April was THE month for excitement

April was an exciting and life changing month for our little family. Our first grandchild was born. Mikel was set to be induced April 5.  Her mother had come up to stay for a month.  We were both invited to be with her at the hospital.  Here she is getting settled in.

Meeting the nurse and getting started.

She was told to rest and immediately these two parents to be fell asleep!

She got started on the pitocin and started having some contractions.

The incubator was ready and waiting for the new arrival.

The ruptured her membranes and then the heavy labor started right away.  She isn't looking nearly as happy as Daddy to be! Unfortunatly, after about 4 hours of heavy labor, she wasn't progressing at all.  Apparently the baby was "sunny side up" and pressed against her cervix not allowing the birth canal to open up and a c section was suggested.  Everyone agreed and then it all happened pretty quickly.

Talon got suited up to join her in the OR and Jessica and I stayed behind. 

20 minutes later, Talon arrived with little Jaxon Brett Goon.  It was such a special overwhelming moment for us all and in that instant our lives were changed for the better. 

Mikel joined us shortly after and the first family photo was taken.  She was still a bit groggy from the meds, but was a trooper in wanting in on all the action of her new baby. 

What a precious moment holding and meeting my first grandchild.

He was checked out and poked and prodded, but came through just fine and was healthy as ever.

Mikel wanted them to have skin to skin contact with in those first few hours, so Talon got to be part of that.

The next day, uncles and aunts and grandpa's came to meet the little champ.  Tanner was smitten

As was Cynjyn.  What a tine precious bundle of joy!

He even opened his eyes for Grandpa!

Unfortunatly, after a day, he was loosing weight and a little dehydrated, so he had to spend a day in NICU.  Either Talon or Mikel was with him at all times and it was an exhausting few days, but he came through it fine and was back on track by the time he could be released.

I told Talon to take photos in the delivery room because it would be important later on and he did!  Here he is minutes old.

Here he's meeting mom for the first time.

We are so greatful that everything went well and in the end we had a healthy momma and baby!  Now the fun really begins...

Stake Activity Girls Day Camp March 18, 2017

We had our Stake Activity Girls Day Camp in March.  This is the third one I've been in charge of.  Our theme was Alice in Wonderland.  Our ward was in charge of decorations, but we got almost all of the stuff from a lady in Stonegate whose daughter had decorated about 10 years ago and kept all the stuff.  Barbara Zach did a great job of setting it all up and it really did add to our theme of knowing where you are going. 

I had asked Amelia Haycock to be our guest speaker and she did a great job and was just so cute up there. 

We had each ward get their pictures taken with Alice (a lady in our ward came just for the photo booth).  We had each ward take a serious photo and

then we got out the props and they could take a fun photo.  All that happened during lunch.

It was a fun day and it all went smoothly without any problems.  I like that a lot!

March Little Things

March was busy and eventful.  Talon came over with Bagherra and Bentley a lot and boy does he love that cat.  She just snuggles right up to him. 

 But she also hides under the couch in a hole in the lining when it's time to leave.

 But he still loves her anyway.

Grandpa went to Arizona with Rob and Garry and Tanner met them at Bearazona and picked him up and brought him here to catch a flight out of Vegas to Boise.  We taught him Qwixx and he had every red number marked and that was the first time we had seen that. 

I got a random text one day from Charles Thomas showing me who he had run into at the court house!

Cynjyn and Tanner were trying to reenact a move that Taz had accomplished with his companion.  This was as far as they got because Cynjyn was too chicken to bend all the way backward.

Needless to say, Taz wasn't afraid to go all the way back!

I had a pretty bad cold for about a week, Garry was gone, so it was off to Cane's for dinner!

Cynjyn cleaned out her room and closet!

I got a birthday present from Taz in the mail.  Some cute earrings and a letter and a Korean ad.  I still have a red nose from my cold!

Pre festival concert.

Decorated mantel for Easter.

 And my table.

Ryan was leaving to join the Navy.  He was headed to boot camp and then to training and will be gone for at least a year.  We will miss him and so we took him to Outback for a goodbye dinner.

Mikel ended up in the hospital with a mini stroke.  It was pretty scary. She was at work and all of a sudden she couldn't see out of her right eye.  She drove herself home and her right side wasn't working very well. Talon took her to the hospital and they admitted her overnight and ran tests.  It ended up being a TSI (I think that's what is called) and is apparently pretty common in pregnant women.  The baby was in no danger though. By the next day she was doing much better.

Grady and Cynjyn twinned in Taz's old volleyball jersey.  Grady inherited his old uniform as libero on JV.

I did my birthday dinner at Claim Jumper.

A typical Sunday afternoon with everyone on their phones.

Garry enjoyed designing and working on a fountain to put in our front yard.

 Garry ordered rock to re rock the front and back yards.

 It was a lot of work

 Tanner helped him for a few hours.

 After adding the fountain, the front yard is really starting to look good.

the rock was pretty ugly until we started spraying it off and then it got a lot prettier.

Cynjyn ran over the yellow island divider to avoid being hit by a car and popped her tire.

Spring is in the air..and I loved planting my flowers.

Garry made blackout window covers out of cardboard and then covered them with a material case he made to go over them.  He strung some fishing line so he could hook them onto his extension poll and put them up. 

Cynjyn's salon.

Cynjyn is going to Disneyland with the dance team and has to have a buddy.  I made them Minnie ears so they wouldn't have to buy any. 

Her and Nicole had a great time.

This quater in English, they had a "book club" and had to read The Help.  For their discussion on the last third of the book, I made them mini chocolate pies as a joke for the pie eating scene in the book.

We had a family get together and the health clinic to all get our Tdap shots so that we can be around the baby when it is born. 

Two ladies that I visit teach had a pretty rough month.  So I decided to make them a basket of sunshine.  I enlisted Cynjyn and Eric to deliver it like ding dong ditch for me.  The Maathuis caught them, but the Hills didn't.  Jen posted this on her Instagram as a thank you!  I hope it made her feel better...she's such a great friend and I felt bad that she was having such a hard month. 

And that is March.