Happy 4th of July!

Fourth of July weekend has been busy. Poor Porter took his naps in backpacks, in his car seat, on the boat, at the Swimming Pool, and on Grandma's floor, so by the end of Saturday night, he was done. We had a great holiday though. We left bright and early Friday for a hike up to Three Lakes in Brighton. I don't know about the rest of you, but that 102 degree weather that was promised seemed to be MIA for us. Although I felt overly prepared with my sunscreen, hat, sun glasses, bug spray, food, formula, snack, and everything else for Porter, I failed to remember one thing, socks. His poor little feet got a little cold up at the top. We headed down the canyon to Brunch at Sharon's Cafe. Next, we packed up and headed to the pool, which, by the way, Porter absolutely loves swimming! Finally, we ended up at my parents house for a BBQ and fireworks. Later that night Tom and a few others ventured over to Holladay City to see the fireworks. He said they were an impressive display and he felt they were almost too long. Our celebration didn't end there. The next morning, quite early, we headed up to Jordanelle to go boating. It was a bit cold, but we all enjoyed it except for Porter who still can't quite handle the life jacket. This was the first time I had a chance to Wakeboard since before I was pregnant, so I definitely enjoyed myself. We finally headed home to catch a nap before we headed out to dinner. It was a jam packed weekend and our poor little boy was exhausted, but it was a great 4th of July.

Here are a few more pictures of Porter from this past week:

Road Rage and Coffee, Who Knew?

Although I must admit I have experienced some road rage of my own, I have never experienced this.  I was driving along Van Winkle which was under construction and down to one lane.  I was behind a big rig and we were going about 15 mph.  Finally, we passed the construction zone and it opened back up to two lanes.  As soon as it did, I got into the left lane and increased  my speed.  Well, the Big Rig found himself behind another large truck and decided he wanted to move over too.  I was almost past him when he began to move over.  He could clearly see me.  How does that sticker go?  "If you can't see my mirror then I can't see you."  Well I could definitely see his mirror.  I quickly sped up so as not to be pushed off the road.  Apparently this was the wrong thing to do.  When we got to the stop light he leaned out his window and began cussing me out and giving me the finger.  I just put my hands up and shrugged my shoulders at him.  Apparently again the wrong thing to do.  As I waited to turn left at the next light, I was startled as something hit my car and brown liquid began to run down the window.  By the time I realized what had happened, he had driven away and I was too late at getting his license plate.  He threw his coffee at my car!   Seriously?  What has this world come to?

Youth Conference

Last weekend Tom and I got away. . . to Youth Conference. I serve in the Young Womens and Tom serves in the Young Mens (which means all his vacation days are spent at camps this summer).Frisbee football and swimming kept us active and Missionary Fear Factor kept us on our toes. We had missionaries that served in different missions come talk about the culture and share a typical dessert from their country. As many of you returned missionaries can commiserate, many times on your mission, out of respect, you have to eat dishes that aren't exactly appetizing. This is what our "missionaries" had to eat:

Chicken Feet and Cow Tongue
Among other things, they also had to stick their hands in a bag full of crickets and sample baby food blindfolded (it was peas). Frisbee Football, Swimming, Speed Tournaments, hiking, and for me, cooking the food, kept us very busy.

Tom won over the hearts of many because, according to him, he lives in Neverland and never grew up. Girls and boys alike fought for his attention, while I slaved away with the meals.  Do I sound bitter? Overall, it was a huge success and it was fun to be up there together. Oh, by the way, my mom watched Porter.

6 Months, 2 Teeth, and Still Not Rolling Over

The six month mark has come and gone.  It's incredible how time flies.  But even more, it is incredible how big our little boy has grown in these past six months.  I don't even remember Porter even being remotely small.  As seen in the picture, one of Porter's greatest accomplishments so far is growing those two lovely bottom teeth.  On my top list of great things babies learn, Porter has mastered sitting up and can even entertain himself.

As of late, Porter has developed a TEMPER.  Now I see he is his mother's son.  Just a warning to all those who have fallen under his cute baby spell, do not take away his toys!  Tub time is the worst.  When it is time to get out, we put his toys away and he is outraged.  He yells and cries until he gets his way.  Who knew a six month old could have such ANGER?  

There is one thing Porter seems to not be interested in, rolling over.  He has done it once, which I guess is good enough for him because he refuses to do it.  We put him on his back and he is content just playing there.  We roll him over and he stays put.  On the upside, it is pretty easy to keep track of the little guy cause he isn't going anywhere.

Lake Powell

Although the weather did not want to cooperate, we had a fabulous time in Lake Powell. We are so lucky that my mom has such nice friends, the Redds, who include us in their invitations. Their daughter is Haven, the darling little girl that gave Porter the nickname Quarter. On Thursday, we loaded up the Sequoia and headed down with my family as soon as the boys got home from work. We got down there at 12:30 and it was pouring. Luckily, the rain let up just long enough for us to load everything onto the House Boat. I was a little hesitant taking Porter, but it turned out to be a great trip . We even had our own room on the House Boat which made things quite nice. He had a little cold, but that didn't stop him from having fun, although he didn't even get in the water. We hooked his swing to the top of the Boat and he would swing for hours, just enjoying being outside and watching the water. Surprisingly, Porter loved the boat, the life jacket was another story. Porter played really hard which left all of us exhausted. We had tons of fun, the food was great, and we can't wait to do it again in August!

Morning Exercises

Every morning Porter and I get up and exercise together. Here is Porter's version of exercise.  He even gets out of breath and works up a sweat!  Maybe he should do it longer because he is giving me a bad back.  But here is Porter:

He loves this jumper and will stay in it happily for up to and hour and a half! Just check out those awesome thighs!  The best recording I have of it is sideways.  I'm no computer junkie, but I found a plug in to rotate it in imovie, but I can't post it in my blog after I rotate it.  I'm still working on it, but this one is pretty funny too.  

 

A Day at the Zoo

We took advantage of the great weather on Saturday and headed up to Hogle Zoo with the LeBaron clan. Although it started out a bit cold, it ended up being quite a great day. Tom and I have decided to dress for the weather we want it to be rather than the reality. I had Porter in shorts and a t-shirt and felt like a horrible mother when I saw Joseph with his long underwear and his bundled up kids. The animals were huge fans of this weather and many of them came out of hiding. Hogle Zoo has definitely improved since the days of the Elementary Field Trips. The Elephant Encounters and Asian Highlands are a much needed step up, although something has to be done with the Reptile House. That is the sickest smelling place I have ever been! Porter was wide eyed at the beginning of the trek and did catch a glimpse of the Elephants and the Black Bears, but fell asleep soon after and was zonked out for most of the day.Sometimes I wonder who we came to the Zoo for. Leave it to the LeBaron boys to always find something ugly and want a picture of it. Tom loved the Penguins. I loved the ducklings! Although the Zoo may not be my favorite place in the world, it was a great day!