The Biznards: January 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

Christmas in Cali

This year was a Cali Christmas. Every other year we spend Christmas with Chad's family in Napa, CA. We of course came back a couple pounds heavier from our Christmas vacation and so did Tito as he was also away on his own adventures visiting his other adoptive grandparents and other adoptive mom's house. While he's there he gets to see his old flame/baby mama. He gets to dine on toast and jam for breakfast every morning and gets to eat plenty of steak and chicken. So yes, everytime he visits his old family he comes back a little thicker too. And probably a little sad that he doesn't get that well fed at our house.

Once we got to Napa our first excursion was to San Francisco the next day. I love that city!! Sometimes I forget how much I love and miss it til I go visit. And I especially loved it this visit cause it wasn't foggy and it was 60 degrees. In December! I know they say that actions speak louder than words, but believe me when I say it was really warm despite what it may look like in pictures as I'm wearing my red goose down winter coat.

But before we actually got to SF we stopped at the Oakland temple to pick up Chad's mom.

Then we crossed the Bay Bridge and headed to Ocean Beach (Chad's old surfing beach) where we met up with the rest of the family. As I said, it was 60 degrees and the tide was super low, and the waves looked great. A perfect day at the beach in December.

I originally thought this was going to be Gavins first time seeing the ocean. But then I remembered his first ocean visit was the Atlantic back in August.

This is Gavin's first time meeting his cousin Jackson who is a couple months younger than him.

Once we met up with the fam we took a sunset walk. So pretty.

You turn the corner and there it is, the Golden Gate Bridge. Beautiful.

Then we headed down to Fisherman's Wharf, ate some dinner at Boudins (famous for their sourdough) and then headed to Ghiradelli Square (famous for their chocolate) where we got a hot fudge sundae. YUM!

The next day Chad, Ethan and Chad's brother Travis went on an 8 mile hike that they do every time we visit. This time Ethan got to go. I was so proud of Ethan for hiking that far. I asked him what his favorite part was and he told me it was when they stopped for lunch. Food, it's a real motivator.

I included this picture cause I thought it was funny. Uncle Travis is obviously pointing out something really cool in the distance. Ethan, apparently found something a lot more interesting on the ground.

Then of course there was Christmas day. Christmas day at Chad's house is a fun experience. The whole family comes over, all 21 of us, the family room is half covered with presents cause Judy loves to spoil all of us, and by the end you can barely walk because there are gifts and boxes and wrapping paper up to your knees. Present opening takes all morning and in the past (not this year) we've been known to stop midway through to eat breakfast because present opening can go on for hours. Then there is some down time where everyone goes back to their own homes and then we get back together for a delicious Christmas meal with ham AND turkey to boot.

These are just some of the cousins. Wishing now that I'd gotten a photo with all the cousins.

Ethan got to be "Santa" this year. That means he gets to wear the Santa hat while delivering all the gifts to everyone.

This would be a very typical scene on Christmas morning. It's a little bit of chaos. And of course their dog CJ needs to be right there in the middle of it all.

Then we had to get a picture of the 3 newest members of the family together.

This is the best shot I could get with Gavin and Jackson. Babies and a Christmas tree aren't totally conducive to good picture taking. You can probably see why.

Trip Theme Song: Someone Like You by Adele. No joke, it was on everytime we drove in the car. Sometimes up to three times if we were in the car long enough.

Best Quote of the Trip: 7 year Quentin to his 9 year sister Christmas night after everything was all said and done. Very sincerely, "Um, I guess I should have gotten someone a present since it IS Christmas."

His sister: "Uh, yeah!"

Best Deep Thought of the Trip: Ethan saying, "I know how we can stop pollution throughout the world." And then proceeding to tell us in detail how to capture exhaust from cars and then put it all in a space ship and send it up into space.

Best book on tape from the trip: "Hoot"

Best laughs: Came while playing Telestrations. It's telephone meets pictionary. Fun game!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

A New Year

Gavin decided to start 2012 off with a major milestone. As of January 3rd he is now officially a crawler!! I love to watch this early stage of crawling - so slow, so focused on that destination not that far away. It's cute. This week he also started clapping. Actually it was the same day he started crawling. So January 3rd was a big day for Gavers, and for us too! Not to mention he's got 4 teeth coming through on top. It's really cute to see Ethan get all excited over these little milestones that Gavin achieves.

As I've reflected on 2011 I've felt really grateful. It was a really good year! Ethan turned 8 and got baptized. Chad's had steady work in a rough economy. And a lot of my gratitude is because of this guy.

2011 started out in anticipation of his arrival and then the rest of the year was spent celebrating his arrival. His entrance into my life has filled that missing part that couldn't be filled by anyone but him. He is loved and adored by all of us here at my house, but especially by me.

It's been a bit of a rough year for my mom. She's still fighting cancer. The cancer is no longer in her colon where it started (which is wonderful) but has continued to invade her liver this year. In March I found out that she had a tumor in her liver and the doctor gave her a life expectancy that was way too short for my liking. It was around that time that I realized the gravity of the situation and really mourned the potential loss of my mother for the first time since her original diagnosis. She underwent a procedure called RFA (where they target just the tumor and burn it to death) twice as the tumor came back in her liver two times. The tumor came back a third time and she was sent to Seattle to have a specialist surgically remove about 25% of her liver. Luckily livers grow back. There were some tense moments during her recovery where she was delirious and fluids were filling up around the liver. During the time she was really out of it and delirious we had a family fast. She also received a blessing from the local missionaries. It was that next morning after the blessing that she woke up as Lynette, and no longer her delirious alter ego. See? Miracles do happen! She got tested a month or so ago and her cell count looks great and the doctor deemed her "cured." Which of course we all take with a grain of salt. Even though there were ups and downs this year with my mom's health, I feel so grateful that at this moment, she's cancer free and she's still here with me!!

Ethan & Gavin Quotes Worth Repeating:

The best is when Gavin tells me, "You're my best mom!" And when he comes out from his nap and says, "Mom, I still love you." (I love the "still" part - I'm just glad his feelings didn't change during his nap).

This morning Gavin saw the medicine cups on the counter and said he needed medicine. Since he's not sick, I said, "You don't need medicine, you're not sick." He goes all whiny, "but I am sick! I'm sick of cereal." (January 6, 2015)

Today I shared half of my cookie with Gavin, he very politely replied when I handed it to him, "Thanks mom! Good job sharing!" (Sept 20, 2014)

This was told to me by my neighbor while Gavin was at her house playing with her daughter, Emma.
Emma tells Gavin, "I have a bum."
Gavin: "I think I have a bum too."
All the while looking behind them trying to get a peak at their own bums. I love conversations between three year olds! (Sept, 2014)

I was talking to Ethan about my on t.v. interview the next day. He was a little nervous I'd embarass him and goes, "Mom, I really don't want you to make a fool of this family!" (July 11,2013)

On Friday we took Ethan and 5 of his friends somewhere for his birthday. We borrowed my brother's car since its big and it could fit all of us. When we all got in the car the boys were saying how the owner of the car must be rich because the car was so big. They were informed that the car belonged to Ethan's uncle. They were still in awe of how rich he must be when Ethan exclaimed, "He's a redhead, of course he's rich!" Hmm...if only I were a redhead. (January 14, 2011)

Ethan gave Tito a little kiss on the head. After he kissed him he was wiping Tito's head off and said, "I'm wiping the wetness off, but the love's still there." So profound. (October 10, 2010)

My sis-in-law Mel and I took our kids to a pool to swim pretty far from our house. They'd been in the car probably for about 30-45 min. I hear Ethan in the backseat ask his fellow cousins, "Are you guys having fun? I'm having fun just talking!" (October 7, 2010)

One morning as Ethan was requesting some breakfast, he said, "Hey, you're kind of like my servant!" He was quite pleased with that discovery. (May, 2010)

At dinner Ethan says to Chad, "Dad, how do you eat in like two seconds?!"

Chad: "Cause I'm a pig."

Ethan: "Pigs don't eat THAT fast!" (March 4, 2010)

Ethan Quote Archives

My Mom was telling Ethan about how she remembers her 1st grade teacher. She paused for a moment to think of her teacher's name and Ethan took the opportunity to whisper in her ear and inform her, "She's probably dead." (January 26, 2010)

Ethan, analizing why the spider was crawling on his leg the other night. "I don't think that spider was TRYING to poison me." (December 18, 2009)

"My friend want to write Santa to tell him what he wants. I want to write Santa to thank him for all that he does." (December, 2009)

From the backseat Ethan says, "I have my pinky in my nose. I'm not picking it, it just kin of feels good!" I looked back and sure enough, his pinky was in his nose. And in all honesty, he's really not a nose picker so I know it wasn't just an excuse. (August 14, 2009)

Chad and I were talking about how my sister-in-law, Mel is going to be the president of Ethan's old preschool. Ethan must have missed the "preschool" part and he goes: "What!? Mel's going to be president? Its not going to be Barack Obama anymore?" (August 9, 2009)

While Ethan was coming home from school with my friend Cathy and her two boys, apparently her two year old was being really loud and Ethan says, "I always wanted a sibling, but I didn't know they could be so anooying!" (May, 2009)

While we were at the park with one of Ethan's friends and his mom, Ethan's friend realized he lost one of the toys that he brought. As he and his mom started frantically looking for it, Ethan quietly, yet knowingly says to me, "And that why I don't bring toys to the park." (March, 2009)

During church Ethan plugs his ears and says, "I don't want to listen anymore."
Me: "Why?"
Ethan: "Because I don't want my eardrums to run out of hearing." (3/15/2009)

Ethan and I were looking through a book about bodies and we were talking about kidneys and where they are located in the body.

Me: (Pointing to the small of his back) "So this is where your kidneys are."
Ethan: "So does that mean you have adultneys?"
Get it? Adult-neys? He's got kid-neys, so I should have adult-neys right? And he wasn't kidding. (1/20/2009)

Me: "Ethan, do you love Tido?"
Ethan: "Yeah, I love him...The only thing I don't like about him is that his butt is always in your face." (1/5/2009)

As we were talking about going to Costco and getting some lunch, Ethan exclaims, "I just love Costco food! Its just so good! We should get their recipe and their autograph!" (1/2/2009)

I'm a little more familiar with the area where we live than Chad is, so sometimes I have to tell him where to turn while driving. One day while I was telling him where to turn left and right, from the backseat Ethan says, "Mom, stop bossing dad around!" (a while ago, 2008)

Aunt Courtney asked Ethan what his favorite part of kindergarten is, he replied, "going home." (9/1/2008)

Ethan: Dad, when you got married did you have a wedding cake?
Chad: Yes I did.
Ethan: Why didn't you save any for me?...Well, its ok cause I guess you didn't really know about me then. (8/12/2008)

While putting Ethan to bed tonight he told me, "You're the sweetest parents I ever had." (6/11/2008)

The other day we were at the store and there was a shirt that Ethan wanted that we didn't buy for him. The next day while he was getting dressed he comes up to me and says, "Mom, I'll give you a choice, either you buy me that shirt or I won't wear any clothes tomorrow." (6/8/2008)

Today during testimony meeting Ethan says to Chad,
"Oh gosh, why does everyone have to say the church is true?"

Tonight as Ethan and I were sipping out hot cocoa, I asked him if it ever made him sad that he didn't have any brothers or sisters. He replied, "No, I have a good life."

While driving in the car I was telling Ethan how he was going to play with his good friend Hayden the next day. Ethan hesitates, "Well. . .I was going to do some research tomorrow." "Oh really, well what are you going to research?" "Oh, I was going to do some research on my mission." (3/13/08)

One Sunday during the Sacrament Ethan whispers to me:
"I can't think of Jesus, I can only think of Superheroes."

"I want to be a cow so I can poop in a field."

"When adults tickle kids they pee a little bit."

Ethan: I want a new mom.
Me: Well that makes me sad that you would say that. Why do you want a new mom?"
Ethan: Because you're so old.

Me: "Ethan, I'm so glad you're my son."
Ethan: "Don't talk about son, child, married, or pregnant. That makes me nervous."

As Ethan was looking at Courtney's parakeet and the bird was looking back at him with just one of his eyes, cause that's just how birds look, Ethan demanded, "Look at me with both eyes bird!"

Today while driving in the snow Ethan asked me if snow is white. I told him that it is and he said, "Oh good because I was worried that I be blind color (aka color blind)."