First Family Campout

A few weekends ago Andy and I went for a drive up Diamond Fork Canyon near our house. We talked about wanting to do outdoor stuff with our kids as they got older. I told him I wanted to be a camping family. We decided we'd start them young and planned a family camp out for a few weeks later. Almost all of Andy's family came and stayed the night up Diamond Fork Canyon. Other than Tyler waking up at 3:30 in the morning and crying for thirty minutes saying he wanted to get out of the tent, the boys didn't do too bad. Surprisingly, Bryce slept better than any of us.
Here's Tyler waiting for the fire to start sporting his camo pants. Tyler likes the fire. I guess that comes from his dad.
Bryce, all bundled up after a chilly night. He was our "Happy Camper." He only fussed a little bit during the night when his pack n play got too cold for him. So he snuggled up with me in my sleeping bag and went right back to sleep.
Why buy toys when taking rocks in and out of a box is this entertaining to kids?
Our tent was pretty crammed with our huge air mattress and Bryce's pack n play. After setting everything up, Andy asked the rest of the family if they had any room for a 2 year old in their tent. Tyler ended up sleeping between Andy and me.
It was a fun night. But I think it'll be at least another year before we try it again. And we'll stay close to home again...just in case.

Bryce's Blessing Day

Our little boy is getting so big. With my family in town we decided to do Bryce's blessing on Sunday. Andy gave him a beautiful blessing surrounded by grandfathers, uncles and even a great uncle. I prayed all morning that he wouldn't cry during the blessing and he slept through the whole thing.

He has developed into such a sweet little boy. When he is content and awake he just beams from ear to ear and says all kinds of words like "oo, aaagoo, and coo." He even started sleeping through the night on Saturday. He likes to wiggle and scoot himself around while laying on his back. He's my all natural child - doesn't really like binkys, bottles, or formula. This has made my life a little more difficult but we're learning to compromise and work with each other.

We finally got a half way decent picture of the four of us. It'll do for now.

Andy took a few pictures of the boys and they had potential to be so cute, but we couldn't quite get Bryce to stay up right and Tyler to look at the camera. Photo shoots are getting more difficult with two. We thought it was so funny when Tyler started doing this to Bryce to keep him from falling over.

My parents with Bryce in front of our house.

Labor Day Weekend

Finally, for the first time in two years we had my whole family together for Bryce's blessing. We tried to get a family photo but Tyler was less than cooperative. I guess we'll take what we can get. We had a really fun weekend. My mom and I got to shop a little on Friday.

We had a picinic up Hobble Creek Canyon on Saturday. Tyler is sporting his "Chinamen" hat here. This kid loves hats. My mom bought him this in China town and my dad thought he'd never wear it. Nope - loves it. He even wore it into Costco last week.

My sister, Sarah and I up Hobble Creek. The boys went for a hike after our picnic and got stuck in the rain. Apparently it was quite the mudslide on the way back down.

Tyler loved playing with "Pop", my Dad. They got to play basketball at the park, look at stuff animals at Sportsmen's Warehouse, and catch grasshoppers here on a pretty drive near Salem. We also went to Heritage Park on Monday, but forgot our camera. We have pictures on my mom's camera but I'll have to add those later. It was a really fun weekend and I was sad to see my family go. I look forward to the next time we can get together.

My Little Picaso

I recently looked up age appropriate activities for 2 year olds on the internet. Finger painting seemed like something I could do. Of course the compulsive cleaner in me had to keep the mess contained. It was a hit. Tyler often asks "Can I paint my finger Mommy?"