Utah or Bust!!

Just as all our friends started coming back from their summer vacations, we finally left for ours.  I still think it's pretty lame that all our vacation time and money is used to go to Utah every year, but when you see family as infrequently as we do, Utah is a must!!  We love seeing all our cousins and grandparents and are total suckers for those Utah mountains.  Chase's 20 year reunion is the second weekend of August so we thought we'd head up there mid July for some fun until we had to come back to the Texas heat and mosquitoes.  

Such great little travelers!!

Grandpa immediately started the fun with sprinklers in the back yard!

While I was playing my old piano I noticed that the kids were being awfully quiet.  I came in to the family room to discovered all the kids reading from Grandpa and Mimi's library.  All of my most favorite books from when I was little like them.  

We stayed at Pops and CC's house and even though Chase had to work remotely for a few weeks, we still snuck in a few afternoon naps.

We also ran away for a weekend up to the Weber.  Oh how we love that glorious little cabin.  The kids had a ball and even though I could hardly breath from the crazy Utah allergies, it was dreamy being up there.  Nick, Brooke and their kids also came up for the day to enjoy the beautiful weather and Pop's scones.  Most of the day was spent breaking up the old beaver dam and hiking to the waterfall.

Uncle Nick is sooooo much fun!!  He and Jack were using their karate moves on each other.  

Each day we spent with a different batch of Etherington cousins.  So fun to have them all living in Utah. Fun for us but I don't know how much fun it is for Grandpa who always gets roped into reading and playing with the kids.  They love him soooo much!! 

We got to be in Utah for the 24th of July.  Chase ran a marathon with Curtis (and his batman socks) and we all went to see the fireworks that night near liberty park.  Pretty exciting stuff!!

The other nice thing about going to Utah later than usual, was that Backer's was home from their summer vacation too.  I never get a smiley face cookie when I'm in town because they're usually closed up until mid July.  Happy day for me!!

We tried to keep ourselves busy with friends too.  My high school ladies and I took our girls to the chocolate factory which never fails to impress.  Em and I also took the kids to the museum which happened to be featuring an exhibit on horses.  Sadie was in PONY HEAVEN!!

One afternoon the mountains were calling so Chase and I packed up the snacks, strapped the kids in their seat belts and headed up Millcreek Canyon. We were off to a pretty late start but hoped we could make it to Dog Lake and back before the sun went down.  

The kids were pretty awesome little hikers with only a little complaining about the steepness of the trail (they're used to Texas hills:-).  We didn't anticipate it taking us close to two hours to hike uphill 1.8 miles.  A man told us on the way up as he was coming down that he didn't think he would make it at the pace we were going before it got too dark to see.  

Most normal people would take his sound advice and take their children back to the car where they would be safe from dark trails and mountain lions.  But we aren't normal.  We're Cannons and we were determined to see Dog Lake damnit!!

We finally arrived after practically pulling the kids up the hill and daddy taking turns with them on his shoulders.  I wish we could have had more time at the lake because the kids LOVED it, but we could clearly see the sun setting and our daylight running dim.  

We threw a few rocks and asked someone to take our picture and then quickly started heading back down the mountain.  I think we officially freaked our kids out of hiking ever again.  We BARELY made it to the car before the trail became almost pitch black!  We hiked almost the entire 1.8 miles back to the car by the light of the moon.  I was equally as scared as them and literally ran, pulling their little bodies behind me before the boogie man jumped out from the trees.  You can always count on an adventure whenever the Cannons are around.  

Another fun thing we did was go to the Ogden Temple open house.  I don’t know if you remember how unattractive the old Ogden temple was, but they’ve totally restored it and made it beautiful.  Sadie was especially excited to be able to go into the temple.  We go to our temple in San Antonio twice a year with the family when our ward does a temple day and provides babysitting for the kiddos.  Sadie is always bummed when we tell her she can’t go in.  It was awesome showing her the baptismal font and the celestial room.  She was most impressed however with the porta potties outside the temple.  They were the most luxurious porta potties I’ve ever seen.  They were air conditioned and had stalls.  We opened a door and there were two doors behind it with individual toilets and sinks.  Even I was impressed.  Porta potties are usually so disgusting I tell my kids to go in the great outdoors instead.  We're classy like that.   

Seeing that we were in Ogden, I thought it would be fun to drive by Grandma and Grandpa Etherington’s home just for "old times" sake.  It took us forever to find it and the kids were being very rude and impatient about my "skip down memory lane", but we finally found it.  Somehow I remembered the street name, Edgehill Drive.  I tell ya what, my memory is incredible!!  So when we pulled up, I felt the biggest urge to go knock on the door and see if the people living there would let me in.  I mustered up the courage and went up to the door.  The nicest man opened the door and was more than happy to let me in and see how they had changed the home.  He even asked if I was an Etherington.  He was the same owner that bought the house when Grandma died in 2002.  It was sooooo amazing to be in that home!!  I tried VERY hard to hold back tears when I noticed her pink tub and tile were still in that bathroom.  I almost lost it when I looked down the stairs and remembered Jack and Maurine dancing together at the bottom with their record player.  The basement was almost entirely the same.  The old bar and glass walls were still there and the bathrooms were still very much the same.  

The backyard had lost a few trees, but the apple tree was still there and the same fantastic patio still stood where Jack would make homemade ice cream or banana shakes.  The couple living there was so kind.  They have three children and the mom is suffering from cancer.  She had her head shaved and is having her last chemo treatment soon.  They are hopeful she will make a full recovery.  I couldn’t help but feel Maurine there watching over this sweet woman as she suffers through this disease.  The temple was amazing, but the spirit I felt was absolutely undeniable in that home.  Isn’t that funny?  I remember when I was deciding whether or not to marry Chase, I felt the most amazing spirit while I was on my knees in my very own room.  I wanted to feel it again when I went to the temple that next day and felt absolutely nothing.  I love that the lord provides us with our own sacred places here on earth (temples included) that can be as simple as your old bedroom or a home where so many memories were made.  

When I finally left the house and said goodbye to the kind owners, I bawled my little eyes out!!  There I was walking down that driveway just crying like a hysterical baby.  It didn’t help that Lizzie called me at that very moment and asked where I was.  She said she had had a similar experience when she drove by the house a few years ago when she had Montessori training in Ogden.  She said she pulled up to the house and just started crying.  There is something so sweet about that place and the wonderful people who lived there.  It was then and there that I decided if I had another girl, the name Maurine would have to be in there somewhere.  I love that woman!!  What an incredible person to be named after.  

So when I first arrived in Utah, Lizzie and Chad asked if I could sleep at their house and take care of baby Esther so they could regain some sleep lost while in the hospital that past week.  Poor Lizzie had hemorrhaged 9 days after giving birth.  She had to return to the hospital for a few weeks to be cared for and monitored and was so incredibly pale when I arrived.  Apparently she lost half her blood and because she wasn’t moving much, she also developed a blood clot in her left leg.  It’s in a secondary vein so all is relatively well, but she is just exhausted.  It’s exhausting enough to have a newborn baby, but after losing half your blood?  Unthinkable!  I went over that night and she was desperate to watch a show with Chad in the basement.  She somehow got down there but couldn’t get back up the stairs.  Poor thing didn’t have the energy!  Chad pulled and I pushed her bum up the stairs and into the arms of her walker that she now uses to get around.  It’s so weird to see a member of our family so sick!  We’ve all been so healthy for the most part.  It’s amazing to know what we have been taking for granted.  

That night I got to snuggle Esther.  What a dream boat!!  She woke up a few times that night and every time I fed her, she just fell back to sleep like a little angel.  My kids were never that good for me!  It was strange getting up in the middle of the night for someone else’s baby.  I’ve only ever done night feedings for my own little cherubs.  I’m just glad Lizzie and Chad were able to get some rest.  She has since been feeling a great deal better.  I don’t think she’ll be 100% for a while but she’s driving now is able to hang out more.  She’s not using her walker anymore which is awesome because she totally looked like an old lady.  She was able to throw a little party for Emma at Laird park with the family and it was so great to see her up and walking around with some color in her cheeks.  She gave me a scare for a while there!

Mom and I went to New York for a short buying trip while Chase, Pops and CC managed the kids in SLC.  She asked if I wanted to go before I was pregnant and I was totally excited about it.  However, when the trip drew closer I began to worry because I was still feeling pretty nauseous and was worried I would make it hard for Mom to get all her work done.  I went anyway, and other than the taxi ride from the airport that nearly made me hurl, I felt pretty good the whole trip.  Pro-bars and Cliff bars got me through.  We ordered so many cute clothes for the CH and I kept thinking, “I hope this baby is a girl!”  

Roooooom Service!!

Love this guy soaking in Times Square behind me.

 Mom is such a funny traveler.  I think it’s hilarious that she likes to be at the airport 2 hours early and will nearly run someone over on the moving walkway to get to her terminal (even with the extra two hours before boarding). She also loves to be the VERY FIRST one on the plane and eyes the ticket counter like a hawk to make sure she’s right there when they start boarding. 

She was also kind enough to take me to Matilda (cutest musical EVER!!) and could barely handle waiting 10 minutes for the ticket counter to open at 10 that morning.  She is hilarious!!  I got a kick out of observing her and just spending time with her.   It was such a fun trip and I’m so glad I went.

I also missed these little peanuts while I was gone.  I made it home just in time to sing some lullabies before they went to bed.   Little George even fell asleep in my arms.  Being a mom is the greatest!! 

I've been keeping a pretty BIG secret

I’m pregnant!!  We are VERY excited about this baby.  We fasted, prayed and attended the temple and felt very strongly that someone was still missing from our family.  It was still a pretty hard decision though.  We were pretty comfortable with our family of 5.  I wasn't feeling excitement over being pregnant again or the two years of not having my body to myself, but after sitting in the temple one day, I sort of had an "awakening."  I was praying to know if we should have a fourth and voicing concerns to my Heavenly Father.  My concerns were big and small.  The big included whether or not I was suited to be a mother of four when I often felt overwhelmed with the three.  Every mother is hard on herself but on bad days I sometimes thought that my children would be better off in day care than with me. 

My smaller concerns included not having enough bedrooms or having to use the third row in our car to go anywhere.  Silly, but still concerning.  While I was praying I pretty much heard a voice tell me "this is what you are here to do.  You are here to serve your family and others.  It's not all about you.  It's about your family and what's best for your family."  I think I had always known there was a fourth child up there waiting to join our family, but was too preoccupied and selfish to bring him/her here.  I learned that day that even though it will be hard, it will also be rewarding and ultimately what is best for my family.   Also, we've been feeling a little sad for Sadie.  She's kind of become the "odd man out" being our only girl with Jack and George being such good buddies as well.  Sadie is DYING to have a sister and I guess this is our last (and hopefully successful) attempt at making all her dreams come true.  

Most signs are pointing to another girl.  I’ve done all the “old wives tale” methods of trying to figure out the gender but after I learned the heart rate was around 180, I had higher hopes for a girl.  Higher heart rates usually mean a girl is in there.  Every night (almost) Sadie has a mini tantrum over the fact that she’s the “only girl in the family” and can’t stand her “stinky little brothers.”  Maybe we’re “feeding the cat” by giving her exactly what she wants, but I really feel every girl needs at least one sister.  I feel so fortunate to have three!!

This pregnancy also feels a lot like my first "girl" pregnancy.  I feel REALLY nauseated but still haven’t thrown up.  When I was pregnant with the boys, I threw up all the time.  Sadie only made me vomit three times the whole pregnancy and usually they were travel induced.  One of them being when I went to visit Emily in New Hampshire and she was an hour late to pick me up and then got lost on the way back to her house from the airport.  After being lost in the New Hampshire woods for about three hours and calling Chase to map quest us out of oblivion, did I finally throw up out the moving car window around the corner of her house (around 2 a.m.)  Good times. I really can’t blame Sadie for that one.  This baby makes me feel REALLY sick, but usually only in the late afternoon, evenings.  I’m grateful for that.  My friend had to have her mom stay with her for two months because every time she stood up, she’d vomit.  Poor thing.  I'm not that bad at all! We do call our baby “little parasite” because it’s kind of making me feel like I caught something in Mexico.  

I'm having a harder time concealing this pregnancy.  I'm showing WAY earlier than I did with the other three and don't really feel like telling people until I have past the "out of the woods" three month mark.  I actually had a little scare last week. Chase had a cousin in town and he wanted to see Austin.  Chase thought a canoe ride would be fun and I agreed knowing it would be good for me to get out into the fresh air.  This past month has consisted of me moping around the house trying to entertain the three children until Dad gets home to rescue us all!  Being sick is hard on everyone, but I especially feel bad for the kiddos.  Their summer hasn't been too much fun. Most of my friends have left for the summer too, so I don't have many people to help me when all I feel like doing is staying in bed all day. 

So while we were waiting for an available canoe, I felt a little gush of something come out of me and after checking, realized I was actually bleeding.  Blood and pregnancy usually mean “miscarriage” so while trying to remain calm, I kindly told the family to take Peter canoeing while I sat in the car to talk with the on-call doctor.  It was a pretty emotional moment in that blazing hot car.  It’s amazing how attached you become to these little beings before they're even born.  I had already suffered nearly a month of nausea and the thought of having to do it all over again with a new pregnancy was almost too much to bear.  

It was a Saturday which meant the doctor’s office was closed so I would either have go to the emergency room, or wait until Monday morning until they opened again.  Waiting seemed like torture, but the emergency room seemed even worse, so I waited until Monday to go in for another ultra sound.  I dropped the older kids off at a birthday party and took George with me to the Dr. where Chase was waiting for me. They made me wait in that waiting room FOREVER!!  I’m sorry, but if you know a woman is literally at her wits end wondering whether or not the fetus inside her had died, you don’t make her wait and hour before hooking her up to the ultra sound machine.  I was thinking at that point that maybe the emergency room had been the better choice.  

The Dr. finally came in and reassured me that the baby was ok after seeing the little peanut’s heart moving on the screen.  I tried to remain calm, but I was so flooded with overwhelming joy that I just burst into tears.  Chase just held me and we cried there together after the doctor left the room.  It really is amazing what a fragile and miraculous period of time pregnancy is.  It’s truly marvelous that any of us ever survived gestation and birth after all that could possibly go wrong.  I absolutely cherish this little parasite of mine.  I’m hoping we have no more complications in the months to follow.  I don’t think my little heart could handle any more dramatics at the moment.  I’ll take nausea ANY DAY as long as I know “she’s” healthy and growing strong. 

So even though I'm a nauseated mess, can't stand to eat anything and haven't made dinner for over a month, I am so incredibly grateful for this baby.   Our last baby.  I'm so excited to smell it's head and rub it's soft feet and feel it's warmth next to me at 3 a.m.  I'm excited to finally have my entire family here on earth.  

Happy Fourth!!

We've never been in Texas for Independence Day before.  We're usually long gone by now, hanging out in Utah.  We weren't even sure if Texas had a burn ban with the ongoing drought they've been having.  We live pretty close to Grey Rock Golf course and they were having a firework display and decided it would be a little easier to see the fireworks there rather than going downtown to see them.  It was actually the 3rd, but fireworks are fireworks.  I think I'll always regret never seeing the fireworks in downtown D.C. when we lived there.  It's supposed to be awesome, but I honestly don't think anything will ever top our crazy 4th of July in Evanston last year, where most of the illegal fireworks are sold.  It was "epic" to say the least. 

Chase ran into a co-worker at the club and he gave us some extra dinner passes he had for the "elite" golf club members.  Kids were thrilled to have some fresh hot dogs and I was happy to not have to worry about finding dinner for everyone!

Our neighbors were there so the kids had a great time running all over the green until the show started.

Once the fireworks started popping, Jack covered his ears, of course.  He does it every year.  Little George was absolutely fascinated. No covering ears for this guy!  The free dinner also included bubbles and while I wasn't paying attention, George spilled a whole bottle onto my iPhone, which decided to not turn on for a few days.  It sat in rice for about 48 hours and finally turned on but the battery will never be the same.  Not due for a phone upgrade until October.  I hate bubbles...and gum....and balloons.  These three object vex me greatly! 

For the 4th, we went over to the Apreotesi's house for some BBQ and a dip in their pool.  Sparklers and fun fireworks in the cul-de-sac wrapped up the evening.  Sadie was the only one brave enough to hold a sparkler.  She'll always be my little daredevil.  

Happy 4th of July!!