Swim, Ride, Run

Last blog for the day is about my machine Dave. He has more energy than anyone I have met and he blows me away when it comes to his endurance. Last year he did one (his first ever) sprint triathlon and he just finished his first this year. He has been doing a little training but nothing too serious. We went to Logan and he competed in the Cache Valley Triathlon and took 29th overall and 4th in his age division. Afterwards he doesn't seem too tired and he doesn't get sore. I don't understand that, who can do that! Well, he can. Great Job! Doesn't he look hot in those tight spandex shorts and tight shirt!

On the Thursday before the triathlon Taylor got really sick. He threw up more than I thought possible. It was my first experience with a sick child throwing up all over the house, in his crib, all over me and anything in his path. It was miserable. Friday he threw up a few more times in the morning but it eventually stopped. That night we headed to Logan for the triathlon. He was so sleepy and so quiet all night and all day Saturday. At the tri it was so easy to take care of him because he didn't want out of his stoller and slept part of the time. It has taken him a long time to get better. I think he is finally there. His energy returned just yesterday afternoon and he is finally eating everything again. Anway, that is why he looks so tired and sad in the picture with Dave.

Summertime Fun

I love to hike and be surrounded by nature so on the 14th we headed up American Fork canyon to enjoy the beauty. The ride was a little long with Taylor screaming in the backseat because he got sunscreen in his eyes. Poor guy! The tears subsided as soon as we got out of the car and he could roam. We got to take the dogs with us which is always a treat for them and they get overly excited. We had a good day relaxing outdoors and eating our picnic.

Afterwards we went to my niece's birthday party and had dinner. She got a Hannah Montana wig for her birthday and everyone tried it on, I like Kace's picture the best.

At the end of the slide show I through in two random pictures of Taylor. We love checking out his sleeping position and this is one of our favorites, look at him hug the animals. The other picture is at Thanksgiving Point, of course we love that place. I didn't think much about the water because we went at 7:30 but he couldn't resist playing at Noah's ark and got soaked in his clothes.

Lake Powell

I know it has been awhile but things have been just a little crazy and I put blogging at the bottom of the list.

We went to Lake Powell June 7-10 with the Johnson Family, Brady, Angie, Casey, Lindsay, Carrie, Shane and Kade. I had a huge fear of Taylor falling in the water but Dave told me it would be alright and it was. Everyone helped to keep a close watch on him and Lesa let us barrow two forms of life perservers.

Taylor loves the water but the first time I put him in Lake Powell he screamed. It was a lot colder than he is used to. We kept putting him in a few times a day and by the end he learned that if he stayed in the water and splashed water on me it was pretty fun.

We had a really good time. Thanks to everyone especially Duff and Amy.

More Hondo!

I promised to post pictures of the rest of our vacation so here it is. But first I have a picture of our sweet, grown-up boy. Grandma Draper, Grandma Bramhall, Aunt Amy, and others helped watched him while we were gone. I hear that he was an angel but maybe they are hiding the truth. We missed him very much and are happy to spend every minute with him.

We headed out to Utila, an island off of Honduras, to enjoy beach life and to do a little snorkeling. The first day in Utila was not the most pleasant day, it was extremely hot and our hotel room was worse than being outside. Luckily they did have window air conditioning units that we quickly turned on and our rooms were a decent temperature by bedtime. Early the next morning we had George take us to our own private island - Sandy Cay.

We stayed here for two days and it was the most wonderful, relaxing part of the trip. It is just wonderful to be by ourselves to enjoy nature. The island was surrounded by reef and we did a lot of snorkeling. Dave and Tyler went at least 3 times a day for an hour each time. The last time snorkeling on the second day Dave and Tyler say a Sting Ray and I joined them before we saw a shark. Yes it was very scary to me. I wasn't so sure I wanted to be in the water anymore. Luckily it was a small shark and probably was scared to death of us. Tyler found an awesome star fish but it was still alive so we had to leave it. The sunsets were absolutely amazing, I have never seen something so beautiful. And the boys worked very hard on knocking a coconut out of the tree, ripping of the soft outside shell, and then finally cracking the nut to get out coconut milk.

Then the rest of the pictures are just of different parts of Honduras that we loved! First picture is of a truck with approximately 30 men in it drive down the highway and 60 mph - very stupid!

The second picture is of the awesome small trucks that are just my size.

Our last night in Honduras we searched out a place to eat Baliadas. Tyler and Mindy ordered the Super Baliadas. Believe it or not, Tyler ate the whole thing. Baliadas are mainly torillas, beans and eggs. The second picture is of a LDS church, all the churches are gated like this for protection. The last picture is a typical home in Honduras with clothes on the line. If you look to the right of the yellow cloth you will see a house, a very small house that someone was in we saw them peek out at us. Could you even imagine?

That is the end of the pictures I will post. Once again, I will say it was a wonderful experience and I hope to one day visit Dave's mission area in Brazil. He said Honduras brought back a lot of memories. Someday, Honey, we will go.

Buenas!

We are safely back in Utah after traveling to Honduras with our wonderful friends Tyler and Mindy. We were there for 10 days and had an incredible experience. It definitely reminded us how blessed we are to live in this country and to have a home with air conditioning, electricity, toilets that flush, carpet, and so much more. Also, I had a wonderful time with my husband. It was so great to spend that much time with him. He is amazing, funny, and very adventurous. Thanks Honey for a great vacation!

Anyway, we really missed Taylor and are very glad to be back home. I will share more pictures later. I didn't get them all downloaded.



We went to some beautiful waterfalls at Pulapanzak where we walked through and under the waterfalls and to a cave, rode the zipline over the waterfall, and jumped off some small cliffs. In the first picture Tyler is jumping off a cliff in the second picture I am on the zipline over the waterfall.




In the first picture we are standing on the edge of the 180 meter waterfall, there are no safety percautions - Sketch!








This is Dave&Tyler practicing their torilla making skills that Hermana Gloria taught us. We had just gone to church that is why Dave&Tyler are in a shirt and tie in 110 degrees and 100% humidity. In the group picture notice how tall I look - I like the short Honduraians:)

This is at the Copan Mayan Ruins. Simply Amazing!

These pictures were from the first 4 days of our vacation. I will post the rest another day.

Thanksgiving Point

I purchased a season pass for Thanksgiving Point this year and Taylor and I have enjoyed it. The pass includes the Gardens, Children's Discovery Garden, the Farm, and the Dinosaur Museum. Each week we try to go at least once a week and we try to make sure to invite someone. We have had fun going with Stevie, Jake, Ali, Kristin, Kari, Will, Cody, Sarah, Isaac and Colin. If anyone wants to go give me a call, you can get 50% when you come along.

Taylor absolutely loves everything but especially the farm and the dinosaur museum. I hear lots of "WOW"s coming out of his mouth. When we go to the farm he never wants to leave the donkey or the goats.

Taylor's New Tricks

I haven't posted anything in awhile and I decided to write down a few new tricks Taylor has. He is growing up so quickly. A few new words are "No" and "Go." He loves to say "No" to the dogs and he always says "No" as he gets ready to get into trouble. I am glad he warns me. He just started saying "Go" and I don't think he understands the word, he just likes to say it.

He absolutely loves the firetruck Aunt Nikki passed down to him. He loves to push the music button, get a ride on the truck, and he loves to stand up on the seat of the firetruck(this is quite dangerous and has caused some injuries). He thinks he is pretty cool, being so tall when he stands up there and waves to me. It scares me to death.

On command he will show you his tongue which I get a kick out of because the tongue always comes out crocked and gives me a good laugh. He will also jump (or attempt to jump) when asked to. He bends his knees, gets ready, stands up, and then turns in circles. His feet never leave the ground. I don't know where he learned that turning in circles is part of jumping but it is funny. If you are lucky he will jump, turn circles and stick out his tongue all at once. That is a sight to see.

Today his new trick was to climb out of his crib and fall to the ground. This trick caused a goose egg, bruised cheek, and cut lip. I will have to post pictures. Luckily, the injuries were not too bad and he recovered quickly. (Dave is lowering the crib as I type)

Overall we love our little one year old and love watching him learn and experience the world he lives in.