Winston Churchill Look Alike

What do you think?

Necessary Evil

A necessary evil. Health Insurance. When you don't have it, you pay through the nose or avoid seeing the doctor. But when you do finally get it, you still pay through the nose but have the luxary of being frustrated with the medical system run-around. Before Ryan lost his job, I spent several hours on the phone with our insurance company or doctors arguing coverage and bills we should not have to pay for. After Ryan lost his job, we have been uninsured and have avoided almost all doctors visits. We have been extremely blessed with good health, and also in having good friends who either check infected ears at their home, or bardering services for piano lessons.
Recently Cannon has been "sick". Besides the semi-occassional vomitting, pulling on the ears (and did I mention he hasn't had a full BM in days!) he is a happy, active baby. I have hesitated bringing him in. I know once I finally make the appointment, pay the massive copay, he will promptly fill his diaper, miraculously have clear ears, and smile and talk with the doctor. We will be sent home with a big bill and no real solutions other than "wait it out". We will see what we finally decide, but I know this much, I can not wait for August 4th (Ryan's official start date) and I think I will wet myself in excitement when the 90 day waiting period for benefits is complete!

Happy Boy = Messy House

One of his favorite spots (besides the toilet!) is our entertainment center. He has figured out how to open it, and then he almost crawls completely in and wrestles with my alphabetized DVD collection! (He also loves playing with Brenna's jewelry box and all the goodies inside! (They make great chew toys!) Another favorite is my plastic dishes cupboard (bowls, tuperware, etc). I am smart enough to have moved all the breakable items up high, but not bright enough to buy child locks yet.
And of course I found him on his way to the bathroom to play with the treasures inside, including the toilet water, toilet brush, and the trash can. We are starting to get in the habit of closing the bathroom doors, and funny enough, Brenna is the best at keeping Cannon out of certain areas. She is definitely the second mom of the house!

Soccer Mom Mobile!

It's official!

I am a mini-van owner!
But it's not just any minivan...
It is a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L.

Leather? Yes!

DVD Player with wireless headphones? Yes!

Only 8000 Miles?!? Yup!

100K mile bumper to bumper warranty? You betcha!

And my favorite feature:

Push a button and open the sliding door? Hallelujah!

If you remember, we were down to one car (survival mode during the unemployment phase!) and with Ryan starting work in about a week, we needed another car. Here was our conundrum: spend less buying a car that will last us another 5 years or spend a little more and buy a car that will last us forever. We chose the latter! And we got an AMAZING deal. We are all very excited, and Brenna has been planning who of our cousins and friends she wants to pick up and take for a ride! "Because now we have room!" Yes my child, we have plenty of room!

Hard working man!

Ryan was under the impression that he was going to have his first day at Chesapeake last Monday (July 14). He gave his two weeks to the driving school (his temp. work) and was excited to get started. Well...he didn't start on Monday, but thought he'd get started the following Monday. So he waited to jump back into driving till he knew more concrete details. So in the meantime, I put him to work! Through the ice storms, "severe weather" that we've had, we've had several trees fall over. We've cut them down, but left the stumps. Ryan's job this past week was removing 4 stumps, with only an axe and shovel! And he did it! He is one tough guy! (The picture was just one of the stumps!)

10 years!?!?

A few weekends ago, Ryan had his 10 year high school reunion. It was very....interesting! We had a great time, and it was a perfect date night. We ate a nice dinner, danced, and got home before midnight. I enjoyed being his arm-candy (not having to have any deep conversations or worrying about what people thought of me...not that I really care!) and he enjoyed telling people he just got a job with Chesapeake. But, Ryan wasn't that close with anyone there. In high school, he hung out with his Church friends, and only one was there. And besides us and his one friend from Church, everyone else got wasted! Thats why we left early, we didn't care to watch people we really didn't know get plastered. But all in all, it was an enjoyable evening! We decided that Ryan will probably have more fun at mine, than at his! Hardly anyone will be drinking, Hello Provo Utah? And he has gotten to know more people from my high school than I have from his. And my brother-in-law and sister will be there! 2 more years!

Anyone else been to their reunion lately?

Clap-Happy

Cannon is a funny guy. He stayed with me in Primary on Sunday, and as the kids were singing, he would clap and wave his arms. He also enjoys making a mess. In this picture, Brenna was playing in our sprinkler, and Cannon wanted apart of it. He crawled all over a wet, freshly cut lawn, and when he got his hands all grassy, would squeal and start clapping. What a crazy kid.

GOOOOAAALLLLL!

For the first time since Cannon was born, I got a goal! Wooo-Hooo!!! I decided to play up on offence, and Ryan made the perfect pass to me inside the goal box, and I one-touched it past the goalie into the goal! It felt awesome! (I even called my sister to have her share in the excitement! Thanks Rach for pretending! just kidding) Next week we have two games and I want another goal! Watch out, I've caught the soccer bug!

2 weeks

I finally gave in a few months ago, and read the Twilight series. And of course, I loved it! And it is only 2 weeks away from the release of the final book "Breaking Dawn" and I can't wait. Yes, it is about vampires. Yes, it is a high school romance. Yes, it is the trend. All things which usually make me vomit a little in my mouth, but I have to admit, it was a page turner. And only a few more months till the movie version of "Twilight" hits the theaters. Anyone in Edmond who has read the books, can come with me opening night! (Ok, now I'm an official dork!)

Top 100

We're number 52! We're number 52! (Doesn't have the same ring to it as #1!) Oh well... CNN's Money made a Top 100 list of small cities and Edmond, Oklahoma is #52! Employed by one of the "Top 100 Companies to work for" and living in one of the "Top 100 Small Cities", we are blessed!

Side note: Ryan will not officially start until Aug. 4! I know, this is taking forever! I keep reminding myself it will be well worth the wait.

Stolen Pictures

Wendy had a lot of really great pictures....and so I stole some! Thanks Wen!

Ryan with Lauren! Those two have more than just a twinkle in their eyes!

Ryan on the phone with Chesapeake getting his official offer. Thank you Wendy for capturing this! Can you feel his excitement?

The Bushman kids at the temple. Back at the homestead...

This is their garage where Eli jumped. Up where the brown siding is where he jumped, and he landed on the driveway below. He is a miracle boy!

I loved this picture of Cannon with Art. They were enjoying watching the other kids play in their gorgeous front/backyard!

Picture bombing. Perfect example. Notice the guy standing behind all of us? We had taken a few pictures with several cameras, and on the last one, he jumped in. I think he was the manager of the restaurant we ate at one of the first nights.

Cannon and Leif being pulled around in the bird sled. It only lasted long enough to snap a picture!

Brenna and her loud noises. I do have to say, having all of her daring cousins around has been amazing for her. She is a fear-ridden child, who cries about swimming, jumping on trampolines, going to high in swings, going to fast on a slide, being anywhere near a dog, and the list continues. But we have seen a change in her the past week or so. She had an amazing time swimming, and has been asking to go again. We went to Pump it Up last night, and she did everything! Jumped, fell, flopped, slid, bounced! And had a great time. It is a breakthrough! Finally! So thank you all you brave cousins for helping her! We love you and miss you!

Last Minute Fun!

The cousins were soaking up all the together-time they could. Brenna absolutely loved having 11 play-mates to entertain her. And they completely indulged her! What sweet memories!
Cecily and Lauren appreciate my hair-handiwork (unlike my daughter) and beg me to braid their hair. Of course I LOVE to! Brenna doesn't comprehend what she missing!
Here's Hannah and Cecily saying goodbye.

What a wonderful weekend. We are completely pooped! So much so that almost the entire family came down with varying degrees of a stomach bug! Uncle Eric, his two girls, and me got the worst of it. I was completely out of commission Sunday night till late Monday night. The only positive, I lost all the weight I gained indulging my appetite over the weekend!

Fourth of July

We started the Fabulous Fourth off with the Liberty Fest Parade in Edmond, Oklahoma. We arrived around 8:30am to save the STREET for our family (yes, we parked our behinds on one of the cross-streets...and took up almost the entire street!)

Here is the unhappy Eli, cast and all, wanting to jump out of the stroller and join the parade! He did amazing, considering his probable pain, but you knew he wanted to be apart of the festivities!

My handsome boys were suffering the heat. I knew Ryan is not a huge fan of parades, especially in the middle of the summer in the southern heat! But I soon found out that Cannon doesn't handle the heat well either!

We had to leave the parade early because Cannon puked all over himself, the picnic blanket, and even Lily's foot. We stripped him down, covered him in water, gave him plenty to drink, and left! He seemed fine once we cooled him off in our A/C home and he had a good nap. Poor little guy!

We then spent a good part of the swealtering afternoon in the fabulous pool at the home of the generous Bithel's. (A longtime family friend) And Brenna actually swam! We had tried EVERYTHING to get her to enjoy the water, and all it took was a $2 innertube from Wal-Mart. She swam all over the pool, and we all had a great time!

Elizabeth fell asleep, Cheetoe mouth and all!
After relaxing post-swim, we celebrated an American holiday with what else?
A PINATA!
The kids were on a sugar-low and needed an upper!
After the pinata, we broke out the fireworks and enjoyed the snaps, sparklers, and some duds.
We then headed over to our house to watch the local universities fireworks display! As it turns out, our street perfectly aligns with the fireworks display. So again, we parked ourselves in the middle of a road, and enjoyed the fireworks!

Do we look exhausted?
We also enjoyed stove-roasted S'Mores. Yum! (By the way, a yummy variation is to use Reece's Peanut Butter Cups instead of chocolate bars to melt between the mallow and cracker!)

Happy Fourth of July!

Bushman Family Reunion

Our few days together were fun-filled and chaotic! 12 grandkids under one roof is enjoyable mayhem. The older cousins kept the younger ones pretty well entertained! Here are some of the highlights:
We played American Idol, and even Grandma Gene joined in! (I've got video I'll be sharing later!)

Elizabeth is holding the most ANNOYING toy in the entire house. It is a dancing Tinkerbell that plays the music on one volume setting: EXTREMELY LOUD! It was always on!
Here are the four brothers playing Wii.
Here is sweet Eli pre-cast. One morning he decided to jump from a 13 foot ledge off their roof (house is underground-like a walk out basement) onto their driveway. Lucky boy only fractured his heel bone. We all know it is a miracle!
Hannah playing with another music box.
Cousins playing on the computer. Aunt Amy and Hannah tired after a LONG drive from Wisconsin.
Tanner and Elizabeth eating the Grandma Bushman staple, FRUIT SNACKS!

The cousins had so much fun playing together. They really kept themselves entertained and well-occupied. And the adults had a blast playing the Wii, beating me at card games, going shopping, etc. We also made a trip to the Temple, to do sealings for our ancestors. With Grandpa Art as a sealor, it was very special to have the siblings all together in the temple. That was my favorite part of the whole reunion, no matter how hard it was to get there! (broken heel, missing babysitter, lost wallet, etc!)