One Year Old!

Friday was Connor's first birthday. I can't believe he's already one year old. It went by so fast for me!

Waiting for his cake.

Josh was able to light the cake all by himself (I keep the lighter hidden for good reason).

Connor got his own personal cake to destroy but this was his other cake. It's supposed to be fish in the ocean. Josh had fun helping decorate the cake. Josh was more than happy to help Connor out.

Connor was a little hesitant to put his hand in the cake to begin with, which surprised me. Whenever I feed him he's always trying to put his hand in the cereal or baby food and then he smears it everywhere. He complains every time I get out the wash cloth to wipe him down and doesn't mind being messy a bit. Once he got into the cake he really seemed to enjoy it!

Even Sydney got a taste of the cake. She normally doesn't get to come in and clean up after Connor, but since I was going to have to mop the floor anyway I figured she could join the celebration.

We met Gary at his work for dinner and to feed the ducks and open presents. I wasn't really sure what else to do for the birthday boy since he's not old enough to really care.

We seriously made it about two steps away from the parking lot before the ducks approached us for food. We didn't even go to the edge of the pond, which I guess is a good thing considering Josh nearly fell in last time. There were a few ducks that were not at all scared of us and were eating out of Josh's hand, nibbling on his fingers and of course he didn't even care. One duck kept grabbing full pieces of bread out of his hand and then would run off with it so the other ducks wouldn't get it. They were just like puppies and would jump up trying to get the bread from Josh. It was so funny to watch.

Connor had to be put out of the reach of the ducks. Gary was holding him and one duck jumped up and nibbled on Connor's toe. It didn't seem to bother him, but we didn't want to traumatize him on his birthday.

Pictures Re-done

We had our family pictures done over since I didn't really like the other one that was taken. Connor was cranky the first time and they turned out much better the second time around!

Road Trip

We managed to sneak in a road trip while Gary was between semesters at school. It was really nice to get away and we had a lot of fun. We drove to Page, AZ and stayed the night with Jordan and Andrea, then got up the next morning and drove the rest of the way to Phoenix. We stayed with Aunt Kimi for a couple days and then drove to Southern California. We spent a couple days there and then drove to St. George and spent the night before driving the rest of the way home. It was a lot of driving, but well worth it!

I don't think we could have survived the drive without the DVD player and head phones made it nice. The leap frog toy Aunt Kimi gave Josh also really helped entertain him for long periods of time too!

As soon as we got to Aunt Kimi's we jumped in the pool. Josh would be content to stay in the pool all day. Connor didn't last as long since he was pretty tired. Just before we left he got over an ear infection and had finished his antibiotic. I was packing up getting ready to go when I picked him up and found that he was burning with fever. We took him back to the doctor before we left and found that he had a sore throat, so for part of the trip he was pretty miserable. He screamed for about 45 min. of the drive to Andrea and Jordan's but after that he did really well in the car. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Harkins. Last time we saw them, Josh was a baby. It was really good to see them again.

Everyone at Grandma and Grandpa Harkins house. We got to see Uncle Larry too. I don't have a picture of it yet but we also got to go to dinner with all Mark's kids. The last time everyone was together was before Gary and I were married so that was a lot of fun.

Four generations.

The kids and I got to meet Brad and Vicki for the first time. Gary hadn't seen them since just before his mission so it was good to see them too.

We went to the discovery center and Gary got to lay on a bed of nails.

Grammy had a really hard time convincing Josh to put his hands in the sand and get them dirty.

Poor Connor was so worn out but is such a little trooper. Despite being sick and not getting his regular naps, he was such a good baby. It was so nice to go on a little vacation and see everyone again. I wish we could do it more often!

Jared & Carrie's Visit

As usual, I'm really behind on posting pictures. I'm a month late posting pictures from all the fun we had when Jared and Carrie came to visit, but thought I'd post the pictures anyway!

This is Connor meeting his cousin Audrey for the first time. She's a few months older than he is and had an endless supply of kisses for him. It was fun to watch them together. Audrey is going to love being a big sister!

We spent a few days in Richfield at Mom and Dad's. The neighbor remembered that everyone was going to be in Richfield when she heard the four wheeler going. She decided we needed to play with her Rhino too, so she brought it over. It was really nice of her!

After a couple days in Richfield we headed to Fish Lake to stay in a cabin one night. Gary missed out since he had work and school.

Fishing off the shore of the lake.

Fish Lake is so pretty. Josh seems to love the mountains as much as I do!

Connor and Grandma

We took Josh and his cousin Caleb out in the boat fishing. About two minutes after we put their lines in the water, Josh discovered the worms and that was much more fun than waiting to catch a fish. Caleb wanted the boat to go faster, so we reeled in their lines and took them for a boat ride. That was the extent of their fishing trip!

After Fish Lake, Jared's family stayed at our house for a couple days. Josh and Caleb had fun cruising around in his truck.

We all went to the zoo and this was the train ride at the zoo. It was super hot and very exhausting.

The kids had a pool party on our deck and we had a BBQ with the entire family.

Then we went to Zermatt Resort up in Midway for a night. Connor got to go swimming for the first time. His swimming suit went down to his ankles, but he didn't seem to mind. He liked the water even if it was a bit cold.

The resort had a little petting zoo set up. The goats were adorable and Josh really liked it.

Playing miniature golf.

Playing with the giant checkers.

To top everything off we did fireworks outside the resort. We had a lot of fun having Jared and Carrie come visit. It was a little vacation without having to go too far!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago. Jared and Carrie came out to visit from Illinois and it is the first time I'd seen them in two years, and the first time the entire family had been together in two years. Hopefully soon I'll find the time to post pictures from their visit. Until then, here's our family pictures.

The entire family.

All the grand kids.

Me & my siblings.

The boys.

The girls.

Mom & Dad

Travis & Kristy's family

Jared & Carrie's family

Melissa

Jordan & Andrea