It Must Be Love!

Mason has taken a fancy toward the Old Navy mannequins! We stopped by last week for their $12 jean sale and for some reason he was drawn to them from the second we walked in! We had him count the fingers on one and when I asked him to count the toes he looked down and laughed because they don't have toes--they're just stumps! I asked him where the head was and he pointed up to where the head should have been (they were all headless). He started rubbing their arms and legs and hugging them. There were three mannequins at the front of the store and he ran from one to another hugging them and checking them out. I'm glad that I happened to have my camera so I could snap a few photos (the third photo below was actually a video and my software wouldn't rotate it, so sorry you have to crank your head)! I would have guessed that Mason would be scared to approach them, but he was quite the ladies man. Silly kid!

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Phelps Phan

I think everyone would agree that the Beijing Olympics were a lot of fun to watch! It's amazing how addicting they are. I love watching beach volleyball and gymnastics, so I was so glad that Mason seemed to enjoy them too (otherwise he'd get the DVD remote and turn on Open Season or whatever cartoon happened to be in). He thought it was so cool to watch the gymnists on the bars and rings. We're not really into the Equestrian competitions, but we happened to turn on the obstacle jumping (sorry that I don't know the exact name for it) and Mason start jumping off his little chair as the horses jumped over each obstacle. He also loved immitating the divers by jumping off the couch onto a pile of pillows (I have video that I will try to post later). During volleyball, Dan blew up a balloon and let him hit it around. My favorite, though, was when he started rotating his arms saying 'swi, swi' when we were watching Michael Phelps.

Before he could get too involved in the Olympics, he had to make sure Tristyn was content. He's been great at helping give her binky when she cries.

Here he is swimming in mid air with Phelps in the background. This was the match for his 8th Gold Medal.

We all know how it turned out. Phelps had every reason to celebrate! On a side note--he's dang wripped.

I'm glad we were all able to witness this moment. What a great athlete! We're excited to watch him again in 2012 London! Since this TV isn't HD ready, we'll either be watching him on our big screen or hopefully on a new flatscreen (we're crossing our fingers for Christmas!).

Popsicle Smiles

Mason has really loved popsicles this summer (I know, what kid doesn't love them). I gave him this red popsicle with a special purpose in mind--I needed photos to put on the "Popsicle Smiles" scrapbook page that made for our a Quarterly swap that I'm involved in.

He took his sweet time eating it . . .

And didn't seem to mind that it was dripping all down his arm, on his clothes, and through the holes of his Crocs.

He savored every last drop.

Thanks Mason for being my subject!

Jon & Kate Plus 8

What is it with this show? For the past three months I have been seriously addicted. For the past week I've been going through withdrawal (since I went back to work). Before June, I had noticed the show when channel surfing, but hadn't ever watched it. When my doctor was releasing me from the hospital, for some reason he mentioned the show and make me curious about it. That's how my maternity leave addiction began! For those of you who haven't heard about the show, it's about a couple who couldn't get pregnant so they used fertility treatment and ended up having twins. After that they decided they wanted one more, and after another fertility treatment they ended up with sextuplets. Can you imagine??!! I think the show just started it's third season, so I had two seasons to catch up on! Luckily, I was able to catch several marathons and 4 reruns each weekday (I planned Tristyn's feedings as much as possible around 9 am and 2 pm so I wouldn't miss one). I checked the episode list online and I think I managed to see about 90% of the old shows. I'll still try to catch episodes I haven't seen on the days I'm home, but you'll bet that Monday nights at 7 pm, I'll be planted on the couch watching the new season!

Dan asked me why I like the show so much. I'm not really sure--maybe it's to see how Kate manages to keep her house almost spotless despite having 8 kids running around (I can't keep mine put together with only two kids). Maybe it's because I come from a family of 8 kids and I'd like to see how this family compares (although we didn't have any multiples). Maybe it's because Aunt Jody has the same flowery yellow couch that I have (it's just as ugly in her house). Maybe it's because I like to be the fly on the wall watching how other homes operate. Maybe it's because I wonder how they can afford to feed 10 people on one income. Maybe it's because Kate and Jon can be blundt without offending each other. Or maybe it's because I like to get ideas on disciplining my kids, or ideas on keeping them entertained all day. Whatever the reason, I've really enjoyed watching the show. I'm trying to only watch the episodes I haven't seen now, rather than watching every episode that comes on. I know I'm not the only one--Natalie has admitted that she's onto the show too! Why do you like it, Nat??

The other show that I forgot I really liked is Scrubs! I only watched the first season, so it's been fun watching reruns. I haven't forgotten about Friends, though. I still catch it on cable when I can, but I'm afraid to get out the DVDs because Mason would make them his own!

Now that I'm back to work, I'm realizing again that I don't have time to keep up with all of the TV shows that I'd like to. And starting on Labor Day, I'm going to have a real dilemna--Prison Break or Jon & Kate?? They both air on Monday nights! We seriously need a DVR!

All Smiles

I was finally able to get a couple of shots of Tristyn smiling. These are just little smiles--her full smile is pretty much impossible to catch on camera. I'm going to keep trying though! She also rolled over for the first time last Friday! I put her down on her belly for a couple of minutes while I packed and when I checked on her she had rolled to her back! I know that she was high up on her arms when I put her down, so that probably helped. Either way, she's growing up way too fast!

Season for Reunions

This weekend we went up to Star Valley for the Jenkins Reunion. This year they picked a spot up Grey's River that's closer to Murphy Lake. It was beautiful and the weather was great! We opted to stay at the Flying Saddle Resort in Alpine rather than tent-it with the baby. It was her first 'long' roadtrip (she's been to Logan and to Fairview--both of which are about 1 1/2 hours away). It normally takes about 3 1/2 hours to get to my parents, but the trip up to Alpine took us about 6 hours! We left our house at about 5:30, stopped for gas, then for cash and a dirty diaper and were on the road by 6:00. We stopped in Evanston to grab dinner and feed Tristyn. The 1 1/2 hour stop included 3 more diaper changes for Tristyn and a complete meltdown from Mason. We also stopped in Cokeville for a quick feeding. I never imagined it would have been such an ordeal to travel with two kids! Luckily, my sister Melissa rode with us and catored to the kids in the back seat. Despite only having about 1/2 hour nap, Mason had to explore the hotel room even though it was midnight and we were all completely exhausted! I think he finally fell asleep at about 1:15 am.

On Friday we went up to the camp and had a great time visiting with everyone. We let Mason play at the lake for a while. He loved riding out in uncle Danny's raft. It was cute to see him and his cousin Emelia shooting water guns at everyone. There was a rope swing across the lake that some of the kids jumped off and my cousin Travis 'remodeled' a log raft that someone left. He looked like Tom Hanks from Castaway out there!

Mason also loved the river at camp. I'm pretty sure he thought it was his duty to throw every branch and pinecone in. If one got stuck on a rock, he'd make us push it out so it would go downstream. Dan went shooting with a few of the guys (I wanted to go, but had to keep track of the kids). We mainly sat around in the shade and visited. My uncles Paul and Doug and their families did a great jop planning it and although we were only there for the day, we had a great time!

On Sunday we stopped at my parents for lunch and to visit for a while. The trip home went much better and we made it in the normal 3 1/2 hours since Tristyn slept until Park City and Mason slept for a while, then was content watching his DVDs. We need to start shopping for a trailer so we can actually camp next year! I'm pretty sure Tristyn will love playing down in the dirt by then! Here are a few photos:

Arriving at Camp

My mom and Tristyn. She slept most of the day.

Dan, Mason and my brother Danny

Mason's new lifejacket left a tattoo on his back! He was the toughest guy at the lake!

Mason and Emelia playing with the waterguns.

Mason inspecting the twig he just threw in the river.

Aunt Ruth chased Mason around for a while to help get his wiggles out!

Pretty in Pink . . . and White!

To end our whirlwind week, we blessed Tristyn last Saturday afternoon. She looked so adorable in her dress!

After getting home from Fairview, we unpacked and started laundry just as my parents arrived. My mom was a lifesaver since she helped me make her yummy salads and baked beans. I never could have had them all ready without her (and Melissa)! For some reason we had the hardest time picking a date that worked to schedule the church and pavilion. We thought we had it all sorted out (and even confirmed with the scheduler the day before), but we were given the wrong key on the morning of the blessing and we weren't able to get everything set up before hand. So, since we had to set up after the program anyway, Dan took a vote with everyone and it was decided to have the luncheon inside the gym rather that at the pavilion. Thanks so much to everyone that attended and helped set tables and chairs up, then helped take them back down! We appreciate all of your support. Although everything seemed like it wasn't planned out well, the only thing that I actually didn't have completely sorted out was the program--I quickly threw something together that morning(you could probably tell by the uncreative handouts that I made)! I didn't realize that we didn't have anyone that could play the piano, but Dan's mom lead us through the song anyway! It ended up being a bad weekend for a lot of our family, so it was a small gathering. Dan gave Tristyn a great blessing and it was a very special day. Thanks so much to everyone that helped bring food, that picked up food for us, that helped with the program, and that took time out of their busy day to spend a few hours with us!

Here are a few photos of Tristyn when we were trying the dress on her. Selecting the dress turned into a huge ordeal! I only had a chance to look at a few stores and didn't really fall in love with any of the dresses, so I shopped online at several stores and finally found a cute dress that was a great price. I ordered it, just to find out a week later that it had been discontinued (I can't figure out why they still have it on their site). I ended up buying her dress from http://www.onesmallchild.com/. I normally don't like the super long dresses and was looking for something that just covered her feet, but when I saw this dress I fell in love with it and after I saw her in it, I knew I had to keep it!

Fairview Museum and Park

As mentioned earlier, last week was a whirlwind! On Tuesday we packed up and headed down to Fairview, Utah, for the Higbee Reunion. It's the first big trip that we've taken with Tristyn, so I didn't realize how much stuff there is to pack for two kids and two adults for 4 days! The Armada was packed tight. The trip down included a few stops and a crying baby. Since my arm isn't quite long enough to hold a binky in Tristyn's mouth from the front seat, we stopped and I climbed in the backseat. Literally seconds after I climbed back there, she was out--without the binky! Crazy kid! Mason slept for the first hour and was good watching a DVD the rest of the way. We arrived at Skyline Mountain Resort in the late afternoon and just hung out for the evening.

On Wednesday the 23rd, we took Mason to the town museum to see this large Mammoth skeleton. He thought it was pretty cool . . . until he realized there was an elevator in the building, at which point the up and down buttons became more cool!

Then we went to the park and Mason played on this huge playset. Well, he didn't play on all of it--about 95% of his time was spent going down the twisty slide at the right. He always heads straight for the biggest slide he can find!

He went down this slide once, but didn't like the hot plastic. Tristyn and I were sitting under the pavilion in the shade and he acted like he'd rather be there with us than playing. I don't blame him since it was about 1 pm and very hot! We decided to go back to the cabin and enjoy the A/C!

Mason loved the swings at the resort and would have stayed on them for 4 days straight if someone would have stayed to push him for that long!

The next few posts will have more photos of our trip!

Fun Fairview Photos

Here are a few more fun photos from Fairview. Apples are one of the few things that Mason eats pretty well. It was cute to see him out on the porch munching away.

We were so excited to take Mason swimming at the resort and were upset to find out that they didn't allow kids in diapers (even swim diapers) in the pool. So, luckily his cousin Andrew brought his little pool and Mason was able to play in it for a couple of hours after the parade. He loves to play with any hose and we have a few of these funny photos where it looks like he's relieving himself!

Tristyn was chatting with her cousin Brooke in this photo. She loves to 'goo' to anyone that will pay attention to her (Tristyn, not Brooke--well, maybe Brooke too!).

This is a quick family photo of us standing on the porch of our cabin. Mason had a great time going up and down the stairs to the loft and loved running around outside. Jim and Cheryl did a great job planning it and we all have fun memories!

On the morning of the 25th we took our turn fixing breakfast with Julie's family and then packed up. The kids were both great and it only took about 1 1/2 hours to get home. We quickly unpacked and started prepping for Tristyn's blessing the next day. We had cleaning to do, salads to make, and final details to sort out. More about that later!

Fairview 24th Parade

On July 24th we headed down to the Fairview town parade at 11 am. Luckily, Dan's brother had saved us a spot under a few shade trees (thanks, Jim). Tristyn slept most of the time. Mason and Dan went out to collect a few pieces of candy--all of which Mason ate immediately. There was a guy next to us that was giving away puppies, so most of the kids spent the first part of the parade playing with them. I have cute photos that I'll try to post later.

It wasn't hard to keep Mason hydrated since a juice straw was glued to his lips most of the trip.

Prying into the candy.

Tristyn just chillin'. In the photo of us at the derby, you'll see who she gets her double chin from!