ONE

If you don't believe that time flies, then have a child. We cannot believe that one year ago Grady came into our lives. We will admit the first three months of his life were not the greatest and went super slow...there was a lot of crying, pooping, and no sleeping (and not just from Adam). However, once we all got the hang of it, life has been grand and flashed right before our eyes. Note: If it appears that Grady has a spot on his nose, he does. It is a scab. He took a header into the laundry basket and skinned up his nose. Adam tried to say chicks dig scars, but this scar is on his nose...Adam said he looked more like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, which negated his chick idol status.Grady then totally redeemed himself on the chick idol status with a small grin and a quick shot of how old he is...ONE.

He is still trying to get used to the present opening concept. However, he is fully versed in the art of receiving toys...as you can see by his smile upon finding out he got a football. Note: Grady LOVES balls and generally will have one close by to throw around.

Some friends of ours have a daughter who shares a birthday with Grady. So we consolidated two parties into one. So as not to cause any complex in any one child, there were both blue and pink ribbons. Grady's manhood was never threatened during the party. We had a great BBQ with family and friends. Grady loved every second of it, especially being around the other kids...and having lots of balls to play with.

The ceremonial cupcake. Grandma, mom, and Grady were ready to dig in. Note: Grady was focused on his first full blown exposure to sugar.

Before we could eat cake, we had to blow out the candles. Grady, unfortunately, was more interested in the pink balloon than the candle. His counterpart on the other had, who is a year older, knew exactly what to do. She also was smart enough to eat the frosting off of four cupcakes before her mother noticed.

Once again, Grady was more interested in cheesing for the camera than blowing out candles...ah well, this picture was pretty close to perfect.

Finally, we stripped Grady down and prepared for the carnage...but, the carnage never really happened. We put the cupcake down and Grady didn't really know what to do with it. He tossed it around a bit, but then finally shoved it in his mouth. Grandpa helped him eat some of the icing and cake, and then let him make another run at it. However, Grady thought it was more of a ball and started tossing it around and playing with it. Ah well, no destruction this year. We are sure and hope to have many more to come.

Too Legit, Too Legit to GIT

When we got married the first thing Camille's Aunt Lez told Adam was about this wonderful thing called the GIT. She said it was a basketball tournament in Livermore, California and that her sons always play. She said, one day, we should all get together and play...well, that day has come!! So, over Memorial Day, we packed up Grady and flew out to the Bay Area for some family, fun, and basketball. Luckily, Adam's Aunt Joan and Uncle George live in Los Altos. We stopped by their house for a little visit. They were nice enough to Adam to take him to one of his favorite eateries - Barbara's Fish Trap. We love being on vacation for multiple reasons, but one of them is being able to get family pictures. This one actually turned out good...well, if you consider Grady kind of looking at the camera. If Adam appears to be satisfied in this picture, he is...he just finished eating a bunch of deep-fat-fried fish.

Barbara's Fish Trap is located at Half Moon Bay. A gorgeous coastal town with quaint little shops and nice harbor. We walked around the harbor and stumbled upon Barbara's actual fish traps...well, maybe they weren't Barb's, but they were fish traps. Camille thought she was ready for her appearance on the TV show, The Deadliest Catch.

It was a little dreary, but we loved being with George and Joan! We don't get to see them enough, and it is always a treat to go out to California and stay with them.

After spending a few days with Adam's family, we drove what was supposed to be 45 minutes, but turned out to be 2 hours because of traffic to Livermore. Upon our arrival at Aunt Lez's house we found close to half of Livermore at her house (OK, not really, but around 40 people or so). Lots of friends and family were there for the GIT basketball tournament. Our first game was that night and we were all getting ready to rock and roll.
We won our first game and came home to eat. Within an hour after getting to the house, we believed that all of Livermore came to eat. Estimated occupation of Aunt Lez's house was about 50 to 60 people. It was quite the party. It was one of those parties that if you got up to get food, when you came back someone had taken your chair. So, we rarely got up. Note: In this picture everyone looks happy, except that Camille's face is washed out and she appears to be a cast member of Twilight. Adam, on the other hand is attempting to look like a pirate with one eye open, or Sloth from Goonies. Either way, we had a blast.

Grady was quite spoiled on this trip...not only was he held by every single person that saw him, but Grandpa let him eat ice cream. What Grandpa thought would be a little taste turned into an obsession by Grady. He just couldn't get enough...he is a lot like his dad.

Saturday we played a few games and won them all. Note: There was a little scare when a team made up of girls/boys went up by ten on us. But we ended up winning by 30 after the team rallied around Adam when he blocked a girl's shot. He got some boos for that, but Adam said he felt like Mark Eaton. On Sunday we had no games. We went to church and had a nice dinner. Following dinner we, of course, had to play a little golf in the back yard. We set up various targets and had to hit each one. Don't worry, we were using tennis balls. Adam's results: Second to last, and last. He only played two games. Note: You will notice one of the golfers in a shirt and tie...he is not a missionary.

Sunday night brought more games. We played Catch Phrase and the headband game. We laughed so hard that the next day we were all a little sore. Note: Adam thew out his back during the tournament, and it is no wonder why when you look at his posture.

Monday was exciting. The team played 5 games, starting at 8 a.m. and finishing at 7 p.m. Prior to the GIT Adam casually would work out and play basketball. After all those games, he said that if invited back, he would be in better shape. Note: Adam is currently on a diet and has a work out plan. He is also listening to Rocky music everyday and working on his posture so as not to hurt his back again. He is really hoping that he is not cut from next year's team, or any other cousins marry into the family and he is a casualty of the salary cap.

After winning the championship game we got the biggest prize in sports: A championship T-shirt. Most of the guys on our team were from Livermore, one was from Oregon, but only one was from Wyoming. Adam says that having a guy from Wyoming on your team brings you luck, which proved to be correct. It was such a fun tournament and everyone played well. Adam had the time of his life and Camille, Grady, and the rest of the family got sick of watching basketball!

After the game we had to get the "Support Staff" in on the picture. The entire weekend was quite the production with almost everyone staying in one house. There was lots of food to be prepared, stinky clothes to be washed, bad backs to be adjusted, and jokes to be laughed at. We had such a good time, and were so grateful to everyone who made it such a fun weekend. Note: Sorry to those who were staying at the house, Grady would wake up every day at 6 a.m. and talked/screamed all morning long.

Another big ordeal to the weekend was late night runs to Donut Wheel. Donut Wheel is in downtown Livermore. Its appearance would send any health inspector into cardiac arrest, but the donuts were absolutely fabulous. Each night Adam would fall asleep before the others would go on a donut run. The next morning, those who went on the run would taunt Adam by leaving empty boxes all over the tables. On the last night we were there Adam forced himself to stay awake and go on the donut run.

A few of the people in this group had the grand idea to eat double figures worth of donuts. One was Michael Jackson (yes, that is his real name, he is far left), and the other was John (center, ironically eating a donut). John consumed 6 and 1/2 before he was done. The legend, the king, the man - MJ was doing quite well. However, he got to 8 and began to gag. He sat there for a minute, belched, then decided there was more room. He finished with 9 and 1/2 donuts before giving up the ghost and slipping into a diabetic coma. Adam loved every second of this event and said he felt like he was back in college.

We had a day after the GIT to mess around in San Francisco. We were going to go to Alcatraz, but found it was sold out. So, we went to the Wharf and entertained ourselves. Adam decided it was time for a youthful look. He turned his visor sideways and got some hair extensions. He was sure he looked just like Justin Timberlake.

Cousin Chase and Adam have similar hairlines and decided the hair extension look was in. Sadly enough Adam did not look much like JT, but more like Guy Fieri from the Food Network. Chase on the other hand just looked pure sexy!!

What visit to San Francisco wouldn't be complete without pictures in Panda hats. Adam looks like a real panda that is about to attack something (note: Adam was trying to do the wild dog face from the contestant on Minute to Win it). Chase (middle) actually looks like a real panda with his longing eyes that scream, 'feed me, feed me!' Lauren (right) is Chase's "FRIEND." She was a good sport and put up with Adam's antics. She looks like a Panda that just can't stop laughing. She looks as though she could be the mascot for a Chinese restaurant called, 'The Laughing Panda.'

It really was a great weekend. We were exhausted when we got home, but loved every second that we were there. Thanks to everyone!!

Donut Day IV

It's the most wonderful time of the year...it is Donut Day 2011!! As many of you know we celebrate this delicious holiday every year by making Camille's Great Great Grandmother's Donuts. They are simply amazing!! Donut Day is the first Friday of June and was started by the American Red Cross in 1938 (Although, it is weird the American Red Cross, who support a healthy life style, would promote the consumption of something so rich in, well, fat). Of course the first step is mixing the donuts. If it seems super dark, well it is, and that is not because, like most bakers, we were up at 4:30 a.m. We actually were so incredibly busy on Donut Day that we didn't really get a chance to make the donuts until 9:00 p.m. Despite the late hour, many of the homemade donuts were eaten. Each year Camille proves that she could be a baker if called upon. The working station. Camille usually will make the donut batter and Adam will cook and coat the donuts. We have become so proficient in our Donut Day activities that we have an assembly line...they should really start calling Camille Daylight and Adam Donut.A nice golden brown!! Adam is currently licking the screen thinking he can taste the donuts through the computer.The finished product. We generally will apply a sugar/cinnamon mix. In the past we have tried a glaze, but it is usually pure sugar and takes away from the taste. After we have made a large number of donuts, we are good little Donut Day Elves and pass them out to friends around town. So far, no one has turned down our donuts.

We love this picture because it shows just how perfect these donuts turned out...but it also shows that someone in the donut factory couldn't wait to have a taste. Note: If you will look in the upper left hand corner you will see what happens if Adam is left unattended in a room full of donuts.

Grady, despite being asleep for a good portion of the donut making activities, sure did love his first Donut Day.