Happy 25th Birthday Mamacita!!

Sendin' a Birthday shout out to my Beautiful, Hard working, Courageous, Intelligent, Fun loving, spontaneous,inspiring Momma!!

We got to take her to lunch....without the babies!! It was great to actually talk and eat without screaming, throwing or crying!
We took her to Sego Lily Cafe on Main Street in Bountiful....it was excellent! delicious food, perfect table outside in the shade and lots of laughs.....

Of course, we had to drop by Yogurt Stop for a birthday/everyday treat :)

It never gets old.

Gramma said that all she wanted for her birthday was for "Her Girls" to come swim and play at her house.... so we all sat around and let Maci and Scuba Scamby entertain us. They are hilarious and they know it :)

Happy Birthday Mom!!

We love you so much and are so very lucky to have a Mom, Mother-in-law and grandma like you!

My Birthday advice: Turn your other cheek ;)

Happy 18th Birthday Beautiful!!

My little Sis turns 18 today!!! I can't even believe it :) I totally remember the day she was born 18 year ago in San Diego. I was 9 years old. I was wearing hot pink stretch pants and rockin a 'New Kids on the Block' T-shirt. My Dad had taken Mom to the hospital in the night and my Mom's friend Ginger was sleeping on the couch when we woke up. My Dad came home with the news and took us back to the Hospital to visit.

I clearly remember my little brother running to his room and slamming the door when he found it was a girl and not a little brother....c'mon I couldn't have been that mean!?!?

Hannah Glinn Cahoon

was the cutest baby! Still is ;) I feel like I raised her...not because I really did, but because I have always acted like her second Mom and surprisingly she still likes me. We shared a room for 6 years growing up.....she would leave notes on my bed daily telling me she loved me ;)

She is the sweetest, incredibly talented, humble, most beautiful, outgoing, spontaneous and most compassionate 18 year old I have ever met. I love her so much and am so lucky to have her as one of my dearest and closest friends.....and she can't get rid of me:)

I absolutely LOVE you Han!! Have a spectacular Birthday!!

Independenth Day Fethtivitieth!!

That lisp was purely for Ashley Jane Cahoon Knell's 4th of July enjoyment :) Love ya cuz!
The pictures in this post ended up being posted backwards....so to chronologically follow our exciting celebration of the birth of our Nation, Please start at the bottom of the post. We wimped out and didn't make it to a real Firework show so we made our own. Tan and Adam gladly lit each firework with care and safety (yeah right)...more like a flashback to their pyromaniac scout camp days. It started out great. 30 seconds into the first firework when it started whistling, My sweet Maci freaked out! Whole body clenched, tears, trembling fingers, wide eyes....I have never seen anything like it except for in cartoons! My Mom had to take her inside for the rest of the show.

I was laughing way too hard to get a picture of her, plus I doubt I could have pried her off of my body in order to get a shot of her face. By the way, can anyone explain to me why Fireworks are so expensive? Especially when each one in the pack of 20 are exactly the same only with different names! New pet peeve.

Had to catch this sunset....BEAUTIFUL! My Mom has the greatest views from her porch! I miss it:)

We had a traditional Cahoon BBQ with Veggie Burgers, Baked Lays, Baked beans, veggie pasta salad, watermelon and homemade 'Lemon Orange Banana' Ice Cream. YUM! I felt bad for Adam and Tanner so I bought them these ginormous beef patties mostly for the fun of watching them try to eat them. Tanner's creation up close...can you hear the cow moooooing still?

Tan and his ridiculously large burger...and yes he finished the entire thing less than 2 minutes from when this picture was taken;)

Macibug and Cambs riding the T-train....

Cambria telling me no....surprised?

Maci in the ChaCha dress the Gwamma Cathy bought just for the 4th of July....

Table wars. We do this every time. they both grab on to the side of the table and then proceed to push and pull and scream at each other.

Maci looking out the window of C.O.S. at the cheering parade crowds...she was so cute! She was waving and dancing the whole time!

Tan's beautiful sisters were so cute to help out and throw shirts from the back of the truck. They were totally workin' the crowd and loving it. Thanks guys!

We didn't have time to take the truck, van and trailer to a car wash before the parade so as we were waiting for our turn we parked in the sprinklers then wiped them off with extra t-shirts. Nice!









Our granola bar stash to throw out to the crowd. Silly huh....I couldn't let them throw out candy! It doesn't work...you can't promote a running event by throwing out taffy! Sure it would have been cheaper and everyone might have got one but who will remember it?!? I convinced Tan to do granola bars and was seriously regretting it when we ran out less than halfway down the route....sorry Kaysville ;(

Ready to go!

The schwimp in the Captain's seat. She loved it!

We started the day off by driving C.O.S. (chariot of sweetness), T.O.D and the B.A.T. (big a%# trailer) in the Kaysville parade. We weren't so sure about it at first but we convinced Tanner's family at the last minute to help us out and it was a blast! They were great to help and the Ragnar Vehicles were a hit....we thought so:)

My Mom, sisters and I went to the Oakley Rodeo on Wednesday since it was sold out for the 3rd and 4th. It was hilarious! I'm not a fan of country music, wranglers, stinky horses and bulls.....but let me tell you, rodeos are the BEST people watching around! It is actually fascinating to glimpse into a totally different lifestyle and see how they thrive on and love what they do. Plus, it is unreal to see what kind of abuse the human body can take! Bucking broncos and riding bulls is insane!

It was freezing and wet and squishy but oh so worth it! Of course, Tanner found a way to get out of it so it ended up being just a girls night....who wouldn't enjoy that :)


I caught my Mom mid "groove" in this picture....how cute is she!?!?

Happy 4th! I love celebrating our freedoms and am so grateful for the blessing it is to live in such a beautiful country with so many opportunities.

24 Weeks It Is

Ha! Gross picture I know :) After weeks of debating about due dates, my OB finally decided to move my official due date to October 23rd. Which is all fine and good.....except for that I thought I was almost 27 weeks along! So all of a sudden I am only 24 weeks and pretty discouraged. I already feel uncomfortable (which I don't really remember feeling for at least another month with my first pregnancy)...I know , cry you a river....trust me I have. I don't remember feeling so chubby last time....I mean I knew I was big and pregnant but I didn't feel chubby. And now I am only 24 weeks!?!?! Crap! I am not really looking forward to the next 3 1/2 months.... What makes it different? The exhaustion of taking care of another little one? Lack of money for new maternity clothes? Less time to think about the exciting daily growth of toenails and hair? I don't know but it is different.
Here's to secretly hoping that my OB is retarded and off her rocker or that the baby comes 3 weeks early again.

Ultra + 6----- The Ragnar Relay 2009

CAUTION: Way too many pictures in one post!!

We survived another Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back!!

And we had an absolute blast doing it! I didn't get to run it this year due to the rapidly growing rambunctious rug rat in my belly :)

I was fortunate though to talk my mother-in-law into letting be the driver for her team

"Ultra + 6"

We crammed the whole team into one fifteen passenger van rather than the recommended two.... there are definitely mixed feelings about that ;) It was almost more exhausting driving for 30 hours straight than it is to actually participate in the race and run....just my opinion :)

On to the overwhelming amount of pictures......

I found this one on-line with an article about the race...Great picture huh! The Best Buddies were probably one of my favorite parts of the race! They are just genuine and happy to be there, I loved it!

I tracked down Captain Ragnar at the start line and made him stop for a picture with his pregs :)
This crazy nasty guy wearing some dead lady's wig kept creepin' up on me.....luckily, I can spot that walk anywhere.....my freaking awesome brother and his Hogcallin' Hillbilly friends started at the same time so I got to see him all day on Friday. Man, I love that kook face!


Tanner's cousin Mandolin Martini (the most amazing woman!) started us off... Isn't she the cutest!

I don't know how I pulled of this shot with my ridiculous camera but that's her through the crowd of runners taking off from the start.....

Looking down the chute to the start line....it has come soooo far in 6 years! I should post a comparison one of these days :)

And so the pArTy begins!!!

Tiff's good friend Jenny was an awesome part of our team and a total powerhouse!

Recognize him now? The cuter less freaky Chris right before his first leg of the race.

Tasha killed all of her runs and had way too much energy left over! She was so much fun, and definitely kept the party going "All night long!"

Not something you see everyday..... pioneer trek meets Ragnar relay.....

Laurisa was our silent killer....she was amazingly strong and so determined.

Meet our team Mascot WonderWoman Annie Hedberg!!! I can't think of a more energetic, lively, encouraging, and genuinely kind person....she is so much fun and insisted on wearing this costume throughout the race even though nobody else on the team would dress up...it was hilarious and got many honks and whistles from fellow Ragnarly runners :)

Kristen and Tasha bringing it in together...

This shot is Mandolin starting her last leg on less than 4 hours of sleep. She'll be mad at me for saying this but it's my blog so...... this girl is incredible! She gave birth to her 4th child less than 5 months ago! She has trained sooo hard for this and I don't think she really knew what she was getting into. Not to mention that she is still Nursing her beautiful baby while caring for her 3 other energetic kiddos. She is a joy to be around! She is so real and honest....it is absolutely refreshing... I probably creep her out but I can't help but be drawn to her, I love to be around her!

She was such a trooper and finished every single bit of each of her legs with determination and most of the time a smile ;) Guaranteed she'll never be off the hook again...Ragnar for Life!

She is a champ and it was so great to see her cross her finish line!

I forced each team member to strike a finishing pose....sorry, that's what you get when I don't get to run... Jenny's Last run! (p.s. she would want you to know that she isn't sweating...it is just essence of glistening you see there on her shirt)

So Tasha's last leg was not as pleasant as she might have hoped....mostly uphill and still drizzling rain..... here she is demonstrating the true art of leaning into the hill....she is the definition of athlete

And her finishing pose......

This was Tiff's first year running and she did incredible! She didn't complain once! Here is her last hand off to Kristen!

I am continually amazed by Kristen's support of Tanner and her endless efforts to let him know how proud she is of his hard work.....this woman has run all 6 of the Wasatch Back Relays! All 6!! And not necessarily because she wants to....because she insists she be apart of her son fulfilling his dreams. It is inspiring to see the love she shares not only for Tanner but for Tash and Tiff each and every step of the race! Liz and Tay are bound to be roped in one day:)

Now that's the Ragnar Spirit!

Kristen's cousin Celeste was unbelievable! She ran less than 8:30 miles the whole race....and I think she really did enjoy it....for most people it takes a few days to get to that point :)

She was such a bright and happy part of our team! It was great to get to know her and be around her positive energy for the whole race!

SuperMAN got in the way of our van so we strapped him down and showed him how a Ragnar Relay should really be done..... poor guy took quite a beating.

Mandolin and Superman bonding.....

Stacey finishing her last run..... I hope we didn't ruin her first Ragnar experience by severely neglecting her on her legs....she was a blast!

WonderAnnie post "You've Gotta Be Kidding Me!"

Renee on Ragnar with her support crew :)

At this point it was nonstop rain and fog and FREEZING! I missed Renee's finish and Teresa's start but I did catch Teresa gearing up....

Evidence of our misery at the top of Guardsman's pass..
I won't even get into the feats of this woman....I'll just say I was honored to be in the same van as her for 30 hours. Honestly, if you ever want to meet the most faithful (not just religiously), kind hearted, caring, courageous and knowledgeable woman.... ask me for Teresa Wood's phone number. One of my favorite moments this year was her passing off to her son Jerry who took us to the finish line.

Amazing where and how you can be touched with the spirit and warmth of love...

Well, we made it. Once again we DID IT!! It feels like a new challenge every year. I can't wait to run and train again!

Crazy how much you can miss you little one in just a 24 hour time period.... the best part for me was getting to the finish line and holding my Maci.

I have no idea what the actual time was but it didn't matter this year (to me anyway:)) Everyone finished strong! Way to go ULTRA + 6!! The best non-ultra ULTRA team ever!

The Finish line was amazing and unfortunately as soon as we finished it started pouring buckets and buckets of rain....it was freezing! I didn't even get to see Tan. I had to rush to the shuttle to get Maci out of the rain.

Thanks Ladies & Jerry for letting me pretend to be a team member. I had so much FUN!

I am so lucky to have had the oppurtunity to spend time and get to know such amazing people....truly! I will never forget the experience.

Thank you Tanner and Dan and The AMAZING Ragnar crew for another incredible experience!

I've created a She Monster...the CUTEST one ever!

Mace is in the funnest stage right now! I love every minute we get together! Even the Schwimpy ones :) She is my little buddy and loves to be with me.....the greatest thing in the world!! She is so even tempered most of the time and loves to be along for the ride. It's great. By the way, Lowe's has the best "kid carts" ever....they are huge and can't be crawled out of. They let me tag along on their Daddy/Daughter outing :)
Maci in the Lowe's Monster Truck....

When we are out to eat she refuses to use her sippy cup... it has to be a normal cup with a straw.... half of it ends up in her chair. I guess I'm supposed to encourage independence right?

Much to my shock and terror....Maci discovered that she can climb onto the counter now. Awesome.

She is still super obsessed with shoes....O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D! First word in the morning, last word at night and pretty much a constant trough out the day. She Freaking LOVES them. (yeah, sure....point your fingers at me) She can even put most of them on herself and 8 out of 10 times they are on the right feet!

She confiscates her friends' shoes when they come over to play.... so Mothers beware...if you are missing shoes, check with me :)

She is so quick to give loves and kisses. She loves "Melmo" right now and will watch an entire episode of Sesame Street. She will color on anything....but she actually colors where I tell her to....on the bath tub, scratch paper, etc. So far no catastrophes!

She loves Baby signing time and picks up the signs pretty fast...It's Tan and i that hinder her progress because we can't remember what they mean :)

She says a plethora of words all day and sometimes they make sense! She will mimic pretty much everything I say (scary, I know) and her favorite words right now are 'Dabbie' (Daddy), 'Mah-ma' (gramma), 'MeMe' (grammy), 'Bampa' (grandpa), Mooo, Ruf-ruf, teet-teet (tweet tweet), 'sthacks' (fruit snacks), 'BeBe' (binky, blanket or bottle), 'ammeen' (amen), Melmo (elmo), "side" (outside) and of course 'Shoos' (shoes)

I LOVE this angel and I am so very grateful that I get to be her Mother. I truly am blessed to wake up to this little rugrat every day!

Last Cahoon Graduation!! Way to Go Han!

It's official! Bountiful High has seen the last of the Cahoons! Hanbug graduated with Honors on June 5th 2009. SO exciting. It was so weird to be there...it feels like I just graduated yesterday! I am so proud of Han and can't wait for her new adventures to begin! Han and one of her best buds after commencement....she was so cute, I literally think she was the only graduate I saw crying.


Some of the Girls....crazy, I have pictures JUST like this one of my friends and I.
Now we are all Mommies :)

My two graduates! Only 6 weeks to go Mom!!

Our sweet Hanbug...

She wanted to go to lunch at Famous Dave's to celebrate.... it was a blast as it always is when we are together ;)

That's my little sister! All growed up... I can't even believe it.

My sweet sister.... I am so proud of you! You are and incredible woman and the possibilities that lie in front of you are endless! Your sense of humor, sensitivity, compassion, curiosity and confidence amaze me! I can't wait for late night phone calls telling me of your adventures, experiences, heartbreaks and frustrations..... I can't wait even more for trips to see you and your visits home! I love you more than I can even express.. Go get 'em!