24th

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  If you are from the South Sevier area, it's all about Pioneer Day.

We made our annual trek to Elsinore for Pioneer Day this year as we have for each year since I left 7 years ago.  My whole family was DYING to see Chapter and teach him that this is clearly the best holiday there is.

 And it is.  Just sayin'.

 Kristy bought Chapter a balloon and he really liked it a lot.

So much so that he fell asleep on the way to the park holding it in the backseat.

Chapter didn't get to play any games this year because he was asleep when the lines were short and by the time he woke up it would have been an hour long wait to ride the fire engine or play the fishing game.  Sorry buddy, maybe next year will be your year:)

Then we went to my mom's and made homemade corn dogs and fries with Logan's mom's top secret corn dog recipe.  (Logan is the one who made it top secret).  They were delicious as always.  Then we drove home late in the afternoon missing the best fireworks show in the state (according to Logan, and I agree) because there are so few places that set them off so close to you that you run the risk of your blanket going up in flames.  It sure does make a nice show though when your whole eyes are exploding with beautiful color.  Again, maybe next year.  

Grandma Deb

Sadly, on July 9 we lost Logan's mom to a long hard 5 year battle with cancer.  It was a pretty rough week for all of us, but especially for her children and husband.  

Her funeral was beautiful and although I feel a little weird posting pictures (and taking them) I know that she would be sorely disappointed if it wasn't documented (that woman was a scrapbooker before scrapbooking was cool).  So this is for you Debbie.

Logan made an incredible video to show outside the viewing.  Amazing.  He did such a good job.

 Chapter was so tired and grumpy.  He finally fell asleep for my sister at the end of the funeral but woke up at the cemetery.  Rough day. But check out the matching ties on those beautiful boys:)

Independence Day

For the 4th this year we went to Kanarraville.  Logan's Granny's old house is still up there and the whole gang (minus Josh and his family) stayed up there the night before.  And it was pretty much the worst least restful night I've had since the one immediately following Chapter's birth.  And that is saying something!  It was hot, noisy and just WAAAAY too many people in that tiny old house.  We finally got to sleep about 2am and Chapter slept fitfully until maybe 5ish.  Yeah.

That morning we went to the parade (Chap's first) and then to the program in the cultural hall.  There was a little boy who did a Napoleon Dynamite dance that was so funny I cried (I was sleepy).   Then we went to Cash's house for the BBQ.  Logan was so excited that he had made some homemade yeast rootbeer to share.  His Granny used to make it every year but they haven't had it since the early 90s.  It's disgusting.  But they were all oooing and aaahing and guzzling the stuff.  It's an "acquired taste".

We headed back to St. George in the late afternoon and staked out our spot on the Black Hill for the fireworks.  We usually go to the park but we thought this would be more Chapter-friendly.  And it was.  It was hot but we had a really good time playing in the car waiting for the fireworks to start.

We even got an ice cream from the ice cream truck! Mine and Chap's first time ever doing that.

Chapter held on until just before the fireworks started and then he fell asleep.  A perfect ending to a fun but exhausting day.

The next morning we went to the splash park because daddy has never been there with us.  I don't know who had more fun:)

8 months

Chapter is 8 months old now!  He still thinks everything is funny and he now has 2 teeth.  He scoots backwards and is working really hard on crawling.  We got him this little kiddie pool and he thinks it is great:)

St. George Town Square

Anisa invited me to meet her and a couple friends at St. George Town Square.  There's a really fun "river" that runs through it for people to play in.  This was Chap's first time and he thought it was great!

My favorite thing was when a little girl who was probably 2 years old came running up and looked at Chapter and asked him if he could play.  He didn't answer her (obviously) and so she ran away.  It was hilarious!  He fell asleep on the car ride home and is still out:)  It must have been exhausting!

I think there's a Chap strapped to the pack on my back:)

For Memorial Day Weekend we went to Moab to visit Lucas and Shellie and also to play:)
We had a really good time, Chapter did really well in the car and he went on his first hike and also went swimming for the first time.  He really liked both activities:)

 Chapter really liked hiking.  It was pretty windy but he didn't mind, he just really liked to look around and see things from his perch in his backpack.

 We saw this sticker on a store window in Moab.  I want one!

Chapter liked swimming.  And it really wore him out!  As soon as I got him out and wrapped him in a towel he was asleep before we even left the pool area:)

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year Logan painted a wall in the basement that I've been wanting to paint for a long time. Previously it was wood paneling and you couldn't really see this really cool fireplace on it because everything was the same color.  But now you can see it and notice how unique and beautiful it is.  It makes our basement so much lighter and I love it!

7 Months

Chapter has been 7 months for a couple weeks now but we just got around to taking his picture this past weekend.  He's such a funny boy and he thinks everything is hilarious. He loves playing with his Little People Batman and growling.  Daddy says it's his Batman voice.  He also does really funny things.

Like collapsing his activity mat on top of himself and then falling asleep.

Or sticking his arm out of his crib and then licking the slats.  

He's also using rolling as a mode of transportation nowadays.  That kind of sucks for him because now the only place he is trusted for more than 10 seconds is his crib or the floor.  Poor kid:)

The Last Blue Room

It's not necessarily decorated, but then again, it might never be:)

 Before without furniture but with baby:) I didn't remember to take pictures until after we moved the furniture. But I know I've had pictures on here before.  It was light wood.

 Ceiling scraped.

 Tradition:)

 All walls painted a nice off white except for one that we had something special in mind for!

 Ta-da!  We've been dreaming about this FOR YEARS!

 Tradition again:)

 Finished product so far.
We got this really nice new solid wood furniture.  We really love it!  In the bottom left you can see this massive dresser that we got.  It is SO NICE!  I also have plans to hang stuff on the wall but for now I'm much too busy rejoicing that my 3 weeks of living in the basement are over!

Misc Photos

I don't like to munch mush much:)

Grandma M

My mom is a tricky person to get pictures of.  Like really tricky.  So I feel pretty fortunate to have these from our trip this weekend. My niece Maycee got baptized and although we went with the best of intentions, these are the only pictures we got.  My mom was opening her mother's day present:)

We hap a really nice time.  My whole family was together which never happens.  And we got to go up to Manti to the temple  which was fun.  We looked for the sealing room where we were married but we couldn't remember which one it was.  Then back in the dressing room in my bag was the slip of paper that said room 9.  I'll have to remember to look when we're up there again.  The only downfall was Bullies.  They used to make the best milk shake ever.  But this one was $4 and a sore disappointment.  I won't be going there again:(

Chap's 1st Trip to Zion

For National Park Week Chap and I headed to Zion as a last minute sort of thing.  I'd been toying around with the idea all week but when I realized it was Friday I decided to go and within about 30 minutes we had a lunch packed and we were on the road.  The main reason for my procrastinating was that I was worried about using the trams with a stroller all alone. And although it was stressful at times, everyone was so nice and I got help at almost every stop.  That's something I love about National Parks is that everyone there is so happy to be there that they are kind and friendly.

The whole drive up I was just praying that this would be the peaceful, restorative trip I needed.  I've been a little off my game lately and I'm not sure why.  I've always felt a good feeling in Zion, it's a pretty special place.  And although this trip maybe wasn't all I was hoping for it taught me a couple of things.  The most important being that I'm a big girl and I can go places by myself. The other one being that I need to buy a hiking backpack to hold my kid before I ever go anywhere like this again:)

 Weeping Rock.  I totally forgot about the stairs at the top until I got there.  But some super nice old man helped me carry him up.

 I need to get Libby to teach me how to take better self-portraits ;)

 Having a snack in the wilderness.

 Chap making his squeaking balloon sound to entertain everyone at the tram stop.

All tuckered out for the drive home.

In closing I'm going to leave you with a funny story.  While waiting for the tram at Weeping Rock a lady about my mom's age was helping a really old lady to walk (presumably her mother).  The old lady was like, "Why do they leave all the dead trees just lying around?  It looks so bad.  Can't they get someone to clean them up?" to which the lady my mom's age replies, "These hippies think they're decorative!"  I love overhearing strange conversations.  It's one of my favorite things to do at restaurants too:)

Logan's Test/SLC/Lots of Pictures

We went to Salt Lake this past weekend so Logan could take his Professional Engineering test to get his license.  Chapter had been a little sick so I was a little worried it would be a nightmare but he did so well!  

 He rode alone just fine for about half the trip both directions.  Then the second half I rode in the back with him.

 

We stayed at the Hyatt at the Gateway in downtown Salt Lake City.  It was the perfect location for our purposes.  Logan could walk to take his test at the Salt Palace (and not have to pay for parking) and I could walk to the Gateway, Temple Square, and City Creek (and not kill us in a fiery car accident). This is what our room looked like (Picture stolen from the website).

 While Logan was testing from 7-5 Chapter had a marvelous time touring Temple Square for the first time.  He made a lot of new friends and was particularly in love with two Canadian sister missionaries at the Beehive House.

 I forgot a utensil to eat my cup of noodles with so I had to eat it with Chapter's spoon.

 Which was kind of sucky:)

 When Logan got back he was tired, but we still went out to eat and walked around.

 Our little jail bird slept really well in his hotel crib.  He didn't wake up once! Which is pretty much a once a month sort of situation. I think he was worn out by his 6+ hours of strolling that day.

On Saturday we walked in the freezing cold back down to City Creek so Logan could admire the planter boxes he inspected while working for a week in Salt Lake about 2 years ago.  I remember because I sent him a fake speeding ticket from Salt Lake for April Fools that year.  Then we toured the roof of the conference center because Logan and Chapter had never done it and we rode Trax 2 blocks back to the hotel parking lot (it was REALLY COLD).  Then we came home.  It was a fun trip.  I'd do it again (although hopefully we don't have to!)