Weekend at Grandpa and Grandma Clarks

This weekend we drove up to Lindon, Utah to spend the week at Jeff's dad's house.  Cason hadn't seen them since February which is way too long.  He has changed so much since then.  Jeff has been extremely busy with school these past two semesters and we haven't had a chance to make it up there as much as we would like.  Hopefully over the next year that will change a bit and we can get up there more often.  We love to spend time with them and I want Cason to recognize and build a good relationship with them.  This weekend we spent time visiting, watching movies, bowling, and driving up Provo Canyon.  We were also able to see Jeff's sister's, Sarah and Jackie, and his uncle Steve.  We also dropped in on his aunt Steph and my uncle and aunt, Neil and Sharon.  It was great to catch up with everyone.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera on me most of the weekend, but I was able to get a few photos while we were bowling.  Cason was a bit tired, but seemed intrigued to watch us throw the ball down the lane.  If we would have let him he would have chased the ball every time.  The bowling alley had these cute dragons that kids could use to roll the balls down.  I had never seen them before.  Cason enjoyed sitting on top of the dragon to watch as we bowled.  He also used it as a slide.  It was a lot of fun!

Teeth

I just wanted to post a quick picture of Cason because I believe it is the very first picture I have of him that really shows his teeth!  It took the little tyke quite a while to even get the little chompers.  He got the first one just a couple of weeks after he turned 11 months on May 3rd.  I remember the day well because we were up all night trying to comfort him.  I wasn't sure what was going on because he had been acting fine all day and I had never experienced teething before.  I ended up taking the day off work because I was worried... silly first time mom :).... as well as exhausted.  Of course, the tooth popped out that morning.  The second came a couple of weeks later just before his first birthday.  The same thing happened again.  He was fine during the day, but had a rough night.  Sure enough we could see the cute little thing first thing the next morning.  I took this picture 2 days ago on Friday and today he has another little tooth poking out on top.  This time we were lucky enough to skip the rough night that preceeded the other two.  I'm guessing the next one will be coming anytime.  Doesn't he have the cutest little smile?!

My Casemeister

I can not believe that my baby ... scratch that, toddler ... is 14 months old!  He is getting so grown up and indpendent.  His little personality continues to develop and he is such a ham.  He is at such a fun age.  I wish I could stop the clock and put life on pause for a while.  Since I can't I am just trying to enjoy every second and appreciate the little moments.  Even thought life can be hectic and we seem so busy at times he makes it easy to love life.  Here are a few things about him at this stage.

• He's turned into mommy's little helper.  He shows me his hands to be cleaned off after eating, pulls his shirt over his head when getting undressed, lifts up his feet to put on his shoes, helps put toys away, etc.
• He makes the cutest kissy noises and faces.  I will be in one room and make kiss noises and no matter where he is in the house I can hear him do it back.
• He can actually play on the playground now.  He can climb up and slide down the slide by himself!
• He snaps his fingers and mimicks other little things that we do. 
• He loves to read.  Multiple times each day be brings me a book, climbs into my lap, and starts turning the pages.
• He has no fear.  This can be good and bad.  No fear of animals, heights, the road ... anything!
• He recently has been struggling with afternoon naptime.  He gives an oscar worthy performance complete with a ridiculous fake cry followed by a sweet smile and kisses.  What am I supposed to do with that?!
• He has so much energy and is constantly moving.  He usually only sits still long enough to really cuddle right before bedtime.  We still read stories and sing songs every night.  It's the best part of my day!
• Mom has replaced no as his favorite word.  When I'm not home he runs around the house looking for me and yellling "moom, mooom?"
• He's an excellent eater and seems to eat as much as me.  He's not gaining a lot of weight (currently 22 lbs), but is getting very tall.
• He loves to take a seat on anything that looks his size.
• He can officially climb onto the couch without help.
• He's a tease!  He'll pretend he's going to share food or a toy or even pretend to give me a hug and then pull back at the last second and laugh hysterically. 
• He hasn't had a haircut yet.  Some days I think about it, but just can't bring myself to change those long golden locks.  I think he looks adorable, but I don't want it to get to the point that he is confused as a girl.  I'm up for suggestions.
• He's incredibly ticklish, especially on his thighs.
• He's so much fun and there's something new everyday.  As always I could go on forever, but I guess I won't :).

 loving his new rocking chair... thanks grandma Janet

he loves playing at the park by our house... we go there almost every night

all by himself... I'm so proud

 if you look closely you can see his latest battle wounds... stitches on his left hand and his first black eye (left)... this kid's always getting hurt :(

4th of July

Let me start by saying I LOVE THE 4TH OF JULY!  Ever since I was little it has been my favorite holiday.... yes even more than Christmas.  It reminds me of everything good about summer.  Every year growing up we got together with family and created fun memories.  Some of my favorite things about the 4th of July are bbq's, swimming, watermelon, and FIREWORKS (of course).  Also, I am thankful to live in America and have the freedoms that I do and am so very grateful to those that serve our country in order to provide the opportunities that we have.  GOD BLESS AMERICA!

The Saturday before the 4th of July we got together with my family at the Main Street water park for lunch.  (This has become one of my favorite places to take Cason.)  The kids had a blast running through the streams and splash pad.  Let's be honest, I did as well :).  Because it was so stinkin' hot we decided to pack up the kiddos and spend the rest of the afternoon at my parents pool.  Jeff and I stopped on the way to grab a watermelon and some popsicles and we were set.  Cason loves watermelon.  He has had it multiple times before, but never with the rind.  Apparently, this is his new found love.  He had a watermelon rind in his mouth the entire afternoon.  It was so adorable! 

We decided to get up bright and early on the 4th to attend the parade at the Vernon Worthen Park.  Not even close to the best parade I've ever been to, but what is the 4th of July without a parade?  Afterward, we went back to my mom's house for breakfast.  Delicious!  The only thing missing was my dad.... we missed you grandpa!  That afternoon Jeff went golfing with a few buddies and Cason and I hung out with my mom at the park.  After a long debate of whether or not to keep Cason up for the fireworks we decided to take the risk.  After all the 4th of July only comes around once a year, right?  So, some friends came over for a barbeque and games beforehand.  Except Jeff became extremely sick and we didn't quite make it to the games... sorry guys!  Because he was so sick it was a bit of a nightmare getting to the fireworks.  I asked him if he wanted to stay home, but being the trooper that he is we went anyway.  Cason was in maniac mode at the park.  He wanted to run around constantly.  It was getting dark and there were thousands of people everywhere.  I was a bit nervous to let him loose, but anytime I tried to hinder him from doing his thing he would throw a fit.  At this point I considered it my fault for keeping him up 2 hours past his bedtime.  Luckily he calmed right down when the fireworks started and stared at the sky the entire time.  I think he was in awe!  Turns out he might like fireworks as much as his momma.  Despite a sick husband and the nightmare of keeping a kid up past his bedtime I would probably do it again just to see the look on Cason's face during the firework show.  Overall, great day!

 bathing beauties

 at the parade

 I don't think he knew how to react to the sirens from the fire engines :)

 I love this picture of Cason and his grandma

sooooo tired, but he kept on watching

Giles Family Reunion 2011

Last weekend was our annual Giles Family Reunion.  Every year the whole Giles clan gets together for a weekend of camping.  This year my aunt Janet and family were the hosts and chose Mahogany Grove Campground at Mt. Charleston, Nevada to hold the festivities.  It is so much fun to have everyone from the newest grandbaby to my 90 year old grandpa come together at the same time. We played games, made s'mores and tin foil dinners around the fire, hiked to the top of the mountain, and just relaxed.  It was so nice to get out of the St. George heat for a weekend.  The campground sits at 8,000 feet which made for nice days and chilly nights. 

best buds

Hiking to the top of the mountain!

Because it was a bit cold at night Cason didn't really want to sleep in his own bed and ended up sleeping with Jeff and I on the air mattress.  He slept like a baby... me not so much!  He moves around WAY TOO MUCH during sleep.  Both nights he took up half the air mattress which left me sandwiched between he and Jeff.  Quite the experience :).  He loves the outdoors and loved exploring the campground.  He was constantly moving... and falling!  Luckily we made it out with just minor cuts and bruises.  He was dirty the ENTIRE time, but looked so cute and had so much fun. 

 A friend suggested that we take sand toys.... so glad we did!

 

It is a tradition for our family to do skits around the camfire for one night of the reunion.  This year was a lot of fun.  My family came up with Chuck Norris-esque jokes for my grandparents and each of my mom's siblings.  I thought they turned out pretty funny and we had a blast making them up while preparing our tin foil dinners.  I'm sure we thought we were funnier than everyone else did.

Another tradition is for the whole family to get together for games one day.  We had so much fun playing "Minute to Win it."  Even though the Slaugh family did not win we had a blast!  Chelsea and I dominated at stacking soda cans with pasta and Conner was a little champ at everything he tried.  Chase did really well too.  After the nut stacking round he wanted to spend the rest of the time perfecting that one.  It was fun to watch everyone, especially my mom and dad, even if we did make fools of ourselves ;).  Cason of course was too young to participate which made it the perfect nap time.  It worked out great because everyone was up away from the tents playing the games which gave him the peace and quiet needed to zonk out for a couple of hours.

We also made marshmallow guns and had a full blown marshmallow war!  HILARIOUS!  It was every man for himself.... until we started yelling out names and ganging up on the weak.  My dad was taking a nap at the time and after the war was over we all decided to go in the tent and ambush him awake.  I'm sure he appreciated it.

 suicide by marshmallow?