Who Knew We Lived in Nepal?

We took a drive up American Fork Canyon for FHE last Monday, and Russ took some pretty sweet pictures.  This first one looks like Mt. Everest rising up out of the clouds -- hence the title of this post:

Such amazing views!

Of course, I get a more amazing view from within my home -- views of this little guy:

I opened (and assembled by myself, I might add... okay Russ tightened a couple of screws for me) one of Davis's remaining birthday presents (refer to this post).  Davis is having a blast with it!

Davis has been getting smarter by the day.  Here are a few more things he can do (most of which happened over the past week!):

• Can tell you how old he is by showing you one finger (and don't worry, I didn't teach him to use his middle finger to do it!)
• Can tell you what sound a fish makes (okay, so fish don't make sounds, but they open and close their mouths)
• Can tell you what sound a cow makes
• Can pretend to blow his nose (This is actually pretty hilarious.  If a cloth is nearby, he will blow his nose into the cloth!)
• Can follow simple commands (This is very useful when he picks up a piece of fuzz from the carpet.  I can say "bring that to momma," and he will!)
• Can open doors with lever doorknobs (luckily, we don't have these!)

He's also had another ear infection, so a few weeks ago we had to take him in to have Rocephin shots (three days in a row - wahoo!).  I feel so bad for the little guy.  We take him to the doc again Wednesday to make sure the infection is all gone.  If he gets another ear infection soon, the next step is tubes.  Poor kid!

Here are a few more pics from our trip to Arizona (I just found them on the camera) to end this post:

feeding the ducks

swimming in the pool (NOT a favorite pastime for Davis, as evidenced by him climbing higher and higher up Russ to escape the water, which was a little chilly)

Pirate Elizabeth -- shiver me timbers, it's bright out here!

Vacation to Arizona, Part III - More Adventures

We got to stay in Arizona a couple of extra days after Daxton's baby blessing.  We got to have Marie's family all to our selves!!!  Yeah for us :)  Some of the fun things we did included

• a picnic at the park and feeding the ducks
• fro-yo girl's night out (Marie & I, duh!)
• movie night (Marie & I stayed home with the sleeping kids and Redboxed while Scott & Russ went to see Robin Hood)
• more swimming in the pool (Davis got in this time, and he did NOT like how cold the water was!)
• trip to the Phoenix Children's Museum (refer to following pics)

Dani got to help paint a giant castle - she loved it!

There were lots of places for Davis to crawl around

There was a little Pinewood Derby-esque race track,

and a really cool market,

(isn't it every kid's dream to use be a grocery store clerk?)

and this cool 3-story climbing sculpture thingy

Good times were definitely had by all!  Our flight back was pretty fun.  We had cut it pretty close to get to the airport when we flew to Phoenix, so we made sure to leave plenty of time when we headed back to SLC.  Unfortunately, our flight got delayed, and we sat in the airport for two hours!  Russ finally got Davis to take a nap about twenty minutes before we boarded, so he had a twenty minute nap...  

The flight was a little rough for Davis -- he wanted so badly to crawl around and meet everyone on the flight. Incidentally, everyone on the flight probably thought I was single-handedly perpetuating American childhood obesity.  The doc said it would be good for Davis to chew/suck during takeoff/landing.  Since he had an ear infection, I was trying very hard to make sure he was eating during the whole takeoff/landing.  FYI, takeoff/landing technically last about a half hour each, and I wasn't sure exactly how long he should be eating, so....let's just say many cheese puffs, graham crackers, goldfish crackers, potato chips, and pretzels were consumed!!! (And yes, Russ and I did sneak a few ourselves.)

Vacation to Arizona, Part II - Daxton's Blessing

We started out Sunday morning with a trip to urgent care... Davis's ear infection (which had supposedly cleared up before we left) came back!  Aren't we lucky!?!  He woke up Sunday morning, screaming. We couldn't console him, and he only slept an hour between then and his afternoon nap...  poor kid!  The doc prescribed some meds and some ear drops, which numbed the pain and helped him to be happy.  Ear infections (and the associated medicine) are something our family could definitely do without!

The highlight of the day was Daxton's baby blessing.

Aren't they just a super cute family?! 

Dani was very good to her baby brother.

She protected all of his toys by keeping them away from Davis...

Actually she was very good at sharing, considering that we were sharing toys for five days!

Dax is a super chill little guy.  

Most of the time he was so quiet!

He was a little fussy the morning we left, but I know that is because he wanted us to stay forever because he loves us so much!  

Pics of Marie's fabulous spread.

She had a colorful sandwich table,

white cheeses,

white chips

white plates and cutlery,

white beverages,

and white desserts

yes, those are chocolate dipped oreos and pretzels

and addictive homemade sugar cookies

Yum!!!

That afternoon, we had a fabulous dance party. 

We have some awesome video of the kids dancing.

I wish I had pics. 

All of the kids had a blast, including Davis, who crawled around, head banging with gusto!

He absolutely loves music and "dancing" to the beat!

Vacation to Arizona, Part I - Dani's Birthday Party

We just got back from Davis's first family vacation!  We went to Arizona to visit my sister, Marie, and her family.  We got to celebrate a birthday and a baby blessing while we were there -- so lucky!  We had a great time staying with Marie & Scott and hope we can make it down there again soon.

Grandma and Daxton - I got to meet my little nephew for the 1st time

We celebrated Dani's 3rd birthday with an "Olivia" birthday party.

Marie had so many cute games and treats planned.  

She is quite the party planner!

proof that Brett cheated at the bean bag toss :)

Btw, Marie made bean bags that looked like Olivia -- she's amazing!

Davis LOVES to clap!

the birthday girl and her mom

Abbie

opening presents

check out the action shot -- the money flying out of the envelope!

Dani got a leotard, ballet shoes, and tap shoes from her parents.

She started dance lessons this week!

super cute Olivia cupcakes - go Marie!!

yummy checkerboard cake for the adults

we even had neapolitan ice cream scooped into little balls

blowing out her candle

Davis actually liked the cake this time!  

He ate about half of his cupcake!

And he liked the ice cream too, once he got past how cold it was.

swimming at the pool in Marie's backyard
(Davis was asleep, so he didn't join in on the fun)