Aunt Sandy & Cousin Ella

Prior to the 4th of July Dustin's Aunt Sandy and Cousin Ella stopped by on their way to Elko and then on to Spokane. It was so nice to see them. We don't see them enough. Whenever Sandy comes to town we have to go to La Frontera for Mexican food...it's her favorite restaurant. Luckily it is Dustin's favorite too!

Ella loved playing with Jack and had a good time pushing him in the swing.

The next day, before Ella and Sandy headed to Elko we went to Red Butte Gardens to let Ella run off some energy before the 4 hour car ride. Red Butte Gardens is a big garden that also has a Childern's Garden where we spent most of our time.

Ella loved all the little tree houses and fairy houses.

Jack loved the big lizzards

Ella had fun sliding down the pole out of the flower pot.

Both kids had fun playing in the water fountain and waterfall.

We had such a nice time with Sandy and Ella and hope to see them again soon!

Happy 4th of July

Jack's first 4th of July was packed full of adventure...as usual Mommy tried to pack as much into one day as humanly possible...Poor Jack! The day started with mommy being on call at the hospital. Usually this is not a big deal because we don't have too much going on the morning of the 4th. But this year my clinic was in a 4th of July parade and I thought it would be great for Jack to be in his first parade. In order to make this work I had to be at the hospital at 7 am and Jack had to come with me since I work so far away from home. KC, one of my co-workers, offered to watch him for an hour and a half I while I was at work. When I got off work I walked up to Jackson while he was playing on the floor with a couple of gals from the office and he looked at me like hey mom no big deal I'm having fun without you. He had so many friends and he just let everyone pass him around and hold him.

When we got to the front of the parade we went to line up and there was this guy in a 4th of July eagle costume and I thought it would be great to have Jack's picture taken with the eagle. Jack on the other hand did not think this was such a great plan. I took a couple of pictures and then the entire time until the parade started Jackson kept his eye on that eagle to make sure it wasn't going to get him again. I decided not to hold Jack on the float because he is so wiggly and instead I carried him in his back pack. He did extremely well as I tossed out candy and little squishy baseballs. He loved looking out at all of the people and rocking out to the music. He was such a champ, but because the parade was during nap time he made it about 3/4 of the way through the parade and then he zonked out.

After the parade I took Jack home and he took a long 2 hour nap. It was a good thing because after his nap it was time to go to the Garcia family BBQ. This is Amy's family and it is a BBQ we go to every 4th of July. Jack had so much fun playing with his BFF Will. They actually played well together/next to each other. Will might be bigger than Jackson, but I think Jack is more pushy. At the BBQ Jack ate more junk than he has ever had and he loved it.

Hot dogs are delicious!

Puffs are good too!

MMM...Popsicles!

Blowing bubbles is fun!

After the BBQ we took a quick trip home to let the dog out and get our stuff together for fireworks. We decide to take Jack in the back pack because I was worried about negotiating the stroller with so many people. The back pack worked great and I think it is our new favorite mode of transportation. Usually Jack goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and since the fireworks started after that Jack was fighting like crazy to stay awake. Once the fireworks started I laid him back and he was mesmerized. He loved the fireworks and he was not afraid one bit. He watched about 15 minutes and then he was out and down for the count. What a great 4th of July!!!

Grammy & Grampy come to town

The weekend before the 4th Grammy and Grampy came to SLC to see little Jack. They got here on a Friday morning and left the following Sunday. We crammed as much in those three days as we could. I think Grammy might have over-done-it a little. The first night they were here we went to see the Salt Lake Bee's play.















Unfortunately we got caught in a 96 minute rain delay. The rain came just a batter or two into the top of the second inning and the Bee's were down 5 to 1. We probably should have just headed out, but we decided to stick it out.











As the rain came down it got colder and colder. Grammy and Grampy were freezing. After a trip to the souvenir shop to warm up I decided it was time to buy a blanket. Lucky for us they had a really nice, big and warm Red Sox blanket.










The only thing that would have been better would have been if they had a SF Giants one, but no cigar. In addition Dustin wanted to get Jack his first baseball bat and fortunately they did have a SF Giants bat. It was the cutest thing...as soon as we handed Jack the bat, he would not let go. He actually fell asleep with his hands and feet wrapped around the bat. He is his father's son! Dustin couldn't wait until the next day when he could show Jack how to use his new bat. He had him batting right handed and left.



Saturday we took a trip up to Park City where Grammy went a little crazy at the Carter outlet. That evening we had a BBQ at the house and invited our friend Eric. He and David have a great time debating topics of all kinds. This particular night revolved around health care.






The rest of their trip we spent hanging out...That is always the best part of Grammy and Grampy's visit. Grammy got to play with Jack, read him stories and love on him as much as she could.