Welcome Gabriel Larsen Kennedy!!!

Merry Christmas! It was a beautiful wintry evening, the snow flaking down,
the air brisk, mom and dad were headed over to family for a Christmas party
with dad's brothers and sister, and their spouses. Grandma Skousen was
there, too.

And just as they walked in the door, the hugs hello were barely finished
when mom's cell phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Hi mom, the contractions are 3-4 minutes apart and they hurt. Can you come
get the kids?"

It was Michelle. Zero hour had arrived. So mom and dad put back on their
coats and pranced through the crusty snowy lawn into the Suburban and with
wipers thonking thonking thonking full blast, they headed to downtown Salt
Lake.

Pulling into the driveway, Peter met them at the back door. The car seats
were already out and ready to install in the back of Clifford the Suburban.
Laurie and Christian were excited to spend the night at grandma's! They
buckled in really fast and off they whooshed back to Alpine. The snow was
beginning to fall heavier and was beginning to lay on the ground. The
grandkids were dropped off in the care of their aunts and uncles at the
Cascade home, and mom and dad raced back to the part. Hardly 95 minutes had
passed from departure to arrival!

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Michelle was soaking in the Jacuzzi tub
when a nurse came by to check her. She got out and lo and behold, she was at
9 centimeters! The nurse said, no going back there for you, it's time to be
in your room and for the doctor to arrive.

Michelle says it took three pushes, one without a contraction, and it really
hurt. Peter observed most doors in that wing of the Cottonwood Women's
Center shut tight and towels were shoved under the cracks of the doors to
allow this event to proceed without peeling the paint of EVERY rooms' walls
....

But it didn't last too long, and suddenly came Baby Y (not X, that's the
female chromosome ....), and everybody rejoiced. He was not happy about the
passage, but settled right down after they cleaned him up.

Back at the party, dinner was over and it was gift exchange time. Mom and
dad were just into it with the other first generation siblings when the cell
phone goes off. All fell silent as mom answered. "Hello? .... Yes ... OH MY
GOODNESS!"

She put down the phone and announced, "Baby boy delivered 10 minutes ago, 9
pounds 8 ounces, 23 and one half inches long, and without any pain
medication whatsoever." At this, uncle Dave dropped a fist in the air
saying, "YES!"

Moments later, mom and dad headed back to Salt Lake and the hospital to
enjoy grandbaby #9, and what a Big Boy he is!

Notes of interest:  Michelle had ZERO pain medications during this delivery.
No epidural, no local, no whack over the head with a baseball bat. And when
it was over, aside from the difficulty of it all, she is quoted as saying,
"After that, I can do ANYTHING! (that was really hard!!)