10 months already?

Calvin is ten months and wants to walk so badly! I hope he does soon, because he's not happy unless someone is holding his hands. But when we do....man! He is in heaven! He loves it!!

Here is a picture of his teeth I tried to catch last time. He now has 4 on top and 3 on bottom with the fourth coming in soon! Can you tell he's teething by the slobber rolling down his chin! It's a hazard around here! I have to plan on all my outfits getting slobbered! I feel it's a mark of love though and look forward to it! He's completely weened...so I'm feeling a bit of freedom again! I love that. but he is attached to the binky like NONE of our other kids. I'm not sure how to handle this, but I'm kind of attached to the fact that he's attached to it. I need him to have it sometimes. But do I break the cycle now or later...I'm not sure I'm ready yet!

It seems as though he's lost the baby look and feel this last month, and the closer he gets to his one year birthday, I see more and more of a toddler in him! If we were keeping pace with the other kids, I'd be pregnant again! I'm not. That thought is still a little overwhelming right now, but Zoey is asking in her prayers all the time for a sister...which really puts the pressure on!

"St. Georgie"

Beware...this is a long one :)

Eli has a big monkey he got as a Christmas present from Grandma/pa Gray which he named George (after Curious George) but he really calls his monkey "Georgie." So when I say we went to St. George on a family vacation...to the kids, it was referred to has St. Georgie!

So...We took a trip to St. George this weekend after weeks of watching the weather forecast to see when it would hit 70 degrees down there. We finally saw our window of opportunity open up, and within days were out of town! It was a wonderful weekend. The mornings were still cool, but it would heat up nicely by mid-morning and afternoon that we could feel comfortable in short sleeves...oh it felt so nice! They don't call it sunny St. George for no reason! Zoey's expression is showing how we all felt with the exposure we had to vitamin 'D'...

We spent every day in snow canyon...the petrified sand dunes were a favorite. Calvin did really well in the pack and enjoyed getting a piggy back ride through all our hikes :) We were constantly active and wore the kids out. I think we all slept really well from pure exhaustion.

The drove down on Wednesday, got checked in and went to the grocery store. The first morning (Thursday) we hiked in Snow Canyon at the petrified sand dunes. These are some of my favorite pictures of the kids playing around:

 It amazes me that something can grow from pure rock! Look how huge this cactus is! Jackson said "I found out from kicking it that they hurt!" Yes he did that, even after I warned him. But... he's a boy.

I don't have pictures of that afternoon because we were playing too hard!  We went to Sandy Hallow indoor aquatic center and wore the kids out on swimming. They enjoyed the indoor slide and water features. After the pool, I took the kids to a park to play while Calvin took and nap and Brian cooked us Fettuccine Alfredo with blackened chicken for dinner! We were so hungry from all our playing!



Friday we headed back to snow canyon for another hike: 3 ponds which connects to petrified dunes. It was way hard for the kids and we ended up carrying half of them for half the hike, but we did enjoy a great picnic lunch that we hiked in. Jackson picked a great spot to eat his lunch!

Saturday morning Brian did the Bear Claw Poppy mountain bike trail and then we headed back to Snow Canyon where he played with the kids at the sand dunes and I went fro a 3 mile run through the park. It was a gorgeous run! The kids loved digging in the sand and Eli asked if we could do this for his birthday...dig, dig, dig. Only Calvin hated the sand on his feet, so Brian had to hold him most of the time.

 We met Grandma and Grandpa Gray at cottonwood Cove park as they were making their way to Las Vegas to see Jaran and Claire. It was an awesome park the kids love exploring the very unique playground equipment, and it was fun to have the grandparents there to show off to! Later we went to dinner with them at the pasta factory.

 The spinning toys were a favorite for the kids...they would spin until they were too dizzy to walk straight and there eyes were twirling in their heads!

 Calvin was so snugly with his dad on this trip. SO cute!

 Jackson is turning into a good rock climber!

 We visited Zion National park one day and took the kids on two walks....weeping rock and the river trail that leads to the narrows. they had fun exploring and enjoying a picnic lunch on the lawn at the lodge. Zion is so beautiful! I'm glad we made the extra trip out there to show the kids the biggest red rock mountains in the world! Jackson was very impressed by them!

We ended the day at the St. George temple, Jackson's favorite. We tried to do a spiritual thought, but hopefully the kids remember something other than running around the grounds screaming and yelling ...somewhere in there they did all commit to go inside the temple someday, and they each shared something they know and love about temples!

Toothless!

It happened! Jackson lost his first tooth! He was so excited and proud of the big moment that pushed him into the crowd of "grown-up kid." He wrote letters to his classmates at school to let them know the exciting news. I'm glad we don't have to worry about texting or tweeting at this age! Letters are just great!

 Above he is holding the prized tooth...he's excited for the tooth fairy to bring him money. Apparently, Jake from his class got $2 for his tooth, I told him Jake must have gotten his dollars and quarters mixed up because the tooth fairy I know only hands out quarters :)

Below, Jackson is on the phone with Dad to tell him the news. Dad is very sad to see Jackson growing up. Brian told Jackson the only way for Jackson to stop getting older is by spending more time with dad, how ironic that the tooth fell out when he was gone!

Out with the old, in with the new

 Brian's truck died. sniff, sniff. It was official. To fix it would have cost more than the truck was worth and we couldn't guarantee that it would solve all it's future problems!  Sad day, even Jackson cried. BUT Brian did move on...to another, younger version of the same truck! It's nice and we all love it. It makes his little red truck look...little! I somehow hope he wouldn't move along so quickly if it was me that passed! ha ha...

Another Missionary!

 My youngest brother is headed to the MTC tomorrow. His mission call is to Xalapa, Mexico. I'm excited for him. Last weekend, we had the opportunity to attend the temple. my mom had all six of her children and most of their spouses there! it was a great moment for our family!

 I'm proud of Brandon's decision to serve and excited for the experiences he will have (and a bit envious he'll learn to be fluent in Spanish)! I realized that there are almost as many years between Brandon and I as there are between him and Jackson! It was crazy to think about that and the amount of life experiences that happen in those years. I was mostly out of the home while Brandon was growing up, but I think I learned most about him at his farewell talk. He gave a fantastic talk.

 Brandon has always been really great with the kids! They will miss him! They keep asking "How old will I be when Brandon gets back?" I like this picture of the kids with uncle Brandon, and look forward to seeing how much they grow while he's gone!

Proud Parents! They have something to be proud about! All six children are active members of the church, have been through the temple, and all sons have served missions... I hope to say the same about my children someday!

Calvin at 9 months

Our sweet boy is growing up! He's getting a bit attached to his mommy, but I don't mind :) 

The big things for this month are:

 1) he's sleeping better (finally) but not long at night as we'd like. We switched him to Eli's old room and put Eli in Calvin's room so that Calvin would be further away and not wake us up any more...ha ha ha! 

2) he got two new teeth in on top! I tried to capture it in his smile, but he didn't want to part his lips very much, the stinker :) 

3) he's climbing the stairs all by himself! The kids have been great and watching the stairs for me and telling me when Calvin is on them, and sometimes help to bring him back down, or stay near him so he doesn't fall. It's super helpful and they love having the chance to help out with Calvin. 

4) He's feeding himself and likes to use his pincher fingers. They are so chubby and cute.  I love watching my babies concentrate so hard to get that food in their mouths! He's also on a bottle and almost weened entirely! Yay! Freedom for me!

Zoey has been telling random people that her sister Paisley is coming...and most people take that as an announcement that her mom is pregnant. For the record, I'm NOT! But Zoey is excited to get a sister someday and asks all the time if she's coming? Did she go to another family? Is she alone in heaven? Why is it taking so long?!?! All questions that make for a fun conversation with her. She really wants a sister. I tell her to be patient and we'll see what Heavenly Father has planned!

Undetterred

I woke up disgruntled that the snow had ruined my plans for running much needed errands...no way can I drag all the kids out in the weather, and with Brian's truck out of commission, I can't just ask "on your way home from work, would you mind picking up...."

The kids, however, were none the worse!

I think this weather is fun like...the day before Christmas, but I'm ready for SPRING! I guess I'm not the only one. At breakfast Zoey was saying the prayer and she paused waiting for help, so I prompted "we're thankful for the snow..." she stopped and said, "no...we're thankful for the summer!"

A midwinter's nap

One way Zoey is like her dad is that she enjoys the warm sun on a cold winter's day!

 Zoey stopped taking naps about a year ago, to my dismay. Every once in a blue moon, however, I'll find her sacked-out somewhere. On this day she decided to get cozy in the warm sun shining through the window on a snowy day. She wrapped the curtains around her play area creating a canopy that collected all that warm bright sun. 

I'm not sure she intended to fall asleep, maybe the bean bag started to get too comfy to resist sinking all the way into a really comfortable position. Whatever the reason, I thought she looked so cute and peaceful enjoying a nap that was much needed! 

A crowd

My wonderful, hardworking husband spoke to a crowd of over 1,200 people yesterday in Orlando, Florida. This is the picture he sent me of that crowd.....He's amazing. I often think of what he does for work and glad that it's him and not me! I could never do what he does, but I'm glad that he does it! 

Today he is spending over 14 hours on a plane (don't cry too hard for him, he's going to Hawaii). He has been traveling this week and next from Denver to Florida to Hawaii, spending  a week away from home and more hours than he cares to spend in airplanes, airports, hotels and taxis.

As much as we hate having him gone, I'm glad that He works so hard for us so that I can enjoy talking to my crowd of one:

Jackson and Zoey spent the night and Grandma and Grandpa Gray's house, so Eli and I had time for a little date...with Calvin of course, but Eli wad OK with that. He was so much fun to be with! We rode a carousel, had a small scoop of ice cream, and went to dinner at the Pizza Factory. Eli couldn't be talked into anything other than Pizza...so since it was his date, we had pizza!

He loved the carousel so much we did it twice! We were the only riders, so he had his choice of animals. He picked the biggest horse with a blue saddle. He picked the same one both times.

I'm just saying...sometimes the job of a mom has great rewards and is really fun! I'm lucky to get to do it.  

Calvin is 8 months!

It happened just a few days ago, when I walked into his room after nap time, expecting Calvin to be on his tummy, knees, or back...and was shocked to see his little face peering over the crib as he was STANDING and waiting for me to come through the door. He was so excited! 

Our little baby is growing up!

He has two teeth on the bottom and two that just barely broke through on the top. He loves to chew his fingers... and anything else he can get in his mouth. Our house is on "choking-hazard-alert" these days. Our kids will spot things and say "choking hazard!" I've taught them well to pick up these things....

He has a great laugh and is getting to that fun stage of playing, tickling, and laughing with him. His burn (on the forehead) from last month is getting better and healing. I'm hoping no long-term scarring (cross my fingers). He still has a little ring of deep blue on the outer edges of his eyes... the last of his newborn baby eye-color left, but it's pretty and I hope it stays a while longer. I love his chubby hands and the padded fatty areas of his body. He's a lovable boy!