An Unwanted Visitor

Cameron's birthday party was Saturday afternoon. He woke up that morning and said he didn't feel too great. Then he attempted to eat some breakfast but quickly rushed into the bathroom to throw up. He told us that he felt SO much better so we decided to go ahead with the birthday party. (I didn't have many of the kids' phone numbers who were invited so I don't know how we would have cancelled it anyway.) Cam acted normal until about 15 minutes before the party started when he threw up AGAIN!

His friends got to our house and Spencer brought in the Pizzas and Cam laid on the couch. Then the friends played Pin the Nose on the Snowman and Cam laid on the couch. Then the friends decorated cupcakes and Cam laid on the couch. Then Cam finally got off the couch to open the lovely gifts his friends had brought him...then the friends played with the gifts and Cam laid on the couch!






Cam was sick with the flu bug for the entire day. He threw up everytime he tried to eat anything and was basically miserable for his 7th Birthday. But when he woke up Sunday morning, he felt normal again. So we let him blow out his candle & we ate birthday cake. And yes, we had a Santa cake which I wouldn't normally do but it was so easy. (Spencer's brother has a birthday Dec 28 and has taught us to try to separate birthday from Christmas...I guess I failed this time.)

It's All About Cameron Today

Today is Cameron's 7th birthday! How can my firstborn be 7-years-old already? Because I've never recorded much about his birth, I've decided to write a few memories today: Cameron wasn't due until January 7th but I had a few complications with his pregnancy (gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and I was measuring at 42 weeks when I was really only 37+ weeks.) On December 19th at my doctor's appointment, my doc told me that he'd like to "start" me and instructed me to go home and wait for the hospital to call to let us know there was a room ready for us. We lived in Smithfield, Utah (Cache Valley) and both Spence and I worked for the Shuttle. Our boss, Clark Taylor, came over to our house to help Spence give me a blessing and as soon as we'd said "amen" the phone rang and it was the hospital. We went immediately and I felt so weird checking in and saying, "I'm here to have a baby." They started me on PIT but after 18 hours, my doctor told me they'd probably need to do a C-Section and I was okay about that. Spence and I still had 3 names for the baby and had decided to wait to see him before we chose. After he was born they briefly put his cute little face up to mine. I gave him a quick kiss and then they took him to weigh him and clean him up. As Spence was taking him for his first bath, he turned to me and asked, "What should I tell them his name is?" Still on the operating table, I replied, "Decide on the way!" Obviously, Spencer chose Cameron (which was secretly my favorite of the 3 names.)

A few random facts about Cameron:
1. When he was first weighed in the OR, the nurse said he was over 9 pounds. A few hours later when he was weighed again in the nursery, he was 7 lbs 14 oz. They had to go back to the surgical records and they realized the nurse hadn't cleared the scale before putting him on it!
2. Cameron is very tender hearted.
3. Cameron is the first grandchild of Dave & Tisa and the first grandson of Rick & Jane.
4. Cameron is a good helper (most of the time) and has already shoveled the driveway many times this year while I've been teaching piano lessons.
5. Cameron (used to and maybe still does) twists the front part of his hair when he is nervous.
6. Cameron's favorite color is RED.
7. Cameron has lived in in 8 different homes in his short 7 years.
8. Cameron has flown to/from Hawaii and to/from Arizona.
9. One of Cam's best friends is a GIRL!
10. Cameron has played soccer, football, t-ball, and basketball. He currently enjoys running and tells me he does "running club" during recess. (I'm still not sure what that means, I guess they just run and run and run?)
11. Cameron loves to sing and play the piano.
12. Cameron got to go to a Jazz game with his dad last week!
13. Cam's a thinker---he is not spontaneous about anything and has to think through most decision for a while before he's sure.
14. Cameron likes to figure out how things work.
15. Cameron is a great big brother and a super son! We sure love him.

Happy Birthday Cam!

Student of the Week

Cameron is Student of the Week in his class. This is the poster we made that will hang in his classroom this week.

Gavin's Christmas Program

Gavin's Preschool put on a short Christmas Program Wednesday night. They sang 3 songs, "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and "Here Comes Santa Claus." Gavin knew most of the words. They also did a little poem about Christmas that Gav knew ALL the words to. He is growing up so fast. I have to admit that I got a little teary-eyed because I'm so happy to be the mother of 3 adorable boys.


Aunt Emily came.


So did Santa. Owen told me that Santa was "scary" and wouldn't sit on his lap.

Gavin's 4th Birthday

Gavin had a great birthday celebration that lasted 2 days. His good friend Brandon came from Idaho Falls to see him. We kept it a surprise so when he walked in he was SO excited and the two little boys hugged! We had green balloons and pizza on Diego plates.

Emily and Jeff stopped by to give Gavin his birthday present early so he could wear it to church today. They gave him this adorable navy blue corduroy blazer. He looked so sharp!

We had a mini Fiesta with those who live in our house. We had Macho Nachos, Beans & Rice, and Strawberry Daquiris.


Then Emily, Jeff, and Chopper came over for cake and icecream. Gavin kept requesting a Green cake so I dyed the batter & frosting green and he was THRILLED! I had purchased some "trick" candles but they didn't work :(


Gavin got some lovely gifts and nice phone calls too. He is so happy to be 4-years-old and we're happy he is ours.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

I love to put up my Christmas tree...the sooner, the better. I started putting it up last night after the kids went to bed and finished it this afternoon. Our tree is artificial and you have to put each bough in to the base one at a time. It's a little time consuming but I think the tree is beautiful once it's all put together. I put on the lights and any breakable ornaments and let the kids put the rest of the ornaments on the bottom half of the tree. Here are a few pictures of the process.

Half-way put together


All together


I was trying to take a few "action" shots of the boys hanging an ornament but they wouldn't hold still long enough.

What Was I Thinking?

We had a total of 18 people at out house for Thanksgiving dinner:
Grandpa & his wife, Gloria,
Uncle Mike & Aunt Sylvia,
Cousins Lyssa and Joslyn,
Mom & Dad
Callie
Emily & Jeff and Jeff's brother, Thomas
Spence & I & our boys & Spence's brother, Chopper (Doug)

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Actually, it ended up better than we could have hoped. Food was delicious & company was nice.

Emily, Callie, & I decided to go shopping for Black Friday from Midnight until 7 am.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

We went to the mall, Kohls, Old Navy, and Shoe Carnival. And we went to breakfast. We got some pretty good deals but now I'm tired and don't know if it was really worth it! Oh well. I'll probably do it again next year :)

Say Cheese!

We were planning to take family pictures today after church but Spencer ended up with a terrible MIGRAINE so I just took a few of my adorable little boys. We'll have to try for the family picture another day.

Here are a few of my favorites:

75th Anniversary

On November 22, 1933 my Grandpa Hugh and Grandma Marie drove to Logan, UT in a Model-T to be married in the Logan Temple. Tomorrow would have been their 75th Wedding Anniversary. They set a great example to all of their posterity about the importance of being sealed in the temple and always having a current recommend. Even when they were basically homebound and only left their house for Sunday dinner at my parent's, they kept their recommends current and had strong testimonies of the gospel. We all knew what they believed and what was expected of us. I think of them often.

Halloween Candy

My kids have been great with their Halloween Candy. Okay, I've been great at keeping them from devouring it all in one sitting. After trick-or-treating, I let them eat on it for a few days, then I combined it all and put it up high above the refrigerator. Then they'd get a piece or two each day. This morning Owen asked for a sucker since that's basically all that is left. I gave him one. Then I made the mistake of leaving the container of candy on the countertop. I came into the "computer cafe" (since Callie is living with us, we have 2 computers, 2 desks and our fouton in one room so we've nicknamed it the "computer cafe"). Anyway, I came into the computer cafe to write some checks and pay some bills. My children got into the candy. Here they are with numerous suckers. Many more were opened but uneaten. They got thrown away!

A Little Scare

To all of my Mom's blog readers,

We had an adventure today! At 2:00 my mom and dad put me in my bed for a nap. I pretended to be asleep until mom left to go run errands and dad started snoring. Then I sneaked (or is it snuck) out of my room and went into Aunt Callie's room. Gavin made a musical instrument in preschool this week and I wanted something I could shake around and make noise. I found a bottle with little white pills inside. It made pretty music. Then I discovered that my chubby little hands could open the bottle. I decided to eat one because they looked like candy even though they were acid controller pills. I ate a few before my mom got home and noticed that I had white powder on my lips. She got all freaked out and called Poison Control. They said that since I was only 2, I shouldn't be eating that kind of medicine and that mom would need to take me to the hospital to be monitored. The doctors listened to my heart, took my blood pressure, and pushed on my tummy. I didn't understand what the big deal was until I heard my mom say she thought I'd eaten 25 pills...25? Are you kidding me? They tasted NASTY, why would I eat 25? They told mom and I that we'd have to stay at the hospital for 3 hours, watching TV and they would continue to check my vitals. Luckily, about this time, Cameron and Gavin located the remaining pills that I had stashed under my bed. Dad called mom and they counted up how many pills my brothers had found and how many were left in the pill bottle. There were only 4 unaccounted for. The doctors let me go home. I am so happy my brothers figured it out!

Love,

Owen


P.S. I was a little whiny at the hospital because I didn't want to be there, I wanted to be home with my brothers. I kept crying and saying, "I want Cameron...I want Gavin." Mom made a recording of me but can't figure out how to upload it. She'll keep trying to figure it out.

Also, don't be alarmed at the big gash on my head, it has nothing to do with this afternoon's adventure. I ran into a door this morning...I'm a typical 2-year-old :).

A Ray of Sunshine in my Day

I know this is sort of a silly thing to be excited about but I had to get gas today. I was nearly empty. I paid $1.90/gallon. I spent $34.50 and filled my entire tank! It felt so nice. How much are you paying per gallon?

"Run off some energy"

My kids have SO much energy. And they get bored when they can't play outside. In Idaho, our backyard was fenced and the kids would play out there for hours. Here, it's a little different. Our backyard is open and connected to our neighbors on both sides. We have a water fall and a pond with a few fish. So I don't feel like I can let them go out there alone for very long and I have (or think I have) other things I need to do most of the day. In short...they play inside a lot!

Saturday was a beautiful fall day. The kids were fighting with each other and I was at my wits end. My mother suggested that we take the kids to a park and let them run and run and run. So we loaded up in the car without telling them where we were going. When we pulled up to the park Gavin asked if we were there to "run off some energy." The park we chose had lots of grass, 3 big playground toys, swings, a couple of bridges over a small creek, etc. We played and kicked the soccer ball around for a while. It was so nice to get out with the whole family.

All caught up :)

After nearly 6 weeks of being without my computer, it is finally fixed and I'm caught up with my pictures. Following is a few posts and A LOT of pictures of the last 6 weeks. Enjoy...

Halloween 2008

We had a great Halloween. Cameron was a devil, Gavin was the Grim Reaper, and Owen was Dumbo. Owen & I helped at Gavin's Preschool party (we were in charge of Halloween Bingo) and Cam's 1st grade party (we were in charge of making ghost wind socks.) We drove to Emily's work to surprise her and show off the costumes but she had left early so we took a picture with one of her bosses. Then we went trunk-or-treating at the mall, visited Aunt Sylvia, AND trick-or-treated our neighborhood even though it was raining. The boys came home with way too much candy!

My Baby turns 2

On October 20th, my baby turned 2. We had a little birthday party with Aunts Callie & Emily and Uncles Jeff & Chopper. We had cake & icecream (it's supposed to look like a pumpkin) and Owen opened presents. He got so many nice gifts: new clothes from Granny/Grandpa and Emily/Jeff, pajamas and shoes from Callie, toys & a flashlight from Ryan/No'el, a fun fold-up train from Grandma Tisa/Grandpa Dave, and a new camouflage fleece blanket from Grandpa Rick!












We went to Build-A-Bear Workshop Monday. Each of the boys made their own bear. We had a generous gift certificate from Spencer's boss that we used which made the entire visit fun for all of us.