Getting back to my Idaho roots!

After Greg and I got back to Lexington, we flew out to Idaho to visit my family. We had only a few more weeks of Greg being able to fly for free, so we took advantage of that. Flying with a "lap child" who is almost two and being 29 weeks pregnant is not the ideal situation. I definitely got some strange looks as I tried to hold my toddler on my diminishing lap, but it all worked out great. Greg was a champ flying this time. During some of the flights, he even fell asleep in my arms.

The highlight of August in Burley (my hometown) is the Cassia County Fair. I LOVE THE FAIR!!! I haven't been for several years, but it's so much fun to go eat some tasty food that totally clogs your arteries, see the animals and 4H exhibits, and see everyone you've ever known all in the same area.

The fair really kicks off with the parade Wednesday morning. Grandpa, Beckett, Greg, Grandma, Emory, and Adele enjoying the parade.

Rodeo Queens

The boys with Grandpa and Grandma. The boys had to learn how to share Grandpa. :)

When we got home from the parade, Dad started setting up "Grandpa's Water Park." I went inside to use the restroom and thought that Greg was inside with me. Well, before he could be stopped, he opened the door, ran out of the house, and jumped in the pool clothes and all! No problem. Dallin had enough sense to go get his swimming shorts on before he got in. I think playing in the water with his cousins was Greg's favorite activity.

Monkey see, monkey do!

Dallin, Beckett, Unc, and Greg. Greg has recently been a real cheese when somebody takes a picture of him. He usually yells, "Picture! Cheese!"

Wearing the helmet for the four wheeler. Greg was too chicken to ride on it, but he sure liked the huge helmet!

We went to the Fair on Thursday night. Nice! Greg liked all the animals (I didn't like the pigs so much. They are sure stinky.) I think that Beckett liked the turkeys the most. He and Greg kept gobbling at each other the rest of the night.

In front of the 4H kids showing their goats.

Our friend, Art Smith, was performing that night. Greg and I waiting for the performance.

Beckett was nice enough to let Greg wear his Stetson. I love that both little boys are wearing their moms' sunglasses.

Before we had to leave Idaho, we celebrated Greg's birthday. He was very excited about it and kept running around yelling, "Birthday 2!"

Getting ready for the party.

Carrie and Nichole ready to party it up.

Blowing out the candle, with Uncle Mitchel in the background.

CAKE!!!

Dallin, my dad, and my Grandpa Shaw

Nichole and Dallin

My cousin, Lindsay, gave Greg a new tie. Obviously, he loved it. He also got a dollar in the card my parents gave him. So he kept going up to everyone with his tie on and his dollar in hand saying, "Dollar. Dollar." Maybe he'll be a banker.

He also got some money from my parents (with which we bought "Toy Story," his new favorite movie) and a bunch of new books. The new books were super helpful on the plane rides.

What a fun trip! I really savor the times that I get to be with my parents and siblings since those times don't come around all that often. Thanks for the great time! I love you and miss you all!

Rest of New York Vacation

So...I realize that this vacation was two months ago, and I haven't done anything about it. Oh well. For remembering's sake. :)

The day after Hayley's wedding, Noel had to drive back to Lexington to start school while Greg and I stayed to played a week longer. We had such a fun time visiting with the Dickens clan!

We went to the zoo one morning. Greg especially liked the monkeys. Here he is with Aunt Maren and Uncle Jojo checking the monkeys out. In Jordan's perfect world, he would have a pet monkey. Maren didn't let him take one home. :)

With Grandma and Grandpa

With the polar bear cubs and of course, his companion, Mr. Bear.

We all met Grandpa at the ball park for a Red Wings game another morning. Greg did pretty well; we made it all the way to the 6th or 7th inning before we had a meltdown.

We had a picnic at a school with a playground. Fun! Then we had root beer floats from Bill Gray's (maybe Tom Wahl's). Yum!

We had such a blast. And of course I cried when I had to say goodbye to everyone. That's just a given. There were bunches of other fun times, but I'm not as good as Noel at remembering to take pictures. :) A big thanks to Lynne and Gordie for letting me stay longer and putting up with us.

Birthday Hang-Over

We've definitely had a lot of fun this weekend. First off, Greg celebrated his 2nd birthday on Thursday. Lots of ice cream, lots of sugar highs, and two tired parents.

2nd, Friday classes were canceled due to the death in the family of the teaching faculty member. 

Lots of chores, yard work, and picture editing...and of course more birthday cake.

3rd, Saturday was filled with more errands to run and of course another birthday celebration.

Cake, cake, and more cake. 

Blood glucose levels - Sky high!

4th, Sunday turned into the day of slumber.

Thank goodness for the week to start to catch up on sleep :)

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Yahoo! We all love pictures...

Greg doing what he loves best, driving!

Ice cream cake celebration on Thursday. The start to sugies!

Greg's two presents: Blocks (in the background) and his favorite...The BIKE! Check out his dare-devil video on Vimeo under "Dare-devil Biking!"

Friday morning in the garage hanging with dad. Helmet and glasses put on by himself. Like father, like son! Indoctrinated at a young age :)

Greg's birthday cake for Saturday's party. His favorite movie is "Bee Movie"...could you guess?

Best buds eating their cake and ice cream. Thanks Jackson for putting up with G-reg!

Mad-dog Maddox on Friday enjoying some ice cream cake. Greg is definitely going to miss Maddox when they leave next year.

His 3 Star Crossed lovers...Ashley, Emily, and Brinley. What would we do without these three?!

Thanks Mom for my multiple birthdays!

Sunday afternoon playing with his golf set.

Just as a side note. Today's Sunday school was a combined Priesthood/Relief Society Lesson by the Bishopric on friendship. This summer we had 19 families move into the ward with a net gain of 56 members. Lots of new faces and lots of opportunities to make new friends. The lesson was on incorporating people generally outside of our friendship circles. During the lesson, Bishop Blodgett shared an experience where an elderly member of the ward had recently passed away and when asked who his best friend was he responded with, "Jon Bylund." Jon, father of 3 and half this man's age, has been a great example to us since moving to Kentucky about the joys of stepping out of our comfort zone to meet and befriend new people. We love living in Kentucky and know that the Lord provided us this opportunity to grow, mature, and learn. Thank you to those who make the Tates Creek Ward wonderful and great. Here's to good friends and a great ward! Cheers

Happy Birthday Greg!

When your birthday is December 28th, there is no such thing as a “brithday party”. Most people are still recovering from Christmas and/or preparing for New Years. So around your 10th birthday you make a personal vow to yourself that all of your children’s birthday’s will be spectacles seen from space! 

Yesterday was Greg’s 2nd birthday and like tradition it kick off a weekend of birthday festivities. Greg watched an extra hour of tv (mostly Bee Movie), played outside the rest of the time, had a ton of ice cream cake, and was sung to so many times that he thinks the Dickens’ family anthem is Happy Birthday.

But birthdays are not just for the child, but they are chance for parents to sit back and celebrate surviving another year. In the morning I took pictures indexed from the last two years and made a tribute video to Greg. 

Amber and I watched it multiple times and each time we broke into tears. You see, celebrating a child’s birthday is celebrating being a parent. Being a parent isn’t easy, but it is the greatest gift anyone could be given for there is no time-honored stamp of approval like, “Daddy” or “Mommy”. Thanks Greg for a wonderful two years!

Vacation Update: Rain!

After nearly a month of sun and high temperatures, Greg finally got his dose of torrential downpour...and he loved it. On Friday we attended the graduation party of a family friend. In route we were hit by a major rain storm. At the party Greg loved running around the driveway jumping in the puddles. Luckily we had dressed him in his favorite shorts and new crocs...Love It!

When we arrived home Greg loved playing around on the upper deck with no clothes on. 

Earlier this week we had the chance to eat dinner at the parent's home of one of Noel's high school friends. They loved meeting Greg and Greg Creighton (for whom Greg is named after) had a blast sitting by his name-sake. The dinner was awesome and consisted of ribs, potatoes, salad (with Bone Fish dressing), and amazing key-lime pie. For the most part Greg was well-behaved.

After dinner we were able to grab a photo of the Gregs...What a sweet pair.

Vacation: The Cooler Airs of New York

For the last two weeks of my summer vacation we are in Rochester, NY spending time with my family and gearing up for my youngest sister's wedding. Although the weather has been dry like in Kentucky we are thoroughly enjoying the cooler New York air. On Saturday we attended Hayley's first endowment session at the Palmyra temple and then in the evening went to the Hill Cumorah pageant. Greg loved the customs and running around the "bowl." Greg has been particularly fond of Hayley and during the show he kept pointing to the various stages and saying, "Hay Hay...Hayley!" 

The majority of this week has been kicking it around Honeoye Falls and doing errands for the family. Like usual though Greg found his way to the sprinkler and mimicking me by taking his own pictures.

Poor Amber is usually the responsible parent watching over Greg while I take pictures. However, sometimes I find her smiling :)

One thing that has made Amber particularly happy is that I promised to take her to Chill and Grill and stuff ourselves with as much ice cream as possible. As a warm-up this evening we went to a local parlor called "Dippin' Dans". Greg loved his vanilla soft custard with rainbow sprinkles (he mostly loved the sprinkles) and was in a good enough mood to say "cheese" to the camera.

Only one more week before the mayhem begins. And when I say begin I mean absolute craziness. Since I am doing the photography I have been working around the house measuring lighting and scouting Rochester for good bridal locations. Today was spent measuring indoor lighting just in case it rains during the reception and ring ceremony. 

Poor Hayley... I just hope I don't burn out her retinae. But she is a pretty good sport and a little bit of ice cream smooths over any long photo session.

July 4th Fun

Happy Independence Day!  I feel very lucky to live in this great country where I am able to worship as I please, raise a family, and am afforded so many other freedoms.  I am also filled with gratitude for the many men and women in the military who work so hard to protect our country and freedoms.  

For the 4th, our festivities were pretty low-key.  When I say pretty low-key, I mean almost non-existent.  I have been extremely tired during this pregnancy, so my idea of celebrating is taking a nap.  Planning activities and/or fighting crowds were not high on my priority list.  We did, however, get some fireworks and had our own miniature "Stadium of Fire."  We'll call it "Driveway of Fire." 

Greg was a HUGE fan of the Snap-n-Pops!  After throwing them, he would yell, "That's high!  Again!"

On a side note, Greg is named after Noel's dear friend Greg Creighton.  Big Greg gave our Greg the Syracuse shorts he's wearing in these pictures last summer when we were visiting in Rochester.  (Big Greg graduated from Syracuse)  Greg LOVES, LOVES, LOVES those shorts!  I have to sneak them away from him to wash them.  He wears them all the time!

Love that boy!

Greg with his first sparkler.  I don't think he knew quite what to think about it.

Enjoying "Driveway of Fire" in his little camp chair with Dad and Mom.

We had a fun night.  Greg was exhausted by the time we were done, but that has meant an early bedtime tonight (like it).  Happy Fourth of July!

Giveaway

Saw this giveaway on Jenna's blog, so I went to check it out. Milan Maternity has some of the cutest maternity clothes I have ever seen. I might end of doing a little on-line shopping.

Anyways, they just started their blog and are celebrating by giving away 3 awesome prizes:

1. A $100 E-Gift Card to Milan Maternity for Mommy
2. A $100 E-Gift Card to Babies 'R' Us for Baby
3. A $50 Gift Card to Applebee's and 2 movie tickets to Regal Entertainment theaters for Daddy (who we all know needs a little extra attention once baby arrives, right?)

I thought I'd pass it on (and earn myself a few extra entries, too).