Sunday, July 27, 2008

Ty and Nana Time

Ty and I had a great time this last week. I had the opportunity to watch him while Carynn went to have her hair done. We had a good time playing. He demonstrated his super-fast crawling skills, his steady on his feet while standing skills and his voracious appetite. He does like to eat.

One way I keep him occupied while he eats is to hand him two large metal spoons. He bangs those around, puts them in his mouth, invariably drops one (or both), I then wash them, and place them back on his high chair tray and the game begins again. It's a fun game, really.

Tonight after Sunday Dinner we played a game with Ty that we used to play with our children when they were babies. We had Melinda hold Ty at one side of the living room and two or more of us positioned ourselves on the other side of the room. The "game" was to see who Ty would come to when Melinda sat him down. I, unfortunately, did not "win" at all. Carynn won all of the "heats" she was in and Michael won the others. Melinda did pretty good. Ty did get a bit distracted when Michael "cheated" and used a wooden block from my patriotic decorations to lure him. Sigh, some people will do anything to win. It's good I'm "above" all that. Just kidding. It was fun to play an old game with a new young one.

I'm so thankful that we live so close to Carynn and Jamie and Ty so that we can see them often.

NS

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I'm back or Catching up!

Fourth of July was great! Not as many people came as last year, but we still had a good crowd maybe 40-50 people. Carynn, Jamie and Ty came. Ty slept through the festivities downstairs, but his mom and dad didn't. They had first dibs on our swing and a great view of the fireworks.

Saturday the 5th I watched Michael run in the Liberty Lake Loop race. He ended up winning his division though he wasn't happy with his time. Right after that I left for Colorado Springs via Utah and with my friends Jim and Joann Richey and their dog Dusty. We spent the night in Dell, Montana and then drove to Salt Lake. Bret and Laura picked me up from Joann's daughter's home and I had a yummy meal at Laura's parents' home. Then it was back to Provo to spend time with B & L. I enjoyed my two and a half days there and then caught up with Jim and Joann for the trip to Colorado Springs.

We spent the night at a RV campground in Leadville, Colorado. (Michael tells me that it's the highest incorporated town in the US.) Then it was on to Colorado Springs. Unfortunately we found out on our arrival in Manitou Springs ( a cute town-suburb of Colorado Springs) that our friend Linda was in the hospital. We went to visit her. Jim gave her a blessing and then we called my brother to arrange for a time when he could come and along with Jim give her a priesthood blessing. Linda ended spending all of her stay in Colorado Springs in the hospital and flew back to Spokane on Sunday.

I enjoyed my time with Jim and Joann and attending the wedding festivities of our mutual friends' son. My brother Grady was my escort for the wedding and reception. He wore his mess dress (tuxedo uniform) that I kept calling dress mess by mistake. He looked distinguished; I think the rest of us cleaned up well too.

After all the wedding stuff was done I stayed an extra three days with Grady and his family. He took me on a tour of the Air Force Academy (where he's stationed). We also went bowling. He also took me to a gun club where I learned to fire a revolver and a semi-automatic 9 mm handgun. (I'd never fired anything but a beebee gun before. I had a great time. If I had to fire a gun I prefer the revolver.)

I flew out from Colorado Springs this afternoon. I got home today around 5:00 PM. Carynn and Ty came over and he has another tooth! He also is verbalizing much more than I remember from 11 days ago. He's still fascinated with our ceiling fans and is smiling up a storm. (I found a cute outfit for Ty at Peterson AFB's BX-it was such a good price and will work well for next year!)

Now it's time to get going on dinner. I enjoyed my roadtrip, am thankful that all was well while I was gone and am happy to be back too.

Love, NS

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Eight months old! or I can do it all by myself!

I'm excited that Ty is eight months old! When I compare his pictures at birth through now, it's amazing to see the changes he's made in growth and development. Since it's been so long since our youngest (Melinda) was that age, there have definitely been things that I've forgotten.

One of Ty's latest "things" is holding his bottle by himself. He does it quite well. I witnessed that this last week when they were visiting. I also like to "sneak" him sips of water by holding a cup up to his lips and tilting it ever so slightly. A miniscule amount comes out and he really likes that (squeals of delight and happy feet kicking).

Just a few days ago Grandpa got in "trouble" for feeding Ty an Otter Pop. Not just because of the colored frozen sugar water issue, but because he (and Ty) got it all over Ty's brand new outfit. It's like deja vu-I remember Michael doing things like that when our children were young.

We're excited to go to the cabin for the 3rd of July! (That's when they do the fireworks there.) Then it's back home for our annual 4th of July fireworks open house. Then I'm out of town for a week and a half visiting family and attending a wedding.

Celebrate!

NS