Nixon's 2nd

I can't believe I have a 2 year old already! Although he hit the terrible 2's months ago! Time flies by so quickly!

I love birthdays especially Birthday's for those that I really adore. So the night before his birthday Blake and I decorated the house with streamers, balloons, and his brightly wrapped presents.

I know these are both really blurry, but I love the look on his face. He was so excited when we woke him up that morning and there were balloons coving the hall floor. He loves balloons!!

And this second one I think is a picture that I took through a Balloon, its kinda cool, but kinda creepy at the same time!

He is just a little bit spoiled. Blake and I were saying afterwords that we felt kinda bad cause most of these presents just had clothes in them. Not anything too exciting except for the little trike (that he still hasn't figured out how to pedal on) and a cute little T ball set Blake picked out for him.

Then we had family over for a BBQ. Blake made yummy hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and I made homemade root beer (extra yummy!!) Some of the family

Pretty much just Nixon, and Grandmas and Grandpa's in this shot!

More Grandparents, someone's butt and Daddy!!

Before opening presents Nixon had a little bit of fun playing with his new T ball set

Then he opened presents, once again getting spoiled rotten!

New pj's from Grandma and Grandpa Great (G & G Cook)

A Jack in the box

Another surprise from Grandma Corrie and Pampa Jeff

And a fun slide from Grandma Nancie and Papa Bob as you can see all the kids had so much fun playing on it.

Another huge hit was a box of cars that Grandma Corrie and Pamp Jeff got for Nixon. The first thing he did was line them all up so we could all check them out.

After lining them up on the sidewalk, he had to line them up on the slide.

Then go down with them.

Aunt Tauna and Uncle Chad gave him a hand-me-down practically new EXCABATOR!! (excavator, yes I do know how to spell it right, thats how Nixon pronounces it, SO DANG CUTE!!) Nixon loves it, but is still trying to figure out how to make it do without Mommy or Daddy holding the pedal down!

Aunt Tauna helping make it go.

And isn't this fire truck darling, from Aunt Patrice, Uncle Bob, Broc, and Haley. It drives and shoots bubbles out!

He had such a great birthday!

I will later post the second part of the birthday celebrations that took place the next weekend with all nixon's friends!!

4th of July

(I know this is really late, but its mostly for my own benefit, since this is kinda like a journal for me!)

We had such a great 4th of July, we spent it like we do every year. First we went to Grandma and Grandpa Cooks to watch the parade. Their house is on the parade route so we always go there early, have breakfast, then watch the parade.

This is Nixon, Mommy and some friends waiting for the parade to start. They wind was blowing so hard to it was kinda cold. We had to find blankets in Grandma Greats house to keep us all from shivering.

Nixon and Grandma Nancie watching the parade, trying to get lots of candy.

Nixon and Grandpa Bob watching the floats, he caught a frisbee!

My Grandpa Cook had an old tractor that he used to use to plow all his fields, when he sold some of his property to the church for church farms he sold his old tractor too. The man who bought it from him fixed it up and lets Grandpa drive it during the parade. We let Nixon jump up on it when it was going past and he had so much fun! Even still he asks me when he can ride Grandpa Great's tractor again.

After the parade we spent another good portion of the day at the West Point Park. They always have so many fun things to do and see.

Nixon riding in his stroller, he was such a good boy and sat in here for quite awhile. Which is unusual at this point. He wants to be a big boy and run around like the big kids!

Then he participated in the Toddler Trot. I thought for sure he was going to win it. He is very very fast and I can't usually keep up with him.

Ready, Set Go!! He won first place in the first heat and had to compete in the second heat. He ran so fast to Mommy

In the second heat he got kinda vicious trying to push the other kids out of the way. "Eye on the prize." He didn't really push anyone, but it looks like it in this shot!

Nixon ran really fast in the second heat, but hesitated right at the beginning. He ended up taking second place, but still took home a great prize.

We went and watched fireworks later that night at Eaglewood Golf Course. Nixon loved them and didn't want them to end. Blake hates the fireworks for the sole reason of the traffic they create when they end. He thought he was being tricky and took the long way down the mountain knowing that no one else would even think to go that way. He knows his way really well in that area because he has done alot of work up there at the big homes.

We are driving at the great speed and know that we are going to beat everyone else home, then the traffic began. We sat in the darn traffic FOREVER!! We ended up getting home 45 minutes after the rest of the family did. Blake was furious! His plan backfired on him! I thought it was kinda funny.....

Fam Pics 2010

Shannon Masayo took our pics on Saturday. Check them out on her Blog here. And leave her some love! She is really so talented and so easy to work with. Thanks again Shan, love ya!

Thomas the Train Ride

P.S more then one post done today. Scroll down for more!

Over Memorial Day we went to Heber City and took a ride on Thomas the Train.

Nixon has a serious obsession with Thomas and even knows all, I mean ALL, of the trains names on the show. Out of no where he will just say "James" or "Gordon" or "Skarloey" and even "Rheneas." The funny thing is, he can look at the engine and know which one it is. There is more then one or two that are blue, for instance, but he knows who they are just by looking at their color and their faces. So funny!!!

Right when we pulled into the parking lot Nixon got his first glance of this amazing engine. As soon as he saw it he yelled "THOMAS!!!" He was so excited. We'd been trying to tell him for a few days that we were going to go ride on it, but I don't think he really understood what we were going to do until he saw the train.

Nixon and Daddy waiting to take a picture with Thomas.

Nixon and his cousins in front of Thomas. We were kinda rushed to take the picture so that is why it isn't such a good one of Nixon, but his cousins all look so cute!!

Nixon and Jaycie riding in either "Annie" or "Clarabelle." They were having alot of fun on that very useful engine (who can only drive 3 MPH!!!)

Obviously Blake didn't have very much fun riding the train. He fell asleep!!

While we were waiting for our turn to ride the train, they had alot of fun activities to keep the kids busy. They had Sir Topum Hat, that you could get your picture taken with (the line was so long that we didn't want to waste our time there.) They also had a place where they could get a temporary tattoo, Nixon got James on his hand and even today he was showing it off to everyone! They also had a storytelling and video watching area. And Nixon's very favorite place was where they had tons of train sets set up.

When it was time to move to the next area, he screamed! He has so much fun with those little train tracks. (I think I know what he needs for his birthday!)

This is also a typical Nixon look. Kinda a glare, but kinda a look of curiosity!

After the train ride, we went to a little burger joint in Heber called "The Train." It fit perfect with our Thomas day. The place was "bumpin" to say the least. I am surprised that we made it our of there alive, there was hardly any room to breath in there! But they did have this cute little train outside that had tables the kids could eat at.

All in all we had a great day filled with Trains, and Thomas!!!

And a little ditty to go along with the theme. ( I think I've watched the DVD just a few times, it's pretty sad that I was able to sing this aloud as I was typing it!)

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight.

Shunting trucks and hauling freight

Red and green and brown and blue

They're the really useful crew

All with different roles to play

Round Tidmouth sheds or far away

Down the hills and round the bends

Thomas and his friends!!

Easter a Little late

We had such a fun Easter. We woke up that morning and the Easter Bunny remembered us. For some reason I forgot to take a picture of all the things Nixon woke up to. But it was a big basket full of mostly candy, a few little toys, and of course his cute new church outfit!

And a pic of Nixon and Mommy, I couldn't get him to look at the camera so this was the best of them!

After church we went to Woodland Park to celebrate with some of Blake's family. This park is so fun, it is in Farmington and when you pull off the main road into the park it looks like you just entered a great camping area. They have little hiking trails, and even a river. The trails were a huge hit with Nixon. He kept wandering off down one or another of them, and occasionally grabbing some random family members hand to go with him. His favorites wer Aunt Teece and Uncle Bob. They were such good sports to go with Nixon on all of his adventures that day.

We had a nice BBQ with burgers and a large choice of sides and drinks. Then after dinner the kids were able to search in the grass and trees for easter eggs filled with prizes and candy. They first let the little kids go so they had a chance to find some eggs. After about 5 minutes they let the big kids come.

I thought this picture was so fun and showed just how excited the kids were to go hunting for eggs!

Putting eggs in his basket

Nixon and mommy looking for eggs

This one is really blurry but I think he just looks so big!! He is growing so fast!

Nixon liked eating the candy he found more then trying to find more to put in his basket!

Blake's cute cousin Haley loves playing with Nixon.

Nixon and daddy at the Park

Nixon loves playing with Daddy, and Daddy pretty much lets him get away with anything. Including sticking random objects in his mouth!

On the ride home from the Park. Nixon was so tired and had so much fun. The whole was home he kept saying "Aunt Teece, hold hand." We'll have to go there again soon just so Nixon can go on the fun trails again.

Clarabelle

A few days before Easter, Blake and I decided that we wanted to adopt dog from the Humane Society. We went there on a Saturday and it was so busy. There were so many people there looking to adopt a dog. Right as we walked in they had a little cage with four little puppies in it. Of course we had to stop and look at them. We looked at them for a minute then decided to go in the back to look at the big dogs. There were some really sweet ones, and some really noisy ones too!! We decided to go look at those puppies one more time and the runt of the pack just caught our eyes. So we decided to get her. She is a Dachshund Lab mix... I don't even know how that is possible!!!

Seriously... How could we resist right??

The whole time we were at the shelter Nixon just kept hugging her and kissing her. It was the sweetest thing. The one time he got kinda rough just happened to be at the exact same moment that one of the workers came over to check on us. He kicked her (not hard, by any means) right in the belly. So when we told the worker that we wanted to get the puppy, she was very worried about how a toddler would react to the puppy....

Well for the most part he loves her to PIECES!!! We even let him name her.... Clarabelle (he says it so dang cute!)

They love to play together....

Sometimes get kinda rough... Maybe alot too rough!

But they always manage to kiss and make up!!

We love this little puppy to pieces. She has made herself quite at home, and has even managed to take control of our bed! Every morning the first thing Nixon says is "Clarabell?" He can't wait to get out of his crib to hug and kiss her. (And pull her tail and ears... Naughty boy!)

The last trick is potty training her!!! She is giving me a run for my money in that department!