I've Gotta Crow....

I am so excited! I made a great dinner tonight and just had to share. Cooking has never been my forte. I wasn't interested when I was growing up, and I could always get by feeding Tarren noodles with butter and parmesan cheese, or tuna melts, or chicken and rice (in the same style every time). Well, now that I am married, that stuff doesn't fly anymore. I actually have to try and make something everyone will enjoy, and that actually tastes good. The first several months were not so good. Dan and Tarren actually banned me from preparing the meat because it was dry and tasteless. I've gotten into the habit of asking during the meal, after, and mostly at every bite, "how is it? does it taste good? is something you'd like me to fix again?" Most of my responses are polite, "yes it tastes good, but no, don't make it again."

I've been excited for fall and to start making some comfort foods. They are inexpensive, easy and usually include the crockpot, my favorite cooking device. I decided to make Split Pea Soup with Rolls. I found the Crescent Roll recipe in the Taste of Home magazine, and the Soup recipe online. You can find the recipes for both at: http://ourfavoritefoods.blogspot.com/

The dinner turned out beautifully, and I got rave reviews from the boys!! And thats what counts the most, right?

A Tribute to Parley...

My dear friend, Parley Hamblin passed away this last week. His battle with Cancer has ended. The memorial service was today, and I witnessed the love of so many friends and members of his family who gathered and filled the church to overflowing capacity. I listened to the beautiful words of love and remembrance told in the stories of the speakers. His children and grandchildren performed beautiful music together. There was not a dry eye in the house. I will miss him dearly and will always kick myself for not visiting more often or as recently as I would've liked. Let me tell you about Parley.

I have known Parley Hamblin for 12 years now. From the moment I met him, I loved him. I met the Hamblins because I dated their son for a brief time. The relationship ended quickly, but I made forever friends in Parley and his wife, Katherine. Parley is the kind of man who leaves you a better person than you were before you came into his presence. He treats as if you are the most important person in the world to him. He is genuinely interested in you and your life and wants to learn all about you. He has a very witty, dry sense of humor, and you never can tell if his stories are real or just stories. He is a wonderful storyteller, and I find myself hanging on his every word, hoping the story never ends.

Parley was a great man. He was a giant in every sense of the word. He was large in stature, he had a loud, booming, powerful voice. He was a spritual giant as well. He is probably the most faithful man I have ever met. He knows exactly where he came from, and knows exactly where he is going. He believes the Gospel is true with every fiber of his being. Hearing him speak of God is like hearing one speak of his best friend. He had a very personal relationship with the Savior.

After spending time with Parley always made me want to be a better person. He was always positive, always smiling, and always had something nice to say about me and everyone else we were speaking of. He never gossipped, never complained, and never spoke poorly of any person.

I am a better person today for having known this great man. I'll try to always keep my memories of Parley fresh in my mind by telling stories about him and by living as he did-like each day is my last. I'll try to be more positive, complain less, and only speak positive things. I will make sure my family and friends know how much I love them. I will not waste one more day on the petty things of life. I will put my energies in people, not things. And I will live a better life.

Thank you, Parley for being the example you are, and for loving me. I love you and miss you.

My Boys

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Rain is falling all around.....And "Ba Ba" caught on tape!

Summer is finally over and the rain has begun. It has been a nice change. I love the smell of the first rain ~ that dirty water scent mixed with humidity, and the smell of the green leaves and trees. My friend, Kathlene and I went walking this afternoon. We had only gone about a block when it started raining. It stopped for about half of our walk, but really started coming down on our way home. By this point, the baby was no longer happy in the stroller, so we had to stop while I put him in the front pack. We were soaked! It was fun though.

Tonight, we went to a hockey game. We let each of the kids bring a friend. It made it more fun for both of them. The girls weren't too in to the game until a fight broke right in front of us! They were cheering, and then got into the game, which went into a "sudden death" overtime. It was entertaining, but so noisy. Luckily the baby slept through it all!

The baby talk we tried to get on tape last night, I was finally able to record this afternoon. You can't miss this video. It's too cute! I'm sure it won't be too long before we're wishing he didn't learn to talk!

Dinnertime at our house last night.

Dinner time can be so entertaining with a baby. Last week I went out to dinner with my friends, Kathlene and Christy. The baby was so fussy that I had to go outside to rock him to sleep, as I could feel the evil stares of the other patrons. The older he gets, meals out become quite a pain unless I bring food for him as well. But even then, I am focusing on the baby and not the company I am with. This too shall pass, right? Anyway, last night during dinner, Caden learned to say this "Ba ba ba" thing that was so cute. So Tarren started taping him while I was feeding him to get these new words on tape. He didn't perform on cue, but has a laugh attack that is so cute. You've got to watch this, it's so funny!

Remembering the Birth of our Son....

Saturday morning, April 26th was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, it was warm, and I was huge! It was a busy day. I was babysitting my nephews, age 7 and 7 mos. We went to Becky's soccer game. In the morning, I kept having to use the potty, more than usual. I didn't give it any thought. All of us went to the soccer game. We enjoyed the sunshine, and I had quite a time holding my infant nephew on my big belly.

When the game was over I mentioned to Dan, "I feel like I'm leaking, all morning". It wasn't a big deal, but I decided to call the hospital. They told me that more than likely my water was breaking. The thought never occurred to me as only a few days prior, our childbirth instructor told us that membranes rupture naturally in only about 10% of women. They asked me to come in right away. I tried to explain to the nurse that I was babysitting and could come at about 4pm (it was 11am when I was talking to her). She was a little stern with me, asking if I could drop the kids

off somewhere and that it was very important that I come in right away.

We finally dispersed of all the kids and were admitted into the hospital a few hours later. Sure enough, my water broke. We played the waiting game all day, because most women go into labor on their own. It didn't happen. I was scheduled to be induced the next morning.



April 27th ~ At about 9am Sunday morning my nurse hooked me up to the IV and started the Pitocin drip. While I still felt ok I ate my breakfast, and put my makeup on. I realized I had forgotten my foundation. I asked Dan to call my mom to bring me some. He and the nurse both laughed. But come on, it was morning time and I was determined to look good when the baby arrived.


About an hour later when my mom still hadn't arrived with my foundation, the nurse asks me, "Do you still want your foundation?" "YES!" I exclaimed. "Ok, then we need to turn this up." She says slyly, and turns up the Pitocin to twice the dose. Within 20 minutes, I didn't care so much about that makeup anymore. I was struggling to breathe, and the pain was increasing with each contraction, and no relief between them.




I finally consented to the Epidural that before that moment I had refused. (I hate needles) But as soon as it kicked in, I was on cloud nine. And I was at 9cm dialated. I was ready to push, but couldn't feel anything! I had to wait it out until I had a little feeling to push.


Within the hour I started pushing. It was all very easy, and very painless. Maybe 5 pushes later, and our beautiful baby boy was born. I just smiled and kept saying "he is so cute!" and my toughguy husband had sweet tears coming down his face.



8 lbs 15 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Caden Eric was a big boy. He had many many visitors that day. I was exhausted! We all were! But we couldn't help but watch this beautiful little miracle. His tiny fingers and toes. His skinny arms and legs. His cute little crooked ear, just like his daddy.


It's amazing how fast they grow. I hate it. I wish we could stop time and savor each and every moment, because after the moment passes we can't remember the looks, the smells, the size. It makes me sad to think
how many things are passed already. But we have so many years and memories to look forward to, and I am so excited to take this journey.

Our Honeymoon...The interesting memories...

After our fun day to the North Shore, we came back to the West Side of the Island to find out what the locals do on New Years Eve. We hung out on Front St. in Lahaina, the "hot spot" town for tourists. Most of the restaurants were 'open air' and we could people watch. It was entertaining.

We saw a drunk guy trying to ride a bicycle. He fell over in front of some compassionate tourists. They helped him up, found him a place to sit, and thought they had convinced him to walk the bike home. But as soon as they walked away, he got back on his bike and started the hilarious show again.

We found a pair of nasty underwear on the sidewalk that Dan insisted on having his picture taken with.... GROSS!! Don't worry, we didn't touch them.

We booked a snorkel trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation. We went shopping for bathing suits and sunglasses. I think we did well! I got seasick on the way out, and was feeling better in enough time to snorkel for about 10 minutes. Dan became seasick on the way to our final snorkel site, so we both stayed on the boat. We saw about 100 dolphins, a sea turtle, and a whale. That part was awesome!!

On our way to the airport, we hung out for a bit in a quaint little town where we finally found the "authentic" hawaiian craft items we had been searching for all week. Too bad we found the 'made in china' stickers when we got home. But we ran across this interesting sign:

Our excitement didn't end when we left Maui, however. There was a beligerant man on our plane. We were stuck in the very last row, so it took awhile before we knew there was a problem. But a few minutes in to our movie, the captain came on the loudspeaker to announce "Apparently there is a problem with a passenger on this flight. Be aware that harrassing a flight attendant is a federal offense, and appropriate actions will be taken." The guy almost got into a fight with a few passengers who were trying to get the guy to "mellow out". After we landed, we were asked to stay in our seats, and we watched as federal agents escorted the man off the plane. Everyone applauded. It was great!