The Year in Review

Well, it's been a fun and incredibly short year! We've had alot of firsts and a few "hope that never happens agains". In chronological order:

-Tonya begins the new year pregnant again

-Rachel became a Sunbeam in Primary, leaving just one Cannon in the church nursery

-Tonya falls while holding Eli, whose head hits a concrete floor and his skull is fractured (our first paramedic experience, our first overnight stay at Children's, and an extremely stressful but faith-promoting event)

-Precious succumbs to kitty old age-she was a great, if psychotic, cat for 14 years

-We decided to find out the sex of the baby for once and came right home and started giving away the girl stuff

-Mauzy came for her annual visit and Emily lost two teeth in the same week (our first Tooth Fairy experience)

-Eli turned 2--Mauzy and Mary Lou were here for the party

-We had our first family vacation since 2003 at Disney World and Sea World. All-in-all it went well, the kids had a great time and we all have some great memories. In the same trip we visited Pa and Granny in Englewood, FL and the kids had their first boat ride and got to see dolphins in the ocean; and James did some flooring work at MeMa and PaPa's in preparation for the family reunion.

-Emily graduated from Preschool and performed her first solo at the ceremony

-MeMa finally got her family reunion. I don't know how many, but alot of siblings and cousins were there!

-We began the "Summer of Togetherness"--It was hot, Mommy was uncomfortable and June seemed to last forever!!!

-Samuel Pierce Cannon arrived in dramatic fashion--5 weeks early--but healthy and happy!

-Emily started Kindergarten--Big School already!!!--Honestly, Sam was a great distraction, otherwise Mommy may have been committed!! It was never about how Emily would do, she was sooooo ready and is doing great!!

-Mother's Day Out began for Rachel and Eli. Tonya returned to her 2-year-old class two days a week at the end of September.

-Halloween was fun. The girls were black cats and Eli was Bob the Builder. He went trick-or-treating for the first time this year. He got the hang of it pretty quick!

-Rachel turned 4 and Emily turned 6. They had a huge party together at Pump It Up and everyone had a great time.

-Thanksgiving and Christmas came around much too quickly. I guess your parents are right at least once--the older you get, the faster time goes....

Now it's another new year. We will start out with new (or old) goals and good intentions, fill our calendars with lots of to-dos and run frantically from one appointment to the next. I hope to live in the moment a little more this year. I sometimes worry that I am wishing away the precious moments of my childrens' childhoods. As my good friend reminds me, "just play with them". The song "Let Them Be Little" has been playing in my mind lately. So when you visit this year and the house is a disaster and the kids are in their pajamas at 4 pm, it won't really be anything new, but it won't be out of surrender to survival, it will be because we have embraced the moments that make memories and build forever families.

Happy All Year Long!