Scuba scuba scoobie woobie wooba

Jameson loves the water. It has been this way since he was an infant. Put him in the bath and all worries washed away. I got him a snorkel and fins once at the dollar store. His bath time then exponentially increased. He would be under the water for hours with that thing. Well over the summer he used it in the pool. Eventually it fell victim to dirt, sun, and water damage. He was devastated.

Yesterday while getting some essentials from Costco, I saw a snorkel set that I had actually wanted to get for Dave for quite some time. I figured with all of the call I have taken lately and the hours I am now picking up at another clinic, I could afford a splurge and finally get Dave the set. He is leaving to take a group of women on a cruise in a few weeks and I thought the gift would be timely.

I don't know that Dave will ever be able to enjoy the present as I have barely been able to pry the fins and mask off Jameson long enough to go to church. In 10 minutes we will be leaving for Everett and Amber's house and you'll never guess what we are taking with us?!? I can't wait until the day he can actually snorkel in the ocean with the reefs and the fish. For now he is finding all the toys in my bathtub, it is a view like that from the movie "Splash" the fins and the body have a hard time making it in the tub at the same time, but that didn't stop him. Enjoy!

And I guess as a bonus there is a random picture of Dave...Can't seem to get it off...

Turning 2

This past month my baby turned 2. I couldn't believe it! Time really has gone so fast. I actually found myself mourning this advancement. I would miss his little bum and his little feet, and just the general sense of having a little one around the house. Now Dave reminded me several times that if I wanted to, we could just have another baby. That is not a very practical idea given our current life circumstances, but I won't completely dismiss the idea for the future. I had truly hoped that we would be well into our adoption process by now, but we have had to completely hold that plan off while Dave starts his own business. So in the literal sense for the time being, my baby is growing up and there is nothing that I can do about it. Pretty soon, I will blink and he will be 4. That is what happened with Jameson. For now I have to take each day at a time and hope that it doesn't change too fast. Gregson came into this world in a hurry. I was 8 cm dilated upon arrival at the hospital. I recently was back in Washington and interviewing for a job. We walked over to the hospital and down the same stairs I clearly remember trying to manouver on that blessed day. I don't think the nurse wanted to alarm me, so she told me I was 6 cm. But then she left the room and yelled "when are we going to have a room available, I've got a lady who is 8 cm in here." Things moved quickly from there. I achieved my medication free delivery, but not without serious hopes at times that they would just give me something. The adrenaline rush after delivery was incredible. Then came the struggles with nursing. For being a childbirth educator, you would think that I would have this all down, but somehow it was like starting all over. Gregson has been a joy ever since. Despite really not liking driving in the car which made for some unpleasant trips, he was been such a sweet boy. He started walking at 10 months, nothing has slowed him down since. He talks so well and loved helping the "babies" in his day care class. We are so proud of him and can't imagine life without him. He loves dogs...no matter where we are, if we see a dog he will say "I hi doggy." He will walk right up and give them a kiss or pet. He loves food especially "canny." Thanks to his grandma, there is always plenty of that around. He loves light up shoes and for a couple months even wore an old pair of Jameson's that were far too big, but he didn't care. He loves the Falter girls and sometimes even makes me call Kylee on the phone just so he can say hi. He loves to sing...after several weeks of hearing him sing "mo mo mack" I finally realized he was singing move on back...all through the town. While he loves nursery, he has never done it on his own since Dave and I were the leaders in our last ward. We have been to our new ward 3 times and he has yet to last on his own. He loves to ride his bike and tries to do everything his brother does. Greggies, we love you and are so glad you came to our home! Happy Birthday. I'm so glad that you won't remember that I didn't even have money to buy you a present. Funny, but I think I always will. Life has taken us on an interesting ride the last 2 years!

Summer comes to an end

We really did have a lot of fun this summer. We had visits from a lot of Washington friends. Christie and Todd Carlson, Daren and Sandy Falter, and Ben and Emma Wall. I regret to say that my camera ended up in my car the entire time Emma was with us at Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It was so fun to see her and her kiddos. Caitlyn is 5 now, Logan is 3. Our kids had a great time together. Andrea joined us with Olivia, Calvin and Everett. And my mom brought Hanna down. I took 1/2 the day off to spend with them. Emma's Caitlyn and my Jameson are 2 peas in a pod. They did great together. Logan and Gregson also have similar personalities. Ben made a brief appearance before heading to the care center to see his grandpa.

We were able to spend a family night at Trafalga thanks to some free tickets. The kids each got 2 tickets, but since no one there was really taking tickets, they each rode about 4 rides. Since both of my boys love roller coasters and such, they had a great time.

Our little puppy Camo has really been growing these last few weeks. Elliot gave birth to him on her 2nd birthday; August 4th. He is such a cutie. I know my kids really want to keep him, but I am not really thrilled about the prospect of having a puppy. Look out shoes, cords, toys, and anything else that will fit in his mouth. He will be 6 weeks old on Wednesday.

Yesterday Dave did his first wedding expo. He started his own business about 8 weeks ago. Sunset Adventures mostly does incentive travel, but as a supplement, he is doing some honeymoons and destination weddings. It was a lot of work, but a real success all in all. I am now working at Utah Valley Women's Center, and fill in at the Cancer center 1 day a week. Hopefully the 48 hour schedule will pay off in the end. For now it just makes me tired!

Oh and last but not least is the trouble that a certain little boy in our house has gotten into this summer. He has a friend Cadence who lives across the street. She seems to bring out the rebel in him. 2 weeks ago they were buck naked and mud bathing in our front yard. I put Jameson on time out and took him in to the tub. I sent Cadence home (they had been throwing mud at the house). Well Cadence usually doesn't listen to me, so 10 minutes into Jameson's tub, I go back in the house to check on him. I find 2 little faces peering between the layers of bubbles. The floor was soaking wet. They had cut the leaves off of my plant, and Cadence cut a huge chunk out of her bangs. Jameson just cut a little. You gotta love kids. My bathroom was a disaster.

Well...goodbye summer 2010! We will miss you.

Weekend at Herzog's cabin

As it is, my brother Hazen has accepted a position in Coos Bay Oregon with the Orthopedic surgery group. We are super jealous, but that aside, we are thrilled for them. We decided to have one last hoorah at the Herzog's cabin. There is a lot of history at the cabin. My Grandpa has owned it as long as I've been alive. A few years ago he had to sell it to my Aunt Jayne because he was no longer able to take care of it. My mom organized for all of us to go up there for the weekend to spend some time together before Hazen and his family leave. It is absolutely gorgeous up there. We had fun hiking, going for walks, and just hanging out together playing games. Sunday we were surprised by a power outage that made our meals difficult, so our trip was cut short, but all in all, it was a really fun weekend. Thanks mom for planning all of it! Hazen, Janet, Graham, and Will, we will miss you all, but can't wait to come visit.

Visit from the Northwest

It was so fun to have a week with uncle "D" Daren Falter. The week included a trip to the dinosaur museum. Daren was a sport. During the month of August every venue at Thanksgiving Point is just $2 per person. Things like the Dinosaur Museum are usually $10 per person, so this is a great deal. As soon as I got home, we ate some dinner and headed out. Dave had a meeting, so he was not able to join us. Other than Jameson getting in trouble for climbing on a real bone display...(sometimes hard to know what they can touch and what they can't), and getting kicked out at closing, we had a great time. One of the best parts of having Daren here, was that we were graced by the presence of his entire family at the end of the week. Sandy came down Thursday night, and the kids came down on Friday night, so we could all have dinner together. My boys were in heaven! Gregson hasn't seen Brooklyn since Thanksgiving last year, but he couldn't get enough of her. In fact when it was time for them to go, Gregson managed his way in the car with Brooklyn and then cried and cried for her when it was time to get out. We feel like our friends in Washington are part of our family. We have missed them desperately since our return to Utah. It was wonderful being able to see them. Lauren and Kylie are now college freshmen at USU. Now at least there is a better excuse for the family to come to Utah.

Summer 2010

We are having such a fun summer. We made a trip to this is the place state park for my mom's Mormon Youth Chorus reunion. The kids had a blast. Their favorite things were Jameson's shave in the barber shop. He spent the rest of the day telling everyone to smell his cheeks because they put after shave on him. We always love horses, but the ride is never long enough. And last of all was the goats. There is just a gated area where the goats and sheep roam free among the kids. Gregson got trampled and Jameson got kicked, but they still absolutely loved every minute of it.

Then there was a day at Liberty park where the kids spent time in the little river, enjoyed rides in the little amusement park, and best of all Grandma spoiled them with cotton candy and snow cones. Gotta love Grandma!

I woke up at 5:30 am so that I could pick up Gramps and Darlene for my mom's Temple Square concert on the 24th of July. We decided to stay for the parade. Dave brought the boys and met us down there. Our favorite float was the one that was from How To Train Your Dragon. Jameson and Gregson loved the parade. Gregson kept saying "ooh ooh" every time a float would come. We spent the evening of the 24th up Millcreek canyon where Dave grilled us some delicous pork tenderloin and Mailee and Everett entertained us with the guitar.

There is still more summer to come, so stay posted!