Valentine's Day FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Our Valentine's Day happens a few days later than the rest of the world - we will always celebrate on February 18...WHY? Well, we got engaged February 18, 2009 so it just seems like that should be our February 14th celebration!

I can't believe it has been one year since that day - we reminisced about it this morning on the way to work. Jon talked about how excited and nervous he was, he went and saw the finished ring on February 17, 2009 but was too nervous to take it home so he asked McKay Jewelers to just keep it in their vault for another day - funny! I was soooo clueless to the whole thing and just kept wondering why Jon was coming to get me if we were hiking in Centerville - duh??? And of course Jon reenacting my Dad's reaction...no one does his voice and mannerisms better!

Here is the link to the full story Jon wrote about it all last year:
http://mccallandjon.blogspot.com/2009/02/on-our-second-date-we-took-beamermy.html

I guess celebrating on the 18th works just perfect for me! I have been known to look for any and every reason to celebrate so this way I can celebrate what I love most for an entire week instead of just one day - hopefully I celebrate Jon more often than just one day a year, but either way the purpose of this post is to say:

"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY JONNY ~ love you!!! Muah & mqmqmq!!!!"

Christmas 2008 & Christmas 2009

Last night I was again reminded of Christmas 2008 & I can't help but think...
"WOW - all that can happen in just 1 years time!"

The STATS Christmas Eve 2008:
- days since our first date = 11
- dates = 9
- ski days together = 2
- times meeting the entire nelson family = 1
- times meeting the entire knowlton family = 1
- days since deciding we would eventually get married...3
*and jon recovering from a major ski injury - broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, torn rotator cuff...


(Cook Christmas Party 2008 - jon's sister - we enjoyed peppermint ice cream with homemade hot fudge sauce!)


The STATS Christmas Eve 2009:
- days married = 224
- days left living in Park City = 4
- ski days together = 1
- favorite date = market street & bravo broadway
- favorite nelson family activity = meme's 70th birthday party
- favorite knowlton family activity = willow creek park & farmer's market
*and a year of new mcCall & jon traditions


(Knowlton Christmas Party 2009 and leading out the gift exchange - this is the only picture we have together on Christmas Eve this year, better luck next year!)


(A new 2009 tradition - gingerbread house making with the nieces & nephews!)

Thanksgiving Dinner

Our first Thanksgiving together was full of good food, friends, family, cousins big & small, and plenty of after dinner entertainment! It started on Thanksgiving EVE when I joined Jon and Rich for their annual tradition (signaling the start of the holiday season) which includes dinner and a movie, but the movie has to be what they call, "a good, bad!" After much debate and anticipation the selection this year was 2012 and it didn't disappoint - long, dumb, unbelievable but memorable, and most importantly it provided plenty of pointless quotes!

On Thanksgiving we headed to the Nelson's, they hosted the BIG dinner (all 29 of us, and it was only half the team) and since it was an "off" year for The Knowlton Family my parents were able to come too! The food was amazing, from monkey bread to homemade pies and enough mashed potatoes for an army, by the time it was over we were stuffed to the brim. The best part came after dinner with Jon playing the guitar and singing and all the cousins joining in on the chorus lines - "burn, burn, burn and the flames come higher!"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

and here's to snow, skiing, lights and hot chocolate

in the weeks to come!

True Grit

I love westerns--old and new. Mostly because I love the archetypes; plots and characters. There's good, bad, conflict and resolutions. There's no ambiguity. The payoffs aren't as simple as a conflicted boy and quirky girl teaming up to scream into a deep chasm. And the clashes aren't created by a son returning home for his mom's funeral only to find that he still can't communicate with his dad.

No, westerns are gritty--they have teeth. The conflict is triggered by a killing and the resolution is earned by revenge. Case study 1 - True Grit. Mattie's dad is killed by Chaney so she hires Cogburn to "kill him back." Cogburn (played by John Wayne) is thought to be the one with grit but we soon find out that Mattie is the one the film/novel is named after. She relentlessly pursues Chaney, breaks her arm, is bitten by a rattler, even shoots Chaney in the stomach and eventually sees him die. Grit comes when a character faces conflict and overcomes it through strength.

That's what I've seen these past three weeks. The protagonist in this story is McCall, the antagonist is death. In an earlier post I wrote about us losing McCall's pregnancy--things escalated from there. The day after McCall received the chemo treatment she started bleeding internally. Within seconds she lost two cups of blood. We rushed from Park City to LDS hospital where the doctor had an operating room prepped for emergency surgery. McCall's dad and I gave her a blessing just before she was taken to the OR. For an hour we waited (Hooper, Shauna, Meme, William O., Dr. KGC and I) for news from the doctor. Last we heard they were going to remove a fallopian tube and maybe do a blood transfusion. The phone rang in the waiting room and I rushed over to answer. "McCall is in the recovery room."

I couldn't resist--although I knew I would get busted--I sneaked into the recovery room to see McCall's face. She smiled when she saw me and said, "Hi baby."

Although death has released it's grip, the last three weeks a different form of conflict has shown it's face. This one looks like pain (surgery), nausea (chemotherapy) and grief (loss). I have watched as McCall has pursued these three ugly faces, caught them, beat them and has come out a hero. In the process she's blackened her eyes, broken her bones and looked in some ugly, dark places but she's healed and has turned the dark places into light.

If McCall lived in the old west, she'd be a Mattie Ross fersure...or maybe a Betsy Ross.

THANKSGIVING came early this YEAR

Autumn is definitely my favorite season, especially Halloween, but this year we skipped right to Thanksgiving. There is nothing I love more than caramel apples and caramel corn, little pumpkins decorating the table and of course the feast (the picture is from a few years ago but sums up the holiday at our house pretty well.) Anyway, it came early this year because of the blessings we have experienced during the past week...a direct result of our dear family and friends!

It has come in all forms: prayers, blessings, emails, text messages, dinners, phone calls, flowers, favorite treats, visits, immediate answers to prayers, capable doctors, kind nurses, modern technology, and most of all loving and supportive family and friends. We couldn't make it without you and can't let this time go by without a sincere (well as sincere as a blog post can be) and heartfelt "thanks" for your many kindnesses on our behalf.

Thanksgiving also has a new and special meaning for me because this year I have Jon! The past week he has literally done it all, including making it from our apartment on main street Park City to LDS hospital in Salt Lake City in a record 23 minutes (and this particular time down Parley's Canyon every minute really counted!) His job description has not only included his normal CropChocolate.com responsibilities, but everything from cooking and cleaning to staying up all night just to make sure I get my pain medication right on time, to just being a listening ear as I have expressed my thoughts and feelings after an eventful few days. Jon has sustained me completely and continues to do so as we navigate this new path, and for that my gratitude continues to grow.

I am more thankful today than I thought I could be, not that it has been easy or that I would ever choose to repeat this experience, but I know and truly feel blessed because of so many of you and for that we will celebrate Thanksgiving early in 2009!



*Jon's brother Dan came to visit in the hospital and in honor of the chemo treatment I received earlier in the week he bought all the 50% off "breast cancer" apparel he could find! I am not posting this picture because it is a great one of me (turns out surgery will do that to you, or at least that is what I am telling myself!), but it sure did make us smile & laugh -- thanks Dan!
*Adding to our Thanksgiving, our parents! This was taken the first full day home and as she has always been my Mom is with me every step of the way, holding my hand just to make it easier. You may notice the "big gulp" on the side -- I hear they really improve healing and add to a fast recovery!

Joy. Pain. Sunshine. Rain.

I will never forget seeing McCall clear three flights of stairs in three giant leaps. Partially because McCall can't jump--I have film to prove it--but more because of why she was so excited. After spending over $300 on home pregnancy tests, McCall went to a clinic to confirm our suspicions about her being pregnant and the results came back positive. Over the past several weeks, McCall has exhibited signs of pregnancy which will not be mentioned to keep this PG.

For two weeks we've been walking on sunshine--so to speak. Today, on a rainy day, we found out that there were complications with the conception and McCall had to go in for a dose of chemotherapy--the baby won't be born on June 7ish as expected.

Through our joy of learning of McCall's pregnancy, our love for each other and the family that we were starting to create grew in heaps. Our weekly planning had a new perspective; our lives were moving in a direction that both McCall and I have wanted for years; our conversations included possible names for either a boy or girl--names like Gary and Lou Ann. Joy made our hearts swell until they overflowed with love.

Today the joy has taken a 180 degree turn as we learned of the complications of McCall's pregnancy. The pain of knowing McCall won't be giving birth in late May/early June has brought a different perspective to life--rather than a swelling of joy, we feel engorged with gratitude and peace. Gratitude that McCall is healthy--she started cramping and bleeding somewhere in the Arizona desert. Peace knowing that the prayers of our families have been answered and McCall is home safe tonight.

We see blessings through this experience: First, we know that we are able to conceive. Second, our love has grown through both the joy and pain. Third, McCall can start drinking Diet Coke again. Forth, we'll have a full ski season.

Of course the third and forth reasons are jokes but we are grateful for the first and second...and to our family and friends who have been so generous and supportive.

We love you all!

PS - no offense to the Garys and Lou Anns out there--it's just our light hearted nature.

One. Year. Ago.

Welcome to FALL

Fall has definitely arrived in Park City, Utah! After a couple of weeks of being in SLC/Bountiful/Centerville we came home to the full spectrum of colors. We had some extra time to enjoy dinner in the Uintahs -- notice the full harvest moon in the picture -- (and no we didn't go all out, we left the cooking to Barbacoa!), an afternoon drive on the Alpine Loop (my first time making the whole drive at once) and an evening hike in Jupiter Bowl (at a sizzling 23 degrees!)

We both LOVE these types of days; outside and playing in the Utah mountains! We enjoyed them alone or with friends up until almost a year ago (we met and began facebooking about this time last year) but now we get to do them together, and that is by far THE BEST part!

"Hooray for fast love, hooray for fast marriage!"

Blueberry PANCAKES

This past week Jon and I got to watch a few our of nieces and nephews while their parents were out of town. They were so good for us and we had a great time and loved being one-on-one with each of them, but what I loved most was watching Jon truly in his element. He was up early every morning making blueberry pancakes (yes they did look and taste as good as the picture here), french toast, or scrambled eggs & cheese for the kids and then walking them to school with the dogs. I would come home from work to trade shifts and see him teaching the youngest (2 years old) to hit a ball with a mini baseball bat - definitely a future star in the making! He managed all this while continuing to run and grow http://www.cropchocolate.com/ and even got in a major truck repair with my Dad - what a week!

10 days into our dating relationship I met all of Jon's immediate family and knew from that moment (well actually even when we were just emailing I could tell how important family was to him) on that he would be an amazing dad one day (as he is the favorite uncle - no bias here!) but this week I got to see him firsthand and at his best!

Love you JON & thanks for making all of this possible!

our weekend MUSICAL!

what you get when you mix:

1) 6am on a Saturday morning

2) Parley's Canyon

3) Diet Coke & String Cheese for breakfast

4) Les Mis soundtrack

5) Jonathan William Nelson

Our life is never boring and always full of surprises thanks to Jonny!

Love you Jon ValJonny!

*the BEST video, where Jon uses string cheese for a mic is taking forever to load but is coming soon or you may just have to come visit us to see it on my computer or in person!