A Tradition of Poems

Hello Everybody, I (Aaron) come from a long line of writers of cheesy poems. A few years ago I wrote a lil' poem to tell our friends and family that Nan was pregnant with Dillon. Here it is:

Our Secret Something

Hey there Fam! How do you do?
Boy, have we got something for you.

This “something” is something you don’t want to miss,
So hold on to your hats, y’all ready for this?

It’s really quite simple, but how do we start?
Sometimes it is hard to speak from the heart.

Perhaps we’ll begin by giving you clues,
Perhaps – if you’re smart – you can guess our new news.

If you do have a guess, and you’d be so kind,
We ask you to please keep your guess in your mind.

Just bite your tongue, don’t blurt it out loud,
Don’t ruin the end for the rest of the crowd.

So zip up your lips, seal them with glue,
And open your ears, ‘cause here’s the first clue.

Our something’s not big, not large, and not tall,
Our something is little, it’s petite, and it’s small.

Nope, not a coin, nor pebble, nor key,
Nor is it something you’ll find in the sea.
Our something is small, and it has lots of wrinkles,
And it’s not made of sugar like frosting and sprinkles.

Nope, not a raisin, not a bed-sheet, or shirt.
Not a wrinkly puppy dog rolling in the dirt.

Are you having trouble guessing? C’mon, you have to think.
Here’s another clue – our something’s kinda pink.

Nope, not a flower, not a lollipop, or pig,
Nor is it a necktie I picked up in Leipzig.

Our something is pink and wrinkly, but also really sweet,
But it’s not cake and ice cream; it’s not a thing you eat.

Think of something small and pink, lovable and new.
What’s a thing to cuddle with, a thing to be close to?

Nope, not a teddy-bear, not a blanket or a pillow,
Our something’s not a quilt or a fuzzy pussy-willow.

Our something is something living; with a heartbeat, lungs, and head,
It’s something that breathes in and out; it isn’t something dead.

Nope, not a monkey, not a kitty, nor a lizard,
Our something’s not a strutting rooster, grateful for his gizzard.

Our something isn’t here yet, but we're sure it's on its way.
Our something should arrive in the merry month of May.

Yet it won’t come by mail, some say it comes by stork.
But our something comes from heaven, not from China or New York.

Our something isn’t far; it’s inside of my dear wife.
Nan gives our something love, she gives our something life.

Ok. That’s all. That’s it. Are all the clues enough?
I think you know our something after hearing all this stuff.

So should I tell you? I just don’t know. Yes? No? Maybe?
It’s just so exciting, I can’t hold it in – we’re gonna have a BABY!

Well, in keeping with the tradition, we're happy to announce that there is another poem! Nan and I came up with this and read it to our families over Christmas to spread the news--now we're sharing it with all of you. The poem talks about different members of our families and the great things to look forward to in 2008.

2008

It’s the end of December, the end of the year,
And wasn’t ’07 just great!?!
Our hearts overflowing with holiday cheer,
We’re ready to welcome ’08.

The Lord is so giving; we all are so blessed
As on the past we reflect.
A new year beginning, let’s give it our best,
Here’s just a few things to expect.

For the Hobbs family much is in store.
The Mission Home always is hoppin’!
Zone conference, transfers, sick elders, and more,
But Mom and Dad Hobbs just ain’t stoppin’!

Brittany’s a senior at Providence High,
Come June she will don cap and gown.
In August she’ll be on her way to the Y
To join Jason in sweet Cougartown!

Speaking of Jason, he’s just so dang smart.
Ace O-Chem? Just how does he do that?
But his BYU classes are only the start,
This summer he’s taking the MCAT.

With Kamie, her fam, Heather, Richelle,
There’s just too much fun for this list.
In their crazy lives you never can tell,
Baptisms, weddings—you get the gist.

The Chandler home could be so quiet these days,
All except Lauren are gone.
But she makes up for the quiet in so many ways,
There’s still quite a lot going on.

She’s dancing and singing but that is not all,
She’s also excelling in school.
A big Twin Falls Bruin she’ll be in the fall,
And then she will really be cool! L

uke is a Cougar; his year has been awesome.
But he’s anxious to go do some fishin’.
As a fisher of men he’ll help the Church blossom,
This year he’ll be serving a mission.

For Amy and Shane it will surely be crazy
‘Cause Carson and Cade are around.
Those two newborn babies won’t let you be lazy,
We’re so glad they are here safe and sound.

A summer in Utah for Lindsay and Wynn
To help him in his education.
There also will be a new temple in Twin—
Can’t wait for the spring dedication.

As for Natalie, Dillon, and me,
’08 will surely be fun.
After three years of study I’ll have my J.D.,
It’s hard to believe I’ll be done.

And early next fall I will start making money!
But first I must pass the exam.
And the bar exam folks—it just isn’t funny,
So in June and July I will cram.

And somewhere in there—we still need to plan—
I’ll pack up my wife and our boy,
And load all our stuff in a big U-Haul van
And move us all to Illinois.

One other thing—right around July third—
Another small something to do.
We already have the doc’s final word,
We’re going to have Number Two!
Oh, 2008… I can hardly wait.

Christmas Card 2007

For those of you who have not seen our Christmas card this year, here it is. Happy Holidays to everyone! We wish you all the best of the season!!

Cute phrases/moments

Dillon says and does all kinds of funny things, but here are a couple I wanted to make sure I documented: 1. Aaron has a really ugly brown vest he got at a thrift store. The other night he was going outside for a minute and put it on for a little warmth. As he walked by Dillon, he said, "Daddy get in a boat?" So funny! He thought Aaron was wearing a life jacket!! 2. We were looking at a picture and I was asking Dillon to name people. I pointed to Brittany and he suddenly yelled, "Oh, that's my friend, Brittany!" 3. Today we hosted the weekly playgroup. I helped seven 2-year-olds make Christmas trees out of construction paper. I purchased colored cotton balls for them to glue on like ornaments. There were a couple different sizes and the smallest was 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser. I tried to keep that size away from the kids, but about an hour after everyone had left, Dillon walked up to me and said, "Mommy, a little yellow ball in my nose." So after attempting to remove it myself, we went into the pediatrician to have it removed. It was a classic 2-year-old moment!! 4. Less than 48 hours after we visted the doctor for his nose, Dillon was back in the office with a gaping wound in his thumb! It got shut in our hide-away-bed. I was really worried we would need to get stiches but they were able to get away with using some special glue. The glue was supposed to stay on for about a week, but fell off after 24 hours thanks so the sweaty hand Dill inherited from his Mommy. So I had to bother the office again with a phone call. All we can do is a bandade and ointment from here on out. I think Piedmont Pediatrics is getting sick of us.

An almost picture perfect moment

On Wednesday we had our first snowfall of the year. It was really pretty. And just the kind of snow storm you want...big, pretty flakes but not sticking to the roads. Dillon insisted on letting his beloved horses, "Spirit" and "Rain," run in the snow (like they do on the movie). After his cheeks turned a nice rosy pink I suggested we go inside and get some hot chocolate and cookies. I was so excited to have a fun, festive moment with my little boy.

So I filled up a little cup for him and before I could sit down with my own cup, he had spilled a large amount onto his lap. For me, the next 15 minutes went something like this: Have a sip of cocoa, hurry and grab a washcloth and wipe off Dillon, have a sip of cocoa, get a cookie for each of us, take a sip, grab a spoon to fish out a whole cookie from Dillon's cup, have a sip, grab the washcloth again, sip, fish out another cookie and explain AGAIN, "Dillon just dip the cookie and take a bite. Don't drop the whole cookie in." etc, etc. It was still fun to sit in our warm apartment drinking cocoa while the beautiful snow fell outside, needless to say, it was a little more hectic than I planned. My sister, Kamie, reminded me today that most moments with children turn out this way. It's part of the fun.

I love being a mom, especially to such a sweet little boy. He really is the best and I'm grateful for all the one-on-one time we get! I love my boy!!!

Thanksgiving 2007

Dillon LOVES being with Grandma! He has to know where she is at any given moment. The two of them collected leaves to decorate the house! Such a great Grandma!

Isn't Brittany the cutest little sister in the world!?!
Thanksgiving at the Charlotte, NC, Mission Home. We were lucky enough to have the Assistants and four office missionaries join us for dinner.

We're having a great Thanksgiving holiday in Charlotte. One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the Macy's parade. Dillon really enjoyed it this year, too, especially when Mary Poppins and Big Bird made their appearances.

My dad is a little under the weather, and pretty busy but we're hoping to get a little time with him after interviews today. Britt is as cute as ever (as you can see) and we're helping her get ready for her audition for the school musical. Aaron is the greatest husband/father in the world. So fun to just be together during the holidays! We have so much to be grateful for!

Family Pictures at UVA

Our good friend Erika took some family pictures for us. The Rotunda at UVA is always beautiful, especially in the fall.
Dillon was not cooperating very well during the photo shoot.
We couldn't keep Dillon in one spot for more than 3 seconds. He thought is was really funny!

Children's Museum of Richmond

(cute boy riding a dinosaur)

Aaron had to take the ethics part of the bar today in Richmond, so Dillon and I decided to tag along and make a trip to the Children's Museum. Dill and I probably enjoyed our time much more than Aaron did. We carpooled with the Gulbransen's and got pizza with them before heading back to Charlottesville.

(there was a great climbing area with lots of levels and slides)

Halloween

I was having a hard time finding a costume Dillon would wear this year but Kamie saved the day by sending this horse. Dillon loves it! And any of you who know Aaron know that he is always prepared for a Western theme. So here's our little family at the ward (church) party.
"Yee haw!"
Trick-or-Treating on The Lawn (at UVA).

Dillon wore real cowboy boots to the church but it took us 15 minutes to get his chubby little feet into them, so we opted to leave them home this time around. They were covered by his chaps anyway.
If that's not the cutest little cowboy you've ever seen...
Dillon enjoyed the "pumpkin patch" (in the mall parking lot!) where we purchased our pumpkin for our Halloween tradition, "Dinner in a pumpkin." Yummy!

Loving Dillon

Dillon has been very loving lately. He'll come up to me, touch my arm, and say, "Mommy, I love you," followed by " Mommy, I love Daddy." He's also been known to say, "Mommy, I love Megan" and "Mommy I like snoo snacks (fruit snacks)." How many two-year-olds do you know who volunteer the words " I love you" without being prompted?!? Sweet boy!!

Fun week in Charlotte, NC

We had a fun week in Charlotte staying at the Mission home. Here he is playing in Grandma's sink...this boy LOVES making messes!!!

Dillon and I were able to meet up with Cami and Tate at the Discovery museum and it's always so great to see them.

Dillon loves Brittany or as he would say it "my Binting". He's such a nice cuddler!

The drive to and from NC was beautiful. The colors are changing and there are so many trees and rolling hills, so it really is breathtaking. We are REALLY going to miss this area!!!!

Stake Farm Day/Picnic

Last Saturday we had a really fun stake activity at a farm owned by a member of our ward. There were all kinds of fun activities for kids. Dillon LOVED the big tube slide with a plunge into a pile of hay at the bottom.

The kids got to climb inside a real tractor! Yes, Dillon and Megan go everywhere together. Such cute friends.


We took a hay ride and had a beautiful view of the landscape! I love fall!!

UVA Womens Volleyball game

We had a fun Friday night with the Goodes last week at the V-ball game. Dillon and Megan were great fans...clapping with the crowd and watching very intently. And both families caught one of the free T-shirts they were throwing to the crowd!!! Go Hoos!!!

National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

After visiting the outlets in Leesburg, VA on Tuesday, we made a stop by the Air and Space Museum by Dulles Airport. It was so cool. Aaron especially enjoyed it.

Real Live Lawyer

OR

???

Although we're not sure yet whether

we're Cubs fans or White Sox fans...

...we can go buy Bulls

and Bears gear because...

...we're going to be Chicagoans!

We're already practicing the correct pronunciation

and usage of "Da Bulls. Da Bears. Sausage...Polish Sausage."

We have officially accepted a job! After graduation

in May we'll be moving to the Windy City to take

a job with Katten Muchin Rosenman (where

Aaron worked over the summer). Aaron will

be an associate in the litigation department.

We had a very positive experience with both

the city of Chicago and Katten. It is nice to

know (roughly) what the next phase of our lives will be.

So all of you who have secretly repressed desires

to go to the Oprah Show will now have a place to stay!

(Aaron gets the credit for this creative post)

Annapolis

We drove to Annapolis, MD today. It is such a cute town. The capital building has been in use since the 1700s!!!!

The water front was beautiful.

The streets were lined with red brick making it feel very colonial. Lots of fun shops, etc. We also stopped by the Naval Academy. We're just trying to make sure we see all the sights while we are on the east coast. Lots of fun things to do.

Watching airplanes come in

Before Conference started this morning, we drove to Gravely Point for a little walk and to watch the planes come in. They were flying right over our heads! It was a great view with the Washington Monument in the background. I think the whole experience was a love/hate deal for Dillon. He'd get really excited when he saw the plane, and then look a little scared when it was right over our heads. The only unpleasant part of this was the weather. It is so hot still ...where is fall?

Conference Weekend/Fall Break

(notice Dillon's new haircut...I'm pretty proud of myself)
We are enjoying conference weekend at Richelle's house. It works out nicely that Aaron's Fall Break is next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so we can really enjoy General Conference and Aaron is not worried about school on Monday. Richelle will be leaving Monday but we're going to use her place for a couple days in order to see some DC sights we haven't gotten around to yet.

Dillon loves Aunt "Shelly"! During the afternoon session today he crawled up on her lap and proceeded to stick his little fingers into her mouth (I'm sure she appreciated that) and count her teeth. Every time he reached the molars he would laugh hysterically--the fact that he didn't get a nap today most likely added to the moment--he was so delirious. He did it over and over again and somehow it stayed funny. He also enjoys makeup time---Richelle lets him play with her makeup brushes and such while she gets ready. Today, for the first time, he figured out how to open the eye shadow and actually applied it to the correct part of his face. I should have taken a picture. Aaron made sure I cleaned it off before we went out in public.

Camping

Sherando Lake is beautiful!!!

If those are the cutest campers I've ever seen!

We had a great weekend camping at Sherando Lake a couple weeks ago with our friends. The weather was perfect. The only bummer was that we had a really hard time finding good firewood. Aaron and Troy used all of their boyscout skills and did a fairly good job considering most of the wood they had was wet and rotten.

Aaron's Birthday

We had a great surprise birthday party for Aaron...even though he was only partially surprised.

Apple Picking

The Apple donuts at Carter Mountain Orchard are sooooo yummy. This is a great picture of our cute boy enjoying every bite.

Dillon and I did one of my favorite fall activites this last weekend...apple picking. We tagged along with the Goodes and visiting family. The Golden delicious are just that...Delicious!!! We love Virginia!

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