Happy Birthday, Grant!

Last Saturday was Grant's first birthday! Thinking back on the past year, we realized how extremely blessed we have been! Grant was born at 32 weeks at 4 lbs 8.5 oz. Amazingly, he had no developmental problems. He spent a month in the hospital, but now he is doing great! We are so grateful to have him in our lives!

For his birthday party, we had all our families over that live in town and Grant got spoiled. He didn't really understand the whole unwrapping presents thing, but he loved his new toys and clothes! Thank you everyone! When I first gave him his cupcake, he refused to take a bite. So I left it on his tray and he started to play with it, rubbing all over everywhere. When he decided to lick his fingers, he realized what yummy goodness was before him and he started shoveling it in! We also started putting in our sprinkler system that day. Thanks to all who helped! Putting pipe under sidewalks is definitely not as easy as people say! We rented a trench digger last night and got most of the trenches dug. Thank you again to my mom and dad and the Parkers for all their help. Happy birthday Grant! We love you!! Here's where Grant hung out while we worked outside.

The inevitable

I think it's pretty much a given that every child gets into the toilet paper at some point. Lucky for me, there was hardly any left on the roll. And don't worry, I didn't actually let him eat it.
Job well done there, Grant.

...How does your garden grow?

This is my attempt at growing a garden. Notice the very pitiful tomatoes and green pepper. And also notice that there is nothing coming up yet (besides weeds). Now that the sun's out, I am hoping that my garden will grow. Here are some pictures from Tyson's birthday last week. I made him his traditional Mickey cake. (The flowers in the other picture were from our anniversary. My parents watched Grant so we could go to Olive Garden and bowling.)

And I can't post without having a picture of Grant! Here he is, enjoying the sunshine in our backyard. Sprinklers and grass are coming soon!

Celebrations

Yesterday was our anniversary- it's been three years! I'm looking forward to many more!

And today is Tyson's birthday. I love you! You are a great husband and daddy!

San Antonio

I love Texas! We had a great time vacationing there. Thanks to Brooke and Taylor for letting us stay with them! The weather was very hot and humid, but I loved it! I didn't miss cold, windy, and dry Idaho one bit! (Maybe the tap water a little.) Grant was a good little traveler. The plane rides went pretty well. He is a crib sleeper, which means he doesn't fall asleep on laps very well. But Tyson managed to get him to sleep a little. Grant went along with us to the Alamo, the River Walk, Sea World, the SAS shoe factory, a duck pond, some yummy restaurants, and he even went boating. I think his favorite place was the water park in Sea World. Grant loved splashing and crawling and sliding around in the area for toddlers. Sea World is amazing! There are all sorts of awesome shows, aquariums, crazy roller coasters, and Tyson even got to feed and pet the dolphins. We got a season pass since it was only a little more than a 2-day pass, so we got to spend lots of time there. Tyson went to a bunch of conferences and even ran into some of his former classmates and professors. Grant loved playing with his cousins Dallin and Parker, and now he's bored at home with just me! Here are lots of pictures from the trip:

H-E-B is the store there like Costco or Winco. They give kids a balloon when you come in. Grant went crazy with it! This video cracks me up!

Here's the famous Alamo. I had to do a little research afterwards to really understand what it was all about! It was neat to see some stuff that belonged to Davy Crockett.

Grant and Tyson after swimming all afternoon at Sea World.

Grant was wiped out! He fell asleep almost immediately.

Tyson got to feed the dolphins. You can see the fish near the dolphin's nose.

Taylor, Parker, Tyson, Dallin and Brooke. It's hard to tell, but Tyson is rubbing this dolphin's chin. This dolphin kept coming up to Tyson and letting him pet it the whole time he was there. It was cool!

Grant really liked boating. The water there is so warm!! It was so nice I actually didn't mind falling out of the tube or off the skis!

Here's Tyson on the skis! Isn't it gorgeous on this lake?

This picture didn't turn out great, but it's in front of a fountain at the River Walk.

He's such a cute cowboy!

We even got to go the beautiful San Antonio temple.

Grant in front of a sweet car at the SAS shoe factory. That place was great! The tour of the shoe factory was free, and in the general store you could fill up a bag with as much as old-fashioned candy that could fit and it was only $2! Plus there were all sorts of fun old-fashioned things to look at.

Parker grinning in front of "the car that looks like Lizzy!" (from Cars)

Grant eyeing the ducks at the pond.

It was the best vacation, and I can't wait to go back! :)

Spaghetti Face

I'm going to do something I've never done before...post twice in one week! I just had to share this picture and video.

Grant loves spaghetti and this is what he looks like after eating it. He must know that the sauce is extra messy because he wipes his face and hair way more than if he's eating something that is easy to clean up. After a dinner like this, he get a bath, which he loves. Maybe that's why he does it- he's got me figured out!

Grant's new pasttime- throwing a ball and chasing after it. Here's a video of him.

We are in for some fun as we head to Texas for a week for a conference for Tyson's work. We are staying with his sister. Grant will get airplane rides, Sea World, sightseeing, and lots of time with cousins. We are looking forward to it!

Catch-up

So I'm not exactly sure how it is May 19 and I haven't posted for almost a month! But here's a little of what's been going on.

Women's Conference:


Thanks to everyone for your advice on getting Grant taken care of. He actually did great! I was stressed and having a hard time leaving him. But he ended up taking a bottle after a day so I stopped worrying so much. He loved all the attention- thanks Parkers! The conference itself was absolutely fabulous. Sheri Dew, Sister Beck and President Monson were some of the key speakers. President Monson is the most amazing man. He is truly the living prophet! Wow. I was spiritually fed and edified and came back motivated to be better. It was fun to be with some of my sisters and my mom. Little sleep meant we were a little crazy at the concert. Afterwards we got our picture with the a capella group, Eclipse.

All in all, I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to go and for Parkers and my wonderful husband Tyson for taking care of Grant!

The rest of my life for the past few weeks:

Clean, wash, cook, read, play with Grant, watch movies, etc. Tyson gave me Enchanted for Mother's Day and I love love it! We finally got the Internet last Friday. (Why I haven't posted forever.) Also Tyson got a road bike to start riding to work. That's bicycle, not motorcycle for anyone who was wondering. We're trying to save on gas money! It's not too bad of a ride (11 miles each way), unless it is windy.

Don't worry, he wears a helmet, just not in this picture.
Here's Grant playing with his blocks. And here he is again. Notice all the teeth?!
Just wanted to say thanks to all who read this blog. It is a fun way to stay in contact!