Day 1 Chicago/Nauvoo Vacation

We had a few days off from work, so we decided to take a vacation up to Chicago and then over to Nauvoo. We've never been to either place, so we thought it would be fun to drive up there.

Our first day, we wanted to break up the trip a little bit so we stopped at the St. Louis Zoo and had a fabulous afternoon with Kashton!!
All the animals were so close to us. Kashton fed this little baby giraffe a leaf. It was so cute. Kashton loved it!!!

Sleeping tiger. It was cool to see it laying there. Usually they're always hiding somewhere.

With the recent passing of the most amazing entertainer, Michael Jackson, we've been culturing our son in the art of the Michael Jackson dance!!! He's almost got it down. He was practicing his moves in front of the huge fan that was blowing a mist of water at him. Needless to say, he also had quite the audience cheering him on. There were women taking pictures of this little toddler standing in his stroller saying "Eee Hee. OOWW!"

Sitting on daddy's shoulders watching the sea lion feedings.

Reaching out to pet the penguin. He LOVED this exhibit.

The puffins were his favorite. He laughed and laughed at them playing in the water. We couldn't resist....we bought him a little stuffed animal penguin.

That's a big bug!!!

Beautiful butterflies. Cameron and I were more interested in them then Kashton.

Cameron feeding this macaw Kashton's Cheerios. Glad we didn't get caught and kicked out of the zoo.

Kashton loved this hippo that just kept swimming around in a circle.

We couldn't believe that this elephant came so close to us. I've never been this close to an elephant. We all thought that was pretty awesome.

After the zoo, we continued the four hour drive up to Chicago.

Cameron and I were suppose to go to the Melting Pot for Valentines Day, but it never worked out. So, we decided to have our Valentines dinner that first night in Chicago.

Neither one of us have EVER been there before and we LOVED it. Kashton was not only a very good boy the entire day and was so patient with this long meal we had, but he also absolutely loved it too.

BEING SILLY!!!!

We all loved the fantastic dessert!!! It was the best part of the night.

Yummy, yummy chocolate covered strawberries.

Cameron loved the chocolate a little TOO much.

Like Father, Like Son!!!!

To Be Continued...

A Post for Mom!!!

Hey all!!

Again, I'm HORRIBLE at posting things. I'm so far behind that I could never catch-up.

I was talking to mom the other day and she was saying how she wished she could see the things we've been working on at our house. Mom hasn't been able to see our yard in the summer time...so this post is for you mom!!!!

Here is a portion of our new fence. Obviously it's not quite finished yet. But I wanted to show you what the terrible electric company did to our backyard.

In the Spring when the weather was still nice, I was going outside with Kashton EVERYDAY and we were having picnics out on the grass in the shade of our big tree!! It was SO nice.

Then the electric company (without asking our permission) just showed up in our backyard and started HACKING at the tree to cut it away from the powerlines. I was so mad that tears LITERALLY stung my eyes!! So, here is our very sad and very ruined tree. Actually, it's more like a giant stick in the backyard now.

The backyard is miserable to be in now. There isn't an ounce of shade at all and it's just too humid and yucky!! So sad!!

The other sad thing: I've treated my roses twice already this season for bugs and the Japanese Beetles just wont leave my roses alone. This year my roses have looked worse than ever.

My pathetic rose bushes!!

The roses wont grow as big and beautiful as they use to and they brown and wilt within a day. I use to be so proud of them.

My herb garden!! This I'm proud of.

Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, Parsley, Mint, Basil, and Lavender!

A random collection of flowers. I've never been able to keep flowers alive in this bed before. I brought in a lot of fertilized soil and mulch. So far, so good. Still can't get anything to grow on that trellis though!!! It's as though the trellis is poisonous and kills everything that touches it!! (Besides the random thistle growing behind it....I should go out and pull it right now)

My tomatoes!!!

They're not thriving either. I had ONE big green tomatoe that I was keeping my eye on and of course....Parker pulled it off and bit it. :(

Another view of flower bed and fence!!

Two little tomatoes!! I'll try to keep these ones away from Parker!

My hybiscus!! Again, not thriving this year!!! You can see where the Japanese Beetles have attacked it too!!

My front porch. Put new cushions on the chairs this year.

My hanging basket!!

The front yard is thriving much better than the backyard!!!

My hydrangeas.

Look at the great job Cameron did on the porch. Powerwashed it down, re-painted it, and put those pretty tiles on it. He did such a good job!!!

My Hostas and impatients.

The retarded hydrangea bush that never blooms. But it keeps getting bigger each year.

The stairs!!!

Good Job Cam!!!

The window box!!

Under the small tree in the front yard!!

It's been raining alot and we havent mowed. :)

Flower bed in front.

It's actually thriving his year for the first time, but we still can't seem to kill the stupid Yucca plant. I just keep digging it up every week.

The Crepe Myrtle. It's finally getting bigger!

YAY!!! We finally got a mailbox!!

For all you who've never seen my house (which is EVERYONE), we had a very sad, pathetic excuse for a mailbox...but not anymore. :) I was quite excited about this!!

New counter top!!

YAY!!! Not that horrible, gouged-up green one anymore!!

New, pretty stainless steel sink. No more yucky, stained, gouged-up white one.

More of the countertops and LOOK MOM...I finally went and bought new knobs for the kitchen and installed them all. YAY ME!!!! No more missing knobs!!

And the pretty juicer Cam got me for my birthday. :)

The newly painted living room. We painted it a gold color and installed those shelves!

Last but not least...the picture Kashton gave Cameron for Father's Day!!

Now come see me. :)

Love you!!!

Big Boy Bed

Well, we realized that we no longer have a little baby boy anymore. We decided it was time for him to have his "big boy bed."

This was his last night in his crib. I just had to take a picture of him cuddling with Elmo, it was so cute.

Dismanteling the crib.
My big helper with the screwdriver. I promise we NORMALLY have clothing on him but he had been outside playing and was really hot and flushed. So I let him run around the house in his diaper. :)

The crib was put away and the toddler bed took it's place. He was SO excited about his "feshal" (special) bed.


Already trying out the springs. Look at that BIG TUMMY!!!
Getting ready to say his prayers. He's so cute!! He will kneel down on the floor with his arms on the bed and wait for mommy and daddy to join him. What a good example.
Trying out the bed for the first time.
Later that night, I again had to take his picture. I thought it was SO cute that he was holding both Elmo's and Mickey's hands.
He has been so proud of his Big Boy Bed. It took him a few days to realize that he can get out of it when he wakes up in the morning instead of crying until mommy or daddy comes and gets him. He didn't have a hard time adjusting either. He went right to sleep and never made a peep all night long and he hasn't (yet)rolled out of the bed onto the floor. :) What a Big Boy!!!!