HOT!

Because he's impossibly cute

Every morning we have a good conversation with the ceiling fan. Today was no exception. (Hey, it gives mom a chance to get ready.)

After church we tried out the new portable swing at Nana's house. It works pretty good and keeps us almost as entertained as our regular swing at home.

But it was fairly warm today. (Mid-90's. Fine for me, hot for everyone here.) And the heat and sunshine seemed to tucker him out.

Found It!

So now that I've located the lost camera, I guess I'd better catch you up on what's been going on here.

Well June 21st, the munckin and I went to a Family Reunion in Mackay, ID with Trav's parents. It was Willard's family reunion, he's the 3rd of 11 children all of whom are still living and 10 of which were actually at this year's reunion. Can you spot Gramps among all his siblings below?

As was expected Gideon was the hit of the reunion. So many of the aunts and uncles and cousins hadn't seen him yet, so they were thrilled that we came.

This is just from yesterday. But it was so cute, I had to take a picture. He does take naps every now and then.

Today we attended a barbecue at a friend's house. Thanks so much Kathy! And we're definitely coming back to use your big hammock again sometime! We loved it.

Tonight we went straight from the barbecue to our church picnic. I have to say I've been so impressed by how the people at church have really stepped up and offered to help with the baby since Travis has been gone. (I can only pray that kind of support continues even when he's a busy toddler.) At any rate, thanks Marisa and Rick for your help tonight! And to Chantel, Ben and Darece (and your kids) for all the help during Sunday services.

Boy will I be glad when Travis is back! But until then, at least we know we're loved.

LOST!!!

So somewhere in the chaos of the last couple of weeks I've misplaced my camera. This bums me out because the munchkin has been doing such cute things lately. He's really starting to discover his hands and I've caught him studying them a few times. The only problem is, I can't find my camera, so I can't even get pictures. Oh well, I guess I'll keep looking.

In the meantime, I wanted to let you know we're alive and kicking. Things have just been really crazy lately. As usual, our summer is booked full and we're just trying to survive it. I'll try and find the camera soon. Until then know that even if I'm not posting as much, I'm still around. Lots of Love!

At a loss for words

Oh wait, I found some words. Stupid Russia!

Lily's Birth Announcement

Seriously I have a talented family! Cami made Lily's birth announcements herself (instead of using the cop out way like I did) and they turned out so beautiful! I'm very impressed.

Gideon can't wait to meet his brand newest cousin. (Actually, he can't wait to meet all of his cousins.) It's been decided that we'll be camping in the same trailer with Cami and Lily (since our husbands aren't able to come to Nauvoo for Hillary's wedding the family is throwing Cami and me and the babies in together.) We're really excited about it.

Today is Gideon's 3 month birthday! I can't believe it's been 3 months already! Time sure is flying. 3 months from today we'll get to be sealed! I'm so happy!

The Hidden Talents of my Baby Brother....

...And Not so hidden talents of one of my baby sisters.

Tonight Jesse sang in the country showdown. She performed "Blue" by Leeann Rimes and did a fantastic job. She didn't make the top five, but she was definitely one of the best performers there. And of all the criteria they were judging on we (in our oh so biased opinion) decided Jesse won the category of "Marketability as a Country Music Star" hands down. Anyway we had fun hearing all of the acts and are very proud of you Jesse. Maybe next year more of us will enter just for fun.

So remember that project I was lamenting a few weeks ago that Travis left undone. Well it turns out Cody is becoming almost as handy around the house as our father. Look what he did:

What's even most impressive is that he didn't even use his favorite tools. Duct Tape and Bailing Wire.

The munchkin was quite impressed with uncle Cody's handy work. It kept him entertained for a long time! And I love it. You're my favorite brother, Cody. Hands down. Love you and thanks a million!

Colorado Chronicles: Wednesday thru Saturday

We left Idaho at about 10:15 Tuesday night. Mom, Cody, Hillary Gideon and myself. We set out in a rented Toyota Highlander that was packed tighter than any vehicle I've ever seen. (Yes, I'm including the trip in which our 9 person family drove to North Carolina in a 7 passenger van which had Hillary sitting on a cooler and Cody on the floor the entire way. Still, there was sort of room to maneuver in the van. Not so in this Highlander.)

Even so it was a good trip. I drove all the way until we hit Cheyenne. In my family I'm the designated overnight driver because I don't suffer from sleep driving. (I might run out of gas in the middle of the night, but I won't fall asleep. I once again reference previous NC road trip.)

Gideon did great. Of course it was night so he slept most of the way. He was only a little confused to wake up in his car seat. We made it to Pueblo by 9:30am, so Cody was even on time for his 10:00am wrestling practice.

While Cody was at practice the rest of us set off in search of a spot to call home for the next few days.

Okay so it looks slightly desolate.

We unloaded and mom tasked Hillary and I with setting up camp while she went back to get Cody and a few things from Wal-Mart that we'd forgotten.

I feel like this picture should be in a "Where's Waldo" or "I Spy" book. Can you spot the first time camper?

It was Hillary who ended up setting things up, with only occasional help from me, because I was busy trying to take care of a fussy baby boy who clearly was disturbed because he didn't understand what was happening.

Still she managed to get us set up alright.

And even though we were experiencing wind gusts up to 40 mph, the tent held and we all managed to get a little nap.

Cody had a date that night so after practice he and I drove around the state park trying to locate shower facilities. We finally found some. Then he was off to meet his girl.

The rest of us took it easy at camp, had an early dinner and were in bed by 8:30. (Somehow driving through the night made us all very tired. Even so we ended up staying awake and talking until after Cody's date brought him back at around 10:00)

I was amazed at how well Gideon did. He slept for a solid 8 hours that night before waking up wanting fed. And then he went right back to sleep. And we were blessed that the winds died down in the late evening, so it didn't get terribly cold overnight.

Thursday while Cody was at practice we went and admired all the exotic animals at "Pet Paradise." The munchkin even got to feed some Koi.

We picked Cody up from practice all of us went and used the shower facilities at the park. We had lunch in town and ran errands before I had to chauffer Cody out to another date with the same girl from the previous evening. This time we picked her up and she ran around with us. The date was a disaster because nothing they planned seemed to pan out. But that's a story you'll have to ask Cody. It's actually kind of funny. So she ended up with us as we went to dinner at Bev and Larry MacCartee's house and then played cards back at camp. Even though their plans fell through, Cody reported with a sly smile that "At least it ended well." I'm just going to leave that alone. By the time we got her home and got back to camp, it was after midnight.

Friday morning I woke up to find my son driving the car.

(Okay that wasn't exactly how it went down. Because it was so windy the car became the designated "calling" spot, so if you had to use your phone, you were in the car. Gideon was apparently talking to Grandpa in Morocco when I came upon this scene.)

Side bar: One thing about the munchkin, it appears he's a born camper. He just loves to lay in the tent and kick and talk. He literally did that for hours. And he didn't want me there because he'd fuss when I'd try to talk to him or pick him up. He just really enjoyed the outdoors and especially the tent. And he slept for at least 8 hours every night we were there. He was a pretty happy guy. I'm sure his father is so proud.

Friday once we dropped Cody off to catch his ride to Wrestling camp, we called my mom's friend Kelley and her daughters, Lauren and Enea and asked if they wanted to spend some time with us. We went shopping in downtown (they have the cutest boutique shops there.) And then went and played Glowgolf (miniature golf played indoors under blacklights. It's really fun.) And then we invited their family out to camp where they joined us that evening for tin foil dinners. It was a nice evening, if still a little windy, but we all enjoyed visiting and eating.

Saturday was busy. We got up early and broke camp. Gideon fussed and cried as we took down his tent. He was very disappointed.

We went to the laundry mat to wash the camp smell out of our clothes. And then went to Grandpa Darryl's favorite store. The Arc Thrift Store. We even bought a few things for him while we were there.

Hi Grandpa!

Then we went over to visit Kelley and her girls for a few minutes. Enea just couldn't stand it. Her exact words were, "I must hold him."

She turned out to be a great baby watcher. While we practiced our number for church on Sunday (yes when the bishop and R.S. President found out we were in town, mom was asked to sing, and at the last minute decided to have Hillary and I sing with her.) Anyway Enea read him books and played with him and in general kept him entertained. It was a big help.

And then we went camping my style. Hello Marriot!

Okay so the munchkin clearly takes after his father more than his mother regarding where he likes to stay. He wasn't nearly as amused by the hotel room as he had been by the tent. I mean camping is fine but give me a hot shower and high thread count bed linens any day over an air mattress and sleeping bag.

Still in Gideon's mind the hotel did have one advantage: A Pool!

When we discovered this, we called Kelley and her girls and asked them if they wanted to go for a swim. Naturally they didn't hesitate. (That's Lauren on the bed behind the munchkin.)

Okay so the pool was indoors, but the ensemble was so cute, we had to get a picture.

(That's Kelley holding him and Hillary fixing her contact.)

Turns out my boy loves to swim. Once he got over the inital shock of being placed in tepid water (he didn't cry, just made a funny face until his body temp acclimated to the water), he kicked and splashed and smiled and laughed. We didn't keep him in very long, maybe 10 minutes. Still looks like he's going to be a swimmer. He really enjoyed it.

After the pool (and hot showers) we went to Kelley's house for dinner. Her husband, Dave, did some amazing things with chicken and pineapple on the grill. And the garlic green beans were so good my mom came away with the recipie.

(Kelley, if you're reading this, thank you soooo much for everything! We really love you guys.)

Anyway after that we were pretty much exhausted and just went back to the hotel to veg for the rest of the evening. (Amazing how camping and swimming can wear you out.)

Colorado Chronicles: Sunday

After church we had dinner with friends of my parents. Then we went back over and spent a little more time with Kelley and her family.

Enea wanted to feed the munchkin and when I told her she was being such a good friend to him her only comment was, "I'm his Auntie." It was very cute!

Hillary got pooped on by one of Lauren's guinea pigs. She was embarrassed, but the rest of us were highly amused.

When Enea got tired of baby entertaining (which took a long time) Lauren gladly took over.

We were very sad to leave and can't wait to come and spend time with the whole family again.

The Munchkin LOVED the big arm chair at Bev and Larry's. We hadn't seen him this happy since we took the tent down. We're glad though to have such great friends who let us all crash at their place Sunday night. Thanks again!

Colorado Chronicles: Monday & Tuesday

Monday morning we bid farewell to Bev, Larry & Peublo in general and trekked over the mountain to Gunnison. Cody had the entire afternoon free, so we spent time with him, hanging out in our little hotel room. That evening we got to go over and see him wrestle two matches. Gideon really seemed to love the wrestling, all the action made him very vocal and excited.

(Can you see the trip beginning to take a toll on me. I was starting to feel the exhaustion by this point.)

All the excitement eventually took it's toll on the munchkin too. By the time uncle Cody wrestled his last match of the evening he was out.

Tuesday morning, we checked out of the hotel and went back to Wrestling camp for Cody's final two matches.

This time Gideon decided to participate.

Gideon gets the Pin!

But apparently taking down uncle Cody took everything out of him and by the time Cody wrestled his last match, the munchkin was done. Deja Vu.

The loss to his nephew not withstanding Cody had a GREAT camp. More than one coach tried to talk he and my mom into transferring to their schools. He finished with a record of 15-1. His only loss came at the hands of a two time defending Colorado state champion. And he only lost by a couple of points. He insisted that had he had more time (they were only wrestling 3 minute matches instead of regulation 6) he would have won. His coach says he's seen great improvement and is excited for the coming season to see what Cody can do. (Of course, that was his Colorado coach and chances are he'll be wrestling in Idaho, but hey at least he's supportive.) Anyway we're very proud of him and glad that he's doing so well.

The drive home was interesting. We left straight from wrestling camp (as soon as Cody showered of course), stopping only to fill up and grab some lunch. Once again I drove most of the way. Cody was on an adrenaline high and also had a concussion. Somehow that combination made him really goofy. He bought a cheap dart gun at a gas station and spent half the trip shooting everything in the car, including us. Oh well, it was funny.

Gideon even broke the law. He had a really stinky diaper and had to be out of his seat while we were driving so he could get it changed. What a little rebel!

Cody's goofiness reached it's peak when he started trying to come up with other uses for my neck support pillow. There were only two other things he found he could do with it. 1. Since it's red, hold it folded just right so that passing drivers think they're being mooned by Elmo. 2. Wear it as a ceremonial headress.

It's good to be home.