Lots of Changes

I grew up in Vienna, Virginia in one house my entire life. We hopped around for a few months when I was one year old while our house was undergoing major construction and remodeling. For a while, we lived with my grandparents in McLean, and for about a month, we house-sat for Paul's family while they were on vacation in Utah (it was ironic to discover later that the pictures of me sitting on the Cannon's kitchen table in a diaper would be significant). As a kid, I even wished that I could have the opportunity to move, but we never did. There would be times when my parents almost made plans to move to Utah (near my Mom's entire extended family), but it never seemed to pan out.


I loved our house! It has been under some kind of construction since I've been alive. It's never been finished until now, but somehow, I never even noticed. Somehow the unfinished, spider and cricket-infested basement never seemed to bother me. I'd go down there and roller skate, play dress-ups and have a marvelous time with my three younger sisters. I shared a bedroom until I was 14, and learned a lot of important life lessons from that experience. One being, little sisters can be right that it's not a good idea to shove the messes (even in desperation because you've run out of time) under the bed when Mom tells you to clean your room. Our kitchen was also constantly undergoing renovation. We had a huge piece of plywood nailed on to the back of the peninsula that served as a "signing wall" for years. The history of our friends, neighborhood, ward and all the missionaries was immortalized on the back of that wall. It was pretty ugly.

I loved the acre yard! I used to spend hours outside, building forts, playing in the bamboo and in the "woods," and climbing trees. I buried several of my hamsters and other woodland creatures in those woods. We would build bonfires in our fire pit, and have annual "burning ceremonies" at the end of each school year, and have "camp outs" in the backyard complete with tin foil dinners and s'mores. We also had the most enormous garden to the side of our house. Weeding that monstrosity was never a pleasant memory of mine, but enjoying the rewards from it were! We had rows and rows of raspberry bushes, a few blueberry bushes, an old apple tree, a cherry tree, a plum tree and a peach tree. We would always plant tons and tons of corn and beans each year, as well as some other varied crops. Then we'd help my mom can and store them. Also unique to our neighborhood was the plentiful, wonderful well water. We really did have a little piece of heaven at 2649 Five Oaks Road!

I went back there for the last time this past April with Benjamin. We helped with some finishing touches to help stage the house to sell. It looks amazing now, but nothing like the house I grew up in. My parents put our house on the market shortly after I left, and a quick 14 days later, it was sold. Then yesterday, I received a phone call letting me know that they bought a house in Centerville, Utah. I don't know if it's quite hit me yet that I'm never going back. It's still kind of surreal. The stories I tell my kids of my growing up years will only be illustrated in their minds by my old photographs. Grandma and Grandpa's house won't be the one I knew and loved. But I'm happy for them all the same! This will be an exciting, new chapter in their lives.

Some other recent changes that have been going on in our families have been the births of a few new cousins! Paul's brother Josh and his wife Anne recently had a little boy, and my brother Bryan and his wife Jenilee had a little girl! Interestingly enough, that makes a solid four grandsons on the Cannon side, and the fourth grand-daughter on the Lowe side. My sister, Miriam is having baby girl in a few weeks, which will bump that up to five girls (Benjamin is still the only boy on my side). So I'm getting more and more curious to know what we'll be having! Will we continue the Cannon trend, or add to the streak of Lowe girls?