Christmas at Grandpa & Grandma Price

 

T'was the Night Before Christmas, and Daddy Was Opening Boxes

                                                                                   First thing Chesney noticed were all these funny boxes that kept arriving day after day.  She and Oakley investigated, but couldn't understand why mommy and daddy kept putting them away and not opening them.  Then one night, daddy carried them all down the stairs and piled them high.  Chesney and daddy with help from the Oak, opening them up one by one.  They were filled with these popcorn things you could chew on, well, until daddy took them away so baby just grabbed another.  Inside there were colorful boxes and long pretty ribbons.  Santa came and left so many presents we couldn't fit them under the tree.  What a fun day. Thank you to all the Santas, this was the best Christmas ever!!

Chesney's 1st Santa Visit

Santa Claus came to visit all the boys and girls at the Train Restaurant a few weeks before Christmas.  We were lucky to get to visit him and sit on his lap.  Chesney wasn't scared of the bearded man, probably because she was sound to sleep a few minutes before (miraculously there was no line when we arrived).  Santa said she was the only one her age who didn't cry, although she wasn't willing to crack a smile for the camera.  Merry Christmas, Santa.  Chesney has been practicing saying your name (tan tah).  Be ready, next year I bet you'll get an ear full.

Lady Bug's First Birthday Party

 Look who all came to celebrate Chesney's 1st birthday.  Oh what an exciting milestone...eating your first cake, opening wonderful presents, and everyone taking lots of pictures to remember the baby girl's big day.  Who said sugar before bed was a bad thing, she was out like a light before the festivities even ended. Having a birthday around Turkey Day is quite a blessing.

Thanksgiving Celebration with Loved Ones

 

Thanksgiving was a celebration of loved ones.  Grandma Brenda invited us all over for an amazing and delicious meal.  Lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, mommies, daddies, brothers, sisters, and grandparents galore where all together for a special occasion.  What fun we all had, eating and laughing, and watching the new babies explore and play together.  We can't wait to spend time like this again, thanks everyone for traveling near and far.

Sunday Bug

When it's Sunday and you have the tummy flu,

 what's the only thing that could make the day better? 

Curling up on a soft daddy and nap through football.

Honk Honk...Coming Through

Our 4 year old neighbor Zack has passed some of his old toys on to baby Chesney.  This fire truck lights up and has Piglet and Winnie the Poo on board.  Chesney has figured out how to push it through the house, running into every obstacle set before her.  Twice the trash can has met it's demise.  Honk honk...her she comes.

First Halloween

Holly Cow, what a trooper.  Chesney has mustered up the strength to show off her beloved cow costume given to her by our Arizona friends.

Yesterday was a scarey day for us, and today will not be a lot of fun either.  But, never the less, our little girl is still smiling and giggling through it all (thank goodness for pain killers).  There is a parade and trick o treating on Main Street this evening for all the little tikes in Park City. We figured we'll have to pass this year, and mommy will miss out on all that candy.  So, Chesney insisted we dress up this morning and take lot of pictures for the gandparents to see.
We love you all, and thank you for your thoughts and prays.

Quick trip to Arizona

 We had a few days off, and decided to enjoy the beauty of Arizona.  A chance to visit friends, check on the rental homes, and take an glorious morning hike to Horseshoe overlook.  The river is still running high, and Oakley was convinced he needed to hike down and take a swim.  This doggy dreamer found himself tied to the nearest chalk stone while the rest of us took pictures and reminisced old river stories.

Bath Splash

Splish splash Chesney's taking a bath.  We have a water baby without question.  If mommy and daddy would allow, this little ducky would spend all day in the tub of fun.  We have moved out of the kitchen sink and into the bathroom.  Good thing too, baths these days are a full contact sport.  The bath giver usually gets a soakin once the rubber ducky begins its squirting, and the dolphin tail starts a flippin.  We can't wait for the grandmas to come visit and join in bath time fun.

Crayons are Good to Eat

Daddy and mommy decided to have breakfast at the Hub Resturant.  The nice waitress brought me my own menu and crayons to draw with.  I had never seen these before, and just assumed they were to chew on.  Daddy showed me how to hold the crayons and scribble between the lines on my kid's menu.  Wow, how fun.  Did you know you can color AND eat them?  Being a kid is really cool.

Cowgirl

Unfortunately, I am still waiting for daddy to buy me a pony, despite all of mommy's hints.  But, don't worry I am getting a lot of experience riding the doggy around the house, so I will be ready when the day finally arrives.  Today I found that though daddy's boots may still be a little big to fill, they sure are fun to try on.  His hat was another story.  Giddy up.

Climb Any Mountain...

My oh my, this little girl never stops wowing.  There is no question she belongs to us, fearless and always looking for adventure.  We knew that our stairs were a death trap, and we were going to have to figure a way to baby proof them at some point.  Today was the day.  Recently, Chesney has been trying to climb everything, and although daddy thought we could just gate the top and bottom of the stairs, I knew that she would insist on conquering all.  It took the little duck tail only two days, and she has mastered the mountain.

Rubber Ducky, You're The One...

Now that Miss Chesney is crawling, evening bath times are often necessary and kinda fun.  Aunt Susan gave us several toys including a wind up ducky and dolphin that splash and flip water around.  Daddy usually gets a bit of a bath too. We are looking into the next location for bath time since the sink is getting smaller somehow.  Yesterday, baby girl learned to clap her hands and also has started to climb the stairs.  Do they make a padded baby suit so you don't have to pad whole house? After a big crash last night with a remote control in hand, we now have a boo boo on little one's nose.  She will pull herself up on everything, but hasn't learned the consequences of falling...lots of tears in our future that mommy is not looking forward to.

More Adventures With Cousin 'Tine

First thing we did after picking Christine up from the airport was take her for a swim and a ski on Jordanelle Reservoir.  No time to lose, after all she is only here for five days.  Next, we drove the famous Mirror Lake Highway and stopped at the beautiful Provo Falls and many many other lakes for quick hikes.  And, just before we put her back on the plane, Chesney, Christine, and I decided to hike to the Timpanogos Caves.  A nice mile and a half stroll straight up the mountain.  Once inside we toured two caves that were quite amazing.  Thanks for coming Cuz, please come back and do lots more amazing things with us.  We love you!

Cousin Christine Came To Visit

 Christine came to visit a few weeks ago from Sacramento.  We were so excited to see her, and to LOTS of fun things while she was here.  Spent a day at Park City Mountain Resort playing on both the Alpine Slide and Coaster they have winding down the mountain.  We also took a speedy 45 mph run down the Zip Line.  Later that evening we attended an outdoor concert on the lower ski runs at Deer Valley Resort. 

Looks Who's Up

Turning 9 months old means it's time to visit Doctor Dave for our routine check up.  Chesney weighed in at 20 lbs 9 oz, and is 29 inches long.  She is ranking in the 93% tile, and we are expecting to have a tall beauty.  It also means that we need to move up size in diapers.  Momma was stocking the shelves with the new box of diaps, when she looked over to see Chesney slowly scale the crib railing and pull herself to a standing position.  She was so proud, and held on long enough for momma to run downstairs and grab her camera.  Suddenly with a thump, the rump crashed down and the fun was temporarily over.  Sweet girl will be mobile in no time, and now her parents must figure out how to baby proof the home.

Lawn Baby

Daddy has not had a lot of luck with lawn mowers this summer.  He laid this beautiful green grass for the family to play on, and purchased a used lawn mower to keep it groomed.  The lawn mower lasted for 3 cuts, and then gave up.  He took it to a mechanic who had bad news for us.  We had chosen a mower who's company had gone under and finding replacement parts was a lost cause.  Kris brought one home that she had found, and that too was going to be added to the yard art.  The third mower was given to us by our dear friend Joe in Arizona.  He mentioned it may need some love, and we are currently doing some love.  Chesney figured out how to help.  After watching both Panda and Oakley munching on the green goodness, she decided to join in the fun.

Family Swim on Lake Powell

Everbody knows how much Oakley loves to swim.  He'll fetch anything anyone is willing to toss for him for as long as they're willing to throw.  Wes and Chesney splashed and giggled, while Oakley got his fill in the warm water of Arizona.  We all enjoyed swimming in the Lake until all 30 fingers and toes were prunes.  Ahhh, the lazy days of summer.

Lake Powell with Friends

We headed down to Arizona this week to visit many river friends we don't get to see as often as we'd like these days.  Ron and Ann Gemoll drove up from Phoenix to meet our little girl, and to enjoy a quick visit with Tex and Amy Callaway out on their beautiful boat.  They introduced some of their new toys to Wes, and now he's hooked on wave surfing and paddle boarding.  The strong, tan lady behind the boat is definitely not momma Kris, but Amy showing off her skills. I'd add a picture of Wes and Oakley on the paddle board, but Oakley's tummy is hanging out.  Thanks guys, we wish we could get together more often.

Summer Time in the Mountains

Summer time in the mountains of Utah is spectacular.  This year the wildflowers are at an epic peak of glory.  Chesney was dazzled by all the wonderful smells and colors as we wandered through the meadow on our camping trip.  Oakley, Chesney, and mommy went for a walk down the dirt road, when we spotted a bull moose.  Luckily, Oakley was too busy bounding through the brush to notice.  We headed back to base camp and told daddy what we had seen.  Later that afternoon on our return from fly fishing, the moose was still in our neck of the woods (ha, ha).  To our surprise, it was Mr. and Mrs. Moose offering to pose for a quick picture.

Camper Baby

Waking up one morning, we realized the summer was passing us by.  Where had it gone?  So, on a whim, we packed up the camper and headed over the hill on a Tuesday afternoon for a quick night under the stars.  Okay, not exactly under the stars, the mosquitoes have been so terrible this summer with all our moisture, we decided to camp in luxury.  Chesney had a blast snuggling with mommy and daddy in the big sleeping bag when the cool Utah breezes began to blow. Daddy through a few flies in the nearby West Fork of the Duchesne.  Apparently, the fish were already full of mosi's. So, mommy kicked up some dust on the ATV. What a wonderful Tuesday night.

Grandpa and Grandma Came to Visit

Recently, Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen came to visit.  We spent one day exploring Strawberry Reservoir and playing under the warm sun on our ski boat.  Both Wes and I gave the the slalom ski and wake board a quick run, and quickly remembered that we are both a little outta shape!  The next day, Wes had to work at The Canyons.  The rest of us decided to head up to meet him for lunch, and wander around to see all the new development going on.  During the summer months, The Canyons offers hiking trails and mountain bike riding for guests.  It is also a beautiful place for weddings, and many take place. We rode the Gondola to the top of Red Pine, and to our surprise there was Wes moving dirt in the biggest excavator ever seen.  We had a nice lunch on the outdoor patio before heading back down the mountain.

Napping with Style

Look who's the hottest baby on the Lake.  Now this is napping with style.

Grandma's Lap of Heaven

Grandma Roe was in Heaven.  She managed to wrangle her 3 youngest grand babbies for a picture.  Benji (left), and Davey Edds were on their last leg of a 3 week family driving adventure which began in Kentucky.   Their trip took them west to California near the Mexican border, north to Sacramento, and then headed back east through Utah and then through Missouri. They visited many many trains, and eager family members along their journey. 

We were lucky to have them in Heber the prior weekend for a fun ride on the Heber Creeper, and then even luckier to meet up with them the following weekend at the Lake. Visits are always much too short, but oh so special.

Tooth Update

A few weeks ago we noticed the first tooth appeared.  Within days, a second broke through.  Today, both the teeth are growing quickly (as seen above) and you may notice quite sharp, if you happen to become the human teething ring.   Why the Good Lord makes puppies and babies with such sharp pearly whites, I'll never understand. 

Lake Laughs and Floaties

The water in Lake of the Ozarks is quite warm in the summer.  The heat wave that greeted us this week made no exception.  The weather outside was a balmy 102 degree average.  Jumping into the beautiful green water was not exactly refreshing at 94 degrees, but was a nice change from the cold water of the Colorado River and Utah lakes.  We swam and swam until everyone had pruned fingers and toes.  What a wonderful week spent at mommy's favorite lake house.