Boo!

Don't look now, but there's a giant grasshopper sneakin' up on ya.



Yes, I fail in this picture. Oh well, Cam looks cute and the scene behind us was superb. Way to go Uncle Russel and Aunt Julie!


King Cameron of the Wild Things. You should see my house, it proves this is his real identity.


What do you do with a pumpkin? Dig in it? Carve it?


Nah, EAT IT!


What does a dragon say? ROOOAAARR! (apparently every animal makes that very sound??)


Call me Tim, Tim the Toolman...


Now Al, what would your mother say?
(Did anyone get our costumes? Nope. Do you? Maybe not, but we had fun!)


Cameron's spoils aka Mom and Dad's junk supply.

Oh, the Mischief

The Big No. 1

Cam had his first birthday in August. Since Mark was gone for the actual day, we had a party when he got back in the family. We haven't had that many people in our home at one time and we had a blast. Mark's parents and siblings came up from Farmington/Centerville and we loved having everybody!

It was so fun reflecting back a year and thinking about Cameron coming into our lives. It crazy to realize that at one point Cameron wasn't here. It seems like he's always been here laughing and being a nut. I can't believe how much he's grown and what he's learned over the course of the year!

The cake

Cam was an old pro at opening presents by this time.

Blowing out the candle (with help from Cousin Jackson).

Eating a cupcake-not such a fan.
I'm sure Cousin Russell thought it was almost sacrilegious
to waste a cupcake like that.

Someone finally had mercy and thought to give him goldfish.

Love this boy!

Fun on the Emerald Island

Mark headed out to Kodiak, Alaska to catch "the one" in the middle of August. Fish that is, since he's already found me. I guess there's something about being out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of guys, bears, and fish that man just can't resist. All the men in the family headed out and the women decided to stay behind and "party". Or something like unto. Cameron and I missed Mark a ton while he was away for a week and a half, but we loved playing together and learning new things. There was no cell phone coverage where they flew to, so it was a new experience not having Mark to talk to for over a week.

Cameron had his first birthday while Mark was gone with little fanfare. A good birthday to miss since Cam doesn't know the difference!

Now that Mark's back, we're enjoying the fruits of his labors. Well, I guess it would more accurately be termed the fish of his labors. Here's some pictures from the trip and if Mark feels the urge, he can post some stories!

A new friend in Kodiak. Thanks for not bringing
him home-you're already hard enough to feed.

The guys were stuck in Kodiak since it was too stormy and
foggy to head out on the float plane to their peninsula.

Mark making the most of their unexpected sight-seeing day.

View from plane. This takes my breath away-the view
and the fog they're flying in. Glad I didn't know about
this until they came back.

Mark, Dana (bro-in-law), Dad, Denny (bro), Todd (bro)

Hiking to the fish.

A river runs through it. Whatever "it" is...

A Mama bear with her triplets. What a thrill to see that in the wild!

Looking down on cabin and ocean. What a view!

Flying out! Alan (bro-in-law), Mark, Dad, Todd

I just thought these pictures looked like a scene
out of Jurassic Park. Look close and you can see
the waterfalls on the mountain! Gorgeous!

Summary: Mark and the guys had a blast, the girls went to Willow Park to see their own fish, and we're all glad they made it back safe and sound (the guys and the girls-hard to say what's more ferocious: bears or tired children).

Serving Up a Slice of Summer

We love Bear Lake!

A pleasantly warm place to take a nap...

Pulling things out of place. Beware open drawers, you're next!

Somehow he fell asleep like this. Sucking on his toes? Yoga?

Bonding over a tractor. Aren't they so handsome?!

A portion of our slightly pitiful garden. I guess veggies don't like growing in rock hard clay. Who would've thought? No, that foot tall corn growing in the background is not ours...it's the neighbors. I'm sure they could grow tomatoes in concrete.

Moving and Jackson Hole

We were able to move into our house on Memorial Day. I thought moving in would free up some time to finish all the things that needed to be done...Not so. Oh well, we are loving it! Come visit us anytime!


Several weeks ago we ran off to Jackson Hole for the weekend. We had a blast despite the fact that Cameron was getting three teeth on top and didn't want to sleep. One night he woke up at 3:00am and played in his pack-&-play until 5:00am while Mom and Dad slept. What can I say, he a party animal.

At one of the stores, a Korean man walked up to us and asked if he could take a picture of Cam since he was smiling at him so much. We decided if the little dude ends up on billboards in Korea, we better get royalties.

Cameron helping Dad pack...

At a park in Jackson Hole. Cam is a cheeser!

Romeo meets Disneyland

Forgive me, but I'm still giggling over this video (it might be hysterical, but giggling nonetheless).

A (more real) love story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjWDKu0jfM

I plugged this into facebook about a month ago saying how funny I thought it was. The next couple of days were nightmare days with a fussy baby and long hours working on the house (which would explain Romeo's absence). I started to wonder if this video was really that comical.

Sometimes I find it hard to remember why we willingly and sometimes enthusiastically sign up for some of the hardest jobs in life, whether that be parenthood, school, taking care of a parent, etc.

For a couple of years, Mark and I thought of little else than having a baby. We prayed and fairly begged for it, wondering if it would ever happen. We watched with joy and a little niggling at our heartstrings as friends announced and then as beautiful babies were born.

With that history, it surprised me when I did not take to motherhood as easily or naturally as I would have thought. It's my major, for crying out loud. I worked until the day I had the baby, so although I loved spending time with this new boy, I also felt a little trapped at home. My days now consisted of being a milk bottle, diaper changing, imagination impaired machine. Let's be honest, some days, spatulas just don't measure up on the Disneyland excitement scale.

What I've found is that being with Mark one on one has become something of a Splash Mountain. Although being a parent has been a different learning experience than I imagined, it's been fulfilling so far and has made me appreciate Mark even more. While I have limited imagination capabilities, Mark has more than enough to make up for it until I find my inner-child. On the endless days, seeing him walk through the door is almost all that I need to refocus.

Cheers for finding Romeo.

Conniption and Pizza

Con-nip-tion:

noun
a fit of hysterics

Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly a conniption, but when I came into Cam's room after his nap and found him like this . . .



. . . I may have had a little bit of a freak-out session. Yes he is leaning over the railing of his crib; and in case you're wondering, yes we raised his railing. Whew, he is a crazy little boy.


He has started to do a glorified crawl-not quite a real crawl, but boy does he get around quickly! I have new-found respect for all those crazy mothers out there who I have seen frantically chasing their children around. Cameron is already a lot like I imagine his dad was at this age. He seems so chill, then all of a sudden his little personality breaks through and he's crazy. WE LOVE IT!






His favorite game is peek-a-boo and gets a kick seeing Mark and me make fools of ourselves. Pretty sure that's the only reason he ever laughs-because we look so silly to him. One can't help but make themselves look like loonies in front of babies.




Some of you might be under the impression that pizza is not blog worthy. I feel bad for you :) Mark and I made this pizza earlier this week and we're still smiling about it!



I would really like a recipe for a white sauce to go on pizza. If any of you have great recipes, I'd love to hear about it!