Newport Beach in June

Disclaimer: There are several pictures/videos that I would like to add to this post, but I haven't gotten them from Mark's mom yet.  So I'll post what I have, but I'm sure there are better ones that will be posted at a later date for your enjoyment! :)

Mark's parents have a timeshare at the Newport Coast Villas in California, and they invited us to join them this year.  We had a separate condo, shared with Mark's brother Cory and his family, while Mark's other brother Brian and his family shared with the parents.  The youngest brother Alex wasn't able to join us this year because he had to work and recently took a different trip with a friend.  It was our first out of state actual vacation with Cadence in our family.

It was something that all of us were looking forward to: a chance to spend time with family, a nice break from the everyday, nice weather, taking the kids to SeaWorld  and watching their reactions to everything, celebrating Cadence's 1st birthday... it was going to be a blast!!  And all except for all the vomiting our kids did that week, it was. :)

Cadence threw-up twice in the van on the way to Las Vegas, NV (where we stayed with my Uncle John and Aunt Mary, thanks so much!).  Driving to Newport Beach on Sunday went fine (I think).  Monday night, just after giving her a bath and finishing her nighttime bottle, Cadence threw-up again.  Tuesday I called the doctor and she suggested that it might be a sensitivity to cow's milk and to put her on soy milk for 3-6 months and try again.  So we bought the expensive stuff, and she was fine the rest of the week.

Tuesday we all went to the beach, where Canon loved running away from the waves, but hated the water actually touching him.  Cadence played in the sand- a new texture for her- but the wind really bothered her.  It was super windy, and after about 30 minutes of it she just started throwing a fit.  The only thing I could do was hold her against my chest with my towel over her.  She didn't really want to be cuddled, but every time she lifted her head away, the wind would hit her face and she would just fall back onto my shoulder.  Figuring that it was better than the wind, she resigned to let me cuddle her for the rest of our trip to the beach. (I know Mark's mom has some videos and pictures of this, but I don't yet.  Maybe you'll see them later.)

Wednesday we were planning to go to SeaWorld, but at about 1:30am Canon started throwing up in his sleep.  The poor boy threw up about 7 times that night...well, heaved that often.  His stomach ran out of stuff about the 3rd time.  I heard him crying out in his sleep, "Oh no! I can't do it!"  I think he was referring to making it to the toilet in time.  We pulled him into our room and gave him a bowl to use when he was nauseous.  That morning we decided to allow Canon the day to recover before going to SeaWorld on Thursday.  He seemed mostly fine that whole day. I think this was the day we visited the Pier and watched the beautiful waves, saw dolphins from a distance, and ate pizza while watching Wreck It Ralph.

Too sunny for Canon to give a good smile!  This is the pier.

Thursday we did go to SeaWorld, and Canon certainly loved the Shamu show, and really all the shows with the animals.  Cadence didn't do so well in the heat, but eventually crashed in the stroller for a nap.  Cadence really seemed to enjoy the animal shows too, applauding and shouting much of the time.  At lunch Canon complained of a tummy-ache, and I told him there wasn't really anything that I could do about it.  After eating some watermelon, he threw up all over the table and floor.  After that, he felt much better.  And he enjoyed the rest of the day at SeaWorld too.  Poor kid!  We bought Canon a souvenir Shamu, and Grandma Dahl bought Cadence a penguin she fell in love with as a birthday present.  When we wanted to show Grandpa Dahl the penguin, we discovered that Cadence had dropped it somewhere, and it was nowhere to be found.  So, Grandma bought another one, which Cadence also loved just as much.  Thank goodness the penguin was about 1/2 as expensive as the gifts they'd normally like to buy for a grandkid. :)  (By the time we were packing our bags to go home, we somehow didn't have Canon's Shamu.  I guess those SeaWorld animals are slippery creatures and very hard to keep track of! *shrugs*)

Friday we celebrated Cadence's birthday.  I saw this idea on Pinterest, and I heard of a friend doing something like this too.  So, I was excited for it, and I am kind of proud of how it turned out.  Canon's first birthday cake was a Tigger cake that I designed and decorated.  His 2nd and 3rd birthdays were not nearly as cute- in my opinion- and I would really like to have fun cakes for my kids.  At least for her 1st birthday I wanted to do something fun. I took pictures of my creation all along the way so that you could see how it worked out.  Can you guess what it is?

start with a round cake, double-layered- I chose confetti cake!

cut in half

switch!

cut again

frost white- I chose to use marshmallows in the center to create a body- 2 high, 6 long, stuck there with frosting.

Then I frosted that body with dyed frosting.

I kinda made up how I wanted it to look as I went along.  

coming along just fine.

add some pink too

Add a smiley face and some crooked antennae and I have my masterpiece!

Cadence's butterfly cake! Happy First Birthday!!! 

This video is not terribly exciting, but it's her time with the cake... just in case you were interested in watching it. :)

We forgot to bring matches or a lighter, so she didn't get to blow out the candle, but I put one in there for her.  She was a bit hesitant with her cake, but eventually decided to make a big mess with it, and it all turned out great.

Cadence with her penguin

now with Grandpa and penguin

"Get this stuff off my fingers!"  as she shakes them emphatically.

Once all the birthday festivities were finished, we had to think about what to do with our last day there.  Originally Mark and I were going to stay until Sunday, but Mark's grandfather had passed away that Monday we were in California.  So we had to leave on Saturday in order to be back in time for the viewing on Sunday in Sandy, UT.  Mark and I were able to meet up with my cousin and his wife who live out there close to Newport, and then we packed up and left for home.  We stopped at a Carl's Jr. for dinner on the way to Las Vegas.  Canon started throwing a huge fit about the toy that came with his kid's meal.  He was so upset that he got the holographic ring instead of the Superman action figure.  He then exclaimed that he was going to throw up, but we didn't believe him.  We thought that he was just saying that because he would get sympathy.  Well, he DID throw up. Not sure if he was so easily upset because he had a sour stomach... or if he was so upset that he made himself throw-up.  All I know is that I felt bad that we didn't believe him, and I felt bad that he did it at the restaurant and had to have them clean it up.  

Here are a few pictures of Canon with his favorite person in the world, his cousin Cameron.

Cam reading a story to Canon.

Cam, you're gonna crash!!

Hey, how does this thing work?

Really liking the model car sitting by the fountain at the condos.

We stayed at my Aunt and Uncle's house again, but this time my brother Rob's family were staying with them too because they were on their way home from a vacation in Hawaii.  So it was nice to have a short time to visit with them, even if it was an out-of-state visit to make it happen.  We got back in time to get the kids ready, as well as shower ourselves, and go on out to the viewing in Sandy.  Sunday night we stayed at Mark's parents' house so we could attend the funeral the next day.  Canon threw-up again in the middle of his sleep.  He came all the way downstairs, stating that he was "all dirty" on his face and arm.  When I turned on the light I saw that it was all over his back and arm... and so yucky!  He didn't even realize that he had thrown up again.  Poor kid!

We then attended the funeral on Monday (the day we anticipated to be traveling back from Las Vegas).  It was so nice to be there and hear things about Grandpa Joseph Milton Smith that I've never heard before.  I've known him for the past 9 years, but there was so much more to his life than what I knew of him.  It was great to hear the influence he had on so many people, to hear about his faith and testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, and to learn of his wonderful work ethic and belief in hard work.  He was a great man, and he will be missed here on Earth.  However, we all know that he is feeling much better where he is now.  His last few years were harder and harder on him, and it was a relief for him to be able to pass through to the other side.  I know that he is working just as hard as ever in sharing his testimony, and this time he's with his two sons who preceded him in death.

After all of that, our vacation ended.  We had a great time with family... lost a binky... lost a Shamu... lost a grandpa... got the sickies... shared said sickies with cousins... but still managed to get back all safe and sound.  By the time we got home to Ogden, Canon stopped puking, but Cadence had a couple more spouts of it.  Eventually I came to learn that she just had a little bug too, not a sensitivity to milk.  So I offer milk to her all the time now, and she's fine.  Thank goodness, because soy milk is super expensive.

Now I need a vacation away from the kids... one that will actually be relaxing!  :)

Mark and Kat's Birthday

There are several things that I would like to catch up on, so I need to start from where I left off.

On Mark's actual birthday, I attended a bread-making class at a store called For Your Kitchen.  I LOVED this class, and I totally love this store too.  It's a local family-owned store that has everything you could possibly want for your kitchen: cooking gadgets, utensils, appliances (small and large), cookware, several kinds of ingredients too, and really anything.  The prices are not outrageous either.  They offer several types of cooking classes, kids classes, couples classes, girls' night out classes, and even classes with Chef Brad from BYUtv.  If this little plug has peeked your interest, you should totally check it out.  www.fykitchen.com

Anyway,  I asked Mark ahead of time if he would mind if I went that night.  Since I couldn't be there to make dinner for him, I made chicken and dumplings for him the night before, and I think I even made him a special breakfast the morning of his birthday.   Then, the day we celebrated his birthday with family, he tried to play the pity card...and that didn't go over so well.

Mark's birthday is just 12 days before mine, so we tend to have a combined party to celebrate. This year we would've done it on March 30th, but that was Easter weekend.  So we did it the previous week, on March 23rd.  This was a bit confusing for my brother Rob because it's actually our brother David's birthday.  "Wait! so whose birthday are we celebrating?  David's or Mark's.  Your birthday isn't until next month!" "Yeah, next month, but it's only 2 weeks away!" HA! :)

We invited family who live in-state, and friends we made from our time in Boston.  It was a fun time with a graham cracker pudding dessert that Mark requested 

 and a pineapple upside down cake that we got from a Stake Luau that had way too much left-overs.

  By the time I added all 30 candles to each cake, we had a regular fire hazard on our hands!  :)

It was a good time, with Mark getting a couple nice dress shirts and ties for work, and I got a couple new pans for my kitchen.  AWESOME!!  (I'm sure we probably got other stuff too, but it was so long ago I'm having a hard time remembering.)  Although, I do remember that Mark gave me some money to go buy more clothes.  After Cadence was born, I weigh much less than I did before I got pregnant with her, so most of my pants don't really fit.  I did use that money to buy some shorts, jeans, and skirts from Ross and DI.  

An amazing story that happened ON MY BIRTHDAY as I was shopping at DI, I found $150 in the pocket of one of the pairs of pants I tried on.  I reported it to the cashier because I would've felt horrible if someone came looking for that  money.  They told me that after a week, if no one claimed it, then it would be mine.  Lo and behold, after about 8 days I had an extra $150!!  WOW!  Talk about a great find at the DI!!  :)  Happy 30th birthday to me!!

Kat's Surgery is MAY 14th

Many of you know most of these details, but many more of you don't.  Feel free to skim or even skip over this post.  :)

When I took Cadence in for her 9-month well-baby visit, the pediatrician looked at me and asked, "Are you currently taking any thyroid medication, or being seen about your thyroid?"  That was a surprise, because I was there for Cadence.  When I told her I wasn't she said, "Well, I see you've got a goiter, and the thinning of the hair can be a symptom of thyroid problems, too.  So I want you to be seen."  I never noticed a lump on my throat, and I knew my hair had been thin for a long time,  so I didn't think anything of it.

It took me about a month to really decide to actually go in to be seen.  By then I did start to notice that the left side of my neck didn't look like the right side, and my hair elastics wrapped around my ponytails 2-3 times more than they used to.  So I figured it was probably a good thing to get checked out.  The PCP I met concurred that it was a goiter.  He advised me to get an ultrasound (which I was able to do right after my appointment with the PCP because there was an opening, fortunately!!) and to go see an ENT within 2 weeks.  Well, thankfully there was a cancellation a couple days later... I was able to get in right away.

Dr. Scheuller the ENT told me that the ultrasound found a singular large nodule on my left side of the thyroid.  It has grown to be 9cm x 2.7cm x 6cm, whereas the right side is normal at 4cm x 1.2cm x 1.3cm.  So you can see that it has grown to be pretty HUGE!   How did I not notice that!?!?  I guess it was such a slow-growing process that it was never obvious from a day-to-day observation. He said that 80% of my thyroid was now nodule, and the healthy side is only 20%. The ENT also told me that he was pretty sure that my thyroid wasn't really producing the hormones that it should, "basically not even functioning" were his words. So his suggestion was to remove the entire thyroid.  This would avoid any future hassles; like if I had more nodules grow on the right side and need to have a second surgery to remove them, ultrasounds to be continuously checking-up on that healthy side, trying to regulate medication against what the partial thyroid would be putting out as it may fluctuate in productivity, etc.  Plus, apparently it's a trickier surgery to go in a second time.  So, I understood where the ENT was coming from, and I believed that his suggestion was probably right.  So I went ahead and scheduled the surgery for June 26th, after our family vacation to Newport Beach.  (It was for insurance purposes that I thought this would be best, since the ENT didn't see that it needed to be rushed.)

After many phone calls talking to family about my situation, I decided to get a second opinion.  There were too many "what if's" in my head.  Did I really need to remove the whole thyroid?  Is it possible to not really need medication if I kept the healthy side?  Couldn't I use homeopathic remedies to assist the thyroid and not really need to be on synthetic drugs?  I rescheduled my surgery for May 14th, and was able to get in to see an Endocrinologist on May 7th.  It was good timing I thought because if she concurred that I would need surgery, then it was already set.  If she thought that it wasn't necessary, then I still had that 7 days to cancel.

Dr. Schneider the Endocrinologist sounded very hopeful that we might be able to get away with only removing the bad tissue and leaving the right side alone.  When I asked, she told me that my levels were "completely normal" which is not what the ENT said.  She believed that it was possible that the healthy side might pick up the slack and produce enough hormone without the aid of supplements.    However, there was no guarantee that this would be the case.  Especially since I have a family history of low-thyroid problems.  So she wanted to perform a blood test to check for familial antibodies, which would prove that I would be at a higher risk of thyroid failure in the future.  Dr. Schneider is the type who would recommend less surgery if more wasn't needed.  She explained that there are more risks to surgery, and was wary of messing with perfectly healthy tissue.  So her recommendation was to have Dr. Scheuller remove only the left side, and look at it while I was still sedated to check for signs of cancer.  If it's fine, then just sew me back up, but only if it's suspicious of cancer should he take out the other side.  She made it sound like the follow-up ultrasounds wouldn't really be a big deal, not much of a hassle, which is not how the ENT made it sound.  She also said it's really a non-issue to regulate the medication because all the thinking of how much hormone to produce is processed in the brain.  So there really wouldn't be as much fluctuation to deal with.

Then I got the results from the blood-work.  I tested positive for those antibodies, which means that I most likely will have a failing thyroid at some point in my life.  Knowing this, my healthy side is much less likely to pick up that extra slack... at least not for very long.  It's no longer a question of "if" but a question of "when" my thyroid will give out.  So, the endocrinologist then told me that she was more indifferent as to whether I do only the one side or the entire thing.  I asked her about health in pregnancy whether I had partial natural as opposed to fully synthetic hormones, and she said there really is no difference.  There are some people whose hormone levels once on medication just never seem right, like the never feel like themselves.  However, most people do just fine with medication.

Weighing the factors involved, I've decided to have the entire thyroid removed.  That way I will no longer be asking any questions, wondering if everything is working properly or not.  If I take the whole thing out, I know I don't have a thyroid.  I know I won't need an ultrasound on it every so often to check on it.  I know that I will have to be on medication and no longer wonder when it will have to happen.

So, I had a priesthood blessing from Mark and a member of our bishopric.  In it I was promised that the surgery would go smoothly with no complications, that I would recover quickly.  He also mentioned that I would be a good teacher to those in Church through my good example and love.  Hmm, interesting!  Well...I'm feeling a little nervous, but confident that I am in good hands.  Prayers will be appreciated.  Wish me luck!

Love you all!

Mark's Interviews- The Results

About 3 weeks ago Mark had 2 interviews with law firms in Salt Lake City.  The first firm said they thought it would be about a week until they made a decision.  Over 2 weeks went by and still no word.  Mark sent an email to follow-up... still no word.  We figured that maybe they chose someone else and were waiting for them to accept before rejecting Mark, or they could have just not invited him for a second interview and they're still in the process.  Either way, they should at least let him know what's up!  :(  We're not terribly hopeful for that position.

The second interview, the one we really wanted at Holland and Hart, had a more interesting conclusion.  Mark had one of his contacts follow-up with them and then if he hadn't heard, then Mark was going to send an email to follow-up himself.  A couple days ago we got word that Holland and Hart was bringing on a new partner from another firm, and he was insisting on bringing in 3 associates that he had been working with.  So, the position that Mark was applying for ended up not needing to be filled.  Instead of hiring 1 new associate, they added 1 partner and 3 associates.  *sigh*  I guess it's just not Mark's turn yet.

Thank you for your prayers and support through this whole ordeal.  Mark continues to look for a better job.  At least we're not worse off than we were before the interviews.  He's not out of a job, but he would certainly like an opportunity to get a job that is worth his talents.  I truly believe that Mark would be an asset to any firm he chooses to work for, but someone needs to just give him a chance.  We continue to pray that he will find something...and that we can have the strength to accept God's will in this matter.

Adventures in Playgroups

A while back I started doing Joy School with Canon and 3 other boys in the area with their moms.  I think that it was a great thing for Canon, but the other boys were just not quite old enough to handle it.  Sitting down for a lesson was just too hard for them, so we decided to still get together for playgroup but discontinue the Joy School part of it.  Well, sometimes it can still get pretty interesting when you put these boys together.

Yesterday playgroup was at my place.  Jen, one of the other moms, was my helper, but she needed to bring 2 of her other kids with her.  We had a total of 5 kids making paper bag puppets, which turned to be a fun activity for most of them.  When we were done with our activity, I let them all play until it was time to go home.  Jen and I were distracted with a little project of sewing a button onto her daughter's pants.  I saw Emerson run into the bathroom with a naked bum.  What?!? Uh, Eme, where are your pants?  Did you just have an accident in Canon's room?  We then realized that his mom, Maleah, was there helping him to go potty.  Phew!  But, yes he did have an accident because his pants were soaked.

Then, with all of us trying to get crafts supplies cleared up, and the kids running wherever...things were starting to get a little rowdy in the apartment.  All of a sudden we heard a door slam, and Cadence started screaming!

We thought that maybe someone had slammed her little fingers in the door or something.  So I ran to rescue her...only to find that I couldn't get to her.  She had been locked in Canon's bedroom by herself.  Jen's little boy Xander is repeatedly locking Canon's door, but he's usually inside the room when it happens.  So I can just demand that he unlocks it with a threat of a time-out, and he opens the door.  

Now, normally this wouldn't really be a huge issue in an apartment because you should just be able to poke the knob with something long and skinny to unlock it.  However, a previous tenant had replaced this doorknob with one that required a key to open from the outside...and I don't have the key. 

Maleah offered to try to pick the lock with a card or something, but I knew that wouldn't work because of the direction of the door jam.  There was no way to get a card to the lock to open it.  Jen was talking about kicking the door down, but I knew that wouldn't work either...Cadence was just on the other side of the door.  She would get hurt.  I called our apartment management to ask for someone to try to pick the lock, or a locksmith...or something.  She suggested that I try to shove a bobby-pin in the hole to push it open.  "I don't know how to pick a lock with a bobby-pin!"  I was trying to not yell at her, but I was trying to get across the urgency of the situation.  Apparently she wasn't really listening to me when I told her that it was a key hole and I didn't have the key...or she just didn't believe me.  (I'm really not so dumb as to not know how to open a door that can be unlocked with a small allen wrench.)  So she sent the maintenance guy Larry who arrived a few minutes later.  He approached the door with a little skinny tool, but when he got there he realized my predicament.  He was shocked to see a key hole.  "Hence the problem!" I said to him.

Cadence was starting to calm down, but occasionally she'd still cry out.  Poor girl!  Larry pulled out a pipe wrench and removed the doorknob.  Success!  We cracked the door open, which Cadence was trying to crawl through, of course...making it difficult to open the door without pinching her fingers.  After about 10 minutes of frustration and concern, Cadence was finally free.  When I picked her up, I immediately had to remove the tiny dinosaur toys she was chewing on.   I'm always trying to keep those out of her reach because she can choke on them.  It's a good thing we got her before she could choke.

With the stressful situation subsiding, I remembered that I was supposed to provide a snack for the kids.  A friend gave me a box of LoftHouse frosted sugar cookies the night before.  Since I don't have the self-control to not eat the entire box (I ate 3 the night she gave them to me.), I decided to give them to the kids for their snack.  I gave them each a cookie on a napkin, but I didn't actually tell them to stay in the kitchen and living room areas.  Once everything was cleaned up and ready to gather the children, I found huge cookie crumbles ALL OVER THE APARTMENT!!  Frosting was smeared onto the side rung on Cadence's crib.  Cracker crumbs, which I did not give the kids, were all over my glider chair and the ottoman.  Crumbs and frosting were found in Canon's room, the hallway, Cadence's room, the kids' bathroom, the living room, my bedroom, and on the kitchen floor.  Ugh! (Last night I found frosting on my accessory basket at my vanity and the plastic drawers under it.)

Ok, so it's a good thing I didn't vacuum before the kids got there...and now I had to vacuum the ENTIRE apartment.  I swept that morning, but I guess it was time to do it again!  At least Cadence was able to take an extra long nap that afternoon... I guess being a little damsel in distress tired her out. :)  I felt like I was able to laugh at the whole situation a little, but in reality I felt like this:

I am so blessed with children who are fairly easy-going, pretty easy to handle, well-behaved... not to mention super adorable.  When I was finished cleaning up and Cadence was napping, Canon just wanted to get something to drink and cuddle with me for a while.  What a sweetheart!  Then we went to his bedroom to play Candyland.

  It felt like a wonderfully productive day that morning.  I de-cluttered the kitchen table, the couch, the living room, swept, put on make-up and did my hair.  I was ready for playgroup...even with all the materials laid out and ready to go.  However, I was not ready to have my emotions on that little roller coaster, and I was tired by the time Mark got home.  The first thing I told Mark when he got home was, "You're taking me out to dinner tonight!"  Canon chose Arby's, and we had a pretty easy-going evening after that, thankfully!

Mark's Interviews

I'm sure many of you know that Mark had a couple of interviews last week for firm jobs down in Salt Lake City.  The first interview (Plant Christiansen & Kanell) he said went well, about 20-30 minutes, but there was one thing he wished he hadn't said...but he backed up and was able to explain what he meant and reword it.  He felt like he didn't really bomb it though...just not overly confident that he would get the job.  They said that they were about a week out from making a decision.  That means we should really be hearing about it any day now.

Mark would like an offer from this firm, but he'd rather work for this second one...mainly because it would be lots more money (we think) for about the same amount of work.  However, he would be perfectly happy to take this job if it's an option.

The second interview (Holland & Hart) was one he acquired through some pretty sweet connections.  He found out they were accepting applications through his law school's job postings, and so he reached out to his attorney contacts here in Utah.  Mark found out that a couple of people he knew actually knew partners at Holland & Hart.  In fact, one used to be partners with a few of the partners there.  So, after they reached out in Mark's favor to Holland & Hart, one of their managing directors contacted Mark saying, "If you don't get an interview from so-and-so soon, give me a call."   So, that meant Mark was going to get an interview...whether it was a courtesy to Mark's contacts or if they were really considering him...we weren't really sure.

Well, he was contacted for a lunch interview before the application deadline had passed.  Mark felt that the lunch meeting couldn't have gone any better.  The meeting was relaxed enough to help him feel comfortable, not so nervous.  He also said there was nothing he wished he hadn't said or wished he answered differently...so that's good.  He also said that there was an obvious shift in the conversation to him being asked questions, like a real interview.  At the end, the guy asked when Mark could start if they decided to hire him... and that's always a good sign.  If it was a total bust, they wouldn't even care to ask him that, right?

Well, Holland & Hart told Mark that they were 2 weeks out from making a decision, so that's about another week out.  As of right now, we're playing the "Pray and Wait" game.  We're sincerely hoping for these jobs because they would allow Mark to get out of this clerking rut and into a firm job, allowing him to also make more money to go toward paying off law school debt.

This is closest Mark has ever been to getting an actual firm job, and we're really excited about this... trying to not get our hopes up too high, though.  At least this time while he's looking for a job he's already got something that can get us through!  We are grateful for what we have, but we also pray to somehow, someday, receive the things he went to school for.  :)

Computer Issues = End of Year Sum up

So I'm really behind on my blogging since I started up my own Mary Kay business.  I was about to create a bunch of posts to catch up, but then I remembered that my computer crashed on New Years Day, and so there are some pictures (and probably some videos) that I think we lost.  The last time the computer was backed up was in October, and not all the images were left on the camera...So let me sum up with a few things:

For Halloween, Canon dressed up as a dinosaur- a stegosaurus costume borrowed from his Aunt Tiffany (which I still have yet to return to her- ugh!).  Cadence was dressed up as a polar bear- a white fleece outer-wear zipper thing for infants.  We did a trunk-or-treat that another ward invited our ward to.  Canon didn't get a HUGE HAUL, but he got enough candy to last all 3 of us for long enough.  He seemed happy with it, so that's all that really matters! :)  One cute thing to note- several times when Canon was requesting candy, he would ask us if we wanted some, or he would offer to share without us asking for it.  Such a sweet little guy!

For Canon's birthday he requested a green Batman cake.  Hmm...do green and Batman go together?  Well, Mark baked a white cake and dyed it green. I frosted it to look like a Gotham City skyline with a Bat Signal shining off the roof of one of the buildings.  I think it didn't turn out the way I pictured it, but I was in a real rush to get it done, and you can tell what I intended...so it was fine.  We had the family gathered at Mark's parents' house for the occasion.  Canon got a some fun presents- a really nifty dinosaur from his Grandma Dahl that shoots these arrow things and has a rider on a platform, and a hand-me-down train table.


Thanksgiving was spent with the Dahl family at Mark's Aunt Colette's house.  I was surprised at the service project that we did...but I thought it was a fun idea.  We decorated boxes to give to the Utah Food Bank. I didn't even know that was something that people did!!  We each had a box of markers and were charged to decorate a total of 50 boxes.  That was pretty fun...sorry no pictures to show you!

Christmas is a season with many festivities for most people.  Our little family went to downtown Ogden to see the light display there.  They had a little village set-up in the park, concert at the amphitheater, and just so much Christmas cheer.  We ventured there just the four of us one evening, but it was raining harder than we thought, and we didn't want to keep the kids out in that wet cold without an umbrella. So we invited Mark's parents to join us for the lights on a different night.  Canon loved having them up for a visit, the train that he got to ride around, and the hot chocolate we drank after we got home.  Cadence was such a trooper in that cold weather.  I tried really hard to keep her warm, but after an hour, the only way to keep the cold off her face was to give her kisses repeatedly on both cheeks.  (She thought that was fun!)

having fun with Grandma

Look at the cold little nose!

Proof that Grandma and Grandpa were present! :)

Canon moving too much as he says "cheese"

Our cute little family amid the lights

Really had to see because it was so dark, but this is Canon riding on the train.

I took Canon to see Santa at the mall.  He brought his letter to Santa with him...much faster delivery than putting it in the mailbox!  I thought it was very good of Canon to want to give it to him directly. His letter stated that he would be potty-trained that year, and Santa was very encouraging- letting him know that Santa tries very hard to get kids what they want and ask for, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.  (Sorry, no pictures were allowed unless you bought their package, and I wasn't going to pay for that!)

Later in December, we decided to celebrate our little family Christmas Morning at Mark's parents' house.  With driving back and forth from Ogden to Draper for family parties, we really didn't think it was worth it to drive home JUST to be alone for Christmas Morning.  I told Canon that I emailed Santa to let him know where we were going to be.  Santa did not disappoint!

Cadence got some "new" outfits from Santa, a monkey toy from Canon, chew rings from Santa, a giraffe from Mommy and Daddy, and some fun toys from the "Christ Child"

Canon got a race track with 2 shake 'n go cars, a Spiderman action figure, a basketball  hoop, some dinosaurs and a monster truck from Santa, some puppets from Mommy and Daddy, a camel from Nana and Papa Brown, and a Lincoln Logs Set and a Fire Station Set from the "Christ Child"

Mark got work-out clothes from Me and the latest Batman movie from Canon

I got a really awesome KithenAid blender from Mark, a cookbook and PartyLite stuff from my mom, and lovely fashion jewelry from the kids

So, about "the Christ Child"...the Saturday night before Christmas we found a bag at our front door.  There was a gift for each of the kids and a note stating it was from the Christ Child.  Inside I also found an envelope with a $25 gift card to IHOP, $25 gift card to Pizza Hut, and $200 gift card to Walmart. I could tell it was someone who knew us because the gifts were for the perfect ages of our kids.  Also, it must have been one of my friends because they wrote "to Kat's family" not "the Dahls" or "Mark and Kat and family!"  We couldn't believe it!  Someone was very generous, and I just couldn't figure out who it could possibly be.  (A friend of mine later confessed, but she doesn't want anyone else to know about it...)  She received this as an anonymous gift to her, and she decided to forward it on to some of her friends since she felt that she didn't really need it. It was a very thoughtful and special gift for us. Thank you, Christ Child!

Also, Mark's family got together to open gifts to each other on Christmas Eve.  Mark's parents really like to spoil us and were truly generous to us this year.  A few things they got us were SOOOOOooo appreciated. I was super excited for them:  floor mats to my Toyota Sienna (can you believe it didn't already have them in there?), a beautiful framed picture of the Nauvoo Temple, tickets to see Les Miserables at the theater in May, and a few fun things for the kids.  I love spending Christmas with family...seeing them open the gifts you bought them, anticipating their reaction.  It's so fun to show our love and to just spend time together.

Thank you so much to all of my family everywhere for all you do for us.  I hope you know how much you mean to me.