august was a while ago... raleigh half

we decided to take a trip to raleigh in august as well.  chris had a friday off and we wanted to take the opportunity to go to the temple there... we drove out thursday night and stayed in a hotel...  that morning chris and daniel played in the hotel pool while i went to the temple (so great to go!) and then that afternoon we went to the north carolina natural science museum and then to the children museum... the childrens museum was so cool!! they had so many neat areas to play in.  the imagination play on the first floor was my favorite.  i would have loved having somewhere like this to play as a kid. and daniel had some good fun too.

his favorite was probably this red car.  he went back to it several times....

they also had a really cute grocery store with shopping carts and check out area and then attached was a restaurant with a full kitchen.  a boat with life jackets. an ambulance that had a bed in the back and you could drive in the front and on the side was a whole new born baby section... so cute!!!! and the fire engine with costumes to put on...

the veterinary hospital was probably the cutest.... all you would need to take care of your sick animal... 

the farming area was totally fun.  area to feed the pigs and cows and plant vegetables and dig for potatoes and feed the baby cattle and hunt for the eggs. 

giant pirate ship

outside there was a little area to dig in and play with trucks... of course he had to push around a truck for a while...

the bank upstairs was so fun.  these little green balls were the money and there were so many different places you could take and deposit the money.  he loved sending it up the teller shoot.

chris loved the sports room.... had basketball hoops of various heights.

you could even drive the city bus!!

he also loved playing with this huge wood cars set and track.  he pushed cars around for a long time on here.

neat window at childrens museum

that night we had some dinner and back to the hotel for a little more pool time and bed.  the next morning chris went to the temple and daniel and i went to this beautiful park.  completely shaded by green lush trees (dont have this out west in the desert) he ran around for quite a while.

then when chris was done we headed home.  daniel slept or watched elmos world the whole way and was so good in the car.  

august was a while ago... vegas half

we stayed at my moms house another week after we got back from wyoming.  daniel enjoyed sleeping in the crib and playing with all of grandmas toys and especially playing with all his slade cousins.

he and amanda eating lunch together

that weekend all of chris' family came into town and we spent lots of time swimming in the pool at their hotel, playing and having a bbq at my moms house.  chris and jeff and their dad got to play golf one morning.  and that night we went out to dinner kidless to firefly and then to cold stone for ice cream after.  

saturday morning golf

hotel pool

he also loved jumping on the bed at the hotel...

playing with cousins and aunts and uncles

i also wanted to take the opportunity to make a nice present for susan for her birthday so we got the grandkids dressed up and took pics with she and the kids.  we tried getting a group shot but it was way too tough with stubborn kids. haha  but we did get great individual shots

semi matching outfits

on sunday chris family all left and headed back to their homes.  chris and i went to church and then had another bbq with all my siblings at my moms house.  ofcourse we are silly and had to take pictures with all of us... our kids were being so hilarious trying to get them to smile so we decided to take a pic of ourselves acting as our kids...

we did get a few cute shots with all the kids

and some good ones of us....

we did spend one day over at emilys house where she and daniel played like crazy!  and we went over to grandma slades one afternoon and went swimming with amanda and my dad.  it was great to see a bunch of family over there.  

we love coming home and are sad we cant do it more often...but we will take what we can get.

july just flew by...

 i know i am still so behind... catching up now though!!  july was a busy month.  it started off with finally getting my front tooth implant put in... for chris' birthday he took the day off and took me to the periodontist and watched him place my implant.  the after part was pretty dang painful.  i kept myself nicely drugged through the healing process... but i did swell up like a lou who off the grinch.

i even got a little bruised like a black eye on the one side

some random pictures from the month... daniel still doesn't like going through car washes... tears flood when we drive through

i often find limbs sticking out of his crib

he loves his little chair... sits in it all the time to watch his tv

we got to spend another nice day at the beach

this kid loves the water!!!

chris also graduated from his Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD).  so exciting!!! its been a long year with long days and hard cases.... lots of presentations... some homework every week... and stressful days.  he loved it and loved their director Capt Russell.  He taught them an awesome way to practice good dentistry that chris will keep with him forever.  but we are so glad to be done!!!!

here is his class along with the CO and his Director: (l-r) Capt Leal, Alan Dransfield, Misha Lockey, Sam Joyner, Cason Roberson, Ebony Reed, Chris, Capt Russell

so proud of my hot navy dentist!!!!

the next day we jumped on a plane to Vegas!!!! headed out for a two week vacation to see all the family!!!!!  we got to vegas and the next day jumped in a car to drive up to jackson hole wyoming with a stop in orem for the night in a hotel.  we drove with mom, grandpa, me, chris and daniel.... we bought a dvd player on the way and wow was daniel entertained... its where we first discovered his love for elmos world... he could watch the same episode over and over  

it was a whole huge family reunion in wyoming.  cousins and aunts and uncles came in from all over the country.  the first night we went to dinner together at  a resturant at the hotel... it was a big group.  but so fun to be with so much family.  the next day we drove to yellowstone and drove the loop to see as much as we could in the one day.. jack and laura also came with us on this drive...

stopped to see old faithful first.... still faithful!

cute cousins playing together...

saw lots of neat geysers and yes they are still stinky... but very pretty

even got to see some buffalo!!!! tatanka!!! 

we also stopped to see these beautiful falls.... just incredible

luckily daniel slept really well in the car even with his little head drooping so much!

that night we had dinner at this giant barn where you get in a big line for the food and then sit at the massive long tables and then they had live show with some comedy and country music... we had a good time even though it was kinda hot and the food was just ok... still always fun to party with family... 

the next day we slept in a bit and took an easier day since we were wiped out from yellowstone... daniel played with my mom and will while chris and i went on the gondola with jack and laura up to the top of this mountain where we were staying (teton village)  and had waffles.. it was so beautiful up top and crazy windy!!!! so glad i wore my sweater.... but really neat... and way high up

then we had lunch at a little cafe with grandpa and jack and laura and james and his wife.  nice quick little lunch.  that afternoon we drove into jackson hole to look around the shops and buy some stuff like fudge! and christmas ornaments and nativity sets and t shirts... the usual!!

that night we went to dinner with a few from the family at a near by hotel.  food was good but wow expensive.... but the company was the best part.  we then headed back to the hotel and hing out with jack and laura in their hotel room while daniel went to sleep.... the next day we got up and drove home.  we made the entire long drive like 10 hours all in that day.  i was so impressed with how well daniel did.  it helped having grandma and chris take turns playing with him and entertaining him.... i drove as i kept getting carsick... but the drive was so beautiful! great trip and always so grateful grandpa does these trips for us to have so many fun memories together.  this was also the end of our july... the rest of the week we were lazy just recuperating from the wyoming trip and gearing up for chris' family to all come into town the next weekend...

from the drive home