Today T had his second surgery.  I hate these.  I hate giving my baby to an anesthesiologist and watching them walk away.  The wait feels so long, and I feel so bad for the little guy when he wakes up all disoriented and uncomfortable.  I hope that we are done.

T sticks the tip of his tongue out of his mouth all of the time, now.  It's pretty cute.

T has started to discover his hands.  At first, he would just sit and look at all of these toys, but now he loves these roller rings.  However, each time I start to take a picture, he wants to smile and talk rather than play with his hands.

Eric and I were able to take a helicopter tour of the grand canyon--thank you Mike!  It was our first time in a helicopter.  Once you are high up in the air, it is not too weird, but it is very strange to hover a few feet of the ground and move around.We landed on this little plateau spot, down in the canyon and had lunch.  It was incredible to be able to see the Grand Canyon from up and the rim height, drop down and have lunch near the river with the opposite view of the canyon, and then minutes later be back at rim height.


We were the last flight in that day.  At the end of lunch, it became overcast very quickly, the pilots rushed us to the helicopter, and we rushed out of there.

This is getting ready for Jake to come home from the Dominican  Republic.  The nephews and nieces made signs, and everyone decorated it with hand and foot prints.

We were waiting at the bottom of the escalator to baggage claim.  Garrett was so excited all night.  He kept asking if he could be the one to show or tell Jake things, such as "Can I show Tyler to Jake?"  Then, as he squatted down and watched up the escalator, he was almost shaking he was so excited for Jake to come home.  

Jake--it's good to have you home!

This trip to see our families was full of firsts

--FIRST COUSIN PICTURE--

--FIRST CAMPING TRIP--

FIRST SMALL PLANE FLIGHT

(My Brother-in-law flew up to Modesto and flew us to see my family--thank you to Heather for marrying a pilot!)

FIRST TIME TO ACCIDENTALLY SHOW UP WEARING THE SAME OUTFIT 

AS SOMEONE ELSE

This is a fun picture that Eric got of Tyler in his blessing outfit!We tried to get a picture of the three boys with Grandma, it was hard to get all three to cooperate at once.  
While the cousins were together, I tried out some fun shots with our new camera.  My favorite pictures caught Garrett crunched up midair and Wyatt with his arms and legs out in the air, and the Capri Sun flying up but still hanging in his mouth by the straw.

These are a few pictures from the day that Tyler was blessed.  Except for my brothers, we were able to have all of our family there!

I traveled with my family to Modesto for Tyler's blessing.  We drove up through Nevada and came through Yosemite on the way.  It was stunning--Majestic is a good word for it.

Eric's cousins Sarah and Melissa gave us this towel.  It makes me laugh out loud each time that I use it.  It's more like a costume than just a towel. 
Jenn came to visit us.  It was great to have a visitor who was completely happy to just hang out on our couch and hold the baby.

On our way back from South Carolina for Tyler's surgery, we stopped to see my good friend, Angela.  This picture is from the beach on the 4th of July.  In South Carolina, fireworks are legal--BIG fireworks.  So, all along the beach, people were setting off big fireworks like this one below.  Thank you South Carolina! 

In exactly one month, each of us had surgery. Eric had another surgery earlier in the year.  My sister asked if we had worked out some deal where every third surgery is free or something.  This is Tyler in the littlest hospital gown they have.  It had not even crossed our minds that we would have to change him into a hospital gown.  Heidi described it perfectly when she asked--"Was is a little bit cute and a little bit sad all at once?"   We are so glad that Tyler is finished with his surgery.

Eric's parents came to visit us in Virginia.  The day before they left, we took Tyler on his first hike to see Great Falls.  Eric's dad is great at getting babies to fall asleep.

This is Tyler's first bath--it was a two man job in the beginning. One to wash and one to hold the pacifier.  You can see from the second picture how much he enjoyed it.  The last picture is my Mom's last night.  We were so sad to have her leave.

On the way home from the hospital, my parents stopped to get us some groceries.  As they came out, there was a beautiful sunset.  My Mom told my Dad to stand still while she got a picture of him and the sunset.  So, here is a group of pictures of him holding still for her.

My Mom had come to stay for a few weeks to help out, and my Dad came for a few days to see the baby.  "See" being the key word.  He held the baby just about long enough for us to take this picture, and that was enough.  He prefers to leave the holding tiny babies to their mothers.  He starts holding them when they are a little more sturdy.