Let it Snow!

The kids have been LOVING the heaps of snow!  We still have about 2 feet in our yard.  It's also been so cold, it hasn't gone anywhere!  Poor Bevan has been completely exhausted with all these early "snow days" at the ski resort.  I've been trying to stay on top of keeping the driveway/ sidewalks clean... with the help of some helpful neighbors and their skidsteers and snowblowers.  Later on, I would wonder why I was so tired, before remembering I haven't exercised in about 5 months!  Who needs to go to a gym when it's snowing outside?!
Love it all!

Thanksgiving

When Drew was born I was fully resolved to hibernate with my baby until the snow melted!  I learned in the past that there is such thing as doing TOO much right after delivery.  I bought a month's worth of groceries, stocked up on books, arranged meals and rides/ play dates for the other kids, and told the world "See you in the spring!"

That lasted about a week.

Soon, the holidays were getting closer and FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) was seeping in!
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to drop in on the Thanksgiving party."  To the cabin we go!  It was a small family party, only about 20 of us.  So much fun!  Paul and Stefanie brought baby Joshua and looked rather mature compared to little Drew.  We had turkey, stuffing, wicked mashed potatoes, and rolls!  Pie was saved for the "after party" at Mom and Dad's house.  More families came and it got really crazy!  It was worth it though.  There is no substitute for family time!  Unfortunately, I took only 2 pictures.

It was really nice having Bevan around for several days.  His winter scheduled conveniently started that weekend, so he didn't have to work until that next Tuesday!  I was very lucky.  Little Drew got situated into a schedule and the kids got to have their dad around.  Win!

A Story about Drew Reddick Hawkins!

Now that things have settled down slightly, I've had a chance to reflect on this week of Thanksgiving.  So much to be thankful for!!!  First shout-out goes to my parents and parents-in-law for helping with Anna and Dallin, which has given me the time to actually write this post!  It doesn't follow the same excitement of "blizzard baby Anna" or "Memorial Day Dallin", but it had it's own excitement!

Let's see, where to start?...

Oh, yes.  Early last week was my OB appointment.  I was hanging on her every word and suggestion, but she really did care about my own perpective.  I was feeling deflated that baby hadn't come yet.  From an ultrasound several weeks earlier, we all knew this was a BIG BOY.  By now, he was well cooked... and I was DONE being pregnant.  Yes, I was technically 40 weeks, but I've never gone 40 weeks before.  We scheduled induction for Friday and I left feeling happy as can be.  A date!  A target!  We spend Thursday night cleaning the house and finishing (yes, finishing!) laundry.  Such a great feeling.

Friday 4:30am:  Load the kids, load the luggage, off to Grandma's house, then off to hospital!  They started me on Cytotec for a few hours to get things ready.  Epidural, followed closely by Pitocen around 9:30am.  Check!  I was feeling nice and relaxed, waiting for baby to make the next move.  The doc came and checked me at 11:30am and confirmed it was time to start setting up!  I was like, "right now?!"
Was I ready for baby #3?
Was I ready for this next chapter?
Was I ready to start over?!
Too late now!  Pushing took a little longer than I anticipated, due to his rather large head was facing up.  Dr. Falk was amazing, really took her time and didn't rush it.  At 12:50 he finally came!!!  Little Drew Reddick Hawkins was 9 lbs. 11oz. and 22 in. long!  My biggest so far!  It felt so nice to actually hold him in my arms.  Bevan was just as proud as can be!  Can we really have 3 kids now?!

That was 5 days ago.  Little Drew has been a wonderful little baby!  He has mastered the art of sleeping and pooping, with nursing not far behind.  Sure, newborns are a hard adjustment... but they are so worth it!  We love our little Drew!

Anna turns 5!

Our beloved Anna turned 5 years old on November 24th!  Yes, we really like late-November birthdays for some reason.  Bevan's was on the 17th, baby Drew's was on the 20th, and now Anna's.  3 birthdays within 7 days!  I tried to keep it special, and have it not overshadowed by... ya know... a new baby.

Since she still can't read a calendar very well, we got away with celebrating a day early, on Bevan's day off.  Beverly and Lloyd came up and brought a chocolate cake and presents!  Total, she got a stuffed, white kitty, a scooter, and loads of art supplies.  She was overjoyed with her own pair of pink sissors!  It's the little things, right?!

We love our Anna for so many reasons.  She's always been an easy kid. She says "excuse me", "please", and "thank you", she's always happy and pleasent, and she loves being an older sister!  I've loved to watch her grow over the years... now if only I can freeze it right now!  She's adorable, innocent, and still likes me!

Extreme Nesting!

So... my "baby by the weekend" plan has fallen through.
What else was on my list?
Well, for starters, windows and blinds, tilling the garden, finding Anna some longer pants, and deep cleaning the kitchen, which included going through each cabinet and tossing everything I haven't used in years.  The utility/ junk drawer looks fabulous!  And all the pens work!

After months of deliberation, I finally got around to re-upholstering the fabric on the rocker glider.  Gotta have somewhere to sit, right?  Don't look too closely, I'm NOT a good sewer and failed with the decorative piping on the edges, so it got left out, which is a shame.

For some strange reason, we decided NOT to banish Anna to the basement and squeeze the kids into one room for now... which involves bunk beds!  I found a set by Lea on KSL and it included 2 mattresses!  Score!  Anna was in heaven but Dallin fell out of the bottom bunk twice the first night.  He has since defaulted back to his crib, which is fine.  He's got some time.  While Bevan and I were putting the bunk beds together, we had to stop and evaluate.  Bunk beds?!  How did this happen?!  Yesterday, we just got married and now we've resorted to (as Nora put it so well) "stacking" our children!

And finally, my beloved Civic has been sold!  Had to happen sooner rather than later.  She didn't like the cold anyway.  It was bittersweet.  Can't complain about my upgrade!  I do have slight mpg withdrawals, and I'm not used to driving something so nice and new(er)!  It has no weird sounds or smells and when I step on the gas pedal, it actually goes!  So long Civic!  Have fun running out the clock in Vernal!

Can I just have a baby now?!  We're ready!!!

Halloweeny!

It was incredibly simplified this year! We borrowed costumes (thanks Kim!), carved 2 ½ jack-o-lanterns, only trick-or-treated for 90 minutes and went to bed early! Loved it! I feel really good when I go walking these days, but 90 minutes was my limit. We let the kids pig out on their candy while we lit our pumpkins and waited for anybody to come to our house. We usually don’t get many, which is why I buy candy that I like… just in case we get stuck with more than planned. I’ve been totally addicted to Peanut Butter Snickers lately! Ever tried them?! They’re amazing! Mix it with an assortment of Yorks and Caramel Apple Pops and I’m good for a whole week, if it lasts that long.  

Home Strrrrrretch!

I can’t believe how much has been happening lately! I feel that life is about to get a little more complicated, busy, and expensive! Why is that? I’m still working twice a week. I totally thought it would’ve tapered off completely by now. Curse this beautiful warm weather! One landscape design contract left and about 3 bids. Clients get a little nervous when they see my huge stomach and ask again when we’ll have “numbers” ready.  Park City progress haults for no baby!  I’m so ready for this season to be over!

Oh well, it’s not like I can just sit at home on my squishy couch and incubate for the next 2 weeks. There’s still so much to get done! I’ve been trying to re-upholster the rocker/glider for about the last 5 months. The garden needs to be tilled under. Our pathetic crop of tomatoes needs to be bottled. The house needs to be deep cleaned, dusted, shampooed, whatever. Kids clothes need to be organized and beds need to be moved around. Phew!

The work never stops, I guess. The baby is the one who has it easy. Well, now he does. He was frank breech for a while, and though I wasn’t extremely scared, I was getting a little nervous. This is how I found my new 3^rd-trimester love! … water aerobics! Doc totally recommended it and baby did end up turning (don’t know if it was a direct result, but I like to think it helped). Twice a week I can go to a pool and feel weightless, limber, and carefree for a whole hour! It’s been the most incredible feeling! Why haven’t I been doing this the whole time?! I might still have 2 more weeks of it… though at this point, I’m not sure…

St. George Marathon Babymoon!

It was so much fun to get away last weekend!  (Ya know, before life ends as we know it in 6 weeks) It was sunny, it was warm, it was quiet!  Bevan had been training for the St. George Marathon for the last few months and he was totally ready!  We planned a weekend away and left the kids with John, Heather, and their kids.  So awesome of them to offer!  We made a pit stop in Cedar City for some carb-loading.  We rode into St. George with just enough time to hit up the marathon expo and pick up his registration stuff.  We found Vanessa and her running gang and followed them back to the condo we were all staying at.  So gracious to let us tag along!

The runners were all up and out the door by 4:30am!  I slept in... took a shower... ate breakfast... all in silence!  It was weird!  I then checked the runner tracking app (love technology) and saw they were all getting close to finishing.  Bevan was even going faster than I anticipated!  I booked it down to the finish line and was able to watch most of them come in!  Penny, Bevan, Angela, Elissa, Jen, Vanessa, and Amanda!  It was so much fun to watch these amazing people!  Bevan got a personal best with a time of 3:01!  He rocked it!  We hung out in the exclusive, runners-only, finishers area, a mylar blanket disguising my non-runner physique.  We stuck around for the awards ceremony because a couple of them won awards!  Idaho was well represented!

We spent the rest of the day at the condo, bumming by the pool, and going out for steak!  Bevan and I broke off for a date night... but poor Bevan just wanted to sit.  Couldn't blame the guy.  So we got a pint of ice cream and watched football in the condo.  Totally exciting!

It was hard to come home the next day, but the drive went faster than anticipated, even though I was driving!  We listened to the morning session of conference in the car and made it home in time for the afternoon session.  It was a great way to end an exciting weekend!

Martin's Cove Roadtrip

Grandma and Grandpa Hawkins have been serving all summer at the Martin's Cove visitor center in Wyoming.  We've always wanted to visit, especially since we've never been to that part of the state... and probably might be a LONG time before we go back.  The summer flew by so fast, we knew their time was getting short.  We also wanted to go AFTER all the youth trekers had left and it was a little more laid back.  It turned out to be such a perfect weekend!  We drove out Friday morning and the car ride wasn't as bad as I anticipated.  The lack of scenery put the kids to sleep and the hours flew by driving across those empty, rolling, grassy plains of the Great Divide Plateau.  Who would live out here?!  No wonder the pioneers kept going!

We spent Friday afternoon at the visitor center.  They had big maps and displays, movies, and even a real handcart you could pull around the grounds.  We took a ranger out to the cove itself.  Kinda glad they didn't make me pull a handcart for those 2 miles.  I would've made a wimpy pioneer!  The kids loved the whole experience!  There were also plenty of senior missionaries to entertain Anna and Dallin.  They even invited us to eat dinner with all the missionaries as part of a farewell for some that were leaving.  Endless home-cooked food?! Please!  The closest store is 40 minutes away so everything is baked and prepared by the senior couples themselves!  Afterwards, we wandered the grounds and the kids had a blast chasing the little rabbits that are all over the place!

Saturday was p-day, which consisted of an expedition into Casper for supplies.  Along the way, we visited Devil's Gate, Independence Rock, the gorge at Pathfinder Dam, and Ayres Natural Bridge!  You really have to look hard to find these hidden wonders in such emptiness.

Sunday was church/ farewell meeting with the other missionaries.  Naturally, Dallin wouldn't stay inside, not with rabbits to chase outside.  Will that boy ever learn to hold still?!  We stuck around for a potluck lunch following the meeting.  MORE homemade food?  Yes!  I was sad we had to leave... partly because of the long drive home, and also because of the spirit we felt there.  There was a lot of history at that place and it's hard to imagine what it would've been like to experience back then!  So much suffering, yet so much faith!  Those handcart pioneers were AMAZING!

Swiss Days!

Why can't I take ANY pictures during the 10K race???  Every year, as soon as the crowd disperses and we're finishing cleaning up, I suddenly remember the camera in my pocket.  D'oh!

It seems that the race should've gone smoother this year.  I ordered everything extra early, had plenty of volunteers (kind of) and even got a whole 4 hours of sleep the night before!  If that's the case, why do I feel like I'm running around like a crazy woman the entire time?!  The time FLIES by and suddenly it's all over.  There were only a few major disasters: forgot my computer, forgot bibs at the house, ran out of safety pins, not enough port-a-potties, ran out of shirts AND trophy mugs (barely), finish line got stacked up because volunteers were scarce by this time, our race music wouldn't shuffle, forgot to tell Kristine to pick up the fruit along with the donuts, water and gatorade jugs showed up empty, delivery guys got lost trying to find the water stop, body message tent almost blew away, and... to top it all off... no meal tickets to eat at the chuck wagon breakfast! (not like we had time anyway).  Yes, there will be a few things we will be changing next year as we constantly strive for amateur-race perfection!  Next year may be our LAST, so we'd better make it good.

I really had to step back and look at the good:  we had a record number of registered runners!  We never did run out of donuts and chocolate milk.  The temperature was perfect, although a little windy.  We got everyone in and out and they all seemed pretty happy!  There's no happier group out there than 450 sweaty runners!

After the race, Bevan went straight to the taco booth for his shifts and I took a nap for the first time in months!  Later that evening, we were able to go to the town square and mosey after everything had settled down.  We used the last of his meal tickets to get hot dogs for the kids, a hamburger for Bevan, and a loaf of Swiss bread for me!  Best dinner ever!  Some day I'll be able to actually walk around to the different booths, or sit and listen to the entertainment.  When you live in Midway, Swiss Days is not a vacation, it's work!

Family Night at the Ball Game!

Deer Valley hosts awesome summer activities for their employees.  Last year was the Utah Olympic Park (which ended up getting rained out, but we still ended up going later anyway on a date).  This year was a Salt Lake Bees baseball game.  The gave us food vouchers for dinner (which ended up not going as far as we hoped) and we all feasted on hot dogs, funnel cakes, and one large soda pop.  Dallin lasted longer than I thought... almost 3 whole innings!  He then started "wandering" up and down the rows of DV employees, being as charming as ever! (for being family night, we were the only ones who brought kids, so they got a lot of attention!)  Then he wandered down by the portal, and then just took off all together.   We stuck around 'till the seventh inning, taking turns with Dallin and watching the game.  The Bees were ahead and I think they ended up winning!  It was a fun way to spend an evening!

Cabin Camping

We have NOT been camping enough this summer!  We got new poles for our tent, Dallin doesn't throw dirt on himself or wander into dangerous situations anymore (much), we only still have 2 kids!... how much more motivation to you need to go camping?!  We had a brilliant idea to go to Smith and Morehouse Reservoir with a canoe and spend the night!  They don't allow boat motors on that reservoir so it's perfect for moseying around and enjoying peaceful nature.  I knew it would be crowded, so I sent Bevan and the kids early to snag a spot.  Everything was completely full!  I guess campers were there waiting during check-out to snag those precious spots!  Fail!  After driving around for 2 hours, Bevan was ready to throw in the towel and come home.
"Let's just go camping at the cabin!"
"Sounds great!"
I mean, that's why you have a cabin, right?
We got our friends, Debbie and Christian, to come with us and we had a blast.  Yes, we did end up sleeping inside, on the real beds, but we still felt like we were roughing it!

The next morning, we ate breakfast and took the canoe to Mill Hollow Reservoir, another place that doesn't have any motorized boats.  So peaceful!  We took turns taking the kids out.  Dallin made me nervous and kept leaning over the side to splash the water.  Why couldn't he just sit in the middle and NOT move?!  Story of his life, right?!  We didn't stay too long, we had stuff to get done on a Saturday.  Besides, Dallin was giving me a heart attack... and he was already soaked from wandering around on the shore.  But what a great idea!  Need to capitalize on these long summer days more often!

Ackerson Family Invasion 2015!

We had a close repeat of last year's Ackerson family reunion... but I wasn't complaining, it was only 5 minutes from my house.  Ultra convenient for storing cold stuff and running back to grab all the things that I forgot!

The fun started Thursday morning with the annual hike up Timp.  I was still deciding if I wanted to attempt it... but then I found out the 9-year-olds, Paige and Meg were hiking it too.
"Well, if they can do it..."
It was so much fun!  We went nice and slow, which I was silently grateful for.  Bevan acted as my sherpa and carried all my water and food.  What a wonderful husband!  All I had to do was breathe deeply and keep going.  Timpanogos basin was so beautiful, but the wildflowers were a little past their peak.  We made it to the top in just under 4 1/2 hours.  Not bad with such a crowd!  There were 15 of us total!  We had the top shack to ourselves and there was hardly any wind!  Very unusual for the summit!  It was hard NOT to spend all day up there!  The hike down was obviously more easy, but those last 3 miles were tedious.  My legs were so tired!  I think everyone felt the same way.
We spent the rest of the evening setting up camp and waiting for everyone to arrive!

Friday was spent at Deer Creek again.  The lake was higher this year, less of a walk from the parking lot!  The kids were in heaven with all the water and sand.  We had a blast with the wave runners, kayaks, paddle boards and countless water toys!  We made it back to camp and found Paul and Stefanie, who came down for the fun!  Stefanie was a little more than 2 weeks till her due date... but that didn't stop her from going into labor later that evening!  It was so exciting!  They made it over to Heber hospital and she ended up giving birth the next day!  It was definitely the highlight to the reunion!  Little baby Joshua was already 7 pounds and 19.5" long.  Yep, he definitely cooked long enough!  Lucky Stefanie.  Now how do I get MY baby to come 2 weeks early?  Go on a road trip, I guess!

Saturday was a "chill" day at the campground.  The guys went shooting and golfing and the rest of us lounged around and ate, or if not eating, then anticipating the next meal!  The kids did crafts ala Vanessa and played games ala Nora.  We sang Happy Birthday to Mom, ate some amazing barbecue and chocolate cake, and ended with some funny skits.  It always amazes me what my family comes up with!  What a great reunion!  Until next year!