Another "Quote of the Week"

We have a Christmas medley CD that we have been playing in the van. On the way home from picking up Julie from school, the piece with a part of one of the dances from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite came on. Josh said, "Mom, it's the Ritz Cracker song!" I said, "Good job, Josh," so that he wouldn't feel so bad listening to the big kids laughing at him. (Okay, I was laughing too, but I was trying to hide it, unlike Julie and David.)

"Quote of the Week"

Lollipop, Lollipop, OHHH Lolly, Lollipop . . . Lollipop! Josh will amaze you with his ability to count lollipops. (How does he fit them all into his mouth at the same time?!)

NEWS FLASH

James is crawling!!! Okay, so he has already been crawling for several months, but his former crawl was inchworm-style. He discovered the cross-hand-knee crawl this week. ("I'm a real boy!" said in high-pitched Pinnochio voice.) He crawls much more slowly this way, but he gets to where he is going.

Top Ten List

The Top Ten Exciting Events of 2007

by The Cannons

10. Remember the Alamo! - We visited San Antonio for spring break.

9. Galveston - The kids played at the beach for Thanksgiving.

8. Houston - Our kids could be astronauts on NASA's missions to Mars.

7. We got a new minivan - Jesse will get buff from all that cycling!

6. Julie completed kindergarten (phew) and started first grade.

5. Julie lost four baby teeth and grew two adult teeth. (Here's to braces in the future!)

4. Josh started talking in complete sentences and doing everything David does.

3. We discovered David has Jesse's engineering gene.

2. Deb started a blog.

1. James joined our family and is a constant delight!!!

NEWS FLASH

The Cannon family is now a one-car (and five-bike) family. In a whirlwind of events and split-second decisions (and a lot of prayer), we traded in our Ford minivan and Toyota sedan for a 2004 Nissan Quest (minivan). The kids fell in love with the Quest at first sight. Deb would not have chosen it based on appearance (too fancy), and it had accessories (built-in DVD player) we really don't need, but the price and mileage and warranty were just too good to pass up. Here's to a new adventure in a new car!

Video Time!

The movie you all have been waiting for . . . The Chronicle of James, with never before seen footage. Watch the tale of James' life from ultrasound to seven months! You will be amazed! You will be stunned! At the very least, you will think he is cute!

Hint

The slideshow feature is new (and I am super excited about it!). If you click on a slideshow picture, it will take you to the actual web album. There the pictures will be larger, and you can read their captions. Happy browsing:).

Out-of-This-World Vacation

Howdy, y'all!!! Despite living in Texas most of my life, I had never been to the Gulf of Mexico. So, Monday and Tuesday we went to Galveston and Houston to pass the time. (Don't worry: Julie had the whole week off for Thanksgiving, and Jesse took vacation time, so no one was ditching. We'll ditch at Christmas.) We saw the Houston skyline, ate fabulous Texas BBQ, swam in the Gulf, and dreamt about visiting space. Did you know that Julie and David are just old enough to go on the next missions to the moon, or even Mars?

Everything we did was off the I-45, so we didn't have to worry about navigating around Houston (such a relief!). Once we arrived in Houston, we drove to downtown, where we marveled at the skyline. There was a funky, sewer-like smell while we were there, but we had a brief sniff of barbecue, which helped us choose our lunching location. I am not a big meat-eater, but my beef po'-boy was fantastic: tender and tasty!

After lunch (and paying $12 to park for an hour!) we pressed on to Galveston. We have a state parks pass, so we went to the Galveston State Park, sparing us any expenses for that visit. Of course, the kids were so excited to see the ocean, they ran straight for it as soon as we let them out of the car. The afternoon was quite foggy, so visibility was limited, and the ocean was quite grey, but that did not stop the kids from enjoying their romp in the water. While the kids played in the water and collected seashells, Jesse and I watched a pelican dive and eat the snack he caught. Amazing!!! After drying off, we chose a walking trail around some of the bayous and experienced amazing first sights: fish jumping out of the water to catch bugs, egrets nesting in the sea grass, crabs walking sideways in the water.

Our hotel was right on the shore, or seawall, as it is called in Galveston. We ate pizza and wings in our room, then headed downstairs to the indoor pool. Julie and David could actually stand in the shallow end, so Jesse and I held onto Josh and James as we circled the pool. After a pleasant day full of new kinds of fun, we went to bed hoping the fog would clear so we could see the ocean all the way to the edge of the world.

We were not disappointed! Despite having to be out of bed at 6:30am, we watched the sun rise over of the ocean with great delight. No fog obscured our view, and we could even see a platform of some kind in the distance, behind which was a ship. After the sun shone golden on the water's surface, we put on our swimsuits and headed for the beach. The kids collected more seashells and built "castles" in the sand. Jesse tried to teach Julie and me to body surf, but the waves weren't quite right for us to be successful. All the same, it was fun to try! Satisfied with our beach experience, we left to check out of the hotel and return to Houston.

As we pulled up to the Space Center at Houston, the museurm part of NASA's Johnson Space Center, David complained, "The space center doesn't look very spacey." But inside, he found great wonders to behold! Near the end of the day, we went into a special theater where we "experienced" blast off in the space shuttle. We heard the noises of the boosters as we rocketed into space. Smoke filled the room as we lifted off the launch pad. Amazed, David asked, "How did the smoke come out of the movie?"

Just before liftoff in the space shuttle, we took a tram tour of the facilities on Johnson Space Center. Now, if you have ever seen the movie Apollo 13, do you remember the scene when Jim Lovell's family goes into a room with red chairs behind Mission Control to watch the astronauts broadcast from space? The tour's first stop was to go into that room!!! We saw Mission Control for the Apollo missions and early shuttle missions. The gentleman recounting the wonderous story of landing on the moon shared with us that Mission Control was powered by two mainframe computers that filled a room a few flights below. The two mainframes together provided 400 KB of power; math whizzes and ham radio experts sent us to the moon!!!

Jesse throroughly enjoyed the tram tour, an engineer's dream. We saw a warehouse that holds mockups (full-scale models) of the space shuttle and various components of the International Space Station, used to train astronauts for their missions in space and to aid engineers in designing equipment that can interact with existing space vehicles. But, by far, Jesse's favorite site was the building that houses the Saturn V rocket, the rocket that shot the Apollo missions to the moon. He said the rocket made the missile he works on look puny (my word) and simple. He was impressed at the engineering of the rocket, an incredible feat without the aid of 3D CAD (computer-aided design) programs. He was inspired: engineers are an indredible breed!

We found a brief article in the newspaper about a space walk at the International Space Station that we were informed would occur this week to prepare for the arrival of a European laboratory in early December. Here is the link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/5327026.html

Remember to watch for the space shuttle launch on December 6th!

We were so happy to take a brief break from life's busyness, but also grateful to return home safely to prepare for Thanksgiving spent with beloved family. Happy Thanksgiving, our dear loved ones!

Julie Is Always Right!

Although I would never have guessed that being right all the time is genetic, it absolutely, positively is!!! Julie has inherited my always-right-ness. It made us laugh tonight. We enjoy listening to music by Josh Groban. There is one song on his newer CD, Awake, called "In Her Eyes." This song is sung in English, but Julie swears there is a line that says "alle sente megos." We do not know where she has gotten this idea - nothing in the song remotely sounds like that. We have shown her the words and asked if maybe the words go to a different song (one that is sung in a foreign language?), but she is emphatic that "alle sente megos" is in "In Her Eyes." After arguing with us today, she walked away, pouting. We did not discover until after she was in bed that she had put a sign on the piano with the words "Alle Sente Megos." She is right, even if she isn't! Jesse and I almost died laughing!!! Jesse once asked if Julie is right and I am right at the same time, who is right? You know the answer to that, don't you? (No, NOT Julie!)

Storybook Character Parade

On Friday Julie dressed up as Fancy Nancy for the school's storybook character parade. She put her costume together by herself; Mommy only added a curly ribbon for fun at the last minute. She was so excited about this event that she led the family in a parade on Saturday. Daddy was Santa Claus from Polar Express. Mommy was the purple cat from Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Julie was Snow White from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. David was t-rex from his dinosaur book, Prehistoric Park. And Josh was Little Toot (no costume required) from Little Toot. James was asleep, so he didn't partipate. Why not try having your own storybook parade? Julie highly recommends it!

"Quote of the Week"

The weather here has been beautiful, so Jesse, the boys and I ate lunch on the porch one day. David brought his bike onto the porch and proceeded to ride to the end and then right off the end of the porch, a good 6-inch drop. He has quick reflexes and jumped clear of danger; then he started to laugh. He told us, "I was thinking in my head that looked like fun, so I thought I'd do it." The irony: just before David's daring deed, Jesse had quietly suggested we put a ramp at the end of the porch that the kids could jump their bikes off of. Obviously, Jesse and David share a desire for - for lack of a better word - adventure.

Bragging Rights 2

Jesse has been working for the last two years on a redesign project at work (Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control). In October he traveled to New Mexico, where he watched a test of the missile, which was successful. In other words, the redesign worked, and his team was able to gather some other necessary data from the test. Lockheed Martin awarded the members of his team a cash award for their hard work and successful test. Three cheers for Jesse, the Engineer King!!!

NEWS FLASH

James' second tooth appeared the day after his first emerged. Pretty soon he will no longer be able to chew on Mommy's finger. Stay tuned for more information.

"Quote of the Week"

Julie has learned to snap her fingers, but only on one hand. She demonstrated her success, then showed me her failure. "Pitiful," she said. (Unfortunately, Julie is still very sensitive about our laughing at her clever comments, so she glared at us after we showed our appreciation for her accomplishment.)

Bragging Rights

Julie was placed in the gifted and talented program at her school. It is a pull-out program: one half hour, four days a week. They are currently studying foreign countries. Julie came home one day and told me that Cuba used to be our friend but isn't our friend anymore; people leave Cuba on small boats to travel to the US. (I don't think I knew about Cuba until I was in college!!!) This week the GT students will go to the Japanese Gardens in Fort Worth to study Japanese architecture. Julie is very excited, and one day she sneaked a peek at her teachers books and saw a picture of a Japanese building. She carefully copied the distinctive features of the roof in her drawing. What an amazing girl!!!

Halloween x3

The kids celebrated Halloween three times this year: on Saturday the 27th at Julie's school, on Tuesday the 30th at church, and on Wednesday the 31st in the neighborhood. Although the kids didn't tire of trick-or-treating, I was partied out by Halloween night. Jesse was kind and took the kids around the neighborhood, while I stayed home to pass out candy. I used the candy the kids had collected at the first two parties -- hee, hee hee. One bucket-load of candy is already too much without adding two additional loads!

(Besides, the kids didn't notice.) Yes, yes; I'm a grinch! (You would be too after a month of birthday and Halloween parties.) By the way, Julie wore three different costume. First she was a Barbie ballerina, then she was Sleeping Beauty, then she was Princess Lucianna, a character from a Barbie movie titled The Island Princess. David actually won a prize for his Captain Jack Sparrow costume at the church party. Josh was Batman without the mask. James wore a borrowed spider

outfit but didn't stay in it very long; he was cranky or asleep for each of the trick-or-treating experiences. Jesse and I dressed as a medieval king and queen. We told Julie that we were Sleeping Beauty's parents on the night of the church party.

David Turns Five

Hear ye; hear ye! David is now five years old. He is officially ready to start school next year. He can play with "big boy" toys: goodbye toy trains; hello ACTION FIGURES!

He partied hard with his friends on October 20th then partied hard with his family on the 24th. With his friends he played games, ate hot dogs, decorated cupcakes, and opened presents. With his family he biked by the Trinity River, ate pizza at Cici's Buffet, ate cake with green icing, and opened presents. His family gave him Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs and Legos, so David has been building for the last two weeks. He builds cars, robots, drum beaters (with his dad), boats, and space ships. He is amazing!!!

NEWS FLASH

After drooling for the last three months, James' first tooth can finally be seen and felt on his lower gum line. It needs to emerge a little more to be photographed, so a picture will come soon.

Video Time!

Welcome to Julie's Kingdom. Enter to obey; go forth to proclaim her majesty.

"Quote of the Week"

Julie informed me this week that, "French people kiss with their tongues." What a great thing to know! I told her that she should never do that. Then I amended and said she could when she was married. Maybe I should have stuck with never. . . .

The Perfect Big Brother

Joshua loves his baby brother! He was reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear to James until James took the book to eat it.

Video Time!

Whose is always the first name a baby can say? Click play to find out.

Happy Weekend

We listened to the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints this weekend. Julie was inspired to draw a picture of President Gordon B. Hinckley. She gave the spelling her best shot without asking for help. Jesse says that she asked him if she had written her d's correctly, then laughed that she had written "presibent." The talks were, as always, exactly what I needed to hear. I have committed myself to acheiving four goals by the next conference in April 2008. I have already started by typing up a list of things to do daily to help me accomplish two of the goals. I know that by doing the daily things -- praying, reading scriptures, singing uplifting music -- I will be a better mother, teacher of my children and Young Women leader to accomplish the other two goals.

Jesse substituted for early morning seminary, a religion class held at the church building for LDS high school students. He taught the chapters about Abraham from the book of Genesis. I enjoyed talking to Jesse about the potential applications of Abraham's experiences. Jesse really enjoyed the opportunity to teach, although getting up at 5:00am was quite challenging.

All in all the week was a reminder to be a little better this week than I was last week. I have decided to become addicted to exercise. I have put on around thirty pounds since David was born. That doesn't sound like much, but when I consider the history of adult-onset diabetes in my family, I realize that I must do something to take control of my health before it takes control of me.

Rat 3, Engineer 0

On a lighter note, we have acquired a pet mouse or whatever it is that is hiding in our garage walls. Jesse, the resident engineer, has designed a trap, but there are some kinks that have allowed the rodent to steal the bait. Essentially, we are feeding the darn thing premium cheddar cheese instead of trapping it! Jesse says he knows the problem, though, so hopefully we'll catch it in the next few days.

The kids loved the idea of hunting the rodent. They dressed in long sleeves and long pants and wore gloves so that it wouldn't bite them if they found it. Suddenly, there were "rats" all over the house and outside in the yard. They said that the rat had yellow eyes with a black middle. I had to show Julie the Wikipedia entry on rats to convince her that only cartoon rats have yellow eyes. Ironically, we saw Ratatoullie this weekend. Jesse jokes that after we trap it, we should put it in the kitchen so we can have our own "Little Chef." Yeah, right!!!

"Quote of the Week"

Daddy asked, "Josh what is your favorite animal at the zoo?"
Josh answered, "Me."

Science Day at the Zoo

We spent most of yesterday at the Dallas Zoo. The main event was Science Day. There were booths strategically placed around the zoo to teach the kids about science that affects the animals or environment in which they live. Each booth had four different activities so that preschoolers could participate as well as middle schoolers. After listening well participants received a token that they could exchange for a toy at the entry to the zoo. Our kids each received six tokens, which they exchanged for zoo bubbles.

Josh was fascinated by the penguins swimming in their tanks. He went back for a second look after our lunch break on the rocks.

We challenged Julie to smile like a chimp:). Quite a resemblance. . . .

Here, David is imitating the chimp's scared look. Looks more like a natural David smile to me:).

What did James do at the zoo? He hung out in the stroller, walked in Mommy's arms, and played in the creek at the Children's Zoo.

All in all the day was great. The kids really did well at the science booths, the temperature was cooler, and the humidity level tolerable. We were exhausted at the end of the day, but happy:). Why don't you show your happy chimp grin.

Promised Picture

Okay, so here is the picture of Julie sans teeth, finally. The tooth fairy gave her a dollar for each tooth she lost. Julie blew half of it a week or two later on a school lunch (I think it was pizza day).

The Love of My Life

This is Jesse, the love of my life. On September 2 we celebrated our seventh anniversary. Although the picture above is almost three years old, Jesse hasn't changed much . . . except for the addition of a few white hairs. This picture epitomizes Jesse: he is an inventive, handy kind of guy who likes his manly tools (insert Tim the Tool Man grunts here). In the picture he fixed a water heater at the Cannon family ranch in Utah. Since we moved to Texas, he has fixed my dryer and my vacuum and my van's radiator system, saving us tons of money in labor costs. I do have to admit -- it took me a while to back off and let him work. My brothers would take things apart when I was growing up but they could never put anything back together to work again (love you, Tim). For a long time I would fret when Jesse started a project, worrying that I would never use whatever again. But I have finally relaxed and let him go at it, grateful that he is so handy.

My favorite thing about Jesse is his soft-spoken nature. He can calm our home when my fiery temper gets out of control. He is more quick to show compassion to the children when they are in need, especially at the end of the day when my patience is worn thin. Needless to say, he is my better half. There are many times that I wonder why he married me with all my weaknesses and bad habits, but I am truly grateful he turns a blind eye to those things to love me and to lift me. What a guy!!!

Me, Myself, and I

So of course I have chosen to post the most flattering picture I have of myself. This was actually taken while I was still pregnant with James. By now, my hair is about three inches longer and I am -- well -- about the same weight, unfortunately. My excuses include: no time to exercise with four children demanding my attention; I can't wake up before the kids because they just wake up with me; evening is either Jesse time or church time or choir time. Maybe someday when all the kids are in school, and I have time to myself. . . .

I love to read, but I have learned to be cautious. I can easily immerse myself in a good book, but I ignore my children and household until I finish it, so I have found it best to read magazines or quick newspaper articles online. The books I have been reading lately are nonfiction subjects such as economics and politics. I can easily put them down and ignore them for a couple of weeks until I can pick them up again. Of course, I did treat myself to the seventh Harry Potter when it came out in July.

I started singing in an amateur choir this fall. Since I have only ever sung in church choirs, I was pretty surprised at the intensity of our first rehearsal. One requirement for membership in the choir is to learn the music on your own time. My week after getting the music was quite busy, so I looked only at the two pieces the director specifically requested we have ready for the next week. Naturally, I stumbled along when he had us sing two or three more pieces that evening. I have since mended my ways and reviewed the music daily, even if it has only been to work out trouble spots on one or two pieces. I will be more prepared next Thursday!

Th-th-th-that's all folks. It's dinner time. And the kids are getting a little crazy from being ignored for half an hour. (Daddy was on the phone while I was writing.)

"Quote of the Week"

Julie comments on the fact that I turn 30 next year: "You're almost a grandma!"

NEWS FLASH

Julie lost two teeth in one week! The first one came out Monday after school. She had been watching a video with her brothers in the master bedroom while I was working on the computer in the living room. She came running in with tooth in hand complaining that it was bleeding. (The first two teeth she lost hardly bled at all.) We ran into the bathroom with a cup of water so she could rinse out her mouth. She received a dollar from the tooth fairy. The second tooth came out Thursday night while she was brushing her teeth. She now sports a four-baby-teeth-wide gap on her bottom gum line, through which two adult teeth can be seen. She received a second dollar from the tooth fairy. Is there a rule limiting how much the tooth fairy can give one child in such a short time?

PICTURE COMING SOON.

The Baby

James is our newest Cannon. He was born at the end of April, so he is now 4 1/2 months old. He is a sweet little boy: he only fusses if he is hungry, tired, bored or frustrated. He loves to smile at Mommy, Daddy, and Juju (Julie's nickname); he is still a little wary of the big boys as they tend to be rough with him, despite repeated reminders to be soft. He loves to chew on his monkey toy, as he is currently drooling to excess since he started teething a month ago. Josh got his first tooth at five months, so I expect James to pop one out at any time. When put on his tummy, he can scoot himself backwards across the room.

James is our miracle baby, although not in the sense that most people think of babies as being miracles. I suffered from an odd depression while I was pregnant with James. Everyone talks of Post-Partum Depression, but I have never heard of warnings for pre-natal depression. Yet, I experienced real feelings of dread and despair from the time I found out I was pregnant right up to and through delivery. Jesse even gave me a blessing because I was ashamed of feeling so sad when I should have been feeling happy, and I wanted desperately to overcome the despair. However, I was told in the blessing that though my Father in Heaven was mindful of my sorrow, this was an opportunity to strengthen my faith in the atonement of Christ.

When I went in to deliver, the dread increased. I didn't want to do the work necessary to give birth, just wanted to be put to sleep and wake up with a baby in my arms. But he came quickly, and I got through the process well enough. The nurses wanted to get his temperature up, so when he wasn't eating, he was in the nursery staying warm. I didn't complain, since he was born at 1:00 in the morning, and Jesse and I needed the sleep. But around 5:00 I couldn't sleep anymore. I wanted my baby! I was so relieved when the nurse brought him to me to feed him. The depression was lifted. The next day Jesse and I talked about how both of us had felt the distinct impression that he was meant to be a part of our family. I am truly grateful for my sweet miracle baby James.

Video Time!

Funny kids, a beautiful and talented mom, the dad who looks just like Pierce Brosnan (almost)- get to know the Cannons... if you dare.

The Two-Year-Old

Josh is full of energy. He loves to climb and ride and jump and dig -- typical boy stuff. He loves to play with trains and cars and dinosaurs. He loves to play chase with his brother and sister. He is our resident copy cat: he likes to say and do everything he sees Julie or David do, even if they get into trouble because it is the wrong thing to do. He loves to make us laugh: he looks around with a proud look on his face if we laugh at something silly he does or says. He also gets a kick out of telling us the one knock-knock joke he knows over and over again.

My favorite thing about Josh is his cuddliness. He has always been our family teddy bear, loving to give and to receive hugs. He loves having a baby brother and tries to hug and love him like Mommy and Daddy do. Unfortunately for James, he is like the big guy in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men: he loves things to death, so we have to supervise anytime Josh holds or plays with James.

Middle Child

David likes to find humor in everything, even in getting into trouble. One day he was in the bathroom playing in the sink, and I was giving him a lecture with an extra serious face. He had been playing with a pour spout that had been cut out of a half-gallon milk carton; he proceeded to put the spout in his mouth and stick his tongue through it. I couldn't help myself: I burst out laughing. So much for my serious lecture!

David loves all things fun! If he isn't having fun, he lets you know. He used to enjoy playing with trains; now he prefers to build bridges for the trains out of legos to elevate the tracks. He likes to build models with Daddy and make houses out of lincoln logs or couch pillows. He loves to play in our sandbox outside and to ride his bike really, really fast. He loves to tell the knock-knock jokes we have taught him - all two of them! over and over again!

My favorite thing about David is his sweetness. He always compliments Mommy or Julie when we are dressed up and "so beautiful." He loves his baby brother; he helps James be happy if Mommy needs an extra minute or two to finish something. If I remember to ask him to be a helper, he follows directions more quickly than if I command him brusquely.

The Firstborn

Julie turned six in June and started first grade today. What you can't see in the picture is that she has lost two teeth and has an adult tooth coming up through the gap. She is unrelenting in her love for all things pink, princess and posh (a fancy word for fancy). We think she will follow in her Granny Nona's footsteps and be a teacher when she grows up. She loves to prepare and present lessons and models techniques observed in her kindergarten and church classes. She is an incredible artist and illustrates her own books (5-10 papers stapled together). She even drew her own comic after seeing Daddy draw one. She says that she wants to go to college and study art when she grows up. Who knows, maybe she will combine her talents and be an art teacher. She loves to read and surprises us with her ability to read large words. Her favorite book is Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor.

My favorite thing about Julie is her love for the gospel. From the time she could talk, she has had a deep faith in the power of prayer. She is always the first to volunteer to say family prayer and to suggest saying a prayer to find lost things. She loves to attend church, to the extent that she cried when church was cancelled one Sunday due to bad weather. She loves her teachers who inspire her to ask more questions when she gets home and to teach us when it is her turn to teach the Family Home Evening lesson. I can learn much from this sweet daughter of mine.

Introduction

Howdy, y'all. I thought I would enter the twenty-first century and start a blog in hopes of keeping family and friends updated more regularly. My mom always complains that we don't send pictures frequently enough, but we do take pictures -- they just end up in massive files on the computer. (I have tried a couple of picture management sites, but you have to register for them, and I wanted something that is free for everyone to view.) I hope that since I am frequently at the computer to check email and finances anyway, I can get into the habit of writing five to ten minutes a day to keep you updated. (By the way, it may take writing five minutes a day six days a week to actually finish one post, short as they are. I sit down to write or play the piano and am interrupted within the first minute, even if the kids have been outside or the baby is "napping." They seem to have some kind of internal sensor: Mommy is busy; I must get her attention!)

Anyway, the picture of our family was drawn by our resident artist, Julie. I am sorry it is too small for you to see the incredible details she has included, such as our names on the shirts, curly hair for Daddy and Julie, Mommy holding James, the ages of the three older children, even colored irises on our eyes. I thought it was better and more exciting than the family photos we have. (I definitely look better drawn than photographed.)

So, you are hereby invited to visit the site as often as you can to see what adventures our family is having. I will try to update once a week with new pictures and stories. Please feel free to complain if I don't live up to my end of the bargain.

:)Debs