Well if you don't remember we got season passes to a water park here in Provo Utah. Here are some pictures that we took. Phoenix loves the slides. If he could I think he could go up and down those slides all day long.
Before we knew it Phoenix's birthday arrived. I can not believe he is already two years old... where did the time go?? We decided we wanted to start some family traditions this year. So when Phoenix woke up we cooked him his favorite breakfast. Pancakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse. He got strawberries and whip cream all over it, those just some of his favorite food. We then wanted to open gifts before his party. He loved opening presents he would get so intrigued by one present he would forget he had others. His favorite had to be his tricycle. He wanted to ride that thing all day long. It is funny because his feet can't reach the pedals quite yet so he uses his feet to scoot along the ground.
One tradition my dad had with us kids growing up was always taking us out to lunch on our birthday. Steve of course loved the idea of being able to have one on one time with his kids on their birthday. So of course we took him to the best lunch place for kids Chuck E Cheese. He had so much fun with his dad. After lunch we came home and got ready for his party. We had all our family and a bunch of friends come over for Cake and ice cream. It was so much fun to just let all the kids play and to eat yummy food.
This is my nephew Boston... if you don't know about Boston he is a very special boy. He has had seizures since he was two months old. He is also blind and doesn't see so voices intrigue him. I guess our singing of Happy Birthday to Phoenix was so amusing he decided to give us a little grin and giggle.
Well after Phoenix's birthday we were off to Preston, Idaho. We went to the "Famous Preston Rodeo". Last year Phoenix sat starring off into the cows, horses and cowboys/cowgirls. This year was a much different story. He wanted to run and play and didn't have much interest in the rodeo. But he enjoyed playing with the people behind us and we loved being able to watch the Rodeo. We also went to the local parade but forgot the camera at home. Phoenix loved getting all the candy being thrown out from the floats. He was in heaven.
Well wouldn't you know it we were off to another vacation just one week after we got back from Idaho. This time we were off to Oregon. This was a lot of firsts for all of us. First actual family vacation. First airplane ride for Phoenix and us as a couple. First rental car for our travels. First time taking Phoenix to a beach. First time Steve got to skim board. First family reunion as a family. The list goes on and on.... But lets start with the first airplane ride. Phoenix loved it, sort of. When we first got on the plane he was a little freaked out and didn't know if he wanted to sit in his own seat. But as soon as he saw that he got to sit by the window and look out he was much better.
As you can see he was set on the airplane, he had my i pod, his bear, his blanket, coloring pages and snacks. He was in heaven. Then as you can see below we had quite the haul to bring out there. We were laughing because we hooked a bag on the back of the stroller and then had three other backs to haul over to the car rental. Unfortunately we didn't think about taking a picture of our first rental cars but it was nice it was a mazda 3. We then headed to our hotel for the night and Steve and Phoenix went swimming.
The next day we went to the Rose Garden and the zoo. I love the rose garden, it reminds me of our old houses backyard. We use to have roses lined up against the whole side of the house and the smell during the summer was amazing. Steve didn't know there were so many types of roses. The zoo was fun we got to take a train ride from the rose garden to the zoo. My dad's sister Dawn lives in Portland Oregon and was able to come and spend the day with us at the zoo. It was fun to have the whole family there looking at all the animals. Phoenix even got to pet a goat for the first time. He thought it was so much fun.
After the zoo we were headed down to Albany. It is about 15 minutes from Corvallis which is where I lived my junior year of high school. We were able to stay with my grandparents which was so much fun. We were constantly surrounded by family, fun and card games. We went to a family reunion on Sunday. This is my mom's whole side of the family. We brought in the biggest crowd. We also played horse shoes, this is a great tradition and a grueling game in my family. They have a plaque to etch your name in if you win. Well none of us won but I did carry Steve the whole game. Who knew I was so talented at throwing things. :)
Monday we headed off the coast. We went to Newport, Steve kept saying this isn't the Newport I am use to. Steve also got to eat at the infamous Mo's, he has been hearing about this place for 3 1/2 years. So he was ready to try their world famous clam chowder. For all those who don't know I am not a big sea food eater because frankly it makes me sick. But clam chowder is one thing that doesn't and this clam chowder is the best out there. If you are ever in Oregon this is the place to go!! Oh and Steve says it lives up to the tales I tell of it being the best. He was in heaven.
After Newport we headed down to Lincoln city and the best beach "d-river". We use to come here all the time during vacation. It is usually really windy and cold but this day it was a perfect 80 degrees and hardly any wind. My dad bought a pirate kite and when the wind decided to kick up we flew the kite. The boys had fun helping their poppa fly the kite. Steve also got to go skim boarding for the first time. I along with my mom bribed two boys into letting both Steve and Josh(my sister's husband) into letting them use their skim board.
On Tuesday we went to a kids museum in Salem. I loved this place they should have one in every state. They had a shopping area so they could shop, price, and bag their groceries. They had several rooms they taught them about different cultures and countries. They had an anatomy room, a train room, a dance room, a playground, and much more. But I think the favorite was the bubble room. We got to make bubbles. They had one were you could stand in the middle and make the bubble go around you. Then down the street from the museum was a carousel. Phoenix still isn't a big fan of the carousel and was frightened the whole time.
The next day we were on our own. I took Steve into Corvallis where I use to live. He got to see my old home, high school and where I worked. I use to work at the Burger King at Oregon State University. So yes I am a fan of the Beavers but I will always be loyal to my Cougars. We then took Phoenix to the Enchanted Forest. Its like a very mini amusement park, but instead of a ton of rides they have a fairy tale theme and you go in different houses. So they went into Alice's from Wonderland's tree stump, the Dwarfs, from snow whites, cave, the crooked house, the old lady's shoe. Phoenix's favorite was the old shoe, because it had a slide. He and his dad rode that slide for about an hour straight. He also got to go on his first real roller coaster. Lets just say it wasn't that much fun! He clung to Steve for dear life during the whole ride. But once back on his shoe side he was much happier.
On our last day of Oregon we got to spend some one on one time with my Grandpa Turcott. He loved to cuddle with his Phoenix and was determined that Phoenix was going to stay with him. They had so much fun playing banjo music, playing cards, coloring and rocking in his chair. It was nice. We decided on our way out we wanted to stop and see the Portland Temple. This is us in front of the temple. Phoenix was funny he kept wanting to swim in their different ponds and fountains. Then we were back on to the airplane to come home to Utah.
We came home to quite the garden. Everything doubled in size while were gone and we had quite a few vegetables to pick. It was nice to be home and to be able to relax.
Steve- Well as you can very well see he is loving life. He loved being able to take a whole week off of work to go and play. He is also excited because we bought our all sports passes at BYU which include our football tickets. So he is definitely ready for football season and is getting geared up. He can't believe that school starts so soon. He is ready for this last year and getting ready for graduation this April. We will keep you posted!!
Phoenix- Well he had a lot of first and is definitely growing up. He is such a big helper and tries to do most anything. Like you can see he loves to do such a variety of different things he keeps us on our toes. He also has loved learning how to count and learning his ABC's. He will repeat them after us and sometimes he will just say them. The best was at church he decided he was going to count how many people came and was very loud about it. He got a few pews laughing. He also has learned the BYU chant and will say it every time we get in the car. Steve is so proud of his boy loving the cougars already.
Whitney- Well I am doing wonderful. I am now in my second trimester and hoping things will start to get easier. I was really sick during my first trimester it was hard to have motivation to do much around the house. I am grateful it is starting to ease up a little. I guess the baby also wanted to be shown because now I have a little baby bump. Just look at the pictures above you can see it if you look. I also decided to take a huge leap and chop my hair. I have always had long hair and wanted a change. It was so hot this summer and I was spending so much time on my hair I decided it had to go. Thanks to a best friend who is awesome at cutting hair I got the perfect hair cut. We will see how long I stay short or if I let it grow out. I haven't quite decided.
Other than that we are all doing well and loving life. So until next moth... as Phoenix would say buh bye! MUAH!!
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