Dan's New Little

Dan and Cassie had their girl last night at 10.49 pm. Her name is Esme Cosette Stewart (pronounced Ez-mee). She weighed 9 lbs 1oz and measures 20.5" long. Dan says she looks a lot like Ava, with more hair. Cassie delivered her in a matter of a few hours, at home in a birthing tub. Doesn't that make Esme the first water baby of our lot? All went very well. Dan said Cassie didn't scream once, which makes her my new hero.

I think this little Esme is adorable and I'm awestruck at how good Cassie looks. Congratulations!!!

J.

Alexanders checking in

Hello from the Alexanders, we have had our new addition for about a week now. Her name is Sophia Cate, she was 8 lbs 9 oz. and was 19 inches long. it wasnt a very long labor as it only took about 4 hours. It was also nice to have my own personal anesthesia guy in the room, Colby did my epidural which worked great. I went from a 6 to a 10 in about 30 minutes. So it was a lot different than my previous 22, and 8 hour labors. We are happy to have her here!

Brady also had his pre-school graduation this last week, the picture is of him and his teachers (no wonder he liked school). He loved it. He is reading simple little books and is excited for kindergarten this fall.

Catie & Colby's blog

So apparantly Catie and Colby have their own blogsite, which they have neglected to tell us about (at least, they never told me...). I am linking their site on the sidebar for those of you, like me, who were out of the loop but who do not wish to be. If they are not happy with this link-age, too bad.
I was happy to see that bunch again. Congratulations on new baby Sophia! And while we are at it, rounds of congratulations are due all over the place:

1. Baby Sophia
2. DeeAnn's new house
3. Cody's graduation
4. Jeff's graduation
5. pending: Cassie and Dan's baby (she is now three days overdue...)
6. Parry for getting online

Am I forgetting anyone? Hope you are all very well.

Jen

the Florida Stewarts (really no joke!)

Well I finally made it! still don't have an account yet, my invite had expired. could someone send a new one please? Anyway things are going along fine down here, the fires are not too close and we are all healthy. Sydney is growing like a weed and has her first tooth coming in. as soon as i figure out how I'll post some pics. Cory is fine, although still laid off. I think he is enjoying the time baby sitting and riding his big new motorcycle. pics to follow. so now he has two babies to fawn over. lol. Lora's mom is in town so they are enjoying each others company Lora enjoys her job and works several nights a week, while he plays Mr. mom.
finally I am getting my revenge on him! thats it for now I hope you all have a safe memorial day.
LOVE
Parry

Busy month of May

Laynie had a birthday on the 13th. She wanted a "High Musical" party. She is obsessed with Disney's High School Musical. She and cousins Olivia & Albie enjoyed using the front porch as their stage for Kareoke.

Curt finished the Ogden Marathon last Saturday. This was his second marathon and he made his goal of finishing under four hours. His race time was 3 hours and 53 minutes. I have no idea how marathoners do it. What a challenge.

Derek also graduated from preschool and is ready to go to the "big" school.

Alexa is doing great. She is really putting on the baby chub. I am enjoying all the sweetness a baby brings. My favorite thing is her "content coo."

Jill

From the Austin Stewarts

Hello everyone,

Dawna, we received your letter w/the pamphlets, thanks so much. Do let us know when you have a new cell phone. We also just got the DVD and will take a look at it in the next few days. I just got back from Chicago, I left on the 17th on business and got an opportunity to meet up w/Ashley and catch up. Kerbey is keeping busy with teaching medical assisting, they are long days but he gets half a day off on Fridays so that helps the weekend seem longer. I'm taking a class a couple of evenings a week and then we both attend men's only and women's only meetings once a week in the evening at church and we have Mariah on Wednesday evenings also which is so cool, so it keeps our schedules pretty full.

The University of Texas is out for the summer (that's 50K students not on the road) and the regular schools are out this week here in Austin and you can tell for the traffic is already much lighter on the roads which is SUCH a treat.

This weekend is our 1st year wedding anniversary are we are really looking forward to celebrating it, it is nice that we also have Monday off so it is a long weekend. We keep waiting to hear the call that Cassie has delivered and it is exciting to be on waiting mode wanting to see the new little one, we expect to be the same way soon with Jennifer's delivery. Everything is so perfect this time of year, all is bright and green and beautiful and new lives about to arrive, sigh... I think I have spring fever.

Love,

Isabella

New Camera

Patty got a new camera, so expect more pictures. Today is Jeff and Cody's graduation. It's gone by fast.
Last week we helped mom move into her new house. Curt, Cody and a few other friends joined in to get it done fast. Mom's excited and her house will be perfect for her. I think Jeff even likes it. We are just a few days away from full swing summer here in Utah. The mornings are still crisp and the days are just right. Maya and Jacob play outside most of the day with friends they have made on our street. Hope you all have a great day! Jesse

alexa's blessing day

We blessed Alexa on the 6th of May. We thought it was cool that she was blessed on 5/6/07, It was a great day. Just take a look at Candace's cinnamon rolls and I bet you can imagine how great the food was (it's great to have a sister that bakes and cooks like she can). Curtis Sr. even made an appearance.

Curt

mother's day

this is Patty. Happy mother's day to all of you that are mothers. I thought that since so many of the inlaws have posted something I better too. I know you are all very disappointed that you guys aren't going to get a pregnant belly shot from me...but believe me it, it's for the better. You all know, (thanks to Cathy) that Jacob thinks I have a big butt...enough said. I am however greatful for this little one growing inside me and I can't wait to see her. It is too bad that all 7 of us having babies this year don't live closer so they can all grow up playing together and being little friends. Imagine the fun all of the little girls would have together! Life here in Payson is pretty great. I'm excited DeeAnn is moving close by. She is so good to me...well all of us. I hope my little kids don't wear her out by wanting to be over at her house all the time. I am going to have set some rules for grandma's sake. well we still need to post a picture of our van.

Dress

I have to brag for my mom here is a picture of the dress, booties, and bonnet (Kaitlen didn't like wearing the bonnet) she made for the blessing.....a first for her, it is so beautiful everyone was very impressed. She looks a little cranky in this picture but she was perfect during church. We had a perfect day it was so great to have Lisa and her boys here, I sure miss my "twin". I'm glad everyone has enjoyed the pasta shells doesn't anyone else have a good recipe? - Andrea

The Derby Hat

Jen- The Derby and Oaks races are known for The Hat. most women wear a hat and unless you are doing a picnic on the in field. So i spent about 3 weeks looking for a hat. I think i went to every hat store with in a hour of my house. i found some really cute hat but could not bare to pay for any of them. most derby hats average around 300.oo and some people spend 1500 to 2000 on a hat! ridiculas i think. so, 3 days before the event i still had no hat! then an kentucky native told me to try a craft store named Dees. i went and found my hat and spent about a half hour with their hat experts who showed me ideas and how to put them together. if i would have had them put my hat together it would have cost me about 150.00. so i got my hat and the materials i needed and went home thursday night and made my own hat for about 42.00. i will admit i think i did a pretty good job and had a lot of compliments. my friends and are thinking maybe we should go into the derby hat business! well, here are a couple photos from the event. my harddrive went out but kris was able to recover the photos. the ones i posted yesterday i had from my sister! lesson to all is to back up your hard drive often! got to go move the sprinkler! -crystal

2 Weeks To Go!!

Oh yes, two weeks to go and it cannot come fast enough! Grandma, my exact due date is May 26 and if the pattern holds up then she will not be here until then or few days after. We are very happy to have another one of these little things around and I have to say I am really glad she will be here before the TX heat sets in! The blessing pics of Kaitlyn got me really excited- thanks for sharing. I am sure the next time I post a picture it will be a pic of baby and not my belly! (lets hope) If you can't tell it is much MUCH bigger than Jennifer's :) It is so good to hear from all of you who post!

Kaitlen Blessing day

I thought I would post a picture of Kaitlen Mitchell's blessing day. And one of Lisa's little guy Darren meeting her for the first time. It was a very special day and we loved having Lisa and her boys with us for two weeks even though it was pretty chaotic with packing up stuff and having a yard sale. Saturday I plan to have another one to try to divest myself of more stuff.

california dreamin'

Kehoe Beach

Slade and I just got back from a 3day getaway to the coast. We left the children with a great friend and off we went. We stayed at Point Reyes Station and visited a couple of beaches in this enormous national park. Its an amazing and inspiring place - very wild, very isolated and quite my cup of tea. We were the only ones on this particular beach to watch the sunset and it really doesn't get much more romantic than this (unless, of course, you get rid of the belly... ) and speaking of belly, thought you'd be amused to see a recent belly shot. Just so you know, it feels much bigger than it looks.

Cassie, I know you have at least one great belly pic you can post and I'd love to see Catie and Patty too. Note aside, have Catie, Cregg and Candace heard about that new thing called the Internet? Someone ought to pull them aside and introduce them to this expansive new world...

So here is my offer: you come see me (preferably after baby is born) and I will take you to the beach. Its only about 2 hours from my house.

Keep up the new postings. Its great fun to hear from everyone. DeeAnn, best wishes for a smoooth mooove!

Jennifer & Slade (but not our kids)

Kentucky Derby

The past couple weeks here in kentucky have been nothing but horse races and fun. we were surprised how everything pretty much revolves around the big Derby race and all the events that go along with it. They start 2 weeks before the race with a big air show and fire work festival on the waterfront. we took the kids to this and they had a great time with all the music and planes. it's been a while since i have seen an air show and i was very impressed with the planes and the amazing acts. camille got the biggest kick out of it. when the fighter jet zoomed by her eyes about popped out of her head. i thought she would be scared because it was soo soo loud! instead she scrouched down like a football player, squinted her eyes in the direction the jet went and said, "mama, i'm going to go get it". then she took off down the waterfront in a full sprint. i guess she thought the plane landed in the field since it flew out of site. she spent the entire 3 hours dancing and pointing at all the planes.

I think there were 2 or 3 different derby related events every day for 2 weeks until last weekend's Derby race. I went to Churchhill downs with my sisters and camille and carina and enjoyed learning about the history of horse racing here in kentucky. I needed to educate myself since Kris and I would be attending the Oaks race with work clients. You always her about Derby attracting the movie stars, etc. So my sister and I see a guy walk in and everyone starts taking photos with him and we are trying to see what all the fuss is about. he walks toward the tunnel we were in and we both look at each other and have no clue who he is. so, for fun we walk up and ask to have a photo with him. so here is our famous person photo! after we took the photo my dad told us is the guy from Kiss with a reality show. guess, we should have stuck out our tongues or something!

Kris and I enjoyed the Oaks Race we attended with his work clients. The Oaks takes place friday before the big Derby race. The oaks is the when the fillies race for the lillies. and the derby is the race for the roses. I guess i need to preface this by describing Kris's job here in Kentucky. He works as an account manager for Cisco and his account here is the State of Kentucky. We did not know coming here would pull us into politics! Kris has his own lobbyist and goes to many meeting in Capitol. Cisco sent Kris paper work and since he "seeks to influence public officials" he is now also a Executive Lobbyist. i laughed and asked if he can put that on his resume now! well, he's been pretty busy since we have been here and i'm was impressed with what he has accomplished in 3 months. So for the Oaks, we actually got to sit the on the 6th floor balcony of Millionares row. bascially, the best seats at Churchill downs. We were one table away from the Governor of Kentucky. I have to admitt i was a bit nervous being sourrounded by so many politicians. We spent the entire day being introduced to people and what they call "walking the room". We got our photo with governor Fletcher and had fun feeling like important people for a day. Most of the room cleared out by 5pm since they were all going to the governors ball that evening. Kris and I enjoyed the next hour on our own and enjoying the moment as we may never be able to sit up in that balcony room again! We watched the last race and after 8 hours in high heels, i thought i was going to cry walking out! i don't know how women can wear those things all day long! wow! i finally took of the heels and went barefoot. i'm sure i looked silly in a dress and hat, running barefoot in the rain! oh, and at the Derby races it's all about the hat. i will post a photo and have to write another blog about, -the hat! silly but fun.

grandma, i wil try to post more often. and the only thing i can think to pray for is that family comes to visit us soon. i enjoyed the last month with my parents and sisters but we miss all the stewarts! hope to see anybody soon! crystal

oh, andrea we loved the recipe. i made it with my sisters and it was great because the kids all gobbled it up too~ thanks and post some more. my easy out dinner is to make a salad and a kiesch. -crystal

Visitathon

I'll take a second to up date you all. Lisa has been there the last two weeks for a visit. It's been fun to be with her and her kids. Darrin is so cute. He's big kid. He only weighs 5 pounds less than Maya. Being around Lisa and Andrea's baby's has made me excited for our new little one in June. Grandma, if you need things to pray about, pray that Patty won't have the baby until I get home from Guatemala. I've been pretty worried about it.
Jeff is set to graduate on the 22 of May along with Cody.
Mom is looking forward to moving next week. Jeff is having second thoughts about living nestled between his seminary teacher, his brother, and the stake president. I think mom's new place will be nice. The home is only two years old, and was built with a lot of love, or so we have been told.
Patty is doing well. She is still working and getting bigger. I think the baby has slowed down. She grew so much at first I thought that Patty was going to pop. But she still looks great. Maya this morning walked by the bathroom as Patty was doing her hair and said, "dad, mom is soooo pretty." She's right.

Well, I better get back to my students.

I'll leave you with another Maya funny. Jacob says funny things too, I'll try to remember some of them next time.

The other day Maya was jumping off the couch into my arms. Before she jumped she said, "here come I." She then corrected herself and said, "here comes me." She again corrected herself and said, "here comes she." Then it clicked and she said, "here I come," as she jumped off the couch into my arms.

Have a great day.


Jesse

Here are a few pictures of our race on saturday.

nauvoo grandma

Hi everyone, I hate to follow myself on the blog-site. Come on everyone lets hear from you. Cassie are you doing okey and when is your delivery date? Catie, when is yours? You know I need to know the details of all your lives so I can pray for you for specifics. All is well here and so far I am able to keep up the pace. We just got lots of new young missionaries in last week. Some are ypm's which is Young performing missionaries. Some are Nauvoo Band members and then we are getting pageant people starting to come in. This place is really humming. We have 7 sister missionaries that have come back here after spending 6 months elsewhere and have also gotten about 9 new ones straight from the MTC. They sang at zone conference with the 2 elders we have here and the president told the elders they won't be surrounded with that many sisters again until they get to the celestial kingdom. All is well and I am very happy serving full time in the Kingdom of God on earth. Love Grandma