Declan's Day

 

 

 

 

Declan recently celebrated his birthday! He is a good boy. He is smart and funny. He is an alien, according to my dad, so he has taken on that identity. He has special alien powers that come out occasionally. He is athletic and surprises coaches all the time because he is so small, they do not expect much from him. He is right handed but bats left handed. He loves his little sister. Sometimes I feel bad for him because he wants to be with the big brothers but is not quite big enough and they do not always treat him kindly. He has to put up with a lot and he is a tough kid. He is faithful and strong. I love that kid. I am not sure he knows how much he means to us. I try to tell him every day. He is a good example to the kids around him and the kids like him. We will be celebrating this weekend with friends this weekend.

Happy birthday, boy! We love you.

First day of School

We woke up early and got a move on it. The guys did a great job getting ready, if only it would be like this every day! They could sleep for another 20 minutes!

Madsen had to be ready by 6:50 so he was up first, even made his own lunch, much to his dismay. He rode with our neighbor boy. As he was ready to head out the door he looked like a scared little boy. I gave him a hug and told him to be of good courage. He had tears in his eyes. Oh how I hope it all went ok! I can't believe he is in high school!

The others were off with no problems. Buses came and went. Sully's was late, like he expected so I guess tomorrow he won't leave the house so early.

It has been so quiet at home today. Little Wave just does not make as much noise as all the brothers. She did miss them. She pointed at Cannon's blanket that he left on his kitchen chair, and said, "Boy?" Yes, my dear, all the boys are gone.

I kind of miss them in a weird way. Then again, not that much!

I hope they have a good year. I hope they make friends. I hope they learn. I hope they grow. I hope they do well in their classes. I hope they have fun.
I hope, I hope, I hope!

Disappointed Times Two!

This day had such promise! Lost Season 6 released on DVD and Mocking Jay out too! I woke up early so excited for what the day had to hold for me! What would I do first? Watch a couple of episodes of Lost or read the book? As it ends up, NEITHER!

Lost is not available in watch instantly so I had to put all the discs in my Netflix queue, and wait! Or should I just run down to Borders and buy it?

After that early morning disappointment I at least had the afternoon to look forward to the delivery of Mocking Jay. I pre-ordered and had it sent to the house. I guess that was a mistake because my mail came and no book! I should have had it sent to the store. I could have picked it up, along with a Lost season 6 DVD for $35!

What a bummer of a day.

My Cannon Boy

 

 

 

 

Cannon turned 6. I cannot put into words what that boy is or how he holds a special place in my heart. He was my baby for 4 years and I enjoyed him and spoiled him! He is my Momma's Boy. He is super smart, funny, a little crazy. He is a character and all that that implies. He makes me giggle and he drives me crazy. He has a stubborn streak a mile wide. He is slightly OCD and you never know what is going to set him off. He is solid. If ever a name fit a person, his fits him. He is growing up on me and sometimes it makes me sad, but mostly I love who he is becoming. He still likes to hold my hand and sit on my lap for prayers and snuggle.

Happy birthday, Cannon Boy! Oh how I love you!

Trip to Utah

We recently returned from our two week visit to Utah. It has been three years since we were last there and we now remember why! First it is really expensive to fly our family out there. It is fun and exhausting and worth it. We loved being with our family that we have not seen for so long. Waverly got to meet so many people for the first time. The kids were perfect travelers on the plane, all four planes!

We spent our first week in Fairview with my family. It was so much fun. I love Fairview. It is where I go in my head when I need a happy, peaceful place. Only good things happen there and it is the scene of so many memories. We hiked in Box Canyon, ran in the fun run, went to the kids rodeo, the mammoth parade, ate Sanpete Turkey, went on the mountain, watched fire works in the drive way. Enjoyed watching the kids have water balloon fights, opened the time capsule from 10 years ago, visited with all the cousins and aunts and uncles... is there anything better than the 24th of July in Fairview? The boys got to shoot guns with Grandpa. We spent a day in the desert seeing dinosaur footprints and Indian art on the rocks.

The kids had tons of fun with their cousins. It is fun to see them together. Sully and Lucy did all sorts of stuff together. Declan and Duncan also had many adventures. Cannon liked playing with Nicco, who he discovered is not much younger than him! Madsen seemed to hang back a bit this year. Maybe he was feeling too old for some stuff. I guess it is bound to happen!

I love being in that old house. The feel of it, the smell of it... I love the yard. I walked all around before I had to leave. Visions of Julys gone by... My grandparents on the patio, cousins playing games all over... water balloon fights... candy and more candy and most of all a family that loves.

We then headed north for a few days with Susan and George. We spent the first night eating out and seeing a movie. Then we spent 2 nights at Pine View lake camping. It was fun and relaxing, just what a vacation should be! Susan and George put in a lot of effort and we appreciated it. The kids enjoyed swimming in the lake with cousins, the fire at night and roasting marshmallows. They played games with the cousins and got very dirty! We stopped at the Dinosaur park in Ogden canyon on the way home. I took Madsen and Sully there when they were tiny. It has changed a bit. They all had a good time. Ben and Becky and their boys were there with us. It was nice to spend time with them and get to know Becky a bit better. They have cute kids! Cannon spent Saturday night at Ben and Becky's house and had a fun time with those cousins. We enjoyed our time there, it went by so quickly!

Then we headed to Doug and Brenda's on Sunday. All the brothers (not Chris) came up for Sunday dinner. Then we went to Tony's place and took some family pictures and visited for a while. On Monday we went to Temple Square to take pictures, then we ended up in Park City where we rode the Alpine Slide. That was fun. We stopped at Cumming's Chocolate for a treat. Yummy! I bought a pretty dress at the outlet mall, success at last! All of Brenda's kids came over for dinner that night. Tuesday we went to the copper mine. It was quite cool and impressive. One big hole! Diana and Duncan joined us since they live close by. Aunt Kathy came and provided a lovely picnic that we enjoyed at a park with a splash pad. The kids had tons of fun running all around. Wednesday we went to This is The Place State park. It was the first time for all of us. We were there for 4 hours! It was fun and interesting to learn a little more about the day to day life of the pioneers. It sure made me grateful for my lifestyle and house! And indoor plumbing! That evening we went to an Ogden Raptors baseball game. The crowd was as entertaining as the game! That was our final event as we headed home on Thursday.

We had a ton of fun visiting with everyone. Being around my family makes me miss them. Being in Utah makes me love North Carolina!

Thanks for all the fun everyone!

Pictures will come some time, I need Matt to move them to the computer for me!

Such a girl!

Waverly woke up crying this morning. That, in and of itself is nothing new. However, she has not stopped! She has been crying for 45 minutes now and the clock is still running. She ate breakfast, drank her milk, has played with some toys all while crying. I snuggled her. Still crying. She is very upset over something. It is kind of funny, but I hope it ends before church. Maybe a nice warm bath, a pedicure and some chocolate will make it all better!