Birthday Weekend

What a great birthday I had this year. We had lots of fun. Last night, Ty and I got all fixed up and went on a date. We went to the mall, ate at Mimi's, and got Blizzards at DQ. What a perfect day!

Today, we had a big dinner of meatloaf, potatoes, salad, squash, rolls and homemade pumpkin pie! Unfortunately, Jack is really sick with an ear infection, so he wasn't much for the party, but we still had a great time. Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes!

In just 15 years...

...this little guy will be driving! I guess you could say he's getting a head start on learning how. Jack LOVES standing up to the wheel of our truck. He thinks he's so cool. He touches the radio occasionally, but mostly he keeps his eyes forward with his hands on 10 and 2. I guess he watches his mom a lot! I just had to post some pictures of it.

Sleeping Beauty

One thing I love most about Jack is the way he sleeps. It's so precious. I could just watch him sleep for hours. He loves to wedge his head in the corner. Then, he wads up his blanket under his tummy. Last, he hikes his bum up in the air.

Seeing him in his crib reminds me of how big he is getting. It wasn't that long ago that he had tons of room around him. Now, I commonly find him with a leg through the slats orsprawled out width-wise and touching either end. Sniff, sniff...

Oak Creek Canyon

We just got back from a fun weekend in Oak Creek Canyon, near Sedona. We met Ty's parents there and got to camp with them in their awesome new trailer. Other than having a grumpy, teething child that kept us all up at night, it was perfect! The weather was gorgeous and we got to see all the beautiful fall colors that Phoenix seems to lack. Here are some pictures of the fun we had:

Ty got a few artsy shots, too:

The birthday girls (Lois on the 20th and me on the 25th):

Jack making faces in the screen door:

A yummy breakfast in the warm trailer!

My handy husband

What a lucky woman I am! Ty has devoted his whole day to being my very own Mr. Fix-It. He started by replacing the kitchen faucet. The old one broke last night, so we found one on clearance at Lowe's. Ty figured out how to uninstall the old one and install this beautiful new one all on his own.

Next, Ty replaced our dishwasher! Our old one just wasn't working that great. Sam and Jennie are updating their kitchen and offered up their old dishwasher. Sam helped Ty out a bunch with this one. It's definitely an upgrade for us. I love it!

Then, Ty offered to clean all the floors. He vacuumed and mopped. Notice what a good job he did.

Some other wonderful things Ty did that I don't have pictures to document are: clean the pool, fix a shingle on the roof, install some garage cabinets, hang curtains, and weed the front yard. What a talented man. The last thing Ty had to do tonight was put a box in the attic for me. After that, everything was going to be checked off the list. He got started while I was finishing dinner in the kitchen with Jack. All of a sudden, I heard a really loud CRASH and Ty started screaming, "Bec! Bec! Come help me!" Turns out, this is what happens to the ceiling when your foot goes through it:

Needless to say, after the CRASH there was insulation everywhere and a very banged up husband stuck in the attic. After he got himself down and swept up the mess on the floor, he decided to fix his little hole in the ceiling. Don't worry--he did a pretty good job of patching it up. I don't think anyone will even notice.

Band-aids

Jack got an "owie" on his toe, so I had to pull out the Band-aid tin and Neosporin and "make it all better." I forgot to put the Band-aids away, and I left Jack in the room to go put some laundry away. When I got back, I found that he had figured out how to open the tin and was having a BLAST playing with all the little bandages. After I took these pictures, I left him to play and he was entertained for probably 10-12 minutes. No joke. I think I know what Santa is getting Jack for Christmas...

Lake Powell

We just got back from a very fun-filled, relaxing vacation at Lake Powell. We stayed on a houseboat with all of Ty's family (minus Cody's family) for 3 days. We had a similar trip last year, but I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, so it was a lot more fun this time! Basically, all we did was eat, swim, play, and eat some more. Here are a bunch of pictures from the trip:

Daddy spoiling Jack with some soda!



Lemon chicken night!


Playing on the beach



Ty wakeboarding


Chillin' on the boat

Hiking


Playing on jet skis (Story: this was the first time in my life on one. First, we took Jack with us, so Ty drove nice and slow. Then Jack got off and let's just say I have never screamed so much in my whole life. Ty maxed out at 57 mph and didn't hold back on his crazy driving skills. After the 360, I told him he needed to take me back to the boat! The next day, I finally warmed up to them and rode one all by myself. I got brave enough to go about 45 mph, but that's about it. They are a blast!)




Ty learning to wakesurf





Granna and baby Jack
Auntie and baby Jack