January Catch-up

 Dashle celebrated his 4th birthday at the beginning of January. He is obsessed with Toy Story everything lately so Grandma/Grandpa Bennett really scored big sending a massive blanket with Buzz and Woody on it.

Dashle got to celebrate his birth twice. The second time was with his bud, Anika, whose birthday was a few days prior to his. Little did they know they were to be wed on this special occasion thanks to the scheming of a romanticizing older sister. Hence the gown and the bow tie.

I bypassed the donuts tradition for the Dash-man this year because I found these two cakes on the bakery clearance rack at Walmart.  I bought a tube of blue frosting and threw a "Y" on top and voila! He thought it was the coolest cake...EVER.

For one of our first family home evenings of the new year we made individual and family goals. I thought Dashle's goals to be quite relevant and thoughtful. 

If you want to know what I'm made of here's a free look...minus an appendix.  I wouldn't wish an appendicitis on anyone.  Regardless of this organ's useless reputation it still screamed pretty loud to get some attention.  And...take at look at my right ovary while you're at it.  And...the cyst...and the little fatty deposits.  I'm sure glad surgeons know what they're looking at because it all looks about the same to me.

The day after my surgery, our beloved missionaries showed up.  Elder Deuce received word he was transferring and a few short weeks later Elder Naylor was transferred to the Mission Office to be an AP.  Elder Naylor had suggested previously I create a mormon.org profile.  He, (as a good missionary does), followed up on my progress during this visit. I told him I had been a little busy in the last few days having an appendicitis. Thankfully, he cut me some slack. 

As with most of us, "when it rains, it pours."  The week of my surgery just happened to be a very busy one for our family.  Addie celebrated her 7th birthday. She was also named "Student of the Month" and had a special breakfast to attend.  Addie's big present was tickets to Disney on Ice a few days after her birthday and I'm sure there were a slew of other busy things that needed to happen which didn't revolve around Addie.

Mr. Handsome was a champ during this strenuous time.  He turned to his alter ego, "Mr. Mom," and did everything he could to make the week run smoothly including taking time off work, folding mounds of clean laundry, seeing the girls to the bus each morning, and attending Addie's special breakfast at school.  The girls get props, too. They were "practically perfect in every way." Emery came home one day with a large banner she and her classmates created during indoor recess. What a kid!  

Addie's biggest request for her birthday was a "Y" on top of her cake.  We train our kids from the womb to love BYU.  This is turning into a more favorable tradition than donuts.  Ironically, Addie loved this sloppy thrown together cake more than cakes from birthdays past where I spent greater time and effort. This was two layers of cake brownies with cool whip and raspberries on top. Very fancy!