Thursday, December 30, 2010

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Today Jonathan and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary! It's a momentous occassion, but then not so much when you think we've got eternity to go.:) Jonathan said to me the other night (after I asked if he thought we were still the same people after 5 years of school and 2 kids in 4 years, plus one crazy residency) and he very honestly said, "No. I think we both look worse!" Well, I had meant it in a more emotional sense, but he's probably right about that. I think we both agree though that we love each other more than we did this day, six years ago!! Now for a walk down memory lane:

The night before the wedding!

Coming out of the Boise temple, where it was windy and FREEZING!

Officially sealed for time and eternity.

Mr. (he wasn't a Dr. then) and Mrs. Cardon at the wedding lunch.

Monday, December 27, 2010

A Merry Little Christmas!

We had a really nice Christmas, and hope all who are reading this did too! As I mentioned before, this was really our first Christmas we've just spent as a family on the home front. Jon has had such bad luck flying across the country in the wintertime throughout the last few years that he made me promise we could just spend the holidays at home without the stress and expense of traveling.

Lucy and Zach patiently waited all 24 days of December for the last and final piece of the nativity: Baby Jesus! They were both so excited to open it that we had to do it twice so they each got a turn pulling him out of the pocket.

Since it is Jonathan's "year" for Christmas he got to decide what traditions we would do to celebrate, and we had hoped his parents would be able to join us from Washington, but due to some conflicts with work and other things, they weren't able to come. So, we tried to do our best at recreating their traditional "Holy Supper" which is probably Jon's all-time favorite Christmas tradition. We watched the "Nativity Story" right before so Lucy could understand better what they dressed like and where they lived and what they ate. We had a simple meal of fish, cheese, flat bread, hummus, and grape juice-- the foods Joseph and Mary would have eaten back then. It's always a really special feeling to turn out the lights and by candlelight eat dinner, sing Christmas carols, and read Matthew 2. After dinner we wrote our letters for Santa, left out some cookies and milk, and then it was off to bed (but 6+ hours of putting together toys for Jonathan)!!


Bright and early the kids woke up and we let them head downstairs to see if Santa had come. Lucy was ECSTATIC to get her Ariel talking salon, a toy dog (sorry, not a real one per her request!), Tea Cup piggies, and a princess scooter, plus lots of other fun stuff.


Zachary got his very own car to scoot around in, and a huge dump truck and lots of other fun cars and trucks and Toy Story toys.

But the pies de resistance was their new TRAMPOLINE!!! They LOVE jumping on it, and with the 60 degree weather we're enjoying, why not? It's the perfect size too-- low to the ground so they can climb on and off, it has the safety netting so they can't fall off, and it fits right under our patio so it will be shaded in the summer.

Christmas breakfast of cinnamon twists, deviled egg casserole, sausages, and hot chocolate. Jon's favorite!

Basking in the afterglow of being terribly spoiled by Santa and grandmas and grandpas. THANKS!!

I worried we would get bored Christmas day and need to go see a movie or something, but the kids played ALL day with their toys and out jumping on the tramp, and by Christmas dinner they were still happy campers.

Playing with what has ended up being Zachy's new favorite toy.:) Both these kids are desperate for a dog and I don't know how to break it to them that it aint gonna happen anytime soon....

Ready for bed in their new PJs!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE CARDONS!!

Long Lost Friends!

The holidays often bring visits from loved ones and friends, and we've just been lucky enough to receive a few of those!

After the kids and I flew in from Boise we were able to meet up with the Kellys (playing with Dixon was the only incentive worth getting on a plane and leaving Whitney behind, for Lucy), our very good friends from dental school in Philly. Calli's parents live in Henderson, so while they were visiting for Christmas we got the added bonus of seeing them too! Monday afternoon we met them for lunch and were able to catch up, and then Wednesday night they came out to our place for dinner. Lucy and Dixon had a blast playing together again, and Zach and Taylin got reacquainted. We LOVED seeing these guys!

Anybody who's lived far away from family knows what I'm talking about when I say you really depend on your friends for everything--and the Kellys are like family.

Thursday morning we drove up to Cedar City to spend the afternoon with Jon's Grandma Cardon, which is always great to see her and all the various Cardon family who drop in and out. And that evening we were able to have dinner at my Aunt Kay and Uncle Ken's house in St. George, UT, where we got to see my cousin Shonna and her husband Blake, and their baby Caleb-- who are visiting from Ohio.

Shonna is not only my cousin, but she was also my roommate in college at BYU, and one of my very best friends. I don't know what I would have done without her while in Provo! She was my "kindred spirit," and even after she graduated and moved out my new roommates and I adopted the mantra of being "Shonna Hinton nice," because she was just that likable. After a nice dinner we were able to spend the night with Jon's Grandma Del Toro who also lives in St. George. It was wonderful for the kids to get some extra attention, they loved playing with all these long lost friends, and it was wonderful to spend time with family. There's just nothing like it!!

Monday, December 20, 2010

We Got Our Sister Back!

The day we've all been anticipating, praying for, and dreaming of occurred at long last when Aunt Whitney made her way back home from Mother Russia after 18 long months!! I couldn't bear to miss out on the action, so I convinced Jon to let me fly up to Boise with the kids for a couple days to see Whitters fresh off the mish. She was originally supposed to get home Thursday evening so we'd have 3 whole days of bonding time, but after a 2 hour delay in Moscow, she only made it to Atlanta the first night and missed her connections home...

In order to take our minds off the disappointment, we decided to take the kids to "Tangled", which was AWESOME!!

Zachy ((amazingly)) sat TOTALLY still for the first 3/4 of the movie, got a little antsy towards the end, but otherwise LOVED his first move experience (even if it was a princess one).

But finally, Friday evening rolled around and almost a full 24 hours later than expected she arrived in style...

And no one even recognized her at first!! We were all frantically searching the wave of passengers exiting to baggage claim when she walked right up to my mom and was like, "Hi." Aaaaahhhhh!! Calamity ensued!!


She looked SO different with her long dark hair (it was short and blond when she left) plus walking 10 miles a day in -25 degrees with 30 lbs of winter clothing on was great for her physique.:)

The two things she wanted most when she got back on American soil were an American cheeseburger (which we checked off the list when we hit up SMASH burger on the way home from the airport),

and to play the piano. So happily both wishes came true.

Oh yeah, and to cuddle with her nieces and nephews!! Here she is making a move for MFR (most-favored relative) with Zachy who was just a few months old when she left. Taylor's antics have left him with a pretty hefty advantage, but we'll see what happens this summer when he leaves for HIS mission...

We got to spend all of Saturday hanging out, doing a sisters' lunch (+ a Luce), and attending my parents' ward Christmas party, where Lucy had her first big crush (on Hunter Manwaring, no less).

She also got to sing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" in front of my entire ward while Whitney played, with NO hesitation. Who is this grown up girl??

Celebrating our first snow!! I don't think we'll get a chance to enjoy much of this stuff in Vegas this winter...

Zachary in his brand new 3-piece suit I found on sale at Burlington for $14.99. He is a handsome little devil, if I do say so myself!!


Zachy with his buddies Taylor and Grandpa Tom-Tom.


We had kind of a short, whirlwind trip since we had to be back by Monday, so we spent Sunday evening singing Christmas carols and looking at Christmas lights in the snow. Zachy participated by dancing atop the piano. He is one WILD little guy (and Uncle Taylor definitely does not help)!!

WE LOVE YOU WHITNEY!! I am SO incredibly proud of you, and the way you dedicated yourself 100% to your mission, and serving faithfully to the very end. You are TRULY amazing!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Deck the Halls!


Well, it's officially the most wonderful time of the year, and we've decorated our house accordingly! It's the first year in 6 years of marriage that we've ever had our own Christmas tree to decorate (we've always travelled over holidays, and it's our first year at HOME, so we feel very grown up), and while it's a bit scraggly and a little like the one in Charlie Brown's Christmas, the kids love it. Lucy plugs the lights in FIRST thing in the morning, and they are not to be unplugged until it's time for bed. Zachy has done surprisingly well ignoring the ornaments, and has only tipped the whole thing over once. Keep your fingers crossed...

We had our ward Christmas party last Friday night and it was a fun concept. It was "The Night Before Christmas" so everyone wore PJs and they served pancakes and hot chocolate, and then Santa came to read the kids a story.

Last year Zachary LOVED Santa!! And this year he is TERRIFIED. I can't figure the 180 degree shift out, but I suppose it's normal... This is him hiding from Santa behind the Christmas tree. "Don't make me even LOOK at him, mom!"

Lucy listening to the story read by Santa with her primary friends.

Just not happening....How come I'm the only one looking at the camera and I'm not supposed to even be in the picture?? At least Lucy was happy divulging her list of 200 things she wants for Christmas.:) Hope Santa's nice this year!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Birthday Bash Blow-Out!

We celebrated Lucy's birthday with a huge bash, and okay, the blow-out part is for the fact that the chocolate cake I made yesterday EXPLODED for no reason in the oven and then caught on fire. Really. I have absolutely NO idea why or how that happened, except to say that my baking chemistry must have been seriously off! Anyway, that's another story...

Lucy woke up bright and early and came downstairs to find-- a new BIKE!! Ta-dah! She has been wanting a bike for quite a long time, but where in our apartment in Philly would we have put such a thing?? So it was a life lesson that good things come to those who wait.:)

She then got to open the rest of her presents from mom and dad and Zachy. She has been begging for a pet lately, and since neither Jonathan nor I are animal folk-- she got a robotic kitty instead. She seemed just as elated!

The Ariel doll she has been wanting forever from the $$ in the package Grandma and Grandpa Cardon sent! So excited! Thank you!

Lucy's two favorite things are princesses and picnics, so we decided to combine the two and have a princess picnic birthday party! She invited some friends from preschool and some friends from her Sunbeam class and they started things off with their picnic lunch, and then made beaded bracelets, and then decorated graham cracker houses with candy. I think more candy went into their tummies than on their houses, but just when I got them good and sugared up it was time for them to go home to their parents.:)

She loved opening presents, which was by far the highlight of her party!!


Lucy wanted a pig cake for her birthday, which was somewhat traumatizing for me. I have never (and will never) claim to be a cake decorator, or even artistic for that matter, so I studied this cake out for months in advance. I was going to try my hand at fondant, but the $20 investment scared me because I had about a 50/50 chance at success, so I went with some basic buttercream. It looks like a cake I made in 5th grade for a cake walk, but she seemed to like it, and it does scream, "PIG!" after all.

Happy 4th Birthday!! Blow out the candles!!

The princesses: Gabby, Julia, Hailey, Paisley, and Lucy.

After the party we got dinner at Lucy's favorite fancy restaurant, Olive Garden. She love love loves spaghetti and salad, and requested this dinner months ago.

Time for bed as an official 4-year old! She got this hand-made princess quilt from Grandma Joanie for her birthday and LOVES it. It was perfect too because this week the letter in preschool was "Q," and for Show and Tell they were supposed to bring in their favorite quilt to share so Lucy brought this one. WE LOVE YOU BIRTHDAY GIRL!