Great Expectations

Gabe and Garrett taking a midday nap.
We took a trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa Warnick. The boys had so much fun with the toys and we got to meet some friends of moms. The man joined the church after mom told him about the gospel when he broke down in Richfield on his way to joining the hippies in California. As you can see, Gabe doesn't seem to want anyone but his parents to be near him. It was a fun visit.
The boys are so good on these long trips. This happens to be the smiles before the journey begins - typically, the smiles at the end of trips are not so bright - if they exist at all! On this trip, we also got to spend time with Uncle Joseph (Z) and Aunt Jenn, Ryan and the twins; Garrett got to watch Uncle Joseph (P) do very well at a wrestling tournament; and have a combined b-day party with Grandpa P and Carol. It is so fun to see family, but always nice to climb into our own beds when we get home.
Well, as I'm not keeping up with these blogs very well, you may not hear from me again until after the delivery of Child #3. My belly is sore all the time now and the braxton-hicks contractions seem to be around a lot. I told Garrett this morning that I was really stiff and I thought it was from cooking all day yesterday (it was Garrett's b-day and I made bread, peach pie, chicken roll-ups, focacia ?spelling, and a lot of messes). It made sense to me, but he raised his eyebrow and said, "You're stiff from cooking now..." I had to laugh at myself - but my body sure is feeling a lot of aches. The doctor has a tentative C-section scheduled for the end of the month and the end is approaching - the end that is really the beginning.

And as for taking more trips like the one above - I can't see how it is possible to take three children and all of our luggage and remain sane for any drive that's longer than an hour - which is all drives in our case. So I guess this is goodbye to the outside world....

December Delights

The boys helping Garrett shovel the driveway (and a lovely view of our house and all the snow.
I've received candles at Christmas time from friends for as long as I can remember - and I always set them out in places where the kids can't get to them. This year, my "boy minded" husband got them down and let the kids practice blowing them out, while they were thrilled to watched the flicker and glow of a little fire light. It seems silly that I never thought of that - The boys loved it!

This is Jonathan - a little wary of the Man in Red.
This is Gabe - obviously not enjoying his time on Santa's Lap.
Grandpa Z came out to visit during the holidays and did a lot of reading to the grandkids - and you also catch a glimpse of Gabe's "Cheesy" camera smile (one I'm actually quite fond of).

Platt Family
Christmas Letter 2007

2007 has been a year of surprises for the Platt Family. To start, Garrett began working full-time at our local hospital as an LPN. As all starting nurses do, he began working the night shift (6pm-6:30am), and was sorely missed by his family. Towards the end of the summer, he switched over to days, which has been a lot more fun for all of us. In his spare time, he is a jungle gym for his two boys, keeps progressing on the basement of our home, gets wood to warm our house in the winter, takes the family camping and four-wheeling, and fiddles around with lots of other projects that keep Jonathan always wanting to “help dad”.

Cynthia continued with the day care this year and is looking forward to her last day on December 20th. It has been a great learning experience for her and has brought a number of good friends into our lives. In November, with the help of her sister Melanie and Aunt MarJean, she began running a cleaning business, to compensate for the day care closing. Cynthia also began working with her two Uncles – Steven and Dennis Cox and their families – in a new business venture where she has learned so much about leadership and pursuing the good in life. The year was full of many visits from her uncles and their wives, trips to Salt Lake for seminars, and a memorable trip to St. George in the summer. With all of these pursuits, her greatest delights are the three men in her life, and she is anxiously awaiting the coming of the next child and wondering how in the world people have more children than they have hands…

Jonathan (who insists to anyone that asks that his name is Jon and he is any age except three) turned three in March and got to celebrate in a fun-filled birthday party where his dad decorated his cake with all his favorite construction equipment, followed by a memorable trip to Hogle Zoo with cousins from both sides of our family. He also had the time of his life this summer when we sadly parted with our little Gabe (Thanks to Grandma Z!!!) and drove to the Oregon Coast where Jonathan got to see the ocean and play in the waves. He had so much fun getting all the attention of his parents and getting to play with Corbin and Hadley at Uncle Shawn and Aunt Carissa’s wedding. Little did he know that his mother and dad learned on that trip that they were expecting another baby (and yes, we heard that – They’ll be 17-18 months apart.). He can talk up a storm and is a big help for his mom and dad.

Gabe started the year with a serious look on his face, watching and learning every second. As time has progressed, a definite personality has emerged. Gabe is a happy, curious, giggly, stubborn, teasing, wrestling little pocket of fun all rolled into one little (just ask our doctor who complains that we have to start feeding him more) darling boy. He still is a bit unsure on his feet, but he doesn’t let that stop him from running and climbing on anything (especially Jonathan and Daddy) and from carefully analyzing what toy to steal from Jonathan to provide the greatest excitement. He loves looking out the window and taking trips outside to the garage with Dad and Jonathan. All this personality is cleverly hidden at the sight of any new face and his relatives have been sadly taken in by the deceptive act. I have been able to steal a few photos that are earlier posted on our blog that show the true Gabe at his best.

Our little Wyoming town continues to be the place for our family and while we truly don’t expect anyone to visit our remote corner of the country, we have been thrilled by visits from all the boys’ grandparents, Uncle Ron, both Uncle Joseph’s, the newlyweds Uncle Shawn and Aunt Carissa, and Uncle Clair and Aunt Carolyn’s visit at the end of their mission, followed by almost all of their children. And speaking of missions, we got to spend Thanksgiving with Cynthia’s family as we said our farewells to the youngest of Cynthia's siblings, Stephanie, who is now serving a mission in Australia. As for our family, our most memorable events not listed above include trips to grandparents’ homes, exciting family reunions this summer, and the wonderful memories that continue to build in our little neck of the woods.

Merry Christmas to all of you! We love this time of year as our attention turns to loved ones, secret services, and the greatest gift the world has ever known. We have been so blessed this year and are thankful to count each of you in those blessings. Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! 2008!

Love, The Garrett and Cynthia Family

Stay Tuned for the Upcoming Arrival of our newest member!!! By the way, for those of you who know of our past two arrivals, we usually go to the hospital without a firm name in mind for the new child. Then, the day after the baby comes, we come up with something that just fits. Our ultrasound suggested that the next child will be a girl – and for a change, we have a name picked out – Jana Lee. Lee is Cynthia’s middle name, and her father’s middle name, and Jana is just a name that we both liked. We’ll be having the baby here. So, for anyone who happens to be in the area around the last week of January (the odds that this will happen are so minimal, I will not try to calculate them…), come and see our latest member of the family!

Finally Adding Some Pictures

First, please note that I added really cute pictures to the blog "Endearing Quirks."

This first picture is from Halloween with the two boys and their costumes. Jonathan was Thomas the Tank Engine and Gabe was Spiderman (with a non-matching binky).

The second picture is from the Thanksgiving we spent at Grandma and Grandpa Z's house. Jonathan is here making a turkey with Grandma Z. It turned out really cute and most of the kids really enjoyed doing it.

Then, we have been rearranging the house and this is Gabe sleeping his first night in his new little bed. He seems to like it ok. Isn't he darling! I'm so glad Garrett thinks of taking pictures!

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Last night, as a family, we talked about the story of the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus and the lone one who expressed thanks. Then, today, I was teaching the preschool kids about Thanksgiving and how the holiday began. I couldn't sleep much last night as my mind sifted through the events of the day and the events to come. I think that my happiest times are when I take the time to remember how lucky I am. It's easy to get bogged down with the ups and downs of life and the problems that seem beyond my control. When I can put that all aside and take time to remember how much I have - well, suddenly, my sadness disappears and I can focus on and be happy with what's most important. So, as Thanksgiving approaches, I just want to say how thankful I am for this refreshing holiday.

Stumbling Block OR Stepping Stone???

Well, now that the parties are out of the way until Thanksgiving - I'll report on our latest and greatest news and headlines. We went on vacation last weekend and arrived at home in time for my latest check-up (which went well and the doctor said the baby and I are growing as expected - and we heard a strong heartbeat - due date remains steadily on February 5th).

Before leaving, we checked with Garrett's employment to make sure that our insurance (which was promised to start in July) was in order for November. The woman who is able to answer that question was out of the office, so we called the insurance headquarters and they had no knowledge of our having insurance at all. So we called the doctor's office to see what they wanted us to do. When I explained to the woman there the problems we'd had trying to get insurance with Garrett's work and how they had made us wait to sign up until our Medicaid ran out - which involved a month of no coverage so we could have a denial letter that would give us the "window" to sign up at Garrett's work - she told us to be prepared to have our insurance deny us coverage when the baby was born because of the lapse in coverage making us ineligible for any coverage from Medicaid or our insurance.

I, of course, being in a pregnant emotional state, fell apart after the phone call. I called our former Medicaid case worker who sent us to ACS - the billing unit for Medicaid - to see if that was true. Medicaid said that if you're eligible, you're covered, no matter what. So I went to the doctor's appointment. Garrett went back to work Wednesday, the day after the doctor's appointment, and explained the situation to his supervisor (who, by the way, has been fantastic to us). She said she didn't think that was case and checked with HR, who denied that there would be a problem. Garrett and I have a hard time believing all of this considering our problems in the past with the insurance. But it's left to wait and see...

Meanwhile, the nursing department met and decided that Garrett would need to take his 3rd semester exam again (which we knew) and the email said that he needs to take it with the current 3rd semester students. It also explained that he can request a list of objectives to study from.

In order to be ready to pass the test and continue in the 4th term program, Garrett and I feel that he will need to drop to part time status at his work. However, his supervisor told him Wednesday that part-time status was done away with and he has to continue full-time or go to per diem status. Per diem guarantees Garrett at least 1 shift per month. So, now we're in another debate over cutting to per diem, where he'd have to re-apply for employment and start over again - probably on nights - if he doesn't get into school. My whole being believes that he will get into school and we should go with our gut on this. But going thru the months on nights again where I feel like a single parent just doesn't sound fun at all.

So, for anyone that made it thru this lengthy synopsis on our lives, congrats - and please know that we are confident that things will work out for the best. It could be good to not be locked into part time hours when Garrett's back in school. It could be really good for me to drop back to not trying to put in so many hours of cleaning on top of being a full-time mom. The insurance thing could work out for the best. And if nothing works out - something else will and someday when we look back - I'm sure we're see divine intervention's hand in all this and be immensely grateful for how things went. Until then, we continue to take deep breaths and jump...

Happy Birthday to Me

Today's my birthday - The big 33 and (as my mother reminded me) my coming of age according to JRR Tolken's hobit civilization. I told her I'd shave my feet in honor of the event. I received birthday wishes from my parents, my grandparents, and a few of my siblings.

When Garrett took the boys to get me a gift, Jonathan said that he was going to get me a phone - so I guess he knows what I like to do. We're ordered Thai food which has recently become my favorite type of food - yum! yum! all that curry (Thanks to my parents for their kind b-day gift). I rented We are Marshall and Freedom Writers, but we just watched the first, which was good. We also ate my sugar-free birthday cake. It wasn't divine, by any means, but I enjoyed it. Jonathan took one bite and was done. Garrett said it was fine, but weird to eat salad on top, which made me laugh because that is what the sugar-free frosting was like.

Thirty-three seems weird - I don't feel that old. And I'm quite aware that I have two more birthdays until I have to pay the piper and answer to a bet I made my mother when she was 35 - That I would still be able to do a flip on the trampoline at 35. May I also point out that I was only 14 at the time and should hardly be made accountable for such a rash and fool hardy bet.

I felt so loved and special last night. Garrett and Jonathan sang to me - Gabe was snoring soundly on the floor in obvious desire to harmonize with the song - and I got two new pair of huge sweats that hopefully will keep the baby and I comfortable until delivery...

And to everyone out there - thanks for being part of the last 33 years of a great life. I'm a lucky girl. I think I'll have to see if a cup of milk will soften my birthday cake from it's condensed unsweetened state....