Attention, Please

If the only way this dog will get attention is by acting like a baby.....well then she is doing a pretty good job of it.



For the past couple of days, Ella has been extremely attached to Hayden's binky. But since Hayden never really used it to begin with, we might as well get some use out of it, right?
Sleeping like a....baby?How can you resist that face? We love you, Ella! Even if you are a little stinky.

My New Toy

Welcome to the world of Roomba. What is a Roomba, you ask? It's the marvelous piece of machinery that my father has ever so kindly given us as one of his "random" gifts. And I love it.
It's a mini, robotic vacuum cleaner, so it does the work for you. Call me lazy, but I call it genius.

It will even get into the corners and under beds and couches.

Hayden is still trying to get used to it. She'll get there.

I find myself just watching it go all over the place and waiting for it to pick up little pieces of dirt and trash, and it does. It's pure entertainment.

I love you, my little Roomba. Keep working your magic.

Reunion Time!

It's family reunion time! That means I get to put an obscene amount of pictures up and YOU get to enjoy them. Oh boy, here we go.

So we took a nice drive up to Island Park, ID to stay in a big house with Carl's (almost) whole family, minus two siblings. But on the way there I had to stop by a place I once called home. That's right, Rexburg, ID. I must say, I never thought I would be excited to be in that town again, but it was kind of fun driving through with my hubby and baby and showing them where mama used to live and go to school. A lot has changed in the last 10 years(yikes, it really has been that long).They now have a temple and it is beautiful!
What better place to let my naked child run free than on the temple lawn.

I spy with my little eye.....(if you blow up the picture below, it really is funny.)



What kind of person would I be if I didn't visit my old stomping grounds. Say hello to Dorm 6 and Royal Crest #116.



So, we made it up to the house to spend some time with the family. Aren't our nieces and nephews so cute?
We spent a lot of time in Yellowstone National Park admiring the beauty of this country, and what better way to be welcomed than by this bald eagle. God Bless the U.S.A.

This little beauty was about 5 feet from our car. I really wanted to pet it, but Carl wouldn't let me.

Old Faithful. This is after she went off. We were so busy filming it that we didn't get a picture while she was blowing!

If I were famous, this would be my paparazzi shot. Lovely, isn't it?
I just like this shot of Mom and Dad McCain. And yes, we did all have family reunion shirts on. Adults in brown and kids in green. Awesome. However, we failed to get a picture of everyone together in our shirts. Way to go.

These hot pots are all over the place and they are incredible. This one is called Morning Glory.

It may look like she is pooping, but she isn't. She's just silly.
Happy kid.

Artists Paint Pots. A bunch of mud/clay bubbling like water.

This is what happens when there is too much excitement.

One of the highlights of Yellowstone, the waterfalls. These were spectacular!

From the top of the falls.

Happy 4th of July!

Hayden is so excited about America's birthday, as seen in these next 3 photos.



Our view of the sunset before the firework show. I was very impressed with this little town's firework performance.

"I love my land, America!"

What a wonderful time we had as a family. I loved seeing all of them and spending time together. I can't wait for the next reunion!

The Solution

What do you do when your baby doesn't want to go to sleep?

You DANCE!


That should make her good and sleepy...or make her really wide awake. Either way, she's cute when she does it.

Happy Father's Day...

....to all the men in my life.



Dad, thank you for all you have done, and always do for me and my family. You are the best and you deserve the best. I love you!



Dennis, you are a great example of putting family first and I love you for teaching that to Carl. Thanks!


Carl, you are my baby's daddy and I love that about you:) You are such a wonderful father to Hayden and a loving and patient husband to me. You are the cheese to my macaroni. Thank you for everything you do for us. I love you thiiiiiiiiis much!

Guess What?!?!

We bought a house and we are pretty excited about it.

It's only about 13,000 square feet with 8 bedrooms and about 7 bathrooms, which should do....for now. We might need to expand later. But it's pretty nice.

Oh, and we bought that Mercedes in the driveway too. They gave us a good deal.

Syke.

Okay, I'm joking, you caught me. We did the parade of homes up here in Utah county and this was one of the amazing houses that we saw with our friends Andy and Amylyn.
It was incredible, equipped with an indoor pool and racquetball court.

Awesome.

To Be a Kid Again

I realized something today. I really like cartoons. Sometimes I find myself watching them and Hayden isn't anywhere near the TV or even in the same room. Nice huh? Hayden doesn't get into cartoons like I do, except for her Baby Einstein videos. Those are like visual heroin for her. But I've realized that some cartoons that I have started watching are really clever and funny. Here are a few of my choices:

1. Of course, Sponge Bob Square Pants. It is so funny to me. Why haven't I been watching this since it started?!?!
2. Phineas and Ferb. At first, I wasn't too interested in this one, but the more I watched it, the more funny it became to me.
3. All of the early morning Playhouse Disney shows. I love them. They aren't as funny but they are cute.

Having Hayden has made me grow up in so many ways, but has brought out the kid in me in some ways as well, and I love it. At the present time, I would rather watch cartoons than the shows they have on for grown ups in the morning. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so.