Family Friend

Our family has a special friend. He has been considered a part of our family since the Christmas of 1999. He has accompanied us on many family vacations, various special events, and even a random shopping trip or two. But mostly he is just there during, and yes, sometimes an accomplice to, the day to day mayhem that is the Parke household.

At times he has been a friend to one child more than another, but only because they needed him more right then. Currently, he has become a sort of sidekick for Benjamin. Heck, he practically spent every day in pre-school with him last year and has had the opportunity to get in a few Kindergarten lesson this year as well. It is a relief for me to know that someone can be there when Mom & Dad can't.

He's never intrusive, just supportive, while sporting a pleasant expression on his face, quietly watching from the sidelines. Yep, stalwart, silent, supportive, and I might as well add "stuffed" because as you can see our special friend is Bear, a big brown fuzzy teddy bear.

So when I tucked Ben into bed the other night and he whispered to me that the next day was Bear's birthday, I couldn't say no to throwing our good and loyal friend a surprise party.

Now you may think it is silly to throw a party for a child's favorite stuffy, but I think that this smile is worth all the silliness in the world. Don't you?

Plus, I'll use any excuse to indulge in some fabulous chocolate cake any day.

What do you do...

...when your husband is out of town on your birthday?

Well, first of all, you get beautiful flowers and a balloon delivered to let you know how sorry he is he can't be there.

Next, your awesome neighbor and girlfriend, Carrilyne, invites you over for lunch where you eat yummy finger foods and scrumptious mint chocolate chip cupcakes.

You also get packages in the mail that contain baggies of white powder...

...from your mother, who by the way is NOT a drug dealer, it just contains citric acid which happens to be expensive and the secret ingredient in your favorite Almond Punch recipe that you've been craving.

Many of your close friends and some not-so-close friends, take time out of their day to post that 13 letter well wish on your Facebook wall. You also receive e-mails from your insurance agent, the Coca-Cola Company (this should be a hint that you drink too much of their product), My Coke Rewards (another hint), Swag Bucks, and even a phone call from your life insurance agent who all wish you a Happy Birthday! 

 I'm sure they all genuinely mean it too.

You use the $20 your NOT-a-drug-dealer mom (even though she sends baggies of white powder that is costly and has to be purchased from a pharmacy)  sent you to get take out from Panda Express so you don't have to make dinner.

Following picking up take out, you go with all of your munchkins to The Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery where you each choose your favorite flavor of cupcake to prevent you from making your own birthday cake.

And last of all, because of all of this, you have a pretty FANTASTIC birthday!

#11 is Heaven...

...Especially when you are spoiled like Ashton!

And you choose steak & broiled shrimp for your birthday dinner followed by a Pepperidge Farms chocolate cake, receive a new air soft gun and a new game to play on your DS, and of course, some clothes which an 11 year old boy is very excited about- let me tell you.  (I'm sure he would be very excited about them if he were faced with the possibility of going to school naked!)

And then a week later, you have your friends over for a late
night where you receive MORE presents, eat Cookies & Cream pie, and have a fantastic time bowling at the BYU Rec. Center. Then to end it all, you come home to play Runescape and run around sounding like lunatics with a volume that would wake the dead (or at least neighbors that are trying to sleep) playing night games outside.
In a word-
AWESOME!

Happy Birthday Ashton!!!

We love every spoiled inch of you!

Oh, and speaking of bowling...This is what I had in my head the whole time we were knocking those pins down. I thought you might enjoy it.

The Revolving Door

Do you remember your first experience with a revolving door?


I do.

And I was terrified.

I don’t recall where I encountered it, probably somewhere in downtown Ogden on an errand with my mother, but as a small girl that rotating X scared the soup out of me. The fact that my little arms and legs might not have enough strength to push my way through the entire process, fed the fear of getting stuck between the entrance and the exit in a small vestibule of suffocating glass. I’m sure this fear had a great deal to do with the claustrophobia I had acquired from being barricaded inside the kitchen pantry by my loving older brothers (jerks) more than questioning my own strength. I was a tomboy with 3 older brothers, I was tough enough.

But worse than getting stuck and having a panic attack where everyone can see, was the fear of getting caught between the rotating X and the wall as you entered its circular movement, especially if someone else was coming through from the other side and doing so at a mighty fast speed. If your timing wasn’t right, you were in trouble; having the correct timing was imperative. If it wasn’t fairly precise you would risk severing an arm, leg, or even your body- right in two! Well… at least, that is what my kid mind told me would happen.

But I did it. Somewhere I found the courage (probably from a mother’s soothing encouragement) and pushed my way through. And I am pleased to report that I have done so on many occasions since without the loss of life or limb.

There is a point to me writing about this, I promise; just bear with me.

After a recent phone conversation with my mother, I started to reflect on some important events that happened 11 years ago this month. As I thought about these events and their importance to me, I could only think of them in the analogy of a revolving door, of sorts. A revolving door between the entrance and the exit of this the world we know and the world we once knew, and one day, will know again.

Death & birth.

A revolving door.

One of which I was terrified.

I often questioned my choice of professions because of this fear. I worked with a mainly geriatric population, of which many suffered from terminal diseases. I lost many of my dear friends, but none while they were under my care or while I was present. For this I was very grateful. I just couldn’t deal with facing it and the unknown surrounding it. It was a cold, unwelcome, violent thief that stole loved ones and I wanted nothing to do with it.

I was also in nursing school experiencing my labor and delivery clinicals while expecting my first child. Giving birth was something I was never sure I wanted to do. I wanted kids. And I wanted to be a mother. I just wasn’t sure about the whole process in accomplishing that.

First of all, pain is not my favorite sensation (shocking, I know). Second of all, I was what you could call a private person and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be on “display”- even for a medical staff audience. I had seen enough births to know that there was plenty of both involved to put me totally out of my comfort zone. Now 4 kids later, delivered in 4 different hospitals, by 4 different doctors, and one of which was a natural birth (thank you, Canada and your socialized medicine), I can say that I have sufficiently overcome this fear. But facing it for the first time, I was not exactly confident in my ability to do it.

At this same time, Richard and I had the opportunity of caring for my 92 year old great aunt Annie in our home following the death of my great uncle Albert (86) to a self inflicted gunshot wound. In the midst of all our discussion of whether this was the right thing for us to do at that point of our lives and marriage, my biggest concern was –What if she passes away while she’s living here?

Irrational?

Maybe, considering all the other things like school, work, and the arrival of a baby in the near future that seemed to be more pertinent, but I couldn’t help it, that was the worry that weighed on my mind.

Caring for Annie was an adventure. I say “adventure” because like most adventures it was not easy, but it was one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done. But two months after Annie’s arrival, her health declined significantly and since our baby was due any day, we along with my mom and her brothers, made arrangements for Annie to be placed in the hospice wing of the local rest home where she could be taken care of until her time came to go.

It was a Saturday and all the arrangements were finalized, we were to take Annie that afternoon to the rest home. I went into her room in our little two room mobile home to give her a bed bath, get her dressed, and ready to go, but as I rolled her onto her side to wash her back I stopped.

I knew Annie was going somewhere soon, just not the place we had intended on sending her.

Her body had started to shutdown and the signs of it showed in the “mottling” that had appeared on her back and undersides of her extremities. I called my mother, a licensed RN, to come in and confirm my suspicions and she did.

The arrangements with the rest home were cancelled, it was finalized and my worst fear was realized- Annie would spend her last hours in our home.

As Annie’s last hours ticked away so did the daylight and nighttime was quickly approaching. I was scared; I didn’t feel ready to face it yet. My mother agreed to stay the night in case it happened in the middle of the night she would be there with us and Annie.

In the early morning hours on Sunday, January 10th, 1999 I awoke to a noise on the baby monitor and directly headed to Annie’s room. There in the early morning light I was privileged to watch as Annie took her last breath.

There was nothing cold, unwelcome, or violent about it. The emptiness I expected was filled with peaceful, warmth.

Two weeks later to the day of Annie’s exit from this world into the next, 11 years ago today; I was also privileged to watch Ashton Ted Parke take his first breath as he made his entrance through the revolving door from that world into ours.

The pain and uncertainty were lost in an indescribable and exhausted joy.

I did it.

Somehow I found the courage (probably with the soothing encouragement of a wise and loving Father) and pushed my way through the fear and the claustrophobia of my own naiveté’ and found that I was strong enough; despite what my childlike mind when ruled by fear told me- I was ready.

As for the timing…that incredibly impeccable timing…all credit there rests with the Doorman.

Head Bangin' Birthday

(Ashton sang 'Happy Birthday' to me in sign language finished off with "clapping".)

Birthdays bring so many things. Not only do they bring another year to add to your timeline spent upon this earth, but hopefully, they add another year of wisdom from lessons learned and viewing the past year's challenges and blessings from different perspectives.

Yeah, I suppose that is mostly right.... But really it brings things like being remembered by friends and family, even obscure ones I haven't spoken to in years, who wish me birthday happiness through the power that is Facebook.

It also brings really long phone calls from Nebraska and Missouri and the chance to catch up with  two of my favorite girlfriends.

It brings fabulous gourmet cupcakes from the Sweet Tooth Fairy Bakery delivered my another two of my favorite girlfriends who insist that I eat them all by myself, no sharing with my hubby or children- those were mine and only mine. What great friends and cupcakes.

It brings lunch at Bajio with my hubby who so kindly shared his lunch with Ben, so I could enjoy my shrimp tacos by myself. I love that guy.

It brings the kindness of marvelous neighbors who watched my kids, so Richard and I were able to take in the new flick "Sherlock Holmes," which I loved and think you should all see if you haven't already.

It of course, brings presents...

Birthdays on occasion also bring unexpected surprises too...

Like chairs that had been put on the table so I could mop the floor, but fell off....

breaking into pieces, along with Mr. Ben

and his head, which could have probably used a stitch or two. But from previous experience with stitches and Ben, we decided to avoid them if at all possible.

And like Ashton, (who was not available for a photo op.) who ran down the upstairs hall like a freight train, knocking the playroom door into the wall, causing a decorative oil lamp sitting on a shelf  that was hanging on said wall to become unstable and fall- squarely on the top of his head. Luckily, there was no blood, but he did receive a nice goose egg and the determination that something is trying to kill him.

I guess the great blessing among the head banging is that we got away without any stitches on my birthday. But along with blessings, I guess there are still lessons to be learned and wisdom to be gained for me, so the guidance I'm taking from my birthday now past is:

#1- Do not mop the floor nor do any other house work for that matter on my birthday.

#2- Inform Richard we need to redecorate the playroom since the decor in there now (which I am a little tired of) seems to be conveniently hazardous to our children's health.

Such hard lessons to live by...

Mom & Dad date night

Happy Birthday Richard!

Dating is hard.

And it doesn't get any easier once you're married.  When you get married the dynamics of dating just change.  Sure you don't have to worry about making the right first impressions, but you do have to worry about continuing to endear yourself to your spouse; making him/her think you are still the most adorable creature on the face of the planet even when they wake up to your scary bed head, horrid morning breath, and ruddy, no make-up face every morning.

I am sure it is for this very reason we have been counseled to date even after marriage.  Once a week we should take a timeout from mom and dad duties to go out and get away, where we can try to be the cute and charming selves we once were; to reconnect, and remind our spouse why they fell in love with us in the first place. Right? Well, I'm sure that is what they intended when they suggested having a date every week, but in our real world- it does not work. 

You know it has a lot to do with budgets and other boring stuff, that I won't get into, but I will just say that hiring a sitter to watch 4 kids while we go away for an hour or two, let alone the 3 plus it takes to do dinner and a movie (cha-CHING!),  is not feasible.  So we have improvised.

Friday night is Movie Party with the kids and Saturday Night is Mom & Dad date night.  Every Saturday between 8:00 and 8:30 the kids are banished to the upstairs and we take our places on the loveseat, him on the left, me on the right and we begin our date.  Most often with an accompanying bowl of popcorn or plate of nachos, we catch up with our DVR. Like any other parent who has children with homework and extracurricular activities, there is not time to watch live TV, so we record our favorites like Ghost Hunters, Psych, Monk, & the Mentalist to watch on Saturday night. Sometimes we watch a movie. Other times, like tonight, we sit each with a laptop occupying our lap and we blog side by side. Yes, we still interact; we read each other's work, he gives me suggestions at things I can improve on, and I admire the way he can write. I share fun or thought inspiring blogs I read throughout the week and he catches me up on the news and most things political.  We may sound like nerds, but it works for us.

Well, kind of.

See the problem is that the kids never stay in bed, or upstairs for that matter, like they are supposed to. There is always the need for one more drink, a bedtime snack, or one last plea to lay with them. By the time they are settled it is usually near 10:00 and with Richard being a night owl and me being more of a morning person, by 10:30 or 11:00 I have trouble holding my eyes open and I usually fall sound asleep missing the end of whatever we were watching.

I am such an exciting date.

For this reason I decided to surprise Richard for his birthday, which was the last week in October, by taking him out on a real date. I figured it was time that I put a deposit in the proverbial "relationship account" and that really he deserved to go out and not have his date fall asleep on him. 

I really love when we do get to go out. Eating somewhere new where I haven't had to fix the meal and going fun places where the only one I have to take to the washroom is myself, is a major draw for me, so I was pretty excited about my little plan. I hired a sitter and when Richard came home on his birthday he was completely surprised to find me dressed up and ready to go out. I wish I could say he was excited about it, but it had been a long day at work, he was bordering on a headache, and I think he really would have rather just stayed home. But he went and did say it was nice to have time with just me.

Since it was his birthday, I told him we could eat out wherever he wanted to, but for a man that travels a lot this is not music to his ears, as it is mine. He determined that since restaurants hold no allure for him, we should just eat in the mall food court since we had decided to see a movie after dinner. So he had a chicken quesadilla and I had Panda Express. Maybe it was not the fanciest of birthday dinners, but it fulfilled its purpose by filling our stomachs, and we headed off to enjoy the movie.

But "enjoy" is not the right word to describe our experience with the movie 'The Invention of Lying'... "excruciating" is probably more appropriate.  We both loved Ricky Gervais in 'Ghost Town' and the trailers made the story of 'Invention' look intriguing, so we thought it was a good pick. But from the disgusting opening scene, which thankfully we were spared visually because of a film malfunction, but not audibly, we should have known we were wrong. Richard walked out of the movie more disgusted than he did when we saw 'Happy Feet'.

It was an agenda driven movie basically saying that God is a lie and that religion is just the rules made up to perpetuate that lie.  Even if you didn't catch that theme while watching the movie, which I'm not sure how you couldn't, I don't know how any Christian person could not be offended by the end.

I don't recommend it.

So we went home and paid the sitter for an evening of crap (sorry, about the language- sometimes you have to call it what it is) being pushed down our throats, enjoyed Richard's birthday treat of brownies (instead of cake) and tapioca (instead of ice cream), and after the kids were in bed we took our usual places on the loveseat where the usual activities ensued, including watching another movie.  And do you know what? I stayed awake until 1am without nodding off once. And even though the rest of the date was a flop, I think that definitely counts as a mini deposit in the 'relationship account' and I should get some credit for at least trying, don't you?

You may be wondering why I am posting this now, after all it is Monday, and no longer Saturday night, well... that's because... you guessed it- I fell asleep.

A promise fulfilled

A few weeks ago, as I attempted to hold Emma on my lap during Sacrament Meeting, I couldn’t help admiring her. I ran my fingers through her long, honey colored locks and appreciated the petite features of her face. Her cheeks tinted with the perfect shade of rose. Her deep brown eyes framed by long dark lashes. Her little, perfectly formed lips set right below the button nose she inherited from me and directly above the subtle cleft in her chin from her father.

As I finished my appraisal, I was not prepared for the overwhelming feelings of love for her that suddenly rushed over me. I tried to blink back the tears that burned in my eyes as I thought about that little being on my lap. To me, she embodied complete and utter perfection.


I recalled the promise I had been given in a priesthood blessing during my difficult pregnancy with her. The promise stated that "even though I would have more difficulty and more trials before the pregnancy was through, I would find much joy in the spirit that was to be a part of our family and all that I was going through would be worth it in the end."

Now, I had different tears to blink away.

Sitting there in Sacrament Meeting I realized that my Father in Heaven’s promise to me had been fulfilled. All of the pregnancy aches & pains, plus the wicked migraines and varicose veins that felt like someone shoving hot rods down the back of my legs were worth every inch of the perfection sitting on my lap.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Emzies. We couldn’t have asked for a better baby girl than you.

The Cake.

 A strawberry cake with vanilla frosting topped with Ni Hao-Kai Lan (Emma's Chinese tutor :)

Good thing Dallin and Ben were there to help blow out her candle.

Emma with her favorite gift from Pop Marlin & Grandma Jeanne.  It is a large book with lots of little books inside about baby farm animals.  She loves it and I have had to start hiding it because I get tired of reading the little books all the time!

Emma's new birthday bedding on her big girl bed.

Bitter/Sweet

I know that you are probably sick of hearing about Benjamin's birthday weekend, but please allow me one more?!?

I promise to try to make it worth your time.

The fad in our family right now is Pokemon. We have acquired items such as Pokemon cards, balls, posters, puzzles, games, and key chains over the last few months. Ashton and his friends started the fad this spring and what one boy has the others want also. And did you know you can't have too many of the darn things? You can fill a small shoe box to overflowing and you still need more! So undoubtedly, a tin pack of Pokemon cards was at the top of Ben's wish list this year.

I, being the good (or extremely stupid, you can decide) mother that I am, determined to fill the wish of my little boy. My only problem was that since I am the mother and have to take him everywhere I go, could not find a time to actually buy the tin of cards without him around. I knew where I was going to buy them, because they were the cheapest, but still acquiring the coveted gift still eluded me. So I did what every good mom does....call the Dad and have him get them on his way home from work.

Ben was elated with his cards. And somewhere along with our partying it was asked that "Wasn't Ben glad Dad had bought those cards for him?"

And that is when it happened, Daddy became Ben's very best friend because he had PURCHASED him the Pokemon cards. He wanted to sleep by him, eat by him, do things for him, play games with him, you name it, Ben wanted to do it with Daddy.

By the next day I was still hearing about how wonderful it was that Daddy got him the cards, and I admit, I was getting a little bitter.

Richard had gone on a hike with Ashton and the Webelos, I was busy baking his birthday cake and getting everything & everybody ready to go to his party. Ben asked me again, for what seemed like the 12th time, when daddy was going to get home so they could have a Pokemon battle. I told him I didn't know, but I would have one with him.

Nope.
He didn't want to play with me.
I wasn't Daddy.
I hadn't bought him the Pokemon cards.

I pushed down my urge to tell him he was an ungrateful little turd and went back to getting things ready to go. All the while, I was fuming!

I would have bought the cards, but because I was taking care of him I couldn't! But I had found out where to get them and found someone who could complete the task I couldn't! And now he was getting all the credit!

And that is when it started to happen. Everything started to go in what seemed like slow motion and the noises around me faded. I could feel thoughts starting to formulate in my mind and I paused briefly, so as not to miss it.

I had felt this feeling before.

The thoughts formulated into questions.

How does our Heavenly Father feel when he sees that we have a need arise that we can't conquer ourselves?

He knows how & where to help, so he sends us someone who can do what we can't.

And all too often, do we give them all the credit? Forgetting the source the help started from.

The bitterness fled.

It was replaced with a sweetness that only the spirit can give.

And I was grateful, despite my bitter & petty attitude and distracted mind that my Heavenly Father saw fit to let that sweet spirit give me a gift for Benjamin's birthday- a gentle lesson reminding me where true blessings really come from....and it's not Wal-Greens.

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Benjamin turned the big #5 this year. He has been very excited about and anticipating this big mile stone in his life for a while now. Birthday # 5 has been looked forward to as a magical time for him. I’m not sure why. If anyone has insight into the 4 year old psyche and actually understands it, please, share your wisdom!

For the last year, I have continually heard “when I am 5 (fill in the blank)” and “Not until I’m 5.” But my favorite has been, “I can’t wait until I’m big and finally turn 5.” So when it came to planning a party for this momentous coming of age, I was really at a loss. We don’t do huge friend parties every year, but decided this would be a good year to do one for Ben. But when we talked to him about doing a party he said he didn’t want to do that. When asked what he did want to do, he told me he wanted a party with his cousins. Sounds easy enough, right? Not when you have about 50 +/- cousins, between mine and Richard’s families. Since my brother, who lives in Idaho and has 2 boys that my boys idolize, were going to be at my parent’s home this weekend we decided to go to West Point and do something with them.

The planning was coming together! I could start checking things off my list.

Who? Check.

Where? Check.

Now the big WHAT to do. Shouldn’t be too hard….

That’s what I thought.

Remember this activity has to be grand to measure up to magical number 5. All Mr. Ben wanted to do was go swimming.

Easy.

Especially since Ashton’s Orthodontist, Dr. Thompson, was having a party for all of his patients
at the Lindon Aquatic Center Friday night which just happened to be Ben’s birthday!

SCORE!!!

FREE SWIMMING!
The only hang up was that we still had to plan the cousin party he wanted. And all that Mr. Ben could think of doing with his cousins was going swimming!

Now I love to swim, or at least, I used to before I had to shave from head to toe before donning my swimsuit and then worrying about what might be jiggling or waving in the wind that wasn’t supposed to. Not to mention the stress of watching my kids so they don’t drown and the responsibility of keeping an eye on my nieces & nephews so they didn’t either. One night of free swimming (in the dark) I can handle, 2 days in a row…..No Thank You. So we tried to divert his attention with bowling, miniature golf, arcades, and even Lagoon (with Bounceback passes).

Nope.

Didn’t work.

He still wanted to go “swim with the waves.”

After 2 weeks of limbo and 1 day left to the party, I finally told him that since we were already swimming on his birthday that he should pick something else and then he would get to do 2 fun things for his birthday!

IT WORKED!

You can really reason with a 4 year old!

But he couldn’t decide on what to do. So I chose miniature golf. It is something my kids have never done and I thought they would have fun.

What? FINALLY, check, check!

Today, the day of the party, we met Grandma Jeanne & Pop Marlin, 2 of my brother’s wives (Shaleece & Vicki) and their kids at Sparetime Family Entertainment center in Syracuse. I paid for all of the miniature golf and started to distribute the clubs and balls.

The birthday boy wouldn’t take his club.

Or his ball.

In fact, he wouldn’t even touch them. It was NOT what he wanted to do.

Grand Party to Celebrate BIG #5 and make birthday boy happy- a big, fat NEGATIVE!

Thanks to the persuasion of my good husband, Benjamin did golf. And, I believe, he DID like it. But on the way back home to Provo when asked if he had a happy birthday, he replied, “I guess. But I only liked the swimming.”

I guess the best things in life ARE free.

Happy Birthday Benjamin, know that mommy loves you and is so glad Heavenly Father sent you to be my boy.

Enjoy some pics from his special day, minus the swimming ones of course. :-)

Not wanting to be in the spotlight, Ben (in between cousins, Landon & Aubrie) closed his eyes the whole time we sang "Happy Birthday".

The cake. Boring, I know, but it is what he wanted. Yellow cake, chocolate frosting & a Pokemon on top!

Ben enjoyed playing this game at the arcade after golfing. You hit a button with a mallet and try to get as many balls in the dog's mouth as possible.

(I wish had one to take frustrations out on when I feel like beating my kids :)

The decor on the course was awesome! Can't say much for the course itself, but this bright & glow in the dark goblin warrior was a fav.

Richard and Ben trying to get the ball past the Ogre.

Many gifts of Pokemon paraphernalia made Ben a very happy boy.

A surprise and gag gift of pickle relish from his dad, kicked off the gift giving. You have to have some sense of humor to make it in this family.

A birthday lunch at Wendy's and a patient father who lets you decorate him with the toys from the kids meal, honestly, what more could you want?!?!

A gift of a PVC pipe and duct tape gun from our big neighborhood friend, Taylor.

Birthdays

Ashton and I share the month of January for our Birthdays. Here's a rundown on the celebrations!!!

We don't have birthday parties every year. There's too much chaos, not to mention too much money spent. So this year since we had gotten Ashton a Nintendo DS that I won on e-bay in perfect condition for $81 without shipping, we forfeited the party. Instead he invited his friend Wade, over on Friday night for an evening of pizza, cupcake decorating, yelling, running, movie watching, shooting, more yelling, jumping, riding the old crib mattress down the stairs and did I mention yelling?!? It was a wonder I could think half way straight by the end of the night! But they had a great time.

Can you tell he got what he wanted? Too bad it was about 9:00 Saturday night and Mom and Dad were too cheap to buy a game for it, so he had to wait until Monday afternoon to go buy a game and try it out. Thanks to Pop Marlin & Gma Jeanne and Aunt Shaleece & Uncle Dan & their kids for the cash he used to buy it with!

I made his cake this year. He and his friends at school have made up this whole world of Mushroom Men. They have everything figured out right down to the smallest detail. He even started a blog about it. So when he asked for a Mushroom Men cake with General Orange (the character he plays) on it this year I didn't think that was something I could ask Wal-mart to do.

Since Richard missed the party on Friday night, because he was camping out in snow caves with the Young Men, we had a family celebration on Saturday, Ashton's actual birthday. Ashton chose to eat at Chuck-a-rama and then to go see Madagascar 2. We had a great time celebrating #10!

Other gifts- LOTR & Super Monkeyball Gamecube games, Utah Jazz shirt, and the "Superfudge" series of books. Spoiled Rotten.

For my special day Richard asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner I told him I wanted Olive Garden's salad, bread sticks and Alfredo sauce or Hawaiian Haystacks. I got Lasagna, but I didn't have to fix it! Yeah, the best birthday present a mom could get.

My cake- a Pepperidge Farms Coconut cake, YUMMY!

My loot! Complete with cash for lunch out with the girls, a Jazz shirt to wear to the game we are going to in a few weeks, the book Peacegiver (a must read) and my favorite- Red Vines!

10 Years Ago...

Ten years ago today, January 26th, Richard brought me home from McKay Dee hospital with our first bundle of joy, Ashton. I still remember the careful way Richard drove home, like we had the worlds most priceless posession that would break at the slightest bump. We were the paranoid parents who took every precaution. I had made it through labor and childbirth, but the real test was still to come. Did Father in heaven know what he was doing trusting that perfect little being to my care with all my imperfections?

It didn't matter though, because we thought Ashton ruled the world. And truthfully, he did (atleast, for 4 years until Dallin made his debut.) And he acts likes he still does and sometimes I believe it! Some things never change.

One thing that hasn't changed, look at his handsome face! He has always been handsome. Take a look.

Messing up that handsome face hasn't changed either. After 10 years you think he would be coordinated enough to keep his birthday cake on his fork and make it into his mouth, but what fun would that be! Some things never change. See.....
NOW.....

THEN.....

One thing that has changed... my baby has gotten big. The other night I needed to go outside and couldn't find my shoes. Ashton's were sitting by the front door so I decided to try to slip them on.....
...yes, those are my feet. As comfortable in Ashton's shoes, as though they were my own. I was sad, felt old and thought where did my baby go!?!

The one thing that will never change, no matter how big he gets, is how much I love him and how glad I am that Heavenly Father trusted me to be his mom. Happy Birthday, My Ted Bear.

A Baptism, A Blow Out, & A Birthday Boy

After trick-or-treating Friday night we headed north to stay at my parents house. We wanted to be there early Saturday morning for Richard to cut wood for his parents before we joined the rest of the family for our nephew, Bryson's Baptism.

Bryson & his dad, Steve.

After the baptism, we headed back to Bryson's house for treats. Since Richard is from a family of ten children who are all married and have atleast 1 child, is not uncommon for several family members to share a birthday. So Dallin shares his November 1st birthday with his cousin's Cassandra and Samantha. We sang "Happy Birthday" and had brownies and a Costco carrot cake (they are the best) to celebrate the birthdays and baptism.

Then we rushed home to host Dallin's birthday party. This year we let Dallin have a friend party, so he invited his neighborhood friends, Tyler, Casey, Kelby, Joe, Owen, Stephen and 2 school friends, Brandon and Clancy. We played sport themed games, ate pizza, opened presents, enjoyed more carrot cake (Dallin's favorite- that's my boy!) and icecream. I was a little nervous about having a party, but the boys were a really great and Dallin had a fabulous time.

Dallin with his 2nd cake of the day

The Birthday Bunch

Opening the loot! Thanks to everyone for such great gifts! And of course, a big Happy birthday to Dallin, we love you and are glad Heavenly Father sent you to be our boy!

Now about the blow out.... and I'm not talking the tire kind, I'm talking about diapers. We stopped quickly at Wal-Mart, so I could run in and grab some last minute items for the party on our way home. When I opened the van door to put my bags in, my nostrils were assaulted by a very wicked odor. It smelled like a outhouse! But with having boys this is really not abnormal. So I passed it off as a bunch of passed gas, that was until I glanced at Emma, and noticed that a good portion of her cream colored tights were now brown! We rushed home to bath her, get things cleaned up and the smell out of the house before the birthday guests arrived. The only reason I blog about this is that you have never dealt with a blow out until you've dealt with one in tights. I won't go into details, just trust me it is DISGUSTING!