8.19.08 - BOATING and 4 WHEELING

4 WHEELING, BOATING, and ZION NATIONAL PARK



We had one last "summer vacation" down in Southern Utah and it was so great. The weather was beautiful and although it is already October it was nice and warm.

Here are all the fun people who came with us:

John & Kathleen
Johnny & Christine and Johnny
Michael & Camille and Lance (and Afton)
Katie and her friend Rachelle
Collette and her boyfriend Kyle
Jacob
John & Debbie Bennett


4 WHEELING AT SAND HOLLOW

John and Michael in their riding gear.
John & Debbie are up for the adventure!


Lance likes motorcycles and 4 Wheelers too...
Wearing nothing but Daddy's Motocross gear! =)

Michael and his dad and step-mom (John & Debbie) went 4 wheeling and had a really great time. Michael is pretty adventurous and took them on some exciting trails. Michael and John spent the first day with the 2 of them scouting out the good areas, and then Debbie joined them the next day. Debbie joined the Covey family on the boat the first day and we all had a lot of fun.




All the exciting places Michael found for the 4 Wheelers.








BOATING AT SAND HOLLOW RESERVOIR
Lance took these first 5 pictures. He took a lot more than this... but pretty impressive that he got some fun shots, huh?

Aunt Christine, Cousin Johnny, and Uncle Jacob
Aunt Katie doing the scary face she and Rachelle taught Lance.


Kyle & Aunt Collettie.


Gandma Bennett and Mommy.

We really enjoyed taking the boat out one last time before the weather got colder. It was also a great opportunity to spend some time with Collette's boyfriend Kyle and to send Katie and her friend Rachelle off to California for their internship in their Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Utah. They are both in the Masters Program there and are great friends.


Kyle Collette, Christine, Nana, and Johnny.
Rachelle, Jacob, Lance and Katie.


Camille and Debbie... showing off the "baby bump."


Debbie skiing and wake surfing!


Johnny going from laying down to standing on the wake surf!
Kyle on the surf. Kyle was great on the wake board and can do a back flip!


Lance and Papa driving the boat.
Nana and Lance.


Lance loves Aunt Katie... she is so playful and fun!


Katie on the wake surf!


Papa looking like he's in his 20's again... =)


Lance and Mommy. Lance is a great snuggler!


Lance napping on the boat.


HANGING OUT


Kyle, Michael and Jacob playing Rock Band.
Papa making Lance laugh... he loves his Papa!


We got to stay at the Whittingham's home there in Hurricane and it was so nice to have a place to come "home" to at the end of a fun day. We have stayed here before and just love it. Brady and Terri are so great to let us stay and enjoy their home. Thank you Brady and Terri!




ZION NATIONAL PARK
--The Weeping Rock--


Catching the "tears."


While everyone was eating Lance was busy discovering the water...
Eathing lunch at the Weeping Rock.


Kyle & Collette.


On our last day, Sunday, we went into Zion National Park to eat lunch and enjoy the specacular beauty of Southern Utah. It really was beautiful. We caught up with the Joey & Tammy Covey family (who was also spending the weekend down south) and had a great time together! We took a little hike up to Weeping Rock to eat and then found a fun river to hang out by. The little kids loved it because they could play in the cold water and throw rocks in!

--The Fun River--

Lance throwing dirt and rocks into the river and showing us his "so messy" hands.


Michael and Dad.
Collette and Camille (and Afton- 7 months pregnant).



Family photo

10.18.08 - GRAMMY PARRISH

Grammy Parrish is so adorable. My mom, Katie, Lance and I went to go and visit her and had a nice time. Grammy is 93 and is doing very well. She still lives in the same home that she has lived in for years, she gets ready, goes on a walk, and takes care of herself. She has a sharp mind and is in great health for her age.

Grammy doesn't like getting her picture taken. She says, "I don't take a good picture." If I look like her when I am her age I will probably be begging people to take my picture!



I snuck in a few photos so I could have pictures of Lance with his Great-Great Grandma.

While we were there she told us a few stories about when she was younger and how the telephone and "talkies" or talking pictures were such exciting inventions.

She told us how there would be about 4 homes to each telephone line and they all shared the same operator. You could pick up the phone and listen to other people's conversations if you wanted! And, of course, the operator was always listening!

She liked going to see the films and really thought the "talkies" (as they called them) were really great. There were lots of films with singing and dancing and she always enjoyed those.

She also told us about her husband Morris, really John Morris Parrish, who lived on Parrish Lane. The street was named "Parrish" because there were so many Parrish's who lived on that street. One of our ancestors was a polygamist and so there were lots and lots of Parrish's!


Grammy and I have always been close. I just love her.

The last time we saw Grammy was at Papa and Grandma Covey's house a couple of months ago. We sat by her at dinner and she and Lance played a game where they pretended that their hands were snakes and would "ssssssssss" and poke each other.

This visit Lance remembered Grammy and he started playing that game with her again! It really amazes me how much he can remember. Although he can't verbalize "I remember you and this is the game we played together" he is so great at communicating in the best way he can.


Lance showing Grammy one of his many "tricks."



Lance took this picture of himself... he was mad when I took the camera away. =(

Lance was great at showing Grammy all of the things he knows. He told her animal sounds, sang her songs, and sang the alphabet (many, many times). This is how his "alphabet song" goes, "ABCD...LMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ." He skips the other half of the letters but it is still so cute to listen to him!

10.17.08 - POTTY TRAINING

I couldn't resist...

We are still working on the potty training and it can be quite an adventure. Some days Lance will want to run around naked all day and will every few minutes say, "Mommy... potty in the toilet?... sticker?" And other times he in not interested at all.

Today was more of a "not interested" day and here are the pictures for the proof. I accidentally left the TV on and instead of Lance potty training he decided he would rather sit on top of the coffee table and watch some TV. Michael is sure that Lance is going to hate me for these pictures in a few years.... but he was just so cute I couldn't resist!


What a cutie!

Because Lance feels the need to have every piece of clothing removed when potty training these probably won't be the last of the "bare bum" photos. =)


Photo courtesy of Lance.

Lance has also decided that every time I take a picture he should be able to take one too. So here is a picture of me sitting at the computer (searching the online classifieds for a crib). I have been spending a fair amount of time on the computer lately trying to figure out some bills, updating the blog, and searching on ksl.com and craigslist.com to find great deals on baby stuff for this little girl on the way! I am so excited and can't wait to meet her!

10.15.08 - GREAT NEWS

Update on the baby...

I had an OB appointment this afternoon and had another ultrasound to see the status of the tear. It actually looks like the tear is healing!!! It is truly a miracle because things could be so much worse.

Dr. Jones says that there is a good chance that I will be able to go full term and have a healthy baby. We are so relieved. Hopefully that is just what will happen! As much as I don't want to have a baby around Christmas time, we are just grateful that things are going so well. Dr. Jones actually put me on his calandar for December 30th... so we will see!