Over the River and Through the Desert...

...to grammy's house we go! Our good friend Danielle braved the open road with me and the boys between Phoenix and Salt Lake this past week. Lots of snacks, plenty of kid videos and a stop at McDonalds made for a successful trip.

Enjoying lunch at a Flagstaff McDonalds

Admiring Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Glenn in a windy 90 degrees.

The wildest thing happened when we stopped for treats at the Maverick in Page, Arizona. As background, you must know that Crewe's condition is extremely rare and there are only two other kids in the whole state of Arizona that have it. One of them is an adorable five year old boy named Bryson.
He's a ward of the state and has lived at a Phoenix healthcare center for children his entire life. For the last several weeks I've been trying unsuccessfully to connect with the volunteer coordinator at the healthcare center so that the boys and I can find out what we need to do to visit Bryson.

So, back to the trip. We are at the Maverick in Page and the clerk behind the counter is being so sweet to Crewe and talking directly to him. We chat for a few minutes and as we are leaving he says good-bye to Crewe and says in a matter-of-fact way "you remind me of my cousin, Bryson!"

Danielle and I did a double-take and turned around to verify that he was talking about the same Bryson we were trying to visit. It was indeed the same sweet boy! The clerk, Bryson's cousin, gave us some valuable info, including that fact that he moved to another facility, that will no doubt help us to find this little guy. Seriously, what are the chances of that? We didn't even need gas -- we spontaneously decided to stop for a treat to eat at the Glen Canyon Dam.

Remarkable Progress Continues

Since undergoing treatments with Dr. Tennant in February (and continuing them at home), Crewe's progress has been nothing short of remarkable.When we saw Dr. Tennant in February, Crewe had a 50% delay for his age in his language development and fine motor skills and a 70% delay in his gross motor skills.

Just three short months later, our baby Crewe has grown into a little boy. A developmental pediatrician recently evaluated him and found his language development and fine motor skills to be slightly ABOVE his age level and his gross motor skills at just less than a 50% delay! Crewe is cruising around the furniture and crawling up and down stairs. I’m sure walking isn’t too far off. He’s also starting to put words together — both in speech and in sign language.

We are so blessed to have been led to Dr. Tennant and Crewe's extremely talented therapists... and doubly blessed to have the support that comes from the prayers and love of friends and family.

Addicted

His name is Crewe and he's addicted to Costco rotisserie chicken. It's bad. He wants it for breakfast. He wants it for lunch. He wants it for dinner.

Fortunately for Crewe, his older brother recognizes his addiction and advocates for him. Like earlier this week in a conversation with me.

Cal: Mom, we really need to go to Costco.
Me: Why?
Cal: Crewe needs more chicken. Don't worry, mom, I'll feed it to him.

I want that piece.
I'm opening really big so that I don't miss a morsel.
I'm biting down really hard to make sure I get every piece.

Mom's the Word

(last Mother's Day with my mom aka Grammy)

There's nothing like a mother and a mother's love. Although it's a couple of weeks past mother's day, I want to let the mothers in my life know how much I love and appreciate them. You are such shining examples to me. I only hope I can mother as well as you. I thank Heavenly Father for entrusting me with the privilege of mothering Calahan and Crewe. They have opened my eyes and expanded my joy in ways I didn't know were possible.

my Nana (mom's mom), me, my Mom (Karen), Aunt Sherrie, Aunt Julie, Aunt Lisa

My mother-in-law, Kay

Another mother who inspires me is Marjorie Hinckley, a cousin to my great grandmother Bessie Howell, who I also adore greatly.

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing my neighbor's lawn.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with the children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

Chris's Surprise Birthday Gift

Most of you reading this have probably pulled off multiple "surprise" gifts for your better half. You know, giving a gift that was genuinely unanticipated AND that completely exceeded your darling's expectations. Until about a month ago, that experience had completely alluded me.

It wasn't for a lack of trying. Just this past Christmas I thought I could pull off such a gift. I had Chris's old Cannondale bike that he loved, but hadn't ridden in years completely re-done. He was happy about the gift on Christmas morning, but not surprised. Not only did I leave the receipt from the bike shop in his car, but I also gave a lame response when he asked me if I knew where his bike was and if I thought someone had stolen it out of our garage (I guess men have a sense for knowing when one item in a garage full of stuff is missing).

Anyway, a few days before his birthday, Chris said "hey, let's watch this episode of Modern Family together... it may have a birthday hint." So, we parked ourselves on the couch and laughed out loud at the geeky dad, Phil Dunphy, wanting nothing more for his birthday than an Apple iPad and the rest of his family jumping through hoops trying to get it for him.

After the episode, I said something like "too bad the iPad doesn't come out until June." Chris quickly corrected me and said "it comes out Saturday (as in like four days)." As the wife of an early adopter, I should know things like the exact release dates of new apple products. The conversation then moved on, both of us knowing that as cool as an iPad is, it wasn't in our budget.

Later that night I got an idea -- I would ask family members who usually get Chris a present if they would want to contribute to the iPad cause. With enough takers, Chris' dream gadget would fit into the birthday budget.

I did get enough takers, but I failed to realize that the early ordering deadline had passed. There was NO way to guarantee delivery or pick up of the iPad before Chris' birthday. Argh. And there was no way I had hours to dedicate to standing in line in the hopes of possibly getting one.

My only hope for a successful surprise birthday gift was to drop by the Apple store early on Saturday morning, the day the iPads were released. So after picking up my cousin Whitney from the airport, we did just that.

The line was at least a couple of hundred yards long and we got in the back of it, time 8:55 am. Then, we noticed another line and realized that we were in the wrong line -- we were in the reservation line and didn't have a reservation. So, reluctantly we joined the "other line" of hopefuls who didn't make a reservation, time 9:05 am. After learning that our estimated wait to get into the store was 3-4 hours (only one person would be admitted from our line for every 10 people from the reservations line), we were about to leave. And then an angel came to the back of the line, time 9:10,

This angel was in the form of a young teenage boy and a couple of his buddies. Turns out that these boys got to the store before the crack of dawn and held places #10-#12 in the line. They offered to sell us spot #10 for $20. Before I said "done deal," I heard Chris' voice in my head "always negotiate." And so I offered them $10 and they said "done." We swapped places in line with the teenage boys and were in the store by 9:15 am. Whitney and Crewe were interviewed by the local ABC affiliate while I finalized the purchase and we were on the road by 9:30 am!

To an early adopter, timing is everything. So, even though it was three days before his actual birthday, we decided to give Chris his gift that night... over dinner with the family at one of our favorite pizza places.

Suffice it to say... Chris was genuinely excited AND surprised! We faked him out with a few other "ipads" in the process of unwrapping the real thing.

Happy Birthday, Darling, from all of us!

Easter

Neither Chris nor I have family in town and that fact is most profoundly felt on holidays. This Easter we were lucky to have several family members visiting -- The Sants from Atlanta, Mom & Dad Calvert from Denver and my sweet cousin, Whitney from Utah.

After watching general conference, we enjoyed a delicious dinner outside on the patio and watched the kiddos unload their Easter baskets. The highlight of the day for me was sitting around the fire pit just after the sun went down and sharing our thoughts about Christ and his resurrection and discussing our impressions from conference.

Blogging Again

I can't believe I let the entire month of April go by without a single post! Between lots of moonlighting, visitors, doing our taxes and being in a complete fog due to one of the worst allergy seasons on record, we had some fun family moments that I don't want miss documenting. So, please forgive me as I do a few catch-up posts.

Cal's Happy Birthday

According to Cal, he had a "fun happy, happy birthday!"

"I'm three!"

Started the morning with a big-boy haircut.
Then, off to the train park. Cal's wish was to ride in the "red freight car..."
...with the other kiddos.
On to the merry-go-round after the train.
The horses are overrated -- the carriage is the way to go!

Then the highlights... train pull-apart cupcakes.
"I want to blow out the fire again!"And playing with presents. Cal's possessive of his new
tool bench and told Crewe that he's not allowed to play with it.
If you look at the bottom of the photo, you'll see that
Crewe is "sneaking" playtime with Cal's new treasure.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Calaman!

2 weeks old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

Dear Cal,

We are so glad you are part of our family! From the day you arrived three years ago you have been a bundle of energy and love, taking in every moment of life and leaving us all better for it.

We love your sweet singing voice, deep belly laugh, cala-snuggles, determination, vast vocabulary, smile and desire to master new things.

May your birthday wishes come true -- cupcakes, bacon and a visit to the train park!

Love,
Mom & Dad