Labor Day Weekend

Every Labor Day we go camping with the Johnson family. Some years we get a cabin, but unfortunately that didn't happen this year so we were roughin it. We went up to Marshall Lake in Flagstaff. For some reason Cade and I took forever getting ready and had to make a few stops on the drive up there so we didn't arrive until about 8:30 on Friday night. About bedtime Cade realized he left the cool chest with our food sitting in our kitchen. This was not good. We were supposed to provide Saturday night's dinner and now we didn't have our food and would come home to a lot of ruined food. After a long debate we decided it would be best to drive back home in the Robles' Prius and get our food rather than to go to the store and buy more food for everyone. (Thanks for letting us borrow it!) So we drove the hour and a half back home and arrived about 12:30, but we enjoyed another wonderful night in our bed so I was glad about that. (In case you're wondering, it was cheaper to drive home because it was only about 2.5 gallons of gas, or $10.)

Don't worry though, the fun doesn't stop there. Cade, Conner, and I all came down with colds before we left so we weren't feeling great and Cade never even went fishing, hunting, or wakeboarding because he didn't feel good or was too wiped out. So most of the time we just sat around camp, which is fine for me but Cade doesn't love it.

Caryn and Conner sitting by the fire

Katie and Jeter



Tina, Tanner, Kameron, Jacob, Baby Logan, Natalie, Sam, Baby Conner, Caryn

On Saturday night Cade's parents got a couple of hotel rooms so we could take showers and go to church on Sunday. There was some mix up about that and when Katie and I decided our boys were ready to go to bed we had some difficulty getting there. Cade's parents were on the boat with no cell service so we couldn't get a hold of them to find out which hotel it was. We knew the name but there are multiples in Flagstaff so we didn't know which one. We called one of them and found out that the person who made the reservation had to be with us to check in. So we decided to drive down to the lake to try and find Tina or hopefully get better cell service. Unfortunately, every time a call went through it got disconnected before we could explain. After about 30 minutes we finally saw Russ coming up the dock and he told us that Tina had just driven back to camp with Jacob. So we drove back up there to get her. Then we ended up going to the wrong hotel and had to keep driving. It wouldn't have been so bad except that now both our boys ended up getting over an hour long nap in the car when they were supposed to be going to bed for the night. Once we finally got situated in the hotel the boys weren't tired at all and stayed up until 10:30. I'm really glad we got the hotel rooms because I barely slept at all due to my cold and felt awful and I can only imagine how much worse it would have been on the ground in a tent, without my pillow that I forgot to bring back up on the second trip up.

Conner and Jeter playing in the big "playpen". Conner loved waving at everybody from in there.

Grandpa Johnson with Jeter, Conner, and Logan



On Sunday we went to church and then hung out around camp some more. After solving the social problems of the country from around the fire we went to bed. It started lightly raining in the morning so Cade was moving our suitcases that were sitting outside into the truck and Conner decided he was ready to get up for the day (at 5 am). We hung out for awhile longer but by 11:00 Conner was ready for his second nap and Cade and I weren't feeling great so we decided to pack it up and go home when the rest of the family went down to the lake.

Our little family



Conner (9 months), Logan (6 months), Jeter (10 months)

Don't worry the fun still isn't over. While we drove down Lake Mary Road Cade was speeding. (He claims that is the only road he ever speeds on because he feels like the limit should be higher, I'm so sure.) Well it starts at 50 MPH and then drops to 45 MPH. Soon after it dropped Cade got caught going 66 MPH, which as the officer informed us is criminal. Its really annoying that Cade also claims he had the thought to slow down but just ignored it. While the officer was writing the ticket Cade was telling me he thought he knew who it was. When the cop came back he said that Cade looked familiar and we figured out how they sort of know each other. (The cop's mother in law works for Cade and she frequently has his kids at their office while they wait for their parents to pick them up.) It was obvious once the cop realized who Cade was that he felt really bad giving him the ticket but he had already put it in the computer and printed it out and said he had to give it to him then. But at least on the ticket he said Cade was only going 65 MPH so that it was no longer criminal and cost $202. Then the I-17 was way backed up and barely moving so 20 minutes out of Flagstaff we turned around, went back and went home the long way around. It rained alot on the drive home so our stuff was soaked, (at least it was at the end of the trip. You know me, always looking for the positive :) Finally about 2 and a half hours later we made it home.

It was great that it rained most of the day on Monday and it was really easy to pull a lot of weeds we've been neglecting. But the best part of the weekend was that Cade put together the patio swing I've been wanting for 3 months that was half off for Labor Day. Conner and I love it! Overall it wasn't the best Labor Day weekend, but it was good to have the whole family together one last time before half of them move to Hurricane next month.



Phewww!!!!

Since Conner was about 6 months old he started developing what I thought were warts. When the first one came I was pretty disappointed. Since warts run in my family I figured we were in for some outrageous ones if he was going to start getting them this early. Look what my niece Emma had to go through to get a few warts on her hand removed.

Although the warts were big they weren't like this. This picture is after she had to have chemo medicine injected into them when all else failed.

And this shows some of the reaction her body had to that procedure.

Can you see why I was worried? Then when another one started popping up each week I was really getting concerned. Finally now his back looks like this and he has a few on his arms and hand.

I know you can't really see them but it was hard to get a picture. He has probably 20-30 on his body.

Every now again something pops up on his face that looks like one too but so far those have all disappeared quickly. So I was anxious for his 9 month check up to find out what we were going to do about this. Thankfully, right off the doctor says, "Those aren't warts, thats Molluscum Contagiosum". He gave me a quick run down and off course I googled it to make sure he wasn't leaving anything important out. Thankfully it is just some virus that is common in kids and completely harmless. I don't know how he got it, it had to be direct contact with someone with it or an object that someone with it used. But the good news is they should go away in 6-12 months. Now my sister, who I won't name but I'm sure everyone can guess by her cruelty, can stop calling him WB (aka wart boy!)

P.S. I apologize to my sister in laws whose babies were around him this weekend. I didn't know until today that he has something contagious (although at this point he may not be contagiours anymore) or I would have been more careful about letting him touch your children and their stuff. It sounds like there has to be direct contact with a papule (most of which were always covered by his clothing), not just him and not his saliva. Don't worry though, it shouldn't be too contagious since his babysitter's daughter hasn't caught it in the last 3 months and she gets all over him!

He's Growing Too Fast!

Our little baby just keeps growing and growing right before our very eyes. He recently mastered the art of crawling, which is both good and bad. Its really nice when I leave the family room and go to the kitchen and instead of just crying for me to come back he can just follow right behind me. Its not so good when I'm in the middle of a crucial point of making dinner and he comes into the kitchen and tries to climb onto chairs (which he cannot do without falling onto the tile) and I have to remove him from the kitchen 3 times in 5 minutes.



His memory is also getting good lately. He has found a pile of post-it notes on our desk that he loves to eat (near the floor where he can climb onto the desk and eat them all) so I started hiding the post-it notes underneath a calendar where they didn't show at all. But the very next time he was near the desk he crawled right over there, pushed the calendar aside, and went wild. I tried to distract him with the hole puncher, but that just made a mess and then he went right back to the post-its.

He also has learned to stand up using furniture. Yesterday when I walked into his room to get him out of bed I found this.



He was just standing there so proud of himself. And make sure you notice those cute little teeth that have popped up. Now his last development I'm a little embarrassed to share, he was rather slow in this area. For some reason he was never able to suck on a pacifier. When we were cutting back on his night time feedings and he would wake up and need something to suck on we would just hold the pacifier in his mouth until he fell back asleep. Then eventually he was able to hold it in his hand and he was very content to just play with it or suck on the side of the pacifier. Occasionally he would put it in his mouth the right way by accident but within about 2 seconds it would fly right out of there. But then overnight things just clicked and he figured out how to properly suck on a pacifier. And now he just loves that thing. He absolutely must have it in order to go to sleep and whenever he sees it he crawls for it. But since he lived 7 months without it we do not allow him to use it unless he is going to sleep.

A few random pictures.



Happy Independence Day!

This Fourth of July was not too exciting, we had made tentative plans to go to Telluride and then camping but both plans fell through. We did get a flag up this year to show our patriotism though. There are a surprising number of people who put out flags in this city, a lot of them even have actual flagpoles to raise and lower a flag on, but we just attached ours to the house. Most of the day we just hung out at home being lazy until it was time for a 4-ward activity. Our church building has a grassy area connected to it with a ramada, bbq, horseshoe pits, and sand volleyball. So everyone came and enjoyed dinner, visiting, and some activities. It was perfect weather thanks to the rain clouds that kept it cool and it even sprinkled for a few minutes. Conner was ready for bed long before the fireworks started but we just couldn't miss out on his first fireworks. He had a nice progression of being terrified, to being mystified, to enjoying them, and then his fatigue took over.

Hanging out before the fireworks.

 See the terrified look coming out.

Hanging onto mom for dear life by both her shirt and her hair.

"Oh wait, this is kind of cool."

"Yeah, I like these fireworks."

"Ok, enough of these fireworks, I'm off to dreamland."



A Busy Week

Lots of things happened over the last week and a half. Cade turned 30 years old! So I invited his favorite people (his family, at least the ones that live within an hour of us) over for dinner as a surprise. Cade doesn't have a regular work schedule and I never really know when he'll leave or come home from work so I guessed that he would get home about 5:30 on Friday and his mom said they would come at 5 just to be safe. On Friday morning I did my best not to send Cade off to work early so I could decorate the house and get dinner ready. I knew if he left early that would just mean he would come home early. So after he finally left I was able to easily get everything ready since Conner was having one of the best days of his life and was just content to play by himself for hours. It was great. Anyway, when I heard the garage door go up at 4:45 I ran out to meet Cade. I didn't have time to think of anything to say except that I was working on a project and he was to go sit in the backyard and that when it was time for him to actually be home he was welcome to come inside. Obviously he knew something was up, but he really had no idea what and I have a tendency to say and do strange things from time to time so this wasn't totally out of character. After his parents arrived I let him inside and he was surprised. I drilled him later and he really had no idea so I forgave him for almost ruining everything by coming home early. We had a delicious dinner (if I do say so myself :) of lasagna, garlic bread, and manderin orange salad and enjoyed spending time with the Johnsons.

For his birthday, Cade wanted a pack to take Conner hiking in. We looked at some in the store and the mid-level model cost $230. (The deluxe model costs $350!) The cheapest one (which was still $185) seemed pretty crappy so we didn't want to get that one. But we also didn't want to spend that much money for a pack they probably won't use all the much anyway. So we checked Craigslist and there was a lady in Chandler who was selling a brand new one that she won in a contest for $125. We were pretty excited and RJ went and got it for us. Conner is still a little small for it but they enjoyed testing it out around the house.



The next day was our 6th anniversary. I had to work that day and told Cade it was up to him to take care of our anniversary this year. And he didn't disappoint. He couldn't think of any nice places that he wanted to eat at so he made a wonderful dinner of so-called chicken parmesan. Its actually a creation he made up that has no parmesan in it but thats what he calls it. He decked out our room as the "Anniversary Suite" with the table and candles all set up. We had a nice evening while our friends Jenny and Nate watched Conner for us. Thanks guys!

Then the very next day was Cade's first Father's Day. I made him one of his favorite breakfasts: Milk toast. Yuck, but hey its really easy to make, especially since Tina gave me a loaf of homemade bread I could use. Thanks Tina! I also ordered Cade a really cute card with pictures of him and Conner on it. At church the men all received some beef jerky and then we headed to Cottonwood to spend the afternonn with Cade's dad.

First time on the trampoline

On Thursday we headed to Phoenix for Cade's root canal, which was surprisingly not very painful. We spent the day with my family and then headed over to Globe to see Kameron and Katie. Conner and Jeter finally acknowledge each other. Jeter mostly just stared at Conner and Conner loved grabbing at Jeter and even licked his face :) We drove over to Thatcher to go to the temple and had a good time. Then on Saturday they went to the lake while Conner and I opted to stay home. Katie curled my hair with her Paul Mitchell Clipless Curling Iron. It was really cute so the next day I tried to do it myself but totally burned my neck on the first curl and now I look like I have a hickie. Conner was wiped out by Sunday and slept the whole way home and we had to wake him up so he would eventually go to bed.

Conner seems so short next to Jeter

Conner loved their bouncy exersaucer. At first he was just going crazy and giving himself whiplash while he jumped but then he got the hang of bending his knees and loved jumping in it.



Then to finish off the week we just found out that Cade passed his first CPA exam!!!!!!!!!!!! Cade wasn't sure this day would ever come, but I just knew that he would eventually do it. Now the real work begins so that Cade passes the other 3 tests before October 1st 2012. Otherwise he has to retake the one he just passed. This is really not going to be fun for me or Cade. He is going to have to study all the time which of course is no fun. But then my problem is he is going to have to study all the time and I won't get my much enjoyed breaks from baby duty. 

Its been such a nice week.