Apologies

My apologies to the passengers of Southwest flight 3190 (SLC to Chicago-Midway). Yes, the child who screamed the entire time is my child. I know that she seemed unreasonable and spoiled every time she yelled, "no, no, no!" I know that my husband and I appeared incompetent. I'm sure that your flight was exhausting. In fact, someone watching us all deplane at the gate queried, "why is everyone heaving a sigh when they get off this flight." My simple answer is: "Eden."

Here is the thing though, my daughter is usually a very good traveler. This time however, she was sick*. I tried to reschedule** things so that we wouldn't have to fly while she was feeling so poorly, but that didn't work out.

So that you can have a more accurate image of my sweet, good, daughter, here are some pictures of just how cute and sweet she is.

These two pictures are of the lambs in our family Nativity pageant.
Eden and her cousin Brinley were excellent little lambs
(although having played the role of Mary earlier, one little lamb kept wanting to hold baby Jesus).
You'll notice that the lamb has a pet kitty - naturally!

Christmas presents are GREAT!

When she finally got to the doctor (after we got home) Eden was so lethargic.
She even fell asleep during the exam. It was seriously so sad to see her feeling so sick. So sweet!

*Phil took her to the doctor when we got home and she had an ear infection, terrible congestion, and phlegm in her lung. No wonder she screamed with the pressurization of air travel. Now, don't you feel badly for judging her?

**We had to get home because Phil had a chemo treatment scheduled for the next day. I called to try to reschedule it. I told them they needed to get back with me before 11:00 or we'd have to be on the plane. When we got to Midway I had a message (left at 2:30) that they had rescheduled the chemo treatment. Nice, but it didn't really solve my problem of not wanting to make my sick baby travel. It has worked out ok though because then I got sick and Phil has had to be primary caregiver all week so it is a good thing he isn't hooked up to a tube of poison.

Merry Christmas

We are enjoying
LOTS of SNOW and
LOTS of FAMILY and
LOTS of LOVE and
LOTS of PRESENTS (especially Eden - I think her toy inventory just doubled).

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that we and you can find a little time today to reflect on the Son of God who condescended to become the Babe of Bethlehem. Without Him we would be lost - in every sense.

This was NOT in my Franklin

My plans for Monday:
8:00 a.m. - take Voice Male clothes to dry cleaner
9:30 a.m. - watch Eden participate in a Nativity play (as Mary)
10:30 a.m. - visit Irene
11:30 a.m. - visit Charlotte
12:30 p.m. - attend the USU Registrar's Office Christmas party (have lots and lots of fun laughing with old friends and remembering good times and agreeing as everyone goes on and on about how cute Eden is)
2:00 p.m. - put Eden down for a nap and do laundry

How Monday actually went:
4:30 a.m. - wake up with a bad stomachache, lay on the couch
8:00 a.m. - take Voice Male clothes to dry cleaner - Convince a really nice woman to rush our 9 pairs of pants and 12 shirts so that I can pick them up Tuesday
9:00 a.m. - lay on the couch
10:00 a.m. - watch Eden (while moaning on the couch) as Mary in the cutest pre-school version of the Nativity (five preschool boys and my Eden)
10:30 a.m. - yeah, you guessed it, the couch which is where I spent the remainder of my day (except when I moved to my dad's bed so I could watch some mindless television. Did you know that Kirby Heyborne was in a Lifetime original Christmas movie this year?)
2:00 p.m. - watched my mom do my laundry (thanks mom!)
3:30 a.m. Tuesday - finally feel well enough to get some sleep
6:30 a.m. pack up everything, pick up the VM dry cleaning and go pick Phil up at the airport.

We got to Phil's parents' house and he left for the Thanksgiving Point show afterwhich Eden promptly puked her guts out all over me. Poor Eden, she hasn't ever thrown up before. She was pretty upset by it all but rebounded quickly and, for now, is sleeping. . .

Just as I wrote that, she woke up. Now it is several hours later and she is attempting to sleep.

yeah, not what I had planned at all . . .

Food Friday

Ok, this isn't a recipe, it is a wonderful tip instead. In Utah, there is a restaurant (popular for their catering and wedding luncheons) named "The Lion House." They have some of the best recipes and are especially famous for their rolls and breads. Well, if you do a google search with "Lion House Recipe" you will find a treasure trove of great stuff. So, while the Food Friday Czar is on holiday, get your recipe fix from The Lion House, you won't regret it.

And what did I do on Friday (instead of Food Friday)?

Well, I dipped all kinds of yummy chocolates with my mom, aunt Deani, brother Josh, and sister Heather. Such a fun family tradition! Then I went to the Ogden Voice Male concert. It was good. The audience gave them two standing ovations. Fun times.

Now it is snowing ... yippee!!!

Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby!

Eden is hitting that age when she just loves babies! She still calls herself a baby but she clearly has an affection for babies smaller and younger than she.

The trip to Utah was HEAVEN for her.

On Thursday (the day we got there) she got to see her cousin Arabella who is about a month old. She is so cute and Eden was perfectly willing to let me hold her. Eden had a cough so we had to keep her at a distance but she sure loved looking at all the baby stuff from the car seat to the infant swing to the blankets.

On Friday she got to meet another new cousin, Emma (3 weeks old). This was great fun for her because they were both spending the night at Grandma's house (I mean "Monkey's" house). Emma's big sister, Brinley did a good job of helping Eden appropriately love on Emma. Eden was intrigued by how Emma got her food. Yeah, Eden that is how MOST babies do it! (Eden refused to nurse and so I pumped and she drank from a bottle for the first 11 months of her life!)

On Saturday she got to meet one of her newest Voice Male cousins, Jack (also about a month old). She admired him from afar but sure enjoyed talking about the baby (and she flashed him that belly button - along with everyone else in the room).

On Tuesday (I know, she had to go two whole days without a new baby!) she got to spend time with her Eternal BFF, Heather (six weeks old). She even learned to say "Heather." She was pretty cute about it. Charlotte (Heather's mom) and I took our little girls on a walk to the park. It was so fun to share stories and enjoy the time with our girls. Heather slept and Eden yacked. Thursday morning as we were getting ready to leave I was singing some song with the lyric, "baby, baby" and Eden said, "Heather." Well, I thought she was saying my sister, Heather so I replied, "what about Heather?" and she explained, "baby, baby!" She loves her EBFF and all the babies she got to see while we were in Utah. We are so glad we got to take a trip so early in all their little lives.

More Utah Pictures

While in Utah, Eden and I convinced my mom (it wasn't hard) to go to the park with us. It was a beautiful fall day. While we were driving we saw my sister, Heather, and her family headed home from the doctor (they all got their flu shots) so we invited them to join us and they did! We had such a nice time! Here are some pictures:

This is my nephew Binh. He kept running around and saying,
"Heidi, Heidi, take my picture!" I am really impressed by how well this one turned out!

Four of Heather's five kids: Binh, Lydia, Caleb, and Sam (Natalie had a friend at the park so she ignored us):

Lydia and Eden. Lydia is always so patient and kind to Eden. She is an excellent older cousin and spent endless time taking Eden to see the neighbors' dogs and cats and doing Eden's bidding.

Lydia looking very grown up for an 8 year old

Sam, Eden, and Binh taking a break from throwing rocks into the stream

Eden and my mom. I've mentioned how everyone in my family calls my dad Punka, well one day Eden pointed to a picture of our family and said, "Punky and Monkey" and I think it is a pretty cute nick name for my cute mom

Eden was a trooper during our crazy trip. She was either totally abandoned by her parents (but in the safe and loving care of both sets of grandparents) or being hauled from one event to another. By the time things started to settle down I could tell she just needed some normal time with mom. I had thought I would try to see more friends and go see my former co-workers on campus but the mom in me decided to just spend some time with my girl. So we did. She really liked the MegaBlocks and we had a great time stacking them. We also played with my mom's play kitchen set (shhh... don't tell Eden, but that is what she is getting for Christmas). Eden made us soup and served me a banana, an apple, and an orange. We had a good time!

MegaBlocks are cool!

Eden with two of her VM cousins. I love all three expressions!

The Bambino Goes to Work

While we were in Utah, we went to USU to see old friends. It was so fun to visit with people and to see the place where Bamdaddy and I each worked for years.

Here is a picture of the Bambino in my old office - sitting at my desk and in my old chair. She looks pretty natural, eh?

(Watch out Roland, you could be replaced!)

A Few of My Favorite Things

We are home from our two-weeks in Utah. It was a busy and fun time. Even with much to do, I found it relaxing (Phil probably didn't - he had MUCH more to do than I). Eden had a great time. I think she loved every minute of it. Here are a few of her favorite things:

• Grandpas and Grandmas who spoil and love her.
• Cousins, cousins, cousins (that would be Kesler cousins, Beck cousins, and Voice Male cousins).
• Outside or "sigh" as she calls it now. She loved playing outside on soft grass (ours is coarse); without the threat of yucky, mean bugs (I have a fear of chiggers and the like); and without the muggy, hot, humidity. A big thanks to Lydia and Natalie for endless hours of taking Eden "sigh."
  
• The Voice Male concert in the Centerville park (which was outside, of course). She had so much fun playing with Pinga, and Landon (and her other VM cousins) and then her Beck cousins when they arrived. She loved clapping after each song. She especially loved the food that was available in plenty. Seriously, she ate an entire banana, several animal crackers, about 16 oz. of milk, several grapes, and anything else she could get her hands on. She had a tummy ache that night - go figure!
• Sleeping in (ok this is probably more mine than hers). My mom's sewing room has no windows and is therefore totally dark night and day. It becomes the baby's room whenever there are visitors (and if more than one of us shows up at the same time there is a battle over it). This was Eden's first time sleeping in that room and she totally slept in, later and later each day. She usually gets up with the sun so we are loving this and have draped heavy blankets over her windows in the hopes of duplicating this miracle. (It worked this morning - she slept in until 10, of course she didn't get to bed until midnight.)
  
• The moving walk ways at the Denver airport. We had a two-hour layover yesterday (why is it that when we have 40 minutes we have to cross massive airports to get to the departing gate but when we had two hours we ended up departing from the very gate at which we landed?). There was a moving walk way right by our gate. I bet Eden and I walked back and forth on those twenty times! She loved it. She is just getting a little more confident at walking (still won't do it without holding my hand though) and this was great practice.
• Climbing stairs. Our house doesn't have stairs so she hasn't had much opportunity to develop this talent. She is now proficient and thinks she is pretty cool (we need to teach her how to go down now - anyone want to loan us their stairs?).
• Bath and Bodyworks in the Denver airport. Eden loves lotion and anything that has a nice scent. I took her into the store in the airport and she had a blast trying all the "TRY ME" lotions. She rubbed it on her hands and face and arms and then sniffed and oohed and ahhed. She is such a girl!
• New shoes. Speaking of being such a girl, Eden loves shoes (or "shehz" as she says). Her cousin, Brinley, gave her three pairs of shoes and she thinks they are pretty awesome. Her feet are finally growing (she was a size two forever - I sometimes think this might be why she is a late walker) and she is into size four now. She loves her shehz.

We had such a nice time with friends and family. Thanks everyone! Now we are home and it feels nice. It is good to have friends both near and far. We are pretty blessed.

Havanah Glen

While in NY, we went (with several family members) to this beautiful hike:

Magic in the Mist

Location: Niagara Falls

Scene: A Husband and Wife have faced the rain in order to experience Niagara Falls together (she'd been, he hadn't). Their SIL was watching their most adorable one year old and they were enjoying some alone time that DIDN'T include doctors. As they looked over the amazing falls, Phil contemplated the deep mysteries of the earth. Heidi, on the other hand, enjoyed the mixture of mist and rain falling upon her face and hair.










The couple next approached their trusty aqueous vessel, The Maid of the Mist. As they did so, they gleefully held hands. Alone in their bliss, their solitude was abruptly interrupted by an elderly employee of the company who so ably relieved tourists of their funds. We will call this kindly man, "Bob."

Bob: "You know, there is magic in the mist."
Heidi: "huh?"
Bob: "Yes, there are more ions being charged in the middle of that mist than anywhere else on earth."
Phil: "Interesting."
Bob: "That's right, you two just keep holding hands and you'll feel the magic in the mist. You might even feel inclined to get a little more cozy. You might even kiss."
Heidi: "Alrighty then, thanks for the info."

In preparation for the magic in the mist, the couple donned the appropriate attire:












Off they went, resolute, determined, hands held, into the mist.

There was magic in the mist!

the end.

A Birthday Never to be Forgotten...

I am somewhat known for planning great birthday celebrations for those closest to me (see here for one such opinion). In fact, Phil often lists "a thoughtful giver" among the qualities he most appreciates in me. So, imagine my horror when I realized that in booking our flights to NY (for a Design Conference - a whole week of typography bliss! more on this later) I booked our return flight on Phil's birthday. Not just any birthday either, but the big 4-0! Yup, I did. How would I turn this into something better than terrible? I got him some nice gifts and incrementally dished them out (which he pretends to hate but I think he likes early gifts just as much as anyone - as long as there are still gifts left on the actual day!). I asked my friend, Alisha (and her able helpers: Bayley, Kendal, and Trey) to decorate our house and leave a cake so that when we got home at 10pm there would be a ready-made birthday waiting. This could be saved, right?

I gave Alisha the key, the balloons and streamers, the cake mix and frosting, and the "4-0" candles. The day we left I made sure to unlock the storm door in the front. I was pretty excited that this was going to be a fun surprise for Phil (and save my reputation).

Wednesday, July 23, arrived and I received a phone message that basically went like this:

"Heidi, hi, this is Alisha. We are at the house and ... well ...
the storm doors are both locked. Is there another way in?
We can't really decorate without getting in and
we can't get in because the storm doors are locked."

Dang! My thorough husband did one last walk-through and re-locked the storm door.

I admitted to Phil that I was defeated and a failure at adequately celebrating his big day. We laughed. Then it happened...

Our flight was delayed. There was no way we'd make our connecting flight. After several hours in the Rochester Airport we were given the assurance that we would be on a 6am direct flight to Atlanta. We were given a voucher for a night at the Holiday Inn (actually a very nice room!) and 4 $5 food vouchers*. As luck would have it, our luggage was able to make its way to Detroit and then Atlanta, unlike us. Therefore, we didn't have any of our clothing, toiletries, scriptures**, or the like. Therefore, Phil spent the evening of his birthday washing clothes in the sink and then drying them with an iron***.

Thursday we awoke at 4am (ah, 5 hours of blissful sleep) to catch our 6am flight. Imagine our frustration when we were informed that we had not been booked (actually Phil had, I hadn't) after all. Oh, and by the way, there are no open flights out today. Did I mention that we were trying to get back so that Phil could meet with the Oncologist and have a chemo treatment? Yeah. So after some tense moments (in which I got a little cranky - not yelling, just cranky - with an airline employee) we were sent to another airline. They got us on a flight to Detroit and then on to Atlanta. We missed the doctor stuff (still trying to figure all that out because it isn't a good thing to be off schedule). Eden was AWESOME (I'll do another post about all the cute things she did).

We're home now. Alisha and the kids decorated the door. There is a cake in the oven. Phil has opened his gifts. He gets a weekend without chemo (perhaps the best gift of all). The pressure is totally off for next year. I no longer have to live up to the perception that I am a great celebrator of birthdays. He'll probably be happy if I just don't book a flight on his big day.

Happy Birthday Phil - at least you got a poem from Char! :)

Phil's chocolate and PB cake (I used PB to "decorate" the cake - quick thinking I'd say).

Phil opening his presents (the ones that were still unopened on his b'day)



*these had to be used in the airport. We couldn't go over the $5 on any purchase (so we couldn't buy something for $5.23 and give them a voucher and a quarter) and there was no change back if we bought something for under $5. It is an interesting puzzle to figure out what to buy that will come closest to $5 without going over (it was like the Price is Right or something!).

**hooray for lds.org - we were still able to have scripture reading!

***Char and I learned this trick when our luggage was "lost" (we knew where it was the whole time, just the airline didn't) for several days on a trip to NYC.