Hush Little Baby

When Janey goes to sleep whether for her nap or for the night, I (like any other good mom) check on her often. (Okay, maybe I am a paranoid mom!) Anyway, she seems to find the most interesting ways to sleep. Usually she is sleeping on her tummy with her knees tucked under her, her bum in the air and her covers underneather her. Occasionally, her positions are even more creative....

Yes, she is sleeping sitting down.

This time she is sitting, leaning on her bumper pad and chewing a blanket.

She is also at that age when it is fun to get her out of bed when she wakes up. She smiles, bounces up and down and gets so excited. Cole loves that he is tall enough take his turn, and Drew pulls up a chair and talks to her until I come in.

Who can resist that smile?

April Fools?

Despite that it is April 1st, this is an actual blog entry and not an April Fool's joke! I also figured that since it snowed that night, it is completely appropriate to post pictures from Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas, filled with all the best things of the season: family, food, fun, presents and the joy that comes from the birth of our Savior. Dan's parents stayed at our house and it was fun to spend time with them. Here are a few of the highlights.......

Drew wanted a BYU guitar...unfortunately for him, we don't know how to play or tune it!

Cole is a big Texas fan. Hook 'em horns!

The boys and their Star Wars blankets...a major project (thanks mom!) but worth the effort.

Janey loved her new walker, and the wrapping paper!

Janey's first Christmas dress.

Dan's Face-lift

If you are fortunate enough to have good skin, count your blessings. Dan does not have that kind of luck. Several weeks ago, a biopsy determined that he indeed had his second case of Basal Cell Carcinoma (a curable form of skin cancer). If you look on his right jawline, you will see the scar from the first case over six or seven years ago.

Without a better date available on the Dr.'s schedule, Dan was again so fortunate to have this "small procedure" done on his birthday. After cutting out the initial skin, the doctor determined there was still cancer present. That meant the need for another cut, then another, then another... Five cuts later, the cancer was gone but displaced with a huge crater on his forehead. It was so big, the dermatologist was not interested in closing the crevice himself but referred Dan to a plastic surgeon who specializes in facial procedures. In order to close the gaping hole, incisions had to be made from the top of the "hole" to Dan's hairline as well as above each eyebrow. One eyebrow also had to be moved over since the cancer had spread into it and was cut out. Below is the final product including the 60+ stitches needed.

Shannon feels she got the raw end of the deal. Not only does she have to look at him every day, but felt she was more worthy and in need of a skin stretching face lift.

Late June and July 2008

It is amazing how fast the summer can fly by when you have a baby, a son in baseball all stars, a baby blessing, a baptism, two family reunions, yardwork, etc. etc. Anyway, those are my excuses for my few and far between blogs. So as thoroughly yet efficiently as I can sum up our great summer, here it goes.......

Late June and July:

Cole made one of the Riverton All-Star baseball teams. It was a great opportunity for him to improve his baseball skills and to have fun. (I stressed the latter with him.) Dan was one of the coaches, so it also provided a lot of father/son time.

The boys also took swimming lessons with Tyson and Braxton (cousins) and Britton and Jason (friends). It was a great experience. I can't believe how much both of them improved their skills. Cole can swim most strokes, and Drew overcame his fear of the water and actually swam a few feet! Their favorite thing was jumping off the diving board at the end of each lesson. Drew quickly realized that he could make everyone laugh if he did a belly flop. Of course he would push aside personal pain for his audience's pleasure!!!

The Fourth of July weekend was very busy for us. Besides the holiday, Cole was baptized on July 5th and Janey was blessed on the 6th. It was a wonderful, emotional weekend. Cole looked so handsome in his suit. (He has wanted one since Christmas.) It was a rewarding day for us as parents as we watched him take this important step in his life. The next day was equally rewarding as Dan bessed Janey in church. I know I'm totally biased, but she looked so cute in her little white dress. We feel so blessed that most of our family was able to be with us. My entire family was together for the first time in a few years. Also, thanks to the help of family, we had a great luncheon after the blessing. There is no doubt in my mind that eternal families are a part of our Heavenly Father's plan. We don't know what we would do without all of ours.

Four days later, we left to go camping at Payson Lakes for the Rose family reunion. We had such a great time. I was a little concerned about how Janey would do camping, but she was a trooper. She slept better at night there than she was doing at home!! The boys loved spending so much time with their cousins riding bikes, fishing, swimming, playing with their walkie talkies, and of course, going to the Ute Stampede. Other than one scary trip to a pediatrician in Payson with Janey, it was a wonderful trip.

Janey in her sun hat.

The 3 amigos!

Swimming in the lake.

Cole and Uncle Brent raced to catch a fish first...Cole won.

Time to go home. Nice hats!!

Janey Mae Tobler

1 day old

Although most of you already know, Janey Mae Tobler was welcomed into our family on May 6th. (I am blaming the lack of sleep and inexperience in the blogging world as to why this took so long to blog. Better late than never.) She was born at 9:46pm, weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. It was a crazy day for us. We went to the doctor's office that morning for a non-stress test because of lack of fetal movement and ended up at the hospital in the afternoon for a "surprise induction". Her heart rate was good, but the doctor couldn't explain why she wasn't moving. So, we decided it was best just to jump start the process and get the baby here a few days before her due date. Luckily, the cameras were in the car, because there wasn't any time to go home and pack; we went straight to the hospital from the doctor's office!

She is now almost 5 weeks old and we love having her in our home. She is a good eater and my guess is that she is at least 8 1/2 lbs. by now. (She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. at her 2 wk. appt.) She is starting to smile, especially at her dad. The last two nights she went 8 hours between feedings, so I have gotten a little more sleep. She does have some fussy times, but it seems to be getting better as she gets older. Her brothers love her and are so cute with her. Drew will actually run back into the house just to give her a hug and a kiss. Cole is great about holding her when she fusses so that I can get a few things done around the house.

It's funny that even though we waited a long time for her to come into our family, it is already hard to imagine life without her. She is such a precious blessing and we are so grateful for her.

Janey at 2 weeks.

4 weeks...look at those cheeks!

Snow and Travel

Snow Anyone?

For those of you who do not live in Utah, you may not know that we have had an incredible winter with TONS of snow. Definitely not a good year to be "snow blower-less". I guess it's at least a good workout. We woke up 2 weeks ago to 15 inches (which turned into 18 after another hour or so) in our driveway, which prompted the cancellation of Church for the first time I can remember in a very long time. As much at it makes driving difficult and causes us some inconvenience, the boys have loved playing in it. The other good news is there should be plenty of water for the coming spring/summer.

Cole up to his chin in snow.

Drew has become a pretty good helper shoveling snow.

Junior Jazz Season #2

Cole just finished up his second year of playing Junior Jazz basketball. His team was filled mostly with kids from his flag football team, and they ended up with similar results. They actually kept score each game, which is always good when you are the team that usually wins. Cole's team went undefeated without getting a real challenge all season. After getting on him following the first few games for traveling and double dribbling, he did much better the 2nd half and really lit up the scoreboard a couple of times. Not many kids his age were dribbling with either hand like he can. I am a little concerned though. The last baseball, flag football, and basketball seasons have been very successful from a win/loss perspective. The upcoming baseball season will probably not be as fortunate. Most of the star players have moved on leaving only a few experienced players for this season. For those of you that know Cole, as much as we try to teach and change him, he is a POOR LOSER!!! He hates it. Sometimes as a parent you just can't teach your kids everything. They have to learn for themselves and how to deal with it. This will be one of those things.

Cole "D"ing up and the reward!

IDAHO TRIP

It had been awhile since we had gone up to visit Papa T and Grandma T, so we decided to spend President's Day weekend up in Idaho. It was nice to find that we were not the only ones visiting Mom and Dad's, but that Aunt Carol and my cousin Scott & Shellie Morrow (with their youngest Tanner and his cousin Blake) were also there attending the Idaho State Girls Basketball tournament. We had a fun time with everyone and Cole and Drew enjoyed having the older boys to play with. According to the boys, the highlights of the trip were visiting the DeRuyter Dairy Farm and a night of bowling. We were fortunate enough to witness the birth of 5 calves. Two of which I did a little assisting (1 shown in clip below), taking me down memory lane of many years ago. To be honest, we had been watching these poor heifers labor and they really seemed to be struggling so I thought I would speed up the process and help them out a little. We also made the drive to the calf ranch where we saw more holstein calves than I had ever seen in one place. It's much nicer visiting someone else's farm than it is having your own and the commitments that come with it.

In the barn.

Observing the maternity ward. Can't a cow get any privacy?

L-R (Tanner Morrow, Cole, Blake Morrow, Drew, Shannon, & Shellie Morrow)

WARNING!!!!!!

The following video clip contains somewhat graphic farm animal material, viewed live by a 7 and 4 year old. You will need to prepare to explain what is going on to your children while viewing.

(Shannon made me add the disclaimer)

Bowling on the Wii has paid off. Both Cole and Drew did the best they have ever done in "Real Bowling".

Happy 2008!!!

Yes, I have known for quite awhile that Halloween has been over for several months now. To be honest it's like torture every time I open the Internet at home and up pops the blog as our "Home Page". A constant reminder of what a slacker I have been depriving my friends and family of information they are desperately seeking regarding our family. To be honest I have many excuses but I will focus only on the fact that my work has kept me extremely busy the last several months and that I have been waiting for Shannon to take some initiative and update it herself. As you can see, that was a pipe dream!

So here we go...

As many already know, IT'S A GIRL! Yes, we are the proud expectant parents of a baby girl due May 11th. After 3 1/2 years of an extremely valiant effort of adding to our family, the Big Man upstairs finally decided it was time. Unfortunately for Shannon it put a damper on her experience when we went to Disneyland in October. If you go back and look at the blog pictures you will notice she stayed off most of the coasters and fast moving rides. She didn't even complain about it either, as much as I knew she was really wanting to get on a few coasters.


So far things have gone well for the most part. Shannon has been feeling pretty good, except for her recent reality check that her wardrobe is becoming more limited. Over 24 weeks into it... go figure!
We did have somewhat of an alarming experience regarding the baby's health. We got a call in early December from the Genetic Counselor that they found some low AFP levels from Shannon's blood test and the baby had a 33% chance of having Trisomy 21 (more commonly known as Downs Syndrome). Amniocentesis results proved everything normal and gave us the surety that she is a healthy little girl, but it made for an emotional few weeks.


We told the boys about their sister on Christmas Eve, and while they were very excited, the news still ranked behind them getting a Wii the next day.

Christmas was very fun and exciting this year. Most of all we were glad to spend the Holiday Season with both sides of our family, especially those who were visiting the area.

Drew with Santa and Mrs. Clause on Christmas Eve

Cole telling Santa he really wanted a Wii. Little did he know Mom and Dad beat Santa to the punch.

Santa did hook both boys up with some jerseys. Cole got the Peyton Manning jersey he has been dying for and Drew got the D-Will one he has been talking about getting since Cole got the Boozer jersey for his Birthday last year. The biggest problem we have now with Cole is that he would rotate between wearing his Manning, Boozer, and SL Bees jersey's to school every day if we let him. We have no idea where his addiction to sports comes from.

Drew enjoys his Nerf Dart Tag present. He will shoot you from point blank range without batting an eye whether you have the tag vest on or not.

The transition in preparing for a new sister has already started with moving the boys into the same room. Drew likes it because Cole can no longer kick him out of his room, and both boys were hard to contain their first few nights. They think sleeping in bunks is THE STUFF!

I will try and do better in 2008 in my blogging venture. If you notice the blog hasn't been updated in awhile, just make sure to mock Shannon and she will make sure I do it as soon as can.

HERE'S TO 2008!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2007!

It's probably a good thing Shannon is "Pro" Halloween because I am very much "Con", so our boys get the benefit of at least one of us caring. The boys set a new record in houses knocked and candy received this year, but it was not without prodding. I was the fortunate one that got to walk with them this year. After finishing a couple of neighborhood cul-de-sacs, Drew's "yegs" were tired and ready to go home. We were with a group of neighbors and Cole was several houses ahead of us. I told Drew I would call Mom to come and get him, but that Cole was going to have ALOT more candy than him if he quit. He decided to stick it out.

Shannon went the extra mile to allow the kids to make their own Jack o' Lantern pizzas. Cole with his best buddy Ryan.

Cole carved his pumpkin all by himself for the first time this year. I taped the pattern on and he did the rest.

Drew had mom's help, but he will still take the credit if you ask him.

Ok, so I mentioned I don't care too much for Halloween. I still figure if I'm going to be pressured into carving a pumpkin I'm going to try to do something cool with it. I would like to dedicate this year's product to the biggest Jazz fan I have ever known... the late Ima Rose. I would have loved to see G.G.'s reaction to seeing this.

This "Jazz O' Lantern" actually even found it's way onto the KJZZ opening before the Jazz/Rockets game tonight. The Bear held it up between Bolerjack and Booner before tip off.

Drew was a Ninja for the second year in a row. I think he likes it because he can swing the nunchucks and hit everything around him.

Cole was a rapper with the jersey and the 'Bling'. We call him "5 Cent".

Here are a few of our carved pumpkins from years past.

To Disneyland and Beyond!!!!

We recently returned from a great trip to California and our boys' first Disneyland experience. The trip found a few hiccups and a lot of time on the road, but was still a complete success!

The following is a list of things we learned while on our trip:

• Breaking up the drive from Riverton to Bakersfield by staying a night in St. George was a great idea. Especially when you have a home teacher offering up a vacant family vacation home for free! Yes, we are freeloaders!

• A trip CAN be delayed by 'high winds'.

• Buying Slurpees for Cole and Drew on a long road trip is a bad idea. They drink them very quickly and their bladders fill at a similar pace. Nothing like pulling off a major highway for a potty break only to find there is NO ON-RAMP to get back on the same highway! Nothing like being in B.F.E. California praying you can find the way onto the highway.

• Jacob is doing well playing football in Bakersfield, even with a painful injury (separated shoulder) in his non-throwing shoulder. One of his main receivers went down with an injury, but they were still able to win easily and remain atop the National Junior College Football rankings. We all enjoyed seeing Jacob again.

• When you are at the beach, the tide moves faster than a 7 and 4 year old may think.



• The first part of the week in the middle of October is a perfect time to go to Disneyland. The lines for the rides were extremely short which allowed the boys to go on everything they wanted x 4. We seldom waited more than 10-15 minutes in line before getting on a ride.


• Cole's favorites were Space Mountain, Soaring Over California, and California Screamin'.


• Drew's favorites included The Materhorn, Soaring Over California, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. He also liked Splash Mountain, until the second time when he fell off the railing while in line landing on his head and putting a goose egg on his forehead.




• "It's a Small World After All!" Not referring to the attaction (which was closed during our stay) but to the fact we ran into our neighbors from 3 houses down The Abseys and spent some time with them and helped taxi them back and forth to their Mobile Home park.



• Go on the Grizzly River Rapids when it is warm and the sun can dry you out. Everyone in our boat got soaked! Fortunatley for us the weather in So Cal was very WARM!



• Both boys are a little more brave than we thought they would be.


• In N Out Burger seems to always hit the spot!

We were so fortunate and greatful to Dave, Caryn, and kids for letting us stay with them, feeding us, and being such great hosts. We were also glad they could join us, along with Lindsey and kids during day #2 at the parks. Somehow, Drew was able to get the Trumbo boys to take turns 'piggybacking' him through the park most of the day. Joe and Ryan were good souls and can now find themselves on the top of Drew's favorite cousin list!

The only problem now is that we have officially opened the boys' eyes to Disneyland and California Adventure which means we will have to deal with the begging and pleading to return that has already started. In fact on the drive home Drew's comment was "I want to have my next birthday party at Disneyland and invite my cousins and friends." Word to the wise... don't hold your breath waiting for that invitation to come!

Dan