Daily Adventures of the Cannon Family

Kyle Birth Announcement

2011-02-16T16:03:00.001-06:00

Warm Welcome Blue Birth Announcement

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Playing catch-up, again.

2009-12-28T14:07:00.003-06:00

Once again, I'm sitting here trying to catch up with the last three months. I wonder why I can't just post as I go! Anyway, we finally got through negotiations and bought a great house in Lehi, Utah. We really like the neighborhood and the location. The boys love playing in the yard, and I love the fence! It is so nice to finally let the boys play without worrying about bothering the neighbors (or family).

Jeff has been getting busier and busier at work, and it looks like that trend will continue for the next couple of months. I know he's stressed now, but maybe we'll find the silver lining somewhere along the line.

I have been doing a number of things to keep myself busy. I worked as a substitute teacher a couple times a week during the fall, did some work from home for the family business, but most of the time tried to keep the boys from tearing the house apart. I realized this fall that this is the first and probably last year that no one in our immediate family is going to (real) school. With that being said, I did take the H&R Block tax course and have been hired to work in one of their offices for this coming tax season. I know it sounds really nerdy, but I'm really looking forward to it. I've never denied having a nerdy side, my band experience in high school and my being a science teacher prove that.

Another big addition to our lives is Husker. We got a doberman puppy at the beginning of November for the boys and he has been a lot of fun. He is really sweet, but has been a pain in the neck to house train. I'm sure it would be going better if we had warmer weather, but we'll get this puppy whipped into shape sooner or later.

We had a great Christmas this year. The boys' excitement really made if fun for Jeff and me this year. Despite mine and Jeff's decision to have a "no-toy Christmas," the boys got spoiled rotten. We are so blessed to have family and friends that love us and spoil the kids (and the parents sometimes too). I'm sure this coming year will bring just as many adventures as years past, but it sure feels nice to not be waiting to be done with school or think about more moves or temporary jobs.

He Passed!

2009-09-23T16:48:00.002-05:00

I have been terrible about staying up to date on our blog, but in case any of you didn't hear, Jeff passed the Utah Bar Exam! He's working for his dad's law firm in Sandy and we expect to be here forever. We are in the process of buying a house and making big plans for the future.

Random Elko

2009-07-22T10:23:00.006-05:00

The boys and I have had a very busy summer. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to while in Elko:

At Elko's Silverstate Stampede.

Ice blocking at a friend's birthday party.

Jetskiing at Southfork.

After all the rain in June, a huge mud puddle formed on the road just above the house. The boys just couldn't help themselves....

4th of July

2009-07-22T10:12:00.002-05:00

We were party poopers and didn't go anywhere to take the kids to one of the big firework displays, but had a good time spending the holiday with the Cannons at their house. Jeff studied for most of the day, so I made a festive cake (I even died the two layers red and blue). Bryan set off a few fireworks in the driveway and we were able to get the kids to bed at a decent time!

Busy weekend

2009-07-22T09:53:00.003-05:00

I'm way behind, but starting on June 25th, the boys and I drove out after Ammon's swimming lessons to pick up Heidi and continued down to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant. Even though it rained like crazy through most of it, we enjoyed it. We stayed at my Aunt Karen's house and drove back up to rejoin our husbands. I can't believe I forgot my camera this weekend, but oh well. On Saturday afternoon, Jeff had a flag football/bbq with his online utefans.net friends. I ended up playing and paid for it later. I hadn't pushed myself that hard in a long time (probably before I was pregnant with Ryan)! We got back to the house long enough to take showers, grab something to eat and left again for the Lehi Roundup. Jeff and I both LOVE rodeos and the boys seemed to like it as much as we did. We ended the weekend with going to church in the morning and then the boys and I drove back to Elko, leaving Jeff for another week alone to study.

Swimming Lessons

2009-07-22T01:39:00.002-05:00

Considering Ammon has barely been in the water due to work schedules and cold weather, he has done AMAZING in his progress in his first session of swimming lessons. He will practice what his teachers show him while the other kids are just goofing around and is not scared at all to go under the water. Our only challenge is keeping him in the water when he gets cold. Poor Ryan can't understand why he can't get in the pool during Ammon's lessons. I leave him with Grandma and Grandpa if they are home, but if he comes along, it means 45 minutes of fighting to keep him away from the water and he often ends up getting in up to his knees.

Boys' first boat ride and more...

2009-07-22T01:09:00.002-05:00

Despite the cool temperatures and pouring rain, we managed to have a good time at Southfork. This was the first time the boys had been on a boat. Ammon loved it, Ryan fell asleep.

This Is The Place

2009-07-22T00:47:00.003-05:00

Heidi had a great idea to go to This Is The Place park on the free admission day, so the boys and I met Heidi, Courtney and kids up there and had a great time. Ammon got in big trouble while we were waiting for Heidi and Courtney to get there. Other people get a kick out of the story, but I'm still to mad/embarrassed to post it here. If you're really curious, ask me or Jeff some time and we will tell you about Ammon's "nasty little habit." We got out of there just in time. It started to POUR, the wind picked up and the thunder and lightning were pretty impressive just as we were pulling onto Foothill.

Ammon was so excited to have his picture take with his hero, Joseph Smith.

Ammon and Heidi checking out the teepee.

Oregon

2009-07-22T00:19:00.003-05:00

Here are a few shots I took in Oregon in May. I usually take more pictures, but I was too busy playing and having a good time, I didn't pick up the camera as much as I have on previous visits.

Update

2009-06-06T11:37:00.002-05:00

To everyone that has checked our blog sometime in the last three months and wondered if I was ever going to post again, I have finally gotten around to it. A brief overview of what we've been up to:

Jeff graduated from Law School
We moved from Lincoln to... well, we're homeless. We're staying with family until Jeff starts getting paid the big bucks.
Jeff is studying for the bar exam (the big dates are July 28th and 29th)
Marianne is searching for our first home
The boys are having a blast having so much room to play
The boys and I visited family and friends in Oregon

I'll try to do better about keeping you all updated

The Big Move

2009-06-06T11:23:00.002-05:00

Only two days after graduation, we loaded up the moving truck and the day after that, we made the LONG drive back to Utah. Thanks to the people that came over to help us load, it only took us one hour! That is definitely a record. I know my "system" drove Jeff and a couple other people crazy, but it sure made the transition go smoothly. Jeff drove the big truck and I drove with the kids. The kids and I made it in 14 hours and Jeff got there an hour and a half later.

If you're wondering where we moved to, the answer is complicated. Jeff is in Lehi at his parents' house while he studies for the bar exam. The boys and I are mostly at my parents' house in Elko until the end of July, then will be in Lehi until we can buy a house. Hopefully we will be able to buy a house in October or November. We'll let you know when we have another change of address.

Graduation!!!!!!!

2009-06-06T10:23:00.003-05:00

Jeff graduated from Law School! The past three years have been the most difficult and best years of our marriage (at least I think so, Jeff may have a different opinion). I am so proud of Jeff for his countless hours of study and stress, especially when I wasn't very supportive and selfish with my time with him. We were lucky enough to have our parents there to celebrate this great accomplishment. We also had a fun time afterwards at the Websters' clubhouse (which was beautifully decorated, by the way) for dinner and dessert with many of the great friends we made while living in Lincoln. I can't express how much we appreciated everything these great people did for us and for the friendships we made. They really became our family while we were so far from home.I don't know if I've ever seen Jeff so happy.

All the LDS law graduates (missing: Mark)

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2009-03-28T08:17:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it has been a year since Ryan joined our family! What an amazing little boy he is. We are so blessed to have our sweet little Ryan. For those we have not been around lately, Ryan has developed quite the personality. He is still very cuddly, but has developed a very strong, determined side to him as well. He gets into EVERYTHING, and we have a hard time keeping things out of his reach since he climbs on anything he can get on top of and has managed to get up on the couch unassisted.

I don't think he really knew what to do with the cake at first. He obviously figured it out....

Gymnastics

2009-03-20T20:02:00.006-05:00

Ammon started taking a gymnastics class about a month and a half ago. He needed a way to get the wiggles out after being cooped up all winter. He has really enjoyed it. He does headstands and "tuck and rolls" all day, every day. I caught him in the middle of a kartwheel.

Zoo

2009-03-20T19:50:00.005-05:00

I took advantage of Jeff being home and we went to the Omaha Zoo. I figured this would be the last chance for all of us to go before we move. The gorilla came right up to the glass and looked in. I was able to get almost the exact same shot as one we took a year ago. What a difference a year makes!

Nauvoo for Spring Break

2009-03-20T18:52:00.017-05:00

It's been a long time since we've actually done anything fun over spring break. We decided to make the trip to Nauvoo before we move away from the midwest. We went with Jim and Heidi and had a really good time.

Here we are at Carthage right before Ammon decided to throw up in the Visitor's Center. Jeff's cat-life reflexes minimized the mess. We're so lucky to have great friends like Jim and Heidi who didn't hesitate to help.

The neatest house had to be the Browning home. What a fantastic collection of guns!

Ammon making rope at the Family Living Center.

Everyday stuff

2009-03-20T18:39:00.005-05:00

Ryan is our little "billy goat." He will climb on anything he can get a hold of and gets into everything he's not supposed to have.

We built a fort, which kept the kids busy for about 2 hours!

Nebraska Baseball

2009-03-20T18:21:00.006-05:00

Someone offered Jeff tickets to the Nebraska baseball game, so we took all four kids. We all had a good time, but as you can see, not everyone was paying attention to the game.

Natural History Museum

2009-03-20T16:23:00.003-05:00

UNL had a "Dinosaurs and Disasters" special event at the Natural History Museum. Being the science nerd I am, I couldn't resist dragging my family along. We found an "Ammonite" and a "Jefferson Mammoth" and had to take pictures.

More of Ryan's mad skills

2009-01-27T09:08:00.003-06:00

Ryan must be going through a cognitive growth spurt! In the last two weeks, in addition to getting yet another tooth, he learned to wave, clap his hands, say "mama" and start walking. I usually include pictures with my posts, but these have been hard to capture! We'll try to get a video posted soon.

Survival

2009-01-17T23:46:00.005-06:00

Several people have asked me how it's going, watching three kids plus my own two. Some days are much better than others, but one thing is for sure, I never get anything done (other than clean up the messes we make throughout the day). I think it has been a good thing for my boys to have other kids their own ages around to play and interact with (and share with). Ammon has really enjoyed having Alec to play with all day long, especially after I made him help with the little boys (Ryan and Caden) since August. I have also gained confidence in myself that I could handle more children.

A couple of Ryan's firsts

2009-01-17T23:26:00.003-06:00

Ryan's first haircut, which was about a month overdue! Kristan cuts all of our hair, and was so sweet enough to come over to our house to do the boys' hair. I don't know what we're going to do when we move this summer. Maybe we'll live close enough we can make periodic visits and get our hair cut!

We discovered that Ryan can stand on his own! He has done it several times, sometimes while playing with something and still keeping his balance. When he realizes he's not holding on to anything, he just plops down and takes off to the next thing. He doesn't seem too interested in walking. I think if he was motivated, he could just take off.

Sugar Bowl

2009-01-14T08:15:00.005-06:00

We had the opportunity to go to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to watch the Utes take on Alabama. We were nervous about the game because Utah was a huge underdog, but the game was amazing! We were so glad we were able to go.

We had to leave at 2:00AM on Jan. 1st to make our flight out of Kansas City. We were all just a little tired....

We had to try the famous "Cafe du Monde" in the French Quarter. The beignets are as good as their reputation (and so is the hot chocolate).

He we are just before the game at the Superdome.

This was the Alabama side of the stadium moments after the game was over. Notice the score!

The players came to celebrate with the fans.

Jeff and his brother, Tom.

The boys made a new friend. Her and Ammon have been keeping in touch since we got home.

I guess they didn't want the fans rushing the field! They were a little more proactive (and intimidating) than when the Utes won the Fiesta Bowl.

The University of Utah football team ended up ranked #2 in the nation after they went 13-0 (including the Sugar Bowl win)!

Christmas

2009-01-13T22:34:00.004-06:00

We stayed in Lincoln for Christmas this year. We were grateful we stayed when there were several storms passing through Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska when we would have been traveling. We drove through terrible road conditions the previous two years and enjoyed spending the day lounging around our own home on Christmas morning this year.

I made the boys' pajamas (with Courtney's help). Ammon was really excited to finally put them on (he had been asking me to make them for two months) and even more excited for Santa to bring him presents. (We really tried getting across the reason we celebrate Christmas, but I don't think it's possible for a 3-year old to get beyond the excitement of presents.)

Poor Ryan had been really sick for the two days before Christmas and he had gotten bad enough that Jeff took him into the ER Christmas morning because we were worried about dehydration. Despite a pretty pathetic little Ryan in the morning, we had a really nice day. Even though we were so far from our families, it was nice to be able to see family on the webcams.

We had some friends over for a get together Christmas evening. It was really informal, but nice to spend a couple hours with some of the great friends we've made here.

Gingerbread FHE

2009-01-13T21:39:00.003-06:00

With Christmas approaching, we thought Ammon would enjoy making a gingerbread house for our Family Home Evening activity, then go visit the gingerbread display at the Mormon Trail Center in Omaha. As we hoped, he had a great time with both.

Decorating the house.

Ammon enjoying his handiwork.

Ammon and Ryan in the life-sized gingerbread house. This is where Ammon wanted his picture taken. He refused to pose by any of the really neat displays that people made. I was really impressed by the talent and imagination of all the people that made the gingerbread houses and other creations.

Ryan's new skills

2009-01-13T21:25:00.003-06:00

Ryan is finally interested in something other than pureed fruits and rice cereal. (And I don't think Caden appreciated his Cheerios being nabbed.
I guess the hard floor hurt his knees. He would do this "bear crawl" in the kitchen, and drop to his knees as soon as he was on the carpet.

Mahoney Ward Christmas Party

2009-01-13T21:03:00.003-06:00

Story time for the kids (and big kids).

Ammon liked Santa Clause.

Ryan didn't.

Jeff and some of the other parents thought he was more like "Creepy Clause" because he was in a dark room, and they only had one kid or family come in at a time. Despite some of the younger kids' response, most were glad we had Santa coming to visit at our party.

Thansgiving in Nebraska

2009-01-13T19:57:00.004-06:00

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our clubhouse this year. Heidi and I planned, set up, cleaned up, cooked the turkeys, and a couple other tasks, and everyone else brought side dishes and/or dessert. We had quite a crowd and a really good time.

(Heidi has a picture of the whole group on her blog.)

Mom's (and Dad's) little helper

2009-01-13T19:48:00.003-06:00

One of Ammon's favorite things to do is to help. It usually doesn't matter what it is, if we ask for his help, he's willing to do it. I don't know if I could have managed Ryan and Caden at the same time without his help. His "help" may not always be productive (and sometimes creates a bigger mess), but I'm grateful for his willingness to do what he can. Ryan and Caden were hungry at the same time this morning, and Ammon asked if he could feed Ryan, so I handed it over. He actually did a really good job and Ryan sure enjoyed it.

Sick

2009-01-13T19:42:00.002-06:00

I didn't think it was possible, but we were sick the entire month of November! Not just passing around a variety of bugs, we were all sick every day for about four weeks. I thought this picture captured how we all felt.

2009-01-13T19:22:00.001-06:00

My dad, Theresa, Logan and Samuel came to visit in November. We had a nice visit, but I wish we had more time!

Another visit to the Children's Museum

2009-01-13T18:46:00.004-06:00

Ammon and Ryan playing at the train table.

Ammon, the wild man.

Ammon's favorite part of the whole museum is the water!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-10T15:39:00.007-06:00

We went to the "Boo at the Zoo" on the last day. We had a good time, but I would suggest going one of the first days. It was really crowded. Ryan was obviously a little worn out.

Our little tree frog.

And the little tiger.

New background, finally!

2008-11-10T15:20:00.004-06:00

Yes, I've finally done it. I changed the background from that pathetic generic one, thanks to Kristy! I promise to have a more visually pleasing background from now on....

Ammon's birthday

2008-10-28T17:37:00.002-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Ammon!

Ammon and his friends (Matthews and Montierths) celebrating his 3rd birthday.
Ammon said this was his favorite birthday present (a digital camera). He has taken almost 400 pictures since his birthday!
I asked Ammon what kind of cake he wanted. We looked through some pictures online so he could pick one out. He settled on a "snake cake." (It was actually supposed to be an inchworm.)

Pumpkin patch

2008-10-28T16:47:00.002-05:00

We went up to Ceresco to the Martin Hillside Orchard to pick out a pumpkin. Ammon, Ryan and Caden had a good time playing with the pumpkins, climbing up the haystack and wandering through the cornmaze.

2008-10-28T16:40:00.001-05:00

I couldn't resist catching a shot of my two handsome boys dressed up for church. (Thanks Grandma for the suit!)

Ammon sleeping

2008-10-28T16:31:00.002-05:00

We're always finding Ammon in funny sleeping positions. Yes, he is under his bed in the third picture. We'll find him under there every once in a while and have to find a way of getting him back in his bed without waking him up.

Cousins

2008-10-28T16:25:00.002-05:00

Before leaving Utah, we were able to get a picture of all the cousins on the Cannon side of the family. I can't believe I got a shot with only one looking away!

6 Years!

2008-08-26T09:19:00.004-05:00

Kristy had this on her blog, and I thought that since Jeff and I also just celebrated our 6 year anniversary, I would do the same.

1. What is his name? Jefferson Stanley Cannon
2. Who eats more? Jeff
3. Who said, "I love you" first? Jeff did
4. Who is taller? Jeff
5. Who is smarter? It depends. Useless facts and nerdy math and science stuff is Marianne's area, Jeff usually gets the rest.
6. Who is more sensitive? We both have our soft sides.
7. Who does the laundry? Marianne
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do if it's not against the wall.
9. Who pays the bills? Both (and the wonderful feature of autopay on our online banking)
10. Who cooks more? It used to be Jeff, now that I'm home during the day, I do.
11. Who is more stubborn? Jeff would say that I am, but I don't know if I know a more stubborn couple than we are.
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Jeff. Marianne struggles in this area.
13. Who has more siblings? Jeff
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We are equal partners.
15. What do you like to do together? Sports, play with our children, watch movies after the kids are in bed.
16. Who eats more sweets? Marianne, hands down.
17. Guilty Pleasures? Jeff:Xbox, Marianne: hard to say, there are so many...
18. How did you meet? My friend was Jeff's roommate at Snow College.
19. Who asked whom out first? Jeff asked me out to a movie (screen on the green) where we watched the 3 Amigos.
20. Who kissed who first? Jeff did! That's a funny story.
21. Who proposed? Jeff, at the stroke of midnight on New Year's.
22. His best features and qualities? Hardworking (sometimes to a fault), dependable, athletic, great dad, fun, sweet...

Here are a couple pictures from the past 6 years:

4th of July

2008-07-09T16:28:00.007-05:00

We went camping and 4-wheeling up in the Uintas over the 4th of July weekend. We met up with my mom, Jim, Daniel, Aunt Karen and Uncle Gene. My cousins Staci and Kjerstin and their families came up the next day, just before we were about to leave so we didn't get to spend much time with them. This was Ryan's first time camping, and he handled it like a champ. We got some fun pictures, but I'm still kicking myself for leaving the camera at camp when we went on a "short" ride. The views were beautiful with the wildflowers in full bloom. We also saw a cow moose and her calf! We stopped along the trail for a quick break, and it just happened to be about 20 yards from the moose just downhill from the trail. It was pretty neat, but also a little unnerving. We stayed pretty close to the 4-wheelers and kept an eye on her. Neat experience though. Weekends like this make me really look forward to moving back to Utah so we can do more things like this with family.

Grandpa brought his gas-powered remote control car. The 'boys' had a good time playing with it on the dirt roads.
Marianne and Ammon in front, Uncle Gene bringing up the rear in his new, smooth-ride Grizzly.

Oregon Trip

2008-07-09T15:27:00.006-05:00

The kids and I made a trip up to Oregon to visit my Dad, Theresa, Logan and Samuel. My sister, Michelle and her daughter, Danica, also drove down from Washington and my grandparents came up from Fresno. It was really nice to see everyone, since we don't get the chance to travel up that direction very often. (Sorry Tim and Anja, timing was really bad so we weren't able to come down, we'll have to try again later.)

Grandpa Mike with Ammon

Grandpa Mike with Ryan

The "Snake Hunt"

Lola, Michelle, Ammon and Danica

Great Grandma and Grandpa with Ammon and Ryan

Four generations! (Ryan was taking a nap)

Ammon and Danica cooling off, it doesn't reach 100 degrees in this part of Oregon very often!

Dad and Theresa watching the kids play in the pool.

Cousins

Kids with Uncles Logan and Samuel

Ryan update continued...

2008-06-21T22:21:00.002-05:00

We thought this was all over, but we got a phone call this morning from the ER doctor saying that one of Ryan's blood cultures grew bacteria, so we had to go back in for antibiotics. Luckily they decided not to do another IV, he just got at shot in each leg and he takes an oral dose for the next 10 days. We were really surprised they called us back because he was acting like he felt so much better. So, the poor kid had two viruses and a bacteria (I'm not sure exactly which one he had, they just told me the family of bacteria; it's in the family that causes bacterial pneumonia, strep, and staph). I sure hope my life gets boring again soon.

Ryan update

2008-06-20T15:03:00.002-05:00

Ryan is doing much better today. No fever and he can breathe easily. We went in for an ER follow up, and we found out he didn't just have croup. He had rhinovirus (common cold) and parainfluenza type 2. They are still watching a couple bacteria cultures to see if anything grows, but the doctor is pretty confidant that was it. Since it's a virus and he's doing so much better, we don't have to go back and no medication! Hopefully things will settle down around here now.

Emergency Room :(

2008-06-19T19:22:00.004-05:00

I had my first experience taking a child to the emergency room this morning. I imagined Ammon would be the first to go with some sort of injury from jumping off something, but I was wrong. I woke up to a sound that sounded like the dog barking and a weak cry at 3:30 this morning. Ryan was making both noises as well as snorting and gagging on junk running down his throat. When I went to pick him up, he felt really hot. We all got a yucky cold, and he started having the same symptoms yesterday, but I was worried with how hot and weak he was. I checked his temp and the armpit reading was 102.6! After giving him Tylenol and feeding him, I checked it again and it was still 101.5. So, I packed him in his carseat and headed to the ER. I was hoping they would tell me to just give him more fluids and Tylenol, but they were as concerned as I was, especially since the rectal temperature was 103.4 after having Tylenol in his system. The poor little guy went through quite an ordeal. In just a couple hours, he had a thermometer stuck up his bum several times, a "pee bag" taped to him, two pokes for an IV, 240 mL saline pumped through his IV, snot sucked from his sinuses twice, a lumbar puncture, chest X-rays, and an arm bar to keep his IV from coming out. After all that, the doctor was still concerned about him because he wasn't putting up much of a fight and he was acting too sick to send home. So, Ryan and I got a lovely ambulance ride up to Primary Childrens Hospital. He got checked out by the pediatrician and they gave him a steroid to reduce the inflamation in his throat and an antibiotic. We're still waiting on the results from the cultures to see if he has a bacterial infection, but for the meantime, they're treating it like croup. We were able to take him home (the nurse told us we're really lucky, they hardly ever send babies home the same day after having a fever that high), we just have to take him back in the morning to the doctor to be looked over again and get his second round of antibiotics. He has been so sleepy, but a real sweety for how bad he feels and everything he's been through today. I'm so grateful for the hospital staff we worked with today, they were awesome! I think I handle emergency situations and times like this pretty well, but they made it even easier to stay relaxed and help Ryan be as comfortable as possible.

Disneyland

2008-06-16T14:49:00.004-05:00

Here are some of the highlights of our Disneyland/Southern California vacation. Jeff, me, Ryan, and Ammon as well as my brother, Daniel, Bryan and Dana (Jeff's parents) and Ginny (Jeff's sister) made the trip. The pictures are somewhat misleading though... Ammon is pretty happy in most of these pictures. He didn't take a nap the entire trip, so I'll let you use your imagination of what the other moments were like.
http://www.rockyou.com/show_my_gallery.php?source=ppsl&instanceid=115249611

Catching up

2008-06-16T14:42:00.002-05:00

As expected, we've had a very busy last couple of weeks. My last day of work was on Monday, June 2nd. We packed and got everything ready to head out to Utah on Tuesday. Drove on Wednesday (Ryan cried for half of the 14 hour drive). Jeff started work on Thursday, then we drove to Elko that night for a quick visit. Came back to Salt Lake Saturday afternoon for a barbecue with friends. Church and a birthday party on Sunday. Jeff worked while I got everything packed for Disneyland on Monday. We flew to California early Wednesday morning and got back late Saturday night. Here we are Monday, and I think we're still recooperating. The craziness has not ended, but at least we can take a quick breather before heading back to Elko for my Mom's birthday this weekend and flying to Oregon on the 25th!

Early Retirement

2008-06-02T21:46:00.003-05:00

Well, I did it. I made it through another school year. The past two years have been interesting, to say the least. I am looking forward to staying home with my kids next school year. We are driving to Utah on Wednesday to spend the summer. We also have a trip to southern California and another to Oregon planned this month. We sure are going to be busy in the month of June!

Sleep!

2008-06-02T21:41:00.002-05:00

Ryan slept through the night! For the first time, the little guy slept from bedtime (about 9:30 pm) to 5:55 am. I was shocked when my alarm went off at 5:30 and I realized that I hadn't been up to feed him yet. I actually got up to make sure he was breathing because I couldn't believe it from my experience with Ammon's bad sleeping history. I'm just crossing my fingers that this keeps up.

Back to work...

2008-05-19T20:01:00.003-05:00

Today was my first day back to work since Ryan was born. I was not ready to go back, but for how much I was dreading it, the day went pretty well. I sure missed the boys! It really made me feel good when a couple of my students told me that they missed me and they were glad I was back. I am as bad as the kids, I've been counting down the days to summer vacation (when I "retire")! Jeff is home with the kids while I'm at work for the next two weeks. Here's a picture Jeff took today.

First Swim of the Year

2008-05-16T11:31:00.002-05:00

Jeff and Ammon decided to go down to the pool today since they just opened it last week and it was a nice day out. Ammon was really excited when they left, so I was surprised to hear him crying and carrying on about 10 minutes later as they came back through the door. Ammon was obviously not hurt, just throwing a fit, so I asked Jeff what happened, thinking Ammon did something that made Jeff mad so he brought him home. Jeff said the water was really cold, but that wasn't the worst part. "The worst part was there was a dead opossum on the pool! And I didn't realize it until we were already in the pool!" Gross! Needless to say, they will be draining and cleaning the pool, so we won't be able to go swimming for a little while longer.

Blankets Everywhere!

2008-05-16T10:48:00.002-05:00

Ammon's newest thing is to get as many blankets as possible and spreading them out on the floor. This morning, he pulled out about half of the baby blankets (I cut off his supply, otherwise, there would be many more!) and made himself a little nest in the living room. It was a little irritating (because I was just thinking about having to fold them all and put them away), but fine until I realized he took the sheets off my bed after I wouldn't let him take any more blankets out of his bedroom! He never ceases to amaze me with the ways he finds to make messes around the house. Luckily, he likes to clean, and I can usually count on his help cleaning up afterwards.

A "Real" Haircut

2008-05-16T10:43:00.003-05:00

As many of you know, I am very boring and conservative with my hair. For most of my life, my hair has been long, no bangs, no artificial color, no nothing. Partly because I'm worried about it looking stupid, but also because I'm lazy and I don't know how to do all the cute things other girls do with their hair. Well, I got brave and asked Kristan to give me a real hair cut (not just trimming the ends like usual)!

Brothers

2008-05-08T08:55:00.002-05:00

Ammon and Ryan are sporting the outfits their aunts (Lindsay and Ginny) picked out for them. Ryan is a month old here.

Children's Museum

2008-05-08T08:49:00.002-05:00

Ammon loves the children's museum! Here's our most recent visit.

Ryan

2008-05-08T08:46:00.001-05:00

Caught!

2008-05-08T08:44:00.004-05:00

This is how we keep finding Ammon when it gets a little too quiet around the house. He really likes to help, sometimes too much!

Zoo

2008-05-08T08:41:00.003-05:00

Our first real outing after Ryan was born was to the Omaha Zoo. It appears Ammon has found his mirror image!

Visitors

2008-05-08T08:38:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone that came to visit us when Ryan was born! I got pretty bored after a while. Here's the proud big brother and Ammon with his grandma.

Glow Worm

2008-05-08T08:36:00.002-05:00

Poor Ryan was jaundice and had to go on phototherapy. Here's our little "glow worm."

Baby Ryan

2008-05-08T08:21:00.003-05:00

The newest addition to our family, Ryan James, was born on March 28, 2008. He was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long (much larger than Ammon!).