Another big weekend.

My dad is retiring! Lindsey came up with a great idea to surprise my dad with a limo on the last day of school. He thought he would be cleaning out his room but we called him down to the front office about 15 minutes after school let out - Surprise!
We even had Grandma Finch with us. Aunt Beth picked her up in the morning, Tyler Lindsey and the kids drove up (only Bailey got to come in the limo), Curtis Max and I finish out the group. We went out to eat at Olivia's in Spanish fork. It was a great meal and I found a cute hat that I went back and bought the next day.
Isaac is growing. I forget how little babies are. Grandpa Jim let me look at his pictures of Max - just hours after birth. I can't believe he was ever this small.
Our friends invited us to a Bee's game on Friday night - we took tracks. It was my first time on tracks. The guy in front of us at the game made this dog - so I asked if I could get a pic of it...it looked so good and I don't even like hot dogs. Max liked the game but he got tired quick.
On Saturday we cleaned the house and went up Payson canyon with our friends to have a little BBQ. Curtis is a great cook.
Backing up a little...On Wednesday I went to Heritage makers to be a part of a focus group. After that ended.. I was talking to my friend, who works there, and she told me to apply for a customer service position. I brought in my resume and application Thursday morning and got a call for an interview the next day. Friday morning I had my interview and was offered the job. I start this coming Tuesday - Wish me luck. I'm feeling a little sick about learning a whole new job. I'll be learning tech support, the company program, reading accounts....The list goes on. I never thought I'd be starting over. I'm excited to learn but feel a little like the old dog. I've really appreciated all of your prayers and support to our family while I've been out of a job. (Lori, you've been a breath from heaven). It has meant so much to our family and we have felt very blessed and humbled. Thank you all! We love you.

A memorial weekend

We had a wonderful busy weekend. Isaac was born on the Thursday. He is adorable. Angie is doing great. I'm surprised at how well she does. They are such great parents.
Claire came to town on Friday. Saturday we spent some time at the cabin. One fire outside and one inside for Max. We roasted hot dogs and watched the fish in the stream.
TL Finch family came to town Friday night. We got to keep Sadie for the weekend. Chai was happy to have her friend back.
Sunday we celebrated Tuckers first birthday. He opened a few gifts (with help) then attacked his cake.

I love this tradition.

On Monday we spent the morning with the Finches. Lindsey made the best sandwiches. We had to say goodbye to Claire again. We hope she comes back soon. TL Finch family headed back home. We love to spend time with you - see you soon.
Memorial day afternoon was spent at the Payson cemetery and with the Stevens. Papa Jim BBQed stake and hot dogs - And we celebrated Grandma Della's birthday.
Hope you all had a wonderfully busy Memorial weekend too.

8 Days

Curtis set out on a journey Last week. He headed to Billings Montana for a wine and cheese show. He, of course, did the cheese part.

Or maybe he just went around and took photo's of cool ice sculptures.

And his cheese.

That is a really classy set up. I think I might try to go with him next year. I was going to go this year but I have a wonderful new job so I had to let him go on his own. Besides, what would we have done with Max?

See what I mean by cool ice sculptures?

Look at this one again, it is his hotel. He took a picture from the indoor balcony above the lobby. Pretty swanky for a business trip.
After billings he went to Jackson Hole, by way of Yellowstone.
He has really been putting his photo skills to work. Look at that water. It kind of makes me thirsty.

This is the lodge. Curtis has a life long dream to stay here. He took a self guided tour while he was in the area and found out that some floors have shared bathrooms at the end of each hall. He's in no hurry to fulfill this dream.

Curtis, we missed you and are so glad you will be home for a while. Life is not the same with out you here.
On Curtis' trip he also found out that his company has contracted for another 600 stores, most of them in his region. California and Nevada will be added at the end of the summer. We are not sure what this means for our family but life will get exciting come August.

7 Months

He is such a cute kid! McKenzie took his pictures today and I think they turned out great. He is learning to clap, he's pretty good at it. I had to work so I didn't get to be there for the pictures. I'm so sad I missed them but a BIG THANK YOU to grandma and grandpa for taking him for me. I really appreciate it.

Elder Rafael E. Pino, Faith in Adversity

I hope I don't get in trouble for stealing this pic. I read his conference talk tonight and was filled with hope, love, peace and admiration.
His talk was filled with wonderful quotes such as:

• "'there is no tragedy in death, but only in sin' and that the important thing is not how a man died but how he lived."

• “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; “And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes” (D&C 121:7–8).
  

So many more. I'm so glad May and November ensign's are devoted conference. I love to read them and remember/find new things. If you don't have an ensign, all of the talks are on lds.org. You should read it. It's a good one!

May Gifts

This is my mother's day gift. I've had great camera's in the past but nothing like this. This is so great I don't know how to work it yet. I've been reading the book though. Julie and Kari have this camera and I love the photo's they take. I've been saving for a camera for a while and Curtis helped me get it for Mother's Day. Just in time for the zoo and Kari's Idaho falls reception.
My dad gave me this flash cover. It takes the shine or reflection of the flash out of your picture. So you get the light of the flash but not the glare of a flash. I have not used it yet, but I'm excited to try it out.
This is another gift from my dad. This is the toy box my family had growing up. I pulled it up stairs to Max's room today. I'm so happy to have this. Max's toys are scattered through our house and cars. It will be nice to centralize a location for them.
When I opened the toy box it not only had the smell of childhood but it also had 2 BB's rolling in the bottom. Ah, I had a great childhood. (After we grew up, the box stored the BB guns for shooting in the back yard or until we could make it up to the cabin.) The box has been in my dad's high school photography lab for the last few years. He is retiring this year and my mom said he can not bring anything home. I'm glad he let me have it. Thanks Dad.

Big Brown eyes

I have loved being a stay at home mom. Sometimes I don't know what to do with him. I wish I knew more about this age. I feel like I should be introducing him to more things but I'm not sure what to start with. If you have any pointers, let me know.

Friends

New Job

I start a new job tomorrow. It is on the corner of main and 100 S in Payson. They will be open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm. I'm very excited. They just opened on Friday. The girls I work with are the cutest and I've known them my whole life. What a fun place to work.

Reception

This is Kari (Bride) and Christie (Max's Grandma). They are watching the wedding video. I have so many pictures of little details but the room was so dark, I didn't dare take any photos too far back.
This post has a lot of photo's of food, so maybe you should get a snack so you're not hungry through the whole post. All of the food at the reception looked (and tasted) so good. I can't remember who catered it but it was fantastic.
Max and Curtis had matching green ties. Kari bought all the boys a tie. They were really that green. I think it turned out really well.
Me and Max right before he made a mess and had to be put in his PJ's for the rest of the reception. He was so cute in his little tux.
These are some of the cousins that came down from Rexburg, ID. I'm so glad they came. I was thinking we would be there all night and not know anyone.
I'm still not sure what I think about this. It is two pineapples with chocolate dipped strawberry's speared to it. It looked cool. I don't think my photo skills did it justice.
Do you see the swan mellon? It was empty the first time I saw it. So fancy.
This is from the thank you table. they had 5 glass jars full of candy for guests to take with them. I filled a bag at the Salem reception and still have not eaten it. I did eat one lemon head.
I think the M&M company should buy this photo from me. It looks that good.
We had a great time at the party. Max fell asleep with a half hour to go. We are exhausted from all of the events and need a good rest to reboot. Hope you like the pics and felt like you were there too. Especially Angie and Jerry. We missed you.

Zoo

We went to the Zoo on Friday. We ended up in Idaho falls for the weekend to wrap up the wedding celebrations. We really wanted to go to the zoo when we found out it would only be $10 for all three of us. Curtis and I both went to this zoo when we were little. It is so much better than we remembered.
There was a real tiger sleeping in a cage by this bench. This picture is better than a sleepy tiger.

Classic.

Name this movie.

Curtis threatened Max that he would leave him with the Monkeys. I don't think he would mind.
This was a bunch of scary mini monkeys. They look like shrunken heads.

What a fun day.