TRAIN!!!!

Okay, Grandaddy actually got the best gift Sam could ever want while he was here. A train set! He absolutely loves it. It is amazing to see how engrossed a 2 1/2 year old can be.

Grandaddy, Teton's, and Yellowstone...Oh Boy

You may be wondering why I said in my last blog that we had 3 tickets from Dell. Or not. We gave the last ticket to Granddaddy and he came here in July. Mike, Larry and the fathers (my dad included!) took a trip to Mesquite, Vegas, and Hoover Dam. The next weekend, we all took off for Jackson Hole (my favorite place) and Yellowstone. We camped in the pop-up and had a great trip. It is such a beautiful location. The highlight was the local rodeo in Jackson on Saturday night. We all had a blast!

Anniversary in Portland!

Thanks to Dell, Mike and I had 3 tickets to fly anywhere. We chose to go to Portland for a long weekend. Neither one of us had ever been there and we just stayed in a downtown hotel, walked everywhere, and had a great time! The hotel was old and in the heart of downtown. It was the best anniversary yet...oh and we had the best dim sum EVER!

Horse Back Riding in Capital Reef

Erin got to go horseback riding with Mommy and Daddy in Capital Reef for her 6th Birthday. She was finally big enough to ride by herself. She was so proud and her horse was "McGraw". What a beautiful place and ride. Grandma was a trooper by staying behind with Sam.

Highlights from Capital Reef - Erin turns 6

Other than the Spot incident, the Capital Reef trip was a ton of fun. It was a bit cold, but we still had fun. We even celebrated Erin's six birthday. Grandma came with us and we all had a great time.

We bought a pop-up

What else is there to say?

Kindergarten Graduation

A little late, but here are some pictures from Erin's Kindergarten graduation. The first one is Mrs. Stone. She is the best teacher.

UNBELIEVABLE

It was unbelievable, but about a week after our trip to Capital Reef, the ranger station called to say they had found SPOT!!!! Sam was so happy that he open mouth kissed Spot at the post office. It was a bit scary because Spot could have been anywhere!! We have two spots again - what a relief.

Spot's Gone Missing

As we walked throught the red canyons in Torrey, Utah, I looked at Sam and asked, "Who's your dog"?

"Pot". Translation: "Spot". "Doggie", said Sam smiling behind his binkie and holding up Spot.

I was expecting, "Finn", our live family dog who was running wildy around us as we hiked. Nope. Spot is Sam's dog.

Later that night, I listened to Sam as he put himself to sleep by shaking the rattle inside of Spot's head. Little did we know that Spot would go missing less than 24 hours later.

We are down to 2 "Spot's - one for school and one for home. I've searched for extra Spots as I can see the pure love eminating from Sam for this rattle headed stuffed dog/blanket. They are no longer made by Carter's. Once in desperation (both Spot's ended up at school for a weekend), we tried to trick Sam into loving a very similar bear/blanket. He simply prefers Spot. "Bear, Bear" is a very distant 2nd in Sam's eyes.

Our day started with a pancake breakfast in honor of Erin's 6th birthday. Sam put Spot in the syrup so Mike ran to the campground restroom to wash Spot off. We left about 30 minutes later for our first hike of the day in Capital Reef National Park. Sam refused to leave without Spot. Mike and I joked, "A wet spot is better than no spot".

We arrived at our first stop - a small waterfall a short walk from the road. Mike grabbed Sam from the carseat. He put Spot on top of the car, "to dry off". Mike determined that the hot car wouldn't dry Spot sufficiently. The problem is, he neglected to tell any of us that Spot was on top of the car.

As we left the waterfall 45 minutes later, I put Sam back in the carseat unaware that Spot was on top of the car. I simply couldn't see Spot on top of our SUV. We jumped in the car and took off for our next stop - Petroglyphs. I stayed at the car with Finn (our real dog). I chose to spend my time cleaning out the car from the road trip.

Mike arrived back at the car and asked, "Is Spot in the car?"

"No", I said. Certain he wasn't in the car, because I had just spent 15 minutes cleaning it out.

Then he dropped the bomb. "I left Spot on top of the car".

"What!?!" my jaw dropped to the dirt in the parking lot.

"Let's go.", Mike said, "We have to go back right now".

I yelled for Erin and my Mom, "C'mon we have an emergency".

We drove back to the waterfall, eyes glued to the road. We looked everywhere and there was no sign of Spot. "What are we going to do?", I asked Mike in a state of shock.

"I'm going to the visitor center. I'm sure someone just picked up Spot." Mike said. We drove in silence to the visitor center. Tears began to trickle from my eyes. Mike went in and came back empty handed.

As we drove back to our campsite, I proceeded to have a full blown meltdown and was reduced to a blubbering, sobbing mess. Mike tried to cheer me up by letting me know he gave a full description to the Ranger and even let them know he answer's to "Spot". I told him to stop making jokes as we had just lost an integral part of our family. Sam was completely oblivious to the drama unfolding and dozzed off in his carseat.

Mike dropped me, my Mom, and Erin at the camper and said he would be back. He came back 30 minutes later with Sam and "Buddy" a stuffed bear. Whatever he did with Sam in those 30 minutes - it worked. Sam had a much easier time than Mommy without Spot. Miraculously, I only hear him ask for "Pot" a few times on the rest of our trip. He was happily holding "Buddy" on the drive home.

Disaster averted.

I, however, am still wondering, "Where is Spot?"

Blame it on Sam

Excuse me while I reminisce....in order to ensure that this memory doesn't fade, I have to go back to a time when Sam was ~14 weeks and Erin was 4.

......I had only been back to work for a couple of weeks and as anyone with a 14 week knows, they are full of babble. I had just walked in from a long day at work and had Sam laying on Erin's bed, Erin sitting next to him. I was standing over Sam as he babbled away saying, "What is it? What are you trying to tell Mommy? Are you talking to me? What is it?" As a mother nothing is sweeter than a smiling, babbling child responding to your questions. Sam was adorable.

Erin was observing this interaction and suddenly spoke up, "He said you're an idiot". Of course, I looked at Erin and explained why she shouldn't say things like that. It isn't nice, you are a good girl and you know better. That hurts people's feelings when you say words like that.

With her crystal blue eyes glaring at me she calmly said, "I didn't say it, he did". Pointing accusingly at her 14 week old brother.

My first reaction was to laugh which was difficult to hold back. As I stood there staring at my 4 year old, I suddenly realized that perhaps he was calling me an idiot. I was standing over him asking inane questions. Did they have a secret language that wasn't known to me? I did actually look like an idiot with a stupid grin asking questions of a 14 week old...I'll never know if they were communicating. I do know that the questions stopped and I didn't do that again without thinking about my 4 year old and her interpretation.

He Can Talk?

Sam is the master of grunting, whining, and pointing to get what he wants. His little mother, Erin, is very happy to oblige in his efforts not to use words. You can imagine our suprise as we all stood in the kitchen the other night and I asked Sam, "Do you want a fork or a spoon?"

Sam responded clearly in front of Mommy, Daddy, and Erin, "No, I do not want a fork."

With mouths agape the three of us all moved quickly to indulge his first, clear, and concise request.

Riding the Bull

Flight to the Goldman Sachs office in New York $1500.00. Eating out all week at 5 star restaurants $5000.00. Riding the bull on Wall Street....priceless!

You can take the boy out of Georgia.....

Twas the night before Easter

Thanks Aunt San and Uncle Dick for all that you do. We had a great night with you and the kids played with their toys our entire trip! We love you and wish we could be closer!

Easter with Georgia Family

Easter with all of the family in Georgia was incredible. Beautiful 70 degree weather made a great day for an easter egg hunt (over 250 eggs were hidden on the farm), hay ride with Grandaddy, and an amazing Easter dinner.

Georgia Spring Break

South Georgia spring break was full of fun times. On the farm, amusement park, Easter egg hunting, and the aquarium was a wonderful vacation for our whole family. We were so happy to spend time with all of the family in Georgia. I never realized how dirty my kids could get in one hour. We especially loved hanging out with Kami, Hunter, Michelle, Todd, and Granddaddy. I'm not sure how much they loved hanging out with Sam...he is definitely two!! Everyone was laughing at him saying "yeah" to everything. Now he is just saying, "No" so as bad as some days were....it could have been worse! Perfect weather rounded out a perfect vacation in the South.

Look Who's 2

We celebrated Sam's Birthday! He got lots of trucks and a new basketball hoop. I love the look that kids get when they realize that everyone is singing Happy Birthday to them. It is so cute. I've added more pictures to the slideshow, including some from Sam's birthday party. Here are a couple of great shots.

Erin and Mommy went to California for some FUN! We went with Tara, Garth, MacKay and Sidney. It was such a great trip. We went to Knotts Berry Farm, SeaWorld, Disneyland, and had a fun day at the beach. What a treat to get out of all the snow (we've haven't seen our yard in a couple months) and be in beautiful weather. Here are some of the pictures from our trip. Stay tuned as I am planning to switch the slide show to the pictures from California and Sam's 2nd Birthday...More to come on Sam turning 2!!!

Happy New Year

We used Erin's Christmas present (snow shoes) last weekend and went out as a family. We've had a lot of snow and cold weather so far this year so it was nice to get out and get some fresh (if cold) air!