The Toones

Vegas Babies!

2011-09-16T16:45:00.002-06:00

We went on a fun trip to Las Vegas over Labor Day weekend. Mark won a two night stay at the Bellagio! Mark had just arrived back home the week before, so we packed up the kids and had a family party!

I am not good at taking pictures, but Alex did take this one. It's the ceiling in the Bellagio lobby, he thought it was so cool!

The highlight of Alex's trip, going to M&M World. He thought it was the coolest thing ever :)

We also caught the King's Tournament at the Excalibur. Very cool! I have been wanting to go for years, and we were not disappointed.

Alex and Dad with Merlin!

After we checked out of the Bellagio, we drove to Pahrump where Mark's brother Jon and his family live. Saturday we got to go to our nephew Nathan's baptism, and on Sunday we got to see our new niece Annabelle's blessing. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but we had a lot of fun, and we were so glad we got to be there!

Children's Museum

2011-06-15T22:34:00.002-06:00

We found a children's museum to go to, and it was fun for all!

Pizza Deliverymen

In the dentist's chair

Paging Dr. Toone!

Udderly fabulous!

Pool Time!

2011-06-15T22:18:00.004-06:00

Next to keep ourselves busy, we found a fun pool!

They had a special pool for kids and Alex had a lot of fun on this slide! I liked that he could do it all by himself.

The boys riding Flipper.

So much fun!

Zoo Trip

2011-06-15T22:08:00.002-06:00

Mark was living in a place called Normal, Illinois when we came to visit (he is moving around a lot this summer). They had a cute little zoo that we went to visit on one of our first days in town.

Cute boys and a sleeping wallaby

At the petting zoo, Alex was afraid to touch the pig, and Max was brave and thought the pig was funny.

At least Alex was brave enough to touch this snake, personally I would take the pig.

A Visit with Dad!

2011-06-15T21:51:00.004-06:00

We took a trip to visit Mark out in Illinois at the beginning of June. I was nervous about flying alone with the boys, and it wasn't fun, but we all lived.

Luckily on the trip out there we had an empty seat by us, and that really helped!

On our first day in town we went to Legoland. Here are Alex and Mark in front of the replica of Chicago.

Hippos are one of the deadliest animals to humans you know.

Yay! Something for Max :)

Granite Trip 2011

2011-03-12T13:38:00.009-07:00

We went on our annual trip to Granite Hot Springs last week. It was very fun of course, and Max got to come this time too! I wondered how Max would do, but he had a blast as you will see from the pictures.

Trip to the Fire Station

2011-02-26T15:49:00.002-07:00

Alex's preschool class went on a field trip to the fire station on Friday. He had a great time! His favorite part was when they sprayed the water out of the big hose. Also he said that he liked that the firemen were happy.

Alex in his hat from the fire station

And Max needed a turn too!

Breaking the Ice

2011-02-11T14:16:00.002-07:00

So it's like this. I haven't blogged for so long that every time I think about it I just get discouraged with all the stuff I need to catch up on so I don't do it. It's kind of like my laundry. So I am breaking the ice and blogging about nothing today so that next time I get on it wont seem that bad. One of the reason's I got so behind it that I got a sewing machine for Christmas. Now really I don't know how to sew, I have never used a sewing machine before. So I am learning to sew by making a quiet book, and I work on it any spare second I get. It's almost done, and I am really excited about it! So be prepared for some major catch up posts coming soon!

Here are some pages from my book!

Welch Christmas Party

2010-12-12T15:57:00.002-07:00

We had the Welch cousins Christmas party on Saturday. It was very fun, loud, but fun! It was held at my mom and dad's house, which was nice cause it's so close to us. We had delicious food, and fun games of wallyball, and lots of catching up. Santa even made an appearance.

Here is Alex letting Santa know that all he wants for Christmas this year is a ball!

Here is Max enjoying Santa from a safe distance. I didn't get any pictures of Max with Santa, because he was crying and I was intervening.

Thanksgiving Pain!

2010-12-01T15:46:00.002-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving it was our turn to go with my mom's side of the family, the Allreds. I always look forward to it because I get to see a lot of my cousins, and we play! We always play dodgeball, lightning, volleyball, and anything else we can think of. My favorite is volleyball, just because I'm not as good at the other stuff. Well this year, I forgot to bring my game shoes, and I sprained my ankle sooooo badly! I took this picture a week after it happened, and the bruise is so massive! It feels like it's never going to get better :( Oh well, I still had fun, and next time I will remember my gym shoes!

My Cute Puppy

2010-11-20T15:41:00.003-07:00

One of Max's favorite places to be is in Molly's kennel. He climbs in there almost everyday, and is always hiding his toys in there. Of course Molly doesn't mind because she really likes to chew on his toys. So they are both happy at least :)

I Love to See the Temple

2010-11-11T20:53:00.004-07:00

We have a pretty cool view from our house. A few foggy mornings ago, I took these pictures from our driveway.

Family Pics

2010-11-05T22:49:00.003-06:00

We got our family pictures taken by Kellee Smith. She is from Star Valley, and her sister Janna is my age. She did such an awesome job! We love them! So she has a contest on her blog www.momentsbykellee.com and if we get 40 comments on our pictures we win a free 8x10. So go look at her blog, and then if you want leave a comment too :)

Halloween Fun

2010-11-04T10:18:00.003-06:00

Halloween began on Tuesday when we went to our ward Halloween carnival put on the young men and young women. Alex went as Luigi and he really enjoyed the spook alley. Then on Friday Alex had his preschool party. He decided to go as batman.

Personally I love batman's pot belly, personally I like the old Adam West batman best anyway :)

Got an awesome bat painting at the party!

On Saturday we all went trick or treating with the Gilberts for a little bit, and then we went to Wellsville for some more trick or treating and a party. Alex said he wanted to be Luigi, and the rest of us decided to join in! Max is an octopus, and I think it fits right in with the water worlds.

On Halloween my mom had a spooky dinner. Most of us dressed up and then we ate some creepy food! It was very fun.

Pumpkin Babies

2010-10-27T10:05:00.000-06:00

When Alex was a baby I took this picture of him in a pumpkin.

So this year, of course I had to get one of Max in a pumpkin too!

Happy Birthday Max!

2010-10-14T10:28:00.001-06:00

Today is Max's 1st birthday! He is such a sweetie! We are so glad to have him in our family. We had his farm birthday party on Saturday, and of course he couldn't have cared less, except for the cake. Max eats everything, and his own personal cake was no exception. He cried when we were singing to him because he just wanted the cake. Then he cried when I took the crumbs away!

We had the party at Grandpa and Grandma Welch's house in Cove. Lots of people came, including Grandma Dottie, the Gilberts, Hills, Woolfs, and Hedins were all there. I made some cute cakes, but I can't find my camera so if I do I will put those on there.

Love you Max! Glad you were born.

Off to Rexburg!

2010-09-27T09:54:00.001-06:00

Last Friday we traveled up to Rexburg Idaho to visit Mark's mom and dad. It is Dotti's birthday on Wednesday so I made her some Moose cupcakes. On Saturday I got to go to my Great Aunt Lila's funeral in Idaho Fall too. It was good to see family and to remember the good times with Lila. Saturday evening we went to Beaver Dick Park, yes that is what it is called :) We tried to use the boat that Mark's mom and dad recently acquired. It didn't work very well, but we still had fun.

Dotti has a moose joke going with her sister, so I made these for her birthday. Unfortunately they melted into moose puddles on the way down :(

Mark and Alex making waves

Alex wouldn't pose for pictures today so I had to take one when he wasn't looking :)

Labor Day

2010-09-06T23:24:00.001-06:00

For Labor Day we went to Star Valley to visit with Dustin, Lindsey, and Deegan. The weather was perfect, and we had lots of fun. We visited Pom Pom and the guys did some golfing. On Saturday we went to Jackson. We saw the shoot out, and we went to eat at Bubba's. The only pictures I took were of Max and Deegan playing together, oops.

Alex's First Day of School!

2010-09-01T23:03:00.002-06:00

Alex started his first day of school today. He loves his teacher Miss Maggie, and I am loving it too :)

Stein Eriksen Lodge

2010-08-29T22:36:00.002-06:00

This weekend we went to Provo for a BBQ at Mark's boss's house. Instead of heading home after the party, we stayed at the Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City. It was very nice, and it is so fun to have Mark back home after selling in Texas for the summer.

Mark and Alex enjoying some breakfast in bed.

Since I don't have a girl, Max gets to pose for this pretty picture for me :)

Stand for Something!

2010-08-12T21:44:00.003-06:00

Max is starting to pull himself up now. Especially when he sees something he wants!

And, alas, I cannot resist a bare baby bum :)

Lincoln County Fair!

2010-08-06T20:07:00.002-06:00

My dad had some work to do in Star Valley this week. So we tagged along and went to the fair, and spent time with Linds, Dustin, and Deegan. Alex loved riding on the rides! He went on one ride that went around really fast. He loved it, and went on it three times! Unfortunately an adult had to ride with him on that one. I went twice and Grandma and Lindsey went once. I thought Lindsey was going to puke, but luckily she made it.

Max and Deegan are going to be such good friends!

Max at 9 Months

2010-07-22T22:33:00.004-06:00

Max went to the doctor this month for his nine month check up. He is still a skinny little man, but the doctor says he gained a good amount of weight this time. I don't know why he is so skinny; he eats everything that he can get his sticky little hands on! Other that that, he is doing great. He just started crawling, and he is throwing out new sounds everyday. Also he just started doing this cute tongue clicking thing too. He is so sweet and very cute. We love him soooo much! Here are his stats:

Weight: 16lbs 12 oz 5th percentile

Height: 27 3/4 inches 40th percentile

Head: 17 3/4 inches 45 percentile

Mesa Falls

2010-07-07T00:09:00.002-06:00

After the parade, we went to Mesa Falls for a picnic. It was so pretty! I love the rainbow that it makes, and of course Alex loved it because he loves to throw things in bodies of water.

There was a little gift shop and museum. They had some animal pelts that you could touch, including this porcupine! Dottie and I touched it very carefully :)

That night we went to Eclipse with Dan and Michelle, and I really liked it. Mark slept through most of it though :) We had such a great trip to Rexburg, and we hope to go again soon!

Ashton Parade

2010-07-07T00:02:00.002-06:00

Three years ago we came to Rexburg for the 4th, and Mark's mom rode her horse in the Ashton parade. Of course we went to watch, and it was a sweet parade! Just like the ones I remember growing up in Star Valley. So we were really excited to go to it again this year. Mark's mom was excited too, because she didn't have to ride her horse in the parade this time. Of course they threw candy, but they also gave out ice cream sandwiches, chocolate milk, and bouncy balls!

I really liked this hearse float, I know I am weird.

Go Fly a Kite

2010-07-05T23:55:00.001-06:00

We spent the 4th of July weekend and Grandpa Tom and Grandma Dottie's house. We had so much fun I am going to divide it into three different posts. Day 1 Alex rode the 4 wheeler and got to fly Grandpa Tom's kite. It was so cute! Then the kite went under the power lines and almost flew away, but it all worked out in the end.

Aquatic Center Fun

2010-06-28T23:33:00.000-06:00

Jenna had the day off from work today so we all went to the pool with her and Grandma. Alex calls it the swimming cool, and it totally was!

Sorry Max, next time I will remember your hat

Alex really liked going on the "tricky" slide

Memorial Day

2010-06-01T23:15:00.001-06:00

We went to Star Valley for Memorial Day this year. I love Memorial Day! Ok, I am weird. I love going to the cemeteries and spending time with my family.

We went to see Pom Pom, and Alex always has to go get the sad bears.

Alex freezing by Uncle Alex's grave.

Dad let us know on Memorial Day that we were going to be working cattle. I had to give a worming shot. It was hard at first, but I was dang good at the end :)

Alex and Jenna on one of his many rides.

What can I say, this kid is so cute and sweet! Please don't ever turn two!

Mark's Birthday

2010-05-25T22:55:00.003-06:00

Mark was home for his birthday this year. During the day he planted trees and bushes in our yard. He claims that he likes to do yard work so I guess that was a good thing to do on his birthday :) That evening we went out to eat at Mandarin Garden with my family and Dave and Kristy. While we were eating dinner Mark realized that this was the first birthday in 7 years that he has spent at home in Utah! The day before his birthday we had cake and steak at my mom and dad's house. Unfortunately in the candle blowing out picture it looks like we had a house fire, but he isn't that old, so I don't know why it looks smokey.

Alex's Birthday!

2010-05-14T17:20:00.005-06:00

Last Saturday was Alex's birthday, and he turned three! Unfortunately, Saturday is also the day that Lindsey and Dustin moved to Star Valley. We will miss them a lot! I made some cupcakes, and we all met at Linds and Dustin's old place to help them load up their stuff. Then Alex blew out his candles and opened some presents. After that we all drove to Star Valley for the weekend. It was a long weekend, but we had lots of fun being with family. Alex seemed to enjoy his birthday too, he loves going to Star Valley. Since we got back he says in his prayers "please bless us to go back to Star Valley, and see Pom Pom, and the red barn".

Here is the slide that Alex got for his birthday.

Here he is enjoying his ice cream breakfast.

These are the cupcakes I made. I think they are dang cute!

Six Months Already?

2010-04-22T23:30:00.000-06:00

Well dang it Max is growing up too fast! Honestly, when Alex was a baby I was so excited to see him get bigger and reach each milestone. Such a different story with Max. I want him to stay little! If he stayed this way for a while I would be totally cool with it. He is so sweet, and a very good snuggler. He sleeps 11 to 12 hours at night, and is finally taking good naps during the day. Hooray! He loves to try new foods, and if you are eating and not sharing with him he gets very upset. He loves to laugh, and has such a sweet smile. He rolls all over the place, and he is getting close to sitting up. He has finally figured out how to use his fingers to get food into his mouth, and that is very nice for mom and Max. He is kind of a sensitive guy too. The other day when I was feeding him I made a sound like an airplane to fly the food into his mouth. I guess he thought it was a scary sound and he started to cry. He also cries when Alex yells; so scary! We went to the doctor and he is not growing very fast, so we are trying to pump him full of more calories.

Here are his stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 11 oz 10%

Height: 25 1/2 inches 20%

Head: 16 1/2 inches 9%

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-04-20T23:23:00.000-06:00

This year for my birthday I got the best present ever, a new nephew! His name is Deegan, and he is quite the cutie. I was extra excited that he was born on my birthday too because that is the day I picked in our family pool. Smart move Deegan, you picked an awesome birthday! Also for my big day, we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse. It was delicious, and so fun to see everyone there (except for Lindsey of course). I was lucky enough to get some fabulous presents as well. All together it was one of the best birthdays a girl could have!

Murder Mystery Dinner (Warning some people's costumes are kind of crazy/gross--look at your own risk)

2010-04-09T23:59:00.000-06:00

Tonight I put on a mystery dinner. It was a Lethal Luau, and all of my sisters and their husbands came. We had yummy food, awesome costumes, and lots of fun. It was great!

Here is Max trying on my wig before the festivities. I think he looks like a cabbage patch kid.

Dustin - Chief Honikaua Wiki-Wiki and Lindsey - Leilani

Lindsey was due to have her baby in five days, and Dustin painted a lovely flower on her belly.

Ashley - Nadia Seymour and Riley - Joey Breakers

Jenna - Birdie Putt and Brady - Rip Tide (all I can say is wow Brady)

Me - Holly Day and Mark - Les Baggs

Baby Animal Days

2010-04-08T23:41:00.001-06:00

Today we went to Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center with my mom and Ashley. It was a little cooler than last year because there were baby bears, and inflatable toys. Alex liked the animals, but once he saw the giant slide it was all he could think about the rest of the day!

Max was such a trooper.

Alex enjoying his favorite part of the day.

Holding a teeny turtle (Don't get salmonella!)

This is how Mark looked in every single picture.

So cute!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T20:46:00.003-06:00

Well here is what I got in my Easter basket this year. Her name is Molly, and she is a Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel and Poodle). When we decided to give Daisy away I told Mark I didn't want a new puppy. However, I seem to have changed my mind, I know I am dumb :) She is such a sweet puppy, and very smart. Alex has been having lots of fun with her, and we are happy to have her.

Good Bye Daisy :(

2010-03-29T21:03:00.005-06:00

Almost four years ago I adopted little Daisy. She has been a great dog! I love her so much, but unfortunately she does not get along with Alex very well. He constantly pesters her and she just wants to sit next to me and chill. He on the other hand wants her to play, so he drives her crazy :( The other day he was bugging her, and she bit him on the face. It was pretty bad, it broke the skin and left a bruise. So my Aunt has agreed to take her for us. Hopefully, they will enjoy her as much as I have! Good bye Daisy, I miss you friend.

Bountiful Basket

2010-03-20T13:48:00.003-06:00

I learned about this cool thing from my sister-in-law. It's called Bountiful Baskets, and it's a food co-op. So on Monday you place an order for a basket, and then on Saturday you go pick it up from a designated place. I was kind of embarrassed when I went to pick it up because I didn't know you had to bring your own basket! Oh well, the people gave me some empty asparagus boxes and I was set. So I paid $15 for the basket (basket not included). I think that it's pretty sweet! Here is a picture of my stuff. Except I forgot to put my kumquats in the picture.

4 Month Checkup at 5 months

2010-03-14T13:33:00.003-06:00

We finally got insurance, so Max got to go in for his four month check up. His stats are as follows

Height 25 inches 45%
Weight 14.4 lbs 45%
Head 16 1/2 inches 30%

He is such a cutie and we love him so much! He is sleeping great through the night, and if he would take naps for longer than an hour he would be perfect!

Granite

2010-03-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

We went on our annual trip to Granite this weekend, and it was great. Max got to meet Pom Pom for the first time too. We had lots of fun, but we were happy to get back home to our own beds (especially me)!

Max and Pom Pom

The Welch family (minus Mark and Max)

It's fun to be in your swimsuit with a nice snowy background.

So much fun!

The Olympian

2010-02-25T18:43:00.003-07:00

Today Mark took Alex to a gymnastics class in Kaysville. They were having some Olympic events, and Alex won a gold medal! They got to do snowboarding, ice skating, ski jumping, and other fun things.

Rice Cereal, Yum

2010-02-25T18:40:00.003-07:00

Max is trying to eat a little bit of rice cereal now. He doesn't seem to like it too much, but who can blame him it's pretty gross.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-16T17:25:00.004-07:00

Here are the valentines that I made for my boys. Mark's mom always made them big cookies on Valentine's Day so we are carrying on the tradition. Mark was not here for Valentine's Day, he went to the NBA allstar game in Dallas. What a punk! I should have eaten his cookie, but instead I ate Max's.

What We Have Been Doing

2010-02-16T17:11:00.004-07:00

We have been doing a whole lot of nothing lately. So here is some of our nothing.

Max is such a sweet kid! He is a momma's boy and loves to smile at me, and sometimes other people too.

The lovely snowman that Alex and I built in the backyard.

Max loves taking baths, I should give him more but I am lazy.

Such a cutie!

I thought that the batteries were dead in Max's swing so I changed them. It turns out he is just too heavy.

I got some new boots, and Alex really likes them.

Every time I give Max a bath, Alex comes and jumps in. The beginning of many fun baths together I am sure.

Cruising for a Bruising

2010-02-16T16:36:00.009-07:00

Mark went on a cruise with his work, in January to the Mexican Riviera. I did not want to go because Max couldn't go. They went to Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. He took a lot of pictures, and I don't know what's going on in most of them, but I am putting some up anyway :)

Luke and Mark with their mustaches. Luke's is real, Mark drew his on with a pen.

Yikes! Something I would never try :)

Mark got a sexy dragon tattoo on the beach.

On his last day, he was swimming in the ocean and another guy kicked him in the face!

This Mexican EMT helped him out with a bandage, and he got it glued shut on the ship later. It was pretty bad, and he ended up sleeping for like twenty hours afterwards. Luckily it was the last stop.

Hawaii

2010-02-16T15:38:00.003-07:00

So we went to Hawaii...in December! It was a couple weeks before Christmas, and it was wonderful! We went to Maui with some people from Mark's work. Max went with us, and Mark's mom came and stayed with Alex. Max was very good on the trip, and he so cute in his swim suit. We went to a luau with delicious food and fun entertainment. I got to go to the spa for two hours and it was lovely. They have a room filled with different pools to soak in, and it was fabulous, then I got a facial, my hair styled, and my makeup done. Mark enjoyed a fun game of football on the beach, and he got to go golfing on an amazing golf course. The food we ate was so yummy! My favorite was my french toast with bananas and macadamia nuts, all topped with coconut syrup YUM! On the last day we went to the aquarium. It was so cool, and we even saw Santa diving with the sharks and other fish. We also saw Santa other places, and I loved that he was wearing bermuda shorts. Max even got to meet him for the first time. It was a very fun trip, and hopefully I can remember it even though we lost our camera on the way home so we don't have any pictures :(

Here is the resort that we stayed at, The Grand Wailea

Excuses

2010-02-16T15:27:00.003-07:00

I know I have been missing for a while. I feel that I have some good excuses though. First excuse is that I am sad about our camera getting lost. Really it's not that big of a deal to lose the actual camera because it was old and breaking. The sad part was is that when we lost it we were on our way home from Hawaii. So I have been sulking and not wanting to blog because I didn't have any of the wonderful pictures that I was so excited about. Second excuse is now I can't find the cable that connects my new camera to my computer. So I have just been reading all of your blogs and totally ignoring mine. I guess it's time for me to stop sulking and to figure out how to get my pictures another way, so I will.

Christmas

2009-12-30T18:32:00.005-07:00

This year for Christmas we decided at the last minute to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Welch's house. So we left a note for Santa, packed up all of our presents, and made the journey to their new house in Cove.

On Christmas Eve Grandma had us all open a present from her. Matching pajamas for everyone!

Here's Alex on Christmas morning. He got a train table from Santa, and he was telling me to go away so it was hard to get a good picture.

Grandma and Grandpa got their grandkids a cool plasma car and Alex loved it!

My favorite present was one that Mark got for Daisy, a pink Snuggie. She looks so cute in it, and she can use her paws for other things, like reading a book.

Santa

2009-12-23T19:08:00.002-07:00

Max got to meet Santa for the first time and you could tell he really liked him. This was also the first time that Alex sat on Santa's lap without crying. He asked for trains (I have been telling him to ask for that for a month). It was very fun!

Newborn Pics

2009-12-08T17:42:00.003-07:00

My friend Chanthoeun took some newborn pictures of Max and they are so cute! She took some of Alex too, and she did such a good job. I have a link to her blog, visual bliss photography, on my side bar if you want to see other awesome pictures.

Blessing Day for Max

2009-12-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today was Max's blessing. He looked so cute in his little tuxedo. Alex wore it too, but I lost the bow tie. Oh well at least it will be easier to tell them apart in pictures!

This blanket is the same one that Mark used on his blessing day.

The blesser and the blessee.

Brothers

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Big Bro

2009-11-23T13:27:00.003-07:00

Alex is such a good brother. He is very sweet with Max, and loves to give him his binky when he is crying. He also likes to "hold him up". I wish he was as nice to me as he is to Max. Alex has been quite a stinker lately! He likes to take of his diaper and pee everywhere (luckily I bought a carpet cleaner). I started taping his diaper on, and then he painted me a picture with his poo. He is having a hard time doing what he is told, and I am having a hard time not yelling at him all day long. Hopefully we can work out our differences soon. It's a good thing he is cute.

One Month

2009-11-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Max is one month old and I can't believe it! It seems like time is going by way too fast :( He is still a chunky guy, and he has almost grown out of the 0 to 3 month clothes! We love having him around he is so sweet. He is a really good sleeper too, and we are glad for that as well.

Halloween

2009-11-02T15:00:00.003-07:00

This year was Alex's first year trick or treating, and we went with the Gilberts. It was lots of fun! Alex was a monkey this year and Max was a banana.

Home At Last

2009-10-22T14:48:00.000-06:00

We finally got to bring Max home from the hospital. It is so good to have him home. He is such a sweet boy, and he is very cuddly. Alex is doing great with him; however, our dog Daisy is very jealous :)

Going Home Tomorrow, YAY!

2009-10-21T21:09:00.005-06:00

So we found out that Max got a bad infection. Somehow my placenta was infected and so he had sepsis (an infection in his blood). He was a very sick little boy, and we were very fortunate that his nurse the first night noticed that something wasn't quite right. So he has been staying in the NICU this week and getting i.v. antibiotics to treat his infection. His doctor let me know that tomorrow morning he will finish up his antibiotics and then he will get to come home. He is such a hungry kid and he has been gaining weight like crazy. He already weighs two ounces more than when he was born! We are so excited for him to come home (and a little nervous too). I have been staying at the hospital so that I can feed him and snuggle with him. I am so glad that the hospital has a hotel stay program for only $15 a night, what a deal! We have been lucky to have so much help this week with taking care of Alex and other things. Mark has had Alex for the last two days and I think he is the most ready for Max and me to come home :)

Mark is such a cute dad. Max was crying until he took over. (The nurse was doing it before, not me!)

I can't wait to get rid of all of the wires and tubes! The i.v. in the head is never fun.

Max Has Arrived!

2009-10-16T09:04:00.005-06:00

Max is here! He was born on Wednesday, October 14th at 8:36 p.m. He is sooooo big! He weighed 9lbs 3oz and he is 20.5 inches long. Everything happened pretty fast it seemed. Around 1 in the afternoon I started having some contractions while Alex and I were out buying ingredients to make cupcakes for Ashley's birthday. So we went home and I started making the cupcakes because last time I was in labor for 27 hours. Well at 3 it seemed like the contractions were very regular and strong so I called Mark and my dad to come watch Alex. I took a bath and started getting ready, and then we headed to the hospital. We got checked into labor and delivery at 5:30 and I was dilated to 4.5 centimeters. I wanted my epidural right away, but the anesthesiologist was just going into a c-section so I had to wait for an hour. During that hour my contractions started freaking hurting! They had to try four times to put in my i.v., and then they gave me some drugs to help until I got my epidural. Finally the c-section was over and I got my epidural and the doctor came in a broke my water at 7:30. I was only dilated to 5 then. When the doctor broke my water there was some meconium in the fluid so that wasn't good :( About 30 minutes later I felt a lot of pressure and when I was checked I was 8+ centimeters! 10 minutes after that I had here check me again and I was ready! They called the doctor and we had to wait 15 more minutes for him to come. Then we got him right out of there! He has lots of long, blonde, curly hair and tons of cute fat rolls. He is currently in the NICU fighting an infection. I will post more about that later.

Junk Drawer and More

2009-09-29T18:52:00.004-06:00

Mark is home, yay! He came back last Tuesday, and we love having him home. To welcome him home I made him some creepy cupcakes, and we roasted some hotdogs and marshmallows in our fire pit with the Gilberts, and some of my family. We were having too much fun at the cook out to take pictures so all you get to see is the cupcakes :)

Alex was having fun going through the junk drawer today, and we got some nice pictures of the junk that he put to use.

3D glasses that we got when we went to the movie, Up. He is also wearing the timer that I use when I am giving IQ tests.

Here are some lovely teeth, looking good right?

These are the glasses that I had to wear while I was sleeping after my eye surgery. Now I use them when I cut up onions so it doesn't make me cry.

Trout and Berry Days

2009-08-29T21:43:00.002-06:00

Today we went to Trout and Berry Days in Paradise, Utah. We arrived just as the parade was winding down, but Alex still got to pick up some candy and wave to a few people on the floats so not a total loss :)

They had some fun blow up toys and rides set up that the kids got to ride on for free. They were really fun. However, since they were free the lines were a bit long.

Finally the fish scramble. Thanks to Brady for being Alex's "parent", and helping him catch his fish. I can't bend very well at the moment so I probably wouldn't have been very helpful.

Home Again!

2009-08-29T21:34:00.002-06:00

Alex and I came back to Utah two weeks ago. I was pretty nervous about our five hour flight together so I bought some episodes of the Little Einsteins and put them on my Ipod. Alex was so excited and he was mesmerized for the entire flight! It was amazing and even the flight attendants were impressed.

Here is the happy traveler himself!

This week Mark came to visit us, and it was so much fun. He has to stay in Philadelphia until the end of September, but decided to take a week off to come play with us. Alex and Mark went on quite a few rides in Grandpa's Razer while he was here.

Crayola Factory

2009-08-29T21:05:00.002-06:00

So a while ago we went to the Crayola Factory with April, Ava, and Miles and Brandy and Logan. It was pretty fun, except for the fact that Alex hadn't had a nap for three days, so there were a few melt downs.

Here is Alex coloring his modeling clay and actually having a good time.

They had a place for young kids to play, and that is where we spent most of our time while the other kids were doing crafts.

Here is Alex and Ava playing in a dirt box thing that was supposed to be something like concrete I guess...

A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Welch!

2009-08-07T12:58:00.006-06:00

Well Grandma and Grandpa Welch came to visit us in Philadelphia and it was lots of fun. We have been looking forward to having them visit all summer! We went to do lots of fun things. When they left we were exhausted, but very glad that they came!

The first day they were here, we went to see the sights in Philadelphia. We ate at a delicious Italian restaurant and then walked around for a while. Here is the Liberty Bell.

After walking for a bit we decided to hop on a tour bus to see the rest of the city. Alex's favorite part of the tour was Grandma almost getting hit in the head by branches, and of course Grandma laughed really loud when the tour guide got hit in the back of the head by a branch!

The next day we went to Gettysburg and then on the way home we drove through Lancaster, PA so we could see Amish country. It was pretty fun, and Grandpa loved all of the farms.

Next we went to Atlantic City, and Mark joined us for some fun in the sun.

Alex loves the beach! He asks if we are going every day.

Unfortunately only Alex made it into his swimming suit, so Mark and Grandpa got pretty wet!

Making Cookies

2009-07-18T16:44:00.004-06:00

Alex and I made cookies today, and I actually let him help. He was very excited. When he asked what the baking sheets were, I told him they were cookie sheets. He must have heard cookie sheeps because he kept asking me if I was making cookie sheeps when I was putting the dough on. They taste pretty good, so good job Alex!

My New Best Friend

2009-07-17T20:17:00.002-06:00

So I just wanted to give a shout out to my new BF, my antacid. I just ate some grapes and now I have wicked heart burn, yeah you read that correctly, grapes. One of the reasons why being pregnant is so much fun :)

Dutch Wonderland!

2009-07-07T14:28:00.005-06:00

Last week Alex and I went on a really fun trip with some friends in our office. April, Ava, and Miles joined us as well. We went to an amusement park called Dutch Wonderland. It is such a fun place for kids (and parents, but more for parents who aren't pregnant)
Alex and Ava really liked this jumping frog ride, and it was made in Logan, Utah, so we though that was pretty cool too!

Alex and I saw this ride online before we left and he thought it was a tractor. The entire drive there he kept saying "ride tractor mom?"

It rained quite a bit, so all of the mom's had really cute hair by the end of the day. Here we are riding on a train around the park.

This is their version of Splash Mountain. Unfortunately some of the funnest rides were no preggos allowed rides. We were lucky to have some unpregnant adults there to ride with the kids.

I think that this was Alex's favorite ride. He giggled almost the entire time it was going!

We spent the night nearby, and the next day we rode on the Strasburg Railroad, a really cool old train.. We also went and looked around at some Amish stuff too, and we went shopping at a huge outlet mall. It was super fun!

Beach Party

2009-06-29T15:36:00.003-06:00

On Sunday we went to New Jersey and hung out a a beach there. It was so nice! The sand was really soft and clean, and the weather was perfect. The ocean was a little cold, but not unbearable. Most of the office came and we had a bbq.

Alex and Mark getting ready to jump in the water!

Alex loved the waves.
Alex built an awesome sand castle too.

Diving for Dollars!

2009-06-29T09:10:00.003-06:00

Mark had his daily meeting at the pool on Thursday. Since it was at the pool, Alex and I decided to go too. Mark went to the bank before and got $400 in silver dollars and quarters. He threw them all in and the guys in the office went diving! Before all of the mayhem Alex and I did a little swimming.

Alex and Shawn playing catch in the pool!

Fun!

Here are some guys jumping in to grab some moolah!

My cute boys.

Go Phillies!

2009-06-18T18:39:00.004-06:00

We got to go to the Phillies-Blue Jays game on Tuesday. It was pretty fun especially because they had a cool place for kids to play during the game. We left at the end of the 8th inning and the Phillies were ahead, but then the Blue Jays came back and it went to extra innings. So I guess the Phillies lost, but the game was still fun. After all I don't really go to baseball games for the game, it's more about spending way to much money on yummy food and talking with friends!

My camera has been dropped one too many times, so some of these pictures didn't turn out to well. I am going to start using my old camera if I can remember to bring it!

Random Post

2009-06-13T18:29:00.005-06:00

Well we are living in Philadelphia now, and the apartments are great. We live on the pent house floor, and it's the best apartment we've ever had for the summer. Unfortunately the pool is not kid friendly. They don't allow kids in swim diapers. It's been raining a lot so we haven't gone down to pretend like Alex doesn't wear one anymore, but we will. It's been really good to see Mark again, Alex has been loving it! Also Alex loves to ride on the Elegator (Elevator). Since we don't have a car, Alex and I have been going on quite a few walks. Luckily there is a grocery store and a Wal-Mart that are within walking distance. We haven't really done a lot of interesting things yet, so here are a few random pictures. Sorry this is a really lame post!

I made some cupcakes that were supposed to look like sharks and life preservers, but they didn't really turn out that well. I thought that the teeth looked good though.

Today Alex said, "Momma, sticker on nose!" It wasn't really on his nose, and I thought that he looked like Hitler or Charlie Chaplin so I took a picture. Ok sorry for wasting your time!

Good Bye Home...For Now

2009-05-31T23:30:00.002-06:00

Alex and I are moving out to Philadelphia for a couple of months. We are excited to spend some time with Mark, and to see some cool stuff too! It will be hard to leave our house, but I hear that they have some very nice apartments in Philly. I will definitely be keeping up with the blog while I am out there, because I am finally done working! Yahoo! Also, some of you already know this, but we are having another boy. Hopefully he and Alex will be great friends.

Memorial Day

2009-05-31T23:17:00.003-06:00

Some of you may not know this but, Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays. I enjoy going to cemeteries and learning things about my ancestors. When I was in high school I really enjoyed going to the cemeteries with my Grandma Welch, and she would tell me stories about her parents, siblings, and others. I wish I would have written things down! Well this was Alex's first year visiting the cemeteries because we were living in Cleveland last year, and he was too little the year before. At one point I was putting him in the car, and I told him we were going to another cemetery. He cried and said "No, not another cemetery!" I think he eventually liked it though, especially when he got to pull around the red wagon from his Uncle Alex's grave.

Here is Alex pulling the wagon.

Here is Alex trying to walk Lindsey's dog Izzy.

Here is Alex with his Uncle Alex

We stayed at the ranch, and Alex put on Grandma's shoes and snuck out to do some exploring. At one point he also snuck outside wearing my pink heels.

Alex loves riding the four wheeler, he will miss his rides with Pa Pa Welch because we are moving to Philadelphia this week.

Happy Birthday Alex

2009-05-31T23:02:00.004-06:00

I am just trying to catch up on a few things, so sorry about all of the late posts. Here is Alex's 2nd birthday it was on May 8th.

His cake is rocket from the Little Einsteins, his favorite show.

Alex really got into blowing out the candle, we had to do it many times.

Here is the trike that Alex got, it was a big hit.

Aunt Lindsey gave Alex a velcro mitt and ball, and a tee ball set. Do you think she wants him to play baseball? I wonder. All of Alex's aunts, uncles, and grandparents gave him lots of cards and presents and he loved them all! Thanks everybody.

Hogle Zoo

2009-05-28T17:18:00.004-06:00

Well we went to the zoo over a month ago and now I am putting some pictures of that up. I will hopefully be a better blogger soon!

This mountain lion was cool, he was snarling at something.

I guess after seeing one mean looking lion, this kid wasn't about to stick his head in this guy's mouth. I don't blame him.

Too bad you can't really see the camel, but at least we look cute.

Lindsey what are you doing?

Easter

2009-04-18T09:46:00.002-06:00

Mark moved to Philadelphia right before Easter, so we just had a little egg hunt in the morning, and then my mom had a treasure hunt at her house that afternoon. We miss Mark!

Alex was so excited to find candy outside his door!

I didn't get Alex any big presents, but he really liked this egg with Quincy from the Little Einsteins inside.

Baby Animal Days

2009-04-18T09:24:00.005-06:00

We went to the American West Heritage Center for Baby Animal Days. It was lots of fun. It's pretty cool because they let the kids get in the pens with animals and they get to hold the little ones. So cute! I have never been to the AWHC before, but it is pretty cool.

Big Boy!

2009-04-02T15:07:00.003-06:00

Alex got a big boy bed this weekend. On Saturday when I tried to put him down for his nap, he ran away and hid under his crib. So I left the room expecting him to come out and be sad. Instead he just slept under the crib! So that night we went to Walmart and let him pick out his own bed. He got to choose between Cars and Handy Manny. I thought he would choose Cars, but he really wanted the Tools! So here are a few pictures of Alex and his new bed. Yea, now we can use the crib for the baby and hopefully Alex wont care. Oh and yes we are having a baby. It is due on October 17th. We just went to the Doctor today and had our first ultrasound. Everything looks good, and we are pretty excited!

Granite

2009-03-21T14:26:00.003-06:00

We went to Granite Hot Springs last month and it was really fun. Alex had a great time riding on the cycles (snowmobiles). The weather was great and a good time was had by all!

Alex fell asleep on the rides in and out of the hot springs.

Fun in the pool!

What a cool view!

We Were Jammin'

2009-01-26T22:58:00.005-07:00

Mark and I went on a little trip to Jamaica last week and it was sweet! We went to a Sandals all inclusive resort, and I highly recommend it. We had a butler who drove us around in a golf cart and stocked our fridge. Also we had an amazing suite with our own private pool and jacuzzi. Yes, we were spoiled.

Our fabulous butler Nicola!

Our other butler Ricardo and our golf cart.

A view of our private pool and jacuzzi from our bedroom door.

Not only is the food included, so are the activities. We went out on this cool sail boat thingy, and we went snorkeling.

The food was delightful, and so was the company!

Christmas and New Years

2009-01-09T16:15:00.003-07:00

Christmas was fun, we spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Welch's house. Santa brought Alex a piano and a tractor trike! Alex was really cute, he couldn't decide what to play with!
After Christmas we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Toone, and we had lots more fun. Alex really liked to give the horse kisses and sit on her back.

Mark's and Alex's favorite thing was riding on Grandpa's four wheeler. They made lots of fun trails all over the lawn! We came home New Year's Eve and Mark was really sick, so he went to bed and Steph got to hangout with the Gilberts. We had a fun party!

Santa and the Deer

2008-12-15T01:02:00.003-07:00

Well we had the Welch cousins Christmas party on Saturday and Santa came for a visit as well. For the past few weeks we have been showing Alex pictures of Santa and talking about how great he is. Unfortunately it only works with pictures of Santa, the real thing is much scarier. When Santa was getting ready to leave, Alex did point at him and say Santa!

Also, last week we were driving home from Salt Lake and we hit a deer. Hopefully it wasn't one of Santa's. If you look closely you can see some deer hair stuck in there!

Horse Riding

2008-12-04T17:41:00.004-07:00

Alex got to sit on a horse over Thanksgiving.

He really liked it a lot, and now everytime

we see a horse he says, "Hi Horsey!"

Alex and Ace friends for life.

Halloween Carnival and Piano Recital

2008-10-28T18:17:00.005-06:00

We went to a Halloween Carnival with the Gilberts on Friday. It was very fun, and afterwards we got to hear Katie and Josh play cool Halloween songs in a recital. It was great!

What a cute shark!

You would think that with all of those teeth he could just bite that thing right off.

Alex was quite the fishershark

Isn't being a mom great? Our pockets were full of cookies and unwanted candy. Kristi's pocket even had stuff on the outside, ewww.

Katie and Matthew standing in front of a spooky piano after an awesome recital!

Ouch, my eyes!

2008-10-22T20:44:00.003-06:00

Hey guys I had some laser eye surgery on Friday, and it's been a killer weekend! Unfortunately I couldn't get the Lasik procedure done because I have thin corneas. So I had to have a different procedure called PRK instead. The main difference between the two is that with PRK they don't cut the cornea and pull it back before doing the laser procedure. Instead they basically scrape off the top layer of the eye and then use the laser. So needless to say I was in severe pain for a few days after having that done. I'm feeling better now, but I still can't see very well so forgive me if I typed something wrong. I wont be seeing well for about 3 weeks. But I am excited!

Frankentreats

2008-10-12T22:38:00.004-06:00

I found this cute idea in a magazine, so tonight we made them. They are called Frankentreats, and they are rice krispie treats covered in green, white chocolate, yum. They were fun and we took some to Mark's sister's house to share.

The guy on the left has had a head injury or something because his right pupil is pretty big!

We have a yard!

2008-10-10T10:24:00.003-06:00

We finally finished our yard this year, and I wanted to put some before and after pictures on, but I can't find the before pictures so you just get the afters. Just imagine the after pictures with no rocks or grass and you've got it.

We are so glad to finally have grass! We do have a pretty small backyard though, but it's ok.

Photo Tag

2008-10-09T12:09:00.004-06:00

I am glad this tag came along because my camera is lost right now, so I haven't been posting much! So what you do is you go to your pictures and go to the 6th file, then open the 6th subfile (if there is one), then post your 6th picture in that file. Here is the picture I got.

It's me, Pom Pom, Alex, and my mom at Alex's baby blessing. I think Alex looks very dapper in his white tuxedo!

Happy Birthday Dotti!

2008-09-28T15:14:00.002-06:00

Mark's mom and dad Dotti and Tom came to visit this weekend, and we had a birthday party for mom on Saturday. For those of you who don't know, she is a wonderful artist so I made her an artist's palette cake with a paint brush. Happy Birthday!

We didn't have candles so Mark was able to improvise.

101 Things About Stephanie Layne Toone

2008-09-10T10:10:00.013-06:00

I have really enjoyed reading these lists on other people's blogs. This list has taken me a long time, and it is very random. I just wrote things down when I had a moment, and I did quite a bit of it at work, so don't tell my boss!

1. I hate cleaning.
2. I have someone come and clean my house every Wednesday.
3. I love being a mom.
4. I love being pregnant.
5. I wish I was pregnant right now.
6. I am going to get laser eye surgery (you can't be pregnant when you get it).
7. I used to hate my body before I had a baby, now I love that old body.
8. I love to watch real crime solving shows, my favorite is Forensic Files.
9. It only takes me 4 minutes to get to work in the morning.
10. I took piano lessons from Aunt Nae for 10 years.
11. I have to pee almost once an hour, and I always wake up in the night to go at least once.
12. In high school I judged Dairy cows and chickens.
13. My first kiss was from the drummer in the band Sublime (it was just a peck though).
14. I worked at Staples for 6 years.
15. I love to eat.
16. I hate to workout (bad combo with number 15).
17. I'm not very athletic.
18. I am pretty dang good at racquetball despite number 17.
19. I love to play wallyball, softball, racquetball, and volleyball.
20. My family are my best friends.
21. I love doing family history, and wish I had more time to work on it.
22. I live less than 2 miles from where ancestors from my mom's and dad's families lived in the 1800's.
23. I love visiting cemeteries.
24. I love going to the zoo, I would like to visit as many zoos across the country as I can.
25. I have a master's degree.
26. My husband makes more than 3 times what I could make and he has only finished a year of college.
27. I love to ride horses.
28. I love living in Cache Valley, it reminds me of Star Valley except there are more things to do.
29. I miss my Grandma Welch, and I think about her a lot.
30. I won the geography bee in 5th grade at Osmond Elementary.
40. I went to the state geography bee and didn't get any questions right!
41. I love Les Miserables, and I went to see it for the first time when I was in the 6th grade.
42. My favorite food is chicken broccoli casserole, yum!
43. I have never seen an R rated movie (except for edited on t.v.)
44. I used to love going to church, until Alex learned how to walk.
45. I love to bake and cook, especially desserts, for people.
46. One summer I milked cows with a cast on my leg (and when we took it off it was really stinky).
47. I like to crochet blankets.
48. I take a bubble bath almost every morning, unless I wake up late.
49. I don't like to take showers.
50. I love to read.
51. I don't read very often because when I start a book I have a hard time doing anything but reading.
52. I am an impulsive shopper.
53. I am afraid to ask people for help at stores.
54. Sometimes I will wander around looking for things for 20 minutes and then just leave without it rather than ask someone for help.
55. I love Capn' Crunch with Crunch Berries.
56. I love to watch CNN.
57. I have totaled two cars (and killed two cows in the process).
58. I sing the Happy Birthday song every time I wash my hands, just to make sure I am washing them long enough.
59. I often have the Happy Birthday song stuck in my head.
60. I like to clean the lint off of the dryer lint trap.
61. I don't like to do laundry because it is never done. As soon as you get it all washed and put away the hamper is already half full (even if I do it all in one day!)
62. I have been to 24 states: Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Virginia, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
63. I have lived in Wyoming, Utah, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio.
64. I like to follow politics and I have opinions, but I don't really like to argue about the issues.
65. I like having a blog because it reminds me to take more pictures.
66. I named my baby after my little brother who died as a baby.
67. I think that Alex, my child, is really cute. Sometimes when I buy baby products I think that Alex is cuter than the babies on the packages of things I buy.
68. Alex calls me ba ba or bobby, but he can say our dogs name Daisy, and he has said Ashley, Lindsey, and Dustin's names right, I try not to get to jealous.
69. I went for 9 years without throwing up, I didn't even throw up while I was pregnant. Then a month after Alex was born, I did, and I was really mad that I broke my streak.
70. I hate breaking rules and being unconventional, even if they are stupid rules and don't really matter. My husband doesn't care if he breaks rules, and it drives me crazy!
71. I love to go to water parks, I just love wave pools and cool water slides.
72. I hope that someday my husband and I can go on a summer vacation.
73. I have been on two cruises, both of them were in November.
74. I always get really excited for my birthday. I usually start a count down about three months before.
75. I love being a stay at home mom, and I really wish that I wasn't doing an internship right now, but it needs to be done.
76. I am really bad at knowing what looks good when it comes to decorating things. We have owned a home for two years and we just barely put up decorations last week.
77. I didn't pick out my own wedding dress, but I really liked it.
78. My wedding was the last time that the entire Welch extended family was all together before my aunt Trish and grandma died.
79. Fall is my favorite season, I love the colors and the temperatures.
80. Sometimes I walk and talk in my sleep. One time I walked into a door with my face and I woke up and thought that I was still in bed and that someone had hit me in the face with a board!
81. I have tried water skiing multiple times and I have never been able to get up for longer than a second.
82. I love Halloween, but I never know what I want to dress up as. (Alex is going to be a shark this year!)
83. I love my in laws, they are the nicest people and they are lots of fun too.
84. I miss my husband, he just moved back to Ohio for a while :(
85. I am not sure what my natural hair color is, but I do know that I don't like it (I think it is either a light brown or dark blond.)
86. My favorite color is purple, when I get my hair dyed I tell my hair person to dye it purple.
87. I look better with short hair.
88. I have a Shih Tzu named Daisy
89. Having a dog can be a real pain sometimes, but it is fun too.
90. I love my house, and I hope that I don't have to move any time soon.
91. My car has a backup camera, and I have a hard time backing up in other cars now.
92. I love keeping track of our finances, and sometimes I like it so much I think I should have been an accountant.
93. I love it when Alex is so excited to see his da da.
94. I love my dvr, and I can't stand to watch commercials now that I have it.
95. I don't know how people lived without cell phones.
96. I don't know how people lived without navigation systems.
97. I just got life insurance, and I hope my husband doesn't try to murder me now.
98. I enjoy grocery shopping.
99. I still bite my nails occasionally, but I am getting better.
100. I like to stay in hotels that have theme rooms, my favorite so far has been the jungle room at the Anniversary Inn in Logan.
101. Every time I go to Olive Garden, I get chicken alfredo with penne pasta.

A Present From Alex

2008-09-10T09:52:00.003-06:00

So right now Alex really loves to hand me things. Anything he can find he likes to bring to me, like rocks, toys, dog food, etc. So one morning I was reading the newspaper, and Alex handed me something. Well it turns out that something just happened to be his poop. He had pooped and taken off his diaper fished it out and handed it to me. It was funny but gross. The really funny thing is that Mark tried to grab it from me because he couldn't tell what it was (he thought it was a bagel)! So after that Alex and Mark decided to take a bubble bath and they had lots of fun in our jetted tub. Luckily for you I put a picture of that on instead of poop.

Welcome Home Party

2008-09-08T13:32:00.004-06:00

We had a surprise welcome home party for Mark at the Fun Park this weekend because he surprised us and came home for a few days. He is going to leave again sometime soon, but we are glad to have him here as much as we can!

Here is Mark probably throwing a strike, and Kristi laughing because she got a gutter ball.

The Gilberts were able to get a difficult split by sending two balls down at the same time. It was pretty cool, they both hit the pins at the same time and they got a spare!

Here's the whole group, it was a pretty fun party

After bowling we played arcade games and the kids played in the soft play section. All of the adults played a rousing game of laser tag. Next time we are all going to gang up on Brady because he killed us!

Pittsburgh!

2008-09-01T22:19:00.003-06:00

Alex and I planned a surprise (kind of) trip to Pittsburgh to visit Mark this weekend. I was a little nervous about how Alex would handle all of the traveling, but everything went well and we had lots of fun! Thanks for the fun weekend Mark, it was great!

Alex was glad to see his da da

We went to the Pittsburgh zoo, and the baby elephants were our favorite part, aren't they cute?
Then of course we had to have ice cream.

Ryan's Place

2008-08-26T20:51:00.002-06:00

Well I started working as a school psychologist for the Cache County School District last Monday. So on Friday I thought Alex needed to have a little fun! We went to a playground called Ryan's Place, it was built in memory of a little boy who drowned at Lake Powell. It is the cutest little play place! Alex really liked it.

Here he is in the tunnel, that was a favorite of his. It's nice because there is a section designated just for kids under age 5, so he wasn't getting ran over by the big kids.

Ah the slide, and a nice upper body workout for mom, Alex hasn't figured out how to use the steps to get up to the slide, so I ended up lifting him a lot!

Green Thumb?

2008-08-08T00:25:00.001-06:00

Alex & I are back in Utah now for Lindsey's wedding, and because I'm going to start work soon :(

Alex is just starting to want to help with things so the other day he was helping Grandma water her plants, however, things got a bit out of hand with the hose.

Oops, I just thought it was really funny to watch him turn until the hose was spraying his face, I guess I'm mean!

Future Quarterback

2008-07-30T00:39:00.000-06:00

Alex loves to throw balls (and food), so Mark was working on his future quarterbacking skills. It was really cute and Alex liked it a lot!

2008-07-29T00:52:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about Mark's job is that we get to visit cool places that we probably wouldn't have gone too otherwise. Since we are living in Cleveland this summer we got to go visit Kirtland (it is only 45 minutes from our house). It was really cool, but I wish that our church owned the temple because the tour they gave was kind of weird. It was still really cool to see it though! This is Newel K. Whitney's house. Back then yellow was the most expensive color of paint, so they were pretty well off. The inside is pretty cool too, it even has a master bedroom and two kitchens (sounds like my mom and dad's house).
Here we are in front of the Newel K. Whitney Store. The missionaries said it was like the Wal-Mart of the olden days. It was definitely less crowded than Wal-Mart, so I liked it better.
Here we are on the steps of the temple, and yes we are wearing different clothes because I accidentally left my phone at the Kirtland pageant, so we had to come back for another day. I'm glad we came back because we had lots of fun the second day too.

Here is the temple. They don't allow pictures inside, so there you go.

The Zoo!

2008-07-28T20:08:00.000-06:00

Alex and I went to the Cleveland Zoo today with our friend Anna. Alex had a lot of fun, he really liked looking at all of the animals, and everytime we left an animal he would cry really hard!

People were riding camels, it looked like fun but we didn't try it.

Here is Alex comparing his hand to one of the monkey's hands.

Man, those elephants are cool!

Yum!

Alex's First Haircut

2008-07-16T12:22:00.000-06:00

Alex got his first haircut today, and the consensus is divided. I know that some of you will be happy, but there are some of us who really liked those curls! They kept poking him in the eyes though, so they had to go. I left a little on the top so he still has some curls left.

before...

during...

after. What a cool dude!

4th of July in Washington D.C.

2008-07-08T13:10:00.000-06:00

This year for the 4th of July, Alex and Steph picked up April and Ava Toone and they all went to Washington, D.C. They stayed with their friends Heather and Noah, who live in Virginia. They did a day of sightseeing on the 3rd and then watched an awesome fireworks show on the 4th. It was really fun but they were so ready to come home when it was all over!

The Lincoln Memorial

Alex and Steph at the Air and Space Museum in front of a cool helicopter.

The Capitol Building

Alex playing in front of the Washington Monument

Noah, Alex, and Ava brushing their teeth before bed

The kids enjoying some mac n' cheese

Go Indians!

2008-06-24T17:54:00.000-06:00

Since we are living in Cleveland this summer we thought that we should go to an Indians game. They lost of course (they are in last place right now), but it was still fun!

Alex is sporting his Indians shirt!

Our friends Shawn and Anna Hooper

Daniel and Adam must be camera shy

Birthdays!

2008-05-25T17:21:00.000-06:00

We celebrated three birthdays in Cleveland this summer. It could be the reason that one of Alex's first words is happy.

Alex and mom on her birthday

This is dad's birthday cake

Alex trying to open his present

Alex's birthday cakes (mom was pretty proud of them)