L - 7 - Halloweenie!!

Holidays are becoming funner and funner as Grady starts to recognize what they mean.  This year he was pretty excited to dress up and get candy.  When presented with the options of costumes it was touch and go between a pirate and Spiderman.  Each day it changed.  Finally, he decided on the pirate, but adamantly exclaimed, "I silly pirate, I not scary pirate."  His Grandma and Grandpa had taken him to a Halloween house where a pirate jumped out of a box, thus resulting in Grady demanding he was a silly pirate.

The silly pirate theme was in name only.  Grady ran around screaming "Yarrrrrrrrrrrrr!!" and slashing his dad in the face with his hook.  He would also get in other kids faces and scream Yarrr and slash their faces, too.  In reality he was more of a bully pirate, but he still had a blast.  He failed to get into the full spirit of trick or treating, mainly because he was too scared of the other kids and people dressed up.  But, he loved handing out the candy to the people that came to our door.

 Grady LOVED the fact that he had grown facial hair.  He just stared at himself in the mirror for ten minutes while telling his mom, "I so handsome, I handsome pirate."  Note:  The earring was a nice touch that lasted seconds.  He was annoyed with it.  Note II:  That night when we washed off the mustache, after crying about it for a few minutes, through his tears, he looked up at his dad and said..."Dad, I shaved, I a man."

 This year was also the first year that Grady was able to design his own pumpkin face.  This was HUGE!!  He talked about it for days and days, and would lay next to the pumpkins.  He would tell his mom, "This is a big deal mom!"

 Of course, the cutting was up to dad, with Grady right in the action.  Adam really tried hard to cut right along the lines that Grady had drawn, but they were mainly footballs.

 He was not a fan of the pumpkin guts...only a fan of the pumpkin.

 He gave it a good college try.  Mainly he just wanted to be right in the action.  Adam was extremely sick of the question, "what you doing dad?" because it was asked about every three seconds.

 Pure adoration and pride.  Note:  The football noses, extra eyes, and rectangle noses.

 Very happy and proud.  He did not leave this bench for hours.  It was a great babysitter while we cleaned up the pumpkin messes.

 Right before we departed for tricks or treats we had to light the pumpkins.  By this time Grady had found a sword, which also caused significant damage to Adam's shins and legs.  But, well worth it, as Grady loved Halloween.  Note:  Please disregard the half eaten, rotten pumpkins in the background...the deer have been feasting on them.

After trick or treating, we went to the church and helped Camille out with the Mutual Dance.  Grady gorged himself on candy and junk.  But he also danced with all the girls, and ran around like a mad man.  When we finally got him home, he was sugar crashing, and exhausted.  As he fell asleep he told us that Turkey Day is next, but he loved Pumpkin Day!  Happy Halloween!! 

Training Day

The day we had to potty train Grady has been looming in our heads for some time.  We dreaded the day.  Not only because we have heard terror stories about it, but it is also the day your little baby is now a little boy.  But, after Adam caught Grady pooping in the garbage can in his room after having removed his own diaper...we knew it was time.  So, one day we went cold turkey.  We threw away his diapers and told him it was time to be a big boy.

 The first day went smooth.  No real accidents.  We thought, "Well this is easy."  That night, he took a giant dump in his pants and we spent all night cleaning up poop.  Adam said, "I always thought changing diapers would be a pain, but cleaning poop out of underwear and pj's is considerably worse.  Pretty much the worst thing I could do."

 So, for about a week Grady was pant-less.  He loved having his freedom!!  Especially because he got to wear Buzz, Woody, and Star Wars undies.  The down side is that he took his freedom a bit far.  When we went to the store or to a ward party, he refused to wear pants.  Instead of fighting him, we just thought, "It's your funeral!"  And we took lots of pictures so he could be embarrassed when he gets older.  Note:  We have decided that an undy bum is a cute bum.

 After about a month he had figured out pooping, peeing, and now likes to help out us out while we are going to the bathroom.  The other day Adam was using the restroom and Grady stood by the door and gave encouraging words.  Grady said things like, "You can do it daddy, get those poopies out." and "Don't let your pee pee get on the toilet." and our personal favorite, "Push hard daddy, push hard! and then I will give you a treat."  Adam did not appreciate the condescending tone of Grady's encouragement.

 And so, now here we are, a month into it, and he hasn't looked back.  He has only had a couple of accidents and that is because mom or dad are a bit slow to get him to the toilet.

 And, it is true, it was amazingly difficult and trying!!  And we are not just talking about the potty training, but seeing our little baby boy turn into just a boy.  And he is 100% boy.



Jill and Nathan

When we first got married Camille's sister, Jill, was in 8th grade.  She loved to play board games and watch the Disney Channel.  Now, she is married!!  We can't believe it, but we are super happy.  She and her husband, Nathan, have been friends (and maybe a little more) since they were in the 3rd grade.  We have sat back and watched the drama of their dating lives for the past 7 years or so.  It has been a fun little soap opera, but it had a happy ending.

 Camille was the unofficial photographer.  She took over 500 photos of the day.  Grady was bound and determined to bully his way into as many photo shots of the day.  Note:  Nathan's family are ranchers, and as such, you will see a lot of cowboy hats in the following pictures.  Do not avert your eyes...just embrace and love the cowboy way.  Adam was ready to strap on some Wranglers and full brimmed hat by the end of the weekend.

 We started very early that morning.  Jill and Nathan were married at 4pm.  Grady had little to no nap.  When he wasn't running, crying, or eating, he was with his Grandpa.  Note:  You can tell his mood is shifting in this photo from happy and excited to tired and ornery.

 By the end of the day both Adam and Grady were done.  Grady pitching fits and throwing himself on the ground, while Adam just grimaced.  It was a fine parenting moment for Adam to just sit and watch his son lay on the ground crying.

 What is a wedding without a beautiful shot of the temple.

 The reception was the next day at the Ponderosa (OK, not really, but it was back at the ranch).  This is a picture of Jill and Nathan with all their kids.  Heck, they are Mormon and have been together since the third grade!!  Kidding.  All of Nathan's nieces and nephews.

 Camille's wonderful family.  Grady really tried to be a good boy for the reception, but we could tell he was low on energy and high on anger.  Shortly after the reception and wedding Grady had a high fever and spots all over his body.  Come to find out, he had a virus like Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.  Adam couldn't remember the name of the disease, so he told everyone Grady had mad cow disease...such a better alternative.

 The reception was absolutely gorgeous.  There was a dance floor that Grady LOVED.  He ran and danced there all night.  He was quite scandalous.  He would dance with any girl that came within two feet of him.  And what girl wouldn't want to dance with a little boy in suspenders, a bow tie, and baseball gloves.  Note:  Grady is more than obsessed with sports and now must wear his baseball batting gloves almost everywhere he goes.

 Shirt untucked, hair wild, sweat pouring...he had a good time.

 The lovely couple...geez!! Get a room!!!

Note:  Since there were so many pictures, we had a hard time narrowing it down.  Just so you all know, it was a beautiful setting.

Longest July Post in History

What happened to summer!!??  It felt like we just got some nice hot weather, and now it's September!  We had a whirlwind of a summer, thus resulting in the longest, most picture filled post in blog history (note: that isn't saying much).  The 4th of July was super fun for us this year.  We actually stayed home instead of traveling all over the world.  Camille decided this year would be a good year to start running competitive races.  She signed up for the 5k.  She is the one in orange.  Adam and Grady kissed momma and went and waited at the finish line.

 Adam and Grady waited for about twenty minutes...and then...off in the distance...we could see an orange spec.

 As it got closer, we started yelling and cheering as loud as we could.  It was hard for Camille not to run faster when you hear "Run momma, run!!"

 Camille did very well, as you can see by the smile on her face.  She finished 5th in her age group.  Note:  Adam feels very proud of the fact that he married an Olympic athlete...well, practically an Olympic athlete.

 After the race we were treated to a pancake breakfast.  One of Adam's friends (a lawyer and friend from Law School) stopped by and ate with us.  Grady pigged out as pancakes, ham, and apple juice are some of his favorites.  He was not super happy during the race because Adam did not let him run with the other racers.  Grady LOVES to run, and run, and run.

 After the race we went to the parade.  It was insane!!  We live in a little town in the middle of Wyoming. Most parades that we had attended were small affairs where the kids all got candy.  This was not one of those parades.  It was nothing but people.  When the candy was thrown, it was like a hoard of wolves descending on prey.  Grady didn't even get candy until some members of our ward who were in the parade saw Grady and gave him a pile of goodies.  The parade was hot, sticky, and crowded.  We didn't even get any pictures.  After the parade, Adam volunteered to help at the local park handing out food.  We all then took a nap so we could be refreshed for our evening activities.  We spent the evening with some friends of ours.  Grady of course ran and ran and ran with all the other kids.

 Sadly, they banned fireworks this year because of the drought and extreme heat.  So, all we got to do were these candles and some snappers.  Pretty lame for Wyoming.

The middle of July we had a great opportunity to travel the Mormon Trail with our close friends the Larsens.  Lloyd used to be our Stake President.  He was one of the first people to do handcart treks, and also re-discovered a lot of lost Mormon Trail historic sights.  One day after church he asked if we wanted to go on a guided tour with him and his wife, and we jumped at the chance.  Note:  We stopped for lunch at the base of Rocky Ridge; you'll notice Grady running and running and running.  A common theme.

 It was amazing to see first hand the environment the pioneers had to walk through.  There are not a lot of trees...

 The actual hand cart trail and the start of the ascent up Rocky Ridge.

 The Larsens took Grady and drove around Rocky Ridge so Camille and Adam could walk over themselves.  It was very humbling to see what the pioneer men and women had to pull handcarts over.

 There are four small hills or ridges that make up Rocky Ridge.  This was the last ridge, the rockiest.  As we were walking along we actually were able to find a nail that had fallen off a handcart. 

 Adam and Lloyd at the top of Rocky Ridge.  Note:  Adam is smiling so big because just before this picture was taken, Adam and Camille had avoided death!!  We were walking over the top of the last ridge when a rattle snake coiled up in the middle of the path.  Adam, being ever so noble, gave Camille a good shove and we both ran screaming like little girls down the trail.  Lloyd loves rattle snakes and so we actually went hunting for it, but never found it.

 Near the end of July, Adam's sister Annie moved from Ohio, where she has been for the last 8 years or so.  Her husband finished with medical school and they were moving to Idaho, so they spent a few weeks with Adam's parents.  We went down so all the cousins could destroy Grandma's house, which they did.  One morning the kids decided it would be a good idea to have a hat party.

 Grady has fit the mold for the terrible two year old.  A sweet boy with a violent temper who loves sports.  After church one day he demanded he play baseball while wearing his "Woody" boots.

 And of course who doesn't dress up like Spiderman wearing "Woody" boots and shoot webs at all the bad guys?  Note:  If you look close you can see his collared shirt poking out from under the costume.

The last thing we did in July was extremely special.  We were able to on on a pioneer handcart trek.  It is special because most of the handcart rescue sites where many pioneers died and were rescued are actually located in our stake boundaries.

 We had to meet at the church very early in the morning, and everyone seemed chipper and clean.  They would be exhausted and very dirty by the end of trek.

 The lovely couple!!

 Here are some of the trekkers from our ward.  During the trek a couple of our kids became sick and/or got very bad blisters on their feet.  We did not have any medical crews who could come in and pick them up, so they were carried the entire way in the handcart.  In this picture, they are putting one of the sick girls in the cart.

On the last day and on the last, rockiest, portion of Rocky Ridge we were asked to reenact the Jens and Elsie Nielson Story.  Briefly Jens had walked so much and it was so cold his feet had frozen.  He told his wife to leave him and she said no, picked him up, put him in the cart, and carried him the rest of the way to Salt Lake.  Elsie was exactly Camille's size, and Jens was exactly Adam's size.  So, it was a neat experience.  Camille carried Adam about halfway up the ridge and then angels (kids from our ward) came and helped.

 

The trail was long, hot, and a lot of work.  Again, there were no trees to get shade.

 The trail.

 Adam is in the Stake Young Men's Presidency and so he was running around a lot and making sure everyone was taken care of.  He even got a walkie-talkie, which he was happy about.  Note:  He was happy so he could practice his trucker talk.

 As we marched into Rock Creek members of our stake had lined the trail and cheered us on.  It was a great experience for us and the youth of our ward.

 At the end, Adam was happy to be done.  He was also exhausted.  Camille refused to pose for a picture because she was so covered in dirt.

Camille's parents took care of Grady while we were gone.  They met us at the end of the trail for dinner.  While we were on the trail it was hot, dusty, and a little windy.  At the end of the trail after we finished with dinner, it rained like crazy!!  We ran to the car and were soaking wet.  We stunk real bad. We started to drive home and of course Grady puked everywhere.  So, it was a long, wet, stinky, pukey ride home.  But, it was a great experience.