grandma's visit...

daniel was soooo excited for grandma karen to come visit us! the day before he just couldn't contain his excitment.... see:

thats right he was showing excitement through his hair!! haha oh that crazy hair.

my mom cam in thursday the 11th and left tuesday the 16th of this month... and it was NOT long enough!!  we had a great time though.  friday she and i went shopping (of course) its what we love to do the most when together.  she also spent lots of time playing with daniel... he was showing her all his new tricks.

friday night we met up with some of the other dentists from base and went mini golfing.  we had a great time and i actually beat chris for the first time... in all fairness though, my mom made up the rule that after everyone made their first shot which ever was the worst shot then became chris' ball... this way my mom wouldn't be so far behind.. haha it was awesome!

saturday we got up and went to willmington an hour away to do some sightseeing there.  first we went to the battleship uss north carolina.  the tour was awesome! we got to see pretty much every level of the ship.  we walked up and down a million stairs (all while i had daniel strapped to the front of me)  the sleeping arrangements were so crazy to see 4 beds stacked on top of one another.  chris loved seeing the dentist office which surprisingly had 4 chairs... 

big battleship guns

daniel driving the ship

after the ship we headed over to the ballamy mansion which is the home of a wealthy bellamy family,,, the house was really neat and had some fascinating "modern" aspects to it.  the upstairs kids rooms had interior windows to help with ventilation and so the parents could see what the children were up to.

yes my mom and i are wearing matching shirts

after the mansion we headed back home and went to dinner at o'charleys.  it was really good and daniel was being so good and cute the whole time.

sunday we went to church and after came back to the house and prepared the usual sunday dinner of salmon, potatoes, carrots, and rolls.  yum!! felt like we were back in vegas!!  after the baby woke from his nap we drove onto base so mom could see the whole place.  we drove by the clinic chris works at and around various points.  we drove out to the beach so she could see the beautiful north carolina beaches.  we walked up and down the beach for a while and picked up a bunch of seashells... she couldn't believe how many there were in good shape... and these tiny smooth little clear rocks.  no sharks teeth this time, but still had fun.  

monday mom and i were super lazy and mostly hung around the house and talked... with a little shopping mixed in.  monday night she babysat daniel so chris and i could go see a movie.. it was so fun to go just the two of us!! she had a good time playing with the baby alone... and took these cute pics

tuesday we shopped a little more and then sadly had to head out to the airport.  i was fine the whole drive there, but when we stopped at the airport i got my moms bags out of the back of the car while she said bye to daniel and when she came to give me a hug she was already bawling... so of course i started bawling and then she walked inside, i got in my car and drove home... and yes i cried the whole 30 min drive home... daniel cried with me the last 15 min. haha we were quite the pair.  it was so fun having my mom come out here and christmas cannot come soon enough!!!!!

8 months...

holy moly.... can u believe it??!! 8 months! my little string bean is 8 months old now.  and just as cute and happy as ever.... 

he is doing well here in NC.  we have a really good schedule going now.  he wakes up between 7:10 and 7:40.... i prefer 7:40 because then i can make it to the gym for a class at 8:30... if he wakes up too early we can't go because he has to go to bed exactly 2 hours after he first wakes up.... (his choice not mine).  here are some other fun facts about little man.

- he is getting better at staying at the gym daycare for the whole hour without crying the whole time... because he discovered his love for puffs and mum mums.   if he just eats the whole time he can make it.  

- his still cries when strangers hold him but he's getting better at letting them hold him for 5 min before he cries.  haha.

- he is eating a ton these days.  he nurses and eats a jar of food in the morning, he nurses and eats 2 jars of food after his first nap, he has a big bottle after his second nap and for dinner he has a big bowl of oatmeal mixed with a jar of food and another jar on the side and then he nurses before bed... and yes with all that he is still amazingly skinny!!! 

- he's skinny because if he is awake he is moving... his arms and legs are constantly flapping.  when i pick him up after a nap it sounds like he is hyperventilating he's so excited and his arms and legs are just going wild!! 

- he says mama all the time now, but more like its a sound... i don't think he's says mama to me.  

- he has discovered his tongue and constantly sticks it out... its so tiny and pointy... so cute!

- he still hate tummy time so now mommy spends tummy time on her tummy too... this way he has something to force him to look up and we can practice his rolling over... he still can't quite roll from tummy to back on his own... he does it occasionally and then other times he's mad cause he's stuck.  

- he still just has 2 of the cutest teeth ever... no signs of others coming in...

- he is still the happiest baby ever... (except for my cousin amy's baby mark... he really is the happiest baby ever!!) but he smiles often and laughs... he's very ticklish and laughs so hard when you tickle his sides and back... especially the insides of his legs... too funny!!

- he is very curious and sees and touches everything within his reach... and reaches hard for the things too far away... he loves shopping with mommy and just grabs everything off the shelves..  

- his hand coordination is great! he can pick up puffs with 2 tiny little fingers and wiggle it around till its in a place he can put it in his mouth and he can take one puff from one hand with the other hand... pretty tricky.

- and oh that hair.... it just gets longer and still stands straight out... it is starting to fall a little in front... 

who could resist that face!!

isn't he just getting so big!

we still love this little guy!! he's so fun and happy and smart! can't wait to see what he learns this month!

september in nc...

we didn't do anything too exciting this month.  we took a few little adventures and mostly settled into more of a daily routine.  we did take a little day trip down to wilmington which is an hour away from us.  they have a cute little downtown area that is right on the water.  we walked around. checked out a few shops and had frozen yogurt and a chocolate caramel apple... yum! daniel loved all of it just laying back in his stroller taking in all the scenery.

we have also started taking nightly walks around the neighborhood to entertain the wee one for that hour before he has to go to bed and he's been up for 3 hours.... he sits so quietly and just looks.   it awesome.  sometimes we stop at the park and let him swing for a bit... he likes it but gets scared or tired after a while.  we have taken him down the slides but he's uninterested in them.  he also occasionally falls asleep on our walks... its just so cute!!  my favorite part is how he sits with his feet up on the little tray of the stroller... can he get any more comfortable??

chris goes to work everyday so to entertain myself and keep busy i have taken on the task of reupholstering a wing back chair my mom gave me... i have a before and during pic... i have mostly finished the project and when its completly done i will post those pics... but since i have two of the same chair i decided to only do one for now and so i have side by side pics of before and during... 

putting the chair back together requires the use of a staple gun and mine is kinda loud and sometimes daniel doesn't like the sound...

woops. sorry bubba...  

virgil w. slade....

my grandpa slade passed away this last friday, and sadly i am unable to attend the funeral.  but i thought it would still be fun and nice to share some of my memories of him and things that i have learned of him
throughout my life.  i will admit i may have some facts terribly wrong... but this is how i remember things... so sorry if they are incorrect.

he was born in colorado... and his family was very poor.  so poor he didn't even have shoes.  he served in world war II in the army air corps and his plane was shot down over enemy territory and they managed to survive 2 weeks behind enemy lines.  he met my grandma soon after the war and they got married.  when i was getting married i asked grandma if i could have a copy of their wedding photo and she said they didn't have any.  they were too poor, but i did manage to find this cute pic of them from the first year of their marriage.  he loved her so much... they often kissed and held hands in public.  always supported each other.

grandpa was an incredibly hard worker... he did construction and other business ventures including kentucky fried chicken! and yes we did eat kfc at many family gatherings... speaking of food... grandpa made the best bean dip too.  he'd have it all heated up in the little green (or orange??) crockpot.  (random memory). 

mell, virgil, and my dad kelly

mell and kelly

family was always really important.  we had family reunions with grandpa and all his siblings every 2 years.  it was always fun and i actually got to know a few second cousins really well... and got to spend time with my first cousins.

grandpa built a cabin up in brian head, ut.  it was a beautiful log cabin with big windows and a giant black poof ( a giant love sac).  you could easily fit 10 little kids... this was another fun time to spend with the family!

we also had just virgil slade reunions every 4 years or so at lake powell.  we'd get 3 or 4 house boats and stay on the lake for a whole week.  my dad says growing up they spent a lot of time out on lake mead... water skiing and boating.... it was fun to carry on this tradition into the next generation.

when they built the LDS temple in las vegas, he was called to be in that first presidency.  we got to go through the temple open house as a whole family.... i remember putting these little booties over my shoes so we wouldn't get the perfectly clean carpet dirty. 

since he was in that first presidency he was also a sealer and could seal people (marry them) for time and all eternity.  he sealed many members of the family.  when he married my brother sam and his wife meesha, he teased them that their first kiss as husband and wife wasn't long enough... so when my sister emily and her husband greg got married... they practiced their first kiss so grandpa wouldn't tell them to try again... and they did pretty good... so when i got married 3 months later i told chris not to pull away from the kiss... i would pull away when i thought it was long enough.... i held it so long people started to giggle and so i pulled away and grandpa just smiled and said "that was good".  haha i love that he was able to marry chris and i.  i believe we may have been the last couple he got to marry.  

before i met chris and got married i would go with the singles ward once a month to do a sealing session at the temple... and since grandpa was the sealer for our stake... he was the one doing them.  the first time i showed up he smiled and told me to write my name on the paper... and then when everyone was there he was checking to make sure he could pronounce everyones last name.  he read "slade" and his head quickly shot up in surprise... and he was like "oh marilyn! didn't even recognize you!"  haha it was such a neat experience for me to go do the work with my grandpa.  he had the words down so well, and you could just hear the rhythm in his speech.  

grandpa and grandma were great at serving... they served 3 temple missions for the church.  the first to new zealand, the second to chicago, and the last to nauvoo, il.  

since they lived in vegas like we did they came to a lot of important events.  anytime a brother was advancing in the priesthood, when we got baptized, birthdays, baby blessings... anything.  it was really special to have both of my grandfathers in the circle when we blessed daniel back in may.  

my baptism

i have no idea what we are doing in the following pictures... nativity for something... maybe just our own little family party... not sure... but don;t we look good in our costumes.

we had a little bbq to celebrate chris' graduation from dental school and daniel's baby blessing... grandma and grandpa both came.. and i was walking around taking pics...and everyone else at the table had made silly faces and so grandma made this silly face, and grandpa just smiled.... too cute right?

he was a great man! hard working, faithful, serving, loving.  always greeted the grandkids with a smile and said "hello marilyn" (or whatever your name was)  always in the same tone.  we will miss him terribly, but he is off now to heaven with heavenly father... an awesome place to be.

krista, grandpa, me (marilyn)

my dad wrote his obituary.... here it is:

speaks perfectly to the kind of man he was.  i so sad i can't be at the funeral thursday.  love you grandpa! see you on the other side!