Carole's BLOG

Hi Family! I just want to post a quick note to let you know I have my own BLOG! Here is the link if you ever want to read about what Aaron and I are up to. http://shortscribbles.blogspot.com/ Love you all!

Jurassic Mom Stays Afloat

It was Universal Studios day. Apparently the "mom" scheduled plan has been too much for the Cannons. Uncle Rich was the only one willing to take on another day with Dad and Me. So, Spiderman is still the best ride in town. The Mummy was great fun. At Men in Black we went in the singles line and got on the ride so fast, we came out and did singles again. Try as I might, Dad always kills more aliens than I do - what a grinchy thing to do. But for big news - I decided I was such a woosy for not going on Jurassic Park last time, that I would do it today. After all what are the chances, I'd die? So I did it! It was only made worse by the fact that there were several large people in the front row. When we hit bottom, the boat went down in the water and a giant wave rose over the top of the boat and hit all of us square in the face, lap, etc. El drencho. Chicken mom was much less soggy. Tomorrow is our day of rest. Love you and miss you - The Blogmomster

Lunch Under the Stars

Ohhhhhh. This is my favorite of all Disney World - MGM. Our lunch was at one of the most fun places I've ever been - The Sci-Fi Dine-in Restaurant. The whole restaurant looks like a 1950's drive-in theatre. The tables seat four in '57 Chevy convertibles. There are little speakers next to the cars. Car hops take your order and deliver your food from the Refreshment stand. On screen the entire time are clips from some of the worst B-horror movies of all time including Plan 9 from Outer Space, Devil Girl from Mars, The Colossal Man, but sadly they somehow missed Troll 2. We laughed our way through lunch. You can't imagine how badly I want to take you all there. Of course we hit Star Wars and saw a new show on Stunt car driving where we watch Herbie split in two - literally two half Herbies went driving off in different directions. There was another little red car that had a duplicate that was made backwards so it looks like the driver is really good at driving in reverse - NOT. But the most incredible event of the day was the Fantasmic light show in the evening. They have built an island with a moat around it. A huge amphitheatre surrounds 2/3 of the island. At dark you see Mickey Mouse and he takes you into his dreams and his nightmares. It is like the fountain show at Bellagio with colored lights, there are fireworks, then three huge fans of water surround the island. On the water clips from Disney movies are projected somehow. Intermittently on the island - live character players carry the story along. At one point, water float-boats with famous lovers come out around the island to music - they are like the electric floats in the parade. Then there is fire on the water and Disney villians take over, ending with an enormous Malificent Dragon on the island threatening Mickey. Would you believe - Mickey wins and stands atop the island in his Sorcerors Apprentice hat to colored fountains, fireworks and laser lights. It was like watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies only more intense. It is simply stuff one could only think of in your imagination. Wow. Wow. Wow. Incredible. Wow.

Happy Birthday Clarkie Barkley(errrr...Barkie)

Oooooooh Somebody's had a birthday!!!!! Happy Birthday Clark! Mom was just saying, "I remember twenty-nine years ago today........" Thank you too for taking care of the Blacks and Mary yesterday. It was so nice to have someone who could go over and let them know that we are concerned about their needs, even though I am 3,000 miles away. Thank you so much. I know it meant a lot to them. Yesterday, while you were all working, we went to the Magic Kingdom. We did Pirates and the new "Mickey's Philharmagic" in 3D, it was terrific. We went on "It's a Small World" for Aunt Gayle, "Buzz Lightyear" for Mom, "Space Mountain" for Uncle Rich, Lunch for Uncle Tom and two ECVs (Jazzies) for Kath and Rog. Of course we held out to the bitter end to see the Electric Parade, which is always spectacular(ly long). Mom said there were three new floats (what an amazing memory), which I thought made it thirteen too many. All in all, it was a wonderful day, nothing was missed and we collapsed into bed with smiles on our faces.

Feeding time at Animal Kingdom

Kowabunga! My first time at Animal Kingdom. We did everything! Everyone is exhausted except Uncle Rog who is the only one not riding a jazzy. The Nemo show, with people holding fish puppets above their heads was Broadway quality. But my favorite was "Its Tough to be a bug!" When the curtain dissolved into butterfly wings, it was just magic. Dad, Tom and Rich dared to do Everest which looks like a daytime nightmare, in my opinion. They have lived to tell about it. Gayle, Judy and I did the Kali Rapid ride. Aunt Gayle was worried about her hair getting wet. She traded me places and tied her shirt over her head. She got drenched - the only one in the boat. Thanks for the trade, Aunt Gayle. The Lion King show was more like a scaled down cirque with singing. Spectacle and fun. Yep, we did it all...pant, pant, pant. Love, The Blogmomster

Lunch with an Astronaut

Magical Wednesday found us outside the "House of Mouse". Dad, Kathleen, Tom & Gayle and I went to Kennedy Space Center. We went on a our of the Rocket Garden, seeing all the space vehicles in their vertical splendor. Dad and Uncle Tom stuffed themselves into a Gemini capsule and we learned that all astronauts must be tiny little people because no regular sized human can fit in them. We went to a launch briefing where we were told about plans to go back to the moon on a semi-permanent basis and use that base as a training ground to help us send astronauts to MARS (they will of course be men, as we all know Men are from Mars). It will take them 6 months to travel there each way, but they have to wait on Mars for a year and a half for the planets to re-align before they can come home. Hence the need to learn to live on the moon first. Last evening we went to Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba (the party). Our seats were fabulous - front center about 4 rows back. They were performing in our laps! The crowd gave them a standing ovation and I felt totally dazzled. It made me want to be fit, fit, fit and about 40 years younger. I fear I'll never know what it feels like to bounce on a trampoline and climb up the walls of a building while bouncing in and out of its windows. (You have to see the show to understand this comment). Suffice it to say people were flying through the air and in and out of places like crazy all at once. Ohhhhhhhh - one of the fun things you can do at Kennedy Space Center is have lunch with an astronaut. Ours is pictured here. He was a dazzlling, too. Love, The Blogmomster

Boat boat boat

Real Kryptonite?

This is an article one of my friends at the Apple Store sent me a link to. It was posted as a news story on CNET.com. Check it out: April 24, 2007 12:17 PM PDT Real-life kryptonite found in Siberian mine Posted by Jennifer Guevin As if being a superhero isn't already hard enough. Now scientists in Siberia have uncovered a new mineral with virtually the same chemical makeup as kryptonite, the green crystals powerful enough to bring even the Man of Steel to his knees. The mineral, sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, will be called jadarite after the Jada mine it was found in. Oddly, it does not contain fluorine, like the batch of kryptonite stolen from Lex Luther's lab did, and it's white, not green. So its exact potency is not known. Still, as a precautionary measure, any living descendants of the great scientist Jor-El or other former inhabitants of the planet Krypton are being advised to avoid the mineral at all costs, or to dust off their lead armor, which can protect them from the dangerous mineral's effects. The mineral, which geologists describe as white, powdery and not radioactive, will be on display to visitors of London's Natural History Museum this Wednesday as well as Sunday, May 13. Here are more links to the story from other websites: The Globe & Mail Canada News

New Harry Potter Trailer

Holy Cow! This gave me the chills! I think this movie might be the only one that is better than the book. Oh, this will be the best July EVER!

Uncle Rog & Aunt Kath Found Nemo!

Hellooooooo from Orlandoooooo! What a wonderful way to spend a day. All my brothers and sisters are here and we all get along just great. We are so blessed. The weather is great, the food is terrific, our stomachs are large and our feet hurt a lot!!!! Gayle and Rich rented little electric "jazzies" and we all took turns riding in them. It was a life saver, a stroke of genius. This time of year, it is the Garden Festival at Disney World. They have all of the gardens layed out with annuals and they are spectacular. Mom got lots of pictures, which I think she attached to this. The whole place (Epcot) was just beautiful. It is so nice to see something done with such attention to the details. They make it look so easy, but believe me, I know "it ain't easy". We ate at the Coral Reef, which was good, but!!!!, we ate at the Bier Garten in Germany and it was fantastic. We all consummed irresponsible portions of Rindsroladen, Rott Kohl, Bratwurst mit Sauer Kraut, potato, tomato and cucmber salads, pfan kuchen, apfel strudel, lemon cakes, chocolade (except your's truly) and rolled all the way home. Oh, they also had a German Band with singing and I had a "pfirtel Obi, aufgespritzed". I thought I had died and returned to the Heimat! Also Aaron, Janet and I stood in line with a man and his 19 year old son, who were from Quebec. Mom tried to start a conversation with the boy, but he spoke no english. We spent the whole time chatting wih the father and he would translate. They were delightful people and Mom seems to have that knack for making people comfortable and drawing them out. There are some new rides, so this is probably another trip we should work into our schedule. We miss having you here with us. It is such a joy for Mom and me to be together with you. Take care, we will send again in the morning!

Funny stuff from the OFFICE

You guys have to go check out Marnie's family blog...she posted the funniest youtube video today. Go check it out: http://sundryseven.blogspot.com Funny Marnie!

T-Shirts

Scott! DON'T GIVE UP! (Unless you are going up against that cat in the picture...then run for your life.)

Cat-lantic Wall Revisited (and Other News)

Update: The cats have won. I don't know what to do. I can't add any more sticks without damaging the soil and the cats keep finding a way in to have their way with my poor carrots. Determined adversary! I think that I 'm going to try to find some chicken wire or something to really get the job done. On the upside, I was able to gather the first of the data for my thesis today, and that is fabulous. I also received my IRB approval in the mail so I can actually conduct my research and get this baby done as fast as I can manage. There were times when I honestly didn't think I would ever get to this point - the end is in sight! In other news, I put the Mitsubishi up for sale last Saturday and got a call about it on Sunday. The next thing I knew it was sold. I sold it to these three Hispanic fellas who needed a ride post haste for their work. They paid me $900 cash on the spot (the blue book price was about $1000) and I was happy. I'm not much for bargaining or salesmanship, so I was just happy to get a price I could live with without having to do battle for weeks with different buyers. I really just wanted to get it sold before May, at which time we would have to start paying insurance on both the Mitsubishi and the Isuzu. Anyway, I'm sad for the departure of my faithful friend, but I am happy to have a newer, more practical car for our situation. Thank you to Aunt Mary and Mom! Tomorrow we're off to Arco for Mitzi's spring break. We hope everyone has a great week.

Torrey Pines & Le Fountainbleu

Hi everyone! I just wanted to write a quick update on what Aaron and I have been up to. We have had a busy week with Aaron's family being in town. We did lots of surfing, eating and playing at the beach. Aaron had a meeting with the General Manager of the Westgate this last week and he told Aaron that he had been doing such a great job and offered to treat all of us to dinner at Le Fountainbleu Restaurant at the hotel:) It as super yummy! The best steak I have ever eaten. We also got to try all of their desserts which were amazing. The pistachio creme brulee and the chocolate mousse were my favorites. We all had a lot of fun. It was nice for us to spend some time with Aaron's family since we don't get to see them much. Also, in other exciting news, Aaron was called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency yesterday! He was really excited. I think he'll do a great job and it will be a fun way to get to know some of the other young couples in our ward. Then yesterday after church, we went up to Torrey Pines State Park and just walked around up there. It was beautiful, but a little chilly. We walked around down by the ocean and saw lots of dolphins. We watched them play in the waves and leap out of the water near the surfers. It was so cool to see! We also watched all the paragliders and hang gliders and there were also a few glider planes out yesterday too. It looks like so much fun to fly one of those things along the coast! So Aaron and I are saving up:) Anywho, hope you are all planning on coming to visit soon! This is only our 2nd week down here without visitors. So you're all welcome at anytime. We bought a nice cushy airbed for anyone that would like to come and stay; or for those who are more spoiled, we can get you a room at the Westgate:) Love you all!

The Cat-lantic Wall

Hey everybody, Thanks for inviting me to post on this blog. I tried to last week but it kept wanting me to start my own blog, but I was only interested in being part of the Cannon Family Blog. So I just wanted to give you all a quick update. For those of you who don't know, I successfully defended my thesis proposal with the help of some chocolate Lindor balls I picked up on the way. If things go well then I will be graduating in August. Sweet! Mitzi is ready for Spring break so we'll be heading up to Arco for the weekend of April 22. I will still have my Neuropsychology final waiting for me when I get home, but I've been rocking that class thus far, so I'm not too worried. What I am worried about are our neighbor's cats. Let me set the stage: Last year when we planted our garden the vegetables I was most looking forward to harvesting in bounteous proportions were carrots. Unfortunately due to rocky soil, a late planting date, and a lack of sunshine, we had only one carrot that could have made it into one of those grocery bags of mini-carrots. The rest were about the size of Lima beans. So this year I was determined to give our carrots a better chance. I made a special bed for them with several inches of loose, rockless soil on the top for them to grow to their maximum potential. However, all of that loose, soft soil appeared too good to pass up for our neighbor's cats who have turned it into their preferred litter box. I would go out in the mornings to find big holes dug in one part of my carrot mound and big piles heaped up in another. Half of my poor little carrot sprouts were ruthlessly uprooted by these cats and used to cover their business. I didn't know what to do short of setting up an electric fence to keep the cats away (Mitzi's favored solution). As that was not terribly practical or cost-effective, I had to come up with something else. Then it hit me. Yesterday afternoon as Mitzi and I were watching Band of Brothers (part of our deal that I would watch the long version of Pride and Prejudice if Mitzi would watch Band of Brothers) I thought of all those obstacles that the Nazis set up to keep the Allies from landing on the beaches of Europe. I remembered that I had a bunch of thin wooden poles that I had bought last year to support our corn stalks that had been broken in a fierce windstorm. I went outside, dragged them out of the shed, and set up my own "Atlantic Wall" of sorts to protect my precious carrot bed from the neighbor's cats. However, after using up all of the poles, I realized that there were still some holes in my defense, so I found a use for the ugly, tangled branches of the Siberian Elm trees that fall all over our yard anytime a storm blows through. I gathered up a bunch of those tangled messes and used them to fortify the "Cat-lantic Wall" against any whiskered invaders. It was brilliant! This cover did not obstruct any of the water or sunlight and it only cost growing space in a few small areas. Sadly, this morning when I went out to check, the cats had still gotten in one poorly brambled area on the back side where I couldn't see from my perspective, and had even knocked down one of my soil support walls. But I patched it up, grabbed some more branches, and every time they find a way in, I will patch it up until they have to find another litter box and my carrots can finally grow in peace. The cunning of my solution was lost on Mitzi who I found to be less excited than I was; I have no idea why. I'm sure you are all shouting "Genius!" in spite of yourselves as you read this epic tale. Anyway, I will keep you posted on the saga as it unfolds. I hope that everyone is well and I'm excited to keep in touch using this nifty blog. Thanks to Carole and Aaron for setting it up!

Transformers looks AWESOME!!!

Hey guys! Check this out. I don't know if you've seen it already, but it looks pretty sweet.

Questions about happiness?

Hey ya’ll, So I was thinking about just under a billion things after conference. I was at the Keller Williams office talking about it with Cameron White and his assistant. And we started to discuss Elder Oaks talk on divorce and that led into my current situation and there were some interesting thoughts expressed. I wanted to ask your opinion on some of the thoughts. One of the thoughts that distracted me was that this girl said that she thought people "deserve to be happy." She asked me if I though that Sue deserves to be happy and all I could stammer out was, "I don't think so, but maybe, but I don't think so." Anyways, I was driving around thinking about it and it came to me. I don't think people deserve anything except for what they work for. (I could add a hundred stories that dad and mom have taught us i.e. the law of the farm, nevertheless I don't have the tame to write about all of them). I think in an ideal world everyone would be happy only because they understand that they have to work to be happy. I think the reason that this girl’s statement distracted me so much was the word "deserve." It sort of places the responsibility on everybody else for your happiness and if you aren't happy it's because ______ didn't give you your deserved happiness. I'd like to blame all of my marital relation problems, my personality defects and everything else on George W. Bush, but we all know that he's to busy to meddle in my life because he's out killing black people with big ol' hurricanes, and starting illegal wars, and destroying slurpee machines all around the world. I think the founding fathers had an amazing revelation when they stated some of the unalienable human rights as, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." It is always a pursuit and if you finally attain happiness one day, how are you going to feel the next day? Anyway... I’d love to here any response, because I know that I think ones sided most of the time and I would love to have more opinions on the thought "do we deserve happiness." PS I used the word "anyways" just for mom.

Barkley the Cat

Hello from San Diego!

Hello family! I just wanted to say Hi to everyone and give a shout out to y'all from San Diego! Life down here is awesome! This is such a beautiful place and I haven't had as hard a time adjusting as I thought I would:) However I do still miss you all the most! And my Barkle-bee lots too! But I am loving this new and exciting adventure we're on. Working out by the pool everyday isn't all that bad. I've gotten used to it quite quickly. We had lots of fun this weekend just watching conference and hanging out at the beach. We went to Old Town on Saturday and walked around for a while and then got ice cream at Golden Spoon! I feel like I'm always on vacation - it's not so bad! I'll keep posting pictures and keep you all up to date on what we've been up to and the things we've been doing. Hopefully I can get some good pictures of Aaron surfing. He loves it! We end up at the beach almost every day - and sometimes twice a day. Love you all!