spoiled!

well, i'm now thirty. yes, three whole decades old. that is pretty remarkable, since i don't feel that old. but thirty is the new twenty, right? so to celebrate my "big" birthday, we are in hawaii! we started this tradition a few years ago when my sister turned thirty that we would take "big" vacations for the "big birthdays." at that time, it was just my mom, sister and i that went. this time, we decided husbands could come too, so my mom brought my step-dad and i brought joel. truman came too, as bev's special guy!

so the six of us are here and LOVING the sun, beach and beautiful ocean! i will blog later with full trip details, pictures, etc. but wanted to share my gratitude to my hubs for distracting me about my (old) age with some amazing gifts!

not only did i get this fabulous getaway to oahu, but i also got this super hot bag by marc jacobs (but in a fun saffron color instead of black- shocking, i know!):

and this cute nixon watch, too (though i did opt for black on this one!):
so yes, he is amazing and i had a wonderful thirtieth birthday!

One (more) For Good Measure

okay, so not to overwhelm you with posts, but here's one more (though i'll keep it short). i just thought i would add a few pictures of truman, and share what he has been up to lately. first, i adore this kid! he has such a personality and loves life! he is very curious and wants to see, touch, and (mostly) taste everything! everything is new and wonderful to him, and it makes me so happy! he loves balls, and especially being outside, and will play out there for hours, with just a stick or shovel or whatever. oh, and he is obsessed with phones:

one of his other favorite things is (oddly) brooms. or anything else with a handle like that: swiffers, mops, etc. i think this stems from his fascination with his grandpa's cane, but who knows?!
and while he is still mostly bald, he has been growing so tall and skinny lately (still over 90% in height, but only 45% in weight!), just like his dad! his vocabulary has also been expanding, and it seems he is learning new words all the time.

a few of his new ones that i love:
broom (naturally)
uh-oh
more
hi (to anyone and everyone!)
ball
night-night (though sounds like nigh-nigh)
juice (just today!)
he also make the sounds of a bird (ah ah ah ah) and car (vroom, vroom)

yep, he is pretty much amazing! i love him so ridiculously much!
(sorry for the poor photo quality, they are from our phones)

The Prophet

Friday, May 15th was a very special day. It was the day that Truman and I met the Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.

My mom was in town for her uncle's funeral, and that evening was the family viewing. My great uncle, John Limburg, held a variety of church callings throughout his 91 years, including mission president, temple sealer, etc. but at one point was the bishop of the later-to-be-called Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My mom's cousin was friends with President Monson's friend Tommy, and their fathers remained in contact until my great uncle's passing.

So, we knew there was a chance President Monson would come to the viewing, but were overwhelmed when he actually did, thinking about all of the duties and obligations he has associated with his calling. My mom, brother and sister-in-law arrived before Truman and I and had the privilege of spending 20 or so minutes in his presence as he shared stories, memories and even had the whole family laughing! He gave my great aunt Beverly (the new widow) a letter signed by him and the rest of the First Presidency to be read at the funeral the next day. He read the letter to her, which expressed their condolences and gratitude for the life and service of her husband. It was pretty remarkable, and my mom's cousin made copies for each of us to keep!

Anyway, when Truman and I got there and got out of the car I saw him. He was making his way out of the stake center and coming right towards us on the sidewalk. I didn't know what to do, so I just stopped, in case he wanted some privacy or didn't want to be bothered. He came right over to us and said hello. He reached for Truman's hand and shook it, and then told Truman to "give me five." I was in shock! I told Truman, "This is the Prophet," though I was still in awe of his Spirit. He then shook my hand and said that Truman "is a handsome guy, he takes after his mother," (meaning ME, of course!). What!? Did this just really happen? Yes, it did!

So, it was basically amazing! It was so considerate of him to stop and speak to us, and he was so sweet with Truman. I still can't believe it, but feel so blessed to have had the privilege to meet our dear, living Prophet, a true servant of the Lord. What a wonderful day...

Easter 2009

now sequentially, easter was before our trip to zion, but anyway...here are the details!

so, while this was truman's second easter, it was like celebrating it for the first time since he was only a few months old last easter. the easter bunny left him some bunny ears of his own:
we spent Saturday with joel's family and had lunch, dyed easter eggs, and then the best part: truman's aunt anne made a fun easter egg hunt for him (that was set up inside instead due to rain), and he loved it...until there was a spill:but, he recovered nicely, and we all had a great time! on easter morning, the easter bunny came and left some loot for little bunny tru tru: and then after church we went down to provo and had dinner with my brother dave and his wife deborah. their neighbors have baby chicks, so truman was able to see those: all in all, we had a wonderful weekend with family and remembering the resurrection of the Savior!

Zion National Park

again, it's been awhile. no apologies though...just an update of the past few months for you instead.

so, back in april we took a trip down to zion national park for the weekend. coincidentally, we went down there the same weekend two years ago: earth day! this time, we had truman (though i was unknowingly pregnant last time), and brought joel's sister anne along with us as well.

on the way down south, we stopped at cove fort, in between cedar city and beaver, utah. it is an incredible historical site, very well-maintained and definitely worth a short detour, if you get the chance.
after that stop, we went and checked in at our hotel in st. george. yes, this time we stayed in a hotel instead of camped! in our defense, we do have a very curious little guy who would've loved to check out the fire and creek nearby. so, yeah, we took the easy way out and you know what? we loved it and had the best time! early the next morning we got up and headed into the park. it was saturday and we were off to angels landing after a quick drive through the architecturally magnificent tunnel:
so, if you've never been to zion's, or never heard of angel's landing, oh my! it is absolutely the most incredible, beautiful, wondrous hike EVER! it is a work-out, but when you get to the top, it is absolutely stunning: UN-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e!see the top, yes- the very top, peak in these pictures? that's where the hike ends. yep, pretty insane! poor joel had to carry truman in the backpack carrier the whole way: and we were all exhausted after, but it was the best! once you get to what you think is the "top" there is still the most deceiving 1/2 mile left to go: straight up! at that point, we left truman with anne and joel & i continued the trek up. there are some chains, but not really a trail since a lot of hit is just "bouldering" your way up! i'll tell you what, as tired as i was, at that point there was no way i was stopping until i made it all the way.self-photo from the top (while we may not look great, check out the view behind us!):
yep, we were on the top of the world and LOVED it! joel even told me he was very impressed with me, and wasn't sure i could do it! our happy reunion after joel and i got back from the peak: the next day, we stopped at the st. george temple and walked the grounds and took a few pics before heading back into the park:
it was a short trip, but it was a GREAT one! we look forward to many more to come!

firsts

wow, it's been awhile. unfortunately, most of you know that is always the case of our blog: inconsistent posting at best. oh well, life is busy and life is good, and sometimes blogging doesn't fit in with everything we've got going on.

so, we have had some pretty major milestones lately! joel turned 30, truman turned one, and about a month prior, enjoyed his first christmas! yep, my little guy is growing up! i can't believe a whole year has passed, it seems like i blinked and it was gone. i must say life as a mom just keeps getting better and better, i love my trumy more every day! he is an absolute joy and has so much personality. joel is a great dad and enjoys rough-housing with truman.

christmas was really fun, we had a pre-christmas party with my dad and step-mom from oregon, bev, dave + deborah, and joann's kids as well. we had a great dinner and then played some fun games like christmas song pictionary that joann made up. all-in-all, it was a blast and we were sad to see dad and joann leave for oregon again.
we also hosted a christmas eve party for joel's family, joined by bev and dave + deborah. we had a "talent" portion (which included the video from the last posting) and laughed and laughed all night. again, it was a great party and everyone enjoyed themselves.

truman wasn't really into the whole "gift" part of christmas, mostly he wanted to play with the screw driver used to assemble his toys, instead of the toys themselves! but, it was still fun, and he did love all of his new books and toys!

we had the pleasure of having my sister bev with us on christmas morning, and then went and joined joel's family for some lunch, delicious pumpkin soup made by joel's sister anne! after lunch and more gifts, joel, anne, truman and i went out for our annual tradition of snowshoeing on christmas day. there was a crazy snowstorm, but we went anyway and really enjoyed ourselves. truman especially loved it and even rolled around in the snow after we were done:


about two weeks ago we celebrated truman's birthday! it was such a fun day, and we had family and friends (grandpa + grandma cannon, grammy o'harra, auntie bev, aunt anne, uncle dave and aunt deborah, the bybees, anna + ruby swallow and the rochas) join us for the occasion. truman isn't really into any tv shows, movies or characters, with the exception of 'bee movie.' it is the only thing he will even remotely pay attention to when it is on, so we went with a 'bee movie' theme of sorts. here is his cake (for us to eat), and his own (which he didn't want to eat):

truman doesn't really like sweet things, and didn't like his cake:

he did have a good laugh with uncle dave though:

truman loved seeing all of his family and friends, and LOVED his balloons! he calls them "bloons" and still has one left from his party that he drags around--so cute!


and since i have been so bad at blogging, i'll post this now (or otherwise it might not happen for a few months)! this is of me and truman yesterday, valentine's day, in our matching outfits: