Callie was on her way to work today and saw this truck. Luckily, she's talented enough to drive and take a picture. I never thought I'd see our name in lights...so I guess I'll take it painted on a truck! Fits us better anyway. Does that make me sound like "white trash?"
My cousin Carlos' wife, Natalie, had an emergency C-section on December 30. She was only 24 weeks along. Their baby girl, Vandy, weighed in at a whoppin' 1 lb 11 oz and is 13 inches long. She is in the University of Utah Hospital but is doing well. Callie, Emily, and I went and saw the parents and baby yesterday. Although the baby is TINY, she is absolutely beautiful. Please keep their family in your prayers.
We had such a lovely Christmas this year, mostly due to the generosity of my children's grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We had Uncles Chopper and Tom over for Christmas dinner and we spent some time in Blackfoot with the Tew Family. My kids received many really nice gifts. Santa Claus brought Cameron a bike...
Gavin a Spiderman Scooter...
and Owen a Diego Hot Wheel.
Spencer got a new car stereo, Natalie got new scriptures, and Callie got a digital converter box for the TV in her bedroom. (As a side note, Spence and I have been married for 8 1/2 years but my scriptures still said "Natalie Tew" on the front. I mentioned to Spence that I'd like new ones a few months ago and didn't think about it again. One day after work, Spence called and said he was going to stop and get my Christmas gift so he'd be a little late. When he got home he brought in a 2 liter of Pepsi and said they'd given it to him when he bought my gift. I had wondered if he'd bought scriptures but couldn't find the correlation between scriptures and caffeine so I figured I wouldn't be getting my scriptures and was really curious about the one gift under the tree that I didn't know about. Imagine my surprise when I opened that gift and found some beautiful scriptures with Natalie Styer engraved! I was thrilled. By the way, the pop was leftover from work...)
Both sets of grandparents gave us money to use on gifts for all so as a family we received a beautiful TV stand, a new camera, all but Spence got new coats (he got a new one last year), and the boys got new boots and gloves...which came in handy when we went to Idaho for the weekend.
Grandpa Rick got out his snow machines and we had a great time racing them through the field. Uncle Jeff made a snow fort with help from the boys. And Uncle Ryan came over with his snow machine later and his is super fast! Owen stayed out as long as he could but I'm not sure he enjoyed it as much as the rest of us. We ate a lot, sang a lot, played games, and exchanged more gifts. Ryan & No'el's family gave our family a Griddle, and the boys got some awesome toys (Cam got Moon Shoes and rarely takes them off, Gavin got a big truck, and Owen got a Thomas the Train set) and shirts from them too!
Aunt Emily & Uncle Jeff gave the boys play swords so they could become "warriors." Aunt Callie gave the boys Marshmallow Guns...which are so fun and the adults in our house may have played with them as much as the kids in our house!! Here is a short video I would title, "Fun with Marshmallow Guns."
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
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.)
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!
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 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. 
