Mammoth Getaway...

WARNING: UNUSUALLY LONG POST FOR LYNSEY,
BUT IT'S A GOOD STORY

This past weekend we went to Mammoth with Ryan, Beth, Brandon, Lisa and the kids, Sara, Jake and the kids, and Meredith and Andrew. We had such a great time minus the cold, sleepless nights with a baby that only wanted to eat every half hour and a nighttime visit from a bear, other than that it was great!!! No really we had a lot of fun and lots of stories to blog about. While we were there the camp hosts told us that the bears are out in full swing trying to store up fat for the winter so we needed to be extra careful for bears and keep all our food locked up. So we did. We were very cautious and did not want to come in contact with any bears. Everything was fine until the last night. All was quiet at our camp until around 2:00 AM I am suddenly woken up to clawing, scratching and banging on our bear box. I definitely knew it was a bear. Meanwhile Chris wakes up and we are both thinking the same thing, "A bear is 10 feet from our tent. And he is hungry." At this same time, my finally peacefully sleeping child (because I got smart and put a beanie on him to bed this time)wakes up and begins to cry. As fast as I can, I begin to feed him, but I am so worried that the bear will decide that breast milk smells pretty good too. My head and heart are going a mile a minute. After about 4 minutes of banging on our bear box, he gets it open. Instead of getting upset about the mess we will be left, I am thankful he gets what he wants. Andrew and Brandon get out of the tent and scare the bear away (Brandon will have a different story for you). Thankfully the bear only grabbed one bag of food and ran behind a rock to eat it. Our bear encounter was not as fun as everyone else thought, but I'm glad it ended the way it did. And come to find out the next morning around the campfire, someone (no names mentioned) thought it would be funny to leave some food out for the bear. They are lucky I didn't turn "Momma Bear" on them myself!!! Also Meredith and Andrew were woken up to the bear first sniffing around Andrew's head, I would have died! Anyway, I didn't get any pictures of bears, I think Ryan and Beth got some of the Momma and baby cub we saw the next morning check out their blog (sorry Beth you gotta post it now). Of course I did get some of my little happy campers though.



Beautiful Kate loved to play in the dirt!

Daddy's little fishing buddy!

Kate and Ellie learned about bear safety, aren't they darling!

Enjoying our morning campfire

My two favorite boys, don't they look like twins here?

Slow down...

I can't believe how fast kids grow... I always heard that you should savor every moment with your child because they grow so fast, but I didn't really know it until now. I had gotten these cute Spider Man PJ's from some friends(thanks Sanders) and hadn't put him in them because they said 12 months (and Zach is only 7), but I loved them so much and wanted to try them out. When I put them on him they fit perfectly :( and will only get a few more weeks out of them. When I saw Zach in them I thought..."What a big boy!! He doesn't even look like a baby anymore." This little fella has gotta slow down...

ANGEL'S GAME

Last Friday we went to our first Angel game with Zach. He was such a trooper, and stayed up to watch the firework show; his first ones (since he fell asleep on the fourth of July). He wasn't scared at all. He just watched with big eyes. It is so much fun experiencing things with him for the first time, this is why I love being a parent!!! Thanks grandma for the cute Angel's outfit!!

It was good while it lasted...

The glorious days of "MA MA MA MA" are long gone and have been replaced with growls and tongue rolls. Since Zach discovered his new talent he has not said MA MA once. This video is all Zach. I am not doing any of it. Notice how he doesn't even move his lips. It cracks me up every time.

6 Months...

ZACH is officially 6 months old (on July 25th).

Update on Zach:

Sitting up all by himself
Eating Vegetables (yum)
Big boy poops (yuck)
Talking (see video)
Rolling over (both ways)
Trying to crawl

I can't believe we have had him in our lives for 1/2 a year now. Time has absolutely flown by. Chris and I feel so blessed to be the parents of this sweet, sweet child. And I mean sweet. Do you know what he says now? Just listen to this video and you'll see what I mean. He started the day we left for the River (July 30) and has not stopped ever since, every time he talks this is what comes out. My heart just melts...





All my practice has paid off, usually they say DA DA first...

River Olympics 2008

Zach was able to attend the Annual River Olympics this year. For those of you unfamiliar with the River Olympics, I'll explain...
Our friends (the Hokes') have a house along the Colorado River. Several years ago some of the guys thought it would be fun to make up events and complete at the river. The first one was so much fun that they wanted to do it the next year and the next and the next...Thus evolved the RIVER OLYMPICS. Each guy competing is required to bring a date (wife, girlfriend or whoever gets suckered in that year, I remember my first year). At the River Olympics they compete in "events" for two days. The events include: ping pong, horse shoes, wake boarding, resistance pull, obstacle course, pac-man... and others I can't remember. There are an opening and closing ceremonies and prizes for the top three winners.It is absolutely hilarious watching the guys try to be the River Olympics Champ. The winner gets their name on a plaque that goes on a single water ski and bragging rights for the whole next year (yeah Scott), the whole thing is pretty Uncle Rico if you ask me. All the guys are reliving their glory days as football stars or whatever they were in High School. There is never a dull moment and you can definitely count on some controversy over who started off wrong or who cheated. The wives are wondering if this will continue to go on when the guys are 40+. Can you just see it now, 8 bald old farts trying to see who can do a flip on a wake board? No, I'm sure the events will have to change to shuffle board or chess. Anyway, children are not really allowed, unless they are nursing or under one year. So Zach was able to go, and he got to experience his first boat ride. I love the pictures of him in his little life jacket. I think we put it on wrong at first, we finally got the hang of it. He did not complain, though he looks absolutely uncomfortable. What a little butterball!!!

I'm in love...

with this little man... (Thanks Bro for the pictures)!!!

Silly you

My hubby loves to make silly faces when we take pictures together,so I thought I would crop me out and let you see his silliness. I love this man!!! (my brother took the photo, thanks Darrick)

Zach's First Hair Style...

I was having so much fun playing with Zach's hair. He finally has enough to where I can do something with it. After I did it he started modeling for me, these are his various poses and faces. My favorite is the pirate look with the finger in his mouth, "Arrr, matey!!!"

What a face!

Look at those cheeks, don't you just want to kiss 'em? Well I get to everyday, probably 100 times a day. What a lucky mom am I!!!