Quick Merced Trip

A few weeks ago, Preston and I took a quick trip to Merced, CA to hang out with my sister and her family. They were visiting all the way from Pittsburgh, PA for a wedding. We were glad that my brother-in-law's father let us come stay at his place and share time with them. It was our first time meeting Preston's newest cousins - the twins!

Preston showed his love to Sophie and Ivy by trying to sit on them while they were rolling on the floor. (I had to watch him like a hawk.) He also showed Isaac his love by trying to poke his belly button over and over. Haha. We don't get to see family very often so every chance we do is special. It was so fun to meet the twins and see just how different they are in personality and looks. What cuties!

While in Merced Preston had his first horseback ride. He may need a few more rides to get used to it. :)

I don't know what I was thinking but I didn't take any pictures of the cousins together. I stole these pictures from my sisters blog.

The cute family we went to see. From left to right - Bryce, Sophie, Isaac, Jessica and Ivy

Preston playing in the truck at "the property" where the horses are kept

The horseback ride



Ewww! Gross!

Preston continues to suprise me with the things that he puts in his mouth. The things he used to do like licking our hard wood floor or the soles of our shoes don't seem half as bad anymore. A trip to the park never goes without a handful of sand, dirt or bark in his mouth. I can deal with that. But, over the last few weeks he has reached an even greater level of "grossness". Now he lays down on the dirt and licks at it with his tongue. Oh boy! I was utterly disgusted when two days in a row at the park I realized the thing Preston had just snuck in his mouth was rabbit poop. Luckily he didn't swallow it. Then there was the time that he stuck his finger in the sludge (rain, dirt, grass) mixture that collected in the little hole of the electrical box on the grass and licked it. Ooops. And then, the other day I saw him stick something in his mouth. When I fished it out and examined it closer I realized it was a poor snail that he had crushed with his teeth. Ewww! Gross! Preston just giggled at my reaction.

Does all this just mean Preston is building his immune system? And in my defense to those of you who are thinking, "Where was his mom during all of this?" I was right next to him. It happens faster than you think and when you have a little sneaky boy on your hands who picks something up, examines it and then runs away as he puts it in his mouth it's really hard to stop.

Temple Picture Search

A few months ago I was on a search for a picture of the Salt Lake temple that I could put on my picture ledge. I really wanted something in black and white that was somewhere between 5x7'' and 8x10''. To my disappointment, I was having the hardest time finding something I liked. Well, I finally found something that I loved but it was more money than I wanted to spend at the time, and a little larger size than I had wanted. So, I have delayed in purchasing it. The other day I stumbled across a blog that has free temple images for download. I love the picture of the Salt Lake Temple. It's perfect for us and our needs. Lil' Luna and her husband have taken the time to "antique" various temples that have been shot by every day people so there is no copyright and make them available for download.  Check out her site for other images: http://www.lilluna.com/2010/07/tutorial-tuesday-temple-block-im-going.html

Ring Around the Rosie

Too cute! Preston and I adore this little girl. Preston and Olivia have pretty similar temperments and play really well together. They can keep up with eachother's energy, which is huge! Everytime Olivia fell down Preston wanted to help her up. He really is a sweet little boy.

"Hi Daddy"

Nate is deep into his busy season, which means he is working long hours. During the week Preston is asleep by the time Nate gets home and still asleep by the time Nate leaves in the morning.  Needless to say, we weren't seeing much of Nate and then we took a trip to Boise for two weeks.

The day we got back I decided to drive into the city to meet Nate for a quick dinner. I told Preston we were going to say "Hi to Daddy". Before driving into the city we ran some errands. All over Lowe's Preston kept waving at people and saying "Hi Daddy". It was so cute. He was so excited to see Nate.

The next day Preston kept saying, "Hi Daddy" all over the house. On Saturday morning Nate was still in bed when I got up to get Preston. As I was finishing up a few things in his room, Preston bolted out the door and made a beeline for our bedroom as he usually does every morning. I don't think he saw Nate in bed at first but then he did. He came running out of the room so fast with the biggest smile on his face saying, "Hi Daddy". I think he was coming to tell me that Nate was home. I could see just how excited he was. It melted my heart. Nate left for work shortly afterwards since he's been working weekends too. Ahh - we can't wait for this busy season to be over and to have our daddy back.

Recent Videos

Over the last two months we have taken a few videos that I've been meaning to share.

Preston has been practicing his dance moves, which now consist of swaying, bouncing and twirling. I used to put on the tv show "Psych" in the mornings while doing things around the house and whenever the end music came on he would always stop what he was doing and start swaying. It was really funny!

He's also discovered that whenever we are trying to fold a blanket if he sits down on it really fast he's likely to get a ride. He loves it and can't get enough.

Preston has been learning his animal sounds. My favorite ones are his "cat" and his "duck" sounds. The video I wanted to upload wouldn't work (I probably tried 7 times) so I added the 2nd best video that was taped before he learned the "duck".

While in Boise Preston perfected his slide skills at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Whenever we would go to the park before Boise Preston would insist on going down the slide on his belly. I think he was scared. I noticed while at Grandma and Grandpa's house he finally started to go forward - maybe the short slide gave him courage.

Covered in Blue Bubbles

A few weeks ago we went to the park to play with Preston's newly received Crayola colored bubbles. He had so much fun - but word to the wise, they get EVERYWHERE. Luckily, it does wash off pretty easily and did come out of his clothes.