A visit with Grandma and Grandpa

Dave's parents came down for a quick visit over the weekend for the BYU/ASU basketball shootout and of course to spoil Taten just a little. Here is a picture of Taten on his new ride. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for hours of entertainment.

Afraid of Santa!

Taten's afraid of Santa. We tried 3 different times to get Taten to sit with Santa. Once at the mall-luckily there was no line. Twice at the Ward Christmas party, and Thrice at Zoo lights. How sad is that little face.

Zoo Lights

We went and saw the Zoo Lights last week with our friends the Smiths. Taten loves hanging out with Aden. We got all bundled up thinking we would be freezing but it was actually quite nice. We attempted to have the boys sit on Santa's lap but Taten cried with all of his might, Dave didn't have the heart to snap a picture.

The best part of zoo lights was the light show set to music and of course the carousel.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Taten was an alligator for Halloween. Dave made it home from work in time to take Taten for some trick or treating.

Taten loved following the other kids around but wanted to stop and eat every piece of candy that he received.

Weekend Fun-Schnepf Farms

Saturday we enjoyed an evening of fun at Schnepf Farms, Pumpkin Party. Here are a few pictures. . .While it was still light we took a hay ride through the peach orchard and over to the celebrity corn maze.
Taten was so excited to run free. He has a mind of his own and did not want to be held under any circumstances, he did not even want us to hold his hand. When we finally came to an open area, Taten exclaimed "Wow! wow!" We had a hard time getting him to move on.

Here Dave is helping Taten to use caution at the petting zoo. I think he was afraid that Taten would pull the goats hair or something. Taten really liked petting the goats. I am not sure he knows the difference between goats and dogs because he kept "woo, wooing"
Riding the carousel was the favorite event. Taten appeared a little nervous and held on for dear life, his little knuckles were white. When the ride stopped after a few minutes, Taten let us know with a high pitched streak the he did not want to get off. He held on just as tightly the second time around. Sunday night when we looked at the pictures and viewed the short video clips of the carousel ride Taten just giggled and giggled. He really was having fun.
We had a "monster of a time" at Schnepf Farms. Taten climbed a stack of hay bales, we went on a spooky train ride and cheered for our favorite "pig" during the pig race. Suet!!!.

Hair Tape? But I think his ears are cute.

We stopped at Wal Mart in Page on the way to Utah to change diapers and get out some wiggles. A lady made a comment to me that I needed to put hair tape on Taten's ears so they wouldn't stick out when he grew up. I replied "yeah his ears do stick out don't they, but I think he's so cute" as I walked out of the store I thought to myself will Taten hate me when he grows up because his ears stick out? I love Taten's ears.

Witch Hunt at Gardner Village

Were going on a witch hunt... In the past I have been slightly jealous of family and friends in Utah because they got to go to Gardner Villages witch hunt and I really wanted to go. Well this year we went and hunted really scary witches.
As you can see Taten is terrified.

Please notice the witch hanging upside down.

Buddies

The best part of our trip home was seeing Taten interact with his cousins and grandparents. Here is Taten with Austin. Austin is 6 weeks younger than Taten and he is talking up a storm. When we left their house I heard Austin call out bye Taten.

Burr its cold!

Yes that is snow. We made a quick trip to Utah over the weekend. Wow, was it cold. We woke up Sunday morning to a ground covered with snow. Although most of it melted before we got home from church and actually took the picture.

My friend had a graduation reunion to go to and needed help getting there with her two little kids. I volunteered to the 12 hour drive turned 16 hour drive.

It was really fun to see our family and do a little shopping. Thanks to Dave and face book, I also was able to get together with a few friends from high school whom I haven't seen in years. It was fun to catch up and reminisce.

"Ahhh! Taten! How did you get that?"

First of all, can I just say, I love being a mom. Most of the time I am laughing. The Phantom of the Opera was on TV today and I got a little carried away in the music. When I went to find Taten, I found him sitting on the couch digging into the Vaseline, his face was covered. Once again, I can thank blogging for helping me to be patient because instead of thinking "what have you done!!!!" I think "this would be great to put on my blog"

Does he play social games like peek a boo?

At Taten's 15 month appointment the Doctor asked if Taten was talking. I replied "no...well he says ball" (thanks to Lacey). The doctor said it would be a good idea to make a referral to Early Intervention (which of course I was familar with because of my previous job with the Division of Developmental Disabilities)



This week the speech therapist came to our house to evaluate Taten.

"What words other than mom and dad is Taten saying."

"Taten does not say mom or dad specifically, he says ball"

"Is he playing social games like peek a boo?"

"Yes, he's been doing that since he was 6 months of age"



Taten continued to perform while the speech therapist was here. He said woo woo when looking at a picture of a cat. (Taten loves dogs and woo woo is his way of barking) He followed all directions given to him, "can you stack the blocks" "throw the ball". He babbled the whole time he was being evaluated. . . even repeating the sound a horse makes and saying what sounded like"what is that?" He signs more and milk and obviously says "boo" and today I heard him say "wow" when dropping my keys in the sink.

A talented friend.

After women's conference on Saturday a quick trip was made to Michael's. Where I found Asure searching for stickers to do another cute craft for visiting teaching. (or so I thought) I asked "what are you making". She replied "cookie jars", "oh for the girls you visit teach?",(secretly wishing she was my VT so I could have her cute handouts) "yes" she lied. Then surprised me on Sunday with this cute Thank you gift. (to thank Taten for sharing his snacks with Aden)If Asure can not be my visiting teacher I am sure glad she is my friend. On Tuesday Asure showed up with this cute hand out. She made them for the girls she VT and made me one too. (I had to open my fat mouth) Thanks Asure for thinking of me. The theme for the month was Eternal Potential. The box is filled with Gold Mine bubble gum and gold(chocolate coins). I wish I was so creative. *note to Sarah, I love that you are my VT

Fun at the water park!

I love spending the day with my little GUY. Today we walked around the outdoor mall, It was a pretty warm day so I let Taten play on the splash pad, he loves playing with the other little kids and follows them around to each fountain as they shoot from the ground. One little boy was pretty excited and came running toward Taten, he was a good head taller than Taten and I don't think he saw him. Taten was hit hard enough that he turned a complete circle before landing flat on his face, then there was blood. I gave Taten some ice to suck on and this soothed much of his pain. I just hope he didn't bump his teeth loose again. When Taten was 9 months old he fell and hit his teeth, the dentist threatened pulling them if they did not firm up. I couldn't imagine Taten without his cute little smile.

Cougar! The next Generation.

Its foot ball season and I have become a single wife. Dave loves! loves! BYU Football. So much that we had to get Direct TV. When the techs came out to install it they explained they would need to drill a hole in the exterior wall and run a cable along my floor board. In my bed room the cable goes up over my door. Talk about very tacky and a dangerous temptation for Taten.

I asked Dave if he was sure we needed to have Direct. He replied "We HAVE to". So $80 a month and a 2 year contract later. . . So far only 2 of the 5 BYU games has even been on the Mountain and I have 2 years to enjoy the cable over my bedroom door.

An average football game is only 3 hours long, but for Dave it is an all day event. There is the pre game and post game shows, not to mention cougar board until 1:00 AM. Most Saturdays when I walk into our room I find Dave listening to KSL, reading cougar board and watching a game on TV, (the ultimate multitask er)

Dave is getting Taten in the action too. He brought Taten home a football and plays ball with Taten almost everyday. Taten likes to go in our closet and try on Dave's hats on a regular basis too. Dave is sure we have a future Cougar star on our hands. Rise and shout the Cougars are out!

My Little Climber!

Like father like son. Taten is a climber just like his dad. Before we had kids I dreamt of having a little Dave. I fell in love with the idea when I saw pictures of Dave's childhood, one in particular that I remember Dave is sitting in the sink brushing his teeth, he couldn't be more than 10 months old. Dave's mom said she just found him there.
Taten loves to climb, I dread the day he learns to climb up the drawers, but as you can see he has no problem crawling up the back of his stroller. This he does almost every day.

Doggy Poo and Toilet Paper Stew

My sad attempt at being creative. Cookies that look like Doggy poo. A couple of weeks ago I signed up to bring cookies to our ward activity. FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT (which by the way was a lot of fun) I figured everyone would be making chocolate chip cookies and I wanted to do something different. And this is what I came up with. While I was baking my cookies Taten was happily playing in the cupboards with the pots and pans, he found something useful and then wandered off. A few minutes later I found him in my bathroom making a little concoction of his own. He had unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper and was stirring it in the toilet with the BBQ Spatula. I wish I would have taken a picture but I was in to big of a hurry to shew Taten out of my room.

Taten is all grown up now, and I'm not ready.

This is where I found Taten today. He was sitting at the computer and acting like he knew exactly what he was doing. He logged on to the Internet and opened several other windows. I shouldn't really be surprised because Taten loves to sit on Dave's lap while he reads Cougar Board and watches game highlights. And man o' man was Taten mad when I took him away from the computer. Yesterday Taten was a baby and today he is a little boy. We were folding the laundry today and he took his pajama bottoms and tried to put them on. He succeeded in getting one leg through and then pulled them up, I thought to my self, "No I'm not ready for you not to be a baby".

At Chick Fillet the other day he was dipping his own fries and chicken nuggets. Fries in ketchup and chicken in ranch. Smart little kid. I have also been taking Taten to the nursery for the last couple of weeks, its a lot better than sitting in the hall, and our awesome nursery leaders don't mind. Taten joins right in with the other kids playing and sits up to the table for snack time. Next thing I know he'll be going to preschool and then kindergarten. Like I said I'm not ready for him to grow up just yet.

It doesn't feel like its been 8 years.

My mom liked Dave the second he walked through the door despite him being late for our first date. My mom liked critiquing the boys I dated. "Oh Bonnie I don't know about him..his eyes are to close together" But with Dave she said "Oh Bonnie, he's really cute!"

It doesn't feel like 8 years to me, yet It's almost like I don't remember my life without Dave in it. I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about Dave and I.

I am not very good at coming up with my own ideas (sad but true) but I am pretty good at copying other people's ideas.


1. What is his name? David

2. How long have you been married? 8 blissful years.

3. How long did you date? just over a year.

4. Who eats more sweets? tough call, we both love them.

5. Who said I love you first? Dave did. We had been dating for only 3 months it was October, I was attending the University of Utah and he was at Brigham Young University. I had gone down to visit him during the week it was a Tuesday, he was hugging me in the hall way of his apartment (at Ricks that would have been past the chastity line). When he whispered I love you Bonnie. When I got home from our first date, I told my dad that I was going to marry Dave, but I wasn't ready to tell Dave I loved him yet.

6. Who is taller? Dave, but its a good thing that I don't like to wear heels.

7. Who can sing better? I really don't think either of us has that talent, but truth be told the only time either of us sing is in church, or quietly to Taten when we think no one else can hear.

8.Who is smarter? Dave, hands down.

9. Who does the laundry? Me of course, but Dave knows how, he had to do it for the 9 months I was pregnant with Taten.

10. Who pays the bills? Dave did when we first got married, but he works about 60 plus hours a week so I do.

11. Who mows the lawn? Dave

12. Who cooks dinner? Me

13. Who drives? Dave

14. Who is more stubborn? Its hard to say... but luckily we are stubborn about different things. So we get along great.

15. Who kissed who first? Dave waisted no time at all, he kissed me on our first date. I gave him a hug at the door but he held on and pulled me in for a kiss, I pulled away but then thought what the heck and gave in. I think we must have kissed for about 10 minutes(yes on the first date). Truth be told I liked that he was a little aggressive and showed that he really liked me.

16. Who asked who out first? Dave asked me, but I didn't make it easy. We met at our high school reunion, if you don't know that story you'll have to ask me some time. Under the circumstances I didn't think he'd call. As he tells it, neither did he. It took him about 2 weeks but he did call, I told him I was busy and to call me back in a week, which he did and I wasn't home (poor guy). Does any one wonder how we ever got together?

17. Who proposed? We really just decided to get married, but he did if you count putting a business card with the words "will you marry me" on my windshield while I was at work.

18. Who has more siblings? Me. I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters. Dave has 1 brother and 4 sisters.

19. Who wears the pants? during our best times. . . neither of us do.

Dave is my soul mate. He seems to always know what I need to hear. We were talking on the way home from church yesterday about how hard it must be to be a single member in our church when every lesson seems to be about family. It struck me (not for the first time) when I was sitting in Relief Society and they asked for someone to substitute in the nursery. I quickly raised my hand without even thinking about it. A nursery calling would be the best calling in the ward I think- at least now that I have a little one. But before Taten it would have been like pouring salt in an open wound. "Its not like you can get married just to be married. Its hard enough being married when you are compatible with someone". That's when Dave looked at me quizzically? "Except of course for us "I said, "we are rarely out of sorts with each other". Dave replied "that is because I am so patient" I laughed and agreed "Yes you are and I am a good wife too, I could complain all the time that you are never home but I don't" . I continued. . "I mean I know I am not a 10 or anything but. . ." Dave laughed "but 9.9 isn't bad". That is why I love Dave so much, because he loves me. Like I said 8 years of bliss and looking forward to forever more.

Red Rock Paradise

We've been home from Lake Powell for a week now and it has taken me this long to get my land legs back. We love our annual trip to Lake Powell with Dave's family. Dave looks forward to it all year and said this was the best year for him so far, despite the fact that his family's speed boat lost its transmission on day 1. Lake Powell is never complete with out a few challenges. We arrived at Lake Powell on Saturday, loaded up the house boat and headed out to find the perfect camping spot. Dave's parents would be arriving the next day with his sister and her family. And Dave and his brother would take the speed boat back to pick them up. Early Sunday morning came with the bad news that the speed boat would not go in neutral or reverse. Oh no! Lake Powell with out a speed boat? Upon Grandpa's arrival he shifted into crisis aversion mode, he made a couple calls and then he and Grandma hopped back in the truck and took the speed boat back to Salt Lake to see if they could get it fixed. Thanks to family our trip was still a success. Dave's cousin came down the same day with his new boat and when Grandpa's boat wouldn't be fixed as soon as we would have liked he called Uncle Jay and we had a boat for the rest of our trip. Thanks Debbie and Loel and Uncle Jay! We really had so much fun. Here is a few more pictures so you can see just how much fun we had. Taten's favorite thing was definitely the wave runner. I was really nervous at first for Dave to take Taten, but Dave said he would go slow and stay close by. When Dave tried to give Taten back to me after a few minutes, Wow! did Taten throw a fit. He did not want to get off. Needless to say Taten had a ride on the wave runners every day.

Taten did not however enjoy his tube ride. We tried to get him to sit in the middle of the tube but he just kept climbing up on me and didn't stop crying. So Dave and I enjoyed a short ride ourselves but it turns out that Dave didn't like the tube much either. But my sister-in-law Aubrey hopped on with me and we had a blast!!! Now that the water level is back up at Lake Powell we were able to go see some really cool ruins. The Moiki steps. It was only a short hike, but I don't think I would like as many steps going up to my front door. Here is a picture of us in side and then one of some of Dave's family looking out from below. It was a really fun to see these ruins and learn about the people who lived there.

Breaking Dawn came out August 2nd the first day of our trip . Dave and I planned on leaving our house at 5:00 AM in order to get to Lake Powell at the same time as his family. But I needed Breaking Dawn, I had been waiting all year to read it. As you can see from the picture, I wasn't the only one who hit Barnes and Noble at midnight.

and a Few of Taten's favorite things...

Taten loves his Grandpa. I think its because Grandpa loves to dance with him.

Taten loves his mom too, I almost couldn't be out of his sight for the whole trip.

He also enjoyed making sugar cookies with his aunt Emily and cousin Avery.

Eating suckers with his cousins.

and He loved the Taten sized chairs. Which he climbed in and out of about 900 times during the trip. As you can see he looks right at home.

McKenna's Grave

A trip to Utah is never complete with out a stop at McKenna's grave. We think of her often and try to imagine what she would be like today. We have faith that there will be a day when our family can be together forever.

Discovery Kids Museum at Gateway

Taten had a lot of fun at the kid's museum with his cousins. When you first enter the museum there is this ball world with all sorts of places to put balls. Here Taten is playing with his cousin Austin.
Here Taten is playing with his cousin's Carson and Jacob on musical surf boards.
Driving cars in "grown up world" the kids could go grocery shopping, farming, and mining. This is a water works system where the kids can watch the flow of water by putting balls into the pipes. Taten had a great time playing with his cousins.

On a side note-Hailee's room

I just had to post a picture of my nieces room, my sister painted the walls. Isn't it so cute. There is a purple curtain with butterflies over the closet and a chalkboard on the right wall. ( Can you see Taten on Hailee's lap? She did such a good job watching Taten all night while I scrap booked.)