THE WAIT IS FINALLY OVER!

Twelve years ago this very night, I was laying in a hospital bed in my favorite city of Portland, Oregon. I was going to have a baby boy. The only problem was the baby would be born premature and I was extremely ill. The doctors tried everything to help me but the eclampsia had progressed to my liver, where the next phase for me would include seizures and then death. I was extremely scared. I had 2 previous miscarriages and I desperately wanted a healthy baby. I truly believe in times such as these, The Lord sends angels to help. The angel that was sent to me was a wonderful and talented nurse named Lorrie Leno. Since I had been in the hospital for quite some time before my delivery, I knew Lorrie well. She was my favorite nurse. She was kind and funny and a source of comfort.

As my labor was not progressing and Tanner's heart beat could not be found, I was rushed into the delivery room for an emergency C-Section. Lorrie was there. She was calming during a very scary time. Tanner came into the world weighing 3lbs 11oz. Again, Lorrie was there reassuring me that all would be well and Tanner would be okay. It wasn't until after Tanner was born on that beautiful Sunday morning that Lorrie told me that it was her birthday too. It was a tender mercy to have this wonderful woman, who had meant so much to me and had given me hope when all hope seemed lost, share her birthday with my son. All these years, I've never forgotten her. Each year on Tanner's birthday I always think of Lorrie Leno and in my heart I wish her a happy birthday.

Well today, I was making Tanner a birthday cake and started thinking about Lorrie. I recently signed up on Facebook and the thought came to me to see if she was on there. Sure enough, there she was. It has been a thrill to catch up with her again. I was so excited that she remembered us because we have never forgotten her. We have told Tanner numerous stories about Lorrie and have shown him pictures of her. When I told him tonight that I had found her on the internet, he just beamed! He was so excited! She has a wonderful gift of being a nurse. She is a hero in her profession and I can't wait to take Tanner to Portland someday for them to meet again.

In the meantime, Tanner has had a job for the past few months. All he has wanted for his birthday was a Nintendo DS. I told him he would need to earn half of the money. However, since I make him put half of his paycheck in the bank it has taken him a while to earn enough. But the time has finally arrived!

Happy Birthday Son! We love you!

And....

Happy Birthday Lorrie! We love you too!

SUPER WOMAN

Daren's sister, Julene, who lives in Maryland has 3 children. Her oldest son turned 4 this past July and her identical twin boys just turned 2. Just taking care of her twins and her 4-year old is a full time job.

Well, she called the other day to tell us she's pregnant. We were all really excited for her. Then came the REAL announcement. She is having another set of identical twins! By the way, she was not taking any medication which would enhance her chances of multiples. They run in her family and her husbands.

So let's do the math:

5 children under age 4
Every seat in her van will be taken - 1 with a booster, 4 with car seats
How do you put 4 children in car seats when your husband is at work?
Where do you put 2 sets of twins in a shopping cart?
They have outgrown their house
Possibly 4 in diapers
Trying to feed 2 babies with 2 2-year old running about the house

I can't stop thinking about her and the workload she will have. Just thinking about it makes me tired! I want to enter her in a contest for "Super Mom" or "Help...Amazing Woman has 5 Kids in 4 Years"

Anyway, congrats Cade & Julene!

P.S. Daren's brother has triplet boys! And no, I don't feel left out for not having multiples!

THANKS A LOT MAX HALL!

The Whittingham's moved out of the neighborhood but decided to leave this in front of our house. I knew this day would come. It was a fun weekend to see the BYU houses red and the Ute houses blue. Our neighorhood really gets into the game. It's great!

Our vote for the Ute player of the game.....#15 Max Hall.

HOLY WAR IN VAL VISTA

IT'S THE DAY our neighborhood has waited for all year. The day when the neighborhood is divided into 3 groups:

1. The BYU Fans
2. The Ute Fans
3. Those who could care less about "The Holy War"

For the first 2 groups, plans have been carefully crafted to display their team's spirit on the opposing neighbor's lawn. For our family, it was simple...ensure there would be NO RED at The Wendels!

We waited as late as we could here in Utah County to "Kidnap" The Wendels' Ute trailer for an "Extreme Makeover." However, LATE in Utah County means 10:30pm and The Wendels were still awake, having a party with some friends. The Nelsons came over to help with the kidnapping. Daren and Craig were 5 seconds away from taking the trailer undetected, when The Wendels came outside. We were caught in the act! They were good sports and let us take the trailer.

Travis & Craig Nelson

While we were taking the trailer, some other Ute Fans, The Cox's, drove by and saw what was happening. As we were laughing and talking to them, someone placed a nice blue 'Y' on their car. As The Cox's drove off, they had no idea they had a beautiful blue Y on their car.

Making over the trailer

This morning it was the best to wake up to this:

And this:

And definitely this:

However, we also woke up to this - some gibberish about this being their house and their state, yada yada yada

No rivalry game would be complete without Cougar Craze ice cream. I gave some to The Wendels to enjoy as 'Comfort Food' when they lose today. Ice cream always makes everything taste better, especially when your team loses.

As a side note, The Cox's know The Whittingham's. If The Whittingham's read this, just remember, The Val Vista neighborhood trailer door is always open!

GO COUGS!!

P.S. It is so fun to watch people out of our front windows drive by and honk, laugh and shake their heads!

THE KINDERGARTEN RULES

The last few weeks when we drop Abby off at school she has the following requests:

1. Don't kiss me goodbye in front of the school.

2. Don't talk to me once I get out of the car going into school.

3. Once we are in front of the school, do not hug me goodbye.

4. Don't talk to me in front of my friends.

5. If I forget something in the car, don't call my name to come get the forgotten item.

Yesterday, Daren dropped Abby off at school. She left her coat in the car. Daren was not aware of "THE RULES." He rolled down the window and called Abby's name loud and clear. She totally ignored him. Again, this time a little louder, "ABBY" nothing except a quicker walk towards the school. He tried a 3rd time even louder, "ABBY." This time the playground aide noticed and gave him a stare. However, his daughter only gave him a quick run away towards the school.

DOES THIS MEAN 10 YEARS FROM NOW WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DROP HER OFF A BLOCK AWAY FROM THE SCHOOL?

TANNER'S SCOUTS

Hi everyone this is Tanner. I have to type this for scouts. I am working on my Communications merit badge. I have to type what I've been doing.

I've been going to a lot of pow wows to earn stuff. I'm going to one at UVU and I'm almost done. I'm working on art, communications, and citizenship in the world. Please leave as many comments as you can! Bye!

THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

It's that time of year again when the Christmas lights come up. Tonight, a nice man came to the front door offering to hang our Christmas lights. He told us that he was doing The Wendels lights across the street (see picture below) and wanted us to hire him to hang our lights. I secretly thought to myself, The Wendels are getting solid white lights, not Ute red and white lights. I told the man to finish The Wendels and then come back to our house. When he finished their house, we told him he could do our house in blue and white lights:

The crew hanging our blue and white lights

Then the lights were about 3/4 hung, The Wendels came outside. THEY WERE SO MAD to see our house all lit up like BYU. It was wonderful! They were really mad because they were thinking of doing the red and white lights but decided against it. Then when they saw our house, they realized they are going to have to hire the guy to come back to switch out every other bulb to red OR Travis is going to have to get up on the roof and switch them out himself.

We told them...


THAT'S THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR BEING A UTE FAN!!

The Ute House

OUR WEEKEND

The whole weekend I have been sick. I have coughed, coughed and coughed some more. My ribs hurt from coughing so much.

Saturday, Daren did 2 things he has never done before:

1. He went to the BYU game by himself. His dad couldn't go because he is recovering from knee surgery. I am sick, coughing up a lung, so to speak. So Daren went by himself. Secretly, I think he enjoyed going to the game alone. He could listen to the pre-game show without the wife talking his ear off. During the game, the wife wasn't there to ask for snacks, wasn't there to make comments or ask questions. Just 60 minutes of straight BYU football, uninterrupted! Pure BYU heaven! Then on the way home he could listen to Bronco's whisperings of sweet nothings, again without the wife yappin in his ear. But when asked, he is very smart and says how much he missed me there with him. Hummm, which is it?

2. Later that night, we went to a party at our neighbor's house. They rented a mechanical bull. He was so cute riding the bull! And that's no bull!

On Friday, we had a special surprise. Great Grandma Bloxham came to visit Grandpa Bloxham who is recovering from knee surgery. I think it is so cute that even at her age she is still worried about her son and had to come from Idaho to check on him. The kids were really excited to see her. Abby is named after Great Grandma Bloxham so she was really excited to see her name-sake.

The best part of the weekend was that our Primary Program was today at church. It was a wonderful program. The kids did a great job!

BUT my favorite part of the weekend was that I have been corresponding with my favorite Japanese friends, The Iinuma Family. We e-mail each other almost everyday. I love this family! This weekend they told me that they are trying to come to America next year or the year after to visit. It would be a dream come true to meet them all. I will keep my fingers crossed (In America that means that I am wishing for it to come true!)

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!

We woke up this morning to this:

A Few From My Back Window

I don't think I will ever get used to the cold and snow. I much prefer the warm sunshine and blue skies. But my kids love the snow and have a lot of fun playing in it.

One of the perks of being the youngest...all the snow to yourself. The older 2 had to go to school! It was mostly melted by the time school was over.

KNEE SURGERY

As I mentioned in my Halloween post, Daren's parents are here. Daren's dad is having knee replacement surgery today. They will be here for the next week and a half, although Scott will be in the hospital for the next few days. Daren's mom has health care needs herself and we are glad to be able to take care of her while Scott is recovering.

Camille keeps asking grandpa if he is scared. (She does not do hospitals, blood, illness, etc. - it totally freaks her out!) He's been in so much pain for so long that I think he's hoping he will start feeling better with his new knee. I'm so thankful that we are able to help grandma and grandpa during this time. We love you!