Grandma Visits and We Visit

The last week of July my mom flew in to stay with us for the week. My dad was attending a conference in Phoenix and we were more appealing to her than the weather there. As soon as we picked her up at the airport we drove south to St. George to visit her parents and Ammon's mom and grandpa. While there my mom, Ammon's mom, and I got to go to Tuacahn and see The Little Mermaid. It was really good, and worth the 90 degree weather we had to endure from 9-11 at night. We also spent a good deal of time shopping and enjoying the water features and carousel in downtown St. George.

Tell me you can't see the joy on that kids face.

And here again.

He ran so much back and forth down this "river sidewalk" his pants fell down.

Here are five of us "riding horses". We forced my grandma to ride, but by the look on her face you know she had fun.

We all spent a good deal of time watching Kent's first ride.

Ammon's grandpa, Kent, and Ammon.

Day 2 riding the carousel again, this time with Dad and Grandma Mills.

Watching Toy Story 3 with Grandma Mills and Dad. Look at how Ammon and Kent are sitting...I think they have some of the same DNA.

And last but not least, a stop at IKEA on the way home. Letting Kent push the cart was the only way to keep him entertained after 4 hours in the car.

Where did this come from?

All of the sudden the other day Kent started busting out moves. We had never seen him dance like this before. We are unsure of whether we should be embarrassed/worry that our son can move his hips like this or whether we should just laugh? Right now we just laugh, we'll worry later.

A Little Randomness to the Mix

Here are a few random pictures from the last month that I wanted to share:

This is the kitten that jumped up into our car one Saturday as we were about to leave. After about 30 minutes of trying to coax it out (I wouldn't let Ammon start the engine), Ammon finally was able to get his arm far enough down to grab it. It quickly ran to the horse pasture behind our apartment. Kent was concerned for the remainder of the day about the kitten, and still sometimes tries to look under the hood for random animals, most recently a coo-coo bird.

Ammon's dad was stuck in Evanston, WY for a few days and we were lucky enough to get a visit from him. How cute are the three of them reading a bedtime story.

We taught Kent to put away the silverware from the dishwasher, meaning we are one step closer to delegating all chores. He does really good sorting the utensils, only occasionally do you get a big fork or spoon when you want a little one.

Ever seen a green grape amongst red ones? How is that for random?

Kent calls my glasses "eyes" and constantly wants to wear them. When I tell him no he always goes and tracks down this headband and puts them on as his "eyes". He will wear them for hours and sometimes even begs to go outside and ride his bike with them. We think he looks like that guy from Star Trek with them on.

32 weeks, mind you this picture is in the morning, I seem to grow by inches by the time night rolls around.

4th of July and Pioneer Day

When you live in the state of Utah during the month of July you don't only get one holiday with fireworks, you get two; you don't only get one holiday with parades, you get two; you don't only get one holiday...well you get it. Utah not only celebrates the 4th, but also the 24th, which so happens to be Pioneer Day, a state holiday celebrating the day in which the pioneers settled Utah. In fact I would sadly say this holiday is celebrated more than the 4th itself. This year was especially celebratory because aerial fireworks, which were once banned, were allowed. Let me tell you, Utah residents went crazy. Coming from Washington, they were not a big deal for us, but for everyone else I am pretty sure families spent hundreds lighting off personal fireworks that left the ground. The only time we minded it was when they were shot off in our parking lot past the legal cut off time of 10. This was also the first year that we introduced Kent to fireworks. He loved sparklers and the two little race cars we bought him for a few bucks. We had a BBQ with some friends for the 4th and actually celebrated pioneer day early with a ward activity that included snow cones (they were a hit) and a bike parade.

Ammon and Kent watching the race car zoom back and forth.

Kent thought it was fun to wave the sparkler at the weeds, good thing it's been a wet summer.

More sparkler fun

Our little cowboy

Pushing one of his girlfriends on his tractor

We hooked a rope up to his tractor so Ammon could pull him in the parade.

When Kent Can't Find the Ball...

he improvises, with himself. This is how we found Kent one morning after we finished cleaning up breakfast. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Trip to Pullman #2

Ammon left a day early from the family reunion to head to New Mexico for work, so I headed home with my parents. Even though I hate the long drives from this area to Pullman it was well worth it to not be alone forever and to meet my new niece. The first stop we made was to see the new, beautiful McCall Udy. They had just gotten home from the hospital. She doesn't look anything like Cade did as a newborn, I think she looks more like Brett's baby pictures. Regardless, she is loved. Kent enjoyed his time home playing with his best friend Cade, and I enjoyed him having a playmate.

This is what a picnic at the river and a Costco run does to the boys. I loved it cause I got to ride home with Rachel and leave Mom and Dad to the boy watching.

I am sure this is not the first time these two are going to make her mad.

McCall was not in the picture taking mood as you can see. One day she will love her aunt just as much as her brother does.

The boys reunited.

Grandma bought Cade a matching outfit and of course we had to get a picture taken of the two of them.


But this is what they would rather do.


While I was home my mom and I went through dozens of boxes of stuff from when we were kids. Mostly toys and books. I sanitized them and brought them in for the grandkids to play with. Kent loved my kitchen stuff and when not being supervised would cook in the real oven. (Dad I hope you are still grateful it was me cleaning the garage with mom and not you)


Wiley gets lots of extra attention when Kent and I are home, mostly in the name of treats where Kent is involved. Here Kent and him are cuddling in the morning.


Rachel and I made flower clips while we were home. Rachel put them in Kent's hair one night and took a picture to send to Ammon to spite him. Ammon is always teaching Cade to say "naughty" words, so this was a little payback. Ammon despises anything girly on his son.

Allen Udy Reunion-2011

About every three years we have an Allen Udy reunion. Allen Udy is my great-grandpa. We have been having these since I was a little kid, and as the years go by the people keep multiplying, we are somewhere around 40 now. All the great-grandkids my age are starting to get married and a few of us are even bringing some great-great-grandkids along. This year we went to Island Park, ID/Yellowstone. It wasn't warm by any means, but we all ended up having a good time. We missed Brett and Rachel who were still in Pullman adding to the Allen Udy family tree, more on the cute addition later. Enjoy the photo journal of our time there.

Kent showing off his new hat Aunt Robin and Uncle Lance got him.

Time spent waiting for the disgusting bathrooms was always fun. This is my grandpa, grandma, aunt, and uncle showing their excitement.

We drove up a mountain until we reached the top, 10,000 feet in elevation. The view was amazing. (Uncle Marcus, Aunt Wanda, Mom, Dad, Me, Ammon, Grandma Udy, Grandpa Udy)

A short rest after shopping.

Kent shielding Grandpa from the rain.

Kent's first experience with a pinata. He is such a boy, stick a bat in his hands and he will enjoy hitting anything you let him.

Collecting the loot...his favorite...FRUIT SNACKS!

Family picture, if we look cold it was because we were.

Game time with Lance and Robin

This is half of the Udy clan, the rest got there that night. We doubled in size.

Kent spent plenty of time tagging along with Grandma. We took this picture from afar, they were playing "The Wheels on the Bus".

Kent with Grandma again.

My dad's family at the falls.

A pretty decent family picture. You can see the top of Kent's head. He spent a lot of time napping in the stroller.

Kent loves his grandma.

Not very often do Ammon and I get a picture of just the two of us, but here is number 1 for the day...

and number 2.