Look What I Can Do...

Meet Mr. Amazing

Brian wanted to give a little "Thank You" to all the doctors and clinics he did rotations with this past year. He said that everyone brings cookies, and who wants to be like everyone else? So instead he had this grand idea to make cinnamon rolls. And make cinnamon rolls he did. All by himself. Well, his mom actually made the dough the night before. (Thanks, Anne) I already new he was the all-talented man, but I bet you didn't.

Brian sprinkling on the cinnamon and sugar Cutting the dough into the rolls
The finished product all ready to be delivered.....all 140 something cinnamon rolls.
My job was to taste test. Mmmmmmm. Tasty.

To top it all off...after Brian finished baking he took me to see a movie. Not just any movie. A musical. Mama Mia!

Seriously. I am married to Mr. Amazing!

A Camping We Will Go

The Vincent Family goes to Lava Ranch every 24th of July. Grandpa Burt bought 5 acres of beautiful forest property up there probably 40 years ago. Unfortunately he passed away before ever being able to enjoy it. Each year the entire Vincent clan gets together for a reunion. It is absolutely amazing to me how close Brian's family is. Not just his immediate family...his extended family also. There are the occasional squabbles, of course, but all in all it is one great big happy family.

We stay in a tent most years. However, this year was a little different. With Ryker being so little Scott and Anne offered to let us stay in the trailer....us being Ryker and me. Anne, Becky, Ryker, and I stayed in the trailer while Scott, Brady, Brian, and Jaxon stayed in the tent. (Thanks again Scott and Brady for sacrificing your comfort for the small child!)

I was really nervous about how Ryker would sleep. I am always so nervous when I sleep with a baby. For one, I am not a very still sleeper (just ask Brian or any one of my family members). So when they are with me I usually don't sleep because I am so afraid of falling in to a deep sleep and rolling over them. The other concern was Ryker sleeping period. Turns out I should have only been afraid of giant ultra-creepy bugs.

Sometime in the middle of the first night I was up feeding Ryker. What I thought was a moth flew past my head and into the curtains next to the bed. Not being overly afraid of moths, I didn't pay much attention to it and eventually laid back down to go to sleep. I could hear what I thought was the moth beating it's wings (should have been my first clue) against the window. I began to feel a little concerned that this "moth" would bother Ryker. It was only a few short moments later that Ryker began squirming in bed. As I reached over to rub his head I felt something HUGE and HARD on his head. I swatted it away and flipped on the light. It was the most disgusting bug (biggest too) I had ever seen in my life. I snatched the fly swatter and went total kamikaze on this thing. The adrenaline was so intense. It was then that I understood the superhuman strength parents get when their children are in danger. I could have lifted the trailer off my baby that night if I had to.

I thought that I had killed the gross insect, so imagine my concern the next morning when the bug was not where I left it. In the night it had crawled back on to the rug. Eeeww!! Scott came in shortly after, agreed that the bug was huge and disgusting, and heroically removed it from the trailer. HOURS later it came to our attention that it was still alive.....injured, but alive. I'm not one for animal cruelty, but something had to be done. Brian finally finished it off with a bb gun. Yes, we had to shoot it to kill it. I hope to never encounter such a bug for the rest of my life. Jaxon had a great time playing with cousins and getting dirty. He mastered climbing the rope ladder into the tree house and eventually could do it without assistance. (I never realized how camoflauged he was until this pic...I could barely see him!)
Brian's cousin Tyler gave us their old battery powered 4 wheeler. Jaxon loves it! He was very timid at first but after practicing a little bit he has gotten the hang of it. It will be nice when we have grass and he can drive around our yard.
Brian and I also enjoyed going out with Jaxon on the 4 wheelers. We didn't go out as much as we usually do, but it was fun the few times we went.
Ryker was spoiled rotten! There were so many willing arms to hold him. I really only had him when he was hungry or when it was time for bed. He was completely content being passed around and around and around.
We went down into Lava one day and went swimming. Grandma and Grandpa took Ryker and Jaxon to the pool while the adults rode down the river on tubes. Becky, Emily, and I all took turns being tossed from our tubes into the river. We all walked away with scrapes and bruises. After riding the river twice, we called it good and joined Jaxon and Ryker at the pool.

Brian and I have decided that camping is a lot more work the older you get. It's going to take a lot of work to make it as fun as it once was. We played a few games of Yahtzee and Rack-O. We also had a little game of horseshoes with Rex and Julie. Our horseshoe skills were pretty pathetic, but in the end we came out victorious....barely!

Bike Parade

Jaxon participated in his first Primary Bike Parade yesterday. We met at the Stuart's home and decorated bikes and then they were off! I pushed Ryker in the stroller and watched Jax from a distance. He is way too fast for me! I was glad there were a gazillion other kids and adults on bikes to guide my little sunbeam along.
The kids rode their bikes/scooters around the neighborhood until they reached the Green's home. All the kids stopped at the Green's....except Jaxon. He kept on pedalling down the road! I had to yell my great big momma yell to get him to stop, turn around, and come back. Jaxon said to me "I went farther than everybody, huh mom?" Jaxon isn't the least bit competitive!Finally sitting down to enjoy a nice cold treat on a very hot day.

CHEESE!

When The Boy Takes The Camera...Part II

Every time I pick up the camera there's a surprise (or 16) from my sweet boy!

Happy Baby

Though it's not the best photo (by far) it's the best one I have of Ryker's smile. (I will replace it when he cooperates with the camera.) Ryker is 3 months old! The time has sure flown by at the same time that it feels like he's always been here. He is such a happy baby. Really, I have zero complaints. Yes, he does cry and fuss on occasion....but overall he is really happy and content.

• weighs approx. 10 lbs
• smiles....especially when you talk to him or wipe milk away from his mouth
• coos and sighs (The other day I was playing the piano and had him laying on the floor by me. While I played he cooed along with me...it was like he was trying to sing along. It was super sweet!)
• loves to kick his legs
• prefers "sitting up" so he can see whats going on around him
• gets excited (more than scared) when Jaxon loves him
• sleeps through the night....most nights....if he does get up it's usually just once...unless he doesn't, then it's sometimes twice....but mostly he sleeps through the night
• still my sweet snuggle bug
• a very happy baby
  

Not Your Average Joe

In some ways Jaxon isn't a typical 3-almost-4-year-old.

He could spend all day doing dishesHe loves to eat Frosted Mini Wheats and Raisin Bran

He says things like "Well, actually..." and "No problem!"

Tonight as I was doing his hair he exclaimed "Mom! That caught me by surprise!"(meaning the water being squirted on his head).

He also likes watching "The Brady Bunch"....I suppose they might be responsible for his eloquent vocabulary.

Yellowstone...Old Faithful

My brother Trevor was home from Korea for a few weeks so we took a trip to Yellowstone with my entire family.

My brother-in-law found this cabin in Island Park for us to stay in. It was super roomy, really nice, and lots of fun.Jaxon and Jeffrey playing outside the cabin
We had been there for maybe 30 minutes when we lost Jaxon. I looked up and he wasn't sitting at the counter eating his dinner. I walked around the inside of the cabin calling his name. When I couldn't see find him I walked outside to look. I asked everyone I passed if they had seen Jaxon or Jeffrey. No one had seen them. Soon all the adults were walking around calling for them. I was getting panicked, to say the least. We were surrounded by tall brush and trees. Could they hear us calling them? Would they be able to find their way back?What if some stranger had taken them? What if a wild animal had gotten to them? My dad got in his truck and was driving away when we heard they had been found. Safe and sound....under one of the beds inside the cabin! Apparently they were playing hide-and-seek with Jayne. They heard us calling for them, but didn't want to disclose their location. Needless to say Jaxon had a good talking to about answering when his parents call for him....even if it means loosing in hide-and-seek. The rest of the time was less eventful, but lots of fun. The little kids had a great time exploring the cabin, running wild, getting dirty, and being loud. What do you expect with 8 kids five and under?

On Friday we went to Yellowstone. Our first stop was Old Faithful. Unfortunately most of our family pictures will look like this....Ryker hidden in the snugli.

We got there right after the geyser had gone off so we had about 45 minutes to kill before it went off again. We told Jaxon not to get off the boardwalk....
...he didn't listen. It didn't take long before the kids were playing in the gravel/dirt much to their parents dismay.Mom and Jaxon waiting for Old Faithful There she blows! Jaxon thought it was pretty cool.
What a guy! Brian ended up carrying BOTH boys most of the time.
Trevor and Me

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

I see people looking at me!!!

We stopped at Bear World on the way back from Yellowstone. It's too bad you don't see any bears in Yellowstone anymore. It seems so unnatural...worse than a zoo...to have the bears wandering around in a little park right off the freeway. Oh, well. It was fun for the kids to see the bears in real life and enjoy the other animals at the petting zoo. All for the kids, right? Even if the animals are being exploited.

Hey, Jax. Give us your biggest, meanest, scariest bear face!!

Our Beary Happy Family
(Thanks Kayla for holding Ryker in his hole!)

Watching the ducks
Feeding the fish and ducks
Riding the train
Riding the mini roller coaster (We need to really work with Jaxon on being brave. Each time we came around to the beginning he would say "I want to be done now, mom!")
Petting the deer....or at least getting close enough to it that he could pet it if he decided he wanted to...which he didn't.Yes, we really did bring Ryker along!Tilt-A-Bear....or something like that.Jaxon and Brian enjoying the ride

Yellowstone...Cousins

Josh, Kayla, and Wyatt rode with us.

This is a photo of the riding buddies, Wyatt and Jax, at their finest! Jaxon, Jayne, and Jeffrey at Mammoth Hot Springs
Lauren, Isaac, Jeffrey, and Jaxon at Mesa Falls
Grandma and Grandpa with all the grand kids!

Front: Ryker and Lauren on Grandma's lap,

Garrett and Isaac on Grandpa's lap

Back: Wyatt, Jayne, Jaxon, Jeffrey, What a crew!

The best part of the entire vacation was being together as a family. The adults had fun playing Wii and hearts at night. The kids loved playing with each other. It was so great to be with all my brothers and sisters and parents. It's been quite a while since we've all gone on vacation together. Hopefully we'll have many more trips like this in the future.

Yellowstone....Water Falls

A very nervous Jaxon in front of Gibson Falls

The four of us in front of Upper and Lower Falls
Upper and Lower Falls
Jaxon at Mesa Falls
The family at Mesa Falls
Mesa Falls