Donny said his mom's best advice was a rather familiar saying.

"When times got rough — and they always did — no matter what business you're in, no matter what size of family you have, life has a tendency to throw curveballs at you," he said. "And you just don't know how you're going to get out of situation. And she just said, 'Be patient. This too shall pass."'

Patience and perseverance have certainly paid off for Donny and Marie. The duo and their brothers are about to embark on a tour that will take them to Europe and Asia; Donny and Marie will do a week at the MGM-Grand in Las Vegas in July; they will perform with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on July 25 and 26; and in September they'll start a 26-week engagement as headliners at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas.

Oh, and Marie was not only a break-out star on "Dancing With the Stars" last fall, but she will host a daytime talk show beginning in the fall of 2009. And she's working on a book.

"Boy, I tell you, we're not going to slow down for a whole year," she said.

"I thought I was going to retire at 50," said Donny, who passed that milestone in December. "I've never worked harder in my life. I really thought I was going to slow down about this time in my life and just enjoy my grandkids. But it's like Marie said — this next year is going to be really pretty much on the go and nonstop."

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Marie said. "And I didn't know that I would be a single mom having to work this much. Life is never what we think it's going to be, so you grab onto the reins and you just enjoy the ride no matter what it is."

Marie is single after two divorces; she and her first husband had one child; she and her second husband had two more and they adopted five kids.

Donny not only has five sons, who range age from 28 to 10, but he's got two grandchildren. And none of them are overly impressed by their famous forebear.

"Oh, I'm just another dad," Donny. said "As a matter of fact, a lot of the kids in the neighborhood, they call me Uncle Donny. I'm just another neighbor."

Marie said her kids have started to sit up and taken notice in the past few months.

"I mean, they're my kids and they know it's my job," she said. "But since I've gotten back into shape, since I've been on NutriSystem and all that stuff, it's fun when your teenage daughters ... start dressing you, and they're, like 'My mommy's hot.' And I'm, like, 'Yes, I am having a hot flash."'

Marie's oldest son is 25; her youngest daughter is 5.

"I feel I have two separate families. I have my older ones and then I have my four younger ones — 11, 10, 8 and 5. So let's just say that I will be doing this the rest of my life," she said with a laugh. "And, I mean, with eight kids you enter a whole new realm of reality. It's not called family. It's called a small nation that I have following me around. I've got a lot of kids and their friends, so my house is always crazy and busy. And fun."

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com