St. George

In March Lyndsay, Mace and I went to St. George to visit Lyndsay's family and to go climbing with John and Corianne.  John and I wanted to attempt to climb something we had climbed with Mark Christensen just before we left on our missions.  Kourtney and Luke were nice enough to let us stay at their beautiful house/hotel.

Mace thought it was pretty fun to kick Lyndsay while swinging.

Here are Lyndsay and Mace at the park with the Dixie sign. 

Here is John on the start of "Banana Dance" 5.11D, the climb we had come all the way to St. George for. 

John made it up the first 3 bolts and then gave me a chance. 

I was able to get the quickdraw in on the fourth, but wasn't able to clip the rope in.

After that, John flew up past where we had been stuck before, and finished it.  It was pretty cool to watch.

The climb was so steep that you couldn't clean it from the top.  I spent forever climbing from the bottom cleaning the route.  I cheated in every way possible to get up it.

The next day we went to Chuckawalla.  Here is Corianne.

And John.

Turtle!

Mace is getting so smart. I love it! I have lost track of how many words he can say. I love that he understands so much. It is so fun to watch him learn more each day! 

Tonight in the bathtub, Mace and I named all of the animals toys he has. We made a game out of it. It was hilarious! We would line up each of the animals as we named them, and then knock them all back in the tub! 

One of my favorite words that Mace says, is turtle. He only says it once in this clip, but it is so cute! (My other favorite is octopus!)

Thomas the Train

Mace has recently started to like Trains. He loves them and gets so excited every time he sees one. I got him his very own train while we were at Walmart tonight. He has carried it around with him everywhere he goes. The only time he didn't have it, was when I distracted him enough to get him in the tub. Mace even took Thomas the Train to bed with him! Luckily, Mace has two sets of Thomas jammies!

After I got Mace all ready for bed, I asked if he wanted to read books. He shook his head yes and headed for his room. When I came back from the kitchen, this is how I found him.

Here is a cute video of Mace with his train jammies and his new toy!

I suddenly have all sorts of ideas of what I can get Mace for his birthday. I may be stocking the ksl ads for Thomas the Train toys!

"What is your definition of scary cold?"

Mace and I went backcountry skiing with my dad last Saturday.  It is a little stressful trying to go skiing with little Mace.  You want to avoid even the most remote chance of an avalanche, so you have to scratch most places off your list.  You want to avoid trees and rocks too.  You want to be able to make it to the car quickly, so no tours where you have to hike out.  And, of course, you want to make sure that your little dude is warm enough.  Do you think Mace was dressed warm enough?

Does this remind you of anyone?  Gorge perhaps?

Or, maybe the kid on "A Christmas Story"

Mace rode on my back.  My dad carried all the essentials. 

It was a beautiful day.  We went up Grizzly Gulch by Alta. 

Mace was a real champ.  He slept for about an hour, and seemed really happy for the rest. 

I couldn't actually see Mace the entire time; so when we weren't around my dad, I got out the camera and took videos of him to see if he would smile.  If I saw a smile, I figured we were good to go for another 5 minutes or so.

 

When the clouds broke, you could see the most amazing blue sky

My dad 

Mace liked to get a reaction out of me when he would kick my bum with his Lightning McQueen boots.

Then, as we neared 10,000ft, tragedy: 

The binding on my skis snapped without warning.  I was terrified for a few minutes as I thought about how long it would take to hike back down.  It wasn't that we were that far away, it was that you sunk to your knee in the soft snow when you weren't on your skis.  All of the sudden we were a couple hours away from the car instead of 15 minutes.  Turns out, I was able to ski down alright as long as I kept in a left turning tele-stance.

We made it down in about 30 minutes.  Even with the broken binding limiting the skiing, it was still awesome.

Mace and my dad back at the parking lot. 

The Dinosaur Playground

South Town Mall has a little playground that is so much fun! It is all about dinosaurs. I think it is really good for Mace to be around other kids and learn how to take turns playing.

Mace loves to peek through the holes in the rib cage behind him.

He rode on this dinosaur for most of the time we stayed to play. I think he thought he was a "big kid" because he could get on and off of it all by himself. 

This video isn't too exciting, but I wanted to include it anyways.

Can you Flex?

Tyler has taught Mace how to flex!

Oh how I love my little guy!

Hello!

This is making me laugh so hard! Listen for when Mace puts the phone to his ear and says, "hello!"

It's the little things that make me smile most

Almost every morning, I make oatmeal for Mace. He loves it!

Well, oatmeal is hot, so I blow on it to cool it down.

Mace has picked up on this, and now helps me blow on food that is too hot!

He is going to destroy those candles, when he turns two!

He has also mastered saying "more" in sign language. He won't say it if he is really hungry, and very impatient.

Mace ROCKIN' Out!

My mom gave me the rocking chair I played with as a little girl.

Mace really likes to rock in it.

Tyler made this movie while I was at work the other night!

(Tyler was watching conference on TV.)

MORE!

Tyler and I have been trying to teach Mace a few words in sign language lately.

The first word we taught was 'more.' He picked up on it pretty fast. We are trying to help him to be able to express himself. He gets pretty frustrated when we can't understand him.

Any advice on helping him learn is appreciated!

Mace telling Jokes

This morning, Mace and I were eating breakfast. He starts talking in his jiber jaber and laughing! It was so funny. He is getting more personality everyday! I love him!

The Battle

Sometimes, medicine is no fun to take.

This makes me think of Mary Poppins.

"Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down!"

Only 9 more doses to go . . . .

Ophir Canyon

Last weekend we went decided to go somewhere neither of us had ever been. We looked online and found Ophir Canyon. It wasn't too far away so we packed a lunch and took off! We found the city of Ophir pretty easy. It is a small, old mining town. There is only one road (Main Street), which everything is off of.

This is the Town Hall and Fire Station

Have you ever seen a town that posts a "Quiet Time" sign?

We visited the historical park

We had a lot of fun and decided that we want to explore more places that we have never been!

Tyler and Mace driving in the Basement

We put Mace's dump truck together that Grandma and Grandpa McCormick gave him! He loves it! Fun family times! I am so glad that he laughed in this movie! This is how he laughs all the time! It sounds like he is coughing or trying to clear his throat! So funny!

Mace Destroying his Birthday Cake!

I just love watching this movie! It makes me laugh every time! I thought Mace would do a pretty good job at eating/destroying his birthday cake, but I had no idea this is how it would be! I love this little guy so much! He has changed my life so much! I love being a mommy. I never knew how much I could love a person until he came into our lives. My love for Tyler grew so much the day Mace was born! We are so lucky and blessed that we get to be parents!

My camera was struggling with the focus during this movie. Anyone want to donate to the fund to buy me a new video camera?

Dance Dance!

Learning how to dance! I love it!

I think he's pretty good!

My Hiccups!

Who knew hiccups were so funny!

Playroom under the Stairs

Tyler and I have hired a company to finish our basement.

They are doing such a great job, too!

They have cut out a little door and window under our stairs for a play room!

Mace already loves it!

(More pictures to come about the basement!)

My Baby is WALKING!

Mace is starting to walk! This was last night at Grandma Donna and Grandpa Roy's house. We always have so much fun at their house!

I am so proud of Mace. He is getting so big and learning so much. He is such a sweet little boy!

Hi Dad!

"Dad?"

Everyday Mace and I call Tyler while he is at work. I usually have it on speaker phone in the beginning so Mace can hear his Daddy's voice.

Today, I was working on the computer in our family room. Mace found the house phone, picked it up and started pressing the buttons. Just as I look over at him, he holds the phone to his ear and says, "Dad?" It was so cute. We called Tyler so Mace could say hi!

I am amazed at how smart my baby is!