13 MONTHS

Don't let the picture above of Phin holding still fool you...he rarely holds still these days.  He is busy busy boy.  He thinks he should be standing up anytime that he is not asleep...he even stands in the bathtub.  He loves his bike and has found that it serves great as a walker as well.  Most of the time he can be found just pushing it around.  His bike has also taught him to be quite the climber...he learned to throw his foot up over the bike to get on and now he uses that strategy with any object he finds.

He loves to feed himself and his favorites are cheerios and veggie sticks.  He is also a huge ice cream fan and comes over to beg from anyone that has a bowl full.  He had his first Popsicle this month and insisted on feeding himself.  

He is still wearing size 4 diapers...this picture is from our first real coupon adventure.  We got 136 diapers and 320 wipes for under 20 bucks...thanks to lots of coaching from my sister Sarah.  

Seth celebrated his second Father's day with Phin.  They decided to read the comics together.

Phin's sleeping habits have been all over the place this month.  He typically gets up for a feeding around 5 or  6 in the morning and then goes back to sleep.  Sometimes he has slept until after 9 or 10 in the morning.  When he is teething sleep is a different story and he gets up several times during the night to nurse.  He has cut out his morning nap and is down to just one nap a day most days.

He loves to follow me around in the kitchen.  His favorite kitchen toy is by far the metal measuring cups.

He continues to chatter away.  He has started to say "hat" with lots of modeling.  Here he is in the cute hat Aunt Jamie gave him for his birthday.

He loves to watch other children and loved a recent play-date with his cousin Eliza.

He also loves animals and is able to tell us what a dog says.  

High Adventure

Seth took four days off at the beginning of June to accompany the Scouts on a High Adventure trip.  They ventured off to Wyoming.  One day they took a hike...and were surprised to find snow covering most of the trail.

They performed a service project involving installation of a fence.

They played in the water at a lake...I heard the boys were not fond of the swim check that was performed prior to being able to play in the water.

The last day they went river rafting and the leaders had to force the boys to go down the river a second time.  Then they came home and Seth was greeted by a wife and son that missed him very much.

Desolation Trail

The last Monday in June we hiked the Desolation Trail in Millcreek Canyon with our friend Dave.  It was a 5.3 mile hike round trip.  The trail was shaded most of the way which made this summer night quite delightful.  Here are a few pictures from the overlook.

Phin loved chewing on Seth's camelback...he also loved the fruit by the foot that Dave was sweet enough to share...can you see his blue lips in the picture below?

Dave introduced us to Rita's ice after the hike...yum...I got a Gelati which is a blend of Italian Ice with Frozen Custard...mango ice + vanilla custard = delicious.

Hike the Y

Over Father's Day weekend we decided to complete our "new" activity for June...neither one of us had hiked the Y before so we decided to give it a try.  It is hard to believe that I was down at BYU for four years and never made the trek...even harder to believe that I graduated from BYU 10 years ago!  Campus has changed so much over those 10 years...no more Deseret Towers (DT), no more Heritage Halls...the list goes on and on.

The trail was pretty killer...12 steep switchbacks...Seth was a rock star for carrying Phin up.

We made it to the top and enjoyed the spectacular views...and a little shade.

Our deal is that Seth carries Phin up the mountain...and I carry Phin down...personally I think I have the better end of this deal.

We stopped at a snow cone shack after for a treat.

Car Show on Main

Bountiful City hosts a car show on Main over Father's Day weekend...we decided it was a good excuse to grill up some hot dogs and host some of our family members.  Phin and James were able to play a little before the food was ready...Phin was apparently showing off his boxing out basketball skills as he stood between the Hot Wheels and James.

We had polish sausages with a copy cat recipe of JDawgs special sauce.  On the side we had chips, watermelon, grapes and some homemade strawberry lemonade.

Benny got to show off his boxing out skills as he protected his food from Phinner.

After the food we headed over to the car show...I am always a sucker for the teal cars.

Max and Benny liked this fast car.

Mary's favorite was this blue number.

We caught the very end of the parade and were able to see this old Utah Highway Patrol car parading.

Then Scott put on the drunk goggles and tried to walk on the line...he didn't even get to the line until halfway through his walk.

Then Max and Benny had to try out the goggles.

JB's favorite car was this blue Stingray.  I tried to get a picture of him with it...but he was too distracted chatting with the owner...Max obliged my request.

The night wouldn't have been complete without spotting a Delorean...Max had no idea what it was...I think he may need to pop my parent's VHS copy of Back to the Future in and find out.

After everyone took off we headed back out and walked along Main street to the grocery store.  On our way back we decided to stop for a fun photo op.

This is the place

On June 13th we visited This Is The Place Heritage Park for Huntsman Day.  I had only been to the park for a wedding reception so it was nice to visit.  We jumped on the train before it got too busy.  We were lucky enough to be accompanied by Nona, JB, Max, Ben, Andrew and James...

Seth was also able to join us after the train ride. He had been at High Adventure camp Monday to Thursday and when he got to work on Friday his boss was kind enough to give him the day off...so he drove up to the park to meet us.  Phin and I were thrilled to spend more time with him. When he arrived we toured a pirate ship together.

The boys loved the free ice cream...I took this picture of Andrew just to convince him that we needed to wipe his face off.   Then we headed to the teepee and Navajo hogan.

After visiting the cabinet maker, shoe maker, etc we stopped by the splash pad.  Phin loved the water.

Then we took a break under the main pavilion and were entertained by the Native American dancers.  Our favorite dance by far was the hoop dance.  We met up with Collette, Emily, Jane and Aaron and headed over to the hospital and quilt museum.   The most unique quilt definitely goes to this squirrel pellet quilt...maybe someday Phin will make a quilt like this.  

Our final stop of the day was at the Brigham Young Forest Farmhouse.  After a quick tour we enjoyed some ice cream on the back porch.  I love that the porch wraps the entire way around the house.

Phin is used to having his ice cream spoon fed to him so he wasn't sure what to do with a cone.  I am sure with a couple more cones this summer he will quickly figure out how to lick.

IT'S laGOon TIME

We headed to Lagoon a couple of Tuesdays ago to ride a few rides and hang out with Papa who was Exec of the day.  Phin's first ride of the day was Bulgy the Whale with his cousin Andrew...

Phin took the warning to keep both hands inside the ride and hold on tightly very seriously...he held on with both hands.

He doesn't look very happy here...but I promise he liked the carousel.

He also seemed to like the boats.

Our next stop was the train and Phin got to ride on Nona's lap...

and on Papa's lap.

Then Andrew got to ride on Phin's lap.

Nona and Papa kept Phin entertained while the rest of the crew took a ride on Rattlesnake Rapids.

We also sat down on Papa's favorite people watching bench on the main midway in front of the Spill the Milk game...it was a pretty good people watching bench.

Phin was pretty tuckered out when we got home...he took a long nap while I put together a crib.  Yes you read that right he has been in a playpen since he outgrew the cradle back in October.  When I got the crib all put together I put Phin in and he seemed to know right away that it was just for him...he started walking around the parameter and then he started to jump.