Happy Feet

We had a photographer come out to take Anna's newborn photos this week and she put this one up on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholevan/472088007/

I should get the rest in a couple of weeks and I'm really excited to see them!

Amberclone

Amberclone, I mean Margaret, is five months old today. Amber sent the following report of her clone, I mean, child.

"She thinks Captain is so great and wiggles/rolls herself to be able to get to him. The baby screaming next to her is Melinda's baby, Evan. The picture of her on the blanket was taken on Easter and the naked picture on our bed was just the other day. She has found her toes and thinks they are really fun. It is getting more and more difficult to change her diaper with the toe holding and rolling over. She continues to be really happy but also quite demanding as she doesn't sleep much."

Go Figure, he Likes Soccer

Chelsea sent these adorable pictures of Andrew yesterday with his first soccer ball. In her email she called it a "football." Chelsea, that isn't a football, it is a soccer ball, and it's called soccer, not football. I know, they named the sport first, but stilll....the UK is getting to you. I've attached a picture of what real football is just in case you have forgotten.

Wedding Bells

Kurt and Jordan are getting married! They'll be getting married here in Utah and I was told the big day is Friday, July 27th. Can someone please confirm so we can all mark our calendars? Congratulations you guys!

Amber Needs Help

Here's a note from Amber about a presentation she is making this weekend that she needs help with...

"I am presenting a workshop at our Stake Women's conference this weekend (lucky me) and I would like some input. The title that I was given is, "While wearing many hats, one must learn to juggle." So, I am speaking about priorities. If anyone has any ideas I would greatly appreciate them. My workshop has to be twenty minutes long and I get to teach it 5 times. There are supposed to be about 350 women at this conference, so needless to say I am a bit nervous. Any help
would be great! Thanks...Amber"

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

We heard today that Emily is pregnant with a girl! Finally, another girl to balance out the boy attack going on on the McEuen side. And in the spirt of baby girls, here is a picture I took of Anna today and one of her with Steve - she's now officially one week old.

Lords of Aspen

Jason sent pictures of the boys trip to Aspen, as well as the following email - sounds like they had an amazing time!!!

"The boarding & skiing were good. Mother nature waited until Saturday night to start raining, which we were grateful for. The hot tubs and pool have been remodeled and there is a rental shop at the condos now. We had a lot of fun!"

Bridget gets her Masters Degree!

Bridget graduates next week - we are all so proud. She has worked incredibly hard in a difficult program and amazingly finished her thesis while caring for a newborn! Here is something she wrote for the blog:

"Finally! I'm graduating with my master's next Friday! Here's all the information for anyone wishing to attend (I know graduation ceremonies are boring for those not directly involved so I won't feel badly if you don't come - I'm just letting you know so that you at least have the option).

Commencement is at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 26th. Vice President Dick Cheney is the speaker. I can only for sure get 4 tickets for this which are already reserved for me, Ben, Mom, and Ruben. If anyone else would like to come let me know by this Thursday and I will see if I can get more.

Convocation (the actual graduation ceremony) is at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 27th in the Marriott Center. You do not need a ticket to attend this one.

As you'd probably guess, I'm really looking forward to being done. Although I LOVE school and I've LOVED BYU, after 8 years straight I'm ready for a break. I'm so looking forward to "just" being a mom!"

Tusin Fwends

A few years ago, someone was talking to Kate and she was all excited to see Cami, or as she called her, her "tusin fwend." Well here are a couple of new tusin fwends - Bridget took this picture at the hospital.

Pickups Vacation in Tunisia

Chelsea and Eddie recently took a trip with his family to Tunisia. I have to admit, I honestly didn't know a thing about Tunisia except that it was in Africa so it was fun to hear about their vacation. Mom was telling me that when she water skied the men who they rented from were trying to make her take out two skis and trying to tell her what to do. They were all clapping when she got back to shore. Here is what she said about it:

"We had a great vacation! We rode camels in the Sahara, haggled in the market places, Andrew got kissed and cooed at by a lot of strangers. We water skied in the Mediterranean, rode quads thru olive trees, saw lots of stray cats, went to Luke Skywalkers house, went off roading in the Atlas mountains, saw Roman baths, theatres, houses, roads, temples, and mosaics. I was mistaken for Brittany Spears and Shakira.

Arab men have a tendency to stare at blond women, I attracted quite a bit of attention, so I started covering my head when we were in the non tourist areas. A man on the beach asked me how many sisters I had, and was a bit disappointed to find out that you all are married! Everyone in Tunisia smokes, and gas is really cheap!"

Totally Worth the Wait!!!

Everyone knows that Anna was born on Thursday, April 12th, and most of you have met her already, but I have to record this for posterity so bear with me.

She was born at 7:04 am after five hours of labor. Delivery was a cinch (almost made up for a pregnancy that most certainly was not) - I had three contractions, pushed during each one, and 14 minutes later she was here. She was 7 pounds, 6 ounces and came out looking exactly like her dad, but as newborns do, she has changed a lot in just the last couple of days. The hospital stay was fine but I'm so glad to be home where we can both stop being poked and prodded and where Honey is now taking care of us and gave Anna her first bath this morning. Marissa came the day after she was born and just left this morning so this baby has gotten lots of love over the last few days.

She is fairly particular about what she likes/doesn't like (likes: eating, swaddling, and being held. dislikes: diaper changes, moving her when she's sleeping, pacifiers that don't cooperate perfectly) and has this raspy cry that she doesn't hesitate to utilize to her advantage, usually throwing in some animal sounds for effect. It's actually the cutest cry I've ever heard - not piercing in any way. Honey laughs at her cry almost every time, and she calms down easily so we're lucky in that regard.

She tested high for bilirubin so although she didn't look very jaundiced the pediatrician delivered what we call her baby tanning bed yesterday for her to stay in for two days. She can only come out for 30 minutes every three hours, so thank goodness I am breastfeeding so I get her for most of those 30 minutes. The good thing about the tanning salon we are running is that it's put her and us on a fairly strict schedule and things have vastly improved in the getting hysterical department (both for mommy and baby). She has never been happier than she has been in the bed and we're wondering how bad it would be to keep her in there permanently and how we might be able to procure a bed of our own. I cried when they made me put her in there the first time (this was bout number 18 over the last couple of days; I'm happy to report that a majority of the crying bouts are due to elation and joy rather than distress). It's a good thing Honey is here to keep telling me it's normal and I'm not crazy and make me do things I don't want to do, like let go of her so that she doesn't die.

Steve has totally risen to the occasion and I feel very glad to have given her such a good daddy as well as the greatest extended family one could imagine. All of these little ones are going to have so much fun together and although it causes me a great deal of distress that she has to get any bigger, I take great comfort in knowing how much she is going to love her family and especially her "tusin fwends."

Noelle

P.S. I apologize in advance if the blog ends up heavy on Anna reports - I'm not all crafty like the rest of the family so in a way this is my version of a scrapbook. I'll try to be rational and as least annoying as possible.

Funeral for Talmage Turner

Bridget sent an email going around about Talmage Turner's death and his upcoming funeral. This is very sad news...

"To the friends and family of Randy & Lynda Turner: Talmage, their sweet son, passed away in his sleep last evening. He was living at BYU. The Turner Family is arriving here in Utah tonight and tomorrow. The funeral will be here in Lindon, Utah on Saturday (April 14th). 9:30 am Viewing and 11:00 am Service.

Directions to the church: 731 E. Center St., Lindon, UT 84042.
Directions: I 15 to 1600 North- Lindon Turnoff-----Turn East on 1600 North to State St. In Orem. Turn Left or North on State to Center St in Lindon (Walkers Gas Station on Corner) Turn Right on Center to 731 E. Center. The church is on Center and 600 East (it may say Canal )....you will pass an elementary school and a church on the way."

California Here We Come

Ahhh... April in California- what could be better? It's turned into an annual affair this April jaunt to the land of sunshine- well, partly sunny anyway! My mom agreed (after much coersion, and many refusals) to accompany Beth & Jack, and me and the boys to California for a week. We had such a great time- despite the lack of sunshine and the slightly chilly weather. It was warmer than I've been in several months, so it was great! We got to see some old friends, visit with grandma & grandpa (well bug them anyway- especially grandpa, grandma loves us too much to bug) and see some of our favorite places. We also got to taste many of our favorite places too- because this vacation is all about the bugging of grandparents, and the food. That's pretty much it- oh, and some skating at the beach- it's also about that. Plus, it being my birthday (by the way, I am accepting birthday gifts throughout the month), I got to milk it and shop, eat AND swim in a heated pool! Grandma prepared several fabulous meals for us and (try not to be jealous) she also made me our special family triple layer chocolate cake!!! I know- lucky me! So all in all- it was fun, the boys were pretty great, and we had fun, fun, FUN!

Some Seriously Cute Kids

Shower Pictures

Amber sent these today! What a fun day for me...and told you that Honey's diaper cake was amazing...

Jack Jack

Beth just sent these pictures of Jack who is consistenly adorable, as we all know. I have to say he is a very rewarding baby, much like Seth, because if you smile and talk to him you get the biggest grin on earth shot right back at you. He's also clearly very limber which is good since he likes to eat his toes.