Fun in Idaho

Connell and I just returned from our 2 1/2 trip to Idaho to see Uncle Leland get home from his mission and to spend time with him and the rest of the family. It was so nice to be home for awhile. Connell especially had a great time playing with all the animals and getting dirty outside everyday!


Connell playing with pickles at Grandma Lloyd's house!




My parents and Ross recently got a bunch of goats and chickens and rabbits. Ross built a barn to milk the goats in and to keep the rabbits in. That's also where the kittens like to hang out, so Connell did also. He loved these kittens and followed them around everywhere until he caught one! Then he'd cuddle with it and chatter with it in baby talk. So cute!


Cousin Nia and Connell at the piano. They played so well together! Nia would follow Connell around and say, "Connell" all day! Or when he'd get into trouble, she'd say, "Careful, Connell!" They were especially cute in church together, where they'd share snacks and color together.


Connell and a lion sleeping at the Idaho Falls Zoo.





Feeding the goats at the Blackfoot fair petting zoo with Grandma Danna. That night, we got to see Huey Louis and the News in concert!




At Grammie Del's house in Roberts. Connell had a blast playing outside in her back yard.

Connell helping Leland open his birthday presents from mom and dad. It was so fun to see him get off the airplane in Salt Lake! He is so tall and grown-up! He did such a good job on his mission; we're so proud of him! Now he's at BYU-Idaho already and getting into the groove of "normal" life again.

JayC thought it would be fun to take a picture of Connell with his 6 month old picture, and it turned out super cute! He looks very similar in baldness! He's grown so much! So here he is at 2 years old with a picture of himself at 6 months old. "Sniff, sniff."





Last weekend, we invited our friends the Olivers over for pizza, and Connell hadn't had a nap that day for whatever reasons. He ate most of a piece of pizza, and the next thing we knew, his head fell back and hit the chair, and he was out! We had to get a picture, because that's the first time he's ever actually fallen asleep in his high chair! Soo funny! But we felt bad that he hit his head. It must not have hurt too badly though, because he stayed asleep. :) Poor kid!

Bald is Beautiful!

Here are some before and after pictures of Connell's new haircut! Oh boy, what a change! I gave JayC some liberty, and he went all out. I was pretty upset for the first little while last night when I realized how short Connell's hair actually was, especially since I had specifically asked JayC not to cut it very short. I guess I should have been more specific as to how short! I can't stop looking at this darn cute little boy's face, though! And hair grows back pretty quick, right?!






What's really funny is that Connell keeps rubbing his head with his hands, just to make sure his hair is really gone! And then he keeps randomly giggling over who knows what. I think he thinks he looks pretty funny without any hair!

First Fort!

Connell and Daddy built their first fort last week and had a blast, until Mommy tore it down to make room for their new sofa! (A killer deal from Craigslist!) In these pictures, JayC is chasing Connell into the fort so I can try to get a picture of him actually looking out of it. I guessed it worked okay. Ah, the joys of being a kid!

Swimming fun!

Connell's so good at swimming by himself now, with his floater swimsuit, of course! He loves it and wants to go everyday. He brings me his swimming diapers and his swimsuit and tries to put them on himself at least once a day. Funny kid! I don't mind, cuz it gives me an excuse to go also!

In With the New

As most of you know, we drive a Chevy Aveo. It was the first car that I bought with my own money and I've made great use of it for the last 5 years. I bought it right after my mission, and love it! I know I'm a sap, but I am quite attached to this little blue car. I've had lots of firsts in the Aveo. (First accident, first marriage, first house, first baby, to name a few...) It gets awesome gas mileage (up to 30mpg) and is a great economical car for a couple, but not really for a family... So, we've upgraded!




Introducing our new vehicle, the Kia Rondo! It's a beautiful car, especially since it has automatic windows and doors, cruise control, and tons of space! (All of which the Aveo did not have.) We've been wanting a different vehicle since January, when we drove home to California with barely enough room for Connell in the back seat and with some of our presents left behind in Idaho for lack of space! We finally found the vehicle we think will fit our needs beautifully, and so far we love it! Kia gave us a great deal on a trade-in and we came home from the dealership yesterday with our new addition. It's a used 2009 that gets great gas mileage (up to 28mpg) and it comes with an awesome factory warranty. Best of all, it fits nicely in our budget, so we're happy with our choice!

2 Years Old!

Connell's 2nd birthday was on the 8th, and I'm just getting around to posting some pictures. I can't believe he's 2 already! He's so much fun and is learning so many new things everyday. We didn't have any of our stuff yet, so we had to sit on the floor and have a picnic and cupcakes that I got from the commissary. We did the best we could with what we had, and Connell seemed to enjoy himself anyway.

New birthday pajamas and sippy cup from the Disney store.




Yummy mini-cupcakes!



Connell's super cute curls!

Lemons!

San Antonio Zoo

We also went to the zoo while we were in San Antonio last weekend. It was again so incredibly hot that it was hard to enjoy the outside exhibits, but the inside ones were great! Our favorite part of the zoo was a little ice-cream, hot dog shop that we found with air-conditioning! We sat in there eating hot dogs until we cooled off and were ready to brave the heat again. After that, I think the hippos were my personal favorite. They were underwater right against the glass so you could get a really good look at them. (We forgot to get a picture.) Later that day, we saw on Animal Planet that hippos are one of the most dangerous animals, because of their super sharp teeth. Who'd have thought?


"Hooray for air conditioning!", is what he's thinking!



An awkward picture of me, since I had to bend down so the wings would fit. :)




Of course we had to get pictures with these silly butterflies!Connell wasn't a big fan, but he humored us.


The speckled black bear. Most of the other bears refused to even come out, since it was so hot. (I don't blame them!) But this one still wanted to make an appearance.

Connell

What a goof ball, huh?!

4th of July Weekend

We spent the 4th of July weekend in San Antonio! It was 103 degrees every day we were there, which was a big shock to our systems, but we still managed to have fun celebrating! Here are the pictures to prove it...


I hate how the pictures post in the opposite order than I'd like them, but here we go! This is Connell after the fireworks with his new stuffed Pooh that we found for his birthday at the Disney store. He loves him!





Although the San Antonio 20-minute firework show was good, it doesn't compare at all to the 40-minute Idaho Falls firework show! Connell had a fun time watching the fireworks and kept pointing and saying, "Oh, wow!" at each one. Our 4th was complete!



Earlier that day, we went to see Deep Sea 3D at the Imax at downtown San Antonio. It was pretty cool to see 3D. We put the glasses on Connell too, but when he saw the fish jumping out at him, he had enough of that and refused to put them back on! He decided to sit on my lap and take a nap instead, while JayC and I enjoyed the show.



We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk. There was a guy making balloon animals for the kids, and he made Connell a little blue dog. He loved it! He played with it for at least an hour before it popped.


Of course, no trip to San Antonio would be complete without seeing the Alamo! We were here last February for JayC's basic training graduation and saw it then, but I had to get a picture of Connell in front of it to show how much he's grown in the last year and a half. My baby's so big!


We had to go swimming to cool off, so we found a cool swimming suit for Connell to help prevent sunburn and also to help him float. It has floaters in the front and back and in the neck. It makes him look like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle! He was pretty scared in the water at first, but now he can float around on his own once he gets his courage up. He'll be a pro by the end of the summer!