The artist formerly known as Blasto revisited

We recently had some family photos taken. We were lucky to have the same woman who took Grady's new born photos (see blog post "The artist formerly known as Blasto") to come back and take his first year photos. She had moved to California about a year ago, shortly after taking our pics. She was in town for the 4th and we scooped up her services right away. She did a great job of capturing Grady in his true happy boy form (i.e. the pic with him raging on some rocks). We are pleased with the photos and were happy to see our good friend again.

To see pics, click on link below:

http://www.torrienicholasphotography.com/

Grady's got Crabs!!

Generally speaking, we are super busy in the summer. We travel to see family, have reunions, have BBQ's, and just try and have fun. This summer has been no different, other than the fact that Grady is getting older and funner. He is now walking everywhere and has some impressive bruises all over his head and face to show off. Note: In the pic below is Grady's new face. We can't figure out if he is smiling or winking; however, we think this is such an Adam look. Note II: Grady just got some crabby jammies. They have little crabs all over them, and seem to be his favorite summer jammies. Grady is obsessed with balls. He throws them around all day long and has about 7,000 of them. Some of his favorites are the Utah Jazz balls that his cousins/aunt gave him for Christmas. However, this day the ball made it into his shirt. We thought he looked like a hunchback. Note: Upon seeing this Adam began to yell, "SANCTUARY!!"
The past few weeks of summer have been super-super HOT. So, we had to break out Grady's swimming pool that was given to him by his Grammy and Grandpa. That also meant putting on the swim trunks and rasher. Note: If you look closely at this picture you will see his cheeks appear to be dirty; however, it is actually bruising from falling down. Note II: We attempted to cover him in sunscreen, but he wouldn't let go of the bottle and was busy using it as a car as he drove it all over the house.

And what is a good day at the pool without a monster fit? Note: The fit occurred when we attempted to take away the sunscreen. Note II: We thought this too was such an Adam look as well.

Once we made it out to the pool...it was pure heaven!! Note: If you look over Grady's left shoulder you will see a small potted plant. That would be our strawberry plant, which is producing fruit.

Grady laughed, splashed, and thrashed for about an hour. About twenty minutes into playing he realized he could get out of the pool and then turn around and jump back in. This behavior lasted for the rest of the time. Note: When we pulled him out of the pool a colossal fit took place. He cried for 15 minutes...but, we then put him in his bed and he instantly fell asleep. Later that night the pool was sitting out to dry on our deck. Grady sat by the back window and plead for us to take him there. This behavior lasted about an hour...many more fits were thrown.

Last weekend Adam's parents and brother came to visit us. We were very excited to have them come up. Luckily for them and us, there is a lot to do where we live. We decided to take them on a big hike up a mountain to see some gorgeous water falls. Note: Unfortunately for us, Grady had to either be strapped to some one's chest, or on top of some one's shoulders.

Another great thing about having family near is that we get to take some family pictures. Note: Adam is wearing a BYU shirt and Camille is wearing a Wyoming shirt. Grady has been forced into neutral status.

The trails up to the falls were well worn and not too bad. Adam's dad has some bum knees and therefore has become an expert at Nordic Walking. Translation: he walks with ski poles. At first we all thought it was a bit strange, until we realized about half the people on the trail were Nordic walking. We all then became jealous because we were not part of the cool crowd. The scenes were absolutely amazing. It was very pretty, but very hot.

We wish we could say we ran all the way to the top of the three mile hike...but, we stopped quite a bit for rests. This pic was taken near the top. Note: Eric, Adam's brother, was doing his best Michael Jackson impersonation.

Adam found this picture to be funny because his mom blends into the rocks so well. It is almost like a Where's Waldo book.

We were so happy to have Adam's parents here...but Grady was the most happy. He cannot get enough of his Grandparents!! They were also good sports to go on such a long hike with us.

The FALLS!! We made it after a couple of hours of hiking. Eric is not hard to find in any of these pictures because his shorts could be spotted from space satellites. Note: You can see Adam's dad's Nordic walkers, and Adam's mom's jealous glaces. Grady loves all his Grandparents...but especially loves the grandparent who is closest. Grandpa was closest in this picture and Grady was not about to let go of him. Adam's theory was that his dad was wearing a "Teach me how to Jimmer" t-shirt.

Eric was attempting a bit of male modeling...or he was helping NASA better locate his shorts by showing off some leg. Eric was super fun to have around for the weekend. His wife and son were off to California, which allowed Err-rot (as we like to call him) to come and visit.

This area of the mountains gets lots of snow, and with lots of snow comes lots of water in the spring and summer. So, there were a lot of bridges. This bridge was very neat and quite long. It lead right up to the falls. Note: While walking across this bridge Adam and Eric began to try and push each other off. Adam's mom said no matter how old they are, things never change.

The walk down the mountain was back breaking...thanks to a mini-me atop Adam's shoulders. Grady has decided he can walk anywhere and everywhere. He gets quite made when we hold him as we walk. So, the only way to make him happy was to have him atop some one's shoulders. Eric took a lions share of the reps, but Adam did his fair share too. Note: Adam says his calves are ripped in this photo.

The problem with Grady being on some one's shoulders is that he gets bored...actually, he gets bored no matter what. So, he found it amusing to play with Adam's hat. He would pull it off and cover Adam's face. Then he would pull Adam's hair. Then he would throw the hat as far as he could. Note: Adam found this to be annoying. The trip was so much fun. We loved having Adam's family here for the weekend. After the hike we were all sunburned and sore...but it was a blast.

We've got a walker!

This was too cute not to share. Enjoy!

May the 4th be with you

The 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays. A time to celebrate our freedom, summer, and family. This year we headed down to Adam's house for his niece's baptism and to hang with family. The baptism was wonderful, and the family was excellent. On Sunday we had a big meal and then went on a big walk along the Bear River. Grady loved it because he had a ton of cousins to play with...he LOVES his cousins!! At the end of our walk we stumbled upon a play ground, much to the delight of all the kids. This was Grady's first experience with a playground, but lucky for him, he had cousins there to help him (or push him down on their way to the top).
All the aunts and uncles hung on a bench. Note: Camille and Jody are striking their "I'm too sexy" poses...they are such Divas!! While Carli and Geoff (Adam's siblings) are just waiting to go home. They had had enough of the playground.

As we said, Grady LOVES his cousins. Luckily for Grady he had Dylan to boss around most of the weekend. Grady somehow convinced Dylan to take him down the slide....many times.

Speaking of slaves...Grandma was also a sucker for Grady. Grady is improving in the walking department, but really loves to push the stroller around. So, he somehow convinced Grandma to help him push the stroller around the playground....for hours.

On the actual 4th we went down behind Adam's parents house to 'The Pit'. It is a fire pit built by Adam and his late Grandpa. Adam was about 10 years old when it was built and his family uses it non-stop throughout the year. This year we cooked hot dogs and s'mores. (Note: The smores this year could have been on the Food Network they were so good. Instead of using chocolate, Adam's mom had the brilliant idea of using Nutella. The angels sang because those s'mores were so good.)

It was a 4th of firsts for Grady...he got his first exposure to S'mores...Love at first bite!! COUSINS!!! The love fest continued...and Grady thought he was so cool when he got to wear Dylan's sun glasses. Note: Shortly after this picture he then bossed other cousin Brooke around, getting her to feed him...He loved every second of it. Thanks Dylan and Brooke!!These two were quite the pair. Another cousin, Jenna. If you look closely you can see the mischievousness in their eyes. They had too much fun together, and Grady was laughing so hard he could barely stand up. Shortly after this picture was taken we had to leave to drive back home. Grady cried the first leg of the trip because we had to leave the cousins.That 4th night we went to our good friends house for a BBQ and fireworks. We only got two pictures...we are lame. Both of the pictures were of Adam lighting Sparklers for all the little kids. Grady was so tired from a fun weekend he just lounged and watched the booming fireworks. It was a great 4th!!