Deja Vu

When I was little my parents called me their little fish. I LOVED the pool. If I could have spent all day long, every day, during the summer at a pool I would have. One of my fondest memories was my dad lifting me high into the air, over his head, while I balanced on his hands. I loved the feeling of being so high up with the anticipation of falling into the water with a glorious splash. I would plunge deep into the water and have a moment of panic before I surfaced and Dad would grab a hold of me before I inhaled half the pool. It was awesome!

Apparently, this is genetic and I have passed it onto my daughter!

Sumo Wrestling

There is nothing like a good Sumo wrestling match to get you ready to start school! The kids all used several layers of clothing to get the desired effect. It proved to be a very entertaining activity, although I did have to do several loads of sweaty laundry. It was all worth it in the end.

Stuffed and ready to go.

Help! We've fallen and we can't get up. Watching the kids get up off the floor was hilarious!

Nicholas takes Naomi out with his famous belly bounce!

In the end, all three were champions.

Best Friends

If you looked up "best friends" in the dictionary you would see pictures of Nicholas and Zach. These two wonderful, adorable, lovable, amazing, boys have so much fun when they are together. Time seems to stop and no amount of time together is long enough. That is saying a lot for a boy who usually lasts two hours, MAX, before I hear "Is it time for them to go home yet?"

I think these pictures will speak for themselves.

Every Mario needs his Luigi

Having fun at the church trunk or treat.

Helping each other get past their stuck point on the DS.

Eating a popcicle in the back of the truck after riding their scooters around the neighborhood several hundred times.

Dancing around the living room to Mario's theme song.

Yep! Definitely best buddies.

Zach moved to Colorado at the end of August to live with his dad while his mom does a tour of duty for the U.S. Navy overseas. We will miss him, but he will be home for a brief period for Christmas, right before his mom ships out. We are so excited to see him!

It's Fashion, Baby!

July 26th was a fun day for us. The Hansen family decided to host a fashion show at their house. Everyone was encouraged to dress up in their fashionable favorites and come show them off. Their house was decorated with curtains for the backstage area and a lighted runway. The kids were all super excited to show off their stuff on the runway. Jeremy and Nicholas acted as the announcers and read off of 3x5 cards that the moms had done up describing the outfits all the kids were wearing.

Isaac and Joshua, in their fashionable garb, were in charge of the curtain.

Naomi, strutting her stuff down the runway. Nicholas had worked with her to make sure that her outfit and runway moves were just right. They picked her outfit to highlight the warm summer days, complete with fashionable flip-flops, sunglasses and a tiny dog in her purse (which Nicholas saw a star in a magazine carrying, so it was a must!) She added some jewelery and was ready for the runway.

Here is the whole fashionable crew!

Afterwards there was luncheon to celebrate the success of the show!

Boy Scout Camp

The first week in July, Steve took Troop 215 to Camp Grimes for summer camp. They had a great time and all the boys came back excited about scouts and camping, which is saying a lot because some of them were NOT excited to go to camp. Steve really worked hard to make sure that this experience was as positive and fun as possible. I would say his hard work paid off.

Troop 215 home base

This is where all the camp meetings were held. I think I could get used to the view!

The combined number of merit badges earned during the week was an impressive 50, but they still found time to relax. Steve's hammock was very popular.

Jeremy at the rifle range. He is very good with a gun and he really enjoyed it as well.

Steve got to go on the ATVs since they needed adult leaders. He had a blast! It rained a bit while they were there and so his clothes came back caked in red mud, but it was worth it.

Here they are at mess hall. Jeremy was feeling kind of left out before leaving for camp. Because of his allergies we had to fix all his meals in advance and send them up, all neatly labeled by day and meal, in a cooler so he could reheat them as needed. He thought he was going to be picked on for not getting to eat what everyone else was eating. Boy, was he wrong! Apparently, the food was not that great and Jeremy could have made a killing selling his homemade meals. Everyone wanted what he was having! As if that was not enough, all the scouts were jealous that Jeremy got to go into the kitchen fridge, the walk in kind, and cool off while getting his super delicious meals.

As I said, they came home completely exhausted and stinky, but it was all worth it. They are already looking forward to the next campout! I think Steve can call that a monumental success!!

God's Rolling Pin Upside My Head

I've been told before that I don't listen very well. I have vehimently denied it, but it is time to face the truth. I don't listen very well. Last May Nicholas had a mini-meltdown saying we are always so busy that we don't have time for family. We patted him on the head and said we would try to do better. And we did, sort of! June, July, August, September, October passed and Nicholas brought up the argument again. We set a date to go to the zoo, which is what he really wanted to do (for almost 9 months now). Nothing got in our way and we had a fabulous day! The next day was the primary program and the kids did a tremendous job. The spirit was there. The last song was "Praise to the Man" and was started by a father and his two sons for the first verse. The primary joined in for the second verse, followed by the priesthood members in the congregation joining for the third verse. By the time the fourth verse came and the entire congregation joined in I could hardly sing because of the tears. The spirit was so strong by the end of that song that even the smallest child felt it. The chapel as completely silent during the prayer. I get chills now just thinking about it. That was a powerful primary program.

Anyhow, that's when the rolling pin hit. I had been sick with a cold since before Halloween (and this was now the 20th of November!). For the first time in years I left church right after the program and came home and crashed. Monday I called the doctor because if I didn't Steve was going to. Tuesday I saw the doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia! I was told to take it easy for a week. If I wasn't going to slow myself down then a loving Heavenly Father was going to do it for me, thus the rolling pin analogy! That is what it takes to get me to listen. You would think I would learn after having a 3-month-old in the hospital deparately ill after being given a bottle because I wasn't there to feed him and later finding out he was allergic to milk. I had been to a job interview and a Young Womens meeting. I turned down the job after realizing that my baby needed me more. You would think I had learned my lesson. I warned you, I don't listen! I felt like I needed to contribute to the family income not long after that and started selling vitamins from home. I ended up with a complete body rash from taking the vitamins. It turns out my body doesn't handle large amounts of B vitamins very well. Once again, the rolling pin and I listened.

I have learned my lesson and I am taking it easy. The kids and Steve have really stepped in and helped to make sure that I don't over do it. They helped fix Thanksgiving dinner and did the dishes afterwards. They cleaned up the entire house, dusting and vaccuming included. I tried to do the 9 loads of laundry that have been accumulating and broke down half-way through with Steve finishing up the last of it for me. You can't blame me for trying. No one had any clean underwear! Steve also spent the weekend picking up the items that were on sale during the fabulous After Thanksgiving sales that were on our Christmas list. He even spent time with each individual child helping them pick out things for everybody for Christmas. On top of that he took the kids geocaching to get Jeremy's Geocaching merit badge requirements almost done.

I have stayed true to the promise to relax and take it easy. I caught up on my journal during this time and am now taking time to catch up on the blog. So keep checking in over the next couple of days as I catch you up on what has been happening with the Cannon family since July.

The Reniassance Festival
By: Jeremy Cannon


Hear ye! Hear ye!
Come to the Reniassance
Festival for a load of medieval
fun. HUZZAH!!!!!!!









They have tons of shops


<

This is the DaVinci Flying Machine./\

It is a merry-go-round that celebrates Leonardo DaVinci and his inventions.

/\

Naomi and a wooden (as well as hand-carved) dragon.
Naomi likes dragons.Period.

Who doesn't love throwing sharp stuff? /\
< >

Oh my throwing stars! >

That shuriken (throwing star) that I am about to

throw sticks into the wood! Nick was kind enough to let me throw one of his stars. At the Utah Reniassance Festival I purchased a throwing knife, so I have had some practice.

BEHOLD!!!!! The biggest rocking horse that I have ever seen!!!! /\

Say "hi" to the walking woods.
<

Now that is a halloween costume to DIE for.
Yes, there is a person inside of there.

/\

A street musician playing a violin while laying down.

I prefer to sit up when I play an instrument.

A glass-blowing demonstration. /\
It looks harder to do than blacksmithing
(which I have done).

This is the joust simulator. /\ \/

It's a horse on a zipline with a PVC pipe lance.
(I didn't try it.)

<\/ These are the three legendary knights.

Do they look familiar?

We had a blast in the wooden weaponry shop.

One of the shop owners is behind us in all three pictures.



Overall, we had a great time at the Reniassance Festival.

You should try it to!

HUZZAH!!!!!