This is the last day of our trip. We took a ferry from Cape May, New Jersey to Delaware on the way home. I wish all of our car trips could involve a ferry. It is so nice to wander around a boat and sit on the deck rather than to sit for another hour in the car.
In upstate New York, we visited the Peter Whitmer farm, where the church was organized;
the hill Cumorah;
the Sacred Grove; and
the Joseph Smith farm. We were there the week after the Cumorah pageant, so it was very quiet. We got the chance to really enjoy each of the sites, and we would run into the same couple of families. One was a interesting couple from Elimaki Finland and their four little kids. We also met a man bicycling across the country. He was biking and his family was following in an RV. They started at the beginning of the summer at the shore in Washington state and were headed to Maine.
This is a picture of the landscaping in Canada. This is a town called Niagra on the Lake that is down the river from Niagra Falls on Lake Ontario. I couldn't get over how nice it was everywhere that we went in Canada.

We took a trip to see a few sights in the East that we have always meant to visit. This is our hotel at Niagra Falls. It had a great view, and the window was big enough that T could walk up to it and look out.
This is our trip on the Maid of the Mist. T was not such a big fan.

This is T loving his first swim this summer. He has absolutely hated swimming for most of the summer, tolerated it a few times, and one golden day last week, he finally liked it.

This was a party for our co-teacher that moved back to Utah. One of the games involved silly string. The game quickly became everyone get Eric. T is perched on his favorite spot.
We have a few restaurants and an ice cream shop in our neighborhood within walking distance. T loves sitting on his Dad's shoulders. As soon as he gets up there, he starts a happy bounce and throws his hands in the air. Then he grabs some handles of hair and gets ready for the ride.

Birthday! Jenn gave me a cake pan that makes antique car cakes that we made and decorated. He was a big fan of destroying the cake and of ice cream.


This is one of my favorite pictures. He is so sweet when he is asleep.

I haven't posted anything in a long, long time. Back in May, I went home for a triathlon. It was tough. It was also a gorgeous day, and I had the cutest cheering section.

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.