Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,
Yes, running, not waving his cane.
I see him embracing his father and mother
While they keep repeating his name.

I see him now meeting his forebears,
Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.
Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service
That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior
While Father says, "Good and well done.
So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome
My noble, most excellent son."

I then hear the ripples of laughter
As he says the reception's just fine,
But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two
Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness
At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,
Have faith and move forward - there's work to be done.
President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard
January 27, 2008

Thanks for sending this poem to me KYR!

Gunlock

Jarom's good friend and former roommate Scott invited us down for the weekend at Gunlock. We used to go there while Jarom was still in college and it's such a blast every time. As we've all moved on a gotten married it has been harder to keep in touch. We haven't been able to go to Gunlock for a long time and it was great to share such a memorable experience with our baby boy. Scott and Diana have a little boy Benjamin and they are expecting another at the beginning of May. Cannon was in awe of Ben the whole time and was fascinated with his energy and creativity.

They became little buddies and even shared some cereal from the same bowl...



Ben was a sweetie and gave Cannon lots of kisses and hugs...



Cannon was very brave and climbed all over the floor and ate lucky charms for the first time...


The boys enjoyed a great dirt bike ride...



Ben took a "nap" but really he took the opportunity to prevent diaper rash... on his face...



The boys also enjoyed a few projects which included putting together these cute desks that came from the old Gunlock school. The little boys loved playing school.


We had such a blast as we relaxed, ate, talked, watched movies and had a great time catching up on old times. We have so many memories from Gunlock and it's always a blast there with the Hardy family.

Oh, and of course it's just not Gunlock without fresh salsa.... YUM!

7 Months and a big fat GRRRR!

Photo shoots are not as easy as they once were. I used to be able to pose him and he'd stay in a position long enough for me to snap a few pictures. Gone are the days of easy photo taking. I miss those days. I had big plans for his 7 month pictures... BIG plans! It started snowing right on cue. I dressed him up in his warm clothes and headed outside to take what I thought were going to be the cutest pictures ever. I plopped him down in the snow and hadn't even raised the viewfinder to my eyes when the wailing ensued. I took a few of him like that and tried to move him to no avail. Folks, my baby is the boss. So we retreated to the indoors. I fed him until he calmed down (just like his mommy - food can cure any ailment.) I put him down for a nap and decided to begin an impromptu photo session when he decided against taking a nap. :) I got three that I sort of like. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow for the outdoors pictures... but I'm not making any promises. So, here they are...

p.s. Thanks Rashel for the ESPN hat. It finally fits and we love it!

Here is the ONE picture we got in the snow:

Things he's doing at 7 months:
*standing up in his crib
*walking along furniture
*eating solids
he likes:
*sweet potatoes
*bananas
*peas
*peaches
*carrots
*laughing
*splashing in the tub
*jumping in his exersaucer
*crawling
*sitting up on his own
*getting into EVERYTHING

This kid's got STYLE

I got a real kick out of styling his hair with his daddy's hair gel. He has just enough that I can give him a radical mohawk (daddy's style of choice) or I can spike it up. I also love this outfit he got from Grandma Great. She has great taste. He was a bit under the weather, so please excuse the tired eyes. :)
This is his latest. He pulls himself up on things. He can stand. It kind of drives me crazy during nap time. I put him in his crib. He thinks to himself "no, mommy, it's not nap time, it's stand up and cry because I can't get down time." But, it is kind of cute... kind of. :)

Ewww.. please ignore the dusty bottom shelf. Off to dust some furniture.

A Little Behind

Cannon has been scooting, crawling, standing, and creating a little path of destruction wherever he goes. I was not prepared for any of this so soon. Because of that, my personal time has been invaded. I'm still here, I hope you are too!

Okay, this is still back during Christmas break. My cousin Cherali came to visit from Northern California with her husband Brad and daughter Averi. Averi is 3 months older than Cannon. They were DARLING together. Well, I think Cannon frightened Averi a bit. He wanted to manhandle her and she was not okay with that. She's such a cute girl and it was fun to see our babies together.

A little history on Cherali & Brad...

Cherali is how I met Jarom. Brad and Jarom were roommates from the time they were Freshmen. They met Cherali when they all lived at the Glenwood. Cherali and Brad started dating and I would hang out with them while I lived at home between semesters at USU. The rest is history. :)

Now for some pictures. Here are Averi and Cannon together in July for the Wright reunion.

Aren't they cute? Now here they are just a couple weeks ago when Brad and Cherali came to visit.
It's amazing what a few months do to your baby. Do you love how Cannon is such a flirt putting his hand on her knee and Averi is looking at her mommy with that "get him away" look? This picture just cracks me up.

On a side note, Jarom thinks it's pretty cool that he and Brad are "related" and that he gets to go to family reunions and see his old roommate.

Okay, now I feel a little better about my blogging neglect. I hope I do better from now on. I'm not making any promises. ;)

and a Merry Christmas too!

I just decided to do this in two posts, so see below for our Christmas Eve affairs.

Christmas is such a magical time. This year was the best Christmas so far because I got to watch the joy in Cannon's eyes as he was surrounded by people that love him. It was surreal as I helped my baby open presents. He is such a blessing and the best present a mom could ask for.

Cannon was absolutely spoiled this year. He barely even knows what's going on, but he sure loved seeing all the pretty packages. He especially loved chewing up the wrapping paper and bows.

Grandma and Grandpa Stewart got this Exersaucer (aka baby paradise) that he could spend all day in if we let him. He loves it. He can jump and spin and it sings and rattles and does all kinds of amazing things.

Grandma and Grandpa Becar got him a TJ Bearytales bear that talks and moves and tells stories. Cannon thinks he's a little friend to play with and pokes him and yanks on him a lot. It's cute. Guess you had to be there. He also got a little ball popper thing that throws balls into the air and then they roll down a little slide thingy. It's cool. He likes that a lot too.

Here they are with Cannon.

It was fun to be with both of our families on Christmas. We kind of shuffled back and forth all day. We loved spending time with everyone we love. Through all the craziness of having visitors and trying to juggle presents and events, we just feel so blessed and lucky to have such supportive friends and family. I can't think of a better way to spend a day than lounging in my pjs and laughing, celebrating, eating, giving, joking and just BEing with family.
Here's one of the three of us on Christmas morning. Jarom held the camera and I pushed the button. :)

I don't want to forget that the purpose of the Christmas season is to celebrate the birth of Christ. He has given me everything and for that I am eternally grateful.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve

Christmas is over. I have taken down my digital Christmas decor and I'm ready to get back to reality. But, first I will tell you about our Christmas holiday.

Jarom's family came from Cali. and stayed with the Becar's in Taylorsville. We were so glad to spend some time with them. We started out Christmas Eve by taking the Cali Becar's snowboarding up at Sundance. My brother and dad joined them. They did GREAT for first-timers and Dawn Noel was a sport. :)

From l-r Brady, Dad, Dawn Noel, Ammon, Jordan

Cannon had to get in on the action and we let him watch them come down the hill. He was so cold but stayed in a good mood long enough to get a picture.


He had a minor tantrum right after this which resulted in our speedy trip down the mountain to the Stewart's for Christmas Eve dinner. It was SO yummy. Grandma W made this soup that was amazing. It was some sort of chicken with white beans and lots of basil. The Davis family (my mom's sister) was there so we had a blending of Christmas Eve traditions. We usually have fondue for dinner, but that was switched for the Davis soup tradition. We also usually read the Christmas story from the bible. That was modified for a reenactment of the Nativity. Cannon got to be baby Jesus and Jocey made an ADORABLE Mary.

Then, we opened our traditional Christmas Eve pjs. Ummm... Cannon had some too. He just wasn't in a pj mood. For some reason, he HATES getting into his pajamas. Then we had baklava for dessert and watched Christmas movies like the Grinch before going to bed.