Playing at the river

On Friday afternoon, I took my nephew, Jude, now almost 17 months old, to the river. It is a short walk from their house and the minute we turned out of the driveway and crossed the street, he knew exactly where we were headed. He started chanting excitedly, "Bafta, bafta, bafta!" (bathtime). I reminded him of the sign for water and he started to use it.... as we were leaving to go back home. The whole time we were there, it was "bafta" this and "bafta" that, "bafta" over here and "bafta" over there. I love this little boy and I am so thankful to have him inmylife every single day.

Happy Fall

Today Erin asked me if I could take some pictures of Bub (the rest are on Facebook) so that she could enter him into the Gap Casting Call competition. We drove out to Staheli Farms in Washington, but they weren't open and we had no idea if they would even be open. Note to Stahelis- a sign out front with your hours of operation, or answering your phone, would be helpful. So we drove out to Hurricane, LaVerkin, and Toquerville, hoping that somewhere out in the sticks there would be a farm of some sort where we could get some good pictures. Finally, I called Staheli's again and someone answered. Their hours? 3-6:00. So we drove back. By this time, Bub was not a happy boy, tired and cranky, so it was difficult to get him to cooperate, but we did get some really cute pics. Hard not to with a cute boy like him. I am so grateful to have this little punkin inmylife!!!!

Auntie Annie loves you Bubs!

Mi vida loca

I guess I need to update this here blog thingie since it has been nearly three months since I did. The days are passing at whirlwind speed and nothing really new has been happening, just the same old same old as they say.
School started at the end of August and we are already doing report cards and SEP's (parent teacher conferences) next week. The school that I teach at has gone back to an extended year, or year round, calendar this year. We are the only school in St George that is doing this and so, we are already at the end of our first term. We have a week off for Fall Break starting next Friday. Then after that, we will start a Fall Intersession. This is kind of like Summer School, except a better model because we will have much better attendance since it is not a traditional time for vacationing. The teachers have the option of teaching for extra money or taking the time off. I opted to take the time off. I do not know if I will teach during the Spring Intersession which will be after Spring Break. Right now, I have declined, but I may change my mind. I am well known for that. I have pretty good classes this year, which I am happy about. I have my Gifted and Talented Endorsement now, so I have one class that is called a "cluster group" which has the gifted kids in it, and none of the lowest kids and my other class is an average class. It helps to meet the needs of all the learners so that you don't have such a wide spectrum of abilities to reach. I have found it to be working out well except that the other class is falling behind so I am having to do a lot more planning.
My nephew, Jude, is so amazing. He is about 3 1/2 months old and he is beautiful. He has a smile that melts my heart and he loves to chatter and talk which is tons of fun to listen to. He seems to be teething a little bit already and loves to suck his thumb to soothe the pain. He has a very easy going, happy personality and has really been a blessing to our family.
Erin had her 30th birthday last week and planned a bonfire out on the Arizona strip to celebrate. It was fun. It is just starting to really cool down lately and feel like Fall, which is my favorite time of the year. I was really cold out there, but once that fire got going, I thought my eyeballs were going to melt. ;) Jude was mesmerized by the fire. Erin said he has been out there a couple of times with them and loves the bonfires. And to add to the excitement and beauty of it all, it was a full moon night! Gorgeous!



I have a karate tournament coming up next month in Saratoga Springs, Utah. I am looking forward to it a lot. I am on the leadership team, also called STORM (Special Team of Role Models), and we have been working on a team demo to do at the tournament. This will be the first time our school will be participating in the demos since opening a couple of years ago. All the other schools are much bigger and have more experience doing this, so we have just barely gotten on it. The next day will be my individual competitions in katas, weapons, self defense, and sparring and that night will be the Black Belt test which I may stay and watch because my instructor and his 12 year old son will both be testing for their 2nd degree black belts. I will probably have to help referee the Black Belt sparring, which I just found out today. That will be an interesting experience. Hopefully I don't mess up and get any black belts mad at me. LOL.
I also have a test for my next belt, Chan Ban Bu, in November, but I am still trying to decide whether or not I really feel ready to test this time. Up til now I have tested and advanced every three months, but I have been struggling the past several months as the requirements and curriculum have really started to get more difficult, especially mentally. The kata, or form, that I have to learn for this belt has had me so confused and on the verge of tears so many times. I finally started to learn it when he put a bo staff in my hands and showed me what we were doing. I was like, "ohhhh, that's what my hands are doing" and I had the first half of it in 10 minutes after struggling to learn it for 2 months. The whole combination of foot movements, advancing and retreating, Chinese covers, and upward, outward, inward, and downward blocks, reverse bow steps, pivot punches, ball of the foot, heel of the foot, and on and on and on, still has me so confused. My instructor tells me that I am doing well, but that I am just too critical and perfectionistic, and to look at the small bits of progress. If I do test and continue on track, I should be able to test for my black belt at the end of April. If not, I may wait until October of next year.
I am hoping to be able to make it out to Cali for Christmas time. I want to go to Disneyland badly. I haven't been at Christmastime in a long time and I love it at that time of the year. Also, I have an uncle there in Simi Valley who has been having some serious health problems and I would like to go see him. Erin needs to take baby to see the Cali family and so we have been thinking about doing that. We have not had a big family Christmas out there in several years and Erin and Will have been in Houston for the past few Christmasses so it would be very nice to do that again. A lot like the "old days." It is my hope anyways.

I couldn't ask for more!

I had an amazing Independence Day! I feel so blessed to be able to live in America and be able to enjoy the freedoms that we have and, so often, take for granted. We didn't do anything really amazing to celebrate, but I just felt so happy to be able to enjoy such simple things.
1. Yesterday morning I woke up and said to Mom, "Will you go get some pancakes with me?" Kelly, Mom, and I went to Golden Corral and ate more than we needed to and went home full. How many people in this world can only wish for a meal like that? And we left food on our plates because we were stuffed.
2. We went to Wal Mart to get some extra things for our family barbeque we were going to have. Hot dogs, dessert, and lots of extras. All right there in one store. Plenty for anyone who needs it and we had the money in our pockets.
3. We spent the day getting the house and yard ready for the family to come. I feel blessed that we have a home that we can celebrate in with friends and family. A nice yard to relax in and feel the blessings of living in a beautiful, free country. Even when it has to be cleaned and the water fountain breaks, causing stress.
4.We had a barbeque dinner with the family (except Michael and Natalie, who are at her family's reunion, and Will, who had to work). Again, there was more than enough food for everyone to get more than their fill. We are blessed to be able to live so close together and see each other pretty much when ever we want to. We spent the night eating, relaxing, laughing, and swooning over a brand new baby, who other than a bout with jaundice, was born perfectly healthy to loving parents in a clean hospital, by means of quality medical attention and with care and supplies necessary to start out strong and healthy.





5. We were able to see much of the fireworks show from all the way across town. We sat on our front lawn and watched neighborhood children setting off fireworks late into the evening, beautiful reminders of our fight for independence over 200 years ago. "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."

I am so grateful to live in this country and to be able to feel God's protection over His promised land.


God Bless The USA
by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

Introducing Jude William Watts

He's finally here! The boy we have been waiting for for so long! Jude was born this morning, June 30, 2009 at 7:54 am weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long. He is perfect and beautiful, so chill, relaxed, and easy going. He doesn't cry too much and when he does most just whimpers. He completely enjoyed his time on the baby warmer, it reminded me of a tanning bed or something. He is happy and beautiful and we love him so much.

It's getting harder and harder to wait

Jude William Watts 26 weeks.
Every time Erin comes over with new pictures I get so excited. We can hardly wait for our new little Jude and we are all waiting impatiently for April and May to pass. I am amazed more and more each time I look at the new pictures. I can't believe what technology can do now! Look at his face! He is so adorable. Erin disagrees, but I think he looks like her. This picture is the wallpaper on my cellphone now and I can't stop looking at him. He is amazing! I'm gonna be an aunt!

Jude Watts is already training for the OIympics

I have not been able to go visit Erin in the hospital because I have been so sick, but I have heard some fun stories about the ultrasounds that she has had over the past few days. Jude is still so small and has been very active so he has been quite elusive and difficult to catch and get a heartbeat. Yesterday my mom got to see him swimming around and she said it was quite cute. He was on his belly kicking his feet quite violently and moving his hands all around his head. I thought "he is getting ready for the breast stroke, duh." Today when I called, Kelly and Mom were there and Kelly was laughing. She said that they had the microphone hooked up to listen to the heart beat and Jude was right under it breathing really hard. Hooooooh Hooooooh Hoooooh like someone on the phone, (or I thought like Darth Vader, but instead of "Luke, I am your father" he was saying, "Will, I am your son."). It also seemed like he was teasing us all trying everything he could to keep us from hearing him.
The good news is that the doctor has said that things are looking really good and that it might not have been a real placental abruption after all. He is not sure and there is definitely a separation, but he is hopeful that it could heal itself in a few more days and she could go home and not be on such strict bed rest. This is all really good news because this means that Jude can stay right where he is and continue to grow and also Erin's health will not be in such great danger either. I am hoping that I can start to feel better in the next day or so because I want to make it over there and see him while they do some monitoring, but I don't know if I will. Everyone is telling me I NEED to go to the doctor because I have been sick for way too long but I am resisting. I don't like to go unless I absolutely have to. We shall see. I am pumping myself full of OJ, Sudafed, and Ibuprofen because my back hurts so bad, especially when I cough and sneeze. I am hoping that I can get some much needed rest this week during Spring Break and be back to fully restored health by next week.

Update on Erin and Baby Jude

Today at lunch, I decided to try and call my mom at work and see if she had heard anything new about Erin and what is going on. The other lady in her office told me that she had gone to the hospital to try and locate Erin because she had gone back in today. So I tried to call Will and got a hold of him and found out that things have been worse. I have now learned that the problem is a placental abruption, in which the placenta detaches from the uterus. This causes problems in the baby getting oxygen and other nutrients he needs. So they were getting ready to do an emergency c section because Erin's blood pressure was dropping way low and Jude was in distress, his heart rate and blood pressure were dropping a lot too. Luckily though, the drs. were able to get things under control and have stabilized mommy and son for the time. We are hoping that things stay under control and she can keep Jude happy in his temporary environment long enough. She is in the hospital for at least the next several weeks, maybe the rest of the pregnancy if things don't improve enough to send her home. Please remember her in your prayers and pray that Baby Jude stays healthy and happy in his little water world.

Hey Jude

So Erin is having a boy!!! When she went in for the ultrasound a week or two ago, they couldn't tell what it was because he was riding the umbilical cord. But she went to this place that does 3D pictures of the baby and was able to get some really great pictures of him sucking his thumb and posing for the camera. He is so cute! We are all so excited and can't wait for Jude to make his debut in June! For the really good pictures and news go to her blog- http://fromthewattshome.blogspot.com.