sorry for the rambling

We went to the Zoo as a family the other night. Other than half of the group getting lost it was really fun ... pretty cold, but a lot of fun regardless! I just love watching Evan explore his world. The joy in that boys face as he utilizes his independence is one of the best feelings in the world!

One of THE COOLEST things happened while we were at the zoo. The nocturnal animals were all awake. This includes the lions!!!!! I have never seen lions that active before. They were stalking the fence right in front of us, playing with eachother, and ....... talking. The female lion starting making noises (not roaring, just playful noises) and I kid you not ... it was one of the loudest things I have ever heard in my life. Now that I have heard a lion up close and personal I cannot even imagine what it must sound like if they roar, and can imagine even less if I heard that sound with no fence in between us. WOW!!!!!

p.s. I think all the animals from the Calgary Zoo should put in a transfer to the San Diego zoo, especially the elephants. They just made a new enclosure and it is stunning!!! Oh man I miss this zoo!!!

the whole family minus Ben and Sharley
(yes we are all in one house ... including Ben and Sharley)

I just love this picture of my dad!!!!!

We went to Kit Carson Park and man was it .... F.U.N, fun!!!!! It is this treasure in the middle of a great park. You walk through the gates into a fairy tale of mosaic fun. It was the perfect place for Evan to roam and explore in his chair. I could not have fallen more in love with this little park and the family had a lot of fun taking pictures all around the park.








From the park we went to a burger joint called "Chee-Burger Chee-Burger" It was so yummy and my brother decided to take the plunge and eat the 1 pound burger. I don't know how he got it all down, but he did and his picture now graces the wall of the restaurant. (Go Brandon!!)

the burger is the size of his head!!!!!

We drove home, quickly got changed, and went to the temple again! So great!!!!

After that I drove to my family to Lori's house so her parents could meet my two angels. I did have an ulterior motive since I really wanted to meet her boyfriend. It was so great to be with her family again. I sent my 3 boys back home and I went with Lori to another CBC dinner before Liz left.

Today I got to hang out with my three boys. We were originally going to go to Disney, BUT we decided to save money and stay here. We spent the morning at Balboa park and it really was fun! We took Evan to a puppet show which was pretty lame for an adult, but Evan just loved it. He kept talking about it saying things like ... "look Mama, puppet talked!!" There was so much fun to walk around and just let Evan drive and explore!

We came home (with the best Mexican food in hand), put the boys down for naps, and took off with Justin and my little brother Alex to go outlet shopping. It was so fun to spend that time with him and I even got a new nickname on the way home ;-)

Tonight was a wedding reception for a really close family friend. It was so lovely to see more friends that I don't often get to see and to just dance! It was so fun and by far my favorite thing is when I am able to swing dance with my brother Brandon. My dad taught all of us when we were young and Brandon was usually my swing partner. All I can say is ... we really are good!!!

That is my day ... I am tired ... but our laundry isn't done yet. I wouldn't even worry about laundry but I have no more clean underwear. All I can say is ... I am sooooooo glad that it is Justin's night tonight, and maybe I will be able to sleep in.

Some pictures so far ....

I have stolen some of the pictures taken so far by my dad. Enjoy a picture recap of our vacation so far! :-) I don't have all of the pictures yet, but I will put some more up when I get home.

This is everything I was able to transport from Calgary to San Diego BY MYSELF!!!!
Yes, I know ... I am super woman!

POOR EVAN ... POOR BAMPA (grandpa)

When we got to San Diego, Evan was helping my Dad work on the car. He was loving it ... until the second day of work and he fell face first into the tools. Poor Evan, within a week Santa drops him and then he falls with Grandpa. When he first fell his face was completely covered in black grease and blood. We didn't take know how much was blood and how much was grease so we didn't take a picture of Evan's face until after we made sure he had all of his teeth and his eyeballs were in tact. He was pretty darn swollen for a while, but he is almost 100% healed at this point. Evan eventually was friends with Bampa again and even helped him play Settlers that same night.

All the cousins went to see Santa one more time and this time he didn't drop Evan! Seriously folks ... I have never seen such a real Santa. My mouth DROPPED!!! So fun.

After we went to see Santa at the mall we got to ride a train around the mall. It was actually pretty fun, and Evan LOVED it.

Evan loves going around the house in his chair to pick up baby Jesus and move him to different places.

Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve, my families has a talent show. This year Evan read his favorite book "Pajama Time", Landon showed off his sumo wrestler physique, Kira displayed her arm and back muscles after a year of heavy lifting, and Justin played a video of him and his friend on thrill rides. (picture of my muscles are coming when I get home)the boys got their Christmas Eve PJ's from us.

Christmas Day

AS PROMISED:
This is what a size 4 Bum looks like in a size 1 diaper!!! Check out his upper thighs.

Just some random pictures that I liked

the Girls!

Landon and Grandpa (my Dads job at this particular moment was to try and keep Landon awake ... I think he royally failed!!!)

My Sisters

What do you think Landon is trying to get????

Boxing Day

Evan wakes up with a HUGE grin on his face and says "Ho Ho coming today???" I had to explain to him that Santa worked really hard the night before and had to go home to rest. (too funny)

Saturday was a very special day for me. My whole family went to the temple together. First the endowed members did a session together, and afterwards met the other two and did Baptism's together. I feel so blessed to have grown up near a temple and with a family who has valued the importance of temple attendance.

Following the temple Justin and I met up with Mandy and Peter to watch "The Princess and the Frog". As a special treat we took Evan to the movie and he loved it. It was a very enjoyable, but not as good as other Disney films. It totally made me homesick watching it though. It takes place in Louisiana and all that "Southern" culture made me miss my hearts home. Oh I long to be in the south ... oh well :-(

We came home, played Beatles rock band with my family and then I did a crazy move and went to another movie with the girls. They went to see "The Blind Side" which I had already seen, but can't stop thinking about. This is seriously one of the best movies I have ever seen, and I intend on buying it as soon as it comes out and showing it to my boys over and over again. I LOVE that movie and feel fortunate to have watched it again.

So, no shopping for this girl on Boxing day, but still a lot of crazy fun!

p.s. when we came home from the first movie we found that the babysitters had put one of Hayley's size 1 diaper on Landon's size 4 bum. Stay tuned for the pictures!!! (it really was just too funny!)

Merry Christmas

How does one report on a day so full of activities and joy? Landon only woke up one time the night of Christmas Eve and our children slept in (considering we are all in the same room). Evan LOVED his presents and handled the day's over-stimulation surprisingly well. He only broke down right before his nap and his bed time. I was able to enjoy multiple family traditions, chill with my family, go for a run with my sister's (including in-laws), and relax in the sun, enjoy the beauty of Christmas Card Lane, and visit with old friends. It was such a beautiful day to celebrate the joy of the Savior's birth.

Go Utah???

Some of my siblings decided to embrace the dark side and attend the University of Utah (at least that is what I like to tease them about). Today they played in the Poinsettia bowl in San Diego and we all went as a family. It was weird to kind of be cheering for Utah, but it was a good game and great to be together as an ENTIRE family! Today was the first time that everyone was here.

My favorite parts were:
-watching Evan's face as the F-18's flew right over our heads. To say that he loved it would be an understatement
-Having BOTH of my munchkins cuddling with me
-watching all of the make a wish kids on the field
-spending time with my family

My least favorite parts were:
-THE FREAKING FREEZING COLD!!!! Seriously, I live in this at home. I just want to come home, be warm, and get a tan. (don't get me wrong ... 48 is better than 25, and there is no snow. I just really want to be warm)

After the game we came home and my cousin and his wife came over. It was SO MUCH FUN to sit and play games with everyone! What a great night!!

CBC Lovin'

Last night was AMAZING!

In between 6th and 8th grade a group of 10 very different girls came together and formed a "group" that ate together, played together, and loved each other. The amazing part about their friendship was that each of them were so different from the next. Some were sporty, some were brainy, some were artsy, some were all three. Some were innocent, some not so innocent ;-) This beautiful group of young women were neither popular or unpopular and were each friends with both sides of the "high school spectrum". I am so lucky to have been a part of this AMAZING group of women who loved me for who I was, and still love me today. I am so happy to be a CBC girl!!

LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!

Thank you for blessing my life!

food, friends, and family

On Friday I made a historic trip down to see my family for Christmas. I say historic because I packed for me, a toddler, and a newborn for an 18 day vacation to a city that will be both cold AND warm. I had to make it through customs all by myself with Evan driving his wheelchair, a newborn strapped to my body, while pushing a cart stacked with 4 suit cases and a double stroller. Bless the parking monitors who allowed my mother-in-law to come inside with me (seriously, if I could only give you the details!) and get me to the customs door. Once I was at the door I was on my own.

Thankfully we had all of the correct paper work to get through customs.
-letter of permission to travel across the border from: Birth mom, Birth Dad, Justin, and the adoption agency
-all of our adoption paperwork
-registration of live birth
(this will be so much easier when the adoption is finalized!)

The customs agent just laughed at me when he looked at the skinny mother carrying her baby moose in a sling, barking instructions at a toddler, and pushing a cart with WAY too much stuff on it. He was very nice, wished me and Evan a good trip and sent me through. (is there any wonder to why I am skinny?)

Security was really hard too and took a long time to get all of us through, but we made it out and to our gate in one piece. The airline was AMAZING!!! They helped me so much getting on the flight, during the flight, and getting off the flight. They would help me with things I didn't even ask for help with!! Each person who worked that flight (including the pilot) personally went out of their way to do extra for my little family. I am so impressed and am looking forward to writing a letter of appreciation to the airline. I couldn't believe how wonderful an experience it was.

At one point in the flight BOTH of my children were asleep on me. I was in awe with how easy the flight was. I don't know if it was my preparation, really well behaved children, or just dumb luck ... but I hope every flight in my life goes that smoothly! :-)

I arrived in San Diego to a blessed 75'F weather!!!! Evan kept stopping to soak up the sun and Landon kept shielding his eyes because it has been so long since he has ever seen such a thing!

I have been here for 4 days now and gotten to see many people that I grew up around. I spent the day with one of my best friends yesterday and tonight I get to have a CBC reunion (I will explain more on that later :-) I have eaten soooo much crap and gone for 1 run with my family. I LOVE being HOME!!! Justin and one of my brothers and wife will arrive tonight, my sister and her husband come tomorrow, and Grandma comes on Thursday.

Food, Friends, and Family ... does it get any better?

(I will try and post some pictures tonight)

serious

I have one major problem with my blog. Sometimes I will be tired OR not have enough time to write about something. I will always make the commitment to write about it the next time I am able to get on the computer, but by the time that happens there seems to be something else that is more important to write about. That is what has happened to me today.

I fully intended to sit down and write a "catch up" blog and then begin to tell you the adventures of my vacation so far ... and believe me .... it is a vacation. I am going to have to do that tomorrow because I have something quite serious on my mind.

Today at church there were so many wonderful people that I was able to see (I love coming home) and it was really lovely to be able to give and receive those many old and familiar hugs. Towards the end of church I spotted the mother of one of my good high school friends. I could tell from where I was trying to rock Landon that she wasn't well, and I had heard a couple of years ago that she was a little sick. That was the extent of the information I knew. I went to see her and was completely caught off guard. This loving, selfless, quirky, full of life woman that I was so close to as a teenager was gone. She is in the clutches of full blown dementia. It makes me so sad and I was quite taken back to see her like that.

She of course didn't remember who I was, but we talked (with the help of one of the only people she remembers) and I just held her hand and kept kissing her cheek. She loved me and I loved her. Growing up I was blessed to witness and experience her selfless nature. SHE is the one that taught me how to crotchet, and if you know me, you know just how much that means to me. I often "impress" others with HER Japanese recipes and cooking.

I wish there was something that I was able to do, but I know there is nothing except pray for her and love her as much as I can from Canada. She has lost her mind and the saddest part is that she is completely alone. How is it that this woman who loved sooo much has been left to suffer the end of her still young life alone.

I left church just crying and really upset ... if I still think about it I cry.

Poor Evan ... Poor Santa

Last night we went and got pictures of the boys with Santa Claus. We actually have a REALLY cute picture, but we weren't able to get our scanner to work so y'all are out of luck.

Everything was going along just fine. Evan LOVES Santa, Landon was fascinated with the big man. It took a while to get Landon to actually look at the camera (there was too many things that were way more interesting than us boring parents). After we got him to look at us we came over to pick out a picture. Then I hear a horrible Evan scream!!!!

We forgot to tell Santa that Evan can't stand!! I can't believe that as parents we did that!!! So I turn around and see Evan crumpled on the floor crying and poor Santa, with a scared and confused face, trying to juggle Landon and pick up Evan. You could tell the poor old man had no clue what to do and felt really bad.

I ran and picked up a distraught Evan and told him that Santa didn't know! Mama forgot to tell him.

This all would have been just fine if we had remembered to charge Evans power chair, but we didn't so we weren't able to bring it.

After some loving and some cookies Evan was feeling better and has forgiven Santa. I still feel terrible for my part played, but you live and you learn. Normally I am really good at letting people know, but I don't think I will EVER forget to tell someone again.

Early Christmas

Yes folks, Christmas came early in the Palmer home. My darling sweet, wonderful husband brought home my first Christmas present of the season. I am usually quite insistent that presents or surprises need to wait until THE intended day, but I allowed this one because he said it was too big to bring with us to San Diego, and we can't use it there.

He had "the boys" get me a HEATED mattress cover!!!! The best part is that this mattress pad has dual controls!! That means that I can sleep with my side on high and Justin can sleep with his side on 2! Oh my goodness this present is heaven sent (especially with the -25' F weather we have been having). I really am married to a good guy!!!

I sang in our stakes Christmas Carol concert with a fabulous group of women! I can't believe that Christmas is so close! I love it!!!

fun fun fun

It has been a very COLD week of fun! We had yet another office party. After a lot of snow and some change of plans we finally all ended up in the same place and had a lot of fun. Check out the symmetrical bunny ears. :-)


The next day we had a ward Christmas party for our church. It was just so much fun! I was a last minute cook of one of the turkeys and it came out pretty good if I say so myself!

the resident elf got REALLY excited when he saw Santa come in the room.

Evan was just as excited!!!! How cute is that face??

This boy aint afraid of Santa. I can't wait until we take him to see the mall Santa.

Evan loved his little goody bag

I think this is one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken!!!

I managed to get a picture with one friend. There were so many people there I just got caught up in talking and forgot to pull out my camera.

After the party started to wind down Evan had loads of fun playing "catch" with a bunch of other kids. I love being able to see him interact with other kids like this because it doesn't happen very often. It will be so good for him to be in pre-school next year so he is able to have that social interaction more often.
LOVE THESE BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I went to get Landon and this is what I found

I really just LOVE being a mother!!!
This is the face I got when I asked Evan to smile. Do you think it is sincere?

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So I think it is hysterical that in this picture I look like an ugly man with Elvis hair. No wonder Landon is looking at me like that.