Christmas Eve was spent at Wayne's parents' home. Again, great food and fun was had. We participated in the traditional Christmas march through the house and a Family Home Evening program. I was very touched by Brian's poem and musical slide presentation put to Wayne's song, "In His Hands". The kids have had fun with their Utah cousins too.
Christmas morning was a bit different this year. As we are in the process of moving (soon...we hope,) we chose not to dig out the Christmas decorations and set up a tree. Instead, we simply hung 5 stockings up for the kids. Santa came and left some goodies for the kids and then it was off to HOC (House of Chan) for more Christmas fun. We were joined by Byron, Nancy, Hannah and Maddie and we all had lots of great gifts to open. We enjoyed a scandalous turkey dinner with ALL of the trimmings, games, fun and much laughter.
We were home by about 9am. Now where do we store all of these things? Our garage is full of the new appliances for the new house and our basement is quickly filling up with boxes that are packed for the move. We just need to get into our new house! 
Jade and Mike arrived safely after a LONG 15 hour drive from Utah. On Saturday, we got to do Christmas all over again with them. Lots of fun. They are here for a week and the boys couldn't be happier to be able to spend time with cute little Rhome.
It has been a great week.
Boxing Day is sort of a blur. I've never stood in line in the early morning, hoping to get in on a deal. However, this year I did. Wayne convinced me to go with him to get some "goodies" for the new house. We picked up Maddie and Deb at 5:30am and headed to Future Shop. We stood out in the cold for a short while, then when the doors opened, made our way to our assigned departments. Within about 30 minutes, we had purchased a 30" LG LCD tv, a 50" LG Plasma tv, a 22" computer monitor and a new washer and dryer! But that wasn't the end. Next we dropped Wayne off at Visions and he stood in line to get some wall mounts for the new tvs. Maddie, Deb and I headed off to Sears where I picked up yet another tv...a 40" Sony LCD tv.
We were home by about 9am. Now where do we store all of these things? Our garage is full of the new appliances for the new house and our basement is quickly filling up with boxes that are packed for the move. We just need to get into our new house! Jade and Mike arrived safely after a LONG 15 hour drive from Utah. On Saturday, we got to do Christmas all over again with them. Lots of fun. They are here for a week and the boys couldn't be happier to be able to spend time with cute little Rhome.
It has been a great week.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Winter is HERE!
Winter has finally arrived in Southern Alberta! No, we do not live in igloos, eat seal blubber or have winter year round. Yes, we do get all 4 seasons, have daylight until almost 11pm in the summer and yes, we have to plug our cars in during the winter if it gets too cold. Today, we had to plug our cars in.
We had a winter storm warning yesterday and at about 5pm, the snow started to fall and the winds picked up. Before too long, we were in white-out conditions...a blizzard. The temperatures started falling and by 4pm today, it was -27 Celsius. That is DANG cold! With the wind chill, it is about -35 Celsius...that's about -31 Fahrenheit!! And we had to dig ourselves out from under about 15-20 cm of snow.
So for some winter fun, I thought I would post this. This was sent to me in my email, but I thought it would be fun to blog my answers. Here is a list of 99 things...the bold ones are thing that I HAVE done...
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child - I adopted 2 Cabbage Patch Kids!?
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - Yes, from school
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community - I saw a lot of Amish in Pennsylvania, but not their actual community.
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied...thanks Sugar Daddy!
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance - rode with Parker when he was 6 weeks old
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person - only a small tip of it
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake-waded in it, does that count?
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Wishful Thinking
December is supposed to be a month of wishes. My wish is that we will be in our new house before Christmas, however, it seems like everyday there is a new set back. We are into month 14 of the build! Most builders could've built 2 or 3 houses in this amount of time! Our builder, Dominic, keeps saying that he is trying to have us in by Christmas yet does very little work to get progress made on our house. The tile guy didn't do anything because no one brought him the tile. He does not pick it up, he just installs. The carpet guy didn't order our other flooring because he said he was waiting to get the go-ahead from us!? He knew what point our house was at and said they would order the rest of the stuff last month; now he said is was waiting for us. Dom's old painting crew quit, yet he knew nothing of it until we mentioned it to him. Luckily, he found a new crew and they seem pretty gung-ho. I don't think this wish will be coming true this Christmas!
I just can't stress about the house anymore. It's not doing anyone any good. I've come to terms with the idea of moving in January. The sad thing is that I don't even want to get out all of our Christmas stuff since we are already trying to pack some things up. So this year, we will just hang our stockings and use my parent's tree and house for Christmas.
In other news...we just returned from another trip south. We left Emmy and Azia with my parents so they could still attend school. We shipped Parker and Cardiff out to Fort Macleod to stay with Wayne's parents. All the kids did well and had a good time. The girls got put to work at Subway, doing prep on a couple of afternoons. They were more than happy to "go to work" since they got paid pretty well by Grammy! Parker worked on his Bird Dance and Patty-cake Polka out at Grandma's. Cardiff did well playing with Parker and was well behaved all week. We took Sawyer with us and he travelled so well.
Wayne was the featured musical guest performer for the Festival of Trees "Lights On" Ceremony following the auction of all the items. He performed 2 songs during the ceremony then had about 30 minutes of stage time afterwards. What an honour to be able to do that.
I had fun meeting up with some friends from our days in University housing. Can you believe it has been 4 1/2 years since we moved home? Time truly is flying by! I tried to do some shopping, but the exchange on the Canadian dollar is not as good, so I was a bit choosy on what to purchase. 
On our way home, we stopped in Great Falls and picked up all 5 of our kitchen appliances to bring back. I had purchased them in August during a super sale and our dollar was close to par. It was a great deal! We loaded them into a Uhaul truck and brought them back. They now sit in our garage until the house is ready for them.
So with that, I'll leave my Christmas wish for all of you...we wish you all the best in 2009. We wish you happiness, health and many joyous memories. We are so incredibly blessed and even though my wish this year probably won't come true, so many of my other wishes have! I am blessed!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
And The Winner Is....
Wayne just returned from another whirlwind trip to Utah. He was nominated for 3 Faith Centered Music Association (FCMA) Pearl Awards. This is like the LDS music world's version of the Grammy's. He was up for Instrumental Song of the Year ("Home Again" from the "Becoming" Album), Inspirational Album of the Year ("Becoming") and Male Recording Vocalist of the Year.
He was nominated last year for 2 awards and was shut out. This year didn't seem to be any more promising, given the company he was with in his categories. As the evening progressed, he saw one nomination go by without a win. Then another...and these were the categories that he had a pretty good chance of maybe, possibly winning. He had pretty much written it off, that it would be another disappointing year. Then came the category for Male Recording vocalist and to his astonishment, they called his name! He was totally unprepared for it and was truly surprised by the announcement!
He stumbled through some remarks and told of how he had a very frustrating event happen just days before. He noted that he has a "side job that keeps (him) very busy". He had just been on call for the last 4 days and actually didn't get home until about 12:30 am the other night. It was only moments later that he realized he had completely missed the deadline to vote for the Pearl Awards. He didn't even get the chance to put a vote in for himself!
Well, not all was lost! He can now add "Pearl Award Winner" to his list of accomplishments and awards. Hopefully, this will open some of those closed doors and get him into some of those tight music circles.
So, with Christmas on the horizon, I'm putting in a shameless plug for his newest CD release..."THIS NIGHT ~ THE CHRISTMAS COLLECTION".
I know I have said that the last CD was his best yet, well, this one is even better. There are guest performances from Jenny Jordan Frogley, Alex Boye, Cherie Call and Justin Smith. But I think one of the highlights is the performances of Emmy and Azia on the album.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy
The title pretty much says it all. Things have been kind of crazy around here lately. So this is sort of a "catch up" post.
We enjoyed one of the warmest Halloweens in recent memory. I actually don't remember the last time that we were able to take the kids out trick-or-treating without layering on the clothes, clunking their tired feet in their boots and bodily fluids dripping from their noses! It was a pleasant change.
I became Super Mom for one afternoon and made 2 Jedi costumes for Parker and Cardiff. Ever since they watched the "Jedi Training Academy" at Disneyland, they have been somewhat obsessed with all things Star Wars. I have to admit, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.
Wayne even dressed up for work; opting to omit the fangs and blood. Sawyer enjoyed his first Halloween and dressed as a shining star.
On November 1, temperatures reached a balmy 18 degrees celcius! It is a good thing, since we had a major sod-laying party planned. We recruited some help: 4 Missionaries, my Dad, Wayne's Dad, his cousin Ben Orr and his 3 kids, Wayne's brother Kelvin and his 3 boys, Deb Duncan, Denny and Christian Burton and even a couple of our soon-to-be neighbours. We proceeded to lay almost 20,000 sq. ft. of sod! Everyone worked so hard and we got a lot done...but not all of it. We finished laying the sod on Monday for FHE with the help of Wayne's nurse Linda, his MOA Coralee and the Jones family joined us for their FHE activity.
We are SO incredibly grateful for all of the help! A good portion of our yard is now landscaped.
We have a driveway, a bunch of grass and things are finally moving along INSIDE of the house. Our lawyer has been pressuring our builder to get things moving and is pushing for a possession date of December 1. I'd be happy if we were moving on December 23...just as long as we are in by Christmas. After weeks (and even months) of very little progress, there are now days when there are 2 or 3 trades working at the same time. Stucco guys, paving crews, cabinet installers and the finishing carpenter are often all at the house at the same time. It's finally becoming "real" and I'm very excited!
We enjoyed one of the warmest Halloweens in recent memory. I actually don't remember the last time that we were able to take the kids out trick-or-treating without layering on the clothes, clunking their tired feet in their boots and bodily fluids dripping from their noses! It was a pleasant change.
I became Super Mom for one afternoon and made 2 Jedi costumes for Parker and Cardiff. Ever since they watched the "Jedi Training Academy" at Disneyland, they have been somewhat obsessed with all things Star Wars. I have to admit, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out.
Emmy opted for the elderly lady look (costume compliments of Grandma Burton) and Azia made a great hippie.
Wayne even dressed up for work; opting to omit the fangs and blood. Sawyer enjoyed his first Halloween and dressed as a shining star.
On November 1, temperatures reached a balmy 18 degrees celcius! It is a good thing, since we had a major sod-laying party planned. We recruited some help: 4 Missionaries, my Dad, Wayne's Dad, his cousin Ben Orr and his 3 kids, Wayne's brother Kelvin and his 3 boys, Deb Duncan, Denny and Christian Burton and even a couple of our soon-to-be neighbours. We proceeded to lay almost 20,000 sq. ft. of sod! Everyone worked so hard and we got a lot done...but not all of it. We finished laying the sod on Monday for FHE with the help of Wayne's nurse Linda, his MOA Coralee and the Jones family joined us for their FHE activity.We are SO incredibly grateful for all of the help! A good portion of our yard is now landscaped.
We have a driveway, a bunch of grass and things are finally moving along INSIDE of the house. Our lawyer has been pressuring our builder to get things moving and is pushing for a possession date of December 1. I'd be happy if we were moving on December 23...just as long as we are in by Christmas. After weeks (and even months) of very little progress, there are now days when there are 2 or 3 trades working at the same time. Stucco guys, paving crews, cabinet installers and the finishing carpenter are often all at the house at the same time. It's finally becoming "real" and I'm very excited!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
13 Years of Wedded Bliss
I'm a bit slow on this post, as our anniversary was on Tuesday (October 7). This is #13 for us! And what a great 13 years it has been. There have been ups and downs, highs and lows, joy and sadness and blessings galore.
For those who don't know "our story," here is a condensed version. Wayne and I met in June 1995. I had just returned home from Ricks College for the summer and he was freshly home from his mission. We met at Boston Pizza following an Institute dance. I met Wayne through a mutual friend, Ryan Hart. My best friend Natasha and I hung out with Wayne and Ryan in the parking lot of the restaurant until 2am. We saw each other nearly everyday after that.
Wayne proposed in August, a mere 6 weeks after meeting. And we were married 7 weeks after that! And we have (thus far,) lived happily ever after.
Some memories of the last 13 years:
-Buying our 1st little house 1 year after we were married
-Wayne graduating from the University of Lethbridge
-Emmy being born in January 1998
-Wayne applying for Medical school twice and being rejected
-Azia being born in March 2000
-Wayne finally was accepted to medical school in Utah
-Moving to Utah with our girls and living with Brian and Noi for 2 months in Lindon
-Moving into "the village" (University housing)
-Parker being born in January 2003
-Wayne surviving/graduating from medical school in 2004
-Going to Disneyland
-The big move home to start family practice residency in June 2004
-Buying house #2
-Cardiff being born in July 2005
-Wayne starting in his own practice in 2006 and being a "full" practice in 4 weeks.
-Going to Mexico for a week - my first holiday without ANY kids!
-Building our dream home (which is still not done; 12 months later!)
-Sawyer completing our family in January 2008
I am still so in love with Wayne. I appreciate all he does for our family. We have been so blessed these past 13 years. I'm sure there were people who thought we were foolish to be getting married so quickly and so young, but things have worked out wonderfully! Happy Anniversary, Boy!
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Happiest Place on Earth
We recently returned from a week-long vacation/family reunion in sunny southern California. We had planned on going to Disneyland with the kids quite a while ago. It started out as just our family and we had invited our good friend, Deb Duncan (our pseudo-grandma), to come with us to lend an extra pair of hands. Then Jade heard we were going and she thought it would be fun. Then my parents felt like they would miss out on all the fun, so they wanted to come along as well. I hadn't mentioned it to Rylan because they were planning on visiting earlier in the summer (since Molly has never been here when there has been green grass and leaves on the trees), but mom thought I had better offer the option. So before we knew it, it became a full family affair and with that we decided to make it an official Chan Family Reunion.
We all decided to meet in Anaheim. On Tuesday, September 23, we flew out of Great Falls with an unexpected stop in Helena and a plane change in Seattle. What a long day. The kids all did pretty well. This was Emmy's first time flying and she was a bit nervous, but no one got sick and everyone stayed relatively happy. We had one fellow traveller who was assigned to sit next to me on the flight from Seattle to Los Angeles. As she approached our row, Sawyer was a bit upset and crying. The lady looked at me, who was scrambling to get Sawyer settled, and said, "Oh, no way! There is no way I'm sitting there!" All the better! I didn't want anyone sitting next to me anyways as there is not a lot of room to feed a baby flanked by two other people. Thankfully, it was not a full flight and she managed to find an entire row all for herself.
Rylan, Molly and their girls were already at the
hotel by the time we arrived. We awoke the next morning, and made our way to Disneyland. The heat and humidity were a bit overwelming. I had thought by going at the end of September, we would miss the hot weather...not so. It was HOT!
Jade, Mike and their boys arrived later on in the day. We met them at the hotel after a fun-filled day at Disneyland.
The next couple of days were spent driving down to San Diego. We went to the zoo on Thursday and Sea World on Friday. Again...hot, hot, HOT! The highlight at the Zoo was seeing the giant pandas. They were way too cute! We also made a quick jaunt to Mexico...so now the kids can say they've been to 3 countries in 1 week! Sea World was also a lot of fun. We caught the dolphin show and the Shamu show. We also spent a good chunk of time at the Sesame Street/Elmo play area (not a surprise when 6 out of the 9 kids are 3 and younger.) The kids also got a kick out of touching the stingrays and lifting up star fishes. It was pretty fun. On the way home, we stopped by Mission Beach. I think the kids (and adults) had more fun in the 1/2 hour we splashed around in the ocean than they did all day. After getting our clothes drenched and sandy, we made our way to the stunning San Diego Temple. It really is a beautiful building (and as some of my friends stated, THIS is one of the happiest places on earth!)
We all decided to meet in Anaheim. On Tuesday, September 23, we flew out of Great Falls with an unexpected stop in Helena and a plane change in Seattle. What a long day. The kids all did pretty well. This was Emmy's first time flying and she was a bit nervous, but no one got sick and everyone stayed relatively happy. We had one fellow traveller who was assigned to sit next to me on the flight from Seattle to Los Angeles. As she approached our row, Sawyer was a bit upset and crying. The lady looked at me, who was scrambling to get Sawyer settled, and said, "Oh, no way! There is no way I'm sitting there!" All the better! I didn't want anyone sitting next to me anyways as there is not a lot of room to feed a baby flanked by two other people. Thankfully, it was not a full flight and she managed to find an entire row all for herself.Rylan, Molly and their girls were already at the
hotel by the time we arrived. We awoke the next morning, and made our way to Disneyland. The heat and humidity were a bit overwelming. I had thought by going at the end of September, we would miss the hot weather...not so. It was HOT!Jade, Mike and their boys arrived later on in the day. We met them at the hotel after a fun-filled day at Disneyland.
The next couple of days were spent driving down to San Diego. We went to the zoo on Thursday and Sea World on Friday. Again...hot, hot, HOT! The highlight at the Zoo was seeing the giant pandas. They were way too cute! We also made a quick jaunt to Mexico...so now the kids can say they've been to 3 countries in 1 week! Sea World was also a lot of fun. We caught the dolphin show and the Shamu show. We also spent a good chunk of time at the Sesame Street/Elmo play area (not a surprise when 6 out of the 9 kids are 3 and younger.) The kids also got a kick out of touching the stingrays and lifting up star fishes. It was pretty fun. On the way home, we stopped by Mission Beach. I think the kids (and adults) had more fun in the 1/2 hour we splashed around in the ocean than they did all day. After getting our clothes drenched and sandy, we made our way to the stunning San Diego Temple. It really is a beautiful building (and as some of my friends stated, THIS is one of the happiest places on earth!)
Saturday was our big Disneyland day with everyone. We all donned our custom designed reunion shirts (by yours truly) and made our way to our favorite rides. Some of the favorites of my family: Buzz Lightyear ride, Toy Story Mania, Soarin' over California, California Screamin', Space Mountain, the rocket ride by Tomorrowland, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Grizzly River Run, all the rides in A Bug's Land, Mickey and Minnie's houses...well, pretty much any ride was a winner.
The next day we went to Universal Studios. I was bit disappointed with this park. It was not very "young" family friendly and there wasn't a lot of stuff for little kids to do. I would've been fine NOT to have gone here and spent it somewhere else. We did see, however, the houses from Wisteria Lane (tv's Desparate Housewives), the plane crash scene from War of the Worlds, Shrek and Fiona, Curious George and Dora and Deigo. Jade and Mike also left to go home.
Monday was our final day at Disneyland. Wayne met up with an old mission companion, Roland Schmeidl, who now lives near by. He brought his 2 daughters with him and we had fun hanging out with them. We hit our favorite rides once again and stayed until the parade.
We flew home on Tuesday and once again, the kids did great! Sawyer was able to sleep most of the way home, despite cutting his 4th tooth while on our holiday. (And there were no cranky old ladies on our flights!) We loaded up our van in Great Falls and headed home. We rolled in at about 2am!
What a wonderful week full of great memories. I'm so glad we were able to do this with all of our kids and have the added bonus of spending time with Ry, Jade and their families. We really have some pretty cute nieces and nephews! This is such a fun time in their lives, with so many little cousins. I'm sure this will be a trip that they will remember (well, those that are old enough to remember!)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Symphony Bar Cookies
OK, I wasn't ambitious enough to try one of Bakerella's recipes, but I did whip up a batch of our favourite cookies...Symphony Bar Cookies.
Here is the recipe:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Symphony Bar; crushed into bits (I use the blue bars...the ones with almonds and toffee bits!)
1/4-1/2 bag of chocolate chips
Mix butter and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients and mix well. Add in chocolate chips and Symphony bar chunks. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350F for about 7-9 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen.
Hints: I use a cookie scoop to make equal-sized cookies. It limits the fighting over who gets the bigger cookie. I also use a Silpat to bake them on. This will increase your bake time to about 10-12 minutes, but they will always turn out PERFECT! I freeze my chocolate bars then smash them against the counter to break them up. And you can easily double the recipe for a BIG Batch...they will disappear quickly.
Now, I know they do not have Symphony Bars in Canada, so a good substitution would be a couple of Skor bars and an Almond Hershey bar or two. I always stock up on Symphony bars when we head south and I just store them in the freezer.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
"Can we bake?"
The weather has cooled down considerably this past week. Appropriate for school, as it is very much like fall around here. With the cooler weather, comes the request from the kids to bake something. I actually bake quite often; usually 2-3 times a month. It's usually cookies, but sometimes I find a scandalous looking dessert and if I'm ambitious, I'll give it a try.
A while back, I was reading some friends' blogs and I came across THIS blog (thanks, Lynette). I thought I should share the joy. Ohhhh, how yummy! I felt a bit like Pavlov's dog...the amazing photography of these delectable treats had me drooling! I have yet to try one of her recipes, but it is on my list of things to do!
A while back, I was reading some friends' blogs and I came across THIS blog (thanks, Lynette). I thought I should share the joy. Ohhhh, how yummy! I felt a bit like Pavlov's dog...the amazing photography of these delectable treats had me drooling! I have yet to try one of her recipes, but it is on my list of things to do!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
First Day and BIG Changes
It's here again, the First Day of School. For Parker, this has been a long time coming. It all started when he turned 5 years old in January. "Do I get to go to Kindergarten now?" he asked on the morning of his birthday. "Not yet, Bud." was my response for the next 7 months. Well, today was the big day. He got to go to Kindergarten. There was pure excitement and anticipation last night and this morning, but when we walked in to his new classroom, the smile was quickly replaced by a stoned-face, non-emotional look.
Cardiff would have stayed in the kindergarten class if he could. "Me five!" he said to Wayne, trying to convince him that he was old enough to go to school too. His turn will come all too quickly!
For Emmy and Azia, I'm sure it was a morning of mixed emotions. We decided to have them attend the school that we are zoned for with our new house. We figured it would be better to start the school year at the new school, rather than move them over part way through the year. Azia was the first to get dropped off at her new classroom. I thought she would be alright, but the emotions overflowed as we stood by the door of her class. She really loved her old school and didn't like not knowing anyone. She misses her best friend Brooke, who has been in her class since Kindergarten. I tried to comfort her by telling her that her new teacher, Mr. Atkinson, was also MY grade 5 teacher (eons ago!) I sat with her for a few minutes as the other kids came in, but told her I had to check on Emmy and Parker too. I left her with tears in her eyes. She seemed fine as I checked on her as we were leaving. I know she will make some great new friends and enjoy this school just as much.
If I expected anyone to be really emotional about today, I thought it would be Emmy, not Azia. Wayne took Emmy to her new class and she seemed to settle in just fine. Perhaps she is just better at hiding (and controlling) her emotions. I went to check in on her and I found her putting her name on her coat hook. Emmy has the advantage of sort of knowing someone in her class already. My good friend Jaime Rollingson's daughter, Cayleigh, is in Emmy's class. Jaime told Cayleigh that we were best friends growing up and that Emmy was my daughter. It helps to sort of know someone when it is a new environment! This is Emmy's last year in elementary school. Next year...middle school!!!
So with that, I'm back down to 2 kids at home for the mornings. Parker finishes class at lunch time and I'm sure Cardiff will be thrilled to see him. And so another school year begins. (And if you're wondering why they are bundled up in jackets, it was a balmy 0 degrees celsius or 32 degrees F. this morning! Brrrrrr!)
Saturday, August 30, 2008
My Soap Box
Are you a go-getter, get-it-done-er? Or are you a slacker, find-any-excuse-not-to-do-it, I'll say "yes", but not follow through-er?
I don't know why I get so bothered when people don't do their part. My issue mainly stems from people in the church, but I know we encounter both types of people in our everyday lives. By nature, or maybe by my upbringing, I am a go-getter, get-it-done-er. It is a blessing and a curse. I often feel a responsibility to pick up the slack from those around me that are not doing what is required or asked of them. This just adds to my already long list of personal responsiblities. Both Wayne and I are very involved in church. He is a member of the Bishopric (they preside over our congregation) and I am a member of the Relief Society Presidency (the women's organization). Between the two of us, we spend about 6+ hours a week in meetings, visit numerous families a month, prepare and teach lessons and give leadership to those around us. So, if I can go to my meetings every week, get my Visiting Teaching done, teach a lesson every 3 months, get my 5 children ready for church...by myself, and be ON TIME, preparea nd print 100 monthly newsletter, plan and organized activities every month, on top of the everyday stuff, why can't some people just do the 1 thing they are asked to do?
I admit there are times when I would rather watch a movie with the kids or go on a date with Wayne, but duty calls. Off to my meetings I go. I made a commitment to do all that was required of me when I accepted the call. And I also accepted the responsiblilities that Wayne has with his position, when I sustained him. There have been weeks when he has a crazy day at work, is on-call and is only home long enough to grab a plate of food on the run, before rushing out the door to do something else. I don't know how many times I've asked if he could cancel, just so we could see him for a minute, but know that is not a real option for us. We are not that type of people. We will do what we are asked to do; there are people depending on us to do our part!
So, if you are a slacker, find-any-excuse-not-to-do-it, I'll say "yes", but not follow through-er, take this counsel from some of our church leaders:
"No matter what your family needs are or your responsibilities in the Church, there is no such thing as “done.” There will always be more we can do." ~Elder M. Russell Ballard
"Your call has eternal consequences for others and for you. In the world to come, thousands may call your name blessed, even more than the people you serve here. They will be the ancestors and the descendants of those who chose eternal life because of something you said or did, or even what you were" ~Elder Henry B. Eyring
So, if you aren't doing your part and assuming someone else will pick up the slack, just how much is really getting done? I'll get off my soap box now...I just needed to vent.
I don't know why I get so bothered when people don't do their part. My issue mainly stems from people in the church, but I know we encounter both types of people in our everyday lives. By nature, or maybe by my upbringing, I am a go-getter, get-it-done-er. It is a blessing and a curse. I often feel a responsibility to pick up the slack from those around me that are not doing what is required or asked of them. This just adds to my already long list of personal responsiblities. Both Wayne and I are very involved in church. He is a member of the Bishopric (they preside over our congregation) and I am a member of the Relief Society Presidency (the women's organization). Between the two of us, we spend about 6+ hours a week in meetings, visit numerous families a month, prepare and teach lessons and give leadership to those around us. So, if I can go to my meetings every week, get my Visiting Teaching done, teach a lesson every 3 months, get my 5 children ready for church...by myself, and be ON TIME, preparea nd print 100 monthly newsletter, plan and organized activities every month, on top of the everyday stuff, why can't some people just do the 1 thing they are asked to do?
I admit there are times when I would rather watch a movie with the kids or go on a date with Wayne, but duty calls. Off to my meetings I go. I made a commitment to do all that was required of me when I accepted the call. And I also accepted the responsiblilities that Wayne has with his position, when I sustained him. There have been weeks when he has a crazy day at work, is on-call and is only home long enough to grab a plate of food on the run, before rushing out the door to do something else. I don't know how many times I've asked if he could cancel, just so we could see him for a minute, but know that is not a real option for us. We are not that type of people. We will do what we are asked to do; there are people depending on us to do our part!
So, if you are a slacker, find-any-excuse-not-to-do-it, I'll say "yes", but not follow through-er, take this counsel from some of our church leaders:
"No matter what your family needs are or your responsibilities in the Church, there is no such thing as “done.” There will always be more we can do." ~Elder M. Russell Ballard
"Your call has eternal consequences for others and for you. In the world to come, thousands may call your name blessed, even more than the people you serve here. They will be the ancestors and the descendants of those who chose eternal life because of something you said or did, or even what you were" ~Elder Henry B. Eyring
So, if you aren't doing your part and assuming someone else will pick up the slack, just how much is really getting done? I'll get off my soap box now...I just needed to vent.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Where have the last 7 months gone?
Ohhh, how I love our little Beaner-boy! He has only been a part of our earthly family for a mere 7 months, but I could not imagine our family without him! He has brought us such joy and happiness! Just look at that little face!
I have to admit (and brag a little) about just how lucky we have been to have such well-natured babies. Emmy was almost the perfect baby. She was calm, quiet, mellow...everything a first baby should be. I say "almost" perfect because she did suck her fingers; a habit that we broke by taping socks to the sleeves of her pajamas! Azia was also pretty good...a lot like Emmy, but a lot louder! (She's still the loudest in the family.) Azia was a very happy, chunky baby. She did drool for almost a year straight, but slept the best out of them all. "I sleepy now" is what she would say just before she would tuck herself in for a nap or at bedtime! Parker...there weren't many babies cuter than him! OK, that's probably a bit biased...but he was a very handsome baby. Big eyes on a big head with a big dimple! He is still a very sweet boy! Cardiff was also a dream as a baby. He too was calm, quiet and mellow. He's been a bit slower with his speech, but has made huge improvements. Cardiff has the most expressive face of all of the kids and manages to get his point across...eventually. And that brings us to our little Sawyer. Like I've expressed, the four older kids have all been such good babies, but I honestly have to say that Sawyer is probably the best one out of them all. He only cries if he is hungry or tired. He just got his first 2 teeth with very little saddness and no drool! When he is tired, we simply lie him in his bed with a blanket and off he drifts...no fingers in mouth and no soo-soo (pacifier). The only problem...I think he may be our only child WITHOUT a dimple!
We truly have been blessed! In reflecting on our wonderful family, I also realized that all of our kids' nicknames start with the letter 'B'. Emmy is "Bugsy-Boo" or "Bug" for short, Azia-Bunner, Parker is "Bud", Cardiff is "Boo-Boo" and Sawyer is "Bean," which is short for SoyaBean. The first initial of their first names also spells the word "SPACE!" Cool, eh?
So, happy 7 month birthday, Peanut (that's my nickname for him). We LOVE you!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Cousins Photo Shoot
It's funny, but we see Jade's family and Brian's family (who all live in Utah) more than we see the family members who live less than an hour away from us here. But I am glad that we do see these long-distance family members so often. It really gives our kids a chance to get to know their cousins and build those special relationships with them. I remember how much fun I had with my cousins (most of them lived in Vancouver/Victoria or Kingston, Ontario) when we would get together over the summers and I hope that our kids are building the some kinds of memories with their cousins.
After our week with Goodmans in Utah, they spent a week home in Lethbridge. We thought it would be fun to do a little cousins photo shoot. It wasn't easy trying to get 7 kids to all participate willingly and happily. I really admire those "real" photographers who work with kids doing "real" photo shoots! We did our best to click off some pics of the kids together. Ideally, I would've liked to have gotten a picture of all of the boy cousins together, but they faded long before that happened.
Here are some of the shots we did get...enjoy!
The Burton kids and Goodman kids. That is almost all of the Chan cousins (missing Aubrey and Addy who live in Arizona).
Rhett is a pretty happy little guy! (OK, not so "little"!)
Rhome is a real busy-body...always on the move!
Pictures of Azia and Sawyer (whose nickname is Soya Bean).
My Beautiful Girls are growing up!
Parker is all too happy to strike a pose.
Emmy has grown up way too quickly!
The Burton Bunch!! (Emmy, Azia, Parker, Cardiff and Sawyer)
More Summer fun...
In our 3rd trip to Utah since January, we actually had quite a bit of family time. This was one of those rare trips where Wayne wasn't totally booked up with recording sessions or bookstore promotions and we had a lot of free time together as a family.
We pulled into the Salt Lake valley late afternoon on August 4 and were hit with the almost unbearable heat! I'm sure it was HOT when we lived there, but I honestly don't remember it being so uncomfortable. (I guess I have re-climatized back to our cooler Canadian climate!)
We decided that since we've started reading the Doctrine and Covenants as a family (we read the illustrated children's reader with the kids), that it would be fun to visit the Church History Museum. It had been about 6 or 7 years since we were there last (Emmy was about 3 or 4 years old). There was so much great stuff to see, but we were mostly grateful for the cool air conditioned shelter!
We pulled into the Salt Lake valley late afternoon on August 4 and were hit with the almost unbearable heat! I'm sure it was HOT when we lived there, but I honestly don't remember it being so uncomfortable. (I guess I have re-climatized back to our cooler Canadian climate!)
We decided that since we've started reading the Doctrine and Covenants as a family (we read the illustrated children's reader with the kids), that it would be fun to visit the Church History Museum. It had been about 6 or 7 years since we were there last (Emmy was about 3 or 4 years old). There was so much great stuff to see, but we were mostly grateful for the cool air conditioned shelter!
There was a great exhibit called, "I Am a Child of God" and it had a bunch of fun activities for the kids. They got to touch part of President Hinckley's walnut tree that was later cut down and made into the pulpit for the Conference Centre.
They also had fun dressing up and pretending they were part of Lehi's dream...holding to the iron rod and walking on the straight and narrow path.
We did some more of the "tourist-y" stuff this trip. Wayne took Emmy, Azia and Parker on a hike up to the Timpanogas Caves. We'd done the hike a few years ago and had a good time. This time, however, I opted to stay home (and stay cool) with Cardiff and Sawyer. 
Wayne did manage to book a session in the recording studio to do up demos of a couple of the country tunes he has co-written with his brother, Allan. Yes, he does write country music! YeeHaw! Allan was able to join them in the studio to witness the talents of the studio musicians; as did their other brother, Brian, who now has caught the recording studio "bug". Wayne also introduced his new Christmas album, "This Night" to different vendors, distributors and bookstore owners at the LDS Booksellers Convention. We are all very excited about this album and we hope you'll all check it out when it is released this fall!
Great fun had by all on this trip. We left our second home on Friday (Aug. 8) and brought Jade, Mike and their boys back with us. They came up to Lethbridge for a week, so the cousins had a lot of good times together. More pics in the following post!