Monday, March 28, 2011

Why don't I live here?

We're baaack... from a little vacation to one of our favorite destinations! Why do I love you so much St. George???
You have all my favorite stores within a 10 minute radius! Brandon can do a little golfing while I can shop to my heart's content. What about the kids? You have the awesomest pool ( it has a waterslide) and the coolest park around (apparatuses enough to make you seriously dizzy.) And for the whole family? You have nature spectacular. Last time we did Zion's. This time we hiked the petrified dunes of Snow Canyon where the rocks are so red and the skies are so blue and SUNNY! Okay, the trip could have been a little warmer but 60 degrees and rain sure beat the 30's and snow that we would have had back at home. Besides all that fun we had some good quality bonding with my mom. It's thanks to her that we can come and spend a fun week in a condo.



I'm not sure why we don't live here??
This lady does (in the winter) and the name of her house? Casa Mariposa, as you can see they have a thing for butterflies which I will explain in a minute. This lady was my neighbor growing up in SL. I grew up with her daughter, my same age. Tragically, her daughter was killed in an accident at age 20. While our family was planning my wedding, their family was planning her funeral.
Her daughter loved butterflies, hence the yard accent. It was good to visit with the family and share memories.

Other awesome people live here too--like my BIL and SIL!
The former was able to join BD and watch the BYU game on cable. Even I watched it--faint. That Jimmer must be awesome because I could have been shopping. Cousins were able to play together. If it hadn't been raining we would have got in a game of Pickle Ball on the outdoor court. ah well, next time.

Anyway, as much as I love being on vacation, it is nice to be home again, even if it is 30 degrees and snowing! I've hopefully treasured up enough sun to get me through.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Feliz Cumpleanos to Cannon

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all and Birthday #3 for Cannon
Cannon has been dreaming of this day ever since he saw me put the Mack truck in the cart while grocery shopping a few weeks ago. He would see it in my closet and say, "That's my birthday Mack." Well, he finally got to open it! And he scored a Mater to go with the rest of his collection. He has been one happy boy all morning long.
We sure didn't expect to wake up to this weatherCannon in a birthday outfit. It's a rough rhino just like him.

He had a few friends over today for some green cupcakes and green milk.
Green food coloring + new toys + 5 little people = HYPERACTIVITY

What would life be like without Cannon? It really turned my world upside down to have a boy after 3 girls. He is everything everyone warned me about. He climbs, gets into things, tackles when you least expect it, likes things that go like trains and cars, drinks toilet water, and is fascinated with potty humor. He is 100% BOY. He is our comic relief, is so affectionate (in a rough sort of way) and we all love him.

3 more things about Cannon:

1. Spanglish is his primary language. "Mom look there's a vaca (cow)" or Can I take a bano (bath) I want JUGO POR FAVOR (juice please) He somehow knows to use regular English with everyone else and save the Spanglish for the natives at home.

2. He is not a homebody like BD and the girls. He likes to go go go to the store to the park to see the horses down the street. If anybody is going anywhere he has to tag along, even if it's just to get the mail. He could hop from friends house to friends house all day long and be happy as a clam. He keeps asking when we can go to Adam's to play trains and Adam lives a day trip away. Given his need for speed and his international language abilities, we hope he'll consider a career as an airline pilot, so we can go go go too.

3. Finding a boy name that BD and I could both agree on was hard! He shot down all of my suggestions?! Sometime during pregnancy, I must have mentioned my 8th grade crush because BD decided that was a cool name. We didn't know anyone else with it and it went well with our last name. Glad to finally have a winner, it was much easier to pick a middle name. We went with Brandon's which is Duhn (pronounced doon), after his Danish ancestor.

This song is from CARS. It is the one Cannon requests every family night.. we don't really ever know the lyrics but we try...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Kate the Great

Kate turned 10. She had a wonderful day and the party hasn't even started yet! Tomorrow she will go to the skating rink with a few friends. They're going to pretend I'm not there watching so they can be cool pre-tweens.
Here are some fun facts about Kate...

1. As you can see in the picture she is a BYU and sports fan. She is turning into the perfect son for her dad. Just tonight Dad was teaching her (in the house) how to throw a perfect spiral. For her birthday she got what she wanted: BYU football paraphernalia.

2. Kate is very responsible. She is the best oldest child a mother could ask for. Sometimes I think she's more responsible than me. She does a great job helping her younger siblings and is the very best babysitter. It's thanks to her that we have worry-free date nights!

3. Kate likes to play practical jokes. Whether it's hiding in ambush and scaring one of her sisters half to-death, or sneezing spaghetti noodles out of her nose, she likes to go for the shock value.

4. Her favorite cuss word is "poop." If you want to cuss her out call her a "girly-girl."

5. Kate can draw very well, certainly better than either of her parents and the evidence can be found all over the house. She might draw mustaches and tattoos on the people in the obituaries. We might find a scrap of paper with football player running with a ball or a girl with spiky hair and heels in the corner of her homework page.

6. P.E. and recess are her favorite subjects. (Definitely a kid after her dad's own heart.)

7. Since she was little she has always been trying to think of ways to get money. She has sold the neighbors cookies, lemonade, rocks, crafts. She does all the planning, prepping, and baking and then recruits Brynn to do the soliciting. Once she and Brynn went around with a box selling some of their old toys. They made a few dollars and then turned around and spent it when the neighborhood kids started selling their old toys. What does Kate do with her money? She usually invests in a couple big bags of candy. One to eat herself. The other to "pay" her sisters to do her jobs. "25 skittles to clean my room, anyone?"

8. If Kate had her way, we would move to Hollywood so she could pursue a career in Acting. I'm all for it if it will pay the mortgage on our beach house.

9. Kate is our "miracle baby." After 20-ish hours of labor, Kate's heartbeat stopped. I was rushed to the O.R. for an emergency c-section. The scariest experience of our life followed. As the medical crew was frantically scrubbing up I prayed and prayed. I had a feeling of peace that everything would be okay but then I worried , "Is that an okay that she's going to live or an okay that she's going to die?" I couldn't imagine going through all that anticipation and sickness of pregnancy and then not coming home with a baby.
By the time they got Kate out she was not breathing at all. Her Apgar scores were low and she was basically lifeless. The doctor would have sent her by air-med to a bigger hospital but couldn't because of a huge snowstorm. I was under full anesthesia during the delivery but Brandon wasn't. Thank goodness his parents were there with him. Brandon and his dad and the doctor gave Kate a Priesthood blessing. A few minutes later she cried! And cried and cried for the next few hours! To everyone there, this was nothing short of a miracle. You can imagine how grateful I was to wake up and find out that she was not only alive, but she the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. We have been extra grateful for Kate ever since and for the healing powers of heaven.

10. Brandon chose the name Kate and we gave her the middle name of Sharon, after her "nana," my mom.