"Camping" in the Canyon

On Friday, we drove up North Ogden Canyon to go "camping" -- meaning, we drove up there and stayed just long enough to play and eat -- then we drove home :).  Steve's parents just bought new four-wheelers, so they wanted to try them out. 

At first, Grayson didn't want to ride on one, but Steve convinced him to go by saying they could go see the cows down the road.  Steve said Gray ended up loving it, and they had a great time!

Aren't they cute? :)

Grandma Jeanne and I stayed behind with the boys while everyone else went out on a long ride on the 4-wheelers.

Gray had a great time climbing and jumping off rocks.

So proud of himself :)  We also had great fun chasing crickets around in the grass.  Gray thought it was hilarious whenever they'd jump

Thatcher was his laid-back little self, and mostly just chilled on the blanket. :)

After four-wheeling, we had hobo dinners and s'mores.  Gray just ate his marshmallows right off the stick -- the whole thing all at once :)


The we went home to our own beds. My kind of camping!! :)

My Boys

Just some cute pictures of all my boys :) I love them!

Aren't they so handsome?

This is the fake smile you get when you tell a 3-year-old to smile.  But still way cute.

Showing off his dapper vest and tie (that I got at DI for a steal! Woot!)

I love Gray's face :)

That's a full lap! :)

This makes me laugh every time I see it!

T just flopped down like this on Steve's face and stayed for a good 5+ minutes! It was so funny!

The boys' first bath together.  They had a great time splashing each other!

Aw, they love each other :)

I love my boys!!!

T is 8 months old!

I'm a bit behind, but I took these pics when Thatcher turned 8 months (on Sept. 6th). I've just been waiting to edit them. Anyway, here's a bit about baby T lately.

T is still just the happiest little guy ever -- he is always smiling and laughing! Sometimes he laughs at the weirdest things -- one day he was just watching Grayson eat his sandwich, and he was full-out gut-laughing like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen!  He's not so quiet anymore, however! The boy has found his voice, and loves to babble and/or screech! He says Da-Da (which Steve loves, of course), and baba, booooo, and mmmmm -- and other random sounds.  We're working on the 'mama' :) .  He still doesn't cry very often -- just when he's tired. He recognizes the signs for 'eat' and 'milk'.  He loves yogurt, bananas, apple sauce, and peas.  He doesn't like sweet potatoes or carrots (yet). He is so close to crawling, but isn't there quite yet. And I'm not gonna push it! I'm all about him staying in one place for as long as possible! Ha!
He is such a wonderful little guy, and such an important part of our family! We love you, baby T!

Grayson Lately

I just wanted to post some updates on Grayson. He is such a fun little guy, and is growing up so fast!
- Gray is very smart. He can spell his first and last name. He can even spell his first name backwards. He knows his phone number. He can count to 50 (with a few reminders -- sometimes he still says "28, 29, 20-10!" for 30). He can spell/read 'dog', 'cat', 'lion', 'mom', 'dad', 'hug', and a few more.
- He has an incredible memory. He came home from preschool one day and recited "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" to me from memory. Just from hearing it once at school. He also knows nearly every movie he's seen by heart, I swear. It's crazy.
- He loves books, movies, painting with sidewalk paint, and playing Angry Birds on my iPhone. (he's actually beaten some of my scores!)
- Gray is still a very picky eater, and it frustrates me to no end. :P Pretty much the only thing he's guaranteed to eat is pizza.
- Gray us a very good big brother, and loves to make Thatcher laugh. He gets him his binky when he cries, or tickles him until he's happy again.
- He loves to sing songs -- when it's his idea -- you can't just tell him to sing. He loves "I Am a Child of God", "Old Macdonald Had a Farm", "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", "The Wheels on the Bus", and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". And any songs from his favorite shows :p
- He loves to help, and has a few chores he does himself. He's in charge of feeding the dog, putting the dishes in the dishwasher, and cleaning up his toys/books.
- Gray wants to be just like his daddy :). Right now his favorite pajamas are the 'Brasil' shirt Steve brought back from a work trip, and some blue striped gym shorts -- because his daddy has the same outfit that he sleeps in.
- He loves playing "Armadillo-Fish-Camel" with his daddy every night before bed. Don't even ask me what it is. I've watched them do it every night, but I still don't know what's going on. But they sure do!
- Gray calls M&Ms "em-anemones". He says rhinoceros "rhino-oceros". He says syrup "syrrie-lup".
- He is pretty much potty-trained! Just a few accidents every once in a while.
- He is LOVING preschool! He made the visor in this picture at preschool, and is very proud of it.

Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Yesterday (the 16th) was my 28th birthday! I had a wonderful day -- my husband spoiled me :)

Steve got me a new charm bead for my Pandora bracelet -- it's a cupcake! It's cute, because sometimes he calls me his "little cupcake" --hehe! He's going to love that I just posted that on the internet! :D I guess we could also say it's because I love baking. :)
Then I made yummy french toast for breakfast, and we all had a nice, lazy morning. Then came the very best present ever: Steve watched the boys while I got a THREE HOUR NAP!!!! Ahhhh, it was bliss, I tell you -- BLISS!
When I woke up from my nap, I found our happy birthday banner up, and Steve had helped Grayson make me a little sign that says "Happy Birthday Love you Mommy" -- Gray colored it himself. It's very cute. Then I found out that Steve had MORE presents for me! First I opened a photo printer that is FABULOUS -- it prints out professional-quality pictures! It's awesome. Next, I opened some photo editing software called Aperture -- Steve says he's read that it's better than PhotoShop -- so I can edit my photos myself. I asked him if it would work on my laptop (because I have a pretty old, crappy Dell that doesn't work well. And Aperture is Apple software), and Steve said yes, it would. So I opened my next present, and it was a NEW LAPTOP! He got me a brand-new MacBook Air! It's beautiful :) SO thin and sleek, and it has some great features -- I just don't know how to use them all yet! I've never had a Mac before, so I'm still figuring everything out -- but so far I love it! Wow, my hubby loves me :)

Then my wonderful parents watched the boys while Steve and I went to Ruby River -- I looooove their Filet Mignon and their cinnamon yams!! Mmmmm it was wonderful! AAAAAAAND -- to top of my perfect day, we stopped by Sandy's on the way home and got my very favorite treat in the world -- their fresh peach tart! Oh my, I swear it's heaven on a plate.

Thank you, Steve-o, for such a great birthday! And thank you to everyone who texted, called, or sent me a Happy Birthday wish through Facebook. I feel so loved :)

A Great Day at the Zoo

We had a great day today at the zoo! It wasn't too hot, there was a slight breeze, and there weren't many people there! I think I'll always wait til September to go :)

I brought our wagon, and it was wonderful.  Gray and Row rode most of the time in it, and had a great time. (And I got a great work-out pulling them up all the hills!!)

Nani and Thatcher

We sat and watched the bulldozer demolish one of the bathrooms for like 20 minutes.  The little boys were fascinated.  It was pretty cool.

Of course we love the elephants!

Obligatory gorilla-measuring :)

Grayson wouldn't go over there, but here are the rest of them

My perfect impression of the gorilla.

Grayson's perfect impression of the gorilla :)

Rowan and Sarah's perfect impressions of the gorilla :)

T riding the wooden horse with Nani

Gray on the horse

Gray really liked the rhinos

Nani's favorite -- the giraffes!!

Gray's favorite -- the tigers. We had to go back to see them twice.  Even though they were in the corner in the shade, and you could barely see them.

Fascinated with the big boa constrictor.

Cute little boys

T's mid-zoo siesta.  I love the foot propped up on the bar. :)

Gray and Row were fascinated by the carousel

So we all took a ride! Gray beamed the whole time! (Last time we went, he wouldn't go near it, so that's progress!)

We tried to get a pic of Nani with all 4 grandkids, and it was quite funny.  Here are the three best ones.

(I let Gray pick out two new animals for his collection -- a rhino and a giraffe -- he was very excited)

(Row decided it was fun to lie down in the fountain ball thingy -- he got drenched!)

What a fun day! We sure love these little kiddos!