Saturday, September 20, 2008

I'm a GRANDMA!!!!!!

Okay, I admit. When Brittanie first called me last December and told me that she & Michael were expecting I was a little shocked! I was the mom of a 7 year old at the time and I couldn't imagine being a GRANDMA, too. But it didn't take me long to get excited! Heck-I still had a crib!

I got the call Thursday, August 21st around 2:30 in the afternoon from Britt. In her voice I could hear the sound of pain. It brought back painful memories of labor before the Epidural! I called my sister to help me make flight reservations because I was too scatter-brained to focus on that task. Thanks to Tracy, our Secretary at Jade's office, I was able to get to the airport in time. I did, however, have to cut straight to the front of the security line and make my apologies. Running, I finally made it to my gate and when the attendant saw me she said, "You must be Debbie. We've been waiting for you!"

My mom (a.k.a. GREATGRANDMA) picked me up from the airport. It was now 9:15pm. I called Michael and he said that she was a 5 1/2 cm. "Great" I thought. I could go to my moms, unpack & take a quick shower. When we got into Orem I called Michael. He said that she was 8cm!!! We drove straight to the hospital. She was an 8 1/2 when we arrived. The staff at the hospital was AMAZING! At 11:30 Britt was a 10cm. The Doctor used a technique new to me. It's called "Rest & Descend". They let the baby move on its own into the birth canal so that the mother doesn't have to push as long & hard. So she rested for about 1 hour as the baby dropped. At 12:50 am beautiful little Abigail Lynne Stott was born weighing 7lb 9oz. 21.5 inches long. She has lots of black hair like her daddy and a round little face like her mommy. After a few little problems with her lungs not working properly and a few days in the NICU she was able to go home. I was so sad when I left to come back to California to care for my own kiddos. I kept asking myself, "Okay, have you told Britt everything she needs to know?" The answer of course was no, she'll learn that all on her own!!!


------Blogger Slacker------

Alas, I have joined those of the "Blogger Slackers". I comfort myself in the knowledge that I am in good company!

Okay-lets talk about these cute photos!!!

Without a doubt one of the top 12 happiest days of my life-our daughter graduating from BYU!!!
April 23rd we packed up the family and headed for Provo. Jade and I hoped that if our younger sons saw their sister graduate from college that they might be a little more motivated to apply themselves to their studies.

What a great weekend! Brittanie graduated in Communications and had a minor in Music. I wasn't sure if the tears of joy that I witnessed from Jade were for Brittanie or for the extra money that we would now have in our family budget. For me it was one of those few-"Joy in rejoicing in your posterity" moments.
Another bonus of being up in Provo was that we were able to be at the Doctors appointment when Michael and Brittanie had their ultrasound and found out that we would be expecting a little girl-old news now! I wish I had brought my camera! The ultrasound room was full! We were all so excited that EVERYONE had to be there! Those in attendance were: Michael, Brittanie, the ultrasound tech, myself, Jade, Joshua, Grandma Kane, Sherry, Greg & Brian! We ended the fun weekend with the wedding of Michael's older brother, Brian and his wife Kristy. It was a great time and we enjoyed our time with the Stotts.

Who's the cutie in the white shirt & tie?
The next photos are from our tri-ward 4th of July Celebration. I always love this event. Each year Camarillo 1st, 2nd, and 5th wards meet at 8:30 for a flag raising ceremony followed by moving musical numbers and patriotic stories and readings. This year was extra special because Jade was asked to speak. He did a great job! Another bonus was that Uncle Don did the sound system. (Pictured with Brie) But my favorite part of the event is when we all eat a yummy breakfast afterward and get to visit with all our dear friends. :)
Every year we have a tradition of camping at Carpenteria State Beach. This is one of our favorite parts of summer. This year we left the first day of summer vacation for the beach. It was a little foggy but we had a great time. Brie and I spent some time in our sleeping bags snuggling and reading together while the boys boogie-boarded. Jade always takes the kids down to the tide pools at 6am and this is one of Brie's favorite things. Zachary brought his surfboard and was in the water for about 8 straight hours! Josh enjoys building sandcastles and hunting on the beach for treasures. My favorite thing is to watch all my kids and just savor the moment. One sad thing that Brie pointed out our first night was that this was our first camping trip without Brandon & Brittanie. How fast our family has shrunk!
This next photo is of Josh & Zach and good friends, Paul, Robert & J.P. Arbon. Jade took the photo. I soon learned after Jade & I married that gun shooting would become a part of my life-like it or not. I try to be a good sport, but, truth be told, I try to find any other activity for them to do on weekends rather than go gun shooting. They always have a great time and come home with their target papers all shot up. This was a particular fun trip with fun friends.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! Jade & I celebrated our anniversary at the Happiest Place on Earth! We splurged this year and purchased season passes and have really enjoyed it! Jade & I have always talked of going-just the two of us-and we finally did. We laughed many times at what WE choose to do vs what we would be doing if we had been with our children. For example-Jade has always wanted to sit on a certain bench on a porch of a store front on main street and watch people and the marching band go by. I have always wanted to sit in the Gibson Girl and eat an ice cream at a leisurely pace. Of course we went to the Tiki Room with our Pineapple Whips and that was fun, too. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and even slept in! It was a lot of fun!!!
Our family reunion was in Nauvoo this summer. It was a Kane family reunion so my parents and siblings and their families were there. Our family reunion tee shirt said, "Why be normal when you can be a Kane?" I thought it pretty much was true. All of us took different routes to get there. We were the farthest so we opted for flying as apposed to driving. We flew into St. Louis and drove about 4 hours to Nauvoo. We had such a great time. Nauvoo is so beautiful! It was wonderful to be where the early saints were and where so much of our history is from. We enjoyed Carthridge, too. The Spirit was very strong there.
One of the highlights was on the first day we got there. We were taking the Visitors Center tour when I noticed a couple who looked like photos I had seen of Brandon's Mission President and his wife. I say photos, I saw 2 photos! We approached them and and a wonderful meeting with them. They both spoke so highly of Elder Morris and their love for him. They had just been released the week before and were making their way back to Bountiful. I felt so calm about Brandon after our meeting. It was so wonderful to hear of their love for him and of how well he was.

We were so impressed with the Missionary Couples who serve in Nauvoo. They dress in period garb and work the brickyard, blacksmith shop, etc in 80 degrees and about 80% humidity!


We attended a wonderful temple session at the Nauvoo Temple. It's so beautiful inside. My mom was very happy to have ALL of her children there! For her one of those, "Joy in rejoicing in your posterity" moments.


After Nauvoo we spent a day in St. Louis at the Arch and a few other fun spots.

When we returned to Utah we had Brittanie's baby shower! It was so fun to see all the cute little things she got. It was just as much fun to see some of her dear friends from over the years. Sherry was able to make it up for the shower and it's always fun to see her!