We Thought This Would NEVER Happen...

...and then one day, it did. 

Giddy Up!

Maybe it's Woody's influence, but Dax LOVES my cowboy hats.  

He wanders around the house with them on his head 

(usually sideways so he can see more clearly) saying, "'At!  'At!"

Oh, I love him!  Even after days like yesterday.....I still love him!

Proof We Went to Robbie's Work Party

Despite inhaling lots of cigarette smoke, the food was actually pretty good, 

and I got to meet Robbie's co-workers.  

Plus, everyone should attend a picnic of some sort on the 24th of July, right?

Did I mention how many of his superiors commented on what a good employee he is?  

He's had QUITE a few people within Energy Solutions tell him that he has a "bright future" 

and that he has the potential to "move up quickly" if he wants to stick with ES 

or the Department of Energy.  Both of which, we aren't sure yet.  

But I'm glad to know other people notice what a great guy and hard worker I married!  

I love you, baby!

Lake Powell!!!

We spent the week after the 4th of July at Lake Powell with my family.  Sadly, this meant that we missed ALL firework shows.  Kind of a bummer.  Moab celebrates on the 4th, Sunday or no....and everywhere else in the state (Powell included) celebrates on the 3rd when the holiday falls on a Sunday.  So, sadly....no fireworks for us.  But....if I had to trade a firework show for an extra day at the Lake.....HELLO!  Of course I would.

And apparently I did.  :)

Oh....the love I have for this place!  My mom and I counted, and there are a total of only 4 years of my life I have not spent a vacation there.  SO many memories.....

The maiden voyage of the traditional slip-n-slide

Robbie and Clay look SO happy...

I love Mills.  Thanks to her ridiculously large vocabulary, Dax finally started to string some words together by the end of the week.  Our stubborn son just needed the encouragement from a cute girl (even if it is his cousin) to progress.  I wonder if this is a sign of things to come?

Sweaty/wet baby and Daddy.  They look so happy!

Dax loved the slide this year. 

Ok....he loved it AFTER the first time down.

"A boat-car!"

Surprisingly, he wore the sunglasses and bandanna without too much of a fight.

When we would go to the marina to get ice, Dax liked to be super-helpful and push the "car" so PaMa wouldn't have to work so hard.

Whenever we couldn't see him directly, it was typically because he was hiding in Clay and Jen's closet.  

It was very intriguing apparently.  He spent a lot of time in there!

When we would discover where he was, he would run to the door and laugh hysterically as he would attempt to shut it on me.

Our friendly little boy would wave at each passing boat.

"Hi!  Boat!"

I could squish him.

He also liked to get stuck behind the couches.

Until he realized he was stuck.

Then, he got really mad.

Dax learned "Ring Around the Rosie" from his cousins and LOVED to play it.

By the end of the week, he was singing it on his own:

"Wosie....Wosie....DOWN!"

Tessa is too stinkin' cute!

Could she BE any cuter?

Dax and Tessa bonding while the non-pregnant adults took the slide down.

Rylee was upset she couldn't be in the water while her mommy and daddy were taking care of the slide.

Dax loved to drive the boat.  As long as no one was helping him.  

He also liked to honk the horn, trailer the engine, and turn on the bilge pump.

Lightning McQueen enjoyed the trip as well.

Tessa's signature face.

The other is the stink eye.

Only no one has gotten a picture of it yet.  But trust me....it's pretty stinky.

As we were loading up to go home, a huge squall hit, making loading the cars all that much more fun.

The thunder was a little loud for the little guy.

Just waiting for Daddy to bring the car down.

Such a great trip.  I HATE leaving, and am looking forward to the next time.

Attempted Camping Trip Numero Uno

We attempted a camping trip up the mountain with Jeff, Nicole, and Sydney Cornelius over the 4th of July weekend.  The trip started out great...

Dax highly enjoyed running around the hill, chasing Sydney all over the place yelling "Simmee!  Simmee!"

Robbie enjoyed being manly with his knives. 

Dax was TERRIFIED of Rio the dog for, oh....about three minutes.  Then, he followed Rio around, trying to pet him the rest of the time.  He especially liked to try to capture Rio's tail.

...and bond with Rio by laying on his comfy (and super-clean) bed.  I was super-proud.

Unfortunately, when bedtime came, Dax didn't like the idea of actually going to sleep.  Being in a camper next to mommy and daddy with "Simmee" in the room also was a little too much for him to sort through, and he eventually got taken to the car in the middle of the night to try to get him to calm down.  After watching Toy Story 2 TWICE, and noticing that it was then nearly 5 am....I went back into the camper and told Robbie we needed to go. 

As much fun as we would have had the next day WITH sleep....we figured that a nearly-two-year-old with ZERO sleep, a pregnant mommy with ZERO sleep, and a daddy with only a couple of hours of sleep wouldn't be very good company....even with understanding friends. 

So....we packed up and headed home. 

In true Dax fashion, he continued to talk to us until we were within 5 minutes of our house, at which point he finally closed his eyes and conked out. 

We did enjoy the sunrise, however! 

Hopefully, next time we try camping, we'll have a place for him to hang out and fall asleep all by his little lonesome.  That way, maybe we would enjoy the next day!

Simple, Yet Profound, Tender Mercies

I have a ridiculous amount of things to catch up on (blogging about Summer included), but many will have to wait...at least until I can get this one down.

Yesterday (Sunday) was quite a tender mercy.  First of all, being able to serve in Young Womens is a blessing in and of itself.  I learn so much and am so humbled by those little teenage turds that I sit in awe of them often!

Yesterday I was to teach a lesson on The Importance of Life and Procreation.  Slightly daunting, but not that big of a deal.  When it came time for YW to begin, my great friend Nicole (who was to teach the Mia Maids) approached me with the thought to combine the Laurels and Mia Maids (there was only 1 MM there that day, and though she's the youngest one, she's also more mature than most of the Laurels) and to team-teach.

Sounded good to me!

The gravity of the lesson started to exhibit itself shortly afterward.  Nicole is one of those people who you can't help but love.  She's fabulous at EVERYTHING.  She's beautiful, talented, super-spiritual, nice to everyone, funny, lets me be ridiculous and immature, and a fantastic mother.  Problem is, she's never been blessed with the ability to carry a child.  She currently has a darling three-year-old whom they were able to adopt, but since, have been unlucky in the adoption world, though hoping desperately to add more to their family asap.

So here I am, nearly eight months pregnant, about to teach a bunch of teenage girls that one of their most divine roles in life is to bring children into the world.  With someone who had never done so.

The Spirit was incredibly strong as we were able to share our different, yet so very similar, stories about the importance of motherhood and how these girls are Heavenly Father's greatest creation.  We all cried at some point, but I am certain that those precious daughters of Heavenly Father will not soon forget the lesson that they learned that day.

I hope to not forget.

Hence the post.

On a related note, Nicole and her husband were selected a few hours later by a birth family to adopt a sweet baby girl in just three short weeks.

I am still in awe.