Happy Birthday

Well, I thought you'd be retired by now, but frankly, I am glad you are not. I just wanted to say a few things. First, you've got to be careful how high you turn up the electric muscle stimulator. Second, don't get in an inflatable canoe with a young daughter. Third, visors are cool, Town of Gilbert shirts are timeless, jean cut-offs are heavy when they are water-logged. Okay, that's more than one thing. There are three deer in our backyard right now. One of these days I will get dressed in a grass body suit, lay in wait, and smash one over the head with a hammer. I found an error in the church software last week and called it in to Salt Lake. After working with me for a few minutes, the technician agreed that it was indeed an error and as of this week, there is a new version of church software. Amy was telling me the other day that I have a lack of focus and, well a lot she knows. There are many lessons I learned growing up. Allow me to elaborate.

Lesson 1- If you are put in charge of the irrigation, get out of it. You have to have a pretty good reason, but trust me, you don't want that kind of heat.

Lesson 2- Do a poor job of weeding. Only in this way will you avoid the curse of Adam.

Lesson 3- Never put a patient in power chains in an .014 Copper NiTi.

Lesson 4- Clean out the grease from frying hamburgers before dad comes in the kitchen.

Lesson 5- Don't get into dares with your sister while rubbing your dad's feet.

Lesson 6- If you really want to do something, wait until dad picks up the newspaper, then ask.

Lesson 7- Timing is everything, especially the getting to church on time part of it.

Lesson 8- Maybe being a two-footed driver would have saved that water machine.

These are just a few. On another note, I would like to think that I have learned responsibility, work ethic, patience, even temperedness, and integrity from Dad. Mom played no small role either. I still have a lot to learn, and that is why I will continue to seek advice from Dad and Mom. I love you Dad, and I am excited to work with you in 21 months 15 days 15 hours (give or take a few minutes). Until next time. Alan

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

What a great dad we have. I feel so lucky to have grown up in the family that I did. Mom and Dad taught us the gospel and lived it themselves. What I enjoy about Dad is his sense of integrity. I watch him and know that he always sticks to the principles he believes in. He is definitely not one who is tossed about by every wind of doctrine. He knows what he believes and he never sways from it. I enjoy talking to Dad, and miss going on errands with him like I used to do when I was home, because it was always a fun time to talk. I appreciate all of the wise counsel he has given me over the years. I always knew that Dad's opinion was one I could completely trust. I think Dad is a very hard worker, and appreciate all he has done for our family and still does for us. Dad is very smart, not only in academic things, but about what is going on around him. I remember asking him questions and his opinions on government and social issues when I was getting ready for the pageant interviews (so that I might have something intelligent to say), and he knew about everything! And if I ever gave a strong opinion in one of those interviews, chances are, I got that opinion from listening to Dad, so thanks for that Dad! I admire Dad's honesty and kindness and his service in the community. And of course, one of the greatest things about Dad is his sense of humor...

I have a few fun memories ( well, I have alot more than a few, I'll just share the best ones...):

--When I came upstairs with my hair all done 40's style before a night of the play South Pacific, Dad looked at me strange and said "Who are you?" in a Chinese accent, mimicking, I believe, Pink Panther...it was hilarious.
--going on "dates" with Dad when we were younger
--going on Daddy-Daughter outings. It was fun for Dad to take care of us girls there.
--When I was 23 or so and not married or dating, Dad told me about the lady who married Dallin H. Oaks, who had never married until her 60's and told me I had hope (this was all said jokingly of course)
--I remember feeling really encouraged by Dad, when after practicing my voice in the living room, Dad was in the computer room, and after the practice told me how good he thought I was sounding ...I loved hearing his compliment, especially as singing was a struggle for me sometimes!
--one time I was complaining to Dad and said that I had a big nose and a bump. ( I have Mom's bump on the bridge of my nose, as I am sure you are all aware of). Dad said, "Well, you can't do anything about one of those but you can do something about the other!" I was very puzzled as to what he was talking about, then I realized he thought that I said I had a big bum, instead of big bump. So he was saying I could work out to get rid of the big bum! I thought it was so funny. I still don't know whether Dad was agreeing that I had a big bum, or if he was just being funny... :)
--fishing with Dad
--One time I was telling Dad about a guy in my chemistry class at MCC. The guy's name was Ryan and he was probably 5'5'' or something, but definitely shorter than me. I walked into class one day and I was dressed up because I had to sing in my next class. Ryan looked at me and said "well, Amy, you look sexy today." I was telling Dad how that kind of offended me. If he would have said I looked nice or pretty, that would have been one thing, but I didn't appreciate the word choice he used, because of the word and because that definitely wasn't my aim. I told Dad this and I think he agreed that it wasn't proper for Ryan to say this, because Dad gave me some advice on what my reply should have been. He said I should have said, "Well, Ryan, you look short today!" During that same talk, Dad was cleaning out the backporch closet and he found an old white and pink visor. He put it on when his back was to me, and then turned around with it on and made the craziest funny face...Dad really can get me laughing.

Well, I could go on, but I don't want to take up too much space, even though I might already have. I love you Dad and I hope you have a Happy Birthday! I am excited to see you in a couple of weeks!

Update from the Whites

Nobody has posted a new blog in awhile, and I finally decided to stop waiting and post one myself. Not that I have anything terribly new or exciting to say, but I do love you and miss everyone that's away. Family life is as busy as ever. The boys start Little League soon, and are doing great at piano. Cannon still keeps me going a million miles an hour. We've had to go into mini lockdown mode at our house. The other day I was home in the evening with all of the kids. The older boys were playing X-Box, Brae was reading, and the little boys were running around together. I had been in my room and the timer went off on the oven. I walked in to take dinner out of the oven and thought to myself that I hadn't seen the little boys in awhile, and decided to check on them right after I got dinner out. A clear thought came to my mind "Check now. Right now." I dropped the hot pads and as soon as I got into the hall I heard water in the bathroom. I went in and Crew and Cannon had the bath water on and it was filled to the top, seconds away from overflowing. Cannon was in the bath fully clothed, jumping and playing. (Crew was throwing every toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, comb, etc he could find, into the tub.) I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost. I am also grateful that I listened. It was scary to think about what could have happened. Locks went on the bathroom door the next day. Braelyn always has her nose in a book. Every now and again Jody has to invite her to join our world for awhile and be part of the family. Jody's business is doing pretty good, and he's really happy.
I hope dental/ortho school is going good for the boys, and that both Jessica's pregancies are going well. We miss Amy and Don, and for that matter, don't see Aaron and Melissa often enough. But, when it comes right down to it, no matter how little we see each other, you all are still my favorite people in the whole world. Love you- Ang

Here we are on Christmas Day. Oh man was that one of the best meals ever. Those of you that weren't here.... We ate for you. Cannon still hasn't got over throwing his food when he's done. i think there should be an invention where there's rubber that surrounds his seat. then whatever he throws down just pops right back up onto his plate. It would really confuse him. Of course there are some minor details to work out.

William Discovers the Joys of Chuck E. Cheese's

 

Beauty Queen? Highly unlikely.

I have been feeling like Eleanor and I needed to do something fun that was just for girls so when I saw the email for the Beautiful Baby (newborn to age 6) contest I signed her up. We got to go shopping and buy a new outfit and then spend half a day at the mall playing on the playground, eating, spending time together and then walk across a stage together. Eleanor being who she is made it quite difficult to get her to wear the new outfit and get her hair done and to actually walk across the stage. We had lots of fun playing on the playground and picking out gumballs and even riding on the carousel. When it came time to walk across the stage we were laughing and having fun (you practically have to trick her into doing anything that is not her idea). We went on stage and she immediately stuck out her tongue at the judges and giggled the entire 45 seconds we were up there. Everyone laughed. All I could do is smile and know that I could not expect anything different. She ended up getting second place to a little girl that was very poised and smiled and waved like a beauty queen. We did end up having a fun time and she got a trophy. Everyone ended up a winner in the contest. It was the first and probably the last of our beauty queen days. We do have the option of sending her to the state pageant where she would have eight different costume changes and need to submit four different pictures (headshot, full body, her advertising some product, and a snapshot), and I would need to go out and get sponsors and sell advertinsing pages for the program and it would only cost us about $1000 to have her ready. Sounds absolutely ridiculous and not up our alley. We are quite content to have had a nice day together. She will always be our little beauty and our little stinker.

My dream last night....

I had a dream last night about Andrew feeding William some baby food. Right behind the baby food in the frig right now (in real life) I have almost a whole jar of capers. In the dream after Andrew fed him some baby food, he fed William the whole jar of capers...which is a ton! I couldn't believe it, but Andrew seemed to think it was a good idea, and William wasn't protesting...still, I don't think I will try it. And next time Andrew feeds William, I think that mabye I should watch closely...

Home Wrecker (This is Jody's title)

Thought I'd paste this journal entry as a blog. Some of you will be able to identify, and some of you will be a little scared for what lies ahead!

I had a very exhausting day with Cannon today. Before he had been up for one hour he had climbed on the half wall between the kitchen and family room and repeatedly emptied the basket of fake apples that sits on the counter. I say repeatedly because for some reason I kept gathering them and putting them back in the same place. What was the definition of insanity again? Then while I was getting ready to go to a MTW meeting(which I remembered 15 minutes before I needed to leave, Crew still sleeping and no make up on or hair done) He emptied the remaining Q-Tips out of the 500 count pack, which I estimate to still have been at least 50% full, all over the bathroom floor. While I quickly tried to pick those up (remember I’m in a hurry) he climbed into the bathtub, turned on the water, filled up a cup, and dumped it over the side onto my carpeted bathroom floor. He repeated this twice before I could get him to stop. We then went to my mom’s, where I learned that his behavior at home was only a warm up. While there he:
· Climbed into the fireplace and forcefully hucked the candles and candlesticks out of the fireplace
· Went into grandpa’s office and unrolled two full rolls of adding machine paper
· Got into the office closet and wreaked a little havoc
· Took down all of the heirloom pictures in Grandma’s living room, actually managing to get the one of her mother as a teenager(the original) out of the frame(I didn’t admit this to mom)
· Was hucking another candle in the entryway when I found him, which I replaced although I couldn’t find the glass holder it had been on.
· Threw dirt from the large planter pots on the back porch everywhere. As I was sweeping it off the stairwell stairs, he kept throwing more. He knew he was on one side of the gate and I the other. He would wait until I thought he wasn’t going to go and get more dirt and so I’d go back to sweeping, then run throw a handful and run giggling away before I could reach through the bars and grab him
· Grandma called after we got home and said she’d found a single piece of glass(remember the missing candle holder) in the middle of the living room floor. A search ensued and the remainder of the broken candle holder was found under the chair in grandpa’s office.

After returning home he took a nap, and I enjoyed letting my guard down for a little while. After school we were driving kids around, which meant he was safely buckled in his car seat where the worst he could do was scream really loud, which he did almost non-stop-a high pitched, gleeful, -I know this makes you crazy-, scream. Jody confined him to his high chair during dinner, even though he was through well before any of us. We had to listen to him, but at least we didn’t have to wonder what he was destroying.

Next came one of our favorite, and at the same time dreaded, times of day. Dreaded because trying to get everyone ready for bed, quiet for prayer, teeth brushed, and hugs all around, never goes as smoothly, quickly, or quietly as we hope for. Favorite because it means that if we make it through all of this, hopefully without saying or doing something we’ll feel bad for later, the peace and quiet of bedtime is just around the corner. Of course, Cannon also happens to be going through a faze where he wants to be completely nude. After Jody had him ready for bed he pitched a full out fit, trying to rip his clothes off. This was just too much for Jody, who happened to have a pounding headache. We were also trying to get in family scripture study for the day. He acquiesced and let Cannon strip himself. When he still wasn’t completely happy (meaning he wasn’t quiet or still enough), Jody recalled that playing Cooper’s Game Boy had kept him very quiet the other day. So there he was, naked with a Game Boy, and almost content. He grabbed at a pillow on the couch and Jody placed it on his lap. Bingo! He was totally still, quiet, and captivated. Cooper was a little disturbed about the sanity of this situation, as it was his game boy, but I promised to clean it with an anti-bacterial wipe later! During scripture study I kept glancing at him. I couldn’t help myself. His face was so cute, and his little toes were the only thing sticking out the end of the pillow and he kept curling them while crossing and uncrossing his feet. This contentedness lasted almost long enough to finish scriptures. Shortly before we were done he ditched the modesty of the pillow and proceeded to climb up on the half wall, running back and forth, just as he had began his day. We tried to ignore this and finish, but soon Jody felt a few sprinkles on his hand. This is when we realized that he had just gone to the bathroom while standing on the half wall! The kids were laughing their heads off, Jody was grossing out, and of course I had to be the one to get up and take care of the situation. Needless to say, we put his clothes back on. He wasn’t any happier about it than he was the first time. Prayer was said and off to bed everyone went. I would love to say that that was the end of our day, yet at current count we have had to return Cannon to his bed 23 times since putting him to bed and hour and twenty minutes ago. Did I mention he learned how to climb out of the crib this week?
THIS IS DAD POPPING IN. IN THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TOOK ME TO READ THIS ENTRY, CANNON OR” HOME WRECKER” AS I HAVE DUBBED HIM, HAS GOTTEN OFF HIS BED 5 MORE TIMES. I CAN HEAR HIM CRYING NOW AS ANGELA PATIENTLY RETURNS HIM TO BED. IM ABOUT READY FOR THE OLD STRAP EM INTO BED ROUTINE.

Are you sure that was me?

Those were all very kind things you said. Now what do you want from me? In all seriousness (if such a thing is possible), we've had an enjoyable and interesting family life, haven't we? Of course, if you all had been more obedient to me when I was babysitting we'd be a lot further along now. Sorry, but I have to call it like I see it.

Thanks again for the kind words.

Aaron

Happy Birthday Aaron

I actually got to see Aaron and say Happy Birthday to him yesterday, but I wanted to add a few favorite memories.

*My teachers in high school would inevitably find out that I was Aaron's younger sister and then told me weekly how smart he was, and marvel at his intelligence. (I'm not sure what they were trying to imply about my intelligence). My favorite part though is that Aaron never made me feel like I wasn't smart.

*Decorating my room with the "Swoosh" theme for my thirteenth birthday. To this day I can't believe mom let him stay home from school to do that. It did make me feel incredibly special that he cared about me enough to spend his day doing something for me.

*Watching his high school football games

*Being in orchestra with him. I loved listening to him on his french horn parts.

*Being pinned down with his knees on my elbows while he let spit drop as close to my face as possible without actually dropping in my face. This probably only happened a couple of times, but it is not easy to forget.

*Babysitting with Aaron- which basically meant he told me everything that needed to be done and made me do it.

*Listening to music with Aaron

*Helping teach me how to drive, sharing the beast with me, and then selling me the beast.

*I loved being Aaron's younger sister in high school. I was always proud to say he was my brother. I especially loved when he'd talk to me in the sweet voice to try and get me to make him and his friends food when they came over. I acted like it was a big deal, but most of the time it made me feel good to do that for him.

*Giving my friends rides home from school and talking to us like we were cool enough to be with him.

*My big brother going on a mission. I missed you.

*I missed Aaron coming home from his mission because I was at BYU, but then he came to Utah to surprise Melissa and I was so happy to see him. He actually invited me to hang out with them quite a bit, even though I was a definite third wheel.

*Aaron and I had one semester at BYU together and I loved having him to call, to eat Sunday dinner with, and being part of his plan to propose to Melissa.

*One night when we lived in the rental house before moving to Boston, Mom had somewhere to be and Dad had a town council meeting. They put us all to bed and Aaron was awake babysitting. I got out of bed for some reason and couldn't find Aaron. I started to really worry. I couldn't think where he could possibly be. I had myself imagining the worst and I was really scared. I called the Lesters and they came over. Brother Lester drove to Circle K in case he had walked there. After not finding him anywhere he said he'd go to the town council meeting and talk to Dad. Turns out Dad had decided to take Aaron with him. I was glad he was okay, but I was so mad that they left without telling me and made me go through that, worrying so much about Aaron.

*The "free agency" kick when he was in sixth grade.

Basically I could keep this up for quite some time, but I just want Aaron to know that I couldn't have a better older brother. You were an awesome example to follow growing up and I still love the example you set for me. You are smart, funny, and an incredible person. I love you.

I'm retarded

I imagine you are all wondering what that title refers to. Quite frankly, I'm not sure, but I will reason it out as I type. I forgot Aaron's birthday yesterday. I read Amy's post and I began to conjure up memories of Aaron. I am anxious to know how the training is continuing. I remember Aaron telling us how he trained himself to dream (reason) about his questions and have the answers when he woke up. I ran from him many times, an effort that usually resulted in my being pinned down and tortured (Indian rub burns, wedgies, wet willy's). However, I also remember Aaron defending Andrew and I by getting our money back from Aaron White when he taught us a new game. I remember him staying after football practice to watch me play in junior high (we played our last game at the high school). Though the memory is a little fuzzy, I remember one night that Aaron was left home to watch us. I was about 14 at the time, and Andrew and I had been given a job to do- I think it was the boys bathroom. Andrew and I had split the work, and I proceeded to do my half quickly because I was going to go to Ben's house or something. I was ready to go and Aaron came to check our work. Andrew had not completed his half, so I was not permitted to go. An argument ensued, and I got all worked up. Aaron told me that the job was given to both of us and until it was done, we were still both responsible. After about twenty minutes, Ben came over with Bob or Peggy to pick me up, but I was all puffy eyed and embarrassed. Aaron came and put his arm around me and told me he was sorry for getting me so upset. He said he didn't want me to have a bad night, to forget about it and have a good time playing with Ben. I don't remember if I had to help finish cleaning the bathroom, but I knew Aaron was right. I had a good time that night. Aaron picked me up at the hospital after I broke my leg. He actually showed up in the beast, so I wouldn't call that a feather in his cap. Thank you for being a good example. Happy 34th Birthday. Well, I didn't reason out much, but a fact is a fact- I'm retarded.
Alan

Happy Birthday Aaron! (belated 1 day)

Just wanted to wish Aaron a Happy Birthday! Sorry it's a bit late on the blog....

Fun memories of Aaron:
-All of your home videos in high school, especially the one with Aaron White trying to eat that mountain of ice cream, and he kept not being able to get a bite on the spoon.
-our family meeting the morning before you left for college. I remember we all got up early together to say goodbye to you...the first one off to college!
-funny pictures you would send home from your mission
-you always calling me Ames...I think you were the first the give me that nickname
-going to your high school football games


Hope your birthday was fun! Love ya!

Amy

To: Aric and Jessica

To: Don and Amy!

Ready, Set, Go