which is funnier?

....david singing this song

....ben's hinged little arms

...the end!

living a lie

....when you grow up with an idea....and hold it dear for....wow....LOTS of years...and then find out you were wrong....horribly, horribly wrong...it forces you into pondering what is really important.
....my grandfather, father, brother and nephew all share a name, Angus Cannon Ensign....my son, Ace, was given his name in homage to these fine men (3 of whom were/are called Ace)...Leah & Joe decided on Cannon's name, in part, because of the heritage in our family to the name Cannon.
....George Q Cannon is a famous man in LDS history...he was an Apostle, a counselor to Brigham Young and the Utah representative to the US Congress....we are related.
.......................................or so i thought
....Angus Cannon was a bodyguard to the prophet, Joseph Smith...and a brother of George Q Cannon....we are related.
.......................................or so i thought
Thru a series or random and unfortunate events.....I found out that we are NOT! Apparently many people respected Angus and George Cannon and named their children in honor of these men. I have lost my identity....my ability to drop famous LDS names (well, one of them...still have a bunch of others)....its all been a sham!
My first thought? oh no! Leah & Joe are going to change Cannon's name!
..............please dont hold me responsible for my immediate thoughts.

P.S. THIS IS MY 100TH POST! i really had planned something much bigger...much more clever....nigh unto cryptic...but no, i rashly chose to ramble about silliness....yeah, thats me.

i'm nothing if not random....

no real rhyme or reason....these are pics that have been on my phone...most speak for themselves....most are just poses that i really like ...and as i look at this post...i'm thinking i should have split it into a couple of different ones...too dang long...but oh well...
typical me....asleep on the couch....covered in DOG ....this should be my facebook picture

ben & lyric one week before the wedding....i love lyric's hair curly!
bluebonnet pose...march 22, 2009...somewhere between ft worth and beaumont
lyric's birthday cake....ben got her an ice-cream cake from baskin robbins....pink! :) lyric doesnt like cake...so we always put her candles in a 1/2 gallon of ice cream....he did it better!

and lest you think i have been distracted from one of my true joys....no...it continues ...do you see the band director up in the middle of the band? he was jammin' on his trumpet!

got to go visit leah and joe 2 months before cannon's arrival...she is so cute pregnant!

every now and then, on a dancing moose trip, i remember to get my camera out...or sometimes its just my phone...but i grab a picture....this is the st louis arch...with a funny curve!

this was the view outside my room in Hot Springs, Arkansas....so pretty!

in Miami, Tim Anderson & I took a train to the ocean and looked at all the beautiful boats.

Ada, Oklahoma show...the college put us up in their bed & breakfast...beautiful! gift bags, wood floors, my room was all mauve
one of my favorite poses from David Jamison Hall ...notice the chili lights above the kitchen door...they leave those up all year!

and my baby in his tux...what a little man! (5 ft 11 inches of him)

pics of my baby boys

dont laugh....i finally learned how to upload or transfer or whatever the pictures from my phone to my computer....so here are random pictures of my baby boys

so...can cannon actually get his entire fist in his mouth? circa 3.10.2009

ben hall sportin his plaid shorts and polo at his dad's tennis game....circa 4.20.2009

cannon nelson & ben hall.....lyric & i took them on a walk and then chilled on the grass for a bit...dont you think it appears that ben is grabbing cannon's ear!? circa 4.4.2009

cannon getting his first taste of sweet potatoes....this is a good reaction! hint....always feed your kids naked....less laundry! circa 4.10.2009

ben's first regular day at church....he looks thrilled....or catatonic! circa 4.12.2009

cannon is awake! yay! circa november 2009

ben's daddy combed his hair...it flows so pretty! circa 4.12.2009

we worked really hard to get cannon to take a bottle and give mommy a break....a couple days later he is holding his own bottle! (with the help of his teddy bear!) circa 4.10.2009

i love bumbo chairs! ben...he's not so sure....circa 4.19.2009


we got bored in the car....so we put a water bottle on cannon's head....and it stayed...even when he moved....he looks thrilled....circa 4.5.2009

classic bluebonnet picture...i love ben's pose....looks like michelangelo posed him! circa 3.22.2009

dont know how to rotate these pictures....but this is ben...ready for something...not sure what....but total prep.....circa 4.4.2009

this is a closeup of ben's hair right after his bath....towel dried hair....circa 3.16.2009

finally captured cannon smiling!....this is when we saw how much he looked like Leah! circa 4.2.2009

love this pose! Cannon found his toes! circa 4.4.2009

ben with his typical sleep pose....arms up and at the ready....4.7.2009

again....sorry its on its side...I love this sleeper! circa 4.13.2009

do you know the actor Robby Benson?......

...that is how i start my answer to the question ...."where did you get the name Lyric?" 24 years ago, my mom saw that he had a daughter named Lyric and thought it was beautiful...and perfect for a daughter of mine! we put it on our list and it slowly worked its way up....but i digress...this post is not about Robby Benson....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LYRIC

April 20, 1987......here is the story...

We were living in Beaumont, Texas (ironic, i know)....Leah was 1 yr old and we decided we'd put our name in to adopt again. Back then there was a 1 yr waiting period and then your name went on the list for real. So we paid our down payment (I think it was like $500) towards the $2500 that it would cost for the adoption thru LDS Social Services and began the process....home studies, references....etc....lots of hoops to jump through.

....sidenote....LDS Social Services raised the price to $4000 right in the middle of our waiting....so, being the good consumer I am...I wrote a letter to the Presiding Bishopric (for those who arent LDS...thats like writing to the Speaker of the House in Washington DC)....you cant raise the price in the middle of a contract! thats not right! how can a couple with one income save $4000! Certainly they werent asking us to come up with an extra $1500. So one day, in the middle of a nap, the phone rings...its the office of the Presiding Bishopric! I was sure they were going to ask me to turn in my membership card (we dont really have membership cards)....the guy on the line was very nice in explaining why the raise in the price and why it was fair and yes, they totally understood that it would be hard to raise the extra money on one income and if the baby came before we had the money we could pay the extra over time or make arrangements....i was dutifully humbled....and really impressed that Salt Lake would call little old me!

When our year of waiting was up we knew it would still be quite awhile....not a bad thing because i was very sick...ended up hospitalized for a bit when leah was 2....so i needed time to get well....we would meet with our case worker every few months....we were told there were like 20 names on the list ahead of us. About December 1986 or January of 1987, we said "would we be thinking maybe by Thanksgiving or Christmas of 87? Our Caseworker said that was probably a good ballpark. So we lived our life. We always assumed the next baby would be a boy...after all...the church let you adopt 2 kids...so the perfect family must be a boy and a girl...and we already had a girl.

back to lyric's story.....

Mid-April 1987, pretty sure it was April 19, 1987, we met with our caseworker....just a regular old "how are you doin/nuthin's changed" kind of meeting.....he didnt know anything more than we did. He did ask if we had any names chosen...we answered that it would be Lyric Elizabeth if it was a girl....he thought it was a funny name....but he remembered it.

April 27, 1987....I'm at work....I played the piano for ballet classes at Bonnie Cokinos Ballet School...Mary Robertson was the teacher (she serves in the singles ward in Beaumont now! ironic!).....Leah was with a friend that watched her while I worked.

At about noon I got done at work and picked up Leah....stopped to chat....way too long....with my friend...then headed home. As I drove up to our house...there is David standing by the front gate...."hmmm" I thought "is he sick?".....nope,,,,not a sick face. I got out of the car and he walked up to me and said 'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! I CALLED THE STUDIO! I CALLED THE SITTER!" (this was before cell phones folks)......"sorry!"....."anyway.....How would you feel about going up to dallas to pick up our little girl!?" "WHAT! REALLY!" we both cried! we were so surprised and excited!

Leah is in her car chair...almost 3 yrs old....not liking all this excitement.... We get her in the house...call our parents...my mom makes flight arrangements to meet us in Dallas the next day....so we are running around trying to figure out what to do....gotta drive the 5 hours to Dallas today to get to the office the next morning to get LYRIC! the case worker had called our home and left a message saying "Lyric Elizabeth is in Dallas waiting for you"...then he called David at work. He had no idea that the day after we met, she was born...he had no idea that we would be moved up the list to get Lyric....the social workers in the Dallas office made that decision! YAY!

we are packing and talking and laughing and crying....leah is mad...no one is paying attention to her...no one is really explaining anything to her.....she sits in the road in front of our house and says "i dont want a sister"....too much confusion for her....so we promise her she can bring her lunch box....and she is good to go.

My visiting teachers JUST HAPPEN (really!) to stop by.....no appointment...we tell them the happy news and they take our house keys and promise to get everything ready. We jump in the car and are off. My visiting teachers spent the next 24 hours finding and laundering all my baby clothes, finding and putting together our crib....filling our house with banners and diapers for when we arrived home!

We stop in Palestine, Texas at a Walmart or K-mart...cant remember...to get a purple dress to bring Lyric home in....we were totally unprepared. We are making lists and re-thinking names...never seriously re-thought her name....Lyric had moved up to the top spot and stayed there. We stop at a Pizza Hut for dinner and find a Motel 6....same one we stayed in when we took Leah to the Dallas temple 2 1/2 yrs before.

The next morning we go to the Social Services office and there she is! Dark hair (more than Leah, so we thought she had a bunch) We get to hold her...then we sign papers....PAY THE STINKIN $4000 (best investment we ever made....and she is the most expensive of all our kids!....:).......we change her into her dress and head to the airport to pick up my mom. Then we head back to Beaumont...our little family....start planning our life with two girls...thinking we were done....haha...little did we know...but anyway......

Lyric continues to make my heart sing.

Baby o'mine

22 years ago......august 1987....

David, Leah (3 yrs), Lyric (4 months) & I met up with the Jeppson family at Zion's National Park....camping! yay! we arrived and settled into our cabin (hey---we had a newborn!....let it go)...the family was cooking over the campfire....i got myself a hotdog....yummers!

threw it up

we travelled farther north and met up with my parents to go to BYU Education week....Lyric & Leah stayed with David's brother, Buckley and his family while we were spiritually nourished all week.

i was sick every morning

We tried to go to the temple on Saturday morning.....I couldnt get out of bed....the guys went....mom stayed with me...suggested that maybe i was pregnant? WHATEVER.....7 years of trying...2 beautiful adoptions later....probably not mom!

We got the girls and headed home to Beaumont.....I was exhausted....slept the entire trip....couldnt eat....not nauseous (hmmm...that spelling doesnt look right)...just tired....but i was used to tired....chronic anemia and 2 little girls....yeah, i was used to tired.

We arrived home on a Friday and I looked at the calendar ....hmmmmm... interesting.....but after that many years you dont get your hopes up....you look at the calendar a lot and grimace.

I stopped at the store to get some basics..... and some not so basics.... and went upstairs to the bathroom..... reading instructions...okay....pee....(did i really just say 'pee' in my blog!?)....wait 5 minutes...okay....30 seconds later! "leah! go get daddy!".....i've peed before....never like this! (i am roflol right now...in 2009...really....i love that line)

I called my oncologist/hematologist (I have chronic anemia and was getting transfusions and meds)....asked if they would add in a test on Monday at my normal appointment. his nurse laughed and said sure...and that false positives were pretty rare....

the next night we went to a ward party....the bishop called me in and said that the primary president was pregnant and not feeling well and was being released...and they'd like to call me to that position....david & i laughed and told him that possibly we were in the same situation! but i dont say no...so I said yes.

On Monday morning, I went for my lab tests....the nurses were all very excited....not their usual testing! I waited for a phone call....and waited...and waited....finally in the afternoon I called the dr....the nurse couldnt believe he hadnt called....he had been walking all around the clinic announcing HE HAD GOTTEN ME PREGNANT! :) (ace just read that line and wanted to know what the heck THAT means!)

I called david! we ordered flowers to be sent to our parents...without our name...only the grandchild number for them....

my parents were visiting my brother Ace in California...I finally called Judy (my sister) late and asked if the flowers had arrived....she laughed and said "They are yours!?" mom and dad were at Eden's and wouldnt be back at her place til late...but they were thrilled when they finally saw them...mom cried.

David's mom didnt call til the next day....around noon....she had tried to figure out who it might be all day---going thru every other daughter to see who it might be----not wanting to hurt my feelings by calling me in case it wasnt me!

JUMP AHEAD TIL APRIL 1988....

pregnancy went perfect....I was high-risk due to my anemia and got iron shots in my behinny (had a bruise for 2 years!) and had to drive 90 minutes to Houston every other week for my ob appts.......I was a scheduled c-section (dr knew from day one....no head was gonna fit....I know...tmi)....so at the appointed week, my mom flew down to care for leah & lyric... c-section scheduled for noon on Friday, April 15. On Thursday, April 14....I woke up having contractions....took a nap...they stopped.....at 1 p.m. they started up for real...back labor....15 minutes apart....we called david to come home (and stop and get a gallon of milk, really....my mom didnt want to have to drive anywhere)....we called the hospital in Houston and they said to come in....2 hr drive. so I said goodbye to my lovelies and headed to the hospital. Every 15 minutes I would have to stop chatting and focus on the labor.

we arrived and they checked me.....and......NOTHIN. but since we had such a drive, I could stay overnight and we'd do the c-section at 6 a.m. Dinner was served and we settled in.

I ate dinner.

They checked me.....OH MY GOSH! I had progressed to 3 cm.....WHY DIDNT I TELL THEM?! GET THAT FOOD AWAY!----yeah....that was their reaction for 3 cm! so we waited for more.....and............NOTHIN.

We watched L.A. Law...or was it Hill Street Blues...it was whatever was the popular NBC show at 9 p.m. on Thursday nights at that time...then david remembered he didnt have camera batteries...so he ran to a 7-11 to get them...then at 10:30 David & I started walking the halls....watching Johnny Carson on the tv screens in the various waiting rooms.....me stopping to focus on the labor that was every 3-4 minutes....and painful...but not so much.

the dr was being kept up to date....said I could try a vaginal birth! WHAT? I DIDNT PAY ATTENTION IN LAMAZE CLASS!

so at midnite, the nurses were disagreeing whether I was a 4 or a 5....apparently it depends on the size of the nurse's fingers?.....so the dr got tired of the constant updates and he came in (now.....he only does high-risk, so he does c-sections....scheduled....not middle-of-the-night deliveries)....not happy.....checked me...said...."she's at a 4 and not doing anything....i'm here anyway...lets take this baby"....

Jasmine Ann Jeppson was delivered at 2 a.m. and has been a joy ever since.

somebody better be havin girls!

..............cause we are having another boy! Brother Webb!

funny....Lyric made me wait a day so she could do her hair...have this exact picture the day before....but her hair was unkempt! I love lyric.
do you think he has room on that lap for another little guy? yeah...i think he does.