Virginia!!

Gavin and I spent three weeks on the east coast with Ben's family. It was SO much fun and I was not ready to come home, but we must always come back to reality.
Gavin and I went to the pool with Ben's Aunt Lisa and her kids. Lauren played with Gavin in the pool. His favorite part was crawling around the perimeter and getting in and out. It was very fun.


I forgot to bring our swimsuits with us to the pool, so Gavin wore a swim diaper that Aunt Lisa had and his shorts.

This is Lily and Gavin
To keep Gavin entertained at the grocery store, we put him in the cart amongst all the food.

To keep him entertained in the car on the way home, we gave him Oreos and boy does he love them!



Gavin looking out the window of our bedroom at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Grandma took us to the Richmond Zoo. Gavin loved looking at all the animals.

Grandma bought some Giraffe food, so we could feed the Giraffes. However, when we gave Gavin the food, he tried to eat it. So, just Grandma and I fed the giraffes and Gavin watched.
Gavin stuck his hand out while we were feeding the Giraffes and this one licked him. He didn't really like it.



Bats are gross.
This vulture is very colorful.

Gavin loved the Penguins.

There was a rooster just wandering around.
It was SUPER hot, so we stopped for a snow cone - YUM!
This alligator was in the water until Gavin started banging on the fence--then the alligator came out of the water and stared at us.
After Gavin and I had been in Virginia for a week and a half, Ben flew in and his parents took us all to Duck, North Carolina to the beach. Ben's Grandma and his Aunt Julie and her family came with us. Here is Gavin enjoying the hot tub with Grandma, Grandpa, Sydney, Mattie and Elizabeth.

We went and played miniature golf while we were at the beach. It was pretty hot and humid, so I kept sprinkling Gavin with water. He did well in the stroller for awhile, but then I had to give him an Oreo to keep him entertained a little longer.


We all LOVED the beach! Gavin took some time getting used to the water, but by the time we left, he let the waves crash in his face.




I gave Gavin an Oreo at the beach and, of course, he dropped it in the sand. That didn't stop him from eating it, though--sand and all.













We went to a park in Virginia that Ben used to go to when he was a boy. They have a petting zoo, which was closed the day we were there, but the goats were out.

Gavin loves animals! He doesn't really like to pet them, but he does it and then laughs--like it is a funny joke that he just touched a goat.


I wanted to have Gavin's car seat with me on the airplane, so I bought a luggage rack that I could strap it to. I pulled Gavin through the airport on it. He loved it and so did the people around us. The luggage rack served a dual-purpose, though. Gavin also loved to play with it.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful vacation!

"The only thing that stays the same is everything changes."

The nature of life is that change is always inevitable. The Tracy Lawrence song called Time Marches On always comes to my mind when I think of change. And our lives are changing. After two years in Salt Lake City, we are moving. The web design firm Ben works is behind on paychecks, so we have decided that it is time for him to move on. Unfortunately, no one wants to pay relocation costs, so Ben has not been able to secure a job while living in SLC. At the end of September, Ben will move to Seattle to look for a job while living with my brother, Nathan, and his family. Gavin and I will be heading to Phoenix and will be staying with my parents. All of our belongings will have to go into storage, so we will be going through it all in order to rid ourselves of the unnecessary. We are excited to move on, but sad to leave. We pray that the Lord will continue to bless us and that Ben will find a job quickly so that we may all be reunited after just a short time.

In other news, Gavin is walking. I don't have any video of him recently, but these videos are from the end of July. We were visiting Ben's family in Virginia. I think Gavin's favorite part of walking was the cheering, clapping and attention he got.


I like how he has a hard time concentrating on his walking when he is trying to eat a Reese's Pieces.

I love how he is too tired to walk anymore, but he still wants us to clap.

Picture Time

We went to Temple Square to walk around last Sunday. Ben took some pictures of Gavin. Here are a couple favorites. I think my favorite thing is that you can see his crooked smile. He has three teeth on top and three on bottom, but they don't line up. I love it!

Last November we took some family pictures and I never posted any, so here are a couple.

On Memorial Day we hiked Ensign Peak. It is the peak that Brigham Young climbed after the arrival into the SLC valley. Gavin enjoyed riding on Ben's back. It was a beautiful view. We tried to picture what it looked like without all the buildings...
This is the view down into the valley.
Gavin often falls asleep in the car. If you look closely, you can see some drool on his double chin.
We found this car at WalMart. Gavin loved it and didn't want to get out when it was time to go.

Gavin's First Haircut

Here is the before picture. Sorry, I was holding a bag of skittles...the distraction for cutting his hair.
As you can see, it was pretty shabby.



He didn't like it much and he fought it a lot.
But, then we discovered an even better distraction...the electric toothbrush.
His baby hair...I guess he isn't a baby anymore.


I tried several times to get an after shot...


...this is the best one I could get. He looks so much older now with short hair.

Gavin Loves to Talk

Gavin loves to jabber and talk in his own language. Often times I will be in the other room and he will be talking and talking and sometimes he even yells. He also loves to talk on the "phone". He uses anything and everything for a phone and I can usually tell he is on the phone because he says, "um" a lot. However, when we try to get him to actually talk to people on the phone, he just wants to push the buttons.

This first video is a joke Gavin tells...at least, that's what I like to think.


This second video is just him talking like he always does...to no one in particular.

Ben's Accident

Ben plays basketball every Tuesday night at the church with some friends. A few weeks ago he came home a little early and he was bleeding from his mouth. Apparently he took an elbow to the face, which caused his lip to be pushed into his teeth, cutting it wide open and loosening a couple teeth.
We went to the ER, where he received more stitches than we could count. In that picture above, that is a crater in his lip. It is a little jagged and it was pretty gross to look at. They had to stitch down inside the crater first and then stitch up the surface.
Thankfully, lips heal quickly because they have a lot of blood flow. The stitches on the surface fell out after a week. The interior stitches are still there and currently a lump can be felt in his lip. We went to the dentist the next day, and we were scared because we do not have dental insurance. We found a dentist through 1800dentist.com and I tell you this because this was one amazing dentist. Dr Parker took an x-ray and felt Ben's teeth. Dr Parker said that Ben was lucky he didn't lose any teeth and recommended that he wear a mouth guard in the future (which he does). Everything looked fine and he gave Ben an antibiotic to prevent infection. Ben said that Dr Parker was the nicest and most personable dentist he had ever been to and that he was very gentle since Ben was in pain. The best part is...they gave us a massive discount and we paid hardly anything for the exam and x-ray. If you are looking for a dentist in the SLC valley--go to Dr Barton Parker, DDS--HE IS AWESOME and his staff is very friendly.

Anyway, it was an interesting experience and I am glad it is over and that things worked out. The Lord is watching over us even in the small things.

Gavin's 1st Birthday Party

Gavin got some great presents for his birthday.
He got some books from G&G Mullins, Bethany Erkkila, and Mason North
He also got some stylin' clothes from G&G Mullins and Aunt Elizabeth

This is Bethany, one of Gavin's friends
He got a photo album from Mason
And a slinky from Mason
Next to me is Mason, holding the bottle. This is the only picture we have of him.
I made some Lego Block cakes for Gavin's birthday cake.


We were singing to Gavin and I don't think he knew what to think of all the attention.
But, he loved his cake.






At some point Gavin was acting bothered by something and when we looked under the table, we saw that Bethany was finding his crumbs.

After all that cake, he had to have a bath. He had frosting all over.



I think that Gavin had a great birthday. Thanks to all for your gifts and birthday wishes!

Gavin's biggest fear: Grass...but we are working on it