"Gramma and Gramma"

Chris' parents recently returned from a mission in Indonesia so we had not seen them in two years.  They came and stayed with us for a week and it was so great to catch up and introduce them to Eliza.  Cordon recognized them from all the skype conversations but it was fun to see him play with them in person.  The kids warmed up to them very quickly, although Cordon could not get their names right.  They were either both Gramma or both Grampa.  He even started to refer to them as John and Mary on the day they flew home.  Mary did a fantastic job of wearing Cordon and Bud out by taking long walks with them. 

Headed to Chocolate World

Mary playing trains with Cordon.  Eliza is having a grand time rolling around. 

John showing Cordon his drumming skills

The 4th

I've said it before but, I love how much history is around us.  For the 4th we went to Valley Forge. We spent several hours walking along trails that had monuments and historical sights.  The original church, headquarters and some cabins where there.  Once again, I'm really grateful for modern technology.  I can't imagine spending an entire East Coast winter in a tiny cabin with just a bed and fire place. 

The kids were to short to get their heads in the right place so Chris had to hold them up.

The drummer was so cute with the kids.  Cordon loved playing a real drum.

Waiting for the canon to fire.  I took this picture then ran across the field with Eliza so the blast wouldn't hurt her ears. 

George Washington's Monument

Glamorous

You know how sometimes you happen to take a photo right when someone blinks or sneezes and it makes a great "i look stoned" picture......

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day I took Cordon to Hershey Park while Chris stayed home with Eliza for some daddy daughter time.  For some reason, not a lot of people go to Hershey Park on Memorial day so we had very little wait time, if any, for the rides. 

Cordon has moved past the miniature size and is now a Hershey Kiss.  This opened up a lot of new rides for him to go on.  Notice how blurry the photo is?  Cordon was playing with the camera the day before and had his little greasy fingers all over the lens.  I"m glad i noticed it before I took any other photos. 

Cordon had the pirate ride all to himself. 

Finally brave enough to hug the candy.  FYI: it's a milk dud box

Dancing candy is just very entertaining to watch.  The Kit Kat kept busting out some awesome moves but I only got a bit of it on camera. 

Camp Out

Chris took Cordon to the Father and Sons camp out for church. Waiting for Chris to come home from work was torture for Cordon. He was so excited to go. It had rained most of the day they left so they both came home pretty muddy but that just made it more entertaining for Cordon.

Chris said it took twice as long to set up the tent because Cordon kept running in and out of the opening

He was so excited to finally use his sleeping bag that we got months ago. He slept all night

We didn't go camping at all last summer so I'm hoping to make up for lost time this summer. What did I do while the boys were away? Slept. I put Eliza to bed and I watched a movie then went to bed. Eliza slept from 7pm to 7am. I fed her and she went back to sleep until 9:30. What a wonderful girl.

10 Years and Counting

On the 26th we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  With a nursing baby, our options were pretty limited so we decided to spend a few hours at the chocolate spa in Hershey, PA.  A few hours before we left I managed to not only burn my hand, but I sliced into two fingers as well.  My left hand was pretty much out of commission, which made getting ready to leave a bit challenging. We spent three wonderful hours at the spa and then I text the babysitter to let her know we were on our way home.  She text back to tell us Bud got off his leash.  Through several more texts we found out she put his leash on wrong so when he ran after a critter his ID broke off.  He had been gone for an hour.  At that point it was to late to call the pounds so we spent all night wondering if we would ever get our dog back.  I was surprised at how upset I became.  Bud is part of our family now and I hated not knowing where he was, if he was safe or if I would ever see him again.  I spent the night in front of the back door in case he came back.  The next morning I called the main offices for our apartment complex.  Someone had found Bud wondering around and had reported it to the offices the night before.  I was so happy to have my buddy back.  


So even though our celebration didn't quite turn out like we thought it would, I'm still very grateful to have had 10 wonderful years with Chris and I can't wait to see what the next 10 bring. 


Here are highlights of our first 10 years together......

We met snowboarding, on Thanksgiving

We were married at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple

We moved to Florida for Crhis' internship (this picture refuses to flip over)

We went on a Christmas cruise

This picture was taken

Chris graduated with his MOB

We moved to NC

I got my BA

Chris summited Mt. Rainier

We went to Venezuela

We lost two babies

We moved to Indiana and bought our first home.

We went to Russia

We got a dog and named him Bud

We became parents

We wondered why we got the dog

We moved to Harrisburg, PA

Eliza joined the party

I love you Chris.

Utah In A Nut Shell

The kids and I spent three weeks in Utah/Nevada with family.  We haven't been there in 2 years so it was great to catch up, watch Cordon get to know his cousins, introduce Eliza to everyone, and meet some nieces I hadn't met yet.  I'll try not to bore everyone with to much detail and just stick to the highlights.  

The flight out was a nightmare! Our flight out of Harrisburg was delayed so when we got to Chicago I had 20 min to run to another terminal with two kids in tow.  I can't believe we made our connecting flight.  When I booked the trip I didn't take into account that Eliza is still floppy so I had to balance her the whole time and try to help Cordon with one hand.  That wasn't to bad until he needed a new diaper and there was nothing I could do about it.  Eliza was exhausted but wouldn't fall asleep so she turned into 'that baby' that everyone turns around and stares at wondering if the mother is ever going to get the kid to shut up.  Much more happened on the flight that resulted in me bursting into tears, but I'll spare you the details. Fortunately the flight back was great. 

 We flew into Vegas and spent a few days at my brothers house.  

 Cute little cousins eating snacks and watching the ipad (which was such a blessing to have on the flight out)

My brothers daughter is 1 month older then Eliza. 

 We went to a place that is wall to wall trampolines.  It was so much fun to just jump and bounce all over the place.  Cordon loved it and didn't want to leave.

 Cordon tearing up the rock wall in my brothers family room. 

 

Jason, my brother, has a rope in the middle of his family room that he hooks all sorts of things to.  The kid swing and the bungee jump are the best. 

 

We then went to Overton, NV and stayed with my sister, Becky.  This is Zach. He is about 6 months older then Cordon and was so excited to have someone his size to wrestle with (he has two older brothers) unfortunately Cordon has no idea what wrestling is.  He would laugh for a while but then get annoyed that Zach kept pinning him to the ground. 

  

 My brother in law got eye surgery while we were there.  The kids had a great time playing with his eye patch. 

 We then headed to St. George and stayed with my parents at their beautiful new home.

 

  Cordon loved this fountain in the courtyard.  Why are kids so obsessed with water?

 Hanging out watching TV

 

 

Swimming with some of the cousins

 All 18 grandkids and a very cute Bugga and Nanna

 Eliza snuggling with Bugga (Grandpa Myers)

M.I.A

The kids and I have been in Utah/Nevada for the last three weeks. Time is so strange when I'm on vacation, I feel like I've been gone for months but I'm sure when I get home it will feel like we never left. Being away from our regular life for this long has made me feel like I've been completely removed from reality, it will be strange to get back to our normal lives when we fly home in a few days. We've done alot while we've been here so prepare for a blog-a-thon in a week or so. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure.