thanksgiving evening

thanksgiving evening and yes many were gathered together, pouring through the paper on the living room floor. grownups were scouring the advertisements of retailers such as home depot, office max, best buy, target and walmart in high demand. the children were most interested in toys r us, walmart, and kmart. ash would call out, "if anyone sees ......, let me know". lyndie would follow with "oh, i need one of these!". nate and jor were talking "shelves" at lowes and i was looking hard for a good buy on a micro sd card. (ended up buying online for the cheapest price - saving me many cold hours of waiting in the early morn.) timo, sophie, and parker were excited about the toy ads and anna and little libby who really didn't care particularly about the ads caught the fever anyway and requested to look at some of the paper as well. abi, who just turned 1, would on the other hand quietly sneak into the room, look around to see if anyone was watching and then bend down, grab a piece of paper and run out of the room. tickled pink that the adults would all cry out "abi, no...i need that ad!" as she ran faster away from our grasps. parker was looking at one particular ad and jumping up from the floor, pointed a toy out to me and emphatically said, "i do not want this!"


whoa buddy, thank goodness! "ok" i said. "i won't buy that for you." he nodded his head, content that he would not receive this creature, at least not from me.

from the family room music could be heard as johnny pretended to be cori and play and sing the songs she would have played if not for her poor stitched up finger. (she cut it half way through the nail early tuesday am...like 2 am, as she was trimming the ends of the roses she received at the end of her incredible concert with the utah voices choir. but that's another post!) gram was singing along. pie after pie was being consumed by all others. we had 10 pies in all, which cori expertly made even with a very sore stitched up finger. and although it was a relatively small gathering for us, since we missed out of state and far away family coming in, it was a good night. there was laughter. there was music. there was harmony and much to be grateful for.

(and don't worry parker, i will remember not to buy you that "thing".)

introducing

landon christopher mullen

dang cute guy!

welcome to the family little one. it is an "interesting" clan you have joined...at least on your dad's side but we promise to love you and show you a good time.

landon was born nov 16 and gave his mom quite a hard time. the amazing jenna gave it her all and we hope she recovers soon.

can't wait to hold him in december!!!!!
oh yeah and we are excited to see his parents too. :)

ps. i think his marmee likes him.

are night owls wise

gram and i were on our daily drive, it was late in the afternoon and the news was playing on the radio. i must admit i was kind of in that driving mode trance, mind wandering etc when a news story caught my attention. "night owls vs morning people - who's smarter?". turns out studies show that night owls tend to have higher IQ's than early birds. (just google it)

needless to say i felt rather vindicated after years of scoffs and scorns and even, "gasp" those raised eyebrows when a new acquaintance learned of my normal bedtime (usually around 3am). it should be noted however that not all early birds treat us night owls with the same disdain. you see my neighbors have appreciated the hansen and connors households because we act as a type of neighborhood watch during the dark hours.

so i was driving along, feeling pretty good about myself and the family genes, until the announcer went on to say that on the downside, people who stay up late, although they have a higher IQ's, tend to be more emotionally unstable and are more likely to have problems with addictions and eating disorders. hmmm...yup...that fits. i'm addicted to spending late hours on the computer and well it's obvious my eating habits are not the best. oh well - guess you can't have it all!