A Day at the Beach with Daddy and Grandma

I had a dentist appt. one afternoon in Augurst while Gabe's mom was visiting, so since we were already nearby we picked Gabe up from work and had a fun evening at the beach together.

Grandma stayed and took care of Carter in the shade for a while.

Of course Preston took off running toward the water the moment we got there.

This was the first time Gabe was able to play out with him since we usually went during playgroup.

They had a lot of fun together!

Gabe even tried out Preston's floatie.

After a little while Preston decided to warm up in the sand.  The water was really cold that day.

Maybe he thought burying himself in sand would warm him up.

He eventually found his sand toys

and realized he would be better off if he just filled that up with sand instead.

The warmest water was in the puddle  someone had dug, so Gabe and Preston had a fun time jumping

over

and over again

while Grandma watched from the sidelines.

Just in case you couldn't tell.  I was there too. ;)

We also went out for Japanese that day at our favorite place.  It was so yummy!

Fresh Produce

We've gotten a lot of food right out of our backyard this year.  Preston loved going out and helping daddy pick it, starting with the blueberries...

Of course he had to taste them too.

More than once. ;)

We also got a lot of zuchinni.

Which Preston loves, but didn't try eating right away.

Don't you just love his swimming hair and "sweat" outfit?

Camping... Sort of

Back in August of last year some friends asked us if we wanted to camping with us.  Because Carter was barely 2 months old, we opted to not stay over night... but ended up having a great time doing all of the other "campy" things and then being able to go home to sleep in our own beds smelly hair and all.  The night started out with some fire starting by Gabe, and of course picture taking by me. ;)

As you can tell, he was working hard.

... and all that hard work paid off.  Check out those flames!

While that was going on Carter just hung out in his carseat

while his big brother played...

and played

along with all of his friends.

Then Daddy came along and played too.

And so did the other daddies.  It was so funny to see all of the kids piled up on that hammock.

All of us did spend some time eating hot dogs and tinfoil dinners.  Note to self:  Preston does not like tinfoil dinners, and will eat other's hot dogs if given the option.

Then we moved on to the dessert.  Here's the master marshmallow roaster himself.

He sure enjoyed them too. ;)

So did everyone else!

Even me and my frizzy hair. ;)

Before we knew it, it was time for everyone to start setting up their tents (excluding us of course).

Then we just enjoyed our time around the fire.

Michelle had the coolest mallow of them all, and I was able to capture it even while feeding Carter.

The post dinner table.

The last picture of the night right before we left.  Such a sweet moment. ;)

We're looking forward to lots more camping trips next year.  We might even stay overnight next time... ;)

A New Year

Since it's a new year I figured I should probably make a resolution - like most everyone else - to be better at posting.  It's pretty sad that I'm still doing posts from last August.  Since this is my journal, I'm going to keep going through those until I get up to date, in case you're wondering why it's summertime when it's actually 30 degrees outside. ;)  But for now here a just a few of our families over Thanksgiving break.  We were lucky to be able to see everyone from each of our families with the exception of my brother Royce who is still in Argentina serving his mission.

Our Little Family

Alycia's Family

Gabe's Family

We wish you all the best in 2010!