Whittle the Wood

In Craig every year, they have a whittle the wood contest. This year I think there were 11 that participated. They have a week to carve a big tree stump and then these carvings stay up in the park. I went with the boys last Saturday with Tililia and her three kids (poor husbands who have to work on Saturdays). It was fun to watch them work. There were also arts and crafts vendors, mostly jewelry and wood carvings so I didn’t buy anything. I got  a couple pictures.

Below is the first place one.

And this one is the People’s Choice Award winner and Artist’s Choice.

Five Months

Jaiden is now five (and a half months old). He is such a happy baby. He loves to screech and grunt. He can be very noisy. He still loves to play with Ian. He has started eating solids, it is slow going but he is getting there. Here are a few pictures.

It was very hard to get him to look at the camera.

Ian loves to hug Jaiden and have Jaiden “hug” and “kiss” him.

I pulled out the next size up for Jaiden and found this church outfit. It is a little big, but actually fits a lot better than I thought it would (it is size 12 months, I think our old clothes have shrunk some, because when we buy new clothes the same size, they are a little big).

Aren’t they so handsome?

New Window

Since we have moved in we have lamented the fact that there was no screen in the boys’ window. We couldn’t leave the window open very long, especially at night, because we didn’t bugs to come in. Their room gets to be the hottest room in the house, especially at night. I went to a garage sale on Friday and found a window fan for only $2! I wanted to put it in, but there was no screen. So yesterday when we went to Steamboat, we were going to stop at the hardware store and see if they had any screens. As we were about to leave, a guy comes up to talk to Rex. They were putting in new windows in the back bedroom in all four units in our building! Rex asked if they would put a screen in and they said, yes! So now the boys have a new window, screen, and we have put in the window fan. Their room got COLD last night!

Creepy, Crawlers

At all started yesterday. Rex checked out Home Improvement, season 1 from the library. We watched some yesterday, including an episode about a snake in their house. I thought that would be scary, but does it really happen? Well, today I was outside with the boys for a little bit. I was walking in front of one the buildings of townhomes here, and something rustled at my feet. I looked and saw a snake. It wasn’t huge, but still it was a snake. I showed Ian, but wouldn’t let him get too close. I tired to get a picture with my phone but my camera phone isn’t good and it blended in with the grass and dirt. That thing could have easily gotten into someone’s house.

When we came in, I was getting lunch ready and the boys were laying on the rug by the sliding door in the kitchen (Ian was being whiney). I looked over and saw something crawling pretty fast on the rug. I thought it was just a fly, since we have plenty of them around here. So I went over to shoo it away and discovered it was a spider.

Then I was putting Jaiden down for a nap just barely and went to close the blinds and there was a spider crawling on the window. There was nothing to do with that spider, since Jaiden was asleep and it was on the window, so it is still there.

I hate spiders and snakes are not my favorite, but spiders are the worst.

My One True Love of Life

Well I went and got myself a “New” truck. I love it man. It rocks, is big, and manly, and makes me look tough. here are some pictures and video, so you all can see what it looks like.

Here’s a great side shot.

From the front (Yes, a Chevy, but a nice one).

The new Car Plates

The New Truck Plates

Well, I was going to post video, but maybe later. They take forever. Anyway, I love it. Decent gas mileage around 16-20mph. Can’t wait to take it camping this weekend. I really enjoyed the trip to Utah, although the trip back was crazy. I even was able to haul back my Electric Train table board, and look forward to doing some work on it tonight and tomorrow (my one day off until the 3 day weekend baby!!).

Love my family and look forward to seeing everyone in July. North Carolina will be pretty, and I got lucky getting Sunday’s off until the end of July. After that I don’t know.

Well, hope the rest of you are all well. Oh and I forgot. The whole reason I wrote this post (as you can tell from the title) is to express my love to my wife Becky and the two boys, Ian and Jaiden. I love them and they truly are the love of my life.

~T-Rex (cause now I have a Truck)

Grocery Shopping

On Thursday, I went grocery shopping for the first time with just the two boys and no Rex. The boys were pretty good. We went shopping at Walmart, yuck. I have realized, at least out here, Walmart’s food is not cheaper than the other grocery stores, except the produce, but hopefully farmers markets will be starting this coming week, so we can go to those. The cleaning supplies and diapers are cheaper though. Ian was so good. He had to go potty when we first got there (they have a great family bathroom with a toilet just his size) and then on the way I had to change Jaiden and Ian decided he had to go to the bathroom again. We stopped at the Mercantile here in town. They have little grocery carts just Ian’s size, which he always has to get. He was pretty good until we went down the aisle to get some canned fruit that was one sale. It was also the candy aisle, so he saw the M&Ms and wanted some and was mad when I told him no. So I had to carry both him and Jaiden (I had Jaiden in the Baby Bjorn carrier anyway, which I love and we got for $5 at a yard sale at Wymount when Ian was a baby). The people at that store are so friendly and helpful. The one guy (I still don’t know his name) carried out our two bags of groceries for me while I had the boys.

Our Visitors

Sorry to those who are checking for pictures of the truck, since Rex said he would post some (but he has the truck and so I can’t get pictures of it).

Anyways, last weekend my cousin Anna and her husband came to visit (Sunday and Monday). They got here in time to come with the boys and I to church. Yay! Rex wasn’t able to go to church because of a mixed up schedule because of Memorial Day. They took Jaiden while I taught Sunbeams and Anna got him to sleep. Ian fell asleep in the car on the way home. Scott took him out of the car and into the house and Ian stayed asleep! That hardly ever happens.

See, Ian’s still asleep.

Ian loves having people over. It was always, “Anna, come down in the basement and play!” Jaiden was pretty excited too.

After Rex got home from work, we headed out to Steamboat. We took an extended hike around to the sulfur springs. It was kind of a long hike and steep uphill for the first part and then of course downhill. Flip flops were not the best choice of shoes. My feet were killing me. We then had a picnic dinner at the park. Ian and Jaiden did great on the hike. Ian walked most of the way.

Monday Rex had to work, but the rest of us went to Strawberry Hot Springs in Steamboat. The drive was kinda long and a little scary on the last part (canyon and dirt roads, not my favorite). The springs were nice and hot. Ian loved being in the water. Jaiden was happy to watch. When they came home and got ready to leave.

View from the hike.

One of the sulfur springs. This one wasn’t too stinky.

Ian in the car on the way to Steamboat.

Tigers

New Truck and Graduation

We left Monday afternoon for my parents’ house. We had to stop several times for Jaiden, he was not very happy in the car. We got to my parents’ six and half hours after we left home. Ian was very excited to see Grandma and Grandpa.  Tuesday morning, Teri and Josh came over for breakfast. Rex got the truck temporarily registered (4 days). My dad bought the truck for us and we are paying him back, so we now have two cars! Rex and my dad love the truck.

After breakfast we headed to the zoo. We met Alex, Luc, and Kati there. We watched the elephant show. We got to see the baby elephant. It was kinda rainy, but still was fun. A lot of the animals were really active. The ostrich were running around. The tigers were running and playing. I have a video of that which I will post separately. The first tiger was trying the get the ball without getting in the water. He would reach with his paw and bat at it. Teri and Josh came and met us at the zoo after they found out that Teri didn’t have to work because of the rain. We were able to see the birdshow in the afternoon right before we left. Jaiden loved watching the girl doing the show. Teri got to have the raven land on her arm and have it take $5 for donation.

Ian got to go on the carousel with Grandma.

After the zoo, we went down  to Draper to spend time with Rex’s family. Bradley and Kati came over for a little bit. Wednesday morning was Garrett’s high school graduation. The boys did pretty well. We went and ate at the Creamery afterwards. Rex then left with Ian to start home. I stopped by my friend Lauren’s place to see her. Then headed home with Jaiden. Jaiden was actually pretty good on the way home, I only had to stop twice. Rex and I got home at the same time because Rex turned the wrong way in Heber and ended up going home on I-80 instead of US 40.

Saying the Prayer

So last night, as we were about to say family prayer, Ian stopped us and said, “No, Bear say it.” So he helped his bear say the prayer and Rex had to help him end it. It was so cute. He always starts his pray out as “Jesus loves me.” and then goes on.