Back to School!!

(Soaking up their last days of summer while I count down the days)

I practically shoved the kids through the door this year!! We got back from Utah and had a few weeks of "survival" until they were off to school and it was just Georgie Porge at home.  Serenity!!  Love my children, but breaking up their numerous fights throughout the day got REALLY old.  Don't you worry, It starts back up again at 3:00 when they get home.  

We lucked out this year with some awesome teachers.  I feel like we've lucked out every year.  Kiker is the best school!  Jack got Mrs. Haschke who is very warm but stern (Mary Poppins), and an awesome educator.  Jack comes home singing songs and pointing out high frequency words in the books we read.  He had become an awesome little reader over the summer and is learning so much more every day.  The best part is, he loves school!  It's pretty hard to wake him up in the morning, but once he's up, he's pumped! His buddy Evan is in his class and even though they are together all day at school, they still want to play when they get home.  He's such a happy, well-adjusted little guy. 

Sadie's teacher is another Mary Poppins.  Her name is Sara Trumet and she and Sadie have such a cute little bond.  They write little notes to each other on Sadie's spelling tests each week.  When we went in for Parent/Teacher conference, she suggested we put Sadie in the Gifted and Talented Program which starts taking applications in January.  I was a little apprehensive after hearing the program was just more homework, but have since been convinced Sadie thrives off more of a challenge.  I'm just pleased that Mrs. Trumet sees Sadie the way we see her and that she will be guided at a greater degree for the years to come.  

I did something different this year and took their school pictures the night before.  That way they were all happy and not groggy (or rushed) in the morning.  Love these little nuggets so much!!

Sadie was convinced she needed a bigger backpack this year.  I surprised her with this Garnet Hill pony backpack.  She was beyond thrilled!

Jack's first year at Kiker!  He needed a back pack too.  He of course chose a Spiderman pack.  Still can't believe he's old enough to go to elementary school!!  

Kids got some very special "Father's blessings" from Chase and then they were off to bed with a little help from our friend Melatonin.  

I couldn't help but take a few more pictures the next morning!

No matter how crazy they make me when they're home for the summer, I always get a little emotional the first day of school.   Just look at them!!!!

We dropped Sadie off first, who has always been so brave and excited for new adventures.  She's going to have a great year! 3rd grade!!

It was a little harder to say goodbye to this little man.  He was totally excited to get in there but I totally cried and held onto him a little longer than usual.  I've learned from Sadie that once these kids hit Kindergarten, they're never home all day again. No longer babies, but big kids one day to be TOTALLY embarrassed by a mother's tearful embrace.  

I'll keep kissing and hugging them in public until they won't let me anymore!

August in Utah

We are usually back in Texas by August but had a few more weeks in Utah to wait for Chase's reunion.  The weather is FAR better here than there, so there was no complaining on my end. 

We spent as much time with cousins as possible.  One day we went to the zoo which is always a treat because we don't have a zoo in Austin.  

Sadie and Ruby were especially happy to be reunited.  Those two sure love each other. Em hosted a sleepover for Sadie and Jack while I was in New York with Mom and they had soooooo much fun.  Those two girls laugh so hard it makes me sad they don’t get to spend more time together.  We’re hoping that we can all go to the beach next summer.  It’s been too long since we’ve all been to the beach together!

George loved the carousel and all the big cats.  I loved watching him "meow" at the leopard behind the glass.   

Of course he loved the train too.  

Em was so sweet to think of having a small baby shower for me while I was in town.  We went to Trio for dinner and then hung out at the Children's Hour for a few hours which is always a treat.  The only issue was I didn't know the sex of the baby yet.  In the past, I’ve had to wait until 20 weeks before I could find out what kind of baby I was having.  Technology has advanced in the past couple of years and they now have a blood test that tells you not only any chromosomal defects you might be having (like down syndrome) but also checks the xy chromosomes to see the sex of your baby.  If you have an xy it’s a girl and if it’s yy, it’s a boy.  I was totally on board to get the test done.  Sadie couldn’t wait to find out if she would finally get a sister.  Chase and I were also worried that we would have to tell her she was getting another “stinky little brother,” as she calls them.  So we got the test done right before we left for Utah and they said it would be 10 business days.  Em decided to plan a baby shower for the girls in the family a few weeks out knowing by then I would know the sex of my baby.  Well, on the 14th day, they finally called me and told me they had lost my blood sample!!  

Here we had been waiting for what seemed like forever and they call me to tell me my specimen is lost!!  I was so mad and so was my lawyer of a husband. With all his health care knowledge he was threatening the lab with a ‘HIPAA breach’ and saying they had invaded our health care law of privacy.  The lab was so scared and felt so bad about what happened that they found a representative in Utah to meet me at IHC for another test.  It would then be immediately FedExed overnight to their lab in California.  So I went in to get tested at another lab in Murray and there was the guy, waiting patiently with his little fed-ex box.  They also assured me that we would not be responsible for any payment and that I would be able to know the results by Thursday, the day we had scheduled the baby shower with the family.  I made Keith (guy from the lab) think the shower was a VERY big deal, even though it was just Mom, Brooke, Lizzie and Em. 

So, we told Sadie Thursday was the day even though she thought it was actually going to be the Friday before.  Poor thing had to exercise a great deal of patience.  Chase and I were really starting to worry that it would be a boy at this point and after all her waiting, her hopes would be dashed once again.  I actually got sick to my stomach when I thought about having to tell her we were having another boy.  So Thursday came and at 6pm they still didn’t have results.  I told my shower guests to get me girl stuff because all signs were pointing to a girl (at least this pregnancy felt like Sadie’s pregnancy).  I was still madder than a hornet when they still didn’t have results for me on Thursday.  No results Friday either.  Chase was now threatening to sue!  Now we had to wait the whole weekend until they opened again on Monday. I still had a really fun shower and received the cutest little clothes for the baby.  Lots of pink!

It was nice to have Chase's reunion to distract us from not knowing the sex of the baby.  The next day we went to a family day at the park and a BBQ that night up the canyon.  Those events were really fun and Sadie was so happy to be reunited with her buddy Moriah from her toddler days in D.C.  They both bonded immediately over their love of horses and had so much fun together.  

The next event was RIDICULOUSLY boring!!  They decided to recreate an assembly in the auditorium of Highland High.  The only problem was the production wasn't "assembled" by their assembly chair (Chase) and was THE MOST BORING assembly I've ever been too.  Thank goodness I had some East High ladies there to lighten the doom of the evening.  Love that Chase's friends all married women from East.  Makes these reunions all the more bearable.  

The next day Mom and Dad hosted all the families for one last Sunday dinner before we returned to Texas.  Kids helped Mimi make some yummy cookies and the rest of us brought pot luck meals from home.  These meals had to be vegan to accomodate the new Etherington diet.  

This picture of all the grandchildren kills me.  Can't you just feel the excitement from these kids when looking at those "delighted" faces?  The prospect of eating vegetables and more vegeatbles for dinner was just far too thrilling!  I could barely get my kids to eat a crumb and they pretty much just ate the rolls.  Don't tell Emily, but I cooked my quinoa and seeds in chicken broth.  The shame!!!  

(Mimi enjoying her carrot and Esther)

Grandpa took us on a hike to "the meadow" as he calls it.  It was gorgeous and full of lots of logs to play on.  

This man!  Oh how I love him!!

Grandpa is always up for an adventure and helped Sadie shimmy herself way up this fallen tree trunk. 

We always miss these mountains when we go back to Texas!!

We also miss Laird Park.  We went there too many times to count while in Utah.

 Monday came, and the lab still had no results.  Tuesday, we finally got a text saying they had results and had sent them over to my doctor’s office. We then had to wait for my OB to call me.  MORE WAITING!!  I got sick of sitting by my phone so we went down to H&M to do a return before our flight back to Texas the next day.  Can you believe it?  It should have been 10 days to get a result and it ended up taking a month!!  The kids stayed at Mom and Dad’s house while Chase and I went together.  Once we pulled into the parking lot, we got the call!!  The nurse told me were having a girl!!!!!!!!  I immediately started crying and said “REALLY?!!!” The nurse asked me if I was ok because I was crying so hard.  I told her they were tears of joy!!  I immediately thought of Sadie and how happy it would make her to know she would finally be blessed with a sister.  Can you imagine your life without a sister?  It was one of the only reasons we decided to have a fourth child.  A final attempt at getting Sadie her most coveted sister.  I don’t know what I’d do with out my 3 lovely sisters.  How blessed am I to have been given so many wonderful companions in this life?!  

I hung up the phone and just did the ugliest cry I’ve ever mustered in my lifetime (other than the time I was driving to the hospital with Jack labor pains…worst moment ever!!).  Connie has a box of tissues in her mini van at all times and I just buried my face in them as I just wept and wept tears of absolute joy.  When I finally calmed down, I got a chance to look over at Chase who also had tears in his eyes.  We have been waiting for this baby and both feel so blessed that we not only have a girl, but a healthy girl.  All the chromosomal defects came back “low risk” as well.  We immediately felt completely overwhelmed with gratitude for this healthy daughter of God that He would be entrusting to our family.  We said a prayer of thanksgiving right there in the City Creek parking garage.  I still don’t feel worthy of such amazing blessings.  I love my family so much and I can’t wait to meet this little peanut of mine.  We’ve decided to call her Eliza Maurine.  The great thing is, we will have a Jack and a Maurine in our family.  How perfect! Chase and I celebrated by buying some Izze drinks because drinking an Izze in honor of our own "Lizzy" just seemed totally appropriate!  

When we got home that night, I wrapped up some pink shoes Mimi gave me at the shower in a generic polka dot box for Sadie to open after we had dinner with the sister missionaries on the lovely side patio.  After the sisters left, the kids all ran down to the basement to play with some toys but we asked Sadie to come upstairs for a minute because we had a "surprise" for her.  She was pretty confused but came up anyway.  Since when do Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Mimi all sit down and watch her open a gift when it’s not her birthday?  She had pretty much given up on ever finding out the sex of the baby after all the days of waiting and no results.  

She had no idea what was in that box!  So, she opened it up and asked “why are you giving me a pink pair of shoes that don’t fit me?  These are WAY too small for me.” When we asked her who she thought they could be for her eyes got REALLY big, the light bulb clicked on, and she excitedly asked “IS IT A GIRL!!!!!”  Mom and I of course started crying.  It was a happy little moment for our family.  Sadie will finally have a little sister!!  

We had one more day before our flight back to Texas, so Grandpa decided we should have an Easter Egg Hunt.  Random?  Why yes.  Totally random and totally fun.  Grandpa usually has a big hunt every Easter for all the other cousins and he didn't think it was fair the Cannon kids never got to participate.  So he had an Easter egg hunt for them in August.  Probably the best grandpa ever!! 

Each kid had their own color and each egg's contents was carefully inspected (and devoured) after all were found.  What a great way to end our trip to Utah!!

Back to Texas we go.  Back to our beds and beloved body pillows!!  Oh how I love my Texas bed.  Chase and I weren’t able to sleep together in Utah because the available beds were all too small.  My big belly and need of several surrounding pillows didn’t help either!  It's great to be home.

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!!