This morning we took Corbin to the hospital to get the stent from his surgery removed. He was put under anesthesia again, and it was just as hard to get the mask on his face this time, as it was for his surgery a month ago. But everything went well, and now all that's left to do is stay on medication and go in for an ultrasound on Corbin's kidney in approximately 4 weeks.

Corbin was really funny when he woke up from the anesthesia. The nurse asked him what he wanted: apple juice, soda, or a popsicle. Corbin wanted a popsicle. So the nursed asked, "orange, grape or cherry?" And Corbin said, "popsicle." The nurse said, "I know, do you want orange, grape, or cherry?" Corbin said, "popsicle." This went back and forth a number of times until Corbin finally got it, and said he wanted grape. Corbin loved the popsicle, but all the talk about grapes must have really put him in the mood for some real grapes. He started begging over and over for grapes. Clark and I kept telling him the hospital doesn't have grapes, and that we would get some on our way home from the hospital. However, this didn't make Corbin feel any better, because he insisted that the store also had no grapes.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas! Christmas Eve we went tubing at a nearby park. Corbin loved "sliding" and he insisted on going down the hill by himself. The afternoon we went to a party at a friends house. We ate good food, visited, and played fun games. The we came home and drank hot chocolate while we read the Nativity story from the Bible.

Christmas day was so much fun. Corbin's favorite present by far was the train set that Santa brought him (I think Clark has had just as much fun playing with the train as Corbin has!) He was also really excited about the wagon he got from Grandpa and Grandma G., and the snowman stacker he got from Grandpa and Grandma B.

We missed being with family this year, but I think that we really enjoyed being together and working on creating our own Christmas traditions.

5 years

A few days ago Clark and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has already been 5 years. Time flies by way too quickly. Our wonderful friends watched Corbin overnight for us, so that we could get away. We stayed downtown, right off the 16th Street mall. We ate at the Cheesecake factory, looked at Christmas lights, and relaxed. One funny thing happened after we checked into our hotel. We headed up to our room, only to find that it was already occupied! Clark quickly shut the door, and we went back to the front desk, where they upgraded our room and gave us free breakfast. We both got a good laugh out of that.

surgery

Yesterday was the big surgery day to fix Corbin's urinary reflux. The day started out stressful. Denver got some snow overnight, so the traffic was terrible. A 30 minute drive took 90 minutes. Luckily, the doctor was also running late because of the snow. Once we were all check in and ready to go, the nurse told us that one parent could go to the surgery room with Corbin until he fell asleep. I volunteered to go back with him. He was really scared of the mask, and we had to hold him down while he cried and screamed, "no, no, no!" until he finally fell asleep.

The surgery lasted about 2 hours, and everything went really well. The doctor was able to confirm that Corbin does in fact have 2 ureters coming out of his left kidney. So the doctor removed one, and then rerouted the other ureter. He put a stent in that will need to be taken out, under anesthesia, in about a month. The great news is that the doctor was able to take a nice look at the right kidney, and it is in really good shape.

Once Corbin woke up, we moved to the Pediatric unit, and spent the afternoon watching movies. He was in a little sad and in pain that afternoon, but once he fell asleep at around midnight, he was out for the count. He woke up the next morning really happy and really to go home! He has been so energetic and happy today! We cannot believe that he had surgery only yesterday! What a little trooper.

Playing in the waiting room.
All dressed up in our gowns, ready to go to the operating room.

Just waking up

Corbin was a big fan of the popsicles. He ate around 5 or 6 of them.

Scarfing down dinner. He had a really great appetite at dinner.

Check-out day. He was so excited to go home!
Corbin got a balloon bouquet from Grandpa and Grandma B, and he was loving it!

twinkle star

We put up our Christmas tree today. Corbin was really excited when he saw the star that would go on top. He started singing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." I thought it was so cute, so I ran and got the camera and made him sing it again :)


We also have some smaller trees with lights on them. One of them is maybe 2 feet tall, so I thought it would be fun to put it in Corbin's room. Tonight as we were tucking him into bed, Corbin gave me and then Clark a hug and kiss, and then he ran over to his tree and gave it a hug as well. So cute! I am so excited for Corbin to experience this Christmas (and I think he is pretty excited about it too!)

gobble gobble

We had such a great Thanksgiving. My parents and two of my brothers, Troy and Kyle, were able to come out and visit. Our little townhouse was full to the brim, and it was so much fun!

Here is a list of some of the things we did while they were here:

* Ate a wonderful Thanksgiving meal

* Played catch outside, and enjoyed the beautiful weather

* Played lots of board games

* Kyle, Troy, Clark and I went to a DU (University of Denver) hockey game. I had never been to a hockey game before, and I really enjoyed it. Corbin stayed home with my parents and watched "Cars" While watching the movie, Corbin looked up at his grandparents and said, "I so happy"

Corbin helping make rolls Here is Corbin in his football helmet.
Black licorice buddies

Snuggling up to watch "Cars"

zoo day

Corbin and I went to the zoo today. We had a lot of fun looking at all the animals. Corbin's favorite thing was the duck/geese pond area. We stayed there for at least 10 minutes. He loved watching the ducks swim, splash, and dive under the water.

I looked out the window...

Making binoculars is one of my favorite crafts to do with my Sunbeam classes. We make them for either the "I am thankful for my eyes" lesson, or the "I am thankful for birds" lesson.
This last weekend we finished up a roll of paper towels, so I decided to make Corbin his first set of binoculars. He has had so much fun playing with them! Today he was looking through them and singing, "look out window...popcorn tree!"

I was doing laundry the other day, and Corbin was coloring. Corbin was doing a great job of putting lids back on the markers, and only coloring on the paper. So I thought he would be okay while I ran upstairs to hang up Clark's work shirts before they became wrinkled. I was wrong. I came down 2 minutes later, and Corbin was covered in marker. How could I get mad, though, when he held out his arms and said, "Look Mommy! It's boo-tiful"

Our Utah trip

We went to Utah last week for my Grandma Burton's funeral. The service was beautiful, and I was able to laugh, cry, reminisce, and even learn a few new things about my grandma. Here are a few more memories of Grandma:
* She could yodel!
* When she was a little girl she didn't have a left-handed baseball mitt, so she just turned around a right-handed mitt, and used that.
* Grandma was a great seamstress. She made blankets for all the new brides in the family. She also hemmed my temple dress just hours before it was time for me to enter the temple for the first time.
* More than one person at the funeral mentioned that Grandma made everyone feel like he/she was her favorite.


While we were in Utah Clark and I went with Troy and Travis and saw the play, "Little Shop of Horrors" which was really fun. We also stayed for Halloween. Corbin loved his Elmo costume, and he thought trick-or-treating was the greatest. The day after Halloween, we were walking to church and Corbin kept asking if he could trick-or-treat again at all the houses we passed.

Here is a really funny video of Corbin's cousin Rex doing push-ups.

And here is a video of the boys going for horsie rides.

Kidney

Corbin had 2 tests done today on his kidney (the same tests he had done last year). The first was an ultrasound of his kidneys, and he did great during the test. After that he had to get another procedure where he was injected with dye, and then they took x-rays to see if fluid was still refluxing back up from the bladder to the kidney. For this test, poor Corbin had to get a catheter. He was such a sad boy. He kept crying, "owie, Mommy!" and was begging, "big hug?" He said this over and over again, and it just about broke my heart. One funny thing, is that Corbin kept calling the x-ray machine a "washing machine."

The tests showed that his kidney still has the same high amount of reflux that it had last year. It also showed that his left kidney is not quite growing at the rate it should be, so it is a weak kidney. We went ahead and scheduled a surgery date in December. They will re-align the tube that goes into the kidney, which will fix the reflux problem. The doctor is also going to check out the right kidney at that time to make sure that all is well in that area. I am nervous for Corbin to go into surgery, but it will be wonderful to have this problem fixed.

The nurses loved Corbin, and he was given multiple stickers from them, for being so brave. He has been sporting this one all day. Corbin says he is going to show it to Daddy when he comes home from work.

Grandma

Last Friday, October 16th, my sweet Grandma passed away. She was a wonderful woman, and she will be greatly missed.
Just a few (of many) fun memories of Grandma:
* Eating ice-cream in the hallway almost every Sunday
* My cousins and I asking her permission on numerous occasions to pick a rose to take home.
* Eating roast beef sandwiches (on the BEST homemade rolls), and when I was younger, drinking pink milk.
* Trying on Grandma's wedding dress when Clark and I were engaged.
* Grandma always said that Corbin's eyes were "so sparkly"
* She was left-handed, and proud of it!


MYRL BURTON
Myrl Palmer Burton 1920 ~ 2009 Myrl Palmer Burton, beloved wife, mother and grandmother died from colon cancer October 23, 2009. She passed away peacefully at home with her loving family at her side. Myrl was born August 29, 1920 on the family farm in South Jordan, Utah to Birdie Lucene Beckstead and Joseph Fred Palmer. A 1939 graduate of Jordan High School. She married Jacob Peart Burton, Jr. Feb. 7, 1945 in the Salt Lake Temple. Her life was devoted to her family. She was able to make everyone feel loved and special. Anyone who visited her home left knowing they were her favorite. She loved music and had a gift of expressing her love of her Father in Heaven through her music. She served faithfully in many church callings, including Primary President, Relief Society President, Laurel leader, and choir director. She served with her husband on 3 missions: California San Bernardino; Nauvoo, Ill; and a Family History mission. Myrl loved serving as an ordinance worker in the Jordan River Temple since its dedication. Myrl is survived by her husband Jacob and children, Fred and Judy Burton, South Jordan; Mark and Janet Burton, West Jordan, Craig andLinda Burton, Korea Seoul West Mission; Ross and Fara Burton, St. George; Becky and Craig Butterfield, Eagle Mtn; Nancy and Gaylen Rees, Grover, UT; Dee and Kristine Burton, Mesa, AZ. She has been the most wonderful grandmother to 33 and great grandmother to 54. She leaves behind a sister, Birdie Crane of South Jordan.

I love this picture that was taken on Corbin's blessing day. So sweet.

Another video

Why build towers with blocks, when you can build them with cars instead? Corbin figured out how to build a car tower, while I was in the kitchen doing dishes. What a smart kid.

snowy day

We woke up to snow this morning. Corbin was really excited to go out and play in it. After we finished playing, we came inside and drank hot chocolate.

Pumpkin patch

Today has been a really fun and busy day. We started out at McDonalds, where we got $1 pancakes to support the scouts in the ward. After that, we headed to a pumpkin festival. We had so much fun there, and the weather was perfect for a day out. Clark leaves tomorrow to work in Costa Rica for a week (I wish we could go with him!!), and so it was really nice to spend some time together as a family before he leaves.

Riding the barrel train

Corbin loves corn on the cob.

Cuz it's root, root, root for the home team...

Clark got a fun surprise at work on Monday. The partner that he works with surprised him (and the whole EY Western Union crew) with tickets to the Rockies playoff game! Clark said it was one of the funnest baseball games he has ever been to, even though the Rockies ended up losing the game. I am a little jealous that Clark got to go to the game, and not me; but I am really glad that Clark got this reward for all his hard work!

They had great seats!

While we were in Utah a few weeks ago, we got a family picture taken with all of Clark's family. They are all HUGE BYU fans, so everyone wore a BYU shirt. I think the picture turned out pretty cute.