Happy Birthday Sean

My baby is now a big boy at a whopping 3 years of age. He has been so excited for his birthday this year. He is finally old enough to know what to expect - cake, presents, and balloons. He also got a little spoiled by having two birthday parties this year.

Sean's first party was last Sunday. We had a family birthday dinner for him at our house. Sunday was our last day to be together as the kids and I traveled to Utah on Wednesday.

We took video of him blowing out candles and opening his presents. I handed my camera off to someone else to take pictures while I supervised and helped Sean. At the end of the day I was excited to see what pictures where on the camera. But, when I turned it on and looked through the pictures - there were none to be found (except for the one picture I took of his birthday cupcakes). So apparently, my so called photographer never pushed the right button or held it down long enough or something. What is it with my 3rd child and never getting pictures?

The only picture of Sean's first birthday party.

Today, June 29th, is Sean's real birthday. He was so excited and woke up knowing full well that he was the birthday boy and kept singing songs about it to himself all day long!!!!! His two requests for a fun birthday were to one: go swimming; and two: have a Spiderman birthday cake. (He has been requesting this ever since Halle's birthday last month.)

So after lunch today it was off to the swimming pool in Spanish Fork. They have a great outdoor pool with a splash park, two different kid's sections, diving boards and a big twisty slide. The kids had a great time and the hot weather was perfect for wanting to dive into the cool water. I think I had to go down the slide the most times as I had to keep giving Halle and Sean rides down - and as soon as one had a turn the other needed their turn again too. Luckily Chad was big enough to go down by himself.

Having a great time at Spanish Fork Swimming Pool and Splash Park.

After swimming we came home (and let my poor mother get a nap) while the kids and I watched the movie Terabitha. And yes, the movie is pretty true to the book and very sad. The kids and I were all bawling like crazy at the end.

We then had dinner and got ready for the big party. The moment Sean had been waiting for so long, the Spiderman cake, had finally arrived. He was so excited to blow out the candles!!! He has been practicing for that moment for weeks now. But it seemed we just couldn't cut the cake and serve it up fast enough as Sean keep sweeping up gobs of icing on his fingers and shoveling it into his mouth. Even when he had his own piece of cake he keep getting up and trying to put his fingers in everyone else's cake to check out their frosting too. Then finally when I had told him to sit down and eat his own piece of cake he became a real smart alec and sat down and then leaned over to the Spiderman cake and took a bite out of it with his teeth. No hands - just all mouth on the cake. But I couldn't get too mad - it was his birthday after all.

The much awaited for "Spiderman" cake.

Everyone is ready for the birthday party.

Sean takes a big breath to blow out his candles.

Making sure he blows them all out.

Opening a present - and look - a new Spiderman toy.

Happy Birthday Sean. You always make my everyday life memorable!!!!

What I Love About Sean.

1. He has always had an infectious laugh and smile.
2. He always helps me look at things in a new and more innocent way.
3. He is very determined (drives me crazy at the moment but I know it will be a great trait when he is older).
4. He is always very curious - should have named in "George." (and again - great for his future).
5. He knows how to say "sorry" and flirts with his eyes.
6. He still loves me and thinks I am perfect (I think they start catching on that I am not around age 4 or 5).
7. He loves to sing and make up songs.
8. He has a great imagination.
9. He thinks he is one of the big kids.
10. He will soon be potty trained (at least I keep praying that he will!!!!!!!!).

I'm In Utah

Greetings from Utah. The kids and I flew down to good old Springville today. I was so excited to feel the heat!!!!! The only thing I don't like about Spokane is that I miss being warm when I am there. So I am hoping to soak it all up while I am here.

The Third Date

The third date was a do or die situation. It is the date that determines all - to keep dating or dump! I think I was the most nervous - Chris gave me all the responsibility for this date (after feeling rather dejected from the missed kiss last date).

When I talked with Chris over the phone I let him know that I was ready to go out again (he was certainly having his doubts about my feelings for him) and so relieved that I had called him. I gave him the choice of either going on a mountain bike ride or cooking a dutch oven dinner up the canyon. He chose the latter (which I was actually grateful for as I am a much better cooker than biker).

He came right on time, as usual, to pick me up from my house. We loaded all the food and equipment up in his car and we headed up the canyon. I was planning to go to Jolly's Ranch, but when we got there is was full. So we keep driving from camp ground to camp ground until we found an open parking spot and fire pit.

I had prepared BBQ chicken and pineapple upside down cake. Chris had prepared cowboy potatoes (a recipe he desperately requested from a friend to make a good impression).

We had the opportunity to do a lot of talking while we got the coals ready and cooked the food. I love being in the outdoors (for limited amounts of time), and I especially love being able to see the stars and listen to the singing of the crickets. For me, it seemed the perfect romantic evening.

We tackled several difficult topics. The first was our age difference. Chris is 8 years older that I. He was okay with it but wondered how I felt. If I had meet him a year or two earlier I don't know what I would have thought. But at this point in time I had already thought it all out. Remember by friend Dayna? --The one who's wedding I met Chris at. Well, she was 8 years younger than her husband too and we had talked on the subject many times because she had a really hard time with it at first. So, because I had already thought and talked this through it didn't seem awkward to me at all.

The next touchy subject was that of polymyosistis. That is the official name of Chris' muscle disease. He told me how after soon coming home from his mission he got really weak. Couldn't do any of his normal activities and was tired all the time. It finally got so bad he had to leave BYU and return home for a while. After seeing several doctors and finally getting a diagnosis he started to get better. He was getting better because of the drugs he was taking: prednisone (a steroid that made him get "fat") and methotrexate (a serious auto immune drug). The drugs helped his muscles and allowed him to return to almost normal activity but there were side affects. The prednisone had made his face swell up and the methotrexate literally made him sick. He would always take his weakly does of the methotrexate on Friday evening - so he wouldn't be too sick to teach during the week. (It still pains me to remember him having to drink that nasty stuff and the effect it had on him). And while on methotrexate he was under strict regulations not to procreate - as it damages the genetically passed on DNA.

That all was a little more than I expected to swallow. Things like this had always worried me in the past - but even though I was a little concerned I still felt good and calm and even loved him all the more.

Anyway - we enjoyed our food and enjoyed each other's company. I started getting a little nervous about the goodbye part of our date. I really wanted to redeem myself from my last date. I really wanted to kiss Chris, and kiss him so good that he no longer had any doubts about my feelings for him. I don't know why I didn't think about kissing him while we were up in the canyon - but I guess I was waiting for the standard goodnight kiss to get things going.

We we returned to my house. We unloaded his car and put all my gear away. I then went outside to walk Chris back to his car and to hopefully have another chance. As we started to get closer and embrace for a hug I all of a sudden saw my dad coming out from around the house. He had decided that this would be a good time to take the dog for a walk around our little neighborhood, around, and around again. Always within sight.

DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't kiss in front of my dad. We waited and waited and talked and talked, but still by dad walked that *#@&*#% dog. Finally Chris had to go and we were both left without a satisfying goodbye. I was going to have to wait at least another couple of weeks to redeem myself with that kiss as Chris was about to leave to go back home to Spokane, Washington.

Backyard Camp Out

The longest day of the year was Thursday, June 21st this year. I decided it would be fun to camp out in the backyard with the kids to celebrate summer solstice. We set up our big tent. The kids were great helpers.

It also happened to be "Girl's Night Out" for our RS enrichment group. So were weren't able to do too many camping things before settling down for bed. We did read stories and do Book of Mormon time in the tent. We also attempted to play cards, but with one diminishing flashlight and three rambunctious kids it didn't go over too well.

Chad and Halle did pretty well. There of course were plenty of giggles and touch-tag going on. But all in all they did finally go to sleep. Then of course there is the Sean. He would not stay calm for a moment. He was in and out of his sleeping bag. Crawling all around the tent, touching every zipper and string, checking out every nook and cranny and trying to find the flash light that I hid at least a thousand times. Finally at around 11:30pm he finally put his head on my legs and fell asleep.

Guess who was the first one up in the morning - yes that is right, Sean! He woke up ecstatically yelling, "Look mommy, Sunshine!" When you live up here in the northwest the sun comes out pretty early, especially in the summer! We all laid in our sleeping bags for a little longer and enjoyed the shadow show being presented on the tent walls by the strong wind blowing through and our neighbor's quaking aspen trees. I asked the kids what they saw. Chad and Halle answered that the leaves were shaking in the wind. Sean said that the leaves were clapping.

So all in all we had a fun time. Sean and I also had a great time catching up on more sleep by taking a good nap that afternoon.

June 20th, 1997 - The Second Date/"The Slip and Miss"

Growing up in the small town of Springville, Utah and being surrounded by several other small towns lent itself to many stereotypes. One was that Springville was preppy and that Spanish Fork (the next town south) was cowboy. Spanish Fork was our biggest rival in everything to do with high school and dating. No one from Springville would be caught dead dating someone from Spanish Fork or having fun over there (unless of course you were a member of the FFA club or perhaps secretly listened to country music while hiding in the depths of your closet). And then I met Chris.

Chris taught at Spanish Fork High School and lived in a nice townhouse by the Spanish Fork Middle School. These were all forgivable follies, after all, he wasn't a native Spanish Forkian. I was sure that he was just grateful to have a job - it wasn't his fault that this school had hired him. And living within a couple of miles of work is much better than a long commute. I had already had an enchanted encounter in meeting him and an impressive first date. I was falling fast and girlishly giddy about having a second date with him. At least that was until he called me up to confirm our second date and suggested that we go country dancing.

Country dancing?! My mind became a whirl and I felt almost like a debutant with her corset strings pulled too tightly as the oxygen quickly drained from my head and it became too hard to breathe. This nice young man from Spokane really had been living in Spanish Fork too long! "Oh no!" I screamed to myself. I had hoped that this would be a budding romance but I felt as though it was quickly coming to a screeching halt.

For a while my pride seemed to be an impenetrable wall. I would not go country dancing! How could I even like any one that wanted to go country dancing? What would my friends think? Would good old Springville let me come back home? Was I being a traitor to my own home town?

Any strength that my wall of pride seemed to lack was fortified by my wall of fear. Dancing is something I have never had a lot of grace in. I broke out in cold sweats just forcing myself to go to high school dances. Dancing lays it all on the line for me. Badly attempting to make my body move the way my mind wants to, being surrounded by crowds of people, and being seen and looked at by said crowd of people always throws me into fits of nauseous anxiety.

It seemed like all these thoughts were going on in my head for an eternity. Suddenly I had an out-of-body experience when I heard the words, "Yes, I'd love to!" confidently and flirtatiously run out from my very own mouth. I guess love does conquer fear!!!

I paced and paced the floor by the front door of my house as the time marched steadily towards the designated time of our date. I gave myself several pep talks, glued a smile to my face and psyched myself into having a great time - even if I made a complete fool of myself.

The doorbell rings. As I open the door my worries start to flutter away as I lay my eyes upon Chris. He looks even more handsome than I remember. He is wearing a cowboy shirt, wrangler jeans, and yes - real cowboy boots. I never knew cowboys could look so hunky before. And wranglers really do a gentleman's derriere justice!!!

As we drive I try to take my mind off the fact that in the very immediate future I will be dancing. But before I know it we are at the dance club, he is opening my car door for me, and we walk through the building doors and hear the loud twanging of country music, the clapping of hands, and the stomping of boots.

Chris is very patient with me. We watch a few dances as he explains what some of the basic moves are and what we will be doing. Then it is time to plunge in. Chris is a good lead, and again very patient as I cluelessly and clumsily try to move to the music. I feel dumb and embarrassed but keep that smile glued on. I hold on tight to Chris and make every effort possible not to step on his feet again. I make progress. The more I concentrate on just Chris and I, the less I notice other people and the more I start to enjoy myself.

After several dances we stop for a break. We talk, we get drinks, we watch more people dancing. Finally it is a slow song. Chris leads me back onto the dance floor and this time my smile is more natural. I know how to slow dance. He takes my right hand with his left and carefully wraps his right arm around my waist. I hold him close and notice he is warm and smells really good! I then close my eyes and let him do all the work. I am in Heaven.

The rest of the evening is spent practicing more steps, attempting a few line dances and hungrily looking forward to every slow dance. I have crossed the line. I am now a converted born again country dancer.

The dance hall may close, but it is not the end of our date. Chris takes me back to his place and makes us Zuka Juice and shows me pictures from his families vacation to Hawaii. I am wanting the night to never end, but it has to.

Chris drives me back to my house. We stay and talk in the car for a while and then he walks me to the door. We finish our conversation and then Chris has one request. "May I give you a good night kiss?"

My cheeks flush, I feel hot all over, and my heart starts pounding really, really fast. Of course I want to kiss him!!!!!! I shyly reply, "yes." But as Chris starts to lean in toward me my mind panics. What kind of kiss was he wanting? Is a good night kiss just one on the cheek or is it one on the lips? Just as his lips are about to meet mine my head jerks the other way and his lips land smack on my cheek. We are both surprised!!!!!

Chris backs away looking a little disappointed. The words, "Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!" echo over and over again through my head. Chris then says that if I would like to go out with him again why don't I plan the date and give him a call. "Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!" is still ringing in my head. I agree and wave goodbye to him as he gets into his car. I go inside the house, walk up the stairs to my bedroom, lay on my bed and start to cry. "Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!" I survived the dancing but I blew it on the kiss.

Kid-isms

Chad was recently invited to a birthday party at Triple Play. Chad is the kind of kid that needs to know what is going on and has a hard time when things don't happen as he expects them to. Knowing this, I explained to him what Triple Play was and what kind of fun things there would be to do. I also explained that they would be in the car for a long time - that it was near Coeur d'Alene (which he has been to before).

During the drive someone mentioned that they were now in Idaho. This was apparently a big surprise for Chad. I was told by the mom when he was dropped off back home that his response was, "Serious? Oh no!" He wasn't quite sure what to make of being in Idaho.

A few minutes after Chad had arrived back home and I had got the other kids to settle down I asked Chad how the party went. He said it was really fun. Then he gave me one of his Chad looks and started to explain that they had to drive and drive and drive and that they finally had driven all the way to Mexico.

"Mexico?" I asked.

"Yes mom, it was all the way in Mexico."

"How about Idaho? Was it in Idaho?"

"Oh, Idaho? Not Mexico?"

"Yes, Idaho, Chad."

"Oh, okay."

So apparently his geography is a little mixed up and thought he really had gone a long, long way on his drive.



Then just this morning, out of the blue Sean said, in his most serious of toddler voices, "Mom, when you die there are no more toys." I don't know why he was thinking about death. And I know a toddler really has no concept of death - but he did get the fact that it is a big enough change in your life that there will no longer be toys. Or will there be? I think I will miss some of my toys too.

June 13, 1997 - The First Date

I guess you could call my first date with Chris an eternal date - as we haven't stopped dating since. Not one for believing in bad superstition - but always looking for something good or fun I wasn't really bothered by the fact that our first date was scheduled to be on June 13th, or more specifically, Friday the 13th.

Chris had boldly introduced himself just a week before at my friend's wedding reception. He had even gone so far as to get my phone number and set up a date with me. I was excited to get to know this handsome man but also extremely nervous to get back into the whole "dating" thing again.

I remember rummaging through my closet, trying to creatively and magically find something new and impressive to wear (being on a college budget doesn't afford much for fashion). I ended up wearing light khaki docker pants with a white t-shirt and blue denim vest. (Chris probably thought I was going for BYU colors - which is a real turn on for him!!!) I double checked that I was wearing a bra. (Which I actually forgot to wear on one date!!!!! I had been changing clothes so many times and running late that I didn't notice. I guess it helps that I am pretty small in the bosom department [added that just for you Lucy] and that just garments do the trick.)

Chris promptly picked me up from my house right at the scheduled time. His carriage was a silver (he claims it is "timberline green") Mazda 626 (the same car he is still driving around today). And of course he had the best manners and opened my doors for me.

He had told me before in a mid-week phone call that he would like to have dinner with me and go to a play. The fact that he wanted to go to a play verses a movie had already impressed me. Great impressions were the whole theme of the night. For dinner he actually drove me to his home and cooked for me!!!! The main course was "Lemon Pepper Chicken," a recipe that he had invented himself. It consisted of cubed chicken, sauteed onion, mushrooms, cream of chicken soup, and lots and lots of lemon pepper seasoning. It was one of the most delicious meals I had ever eaten (except for the mushrooms of course - fungus is disgusting!). The chicken was served over rice and he also warmed up some rolls. I had cooked for plenty of my previous dates, but Chris was the first one to ever cook for me. Another point on the score board for Chris.

After the scrumptious dinner, which was followed by cheesecake, we headed off to see the play Guys and Dolls. I love plays and musicals. I am always totally enthralled by live performances. I was so thrilled that Chris was enjoying the play with me.

After the play, Chris dropped me off back at home. We had both been enchanted with a wonderful evening. Although I had meet Chris just the week before and had just finished a first date with him, I felt like I already had a friend and that we had known each other before.

During the parting conversation, the conversation in my head wanted to know what Chris was really thinking. Did he think the date went well? Did he like me enough to ask me out again. My questions were soon answered when he asked me out again for the next week. My heart thumped excitedly as my mouth responded, "YES!"