Easterfest

Easter Sunday was not at all relaxing but it earned an A for fun and busy. The girls woke up to dresses and candy. Some of them almost didn't wake up to anything...but more on that later. Brandon led the choir for our Sunday Easter program and taught the EQ lesson. I led the kids musical number and the congregation, and taught a roudy class of 6-7 year olds. Between the music and primary gear, I think I broke some kind of church record (and almost my clavicle) for heaviest bag. Next time I'm bringing a wheeled suitcase! Scratch that--next time I'm going to say NO to something. (I'll practice it this week.)

We had neighbors over for ham and potatoes after church and our old neighbor friend came over later in the day for re-heats. All added to the festivities of the day.


Cannon sporting his Easter accessories and some Attitude.

Of course, the annual family egg hunt was a blast. The pictures say it all.




COUSINS!!!



Random shots taken by Kate


Candy, chocolate, and new clothes aside, we tried to incorporate the REAL meaning of Easter by reading and sometimes acting out the events of Jesus' last week.

Palm Sunday: Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem
Monday: Jesus cleansing the temple and overthrowing the tables of the money-changers.
Tuesday: Parables. We talked about the Widow's Mite
Wednesday: No record for this day. We talked about the Parable of the Ten Virgins
Thursday: Last Supper, Garden of Gethsemane
Friday: Crucifixion
Saturday: Jesus Teaches in the Spirit World
Sunday: RESURRECTION

Doesn't it sound like the perfect agenda for family togetherness and love? Maybe, in your house, but in ours every time we'd break out the scriptures, that's when the fighting would start. Most of the kids had their turn for time out during one lesson or another. By the end of the week, Dad said the Easter bunny wouldn't be bringing baskets until we all learned the REAL reason for Easter.... Some of them had to make up some reading on their own time. It worked, or at least the Easter bunny erred on the side of generosity. We extended the movie, Narnia:Lion Witch and the Wardrobe over a couple of nights and watched it as a family. This may be our new Easter tradition because there is no better way to explain the Atonement and Resurrection so vividly... and best of all there was more snuggling than fighting!!
Happy Easter 2011!

Ready, Set, Hunt

The 1st annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt was underway this weekend.

Eggs were found-- high and low.

Friendships were forged.

Outdoor games were in full swing.

With the lovely weather, it was a recipe for a perfect afternoon.

Living the Dream, Baby.

My neighbor was recently surprised to find out that I blogged.
"You have a blog?" he asked.
"Yes." I said.
" What do you write about?"
"My AWESOME LIFE!" (obviously)

Here's what's been happening recently in my awesome life.

My 3-year old who potty trained himself? Easy come. Easy go.
That boy completely UN-potty trained himself. As of the last week he has marked his territory at our neighbor's house down the street, our neighbor's across the street, and several areas of our own house, with a high-traffic area of the kitchen being his favorite.

I went to a free seminar on how to make money at home. I figured I spend enough time on the computer that I might as well make some money, right? Medical transcription sounded like the perfect job for me to do while Bud's over peeing at the neighbor's. And, I already know a lot of lingo. BD says we have other ways to fund our vacation fund.

Friday, we rented, Unstoppable. While we're watching the train run away, he turned to me and asked, "Could you please stop gripping my clavicle." (Looks like he'd be good at medical transcription too :)

BD spent a day home dividing his time between the bed and and the toilet. Adrie had her sick day, and mine is today. I don't have any oils for that ailment but I think Gatorade is awesome.

In better news, I had an awesome dream. I must have been in a Zumba class because there I was in front of a big mirror in a class of people in all shapes and sizes, and even ethnicities. (I guess I have multi--racial dreams.) Anyway, I was surprised to look in the mirror and notice that I had a CUTE TUSH! It was so hot I thought, I better watch out. This is in stark contrast to some of my other body-image dreams where I look in the mirror and discover that I'm horribly obese. "How did it get to this and how come nobody told meeee....," I wake up screaming. I'll take the cute tush dream any day--or night.

Actually, I did go to Zumba class. (My behind was almost as cute as in my dream.) That was a super fun, sweat drippin' down my neck--eww, party! I'll be signing up for more of that.

To complete our awesome week BD and I went to comedian/performer Jason Hewlitt. I laughed like a drunk. I'm sure all the prom dates sitting by us were like, "Sheesh, this lady needs to get out more often." But, man, when somebody does a perfect impression of SLOTH from Goonies, or of Stevie Wonder, or Michael Jackson or any 80's rock band, that just strikes my funnybone. Ahhh, it felt good to laugh. You can check watch his promo oh YouTube. here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENwmxThIfkI

Okay, I'm going back to bed.

AMEN!

Hallelujah! What a wonderful weekend of feasting on "the word" (and on treats.) We watched the 181st LDS General Conference with family in Salt Lake City. It was Spring green when we drove up and Winter white when we drove home. Such is April in Utah. Here's the good news...

• The church has grown to 14 million members across the world.
• 160 Temples dot the earth with 3 more announced in ID, CO, and CANADA.
• LDS Humanitarian services sent 70 tons of supplies to Japan after the earthquake.
• Over 50, 000 missionaries serve all over the world (Wohoo to Mom and Dad C. in MASS)
  

A sprinkling of notes I took from 2 days of inspired counsel...

Use the Sabbath Day to worship, take the Sacrament, rest from labors, minister to others and do some personal introspection to repent and correct our faults. * Look to children as our examples; they are the first to love and the first to forgive. Don't just casually observe them, BEHOLD your little ones * Turn feelings of sympathy into ACTION * Death is part of life * Do not let our fears displace our faith * Answers to prayers do not always come when we're on our knees, they come when we're on our feet. Tithing will keep your name on the rolls of heaven * Happiness = a Christ-centered home; selfishness, greed, and pornography are destroyers of families * When sheep are lost, lambs will follow * DESIRES dictate PRIORITIES which shape our CHOICES which determine our ACTIONS * Kindness is the essence of greatness * Hearken to the promptings of the Spirit then heed them * It is usually through others that God meets our needs * If we handle them right, our afflictions will be consecrated for our good * Be kind to the poor. Visit the captive, minister to the sick, comfort those that mourn * The spirit of revelation is available to all who seek it. ASK in FAITH, BELIEVING and ye shall receive * Make whatever sacrifices are necessary to attend the temple regularly.
And lastly, I love this one:

Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.
--St. Francis of Assisi

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.

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...

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.