Birthdays :: Cabin Trip

Last Friday we took my parents, along with my brother & his wife, out for dinner at LGO for their birthday.  They have the same birthday.  Same day, same year.  What are the odds of that?  We feasted on delicious salad, grilled artichoke, and pizza.  Keith and I had our usual avocado pizza.  Oh, it was so good!  And then they (LGO) surprised us all with free dessert because they mixed up our table.  We didn't even think the mix up was a big deal.  But they did.  And the free dessert was graciously accepted.  I love that place!  

Happy Birthday Mom & Dad!

Then Saturday Keith & I loaded up our kids and headed up to the cabin.  We just had to get up there to enjoy the rain that was expected.  On our drive up in poured!  It rained hard enough that some people pulled off the road and everyone was driving really slow.  It was awesome!  We all loved it.  

Sunday was clear and sunny and we didn't think we'd get any rain, but in the afternoon the clouds started rolling in.  We planned to leave that night after dinner and we kept hoping it would rain while we were at the cabin.  Just after we finished cleaning the cabin up and our boys were asleep, a huge rain and lightening storm started up.  So we sat out on the front porch and watched it.  It was great!  Just what we were hoping for.  Then it cleared up and we packed up the boys and drove home.  

Beautiful storm clouds gathering at the cabin on Sunday afternoon.

Keith has been working here and there on a sign to hang at the cabin.  He made some great progress on it while we were up there.

Grant played nonstop.  He even golfed in his dinosaur pajamas.  So cute!

But I think most of his time was spent playing with these little cars that were up there at the cabin.  He even took a handful of them with him to bed.  He insisted that I take a picture of them.  

Brett enjoyed crawling around a new place, and he found a bunch of great balls to play with.

 I drove.  I usually drive when we go anywhere.  That way I can't be a back seat driver to Keith, but mostly because Keith is usually making phone calls or enjoying the down time to read or do something.  I can't do much in the car without getting super car sick anyway, so it works out really well for us.

It was so nice to get away for a couple days and enjoy the fresh cool mountain air.  I took a deep breath of it before we got in the car and headed back down here to the hot dessert.

A friend in our kitchen!!!

Just this morning I found this little guy hiding out behind my blinds in the kitchen.  My heart skipped a beat and I ran to grab my phone.  I called Keith and was so grateful that his office is only minutes away from home.  He came to our rescue and got this little trespasser out of here!

I am such a chicken when it comes to any critter that's bigger than a penny.  Seriously.  What would I have done if Keith hadn't been there?  I don't know!  

The only problem now is that I think this guy has a friend because yesterday when I put up the garage door I saw two lizards, just like this one, run from one side of the garage to the other!  

Please lizards, stay out of my house!!!!

Brett 9 months

Brett had his 9 month check up today.

Weight 19 lbs 10oz - average

Height 29 1/4"- slightly above average

Head 18 1/2" - 90th percentile

He gave the doctor a big smile when he came in.  Here's some other things Brett's been up too:

• can crawl on all fours, but still prefers his super speedy army crawl
• loves to pick up his own food and feed himself
• jibber jabbers a lot.  Lots of mamamama & bababababa.
• loves swimming
• has 2 bottom teeth, and many more teeth just waiting to bust through at any moment.
• gives great big smiles when I go in to get him from sleeping
• loves his big brother and follows him around all day...well, until he tries playing with Grant's trains and then Grant banishes Brett from his room.
• super wiggly just like Grant was
• pulling up on everything
• crawls into every tiny space in the house, especially under tables and chairs
• becoming more aware of how things work
• lets you know when he's not happy, which thankfully isn't very often

4th of July

We've been having a fun week.  Keith's oldest sister and her family are in town and we've been able to get together with most of his family all week long.  We've all had fun visiting and catching up, and the kids have had a blast playing together.  We lucked out big time and woke up to cloudy skies on the 4th.  After light rain all morning, we had such a lovely cool day.  It made for perfect playing outside and watching fireworks weather.

Sunday after church.  Grant trying to hold Brett still.

All but one of the cousins after family dinner on Sunday

Playing a fun game

Brett & Keith

Swimming at the beach pool

Having Keith's sister and her family over on the 4th for some cookies and milk

Yummy cookies!

Our family in front of Keith's parent's house.
Grant is holding his favorite cousin Zoe's hand.  Those two are best-cousin-buds.

Best-brother-buds

Chill'n in the grass 

Cruis'n down the street

Patriotic eating of chocolate chip cookie

Grant loved the sparklers this year.

Best-cousin-buds

Family Night Bones :: Blocks

Last Monday night we continued our Family Home Evening series on the human body.  This time we learned about bones.  We started with a lesson about the The First Vision and how Heavenly Father and Jesus have a body of flesh and bones.  Then we talked about how they made our bodies just like theirs.  It was harder to draw the bones than I thought it would be, but I think it turned out pretty cool looking.  Definitely not medical book worthy, but it worked great for us!  

We pulled out the Jenga blocks the other day.  Grant loves playing with them.  He built this block train and then put block letters on it.  I love how creative he is! 

And I love how cute he is!

Going to the pool with Dad