Cute pics with Great-Grandpa

My grandpa was in the valley for a few days to be with his brother, Gerald, who passed away the afternoon of the 27th. While he was here we were able to have dinner with him and spend some time together one evening. Here are some cute pics we got of him and Ari together:

She was being pretty wiggly that day, but she had a great time showing Great-Grandpa her three teeth and how fast she can crawl!

Really?!

We recently got a box from my mom that had stuff for our anniversary, some cute clothes for Ari and some old stuff of mine that she had found moving things into her new house. It was mostly old certificates and ribbons, things I wrote in English classes and some pics. Hilarious! Among the items was a packet of these pics (I don't think I gave any away!):


Really?! I don't remember taking this picture and I don't know if I had anything to do with choosing this look. I also know that the people that did this to me read this blog and although I wasn't told "no" very much growing up I think this would have been an appropriate time. Oh, well! I hope you all have a good laugh and Ari, I vow to you that there will never be a picture taken of you that resembles this one!

Did anyone order an Ari?

So, lately I've been in a little trouble from the Grandmas about the lack of Ari pictures on the blog, so here we go! This is a set of pics that Aunt Kristen took of Ari playing in the box to the new booster seat that Grandma bought to have at her house. Enjoy!

And a silly one of her enjoying some lasagna in the new seat!

J. O.'s Birthday Cake

Those of you who facebook already know that I made my first carrot cake at the beginning of the month for Jeremy's birthday. I appreciate the luck that was wished and wish that I could have filled the out-of-state requests for slices. I used a Martha Stewart (shocker) recipe and was quite pleased by how it turned out. I couldn't quite pin Jeremy down with an answer as to whether it was better than his mom's. He would only say that they were both very good, just different. Lawyering skills, I guess!

Martha's:

Mine:

After:

I think it was pretty close! Next time I make this you are all invited; it's pretty big! Jeremy ate it for about a week but wasn't able to finish it!

Just to substantiate the rumors

All right, you caught us, we're pregnant! I'm about seven weeks and everything is great. I'm pretty sick this time, but that's ok because it's a good sign. My due date is April 29th which puts the little ones about fourteen months apart (unless this one comes a month early like Ari!) Kind of crazy, but we're very excited. The ultrasound isn't much to look at (he/she is only 8mm long,) but we got to see a good, strong heartbeat when they did it. I feel like this one is a boy so check back in a few months to see if I'm right!

For the last vacay of the summer, we took a Ford family trip to Brian Head, UT. All the siblings were there except for Casey and Tianna who were closing on their new house. We all stayed in a really nice cabin at the ski resort. One of the evenings we took in a play at the Shakespearean festival in Cedar City. We saw School for Wives. Not Shakespeare, i know, but it was pretty funny and really well done. Ari had to stay at a day-care center across the street that the festival uses each year. I was anxious, but she did great, of course and I got to go check on her during intermission. They were showing a Baby Einsteins video when I got there at intermission and I started to say something, but I decided that her language and social skills wouldn't be delayed too much by just one. And you can't blame the staff for showing it when they have a bunch of little ones they've never met and that are only with them for a couple of hours. On one of the days we headed over to Bryce canyon and even though a lot of our group are direct descendants of Ebenezer Bryce we still had to pay to get in! Oh, well. While in the area we split up into groups and a few people went horseback riding while others rode quads. Me? I shopped! Heather, James, Jeremy and I stayed around the touristy area. We ate at a buffet place in a hotel that was pretty good and spent the rest of the time in the shops. I got a T-shirt, of course, and a really cool piece of petrified wood! I'm a nerd, I know! We also picked up a Christmas ornament. (We get one each time we go somewhere as our mementos.) Back at Brian Head we rode up a ski lift that they open for the summer for mountain bikers. It was really relaxing just looking at the beautiful area and during the ride we watched two storms come straight at us from different directions and listened to the thunder so it was a little exciting too! It was starting to rain by the end so we had great timing. Ari did a great job until I said, "I'm glad I have such a good baby that I don't have to worry about doing things like this with her." Jinx! She started crying about half way up so we sang to her, which helped, and Daddy rubbed her forehead just above her eyebrows and she fell asleep when we were half way down the other side. It went a lot higher than it looked and I think her ears may have been hurting. Poor baby! We also got to see lots of wildlife. The first morning we were there Jeremy, Mom and Dad went fishing and on the way saw dozens of deer including quite a few babies! They said they were all over the road like cattle. We had a few that would visit the cabin also. Down the road a little ways there was a colony of Southern Utah prairie dogs living under the storage units of a set of condos. We hung out with them for a little while. Then on the quad tour of Bryce canyon there were antelope! We all had a blast on the trip and Ari was perfect on the whole trip. Such a big girl!