Christmas re-cap

It was another grand holiday for us! we have so much to be grateful for at this time! Some highlights of our Christmas include...

-The Taylor Family party at our home on the 19th. We had games, did crafts, frosted cookies, and had wonderful food in true Taylor form.
-Sledding with the Johnsons and enjoying home made Tepanyaki for Gary's birthday.
-"Annie didn't know Joe" a story inspired by a special visit from Santa.
-The best gift ever from Ryan and Jes. Thanks for such a meaningful gift!
-Christmas Eve at Grandma Mae's House. Mom did an amazing job pulling this one off... A long standing tradition that is always wonderful. Once again, great food and company. Lydia loved her gift from Grandma.
-Christmas morning and omelets and Grandma Taylor's house. Ryan and Nellie did a great job taking over the omelet station. Dad was terribly missed, of course.
-Tons of down time with Gary and Lydia. Movies watched include: In Her Shoes (one of my all time favorites), and Kit Kitteredge, American Girl (sp?) LOVED this one, thanks for the recommendation, mom. (Gary even watched and enjoyed both of these)

Take note of the common them here: FOOD, and way too much of it. But please do see my recipe blog in the days to come for some great new recipes I had a chance to try this year.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

The Newest Cannon

Paula and Troy welcomed Lilyana Malee to their family on Christmas Eve this year! What a great gift! She makes three Christmas babies for the Cannons; Gary 12/23, Jeremy (Lily's older brother) 12/23, and now Lilyana 12/24.

We are so happy for the Walkers and can't wait to meet this beauty!

Lydi has Bed Head

Gary and Lydi up and left me for a road trip to Mesquite this weekend. It has been nice to have some time to get caught up and ready for Christmas, but I miss them already. Here is the picture they sent me this morning, titled "Hers has bedhead". I think she's having a great time getting to know her cousins better and they are taking great care of her.

Finally...

Well, it only took 14 months, but we finally had some professional pictures taken of Lydia. Here are a few of my favorites...

Toddler-hood approaches...

Dearest Lydia,

You are the light of my life, the apple of my eye, my little piece of heaven. However, as wonderful as you are, there is something we need to talk about...how do I say this gently...

BEDTIME for you is NOT 11pm, that is actually bedtime for mommy and daddy. Your bedtime however, is scheduled for 8pm which works out fabulously, giving your mommy and daddy time to do things like clean the floors-so you can crawl without getting all black and yucky, wash your clothes - so you look and smell nice and clean, and sometimes even go to the grocery store to buy you the things you need! Mommy and daddy also like to have a little R&R during this time. I'm sorry...I hope you are not offended.

Love,

Mom

Lydi's getting a new little....

COUSIN! Actually she already did. Last night at 6:30 Jackson was born to Steph and Jeremiah in Reno. CONGRATS to the new parents. We can't wait to meet the beautiful babe!

Weekend re-cap...

What a great weekend we had as we celebrated thanksgiving with family and friends. Some highlights...Dinner at Grandmas with the WHOLE family and a few friends...JEN staying with us...SHOPPING with Jen, Amy, Ava and MOM...avoiding ridiculous crowds, but still finding some good deals...EATING at Archibald's (one of my favorites) with some of my favorite people...RUNNING with my BFF on Thanksgiving night and feeling less guilty about the days menu...EATING at another favorite, Z-Tejas and enjoying the company of good friends...LAUGHING hysterically at "Four Christmases"...LOVING being on a first date with Gary since our little Lydi joined us...MISSING our love bug while we were on our date...have here wide eyed and happy as can be when we picked her up form Grandma's house at 11:00PM...pictures to follow...

SOLD!

OK, Never mind my last post. I sold my table and bought this one for the same price in a matter of hours...it was a good day!

for sale...

dining table and chairs, seatsup to ten with two leaves...$300--$250 f0r my friends ;)

Lydia's Christmas Wish???

Well, while 99% of Utahns are either at the Utah v. BYU game or home watching it, I am at work wishing just one person might choose to shop for a town home today rather than see the most anticipated game of the year! Anyway, while I'm here at work, Gary and Lydi are taking there bi-weekly field trip to Cabella's! Gary just sent me this picture of Lydi bugs on the ATV he wants to buy her. It's obviously too soon, but he is counting down the days to when he can buy this for her! He said she loved it too and he had to peel her off of it!

$1.79

Is anyone else as excited as I am about gas being $1.79 a gallon? Hopefully this will encourage some people to go out and buy their big huge American made gas guzzlers...I say go for it, just don't drive them!

eLeCtIoN dAy...

I really wanted to post this Wednesday morning when I was feeling all patriotic and hopeful! But, I guess now is better than never. This is for Lydia since my blog is in essence an online journal of her life, I want her to know about this historical night...

Gary and I were both feeling a little bit under the weather, as was Lydi bugs. I was going to vote before going into work, but, of course, I was running late for a meeting and thought to myself "maybe I'll get to it later tonight." Gary was not planning on voting because he hadn't registered with our new address. As we sat and ate dinner and watched results come in from the east coast we decided to pack Lydi in tha car, brave the cold, and head up the street to our precinct to cast our votes. We voted differently that night, but I think by the end of the night we both felt somewhat victorious. Finally, the nasty campaign ads had ceased and our country was once again united by a history making event. I was moved to tears as I listened to President-elect Obama give his acceptance speech...



"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America," he said.

The election is historic. When Mr. Obama takes office in January, he will become first the African-American president in the nation's 232-year history. His election ends eight years of Republican control of the White House under President George W. Bush.

As the vote count progressed, the Democrat far outpaced his rival in the state-by-state tally of electoral votes. The winning candidate needs 270 electoral votes. Senator McCain fell far short, as Mr. Obama won such contested states as Ohio and Pennsylvania, which many saw as crucial for a McCain victory.

In his victory speech in Chicago, Mr. Obama spoke of the challenges facing the nation, which include the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, what he called a planet in peril and the worst financial crisis in a century.

"There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build and threats to meet, alliances to repair. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep," said Mr. Obama. "We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there."
-voanews.com

BeLla bEaN!

My cousin's baby Bella paid a visit from Logan last weekend! we got to visit with her on Saturday. It was such a nice night...it almost felt like summer. The kidlets had a great time playing in the leaves at GG's house. Bella Bean is just two days older than Lydia! Her mom and I are one month and one day apart. She is younger than me- but was supposed to have come first. Just like Lydia should have been here a week before Bella (what do those doctors know anyway!?!) We're just glad we all made it in one order or another!

One Down...

This Halloween was a mix of emotions for me. It was hard because I remember last year's Halloween so vividly and this year was different in so many ways! Last year Lydi was two months old. I wasn't working at all at the time and I spent the entire day with my dad preparing for the big Halloween party. I made my mom's famous sloppy joes and got the house ready as I tended to my dad and Lydia. It was a nice day with him and the baby. I don't think he felt very good. It seems like he stayed in bed most of the day as he slept off and on and suffered through the smell of the dinner as it simmered on the stove. (He hated the smell (and taste) of bell peppers).

We miss him so much, but as mom says, "we made it" through our first big holiday without him. There will be many more, I'm sure, and we'll make it through those as well. It will never be the same but we'll continue to create memeories as he would want us to.

This year we changed up the "sloppy joe" tradition a litte bit. Mom made her awesome clam chowder and taco soup and I made rolls that looked like pumpkins.

We had a a great time with everyone and we especially enjoyed the warm weather as we made our way trick-or-treating around Walden Hills.

Lydi was the sweetest Little cowgirl you ever saw!

Time for an Update...

Ironically, it seems like when we are doing the most, we have th least time to write about it! So here is a quick run-down of life a The Cannon House lately...

-HUNTING!!! I thought we were supposed to enjoy all things in moderation. Gary must have missed that concept somewhere along the line. He has been hunting WAY too much the lass few weeks. Thanks to lots of help from Aunt Amy, we managed quite well without him (however, we are glad to have him back)
-WORKING! I have had a busy month with work! We are very grateful for that in these fickle economic times!
-PLAYING! Lydi bugs and I had a lot of fun SHOPPING and EATING out with Grandma while Gary was gone> we even go tot go to lunch and shopping with GG and Aunt Kris last weekend! Thanks for letting us tag a long!
-RUNNING...here there and everywhere (actually my faithful running partner, Sundie, has kept me sane over the last few weeks...it's been great!)
-FALLING...more and more in LoVe with the apple of our eyes!
-SMILING...We had family pictures last night and went to one of our favorite dinner spots, Jason's Deli, it was a good night! Can't wait to see the proofs! PS: If anyone is in need of a photographer, you can check out www.saraboulterphotography.com. She is great!



My Favorite Little Bobble Head!

Love that Fall!

This weekend was such a nice prelude to fall. This has to be my favorite season of the year. The bad part is it doesn't last long enough! But we'll do our best to make the most of the next few weeks of cool, crisp mornings, warm days, blue skies and beautiful landscapes!

We started the weekend with a much needed winter prep of the yard! With the help of mom and her green thumb, we were able to get rid of some of dying flowers and overgrown shrubs. Friday night we celebrated the twins fifth birthday with cake and ice cream at the Johnson's. These two are the sweetest little things...I just love them! We had Jim and Janice in town all weekend which was a lot of fun. We even got to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with The Millers. (Thanks for the invite, Millers...we loved it!!!) Sunday was a great day! We were able to attend the afternoon session of conference with Jim, Janice, Aunt Shirley, and mom! Here are some pics of Lydia, Ava and Ash at their birthday party!

Yard Work (re-defined...)

Oh how I love these two little chums...

My "No, No" is ringing...

We have a new universal name for some of our favorite household items...

Lydi is really starting to talk and repeat things we say. These items are no-no's and to her they're literally no-no's. Other words in her vocabulary:

Mama, Dada, Uh-oh, Daw (dog), tsss (what's that)

Tina Fey for President!

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but I thought it too hilarious not to share!

PS: Baby Mama, provided us with some great $1 Red Box entertainment this weekend! You should see it if you haven't already!

I'm having trouble downloading the file, but you can find it at msn.com

lydi's beach party

THE SWEETEST BIRTHDAY GIRL...


Gary's creation...SO cute!





Wow! I can't believe the big day has come and gone! As a new mom, I've been obsessing over the 1st birthday party for about, oh, eleven months! It was a lot of fun to plan and thanks to all our wonderful friends and family it went great. The Cannons were represented by Jen (& guest:)) and The Walkers, all the way from Winnemucca! We had many other friends and family showing their support--despite the rain and cramming into the house, we had a great time! Most importantly, LYDI had a great time. She received some fabulous gifts including, but not limited to, these baby bumpkin items found at www.babybumpkins.blogspot.com.

She also received some REALLY cute clothes and some FUN toys that we've been having a blast with all day!

We made it! Our little sweet heart turk bird (I know weird name), is ONE! She is the light of our lives. We are SOOOOO grateful for her and for the great JOY she brings to us each day! We don't deserve her, but we'll keep her!!! AAAHHH hers is just so sweet!

Two to One!

Two more days and guess who's one...can't wait for the BIG day...

LAKE TAHOE

Gary has been in a seminar in Lake Tahoe all week. I have always wanted to visit there, so Lydi and I decided to join him for a few days. Some highlights of our trip...

-Hauling Lydia through the airport and getting a range of looks from "how cute" to "Oh my...WHAT is she doing?"
-Taking Lydi for a bike ride along the lake
-Eating lots of YUMMY food!
-Taking a dinner cruise to Emerald Bay
-Learning about some of the history of the magnificent Lake Tahoe

Lagoon, It's What Fun Is ?

Despite the HUGE crowds, we had a fun time at Lagoon yesterday with Grandma and the Johnsons. Thanks to Ben and Wells Fargo for the tickets. Word of advice for future Lagoon goers: Try to avoid going on the LAST Friday of summer! Nothin' like waiting in line for an hour with four kids so they can ride a 60 second ride! I think we'll continue our Lagoon tradition with a mid-week, mid-summer visit next year! Lydi was such a trooper. She was SOOO tired, but couldn't resist staying awake for all the lights and noise. She finally fell asleep sitting up in her stroller only to wake up an hour later with a big smile on her face...I figured it was an opportune time to ride the mary-go-round. Once again, we missed GARY!!!

More Reunion Pics...

Barton and Yeager

Kammee and Marli -- 1st Place

Danielle and Lydia

My fav 3

Hardman Family Reuinion

Amy and Ben, Lookin' Good!

Ash and Lydi

Aunt Kris and Uncle Wayne

Lex and Jason

Me, Lydia, GG, Kamee, Bella

We had a great time at the family reunion / olympic games this weekend! The Taylors had some good success in the olympic events. Thanks to Aunt Leah and her sweet family for putting on the reuinion this year and bringing almost 200 people together! We missed Gary as he was excused for the opening day of the bow hunt...but it was definitely his loss :)

Other weekend highlights:

-Visit to the sate capitol with Mom, Amy, and the kids.
-Eating at Rio Grande with all the people above
-Shopping with mom at Park Ciy outlets (and being in PC in general)
-Getting AMAZING deals in PC on a fall wardrobe for Lydi-bugs
-Moonlight Madness with mom and Lydia
-Watching Lydia dance along with the hula dancers at Moonlight Madness
-Watching Lydia ham it up for everyone at church today
-OLYMPICS!!!