally! I am now studying up and preparing myself to know how to teach/help him and do all I can to help him to start talking English. Gage has so much to say in his "Gageanese", and I can't wait for the day when I can communicate better with him. I will also be learning more sign. This is what Apraxia is....

Developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) occurs in children and is present from birth. It appears to affect more boys than girls. DAS is different from what is known as a developmental delay of speech, in which a child follows the "typical" path of speech development but does so more slowly than normal.

The cause or causes of DAS are not yet known. Some scientists believe that DAS is a disorder related to a child's overall language development. Others believe it is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to send the proper signals to move the muscles involved in speech. Children with developmental apraxia of speech generally can understand language much better than they are able to use language to express themselves. Children with developmental apraxia of speech will not outgrow the problem on their own. Speech-language therapy is often helpful for these children and for people with acquired apraxia who do not spontaneously recover all of their speech abilities.

Speech-language pathologists use different approaches to treat apraxia of speech, and no single approach has been proven to be the most effective. Therapy is tailored to the individual and is designed to treat other speech or language problems that may occur together with apraxia. Each person responds differently to therapy, and some people will make more progress than others. People with apraxia of speech usually need frequent and intensive one-on-one therapy. Support and encouragement from family members and friends are also important.

In severe cases, people with acquired or developmental apraxia of speech may need to use other ways to express themselves. These might include formal or informal sign language, a language notebook with pictures or written words that the person can show to other people, or an electronic communication device such as a portable computer that writes and produces speech.

Zuma Nesta Rock

So yeah.... Gwen Stefani had baby #2, Zuma Nesta Rock. Read the meaning below. I was so hoping she'd have a girl. Gwen and Gavin both wanted to be surprised, so they didn't even know the gender. He was born Aug. 22nd 2008.

By naming their newborn son Zuma Nesta Rock, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale "have proven decisively that they're masters in choosing names that are both highly unusual and carry a lot of personal meaning," baby name expert Pamela Redmond.

"They've continued their own place-naming tradition by naming their son after Zuma Beach in Malibu," Satran explains, citing a profile of Rossdale which said he had an epiphany that began his career.

"He was standing on Zuma Beach in the early morning after working all night as a production assistant on a music video and was quoted as saying he realized he was wasting his time," Satran says. "He drove up the coast, slept in his car, and started making the moves that would launch his career."

Nesta, meanwhile, was Bob Marley's first name before an immigration official switched it with his middle name, Robert.

"This name obviously links to big brother Kingston's and is another nod to Jamaica and reggae," says Satran.

Bob Marley's son Ziggy used Nesta as a middle name for his son, as did his other son Rohan, who has a son named John Nesta Marley with singer Lauryn Hill.

The name Rock "needs no explanation," given that the baby's parents are rock stars, Satran says, and the fact that we're "long overdue for a Rock Hudson-inspired revival."

Summer Activities

Summer has been so fun this year, I think the best thing about it was the cold start. I am only working Saturdays and Sundays at Kidscare this summer, so I have Mon-Fri off with the boys. I keep them quite busy with swimming lessons, Mad Science, trips to park,Play N Learn, and baseball games. I have loved the evenings when the neighbors come out and the neighborhood kids come over to play, Brock is kinda popular around the neighborhood I am coming to find out. Brock is also showing great ability at baseball. He's probably the most skilled on his team. It's fun to cheer for him. Gage even cheers in his Gageanese.

This is only the State of California - I wish America would wake up and face this Huge problem Head On.

This is only one State...............
If this doesn't open your eyes nothing will!

From the L. A. Times
1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.

2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.

4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal , whose births were paid for by taxpayers.

5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.

6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.

7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County. )

(All 10 of the above are from the Los Angeles Times)

Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare.

Over 70% of the United States' annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida , and New York) results from immigration.

29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue

Funny blast from the past video clip Jon & Gage

Remember the days when Gage would do "back flips" off the bed? He loved it! Now he backwards bungees off Jon's chest as Jon holds his ankles! Our little Extreme toddler

A Halloween to go down in Kortman History

I am so excited to have finally gotten ahold of our ward Halloween Party pics. It was soooooooo freaking rad to finally dress up as a Blue Man, I'd always wanted to do it. It was so much fun, I won the award for the most creative. I think I'll do it again in a few years or so. Doesn't Gage look so cute as "Pumpkin Gage", Jon's a hot pirate, and Brock looks way too scary! I'm thinking Halloween is my favorite holiday.

A few Tidbits of our California Vacation 2008

We decided to take our week-long family vacation during Brock's Spring Break. We stayed at a very very nice resort in Escondido, the Lawrence Welk Resort Villas on the Green. Everything there was immaculate from the beautiful flowers & rock outcropping everywhere to the hardwood flooring in the villas. We went to Seaworld, Disneyland, Disneyland's California Adventure, Oceanside Beach, and Universal Studios Hollywood. It was so rad seeing Bernie from this season's Biggest Looser at Universal, I was so close to him, I totally should have got a pic with him! Brock was our biggest surprise. Thanks to Jon for making/forcing him to go on a mini roller coaster, Brock finally decided he loves roller coasters and went on every single one at the rest of the theme parks. It was magic for me to experience Disneyland all over again through's Brock's eyes. I felt like such a kid when we went on rides together. Disneyland's lines were so short, most rides were only a 5 minutes wait. This was the best vacation I've evern been on. The whole vacation was pure magic. My only complaint is that it was Utah County's spring break, and way too many BYU hats/shirts floating around there! :) Gage definately kept us laughing the whole vacation with all his silly antics and pure excitement - and making sure we saw all the "choo-choos". I got so many compliments on how cute his hair is! It is so curly and we're growing it out. See our vacation slide show below.

Charlie bit my finger - again !

Thanks to my hilarious brother Shane, who finds the most interesting/funny/wierd things on YouTube, I was able to laugh my butt off at this video clip of naughty Charlie!

Gwen Stefani - The Real Thing Live

This is my favorite performance of Gwen's from her Harajuku Lovers Tour. Don't you think her Harajuku's dance wicked? I love Gwen's barely showing "preggy belly" in this performance too! :) Enjoy

A Huge & Loud Shout Out to Our East Coast Kortman Family

Hi Kortman Family! As you know, we miss you! You guys are so far away. Tif's whole family has blogs and we kind of encourage you to create one too so we can all stay connected somehow. We always wonder how you're doing in life and want you all to come & stay with us again. The door is always open! :) Please keep in touch, and let us know when you create your blog.

California Vacation Memories 2008