C a D e N

Making a snow cave


My sister does this on her blog so I thought I would use her idea. Thanks Heather!

I am going to spotlight each of my kids through out the year. This spotlight is on our second son, Caden.

Caden was born in Medford Oregon on March 9, 1995. When he was born he didn't cry, and his skin was grey. He was having a hard time breathing, and his body temp was very low. There were a bunch of doctors and nurses working on him. It was scary, and I didn't like seeing my little baby like that. One of the nurses said, "He needs his momma, give him to her." The doctors just ignored her, and continued working. After what seemed like forever, they scratched their heads and said they couldn't figure out why he was like that. So they finally handed him to me and instructed me to put him in my hospital gown and wrap up with blankets. After just a few minutes, his skin turned a beautiful pink, and his breathing became normal.

I have often looked back on that experience and as I think about Caden, it is just how he would react with a situation like that. Nervous and timid, not knowing anyone, definitely not talking, shy, and just wanting to be somewhere familiar.
Caden is shy at first, but once he gets to know you, he is a very loyal friend and is a lot of FUN to be around. He has a very funny sense of humor.

When Caden was a little boy he would always wear his superman cape and his rubber rain boots EVERYDAY. He was often found outside speeding off on his tricycle with the cape flapping in the wind.
He didn't talk until he was about 4-5 years old. He just grunted and pointed a lot. He used some hand gestures. When we had no idea what he wanted we would ask Coelton and he always knew what he was saying.

Caden had a very round head with blond, blond hair and sky blue eyes. He was a beautiful baby and very cute little boy. He was my snuggler and loved to snuggle and be lovey dovey.

Caden would suck his tongue and rub his "silkie" between his fingers. We would always be looking for the dang "silkie". It would instantly calm him down like a pacifier. We were always loosing his little pieces of silk fabric. We cut up everything in the house that was silk. I had a long silk night gown that I wore in the mornings and Caden would crawl under it and walk around inside my night gown.
He has since let the silkie go, but continues with the tongue sucking.

When he went to 1st grade he would cry everyday. We didn't know why, he just said he was afraid of the weather. He didn't make friends and would just cry, or tell his teacher he was sick so his mom would come and pick him up. Finally we figured out that he was worried about leaving his mom all day and wanted to be with her. (remember the story when he was born)

I miss the "little boy" things that he loved so much. Horses, trucks, motorcycles, guns and swords. Now it's ipods, books, movies, basketball, football, friends and food.

Caden is a good student and loves to read. He also loves sports and plays baseball, basketball and football. He was on the cross country team and ran track at his school. Caden's new love is snowboarding. He is very good and is learning to jump. He learned to slalom ski behind our boat last year. He also can wake board and is pretty good at that. He has played the trumpet in the school band for 3 years. He loves to camp, and has just about earned all 21 merit badges as a scout. He is planning to do his Eagle project this summer.

Caden has a desire to always do what is right. He is a peacemaker and has a tender heart. He is a hard worker (except when it comes to doing the dishes). He will be a wonderful missionary, and will be very successful in life. He wants to be a dentist, and I know he will be a good one!

He has a pet sitting business that he started 2 years ago. It keeps him busy and money in his wallet. I love watching him take his responsibilities seriously and the love and care he gives to the animals he takes care of.

Caden will be 14 on the 9th of March. He just so happens to be old enough to dance with the youth in the big dance festival in April. Joel and I are the dance directors for our ward. We are teaching the youth the hustle. Last night was our first practice. I was concerned about Caden, and how he would handle dancing with a girl. (he never has before) He just so happened to jump right in and danced his heart out. When we got home he even danced with me, to show me how well he knew all the steps.

Caden bought a pair of crocs. He left them out on the back porch and noticed the sun had shrunk them. He came in and said "my crocs shrunk in the sun!" Joel said "what?" Caden said, "my crocs shrunk!" Joel's eyes were realy big and he looked shocked! He said "how did that happen?" Caden said "I don't know I just left them outside and they shrunk." Joel started laughing and said "I thought you said your CROCH shrunk!" We still think about that when we need a good laugh.

Caden is a delight and we are so proud to have him as a son and a member of our family.

We love you Caden!!

Winter Adventures

The fam at Bogus

The boys going up again for another jump.

Snowbird in Utah



Growing up in Eastern Idaho, there was always plenty of snow in the winter. I remember being snowed in so badly we had to ride snowmobiles into town to buy bread. Joel and I both learned to ski at Kelly's Canyon when we were Jr. High age. I skied with my older brother and all of his crazy friends during high school on the ski club. Each week we would climb on a bus and go to Targhee, Teton Village or Sun Valley. At Ricks college my brother and I again skied together on the ski club. I have many fun memories of skiing.
However, living in Boise, we don't get the snow like SE Idaho, and I didn't think there would be any good skiing close by. Then we discovered Bogus. It's only a 45 minute drive and has good snow. (not like the resorts I mentioned above) but decent.
And they make skiing affordable for families.
Joel and I wanted to provide our kids with the same experiences we had. Last Christmas Joel and the boys got snowboard lessons for Christmas and a lease package for all their equipment. We wanted to make sure they liked it before sinking too much money into it.
Needless to say, they were hooked...and went boarding together every chance they got. I would tag along occasionally and ski with them, I took Hailey once and spent the day with her teaching her how to ski.
This year for Christmas Santa brought them all a season pass so they could enjoy another great year of boarding.
We hope to get Chloe going soon, possibly next year. It will be so fun to get all of us on the mountain. Sure beats being cooped up all winter.