Guess Who's Two

It's crazy to think that Liam turned two years old today. It seems like he was born yesterday and then Kennedy followed right behind. Now look at them. A couple of wild kids running around and having fun together. It's been neat to see the two of them interact with one another and learn how to get along. I think they're going to be close friends if they don't end up killing each other over a ball or chair. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Liam certainly has been a fireball in our family since he came along. He is always willing to run in and try something new. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's not so good. It's wonderful to hear his little infectious laugh and see that broad grin. Liam is a family favorite and it's a blast having him around. Happy Birthday Liam, we sure love you!

Minor Adjustments

We're now 6 days into life with two kids at home. So far the adjustments have been pretty minor. Alex mostly sleeps all day, unless Kennedy wants to tell him something. So far she thinks that Alex is a big boy and that he wants to play with all of her toys. A couple of days ago Kennedy decided she would share a few toys with her brother. It's nice to see that she wants to involve him in her life. We're not sure how long it's all going to last. I can already tell that's she suffering from the "What About Me?" syndrome.

Alex is getting used to bath time in the sink. It's been an adventure to figure out how long it will take him to pee in his bath. To this point, it usually takes about 30 seconds before we see the golden waterfall. That is certainly an adjustment from having a girl. No need to wear a poncho at change time.

So things are starting to get into a routine around our home. It will be interesting to see how life changes when I go back to work this week. If Sunday and church is any indication, we're going to be late a lot. Oh well, that's life with two kids.

Camping with Chappo

It seems like every August we go camping up to West Fork of Black's Fork up in the Uinta mountains. Some years it's been fantastic (04'), other years we've had rain (03') and baby puke (05'). This year we didn't know what to expect, since we wouldn't have Tara coming along. Naturally she stayed home to be with Alex. This would be my first Daddy/Daughter trip with Kennedy. On the whole things went pretty well.

Kennedy really liked picking up rocks and twigs and throwing them in the river. Even though I tried to keep her away from anything bad, I can't say I'm totally sure what she was throwing in this picture. Let's just say no harm done and we were quick to wash our hands.

A good portion of our trip involved the ultimate camping competition: horseshoes. I know it sounds quite red neck of me, but it's really fun to "pitch some shoes" when you're up in the mountains. Since this trip was in honor of Chappo coming out to Utah I gave him every opportunity to beat me in 4 separate contests. Unfortunately for him, the end result was always the same and I came away undefeated in Singles competition. Jason and Chappo did sneak away with a Doubles win, but that may have been due to my partner... just kidding Dad!

We spent quite a bit of time driving the XTerra up many of the 4 x 4 trails in the area. Naturally geocaching was on the agenda, but it was also fun to hit a bunch of old cabins and the cool drink (so far there's been no "revenge of the cool drink" to speak of).

Other memorable moments from the trip:

1. Kennedy's 2 am wakeup call for Mommy


2. Coleton warming his bum by the fire


3. Jason's Mango Cobbler in the dutch oven


4. Big Al and his 10 ft run to the hills


5. Mountain Man Hash - pretty tasty!


6. Fording the river in the XTerra!


7. Two new caches - To Grandmother's House We Go and Home Sweet Home

All in all it was a great trip. Too bad it was only a couple of days, but we made the most of our time in the mountains. Even Kennedy had fun, in spite of the fact that Mommy was at home.

Introducing Alex

Well, today we were able to bring Alexander home with us. There's still a long road ahead, but we are so happy to have him with us. You can only imagine how many different visitors we had today to welcome Alex and wish us well. So far Kennedy is intrigued with the idea of having a baby around. We'll have to wait and see what she has to say when she realizes that Alex isn't going anywhere. Since Alexander has slept most of the afternoon, it will be interesting to see if we get any sleep tonight. What's the line in Vegas: 4 hours - over or under?!

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Oh My Hail!

Utah is certainly an interesting place to live. This has been one of the hottest summers in recent memory, and yesterday we had the worst hail storm since the 80's. About 3 o'clock yesterday it started raining and before you knew it.....