The Cannons headed back to Utah again this year. Chase had some interviews set up (in the hopes that one day we can finally live close to family again) and I had an interview set up with baby Alice Dalton and Eloise Etherington who would be born sometime while we were in town (I hoped:-)
It was great to be with family again. Sadie was the only grandchild this year which was good and bad. She got a lot of attention but needed some cousins to play with. She did had a blast with Grandpa doing their "double whitzer whizters", chasing Walter the cat, and throwing snow balls. She and Mimi painted fingernails. And she went to two "bakiball" games with Pops and CC where she saw her new favorite bird...Swoop. Sadie loves her grandparents and we love them too for giving us parents a break.
Christmas eve we had dinner with the Etherington's and the program with the Cannon's. The running around gets a little daunting and we were all worn out by the end of the night but neither of us can imagine not attending both events. Santa brought Sadie the Cars movie (her new favorite...Thomas the Tank Engine is on the back burner for a while). My little sister Jane came with us and played her violin during the program as well.
Sadie was so excited to see Santa and was overjoyed when he gave her Cars. She now runs all over the place saying "I'm going ot be in the Piston Cup" which to an outside ear can sound a little vulgar.
Christmas morning was awesome. Santa made the mistake of putting a lollipop at the top of Sadie's stocking so she had absolutely no interest in opening presents for a while. In fact she was so busy watching Cars that morning we literally had to pull teeth to get her to go downstairs to open her presents. Cars is WAY more fun!! Once she got in the groove she discovered a bunch of Thomas wooden trains in her stocking including all her favorites..Percy, James, Gordon, Thomas, Toby and even some new guys. Of course she knew them all by name as she was opening them.
She received some fun stuff including a fairy costume from both Mimi and her other grandma CC. Once she had opened all her gifts (very fun for her to rip the paper off) she proceeded to help everyone else open theirs. She didn't care what was inside, she just wanted to open all the presents. We had a delicious brunch (cooked by my awesome brother/chef) and then raced over to the Cannon's for a second Christmas.
Sadie was still in the groove of opening presents. Luckily she has some very patient uncles who let her open whatever she wanted. Pops was busy making some delicious "special eggs" and for the first time he made me my own batch of muesli (a German oatmeal with all sorts of fruit, yogurt, and sugar). I have tried Muesli in the past and have always steered clear of the stuff every year when they serve it Christmas morning. I told Jim that if he made me some with natural yogurt and didn't add any sugar, I would probably like it a lot more. Well, my request was granted and I actually LOVED it. Who knew this mush that strangely resembles vomit could taste so good?!! I actually packaged up my own little batch and took it back to the Etherington's for a little pregnancy midnight snack. Thanks Jim for the special attention to the Prego's details.
Chase's big gift to me was a VERY nice professional camera. I can't wait to learn how to take my own great pictures with out having to pay someone to do it for me. We ended up taking it back because I figured I could buy it again once I got to D.C. Now if I can get over the guilt of having such a nice camera when we are still technically students. I surprised Chase with some new Ray Ban sunglasses (the ones that were stolen from our car) and his mom had the same idea so he got two pairs. Luckily we kept our receipts although knowing Chase's luck with sunglasses, he'll probably need both of them.
We had so much fun. Thank you to both of our families for all their generous gifts and love.
Today, 29 years ago, an amazing person was brought into the world. That person is my friend Kim. I don't usually post birthday messages about my friends but today I have felt especially grateful to have Kimberly Sanders Ujifusa as my "bosom friend" of nearly 26 years. For those of you who know her, you know how special she is. No one can make you laugh harder than Kim. She introduced humor to me and so many other people. She is well known for her hilarious personality. But that isn't all that makes Kim so very special. Not so long ago I was a girl with permed bangs, buck teeth, was flat chested, and pretty scrawny to top it all off. Kim might have seen how hideous I was but always made me feel like a million bucks. She's been my buddy since we were 5 years old and we've gotten along like sisters ever since (with an occasional fist fight over who got "shot gun" or not). Kim has always been an example to me of someone who never gives up and presses forward no matter how hard the rain is falling on her. As of late she is struggling with something that requires the strength I know I don't have. She remains ever faithful to her heavenly father, loving to her family, and strong for everyone else. I love her to death and I want her to know that today I am grateful for my beautiful, vivacious, intelligent, witty, caring, determined, and courageous friend. Happy Birthday Kim!!!
