By Alan on Nov 22 in Blog tagged Alan Osmond, Family, George and Olive Osmond, Jesus Christ, Osmond Girls, osmonds second generation, Suzanne Osmond, thankful, Thanksgiving, The Family, The Osmonds, where I am going, who I am, Why I am here | 1 Comment

This Thanksgiving Day – I Am Thankful For…

By Alan on Jun 21 in Blog tagged against MS, Alan Osmond, all-natural treatments, alternative medicines, blender, daily battle, David Osmond, diagnosis, dibilitation, disease, essential, Family, Father and Son, fighting spirit, golf cart, greatest act, homeopathic, hydro-exercise, lean meat, leg brace, Mormon faith, multiple sclerosis, never complained, no caffinated beverages, no casein, no drinking, no gluten, no smoking, nutrition, osmonds second generation, protein, refined flour, spouse, steroids, sugar, Suzanne Osmond, symptons, The Osmond Family, the show must go on, the whole family, unconditional love, viris, wheelchair, Winning | 2 Comments

Alan and David Osmond

Courtesy of David Osmond

Growing up Osmond comes with certain expectations: You sing, you dance and no matter what, the show must go on.

This has never been a problem for David Osmond, one of eight sons of Alan Osmond, the oldest of the famous brothers who shot to fame in the 1960s and ’70s. David, 32, continued the family’s pop legacy as the lead singer for Osmonds Second Generation, competed on American Idol in 2009 and released a solo album in 2010.

But just seven years ago David’s career — and life — were suddenly in jeopardy: He could not sing, play guitar or even walk because of pain in his chest and paralysis stretching from his toes to his diaphragm. Multiple sclerosis was soon diagnosed, just as it had been in his father 20 years earlier when he was in his late 30s. (Siblings or children of people with MS have a 1 in 40 risk of also contracting the disease, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.)

“When I originally received the diagnosis,” David tells me, “I had already tested positive for West Nile virus, but some of the symptoms did not match up. So they tested me for MS and found I had the disease. My doctors believe it may have been dormant in my system, but was triggered by the virus.”

Affecting 2.5 million people worldwide, MS is an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system. It interferes with the transmission of signals to the brain and spinal cord, triggering unpredictable and often debilitating symptoms. MS can cause numbness, tingling and searing pain in the extremities; periods of partial or full blindness; loss of sensory function, like taste or smell; and even paralysis. The cause is not clear and there is no cure, but the effectiveness of long-term drug treatments has improved.

MS affects every patient differently. Most, like David, experience flare-ups that can vary in length and severity, followed by periods of remission with few or no symptoms. “It’s like a roller coaster,” David has said. His father, however, is among the 15 percent of MS patients who have the progressive form of the disease, marked by a slow degeneration of the body’s functions.

At first, David was devastated by the diagnosis. “I was in complete denial,” he admits. Sitting in a wheelchair in 2005, watching his brother’s children playing with their dad, he wondered, “Will I ever have that?”

But now, David says, “I’m almost embarrassed to admit that is how I felt, because when I looked from my brother and my nieces and nephews to my dad, I realized, here is this man who has lived with MS for 20 years — and he has never complained. I realized that life can go on and you can find ways around this disease, just like my dad did.”

(MORE: Multiple Sclerosis: Increasing Quality of Life)

Both father and son have learned to live with MS and deal with its inherent obstacles and dire prognosis. Powerful steroid shots helped David get out of his wheelchair four years ago, enabling him to walk down the aisle with his bride, Valerie, at their wedding. (They began dating before his diagnosis.) “I proposed to her from my wheelchair and she said yes,” he says, “so being able to walk down the aisle with her was something I just knew I had to do.”

David still experiences some pain in his legs, but he has not been back in his wheelchair. He and Valerie now have two daughters, ages 1 and 3.

“I know it’s crazy to say, but it is actually a great time to have MS,” says David, who sits on the board of the Nancy Davis Foundation for MS. (See footage of David and other stars at the foundation’s Race to Erase MS gala.) “The numerous choices we now have to attack this disease that is attacking our bodies are encouraging. I truly think MS is one of the chronic illnesses that may be cured in my lifetime.”

Counting on Nutrition and Family

Part of the Osmonds’ approach to battling MS is an embrace of homeopathic remedies, like aromatherapy. “I was given a cortisone shot when I was first diagnosed in 1987,” Alan says, “and it just about killed me. It was right then that I decided there has to be a better way and I started investigating alternative medicines.”

The Osmonds do not take traditional MS drugs but they do support research into better treatments for the disease. For themselves, though, they believe all-natural treatments and diet choices represent their best chance to keep the disease at bay. Both men follow healthy, all-natural diets that include no gluten (which is found in wheat-based products), no casein (milk protein), no sugar and no refined flour; Alan combines fruits and vegetables in his blender for most meals. They occasionally eat lean meat but prefer to get their protein from omega-3-rich fish. Further, Alan takes a variety of all-natural dietary supplements, including Vitamin D, each day; David takes up to 50 daily supplements. In keeping with the tenets of their Mormon faith, neither man smokes or drinks coffee or caffeinated beverages.

Overall, each man says he has worked to educate himself about MS and has tried various approaches to discover what works best for his own body. Each encourages other MS patients to do the same.

Alan credits his wife, Suzanne, with pointing him toward the alternative treatments that have allowed him, so far, to defy the odds of his grim prognosis. His doctors expected he’d be in a wheelchair by now, but he generally walks without assistance, only occasionally employing a leg brace or golf cart. Alan also participates in hydro-exercise; the buoyancy of the water, he says, takes the pressure off his often-painful joints and helps him maintain balance while going through his exercises.

Both Osmonds believe the unconditional love of a spouse is essential for anyone facing a chronic illness. “It is not just one person who gets MS,” Alan says. “It is the whole family. You have to have the drive and desire to keep living and keep fighting for yourself and those around you.”

Their thriving marriages defy the odds: According to a National Health Institute Survey conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 75 percent of marriages in which one spouse has a chronic illness end in divorce — a rate 50 percent higher than for other marriages.

“Sometimes dealing with something like multiple sclerosis can make your marriage better,” David says. “I know both my wife and I have learned more patience with each other through this journey and I absolutely would not be where I am at today in conquering MS without her.”

As we wound up our interview, David’s girls were calling to him from the next room, eager to get back to playing Legos and watching Disney movies with their dad, experiences that, a few years ago, he was not sure he would ever be able to share. Later, I saw this tweet from David: “Going to make t-shirts for my girls that say ‘Having MS gets on my dad’s nerves.’”

Sherri Snelling’s book on celebrity caregivers, A Cast of Caregivers, will be published by Balboa Press in January 2013.

By Alan on Jun 15 in Blog tagged alan, Alan and Suzanne osmond, army lead, as He did, barrack, challenges, church, dedication died, education, eight boys, eternal, example, Family, family life, forever, George, George and Olive Osmond, good meals, help others, impacted, Jesus Christ, knowledge, lare family, Like Father, Like son, live again, love, love at home, loving home, married, memories, nurtured, order, organization, Osmonds, osmonds second generation, parallel, passed away, point the way, prayer, regimentation, respect, righteous, role model, same way, showed me, Sons, spirit, spirit world, Suzanne Pinegar, tender, The Family, traditions, truth, watched him, worked hard | 2 Comments

Father’s Day – “Like Father, Like Son”

“Having been born of goodly parents”, I was blessed to be the third member of a family of eight sons and one daughter of George and Olive Osmond.  We grew up in the town of Ogden, Utah with fond memories of a wonderful family life.

My Mother, Olive, was so kind and tender as she nurtured us children.  She love to cook and taught us music in a most wonderful and loving home.  Her parents were both educators and my mother would have been too, but she fulfilled her first priority and married my father and had a large family.  Because she loved education, she asked my father to build a schoolroom in the attic of our home where she used her skills as a teacher and theologian to teach us children many truths.

My Father was my hero and my role model.  We called him “Father” out of respect and I wanted to be like him when I grew up.  I was by his side when he built, plumbed, wired, and remodeled homes as a great carpenter. I watched him and was by his side when he milked cows, hauled hay, irrigated the orchard and fields, or as we stamped and packaged postal items at the post office that he had.  Father also loved to sing.  I sat behind him while he was driving the car and as we sang together, he would sing in harmony with Mother.   That was how I learned to sing harmony.  Learning that skill truly impacted my life.   Father taught me how to fish, to hoe sugar beets and how to drive the tractor and haul hay.  He always involved my brothers and me in his work projects and led by example.  He always stood by us when the going got tough or was challenging.  You see, Father had been an army sergeant and knew how to lead men.  Several evidences of that training showed up in how he raised our sister Marie and us eight boys.

One example of that was when we got older and our home needed more bedrooms.  Father decided to build on to the back of our house and built what he called, a dormitory.  Yes, you are right, it was like an army barrack with seven military  metal framed army cots and blankets, foot lockers at the end of the beds, and open closets where our clothes needed to be neatly hung and arranged as there where regular inspections that occurred.  He knew how to lead and train military men in the army so like them, Father taught us in many of the same ways and how to have order.  Some neighbors had asked him if the way he was raising his kids wasn’t ‘regimentation’.  He would just smile and respond back saying; “I look at it as organization.”

I remember many times when he helped friends by serving them.  My Father and Mother were always doing things to help others.  They started the Osmond Foundation to raise money for deaf children, two of which were my older brothers.  This was a pattern of my father and I wanted to be like him,  “Like Father, Like Son.”  He was a hard worker and organizer and gave freely of his time in headed up several fundraising projects within the church and the community.

Like my father, I too, found and married the most wonderful girl in the world, Suzanne Pinegar, and she is my eternal partner.  Suzanne has blessed me with eight wonderful
sons.  As a father, I tried to raise them the best I knew.

I can look back and see a parallel in many of the same ways and traditions that I learned from my father.  Those patterns and traditions of life now exist among us as a family with our sons and their families.  Yes, they honor me and call me Father and they have learned to work hard and to never give up.  Yes, they also love

music and have excelled in it masterfully.  I told them to get “real jobs” and they did get good educations with a love to learn.  Yes, they love the out of doors like I did as a son and are all Eagle Scouts.  Seven of them so far have served full time missions and have returned and married.  Yes, they grew up in a home with respect, order, good cooking, love, and with religious convictions that honors our Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  We learn from Jesus’s example that even what He did, was as His Father has done; “Like Father, like Son”.

This Father’s Day, I reflect back on my father’s life and how much he showed me by example the way to be and to become.  He taught us to be positive and to never give up when we were challenged and would say, “You can do it”.  He also taught us that “You can be what you want to become, if you become what you want to be.”  He was hard working yet a righteous man with a tender “marshmallow” heart”, as my mother would say, as he blessed his family and took us all to church.  He served in the bishopric and held several other church callings in which he blessed others.  We never had a meal together without first having a word of prayer and giving thanks and blessing the food.  We always had family prayer at night and even before every show that my family and I did later when we became entertainers.  When major decisions were made, we would counsel with the Lord together in kneeling family prayer seeking inspiration and giving thanks.  This was the way we grew up because it was the way he did.

 I remember the day my mother passed away and which was a hard thing and then not long after that when my father died.  It is not easy to see them go but it is those times when the knowledge of that they had taught us gave us the understanding that we would live again and be with them.  When my Father died, I was the first one to be by his side.  I saw him lying cold and still on his bed.  His body was there but my Father’s spirit wasn’t.  I shed some tears and held his hand as I offered a prayer of gratitude to my Heavenly Father.  I thanked Him for giving me the greatest earthly father I could ever have and for the good man that he was.  It was then that I honestly started to smile as I knew he was now once again with my Mother in the Spirit world.  I looked at him and said, “Father, save me a place, up there.”

Some day, I too, will graduate and do as my Father, my Savior, and my God have done, and live on eternally.  ”Like Father, Like Son”.

Alan Osmond
For The Family

By Alan on Apr 30 in Blog tagged alan, concert, Donny, eternal life, eternity, fans, friends, God, Holy Ghost, hope, I believe, Jay, Jesus Christ, jimmy, LDS, mansions, Marie, Merrill, Mormon, music, Osmond, osmonds second generation, spirit, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Osmond Brothers, The Osmonds, The Plan of Life, The Plan of Salvation, Tom, tour, U.K. Final Tour, Virl, Wayne | 28 Comments

The Osmond Brothers Final Bow And Testimony

The U.K. Tour

On this, Merrill Osmond’s Birthday, The Osmond Brothers take their final Bow and share their Testimony to their dear fans and friends in their United Kingdom’s Final Tour.

I know that Wayne and I so wish that we could have been there to perform and say thank you to the most wonderful fans and friends any musical artiist could ever wish to have.

I, Alan Osmond, was the oldest of the group and had to leave the group a few years ago due to having Multiiiple Sclerosis.  Wayne Osmond, the second oldest of the group just recently had to leave the group due to health conditions.

We always said a word of prayer before each and every performance we did asking for the Lord’s blessings and for the Holy Spirit to touch those among the audience that they might feel our love and testimony through our music that we have for life, for family, and for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We know that Jesus Christ is The Way to everlasting happiness and that He has restored His Gospel here upon the earth with all the power and authority to bless us with everlasting life in the world and heavens to come.

We usually always end our shows with a musical testimony via a song that we love so much; a song we wrote for The Plan Album called, “Are You Up There”, and ending it with the classic song, “I Believe”.  These shows that we have done for about 55+ years have always started with a word of prayer backstage and usually ended with a song of gratitude and belief on stage.

In behalf of all of my brothers and sister Marie, myself and all of the Osmond families, may we say thank you for accepting us and our music, and especially for all of those tender words, hugs, kisses and eternal friendships that will never go away.  We love our fans and call them friends knowing that there is purpose in life.

We Osmonds are all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are not ashamed of the fullness of His gospel.  We sing His name, we take upon ourselves His Name, and always remember Him and strive to keep His Commandments.

If you have felt that ‘Spirit’ and love in our concerts, our music, our TV and media moments, or wonder why we are the way we are . . . then we invite you to click this link and ask of those who respond to share with you “what it is that you felt” and then ask them any questions.  Ask them to explain and to give you answers to “the reason for the hope that is within us” Osmonds.  Or, if you see us, just ask us personally and we will share with you the glad message of Jesus Christ and His Plan of Life that includes The Way to return back to our Heavenly Parents and what is needed to be able to live in the highest mansions of Heaven with them for all eternity.

Sincerely with love,

Alan Osmond
For The Family

Merrill, Virl, Tom, Wayne
Alan, Olive, Marie, George, Jay
Donny, Jimmy 

By Alan on Apr 08 in Blog tagged Clay Walker, first time, Nathan Osmond, Olive Osmond Perpetual Hearing Fund, Osmond Brothers, osmonds second generation, performing together for first time, since 1007, the deaf, together | 5 Comments

 Osmond Brothers and Osmond Second Generation

A Concert For Charity

It’s just been announced that the Osmond Brothers will perform on June 16 at 8 p.m. in West Jordan, with Osmonds Second Generation opening.

The two groups are performing together for the first time since 1997.

Tickets range from $10 to $20, and go on sale this Friday.

The show will be at the West Jordan Arena, 8030 South 2200 West, West Jordan.

For more information, go to www.wjconcerts.com

Also, as part of this concert series, Jo Dee Messina will perform Aug. 11, Clay Walker (with Nathan Osmond) will perform May 12, and Collin Raye will perform Sept. 29.

Proceeds from these events will go to the Olive Osmond Perpetual Hearing Fund.

For The Family

By Alan on Mar 04 in Videos tagged osmonds second generation | Comments Off

http://youtu.be/TQM-5SMJurQ

By Alan on Oct 10 in Blog tagged Alan and Suzanne osmond, happy, Jesus Christ, light and truth, loving home, mothers and fathers, osmonds second generation, productive, righteous lives | 2 Comments

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Good parenting, while very challenging at times, offers great potential for happiness. Parents can experience great joy by building a strong, loving home environment and teaching gospel principles, which can help their children lead righteous, happy, and productive lives. (See 3 John 1:4.)

The Lord has commanded parents to “bring up [their] children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40). This includes teaching them to understand the doctrines of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost (see D&C 68:25) and to love their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This teaching should take place primarily in the home, with Church classes and programs supplementing and supporting parents’ efforts.

Parents can teach their children formally during family home evening and other family gatherings, such as daily family prayer and scripture study or at mealtimes. Teaching opportunities also come in unplanned moments as parents and children spend time working and playing together. Whatever the setting, the Lord will guide parents as they prayerfully seek to rear their children in love and righteousness.

Suzanne and I give thanks to our Heavenly Father above and to our Lord Jesus Christ for trusting us with eight wonderful sons, seven daughter-in-laws, and twenty wonderful grandchildren to raise and to love as a father, a mother, a grandpa and grandma.

“Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Matt. 7: 17-18

A Mormon/Christian Family and Home,

Alan & Suzanne Osmond
For The Family

By Alan on Jul 06 in Blog tagged Alan and Suzanne osmond, Boy Scouts of America, BSA, Huge impact on so many lives, osmonds second generation, Ronald Reagan, The Family, theFamily | 2 Comments

The Boy Scouts of America:

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For every 100 boys that enter scouts:

• 45 will serve in the military

• 17 will later serve as adult volunteers

• 8 will find their future life vocations from Scouting

• 4 scouts will reach the rank of Eagle Scout

• 3 will become pastors

• 2 will report that they used scout skills to save their own lives

• 1 will use scout skills to save somebody else’s life

• Only 4 out of 100 boys in the USA will become scouts but of the leaders of this nation in business, religion and politics, 3 out of 4 were scouts.

• Only 4 percent of our nation’s youth were scouts, yet 65% of all college and university graduates were scouts.

• 181 NASA astronauts were involved in Scouting (57.4% of astronauts).

• 39 are Eagle Scouts.

• 35.5 percent of the United States Military Academy (West Point) cadets were involved in Scouting as youth.

• 15.6 percent of cadets are Eagle Scouts.

• 30.5 percent of United States Air Force Academy cadets were involved in Scouting as youth.

• 13.5 percent of cadets are Eagle Scouts.

• 25 percent of United States Naval Academy (Annapolis) midshipmen were involved in Scouting as youth.

• 14 percent of midshipmen are Eagle Scouts.

• 212 members of the 111th Congress participated in Scouting as a youth and/or adult leader.

• 22 are Eagle Scouts

WE BELIEVE IN THE

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Osmonds
Second Generation

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All Eight of The Osmonds Second Generation Michael, Nathan, Doug, David, Scott, Jon, Alex, and Tyler have earned their Eagle Scout Awards!

 

(All sons of Alan & SuzanneOsmond)

Their parents were both trained in scouting and have served as a Cubmaster, Committee Chairman, and Varsity Scouting.

“We believe in the values that Scouting teaches and encourage all families to get behind this program.”

Ronald Reagan mentioned to us that “Scouting and receiving an Eagle Scout Award is one of the best things a young man can have on his resume showing leadership skills in his youth.”

Boy Scout Oath or Promise

“On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”

Kirk Matson
For The Family

By Alan on Jun 13 in Daily Inspiration tagged Alan Osmond, bedtime stories, osmonds second generation, twice upon a time tales | 1 Comment

Here are some books that Suzanne and I wrote for our children.

You can get them for your children, TOO!

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The are called:

“TWICE UPON A TIME TALES”.

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They actually started by me telling our children the classic bedtime stories at night. I would say, “Once Upon A Time” . . . only to be interrupted by my young sons who complained, “Father, tell us a NEW story”.

So, I paused and started up again by saying, “Twice Upon A Time”. I then continued telling the stories of the classic fairy tales as though these characters were “alive” today. We talked about their children and what they were doing. These classic characters have grown up, have married, had children, etc. and yet, they still maintain many of their   same “family traits” tendencies, and values.

Suzanne and I have tried to give parents another “tool” for teaching some important moral values and life’s lessons with these stories while keeping our favorite characters entertaining . . . and hopefully written with a -pace and style to precede a good night’s sleep. We truly believe that one of the best ways parents and grandparents can “Strengthen Families” is to spend time with your children/grandchildren. What a better way to do this than by reading a GOOD book?

Click Here for: “Huff and Puff”
The Second Gereration story of The Three Pigs.

Click HERE for: “If The Shoe Fits”.
The Second Generation story of Cinderella.

Click Here for: “Just Right”.
The Second Generation story of  The Three Bears.

“But behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book: Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying: Read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say: Bring hither the book, and I will read them..”  2 Ne. 27: 15

(We have a series of these books written but we are looking at a few publishers that might be interested in helping us publish them.)

Not long after, we saw this cartoon in the newspaper:

By Alan on May 25 in Blog tagged I may never pass this way again, Oprah Winfrey, Osmonds, osmonds second generation, The Family, theFamily | Comments Off

What a legend and a wonderful life Oprah Winfrey has been to everyone in this world!

Oprah invited ALL of our Osmond Family to be with her recently on one of her TV shows.  It was the day after our father, George V. Osmond, had died, but we still flew to her studios to fulfil this show for her because of our word and love for her.

Suzanne’s and my sons, The Osmonds Second Generation, sang Oprah a song after the show that is very appropriate for Oprah today, as it is her last television show being aired this afternoon.

Oprah has always given her hand, her song, and her heart as this song sings, to so many others in need and we thank her for all of her love and generosity to others.

May we all watch Oprah’s last show today because as this song says, “We May Never Pass This Way Again.”

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Alan Osmond
For The Family