NRH2O

We got season passes to our local water park, NRH2O. We went on Memorial Day and on Friday. Sam has off every other Friday, so it was nice to go when the park wasn’t too crowded. The pictures are from Friday, May 29th. Alycia and her family got passes too, so we usually meet at the park. Gavin and Renée love it there and even love going down the big waterslides. Carter is getting used to the idea of playing in the water. Toward the end of our trip, he went in up to his ankles. The nicest thing about have the season passes is that we don’t have to do a marathon trip. We can just stay two or three hours and come back the next day if we want.

Landscaping

We are back in the picture business. I got the camera about two weeks ago but I got caught in another novel, The Other Boleyn Girl, and haven’t gotten around to posting. Great book by the way.

Here is my landscaping. It is doing well so far which is more than I can say about our vegetable and herb garden. I put in the rocks, mulch, rose bush, begonias, and salvia. I really like how it turned out so hopefully it will survive the summer.

Pool Time

We have a community pool at our new neighborhood and we have already spent a lot of time there. Gavin is a fish and loves the water. Renée swims with a life jacket but mostly she waters the plants with her watering can that is in the shape of a pink duck. Carter does not like the pool and wants me to hold him the whole time we are there. Alycia and her kids come with us frequently and I run into people from my church there all the time. It has been fun.

Molten Cakes 5.18.08

Do you ever have a day when you just have to have a chocolate molten cake? Well last Sunday was one of those days. We usually eat them with vanilla ice cream but fresh strawberries were wonderful with it. I think my kids enjoyed them. If you want the recipe you can like to my recipe blog on the left side.

Ice Cream 5.7.08

We are a family of ice cream lovers and last Saturday we went to Sheridan's to enjoy their famous frozen custard. MMMMMM it was good and messy!

Carter and Corn 5.16.08

I love fresh fruit and vegetable season. I also think it is the cutest thing when my baby eats corn on the cob. Carter had no problem figuring out what to do and does pretty well eating his corn with those little teeth.

Carter will be 20 months old on May 28th. It is hard for me to believe, partly because he doesn’t look a day over 12 months. Carter is doing a lot better though. Since his surgery in January he as learned to talk, walk, and demonstrate comprehension. Carter will try to mimic most words and uses a few words in context. He also will follow simple instructions. We continue to work with Early Childhood Intervention but I think that he will eventually catch up now that he can breath and hear.

Carter loves his Dad and usually demands that Sam holds him as soon as he gets home. He plays with Gavin, Renée, and Jinx but is now to the point where he throws a fit if they take something from him. He doesn’t see a problem with taking toys from other kids, especially at nursery. He doesn’t like nursery at church. Sam hasn’t been able to leave him yet. Carter plays really well by himself and he will often disappear to go upstairs and play in the toyroom. He really is a sweet little guy and we are so blessed to have him in our family.

New Hair

I decided to try out another hair style. I really like it and even ordered a hair straightener. I was sick of dealing with the curls and wanted bangs.

Family Scripture Study

Our family scripture study consists of us reading five verses and explaining it to our kids. This is how it went today:
Sam: “Do you know who saved us?’
Gavin: “No.”
Sam: “Jesus, he is our Savior.”
Renée “No!!! Superman!”
How do you even respond to that?

Texas Ranger Game

Nick got free tickets to go to the Texas Ranger’s game on Friday night, so Sam and Gavin got invited after Alycia turned him down. Gavin and Blake came home so excited. The Rangers won and they got free t-shirts! The dads let Gavin drink a lot of Coke so I could still hear Gavin and Blake talking upstairs when I drifted off to sleep a little after midnight. Thanks for the pictures, Nick.

Where are all the Pictures???

What have we been doing for the last week in a half since we have gotten home and where are all the pictures. Well, one day when my sister and her kids were over, Gavin yelled, “Mom, the camera is in the toilet!” Yes, my camera was indeed in the toilet and has never worked again. We don’t know who the culprit was. Carter and Trey were both wet and I shouldn’t have left my camera where they could get it. I already ordered the Canon Powershot SD1100 IS because I read a great review on it while I was at the Lyon’s house. Thanks Dave! It is even in a pretty blue color. I would have ordered pink but I didn’t think Sam would enjoy that. So, that is why I don’t have any pictures to post.

What have we been doing? We have mostly been working in our yard. We extended our garden to add herbs. Sam built the fort part of swing set. I put in new flowers and mulch in our front yard flower beds. We even added a stone border to the beds. I would love to post pictures but again, no camera. Gavin had to have his arm x-rayed. It wasn’t broken but he had to wear a sling for two days because of a painful contusion. Alycia and I ran in a 5K. She took third and I took 4th in our division. Dang her long legs! I hosted my ward book club and will be throwing a birthday brunch for one of my new friends tomorrow. Life never slows down and we are looking forward to the opening of our community pool on Saturday!

Maryland 4.23 - 4.24.08

I flew to Pennsylvania to pick up the kids on April 21st. I was greeted by a walking Carter at the airport. Yes, he finally did it! He was 18 ½ months old but he can walk. People keep asking me if I was disappointed to have missed him learning to walk, but when your 18 month old doesn’t walk, you are just relieved that he learned. While I was gone my parents and sisters spoiled my kids. They all got several new outfits. Renée and Carter got new blankets sewn by my mom. Renée’s has horses on it, her favorite, with faux leather fringe all around he edges. Gavin got several squirt guns and water rockets. My mom said that the kids didn’t seem to miss me at all. I am glad that they did so well.

We only stayed in PA for two days and then it was on to Maryland to see our friends from when we lived there. We stayed for two days at the Lyon’s house and got to make short visits to see some of our other friends. Thank you to those of you who took care of us while we were there.

From Maryland, we drove to Alabama to see Grandma Lil. It took 12 hours but the kids were really good. This will be our last visit to Alabama because Grandma Lil is selling her home and moving to Washington state. Grandma greeted us with southern style pork BBQ sandwiches, which are different from Texas BBQ. It was a treat.

We made it home on April 26th exhausted but happy to be home and together as a family again.



Our visit to Solomon's Island to see Sharon and her daughter Lydia.





















Carter and Anna who were both born after we left MD. Gavin's buddies James & Jacob.