April Birthday's....

We get to celebrate 2 birthday's in April.  Evan's and Addisons.  Evan turned 10 this year and Addie turned 6.  Hard to believe I have 2 kids in the double digits, sigh.  This year we didn't do a "friend party"...we alternate years on that.  So we spent a low-key weekend opening gifts and going to Chuck-A-Rama for dinner (kids choice).  Evan surprises me because I always fear he will be bitter about sharing a birthday with Addison but every time I suggest we do something separate for him, he gets upset and says he wants to share the day with Addie.  Here are a few facts about each of them and then pictures to follow:

My BFF Shannon and her kids came to the park for Evan and Addison bday.  We love them like family :)

Evan:  He still loves Sharks and dreams of becoming a Marine Biologist one day.  Really, he is an animal lover all the way around and that has not changed from day one.  Even though he is 10, he is still like a little boy in some ways and I love that about him.  Ian has always seemed a few years older for his age but Evan prefers to act his age :)  He loves stuffed animals, he loves anything that someone gives him and will keep it forever - even a rock - in other words....Pack Rat!  He enjoys playing outside, even with the little kids.  He is so good with the younger kids in our apartment.  He loves attention from mom.  He has a humongous appetite right now.  He is in the 4th grade and struggles with doing his homework.  He would much rather be outside playing.  We love him and his sense of humor!

Addison:  She still remains the house Diva.  But, she is starting to learn that sometimes she doesn't get what she wants.  She is losing teeth now and not looking like my little baby girl anymore.  She loves clothes and shoes and makeup...I often find her playing in mine.  She loves to sing and dance and play outside.  She is a little monkey, climbing anything she can.  She has thick callouses all over her palms from the monkey bars at school!  She is really into Barbies right now.  She begs me for fake nails all the time - which I don't understand since I never wear them!!  She definitely keeps us on our toes.  She is the messiest one in the house.  The front room is usually full of all her stuff and she hates putting it all away, lol.  She has been in Kindergarten this year and loves every minute of it!  I never have to beg her to go to school.  She loves her family and we love her!


I took Addie with me to get a mani/pedi for her birthday she was soooo excited until we got there.  The people that own this salon are Cambodian I think and they were all talking very fast and loud in their language.  She was wide eyed and got even more freaked out when they pulled out the massive cheese grater and started scrubbing my feet. Haha!  But, she finally relaxed and enjoyed every minute of it!  Especially by the time they got to her hands.

These are some example of their artwork.  Both of these kids are really artistic and LOVE drawing, painting and coloring!  I am always amazed at  their work...it was never something I was very good at.
This is Evans copy of the famous Salvador Dali painting.  He really likes Dali's work.

This is Evan's watercolor of the desert.

This is Addison's chameleon!  So cute.

She just lost her first front tooth.

We waited a week for warmer weather and had a BBQ at the park with my brothers and family for their birthdays.

Here is my nephew Soren :)

Nathan, being silly.

 Uncle Jeff

 Aunt Alisa with baby Jude

My other nephew, Jude...sweet baby.

Ian, being silly...runs in the family apparently.

 Pretty birthday girl Addison....

Easter....

This year Easter felt hurried and not as fun as it has in the past.  Ian is officially wise to the real identity of the Easter Bunny, and, after confirming that he would in fact still receive an easter basket in spite of this newly discovered (or rather admitted) fact, he begged to stay up and help hide the baskets...which I thought was cute.  We had a nice meal and enjoyed an otherwise quiet Sunday at home.

We went down to the new City Creek shopping center in Salt Lake City.  It was a beautiful day and the new mall is amazing!

Spring Happenings....

Flowers Blooming on campus at The University of Utah

Spring looks to have officially arrived here in the valley.  We have all been so skeptical because Utah weather is unpredictable this time of year.  However, after an extremely odd winter...very little snow... it seems like Mother Nature has just decided to give us all a break and actually allow us to experience a true Spring!!  Of course, I don't doubt that I will be complaining about a couple of more snow storms during the month of May, but happily they won't stick around for any length of time.  I just hope it stays away on my graduation day.  The pictures above and below were taken today on the University of Utah campus.  I had to go turn in a test to the English Department and Addison joined me, begging me to take a picture of her amongst the beautiful flowering bush of which I have no clue what its name is - Personally I think the little girl is prettier but the yellow certainly adds a nice punch of color!

Beautiful Addison

A couple of weeks ago we headed to Tooele for a sleepover at my best friend Shannon's house.  Shannon and I have been friends since we were 5 years old!  We lost touch just after high school but 20 years later,thanks to Facebook, we reconnected and picked up where we left off.  It truly feels like no time has passed between our last connection and now.  It is so awesome having someone who you know without a doubt doesn't judge you and loves you for all your quirks and craziness.  That is Shan.  Anyway, our kids happen to get along famously as well which is an added bonus!  Hannah and Addison are like 2 peas in a pod despite a 4 year age gap and the boys are completely enamored by her son Jorden who is 17.  They think he is sooo cool ;)  We have so much fun whenever we go stay with them.  Her husband works out of town frequently and it is nice to help keep her company because I win too!  She always has fun things in store for the kids when they come.  One weekend we made T-shirts, and on this most recent visit she created the most amazing ice cream sundae bar EVER.  My kids were dumbfounded.  They call Shan "Aunt Lovey" and she spoils them.  We love her and her family.  Here are the boys with some of their sundae creations.  Yes, Ian managed to eat that entire bowl full of junk!!

Ian, Evan & Jorden

Mmmm, Ice Cream

As much as I hate this picture of me, I love it of the two of us :)

Me & Shan

Addie and Hannah put swimsuits on and got in Shan's big bath tub, along with colored bath paints!!

Addison & Hannah

And this is me after I completely chopped my hair off.   Felt sooo good!! I take a swimming class and it is such a pain having to shower and dry and style my hair everyday.  I thought this might be easier and I was right!  I have lost about 20 lbs at this point...and of course I plan on continuing to lose another 60.

My new hair cut

This month Evan was awarded his Webelo badge.  He wasn't so thrilled about having his picture taken but he was pretty excited to get that badge.  After June I will no longer have any Cub Scouts....next it's Boy Scouts!

Another picture Mom???

 And finally, a couple of nights ago we attended the performance of Ian's 5th grade along with 5th graders from other Salt Lake schools.  Ballet West has a program where they work with schools teaching children to dance in hopes that they will be motivated to stay in school.  Ian sure had a lot of fun doing this and we had fun watching!

Ian Shaking his Booty to the Batdance by Prince

Here is Ian with one of his classmates who is moving to Ohio this week.  Ian came home bawling today over it.  He has been in the same class with all of the same children since Kindergarten.  That is one of the wonderful things about the gifted program that he is part of.  He has made tight friendships with these kids.  My heart hurts for him because I know how hard it is to lose friends at his age.

Collin & Ian

But, even worse than the boy above moving is Gabe, pictured below.  Gabe and Ian have a really close friendship even outside of class.  Gabe's mom is in Medical school here at the University of Utah and they also live here in student family housing with us.  This has enabled Ian and Gabe to really form a bond.  Gabe's mom received her "orders" for her plastic surgery residency and although they were hoping to match with the University of Utah, they are being sent to Galveston, Texas.  That was a hard day for Ian and I dread the day in June when Gabe and his family actually leave.  It's going to be a tough one.  We love their family and will miss them dearly.  Guess we might have to make a visit to Texas!!

Gabe & Ian

3 Months Later....

--Wow.  That's about all I can say for my serious lack of posts since Christmas.  Same old story though.  Life takes a hold and sometimes it is really difficult to break that grip and slow down.  I think for today I will just give an update on each family member, throw in some pictures, and call it a day.

Vanessa:  I am in my FINAL semester of school!  Can you believe it?!  I know I am still in shock about it.  I am having mixed feelings because on one hand I am more than ready to be done with the craziness, but on the other hand I really do love being in school, learning and stretching my brain matter.  Also, I am petrified about trying to find a job.  I haven't worked in 3 years now and I am not really excited about getting out there and joining the rat race again.  So, I am trying to just enjoy where I am right now, as stressful as it is sometimes.  I graduate on May 4th but I still have to complete a 6 week math class in the summer term.  Then in July, I am going to Hawaii with my girlfriends to celebrate my graduation!  I am so excited for that!  Of course with the new year came my usual resolution to lose weight, this time with more urgency.  Being 40 I am starting to see my life from a different perspective and suddenly I don't feel like I have all the time in the world to get in shape...it's really crunch time now if I want to enjoy my middle aged status.  So I registered for a triathlon. Yikes.  Its not until my birthday weekend in September but, yikes, nonetheless!  So far I have managed to lose 18 pounds since the end of January which I am very happy about.  I am taking a swimming class at school and that is helping a lot.  I just keep plugging away at it one week at a time and so far, so good!  I am part of a writing group that meets outside of school every other Tuesday.  I was invited by a guy who was in one of my creative writing classes and it turns out he owns a publishing company.  He is going to give me an internship at the company this summer which will hopefully be helpful in finding me an editing job.  Aside from that though, the writing group is so amazing.  I have never felt so enriched and challenged all at once by a group of people.  I leave each meeting with a bigger sense of who I am and what I believe.  Its just been such an amazing experience.  So, thats me in a nutshell....

Denver:  Denver has moved back from South Carolina.  He transferred back with the same company, Boeing, because he missed the kids so much.  And, the kids are ecstatic to have him back.  He has been back about a month now and just celebrated his 41st birthday.  He enjoyed being able to help the boys with their basketball skills and I have enjoyed having someone else around to balance all of the activities, dinner, and housework.  When he switches to the night shift this Friday however, it will be almost like he is gone again.  But at least the kids will have the weekends with him.

Ian:  Mr. Ian is busy being a know-it-all 5th grader!  He is at that stage in childhood where he doesn't have a place just yet.  He is not a little boy anymore but he is not a teenager and so we get the fun mood swings and attitudes you would expect from a "tweener."  Ian keeps us on our toes though and I especially enjoy having conversation with him.  He just finished up a season of Jr. Jazz Basketball.  It was a lot of fun watching him get better throughout the season.  It was the first time that he truly seemed to enjoy the sport he was playing.  I think he may have found his 'thing', sports wise anyway.  He is also our drama boy.  I swear he was born to be on stage!  He is in a theater group called Up With Kids and this year they are putting on a musical after the movie Tangled...or Rapunzel.  Singing, dancing, and acting.  They had auditions and Mr. Ian got the LEAD!!  He is playing Flynn Rider and couldn't be more happy about it.  He plays the part perfectly.  I think this is something he will continue doing throughout his youth.  He also had the opportunity to sing in the One Voice Children's choir for the Salt Lake Olympic 10 yr anniversary celebration.  This choir is amazing and right now we are on the waiting list to get in.  In August he will have the opportunity to officially audition for the choir and that will make for a very busy year!

Evan:  Evan is our bright 4th grader.  He struggles sometimes with school work because he is a bit of a day dreamer and would much rather being doing anything BUT homework.  This has been challenging but hopefully it is just a stage and he will soon realize that it is important to get the work done.  He also just finished up the basketball season and he is a natural athlete.  The boys played on the same team and I was surprised that they managed to do so without fighting, ha ha.  Evan sunk a few baskets in the last few games and that was very exciting for him.  He is in the theater group with Ian as well and is playing 3 different parts in the play.  He is an amazing singer when he can get over his nerves.  I really think he could be a force on stage one day... He is quiet and shy and sweet.  Even though he is about to turn 10, he still loves little boy things and I really love that about him.  He turns 10 next month.  I can't believe I will have 2 kids in the double digits!!

Addison:  Miss Addie is 5 going on 16.  She turns 6 next month and is already asking when she can have fake nails and a cell phone.  I catch her in my makeup constantly and she loves dressing up and wearing my heels.  She is a girl through and through.  If she isn't singing, she is dancing but often times it is both.  We are going to put her in a dance class soon because she really seems to be inclined to dance (Im secretly screaming with joy about this).  She loves school and being with friends.  She is also in the theater group with her brothers and will be playing 2 parts with small speaking parts.  Its going to be such a fun play.  I can't wait to watch them all shine.  Addison is a blast of personality constantly even though at times she can throw quite the tantrum as well.  I guess when you are the youngest and the only girl in the family it warrants some diva-like behavior.  I cannot imagine our lives without her in it.

--So thats about it for now.  Life is a strange and ever-changing experience.  For all the low's, there are just as many high's.  Sometimes it doesn't work out the way you had dreamed or hoped, but I love having the assurance that just around the corner a different dream will come to fruition that will make the failed one seem trivial.  I often wonder, with sadness, how anyone could lose hope completely. There is always something new around the corner if you just wait it out.  I feel that coming up for me.  There are a lot of changes on the horizon for The Shannon family...some good, some difficult.  But, in the end 2012 is going to be a good year.  I can just feel it!

Christmas 2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!  So...I had good intentions?  Ha ha...To my credit it was the end of the semester and I have been busy with finals and all of that.  But now...Im on an almost 3 week break from school. Then it's off to my FINAL semester of school...so happy :)

Christmas always seems to come and go so quickly each year.  All the preparations, the madness, the shopping, the mailing and then in 3.5 seconds....it's over.  This year was a tiny bit anticlimactic for me.  First of all, the tree was a disaster.  Not only did it physically die the 2nd week it was up...and I am talking touch it and it crumbles dead, but half the lights stopped working AFTER I was finished decorating.  To top it off, every store I went to was sold out of clear tree lights! So, we spent most of December with a dead, half lit tree.  Its so droopy that ornaments are falling off the poor thing!  I just finally threw my hands up in the air and said "OH WELL".   Here is a picture with the lovely dark spot. Haha!  Oh boy.

Second of all we scaled back a bit on gifts.  Just seemed like the right thing to do in this economy but it made the big reveal fall a little flat.  Last year we heard "Look at all the presents!!!" and this year it was..."Hey you guys, Santa left some presents under the tree..." in a less than super excited voice... BUT, the worst part about it is that I live in this little apartment with nowhere to hide the gifts and I am almost 100% sure that my middle child saw everything that he was getting this year.  The little snoop.  I never did anything like that when I was a kid (LOL!!!  Yeah...right)  Unfortunately for him, he is a horrible liar and a horrible actor.  The fake surprise he tried to pull was almost kind of funny... and then it was irritating.  So, as far as all that went....I have had better years playing Santa.

Addison was a joy though because at 5 she has really grabbed onto the fun of Christmas!  She lit up at all of her gifts and was just so excited.  She was even the first person up this morning!  Gotta love her.

She is growing up and has lost her first couple of teeth this past month...one over Thanksgiving weekend and another this weekend.  I am sad that she is my last one to really enjoy the magic of Christmas so I will try and savor it every year.

The kids were pretty excited about their Dad being in town though.  Denver flew in on Christmas Eve day and you can see from the picture just how happy they were.

The day before Christmas Eve we went over to Nathan's house for our little Ries get together.  Unlike a lot of people, we really have zero familial obligations during the holidays...not that it would be a bad thing but other than my brothers, we enjoy a fairly intimate Christmas holiday and that makes going to Nate's house all the more special.  Here is Addison with her cousin Jude....he has been so sick and had just gotten up toward the end of our visit.  He is so sweet...Addie just loves him :)

This Christmas was also bittersweet for tragic reasons.  Denver's cousin was in a horrific car accident in Indiana the week before Christmas.  He, his wife, his 15 year old daughter and their 8 year old nephew were hit head on by a 17 year old girl.  Everyone died but Kristena, the 15 year old.  It has just had me heartbroken and sick that she has to go through this at such a special time of year.  Literally orphaned with no siblings even to lean on.  I cried for 3 days over it and I just cannot imagine how she will get through it.  She broke her back and as soon as she is healed from that she will have to go live with relatives...probably in Michigan with one of Denver's other cousins.  It seems so unfair sometimes the way life plays out for some people and I count my blessings that I have been spared from such tragedy.  It has definitely made me pause and reflect on those blessings a little extra this year!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas and wish you all the best for the coming year!

Thanksgiving 2011...

Look how horrible I have become at posting!  I look forward to the day when I am finished with school and can turn more attention to projects that I enjoy, such as this.  In the meantime...I'll try to be better about posting.

November came and went with the wind!! I can't believe it is already December and Christmas is staring at me in the face!  We went to Reno for Thanksgiving this year to spend it with my parents and took my youngest brother Jeff with us.  It was wonderfully relaxing.  I think we watched 10 movies over the 4 days we were there.  There is something to be said about waking up with zero plans and zero obligations. I could have used another weeks worth of it!

Dinner was yummy as usual...although we almost didn't get turkey since the oven got turned off midway through the baking time!  Never fear...we managed to get it cooked and eaten at a reasonable hour.

The kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly...especially with the dogs.  I don't think my parents dogs have ever been played with so much.  Another plus was that my boys forgot to bring their chargers for their Nintendo gaming systems so after the battery ran down on the way to Reno, they were stuck the rest of the trip without games to play.  It forced them to be more creative about how to spend their time.  Nothing wrong with a dose of that once in a while!

We are back to reality now...and gearing up for Christmas.  We just put the Christmas tree up last night.

Makes the house feel so cozy.  And now it is snowing outside.  I think December is the only month where I actually enjoy seeing it snow.  Too bad it has to last longer than a month!

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season.