Whew

We have been busy. We have done a lot and my blog has fallen behind. Way behind.

I have been inspired. I need to take more pictures. With BOTH of my cameras. Since I got my little point and shoot digital that fits so nicely in my purse/diaper bag, I don't take my SLR out very much. Well, go here to see somebody who does. She takes pictures of EVERYTHING! So, I have carted both of my cameras with me over the weekend. Sadly, my computer that has my software to download my SLR is broken, as in it turns on, but doesn't start up. So, while I have a TON of awesomely, cool pictures, I can't share them currently. But, I will figure it out (I also need to figure out how to get the 48 scrap book pages I have done off the broken computer...)

First, I want to show this video. Mike's mom saved some of Mike's old cowboy boots. She gave them to E. I tried them on the other day. They are still too big, and he really struggled in walking in them, but this video is just way too much fun. He was so proud of himself!

E loves tomatoes. He has been caught stealing them directly out of the bowl when we make tacos, stealing them off plants if he sees them, and making himself comfortable in our garden eating a slightly green tomato. Notice his totally cute outfit that Aunt Amy gave him for his birthday covered in tomato guts from the tomato he is thoroughly enjoying? I am already finding my little man making mischief. E was enjoying his breakfast. He LOVES cereal. I ate with him and he was still eating, so I started doing some other things. I heard him start playing with his bowl against the table, signaling that he is done. I delayed. I figured he could stay in his highchair for a moment while I finished what I was doing. Well, I discovered I can no longer just leave him in his highchair. This is where I found him. I had to get my camera to document this. E decided he wanted more cereal and climbed out of his highchair, onto the table to get it. He is turning into a little monkey!Gotta see how my little baby boy no longer looks like a baby but a little boy? Here is the proof as he is totally lounging, just chillaxing. Gosh, does time ever slow down? I thought time went fast before, but when you have kids, I swear it speeds up. We are pretty lucky to have had access to LOTS of pumpkins this year. Grandma Proctor, in addition to her LOTS of patty-pan squash (which E does not like,) zucchini (which E does like if it is baked in the oven with Parmesan cheese,) summer squash, peas, tomatoes and green beans, there were lots of pumpkins. Unfortunately, somebody forgot (oops) E's shoes and so he couldn't go into the garden and actually pick out his own pumpkin. He had to deal with the one mommy and daddy picked out and held up to him. He was ok with it though. He was more fascinated with the stem than the actual pumpkin. E's favorite thing to do? Play with daddy. When he isn't playing with daddy, he is chillaxing with daddy on the bed. Seriously so cute. He cuddles right up to Mike and is perfectly content to stay there, for a couple of minutes at least. Then, he decides to play and will crawl up on Mike's stomach and bounce up and down.So, a little bit ago, we took the Proctor Family pictures. Maria is an awesome photographer and has taken all of our family pictures since E joined our family. While she was snapping away at groups, E and J were hanging out. E was fascinated over J's hair/head, which J did not appreciate. It led to a breakdown and if J could talk, I am sure it would have sounded something like this, "Mo-om, E is touching me! Please make him stop touching me!" I am sure that having cousins so close in age, this is something we may hear often as they are growing up. Hopefully, we will hear more laughter and giggles, hoping that they are best of friends.

Here is a pic that I snapped of E. He was hanging out on this cool, old firetruck and he just looked up at me and smiled. Man, I love my handsome little man! I can't wait until we get the pictures from Maria. She was getting a cousin picture and we were all jumping up and down, screaming and clapping, trying to get all the kids looking at us and smiling. E just couldn't stay where he was. He had to jump up and run toward us, laughing and clapping. I think I spent more time running to put him back. I can't wait to see them!E is generally pretty happy. Yes, he does have his moments when he isn't, but he is a HAPPY little boy. He loves getting into his pajamas and then playing with mommy and daddy. We love getting him to laugh by getting all his ticklish spots. Moments before the finger attack comes on.......moments after the finger attack. Love, Love, Love his belly laugh, his squeals of delight, and his smile!
Saturday, we went to the Red Barn down in Santaquin. They offer a hayride for $3 a person (under 2 ride free.) The hay ride ends at a pumpkin patch with a maze and lots of cool picture opportunity places. E wasn't too sure about the hayride in the beginning. He was in this wagon that had a TON of strangers and it moved. This is the look I kept getting as it started. "Mom, what are you making me do?"By the time we neared the pumpkin patch, E was totally into it. We were supposed to sit during the ride, but I figured it was OK for E to stand. He decided he LOVED looking out the wagon watching everything go past.
This time, the shoes were not forgotten and E got to actually wander around in the pumpkin patch. He had issues with the rough terrain and kept falling, but he loved seeing the pumpkins so close up. We let him pick a pumpkin (carefully guided by mom and dad) and he left with a pumpkin that he could carry all by himself (if only for about 10 seconds.) He did try to eat the stem, so his fascination with stems did not go away.E really liked the maze. He walked all the way through it. Whenever he walked into a dead-end, he kept looking for the hole in the wall that would let him keep going. He loved chasing Mike around and I loved that he could walk freely with limited options on where to go.

E really liked the John Deere tractor they had. He was a bit far from the steering wheel, but that didn't stop him from trying to drive it. The only thing missing? E's John Deere blanket that his Grandma Proctor made him! I definitely have a through and through boy. We have had fun doing all of our little activities lately. We have truly been blessed in this last year having our little man join our family. Seriously, what did we do for fun before we had E? He keeps us entertained and running around.

First Birthday

It is Sunday afternoon. I wish I were sleeping. That is what Mike and E are doing. But I can't. I have a visiting teaching appointment and if I fall asleep, I will sleep right through it.

So, I have some time to spend. I should do a load of dishes and straighten up my house that got a little destroyed with 3 extra boys last night. That is what I should do, nut I'm not going to.

I am going to finally blog about E's first birthday. At 8:10 PM on September 14th, my little guy turned 1. I don't ever think I blogged about his birth story, but I was in labor for 23 hours. It didn't get intense until they started me on pitocin (sp?) at 7:30 in the AM, but it was a long 23 hours. I begged for the epidural at 10:00 AM. It didn't take. I finally got one that took around 12:40. Blessed epidural, why did I want to try labor without you? At 6 PM, they told me not to expect my little guy until after 10 PM (yes, it was discouraging) but then things kicked into high gear and at 7 PM I was suddenly ready to push. Well, they tried to get me to wait an hour, but I couldn't. So, I pushed for an hour. It was exhausting. But, when they put E on my stomach, those 23 hours (and the 41 weeks prior) were like they went by in the blink of an eye. I remember seeing my little guy, running my fingers over his hands, his face, his arms, his hair. I was so overwhelmed by the feelings of joy and gratitude and love (did I ever realize love could be that overpowering?) that I forgot to count his fingers and toes. When I looked at my little E all I saw was perfection. Preciousness. Mike and I relished in the 30-40 minutes we had with just us and our new little bundle before they had to rush him to the nursery. (I had a fever when E was born and as a result, he was born hot, and his body temperature wasn't going down so they had to rush him to get him a bath to get his temperature back to normal.)

All of this seems like it was yesterday. In the blink of an eye, all of a sudden my little guy has turned 1. He is walking. He is trying to run. He has learned that when you crouch down and say, "I'm gonna get you," he is supposed to run away, not toward you, and that it is much more fun. He loves grapes and yogurt, and eating mommy and daddy's cereal. No more baby food for him. He won't touch it. He loves eating spaghetti. Actually, he picks the noodles up and sucks the sauce off of them and puts the noodles either in his lap or back on the plate. He says mamma and dadda. He screams DaDa until Mike pays attention to him. He LOVES his dad. He says "bye-bye" but not if you want him too. He loves cars, trucks and balls. If it is a ball, it is his preferred toy of choice. He loves books and pointing at everything. He loves watching bigger kids to see what they are doing. He loves his puppies, Jake and Abby. He plays ball with Abby. She will plop on the ground with a ball in her mouth and he will grab it and try to pull it out. It is a game both of them love. He also loves the road, which has created a whole new level of angst.

My favorite thing about my little boy (and sad that he is no longer my baby, but my little boy?) His laugh. I LOVE his laugh. I will do about anything to get it. You don't even have to do anything to him to get him to laugh. All you have to do is laugh yourself and he laughs with you. I love his smile. The sparkle in his eyes. I love his hugs and kisses. Yes, his wide open mouthed kisses. Even the really slobbery ones. I can't even narrow down one favorite thing from my little E.

I started this post because I was going to blog about E's birthday party. Wow, I got sidetracked. Welcome to the story of my life.

E got spiffied up with a faux-hawk for his birthday. I don't generally do his hair, so it was fun to make it different for his party. We had our families there and some close friends who are like family to us. We got together and had a bbq. Ummm...hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad (although Mike reminded me it wasn't Grandma Proctor's potato salad, which is good, and I guess by comparison, mine doesn't measure up,) baked beans and some other sides.
We had a chili pepper pinata for all of the kiddos at the party and I almost got hit numerous times by the stick. Good thing I can move quickly. E had no interest in the pinata, but I figured it would be for his older cousins anyway.

We also had a cake. I like decorating cakes, but haven't done it too often and am by no means professional. Very amateurish actually. I was trying to decide what to do for E's cake when I saw a friend of mine (she really does have talent in the cake decorating area) who did a duck cake for her little girl's birthday. I stole the idea. Made few changes and this is what I ended up with.
I forgot to practice blowing with my little guy before his party. As a result, he made no effort to blow out his candle. Who wants to blow out a candle when you have all these duckies you can steal off the cake? The ducks were a definite hit. I also discovered that I do not have enough hot air (or air period) in me to blow out a candle less than 3 feet away from me. Yep, pretty sad, but in my defense, it has been YEARS since I have blown out the candle of a birthday cake. In fact, the last time I did was probably my 16th or 17th birthday when my friends made me a cake.
If you notice the picture at the beginning of the post, that is E enjoying his cake. While he did use his hands, he generally has to have some type of utensil to help him eat. I LOVE watching him pick his food up, put it on the fork or spoon, and then try to put it in his mouth. A.d.o.r.a.b.l.e.

After cake and ice cream, E got to open some presents. His cousins were much more excited about opening his presents than E was himself and he had LOTS of little helpers ready to lend a hand. E was spoiled and got some awesome gifts. He got some books, an outfit, some blocks, some balls, some cars, and a little pop up toy. He got a really cool plush tool set. He carries the hammer around and tries to hammer everything in our house. He also got a little cart that he can sit on and push. He hasn't quite figured that out but if you push buttons on it you will hear one of two songs. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," or "Do You Know the Muffin Man." I have heard these songs constantly since his birthday. E loves standing next to the cart, sometimes actually sitting on it and pushing those buttons. I may or may not be secretly hoping the batteries run out soon. Even when they do finally wind their way down to empty, I will probably replace the batteries just because it makes my little guy happy.

It was a good day surrounded by loved ones, celebrating the fact that my little guy has been with us for 1 year. While there are some things that I miss in my little baby (the constant cuddling) I am excited when E moves into a new stage. I love seeing him learn things and figure out how to do lots of stuff.

A Lot of Firsts

It has been awhile since I have posted. In that time, my little man has experienced a TON of firsts. Here are some of the pictures of his firsts. In another post, I will also post about his First Birthday (has it been a year already? Really? REALLY? My little man is really becoming a little man, much to quickly for my taste.)

First (but not the last) time he crawled under the stools in our kitchen and stood up, thus finding himself stuck. It was really kind of funny. He thought it was funny because we laughed, until he found he really couldn't go anywhere, then he wasn't as amused.
First time getting off the bed by himself. (When did he start doing all of these things on his own?) I should say, this is the first time getting off the bed by himself on purpose. He had fallen off it previously. Good thing it was close to the floor.First time being locked in his room (but out of the crib) while I was in the shower. He was NOT pleased. Notice all of the diapers taken out of the basket and spread all over for me. He definitely let me know he was not happy about the situation.

First time camping. E loved crawling around and getting dirty. He loved being with mommy and daddy (and because it was so cold at night, he LOVED sleeping in bed with us. He was the only one that stayed warm that night.) He got to be on the 4-wheeler for the second time. He did not like it the first time, but thought he was something special the second time. The difference might be that the second time, he was on it with daddy.

E had his first trip to Seven Peaks. He wasn't too sure what to think of it at first, but he ended up loving it. He decided after the second time around that he LOVED the Lazy River. He LOVED the Wave Pool so much that he crawled into it (his walking skills were nill in the water) until he completely covered his face. I kept thinking he would stop and sit up to get his face out of the water, nope, he kept going. He had to be rescued by mom. He also enjoyed his first nachos at Seven Peaks, which he definitely loved.

Poor Keys

Keys. You don't realize how much you depend on them until you cannot find them.

Thursday night, Mike and I went out together. When we go in the car, Mike drives because he cannot stand sitting in the passenger seat with it so far forward (due to the car seat.) We got home and decided to go on a walk, so we got the stroller out got the puppies and took about an hour to walk around the little block by our house. That is what happens when you see neighbors and friends and stop to talk. It was enjoyable.

Mike got put on graveyard for Friday, so Friday morning, he was home. He hates driving the car, so I thought, "I will get the car seat out and leave the truck for him." Only problem? No keys. I looked all over the counter, unfortunately, it isn't spotless to make the looking easier. I looked on the key rack, where they should have been placed. I went outside, discovered the car was unlocked and looked in the ignition, around the driver's seat, around the car seat, in the stroller. No keys. I looked on the porch.

I went into the house, woke Mike up, "Where are the keys?" I got the shoulder shrug. When you wake him up, Mike is not too alert. I went back on the search. By this time, instead of having 10 minutes to leave, I now had about a minute. I go back out, look around inside the car again. Back inside, looking around. By this time, Mike was up and looking in his pants pockets. No luck. No keys. Mike took the spare key off his keys and gave it to me. I said goodbye and ran out the door, grabbed the car seat so Mike would have it, and was off.

I drive down my road, turn onto a busier road. Drive to the freeway. I get on the freeway at 8th North. I pass Center St. I am in the far left lane, I happen to look in the rear view mirror just in time to see my keys flying off the top of the car. I am pretty sure I swore. I debated for a second (maybe two.) I pulled off onto the shoulder, got out and ran back. I was hoping that because they fell off on the left side, and I was in the left lane, they would be on the shoulder (or fairly close.) No. Such. Luck. Stupid Keys. They were in the second lane over. I looked at them. I am sure they looked at me. I racked my brain to try to remember everything I had on those keys. Our keyless entry (which was no longer part of the keys. I am sure it was smashed to smitherines.) Our house key. Our garage key. Our back door key. My fingernail clippers. (really, they have to be part of every key chain I carry around.) My key ring I got when I graduated, the cool one that said 09 and spun around. E loved that key ring. It could entertain him for minutes.

I looked down the freeway, trying to see if there was a break in the traffic. There wasn't. Too many cars. Going too fast. I am pretty sure I stood there for 2-3 minutes debating. Should I try to get them? There was a slight bend that would make it more difficult for cars to see me. It wasn't worth it. I couldn't value those stupid keys more than my life. I called Mike and let him know I found the keys and where they were. Because of the traffic, I couldn't hear him and said goodbye.

I ran back to my car. I called Mike and let him know I was leaving. Mike was a bit incredulous that I left them there. I reminded him it was the freeway. I wasn't about to run onto the freeway to get them. He was then incredulous (and a bit upset) that I hadn't looked on the roof of the car for the keys in my search. I reminded him that people don't generally put their keys on the roof of the car. (I should remember that Mike has a tendency to put things on the roof of the car. We have found his phone there, and the keys for another vehicle before. Hopefully, that habit will now stop.)

It is debatable about who lost the keys. Mike maintains I did because I was driving the car when they flew off the roof. I maintain he did, because he was the last one to touch them, and if they hadn't been "lost" in the first place, I would have been using them to drive the car and wouldn't have had the opportunity to fly off the roof. I think I am using my persuasive arguments to bring him around to my way of thinking. At least, he has started to reply that he isn't the last one to touch them, the freeway was.

We drove by the area again at 6 PM during rush hour, stop. and. go. We thought, maybe we will see them again and because traffic is moving so slowly, we could just reach out and grab them. No. Such. Luck. They were gone. We don't know if they have just been smashed to smitherines by this point, or if somebody working on the freeway saw them and picked them up. Maybe the highway patrol picked them up? Maybe another motorist saw them in the stop and go traffic, got curious and picked them up. Regardless, they were gone. My poor keys. I hope they enjoy their new home, wherever it may be. (hopefully smashed to bits on the side of the freeway so somebody doesn't have a cool set of keys they found, that happen to belong to my car and home.)

The Crying Game

First, I would like to know what happened to my blog background? Man, I will have to check it on another computer to see if it has really disappeared.

We (meaning I) have decided that it is time for E to sleep through the night. He used to, until February when he got RSV. Since February, he wakes up at least once, normally anywhere between 3-5, sometimes if we are lucky 6 or 7 and sometimes earlier. He wakes up, I would go in. Sometimes, I would halfheartedly try not to nurse him, but found it easier to just give in. But he didn't need it. It was a comfort thing.

Last Monday, I decided that it was now or never. (really never? I cannot imagine never sleeping through the night again.) I had talked to one of my friends and said that it would be hard because when I picked E up, he got mad if I didn't nurse him. Her response? Don't pick him up. Pat him on the back, let him know you are there etc. OK, game plan in mind, I put E to bed. 4 AM he wakes up. With my mind set, I go in by his crib and start patting him on the back. "It is ok, mommy is here." Well, heaven forbid Mommy is in the room and not picking him up. E gave it his all and let me know he was definitely not happy about this. So, I picked him up. Then the fight really began. He just couldn't understand why I had picked him up but wasn't nursing him. It took an hour for him to calm down again and drift off to sleep enough that I could put him down without him waking up screaming. Score, Mommy 0, E 1.

When discussing the disaster the previous night, another friend tells me, "don't go into his room. He will cry himself back to sleep." OK, game plan changes for the second night. Tuesday night, I put E down to bed. At 4 AM he is awake again, fussing, but I refuse to get out of bed. I look at my phone. It is now 4:03 AM. Has it really only been 3 minutes? Again, 4:07, 4:10, 4:13. I swear, my phone is broken and giving me the wrong time. 4:15 AM, Mike kicks me and says, "Go get him." No. I am not going in there. I am not going to nurse him and it will make it worse. So, Mike went and got him. He stopped crying the minute Mike picked him up. Mike held him for a couple of minutes and then put him back down. It was no longer crying, it was now screaming. Mike picked him back up. No crying. Mike comes in the bedroom. E sees me, he starts crying again. Mike puts him on our bed, he stops. He is happy. He is in bed with mommy and daddy. Great. This is not what I want. I do not want a little guy who will learn to only sleep in bed with mommy and daddy. I cuddle for a sec, then get up, pick up the little guy and start back to his bedroom. E knew right away what I was doing and started crying again. Again, it took about an hour to get him calmed down and back to bed. But, second night no nursing. Second night score. Mommy 0, E 2.

Wednesday, we put E down and he slept like magic until 6 AM, right in time to wake up and go right into the stroller for our early morning walk. Sweet! Hopefully this means it is near an end. Third night score, Mommy 1, E 2.

Thursday night, we put E down. I had told Mike if he couldn't ignore E and went to get him, that he would be the one to deal with him until he went back to sleep. Well, at 4:22 AM, he wakes up. He cries. Mike's alarm goes off at 4:30 (don't ask my why, he didn't have to work.) 4:32, Mike can't take it anymore and starts to his room. He ignores my, "listen to him. He is drifting off. If you leave him, he will go back to sleep." He picks E up. The crying doesn't stop. It gets worse. It goes on and on and gets louder and louder. I hear Mike talking to him. I get up and see Mike rocking him. Still, getting louder. I start to hear our tenants doors shutting downstairs. Great, the last thing I want to do is have my baby's screaming waking up my tenants. I go in and take him and get him calmed down and asleep. I put him down, but he wakes up sceaming. 5:22 AM, I finally get him asleep and staying asleep. Knowing that my alarm goes off at 5:30, what is the point of trying to go back to bed? Fourth night score, Mommy 1, E 3.

Saturday and Sunday, E sleeps late. Saturday he slept until 8, which was greatly appreciated by a very tired mommy and daddy. Sunday, he slept until 7:30. Score is now even, Mommy 3, E 3.

Monday, it has been a week. We are getting more sleep. I am relieved. E wakes up at 1:30 AM. He cries. I ignore him. Mike stirs. I mutter, "put the pillow over your head." Miracle of miracles, we are both able to ignore him. At least we pretend to. I had to plug my ears with my fingers. It was so hard for me not to get up and go to him and comfort him. I don't know how long it was, probably about 15-20 minutes total when I realized that he wasn't crying anymore. We did it! E went back to sleep on his own! It didn't even take very long. Score, Mommy 4, E 3.

This morning, E woke up at 5:20. I listened to him for 10 min and then my alarm went off. I couldn't get up and do my thing listening to him cry, so I went and got him. Instead of cuddling him, which is what he wanted, he got to help me make daddy's sandwich for lunch. He enjoyed that. We kept him occupied until it was time to go into the stroller for our walk. We then ended up seeing a beautiful sunrise and E went right back to bed when we got home and slept until 9. It was nice.

Let us hope that the nights of crying are over, and if not, that at least they will pass quickly. It has now been a week since E nursed at night and he is learning that he doesn't need it for comfort, and he is slowly learning that he can comfort himself back to sleep when he wakes up. Hopefully, he will soon not be waking up in the middle of the night.

On the one hand, I am glad to see my little guy growing up. On the other, it makes me sad. It makes me sad to realize that I am not the sole nourishment for my little guy anymore. It makes me happy/sad that he is learning to be independent. People always talk about how quickly their babies grew up and I secretly, in my mind, scoffed at them. They grow just as slowly/quickly as any other baby. Well, now I know exactly what they meant. Time flies. I have to enjoy every minute that I can because E changes every single day. Every day he becomes just a little more independent. Every day, he gets just a little less cuddly (unless he is tired) and wants to be down on the ground exploring on his own just a little more. My little baby is slowly being replaced by a toddler (trust me, he is gong to be walking way sooner than I think I am ready for.) Already, he likes to hold my finger with one hand and walk around. I am not ready for my baby to grow up. That is where the happy/sad comes from.

Happy Fourth (Really 3-5) of July!

I have decided the 4th of July should be on a Sunday every year! This meant that instead of 1 day of festivities, we had 3!

Saturday, we wandered around downtown Provo. We checked out some awesome booths, found some things we would like to eventually buy when we redecorate our upstairs. By redecorate, I mean when it stops being the dumping ground for everything we are not 100% sure what to do with. We saw a possible future president..E also saw his very first snake! This was a boa constrictor that was seriously HUGE! This is down by the tail. The thing was big. E loved it. Mike was a little grossed out by the fact his son was so fascinated by the snake. After wandering around Provo, we headed over to the Proctor home for some good ol' bbq & fireworks. They live in the perfect spot for PG fireworks, and yes, we saw them going off in the crowd. I saw a Proctor activity for the first time. They take a tire tube, cut it up, close it off with wire, stick a hose in it and fill it up until it bursts. It looks like a giant sausage and is fun to bounce on and play with. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of it bursting because all of the photographers were occupied when it went off, but it was fun!Sunday was relaxing. We needed it. We spent some time after church doing some genealogy. Mike & I have started getting into it, Mike more so than me, but we both have an interest in doing it. We then built a fire and roasted some huge mallows. They were delish!
Monday started out early! We were up by 6 and out the door by 6:25 to head to the parade. After a stop to get some donuts & muffins, we staked out an awesome spot on the road. Somebody came along about 20-30 minutes later and tried to kick us out, claiming they had reserved it...sorry, there were no blankets. We squished a little, but I refused to move. The guy was a jerk about the whole thing. Whatev, we knew we didn't steal his seats. The parade was awesome! E slept through the highway patrol bikes and the firetrucks but woke up when somebody whistled at the war veterans. Amanda & Cameron joined us. It was fun and we even caught M licking frosting off their cinnamon rolls!After the parade, we headed home, tried to catch some zzzzzs (didn't really happen) and then headed over to the Lewis home for a bbq. Another good thing about the 4th on a Sunday? Lots of bbqs! We all then headed over the the SCERA for colonial days. They had a bunch of canvas tents set up and lots of different displays from how things would have been in the 1600s. They had a blacksmith, cooper, games that would have been played, a doctor...it was lots of fun! If they have this again next year, I would highly suggest you check it out. While we were there, E joined in Colonial school. He also joined the army, but didn't last very long. :)After all of the festivities, no wonder E was exhausted. He crashed and had a mini nap, and then woke up but ended up crashing again by about 8:30 and slept through the remaining fireworks. Man, after a weekend like that, we need a day to recover! But it was a lot of time. We spent time with both families and truly could not find anything to complain about. It was a good weekend. I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank all of our soldiers, then and now, who fought (and are fighting) for the freedoms we enjoy today. How grateful I am to have been born in this choice land our Heavenly Father set aside. Yes, we are truly blessed.