120/365

We were driving in the car today and Gavin pulled out a piece of yellow chalk. I said, "Where'd that come from?" Gavin answered, "I think it just blowed in here... The wind gave me a gift!"

119/365

Dry cold cereal... Gavin's most popular breakfast ever since he could eat real food. Admittedly, it stemmed from my need for a little more sleep in the morning. When Gavin would get up, I'd get him a bowl of dry cereal, a sippy cup of milk and put on a show while I got a few more minutes. To this day, it's what he wants most mornings (minus the sippy cup). Lucky Charms are his current favorite.

118/365

So this is three Ellie photos in a row, but we can't help it--she's just too precious! I took this one myself while holding her and had to raise the camera up a couple of feet from her face for it to take. It was about 9:00 pm, she was all tuckered out, and I didn't want to put her down.

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Ellie is SIX months old today! Just today she started pushing herself up on her knees...several times! Could crawling be right around the corner? Notice the little line of drool coming off her chin... there's a short window when you can call that adorable... and she's in it! She's also sporting her homemade "babylegs" for the first time today.

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Pretty girl! she continues to work on sitting up.

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Gavin LOVES apples & usually has at least one a day. Today he had one, then immediately asked for another. As I was going downstairs to slice his second apple, he called, "Surprise me with any color you want... if it's red with a little bit of yellow, that's ok, 'cause I like ALL colors of the apples!" This was going to be the end of the post, but after his second apple, Gavin was begging for a third! "I need how many old I am... when I'm 3, I need 3 apples... but don't worry, when I'm 4, I'll only need one."

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We met the Skidmores at the Fiesta Henderson movie theater to see "How to Train Your Dragon," followed by a swim at Vance's parents' pool! It was a beautiful day. Ellie loved her first time in a pool. Gavin had a fun time playing with Brady & Logan and practicing his swimming skills, including jumping in to Dad! 

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This kid is growing up! He hadn't worn these pajamas since last fall, so when we pulled them out tonight, we discovered they've gotten a little short!

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It's slowly starting to sink in that Mom & Dad are gone for eighteen months!

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We got home from our Utah trip at 12:30am Vegas time... Gavin almost made it, but fell asleep sometime after 11:00. We're lucky that both kids are such good travelers.

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We stayed in Orem for Becky's birthday today since Ben had to work. We'd had her cake the day before with Mom, Dad & Chrissie, so we celebrated today with a trip to the mall for pedicures for Becky & me, while Darin watched the kids playing. Don't these Build-A-Bear shades fit Ellie just right? Ben surprised Becky by showing up at the mall (he'd taken the day off from work after all & had been waiting for us to get ready & out of the house!). We all had lunch together at CPK.

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Mom & Dad, reporting to the MTC!

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We snapped this picture after church in Ben & Becky's ward with Chrissie (who left that night) & Mom & Dad. (Bree was asleep). 

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Chrissie, Becky & I came back from Scrapaway today, to find everyone healthy & happy!

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They also went to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.

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While the moms were at Scrapaway, the dads and the kids had lots of fun...

here they are playing Red Rover. "Send Tessa right over!"

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We headed out of town on the way to Ben & Becky's this afternoon (we had planned to leave by noon, but you know how that goes!) Meanwhile, Mom & Dad were finishing up packing for 18 months... and it all had to fit in their Dodge Stratus!  Happy birthday to Grandpa Bishop!

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Ellie's 24 weeks old today! She's been enjoying rolling around on the floor on a big quilt & playing with her toys. She's sitting up for short intervals, but still needs some support behind her, just in case.

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Some of Gavin's favorite toys these days have been these Star Wars figurines that were Darin's as a child. Darth Vader was missing at the time... probably up to no good.

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Gavin, teaching Ellie how to navigate the iPhone...

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Angie went cake crazy today! After having some Spumoni ice cream lately, I had the great idea of making Spumoni cake. 3 flavors of cake: Chocolate, Cherry Chip (with a packet of unsweetened Cherry Kool-Aid for more flavor & color), and Pistachio (French Vanilla cake mix with a packet of pistachio instant pudding mix added). I made a 2 layer cake and several cupcakes too for my Primary meeting, and Mom obliged and made  her famous Fudge Frosting for the cake. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

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This was the only picture we took today. Ellie is good on errands... we can be out for a few hours,

in & out of places, and she almost never leaves her car seat. She'll play with a toy or sleep or watch Gavin, and if she gets hungry, she can even drink a bottle in the car seat. She's a sweet girl!

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Ellie has started to practice sitting up! With the help of the Boppy, or a couple of pillows, she can stay up. Eventually, she'll arch her back and lean backwards until she's off the Boppy and lying on the floor.

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We took Gavin to story time at the library today, and he marched right up to the front to listen, but once the story teller got into her story, Gavin got a big frowny face and kept on looking back at us. Don't know what it was... he came back & sat with us for a while, regained his composure, then went back & was fine the rest of the time! Silly boy.

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Darin's been working on the interior of the Land Cruiser lately, adding new seats from a late model 5 series BMW, dome lights, grab handles, homelink, and a complete rubber pad on the floor of the inside. Gavin has been out helping almost the whole time. He's a big help and is learning what each tool is and what they do.

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I made some cabbage soup today to use some leftover ham (don't judge... it's really quite good!). 

Normally I'd use green cabbage, but we just happened to have half a head of purple cabbage, so I used it, and it turned the broth and the rice a deep shade of PURPLE! This serving matched the bowl!

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Today was Easter Sunday and day two of a wonderful Conference weekend.

The Easter Bunny managed to find Gavin, although the basket wasn't quite as full as some years...

must be the economy.

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We enjoyed watching Conference today. We made deviled eggs and ate leftover ham & potato salad for dinner--so good. After the Priesthood session, we got Mom & Dad out to Cold Stone Creamery to use the gift card they've been holding on to for over THREE years. They liked it! (Was there ever any question?)

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The Skidmores came over today, and we colored Easter eggs, had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard and had a yummy ham dinner with Mom's potato salad, strawberry lemonade jello, rolls, etc. Then we went over to the Ward Easter party where they had Easter themed carnival games/activities. Here is Gavin doing the Bunny Hop with 3 big kids. To gain entry to the games, we had to complete a fill-in-the-blank worksheet of scriptures about Jesus's resurrection. It was a good day.

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Great Grandpa Gibson came to visit for a few days on his way back from Arizona. He is always good to favor us with his amazing piano playing, and here, he's got Gavin mesmerized on the harmonica. 

Today marked 5 years since his sweetheart, my Dad's mom, my Grandma Gibson, passed away.