Hays family reunion

We went to Montana in July for a Hays family reunion. It was great to see everyone again.

 :: We started the trip by driving up to Phoenix the night before to catch the early flight to Missoula the next morning. The sunrise on the way to the airport was stunning. The picture doesn't quite do it justice.

:: Colby didn't really like climbing the ramp to the airplane or waiting for us to strap his carseat in, but he finally calmed down to watch a movie.

:: Alice slept about half of the 2 hour flight to Missoula, and was otherwise a happy little traveler.

:: The day our flight got in, we headed off to my 10-year high school class reunion. Colby loved the sprinkler.

:: Lakin got to meet about 1/4 of my class at the reunion. It was great to see everyone and catch up on life and stuff.

:: We had a weenie roast in my parents' backyard. My niece loves playing in the ditch.

:: Lots of beautiful people at this reunion.

:: Alice typically ended up sleeping at the very edge of her Pack 'N' Play during her naps.

:: We went to Lake Como for some boating and playing on the beach. I was very fortunate to live in such a beautiful area growing up. Lakin looks stunning as usual. Can you believe she had a baby this year?

:: Alice enjoyed some time in the less-hot sun.

:: Grandma loves to snuggle her grandkids.

:: I think Colby's favorite part of the boat ride was when it was stationary.

:: Brushing up on my sharpshooting in preparation for Armageddon. I don't mean to brag, but I can hit a soda can off a stump at 30 yds, from low ground, with an air rifle. Just sayin'.

:: My little nephew spent much of his time being adored by his older cousins while sitting in his Bumbo.

:: The women-folk made jam with raspberries from my momma's garden. Them's good eatin'.

:: Colby loved playing with my old LEGOs.

:: We had a fun time fishing at Lost Horse Creek. Again, very fortunate to grow up in such a beautiful place.

:: My nephew put a fish in a bottle. He was reluctant to put it back.

:: Alice loved the cold creek water. Exact opposite of Colby's first impression of snow run-off.

:: Hangin' out with Grandma.

:: Most of the days everyone ended up like this: passed out on the couch. Lots of fun and lots of good memories made.

:: Grandpa Hays' flight left the same time ours did, so we got to hang out a little bit at the airport.

:: We're excited for our next trip to Montana.

Bits of July

:: We started doing the "cry it out" method last week with Alice now that she's eating solids and (more importantly) since she started waking me up 3-4 times a night to snack. We're all a little sleep deprived. Some nights she only wakes up a couple of times and can get back to sleep in less than 30 minutes...and other nights, especially around 3:00am, she cries for an hour, dozes for 30 minutes, and then cries for another hour...all culminating in a 5:00am wake up call. Colby usually sleeps through it, but anything after 4:00am will wake him up too (we can always tell because he'll start yelling, "stop it," at the top of his lungs).

 She's always happy though when you go to get her and it almost makes up for our sleep deprivation.

 :: Alice got fitted for her helmet she'll wear for 4 months to correct a flat spot on her head (it's messing with the alignment of her ears and forehead). They made a 3D model of her head with a scanner (Robb was impressed and now he wants one) and we'll get the actual helmet this week.

 :: Colby loves to build lately: spaceships, cars, train yards, boats, double-decker couches (he was really inspired by the Lego Movie).

 :: He also conquered his fear of our playground slides and now you only have to mention slides or the park to get him running for his shoes.

He fell through the top of this ladder and I barely caught his arm as he went down (I also had Alice in the baby carrier, so I couldn't do more than slow his momentum). He cried a bit and immediately wanted to go up again. He's a brave little boy, but I think it takes more courage as a mother to watch him try again.

 :: I love watching these two together. There's no one (except for Robb) who can get her to smile faster than her big brother and they're starting to play with each other, albeit not for long. Colby doesn't like her messing with "his" stuff.

 :: Robb turned 28. It's our tradition to make him something chocolate for his birthday since his consumption of it has gone way down since we married. This year I attempted my second layer cake (the first stuck in the pan) and he chose Ultimate Death by Chocolate Brownie Cake. It was a hit (that or our friends and Robb were too nice to tell me otherwise).

 And Robb blew out every single candle on the first try.

Earlier this month, Robb got stuck in a meeting and arrived home two and half hours late. In the meantime, I attempted to email/text/call him (without response), contacted a coworker friend, and then broke down when he finally was able to call. Just in case I needed to be reminded how much this man means to me, that did it. I love you so much, Robb! 

4th of July

I'm on a reading binge lately and between my last book, Unbroken (an amazing biography of a POW survivor) and I Am Malala (a biography of a girl who was shot by the Taliban for speaking out for women's education in Pakistan) I feel so incredibly grateful to live in this country, for the countless sacrifices made to maintain the freedoms we enjoy and so frequently take for granted. We truly are blessed to live in such a great nation.

Robb helped me paint Alice's nails in the morning (it really is a two or three person job)

Then we drove into Tucson for our traditional Red Robin feast (six year anniversary of our first date). I like the idea of bringing our growing family with us as we celebrate how we first met and eventually fell in love...although neither Colby nor Alice seemed that interested in what we were saying.

Random side note: as an older lady was leaving, she stopped at our table and told us that our children were very well behaved. It made my day.

That night we went down to Tubac for fireworks. Alice snoozed in the stroller, blissfully unaware of the racket and Colby snuggled up with me.  My computer background has fireworks on it and he's been talking about them for the last month. He kept up a constant commentary during the show: (while stretching his arms out) Big! Circle! Blue! Red! Firework! Firework! Firework!

Fathers and Sons :: Mothers and Daughters

Camping is one of the things I've missed most from our pre-kids days. What with Colby being violently opposed to the outdoors for the first year of his life and the addition of Alice to our family, it's kind of gone on the back burner, something I think about wistfully every now and then when I have to rummage through our stuff in the garage.

But thankfully our ward decided to host a Fathers' and Sons' campout and after coming home tired and covered in dirt (and in Colby's case, chocolate), I think camping might be making a comeback. Here's Robb's account:

"To commemorate the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood on May 15th, the ward held a fathers and sons campout on a ranch out in the desert west of us, so I took Colby along on his first ever camping trip! To entice him to get in the car without Mom, we made sure he had Frozen loaded and ready to go on the Kindle. The trip there was fairly uneventful. The way was paved for all but the last few miles, and, while the road was a little rough in spots, the ol' Civic has seen worse (see Spiral Jetty). Colby didn't want to get out of the car at first, but once I got the tent setup and unpacked the car, he decided it was getting too hot in there without the A/C. One of the first words out of his mouth was "Momma!" I told him that Momma wasn't there and he'd have to deal with it. He took it well, though he didn't stop inquiring as to her whereabouts for the next hour or so until his best friend, Dawson showed up. Colby followed him around everywhere he went for the rest of the trip. Lakin made us some breakfast burritos for dinner that night. Colby wasn't impressed. He was even less impressed when he saw that Dawson had yogurt and someone else had Cheetos for dinner. Luckily, Bro. Hancock had the foresight to bring a Hot 'n Ready pizza and graciously gave Colby a slice. He was much obliged. The burritos were good, by the way. After a short presentation on the Priesthood and "sharing your light" from Pres. Bateman, we all headed back to camp and got ready for bed. Colby was restless and was having a hard time finding the right position for sleep. It didn't help that every 10 minutes or so he would look up and see the stars and yell, "Stars!" and then stand up and point excitedly. He likes stars. He finally got a little sleep until about 2 AM when the moon came out and Colby looked up and yelled, "Moon!" and then stood up and pointed. He likes the moon, too. Eventually I realized that he wasn't even using his sleeping bag so I unzipped mine and laid it over both of us like a blanket. He finally went to sleep. That is, until his friend Dawson woke up and started talking. Colby had to get out there and socialize! Breakfast was...breakfast burritos, this time made by the High Priests group. Also excellent. Luckily, they had pancakes, too, which is a Colby favorite. We then went exploring with Dawson and had lots of fun tramping around in the sand and brush while Kellen and I looked out for snakes and gila monsters and scorpions and all other manner of desert beasts. Once the sun came out in force, I got the car packed up and got my tired boy home to his Momma. First camping trip, successful."

So during that time what were Alice and I doing?

Manicures/pedicures with a Pride and Prejudice marathon--classic girls' night.

I also made Indian spiced lentils in a crockpot and have come to the conclusion (for the second time) that Indian food was never meant to be made in a slow cooker, but the possibility of it always tricks me into trying. Lucky for me there were still leftovers in the fridge :)