In Loving Memory, "The Bonnie" 2000-2008

Well, today is a sad and devastating day for the Sweet household. Really.

We purchased our 1999 Pontiac Bonneville in the year 2000, just after Carson was born. She was 1 year old and had 24,000 miles on her, but she was a beauty. As of today, she has 161, 000 miles under her hood. She got us through some great times: numerous trips to Seattle, one trip to Oregon, an insane braffing experience in Kilgore Idaho, one trip to Vegas, and since she was our only car for 6 years, countless trips around the Salt Lake Valley. She carried Carson and Parker home from the hospital when they were newborns. She carried Carson back to the hospital twice a few years later when he needed stitches.

She has had lots of cosmetic surgery to correct a cracked windshield, several fender benders, and quite recently, a run-in with a Cadillac Escalade. She had lots of quirks about her: lots of wind and road noise, the passenger door lost it's spring so it never stays open when you are getting in or out, the heater and air conditioner fan only worked on High or nothing at all, the left blinker stays on, oil leaked from the engine constantly, and overall she just smelled "old". But, she is such an easily recognizable car. You could pretty much guarantee that Sam Sweet was driving past you when you saw The Bonnie...well, it was either Sam or an old lady with gray hair because, after all, Bonneville's are grandma cars!

On Monday, Sam was driving to work. He took the 6th South exit on I-15 and hit a patch of black ice. He did a 360 on the exit and stopped when the back of The Bonnie slammed into the cement barrier on the side of the road. Ironically, mimicking a lot of the damage that was just repaired from the Cadillac Escalade incident, 3 weeks ago. This accident was a little worse, unfortunately, and our insurance company probably had to hold back their laughter when we asked them to fix it. So, today they officially "totalled" our car and will be cutting us a check. Unfortunately, since The Bonnie was paid for, she is worth more to us than the insurance company says she is worth. In other words, we can't buy another reliable car for $4,400. So, Sam is going to get to know the UTA system a little better this summer while we save up some money for another car.

Sam has been online all night looking for a replacement car so he could get a good idea on prices...but at one point I caught him looking at a Bonneville that was exactly like "Bonnie"! Sam, that's like trying to replace one of your kids! Sheesh!!

Here are pics post-accident:


Inside the trunk, see how the metal is crumpled?



Let's create a memory book for The Bonnie. Please leave your memories of her in the comments...Sam will really appreciate your efforts here. The more detailed the better!

The Kids

Here are some fun pictures of the kids taken today, 4.3.08

Bathtime is happy for Cameron once the bath is OVER!


Check out his curly hair! Once it starts drying from his bath, it looks all curly. I really hope he gets my afro hair gene. Endless possibilities for extreme hair do's when you get the afro gene. Just ask my brother Darren and my cousin Cody. :)


I'm so lucky because both Carson and Parker totally adore Cameron. There have not been any jealousy issues...so far. It's not uncommon for Carson to walk by Cameron and kiss his head and Parker's famous saying these past few weeks has been "How's the baby?" I love it!


Since Carson has been riding his bike non-stop this week, we've told him he now needs to wear his bike helmet non-stop as well. He was happy to comply, but Parker felt left out. So, Sam gave him a helmet to wear while he rides his Big Wheel and now Parker couldn't be happier. Although, I have to admit, I'm a little embarrassed!


The other day Carson pulled one of his baby teeth out. I happened to be taking a nap on the couch when it happened so I only hazily remembered the event. He independently put the tooth in a ziploc and placed it under his pillow. I didn't think anythink of it until the next morning. I was eating my bowl of Cheerios and I heard Carson starting to wake up and then it hit me...the TOOTH FAIRY HASN'T PAID A VISIT YET!!!! I grabbed a dollar, ran downstairs, and casually walked into his room and he was doing some morning stretches in bed. I dropped the dollar by his bed when he wasn't looking and about that same time he grabbed his pillow and looked under it for money. When the money wasn't there he was so disappointed, but then I did an award-winning GASP and bent over and picked up his dollar. He got all happy and said "Oh, I must have been moving too much last night and it fell out of my bed!" and life goes on, uninterrupted by the stark realization that the tooth fairy is really just this sleep-deprived mother of three. :)

Early Intervention

I hear that early intervention is the key to recovery...


Crazy ol' Parker!

Punk Rock Kid & A Bike Rider

Here is my punk rock baby, check out that crazy hair!


I know this picture looks a bit awkward, but he really was content, I promise! I just love it because it shows off his bright blue eyes!


And finally, Carson officially can ride his bike! Once he finally got determined to learn, it only took him about 3 days of practicing. I can't get him to come inside now, pretty funny!


I missed this moment, but I know I would have laughed....Sam was watching Carson ride his bike in the cul de sac and Carson's handle bars caught the edge of a fence and it threw the handle bars one direction, and Carson the other direction. It didn't really phase Carson, he just sort of shook it off. When Sam told me about this I laughed and then instantly imagined Sam doing the same thing when he was Carson's age!

As I went outside to get the above picture of Carson, he was a little unstable and he ran his bike right into Parker, who promptly threw himself in the middle of the street, face down, and pitched a fit. Again, I just laughed because out of the whole road, Carson had to run into the only obstacle anywhere near him...and again I thought of Sam. Seriously, Sam has some good bike stories, maybe he can explain them in the comments....

Sydnee Sweet's Baptism

This past Thursday I was thrilled to be able to attend Sydnee's (my niece) baptism. Her dad is James, Sam's brother, and he baptized Sydnee. It was a wonderful experience because Sydnee refused to get baptized until her dad could do it, so that's why she is a few years older than 8 years old. :) Without sounding patronizing, I just have to say that I'm so happy for James and what he's been able to accomplish these past few years. He is amazing!! I didn't grow up with James but from what I understand, I don't think many people thought this day would ever happen. Just goes to show...don't ever give up on anybody.

Watch out Danielle, you'll get baby hungry!


Watch out Jessica, you'll get baby hungry!


Cousins! Parker, Carson, and Sarah


More Cousins! Melissa, Elizabeth, Jessica, and Sydnee


Brothers, James and Sam. Sam gave a talk on baptism and Fern gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and they were both excellent!


And just because Cameron was being cute and he was wide awake:

Just Stuff

We gave Carson a bike for his 5th birthday. He's 7 now and hasn't shown much interest in riding it. Well, the past few days he's all of a sudden interested!
He rides it around the cul de sac as best as he can and when he falls, he just gets back on and keep trying. The other day I noticed that the little 5 year old neighbor was holding the bike steady so Carson could get on. Then the neighbor boy was trying to hold Carson up and run along with him! I about died laughing! Sam wasn't able to catch him holding Carson up, but here they are...


I asked Carson about it later that day and he said "That kid wanted to play with me and so I said "sure, how about you help me learn to ride my bike?" and even though he's 5 he still helped me!" Kids are awesome like that.

Okay, now a few random questions:

Check out the back of Cameron's head. His hair is mega long. When should I consider getting his hair cut?


Here is another question: How is it that babies have bags under their eyes when all they do is sleep?


We took Cameron to his two-week appointment the other day. He now weighs 8 lbs 8 oz. When the nurse poked his heel to get blood for the newborn screening, Parker exclaimed "That hurts ME!" and he kept saying it over and over. It was dang funny, I guess that was his first lesson in sympathy!

Happy Easter

Happy early Easter everyone! Thank goodness Easter will never be this early in my lifetime again...it seriously snuck up on me and I almost missed it.

As we used to do in my childhood, the Easter bunny shows up at my house on the Saturday before Easter. That way the eggs, candy, and bunny are over with by the time Sunday is here. Then Sunday we can focus on Christ and the Resurrection.

So here are the boys, early Saturday morning. Sam totally woke them up and told them the Easter bunny hid their baskets in the back yard. I laughed because the outside temperature was showing 27 degrees when they went to find their baskets, those peeps are going to be frozen for sure!


Parker found his basket, with the help of big brother...


Carson found his basket as well...next year I think we should tell the Easter bunny to hide them so well, that it takes the kids most of the day to find the baskets. Oh yeah, that would be funny! Such as on top of the roof, right on the edge so the kids can see them, but they can't reach them. Then we'd tell them "you can't use a ladder so start gettin' creative!"


After we let the kids get "hopped" (punny) up on sugar, I headed to Thanksgiving Point with my parents, Carson, and Parker so we could attend the Easter Festivities there. Sam stayed home with Cameron (thanks Sam!).

I wish I would have taken pictures of the massive crowds, it was completely out of control! I'm telling you, there were thousands and thousands of people all wandering around. Crazy! The kids had fun so even though we stood in lots of lines, it was worth it.

Sack races: didn't we all grow up doing sack races at one relay event or another? This was a new experience for Carson and Parker. I about died laughing because the first thing Carson did was trip. Not only did HE trip, but he took out these two kids behind him as well!


Then all the kids were at the finish line and Parker had only gone about 2 feet. He was pretty much hopping in place and with every hop, the sack got lower and lower until he was hunched over, holding the sack around his ankles. Priceless! I would have taken more pictures, but I was laughing too hard!!!


Thanksgiving Point had several egg hunts. The first hunt was for ages 0-3. So Parker and his cousin Dexter fit into this category. You'd think that ages 0-3 would be pretty mellow...but you'd be wrong! I would walk up to an egg and say "look Parker, pick up that egg" and before Parker could even comprehend what I was saying, there would be a parents screaming at their child to "GRAB THAT EGG!!" and their obedient child would swipe the egg out from under Parker's nose. It was interesting, to say the least. Parker didn't mind, check out his happy face here!


I just think this is a cute shot of Parker and Dexter. :)


The longest line we waited in was the face painting line. I almost gave up about 10 times and walked away, but it's a good thing we didn't because later I found out it was Carson's favorite part of the day. Here is Carson and his bat and Parker and his snake.


Then it was time for the egg hunt for the 7-9 year olds...Carson's age group. Good ol' grandpa Clark was giving him pointers before the hunt. He would say "don't pick up any eggs at the front. When they say "go", just RUN to the END of the field and THEN start picking up those eggs because nobody will be around you!" It worked because Carson got a ton of eggs.


And here is our last attempt at getting a precious shot of Carson, Parker, and Dexter:


Thank goodness my mom was prepared for this early Easter because she boiled eggs and had a "dye kit" so then we dyed eggs.



And finally, here is a cute shot of Cameron. I try my hardest to keep him awake in the evenings because then he sleeps better at night. Sometimes I resort to stripping him down to his diaper to accomplish this stay-awake task!


Okay, happy Easter everyone. I'm heading to the folks house for a traditional Easter dinner of Ham and potato salad. Yummers!!!

Cousins!

Most of you know that I have a very close relationship with my cousin, Nalani. She is the sister I never had (that goes for Maile and Kami as well!). You also probably know that we have babies 10 days apart. Actually, they are 10 days apart on leap years, and 9 days apart the other years...I just figured that out today. :)

Nalani and her mom came to visit me today and it was a great opportunity to get some pics of the new cousins, Cameron and Cash.

I'm seriously excited to watch these cousins grow up and I hope they have as close of a relationship as their moms!



Here are the proud grandma's: Sharon with Cash and my mom (Pat) with Cameron:


Thanks for coming to visit me today, it made my day so much fun!!! Nalani, let me know when you need some company at your house and I'm totally coming down. :)

Happy Birthday Sam...Again

It seems like we always celebrate our birthdays twice in my family...once on your actual birthday, and then a Sunday dinner. Here is Sam's Sunday edition of his birthday celebration. It was yummy, thanks most of all to my parents. Sam requested a steak dinner and he got a very delicious steak dinner!

Here he is blowing out the candles on his key lime cheesecake---most excellent!


When you tell Parker "don't smile!" this is what you get. Go figure...


So far, this is my favorite picture of Cameron. Check out those toes! Priceless!!!!


Awwwww, what a cutie with chubby, kissable cheeks!


I need to take a minute to thank everybody who has been so thoughtful over these past few weeks. I feel VERY spoiled. We have received numerous meals, flowers, and gifts for Cameron. I am so thankful for the generosity of friends and family. The transition from 2 children to 3 has been pretty easy because of all the help we have received. Thank you very much!!

Personality Test

My friend Eden did this personality test on her blog so I decided to try it. If you hover over each color it will tell you how I rate in different areas. My favorite parts are "low feminitity" and "low attention to style". No surprises there!!!

More Cameron

Newborns change so much so here are some more shots of the day:

Here is Cameron's cousin Dexter giving him a kiss. One day Curtis and Shandy are going to have to teach him to kiss with his mouth closed or they are sure going to have some awkward moments! ha ha!


Here is Granpa Clark after feeding Cameron. Doesn't he look so manly with that burp cloth on his shoulder??


Here is bath time today. If Cameron could talk he would say "oh for the LOVE! I am sick and tired of this routine. I am freezing and have absolutely no dignity. Just get this over with PA-LEASE!"


Then Carson took the camera and got some funny pictures of Cameron getting his bath.




And finally here he is after being bathed and fed. Phew!!!

The Past Few Days

The past few days have been so much fun with Sam being home and getting to know Cameron and his personality. I have loved every minute of it. We've had some fun visitors and we welcome more so don't be shy!

Fern came over and gave Carson and Parker rides on her motorcycle. It goes without saying, but that was definitely the highlight of their day!!



Cameron has changed so much the past few days. He is such a mellow child and we are crossing our fingers that he stays that way!


We were wondering who he looks like and so tonight Sam looked up pictures of Parker when he was 3 days old and we were stunned. They look really similar! I will be honest and say I didn't think Parker was totally cute when he was a newborn and I was so relieved because after a few weeks he totally got cute. I think Cameron is cute now so it will be fun to see what he looks like in a few weeks. Check it out.


Today is Sam's 32nd birthday, Happy Birthday SAM!!!!!!!!

Hey, no wiseCRACKS about Sam's age! :)


I made some yummy brownies for Sam's birthday cake. They have Oreo cookies in the brownie batter, frosting on top, with more Oreo's on top of that. Oh yeah, you can't go wrong there!



My dad has been on a business trip since Sunday so he hadn't met Cameron. Tonight his airplane landed at 9:30 and by 10:30 he was at my house holding Cameron. Here is the happy meeting. Precious!


One last story:
Today the kids were playing outside and Parker comes running up to the door and yells to me "Carson needs you!" I go scurrying outside, around to the West side of my house, and I see Carson in the neighbors tree! I holler "Are you stuck?" He yells "No, I just need you to take a picture!" DUH! So here he is....and then I gave him a lecture of "climb your own trees, not the neighbors!"