Dani's Birthday!!!!!

 Here is my cute little poser.  Jeff and I say "our 2 year old is finally 2!"

 There are times that I'd swear she is doing most of the things Marian and Reed were doing at 3 not 2.

 She knew how to blow but just couldn't quite get them out, so Marian and I had to help a little ;o)

 She defintly knew how to open presents this year though!

This card was a big hit! It sang a song when you push a button and Dani loves to push the button and sing along with it! It's really cute! :o)

 Here is a "Dani look!"

 Oh boy cake time!!!

 Aww forget the fork, who needs them anyway!

 And surprise, a puppy for her birthday?  Well our next door neighbor had an Aussie puppy that her boys were mean to and she just found she didn't have the time for so she asked if we wanted her....

 Long story short, she is really very very sweet and loves to be held and learns very quickly.  I had felt so sad just watching her sit in her little 4X4 dog run with hardly any attention and very little food. So I was very glad to take her in.  When Reed came home from school he was a little wary of her at first then he looked at me and said "MOM, you found Rocky! Where was he!"  I felt bad he knew Rocky had died, and out of all the kids he took it the hardest.  So I had to explain that this was a girl, and that she just looked like Rocky.  Later (we all had a hard time remembering "callie" as her name) Jeff suggested we call her Roxy, I loved it and don't have any problem remembering that one :o) It also happens to be the name of a band Jeff and I both like.

 Playing with Pho

I'm a big girl now!!!!

Dani showing off her new trick (the fact that she doesn't need diapers anymore!)

Yup it's true, she isn't even 2 yet and she no longer wears diapers! YAY!!!! (and there was much rejoicing!!!!)

 Boy try to get a 2 year old to hold still for pictures is next to impossible.!

So I started her on Monday, putting her on the toilet and such and putting her in underware.  I had a timer set for 20 min. and ever time it went off she went on :o) Every time she sat on the toilet I gave her a fruit snack so she learned to be happy up there (which worked almost too well) Then after a few days of having wet underware and asking for her diaper to be put on (because she didn't like getting wet) and me telling her no more diapers (and me tanking her up with any kind of liquid I could get her to drink) she finally peed!  She was scared at first but we all cheered and gave her kisses and after the rest of the day with that happening she caught on and knows exactly what she is doing now!  My sister told me last year about some 3 day potty training book and I didn't really believe it was possible, but Dani is such a little smarty pants I figured she could do it if I gave her the right chance.  So she tells me all the time "Pooping!" so we run to the bathroom and that's all there is to it!  The first few days she would yell "pooping!" so we would run into the bathroom (another good incentive since we aren't normally allowed to run in the house) and then she would turn around and say "story!" and run to Reed's room to get a book (then I would know she probably didn't need to go quiet yet) and we would sit there and read one just to she had a good time.  The first 2 days I would read story after story to her as she would sit on the toilet for 1 1/2 hours.   I turned on music and we sang songs and played with Tad the leap frog who sings when you press his hands etc.  She loved all the extra attention she was getting and milked it for all it was worth.  However once she learned how to pee on the toilet and saw how happy we were that she was doing it she loves it, and hasn't asked for a diaper since!

Picnic with Grandma

So my grandma who lives out in Colorado came to visit this week.  In celebration we went up to South Fork and had a picnic!  We have been having such great weather I forget that it is really fall now and I should have jackets in the car, it got rather chilly by about 6, but it was pretty. I did have a couple of jackets in the car and so did my mom.  The kids love them! :o)

 Marian was super excited because she could fly like a bird!

 The girls!

 Here's grandma!  She brought a couple of her really close friends with her this time, it was great to finally meet who she is always telling us about! :o)

Boys Day

Jeff took Reed for their first outdoor outing with just the two of them.  Reed has always been fascinated Mnt Timpanogos and when we told him about the cave that was up there it only added flames to the fire.  He loves talking about climbing up the mountain.  So with Jeff taking vacation time last week we decided it would be fun for him to take Reed up through the cave.  Neither one of them are big talkers so when asked if he had a good time all you get is a "yeah".  But as we were driving up the canyon the next day Reed was talking about it to Marian and Jeff asked if he wanted to go back up again with just the boys Reed was like "Oh Yeah!"  So I think  it's safe to say he like their father son outing :o)  Jeff said that as they were hiking up the trail he told Reed, "it's a good thing we left the girls at home, I don't think Marian could have made it, and I know Dani wouldn't have".  He said that Reed answered "uh huh" and stuck his chest out farther and just strutted up the trail! LOL for those who have been lucky enough to see Reed strut, it's quite the entertainment!!!!

 Nice view of the valley

 Reed and Jeff on the trail (Reed said the sun was in his eyes)

 Here are some pics that Jeff took from inside the cave. (if you click on the pic, it makes it larger so you can see them better, then click on the back button to come back to the viewing page)

 This is the heart of Timpanogos.  Then they turn the lights off and shine a light behind it to make it look like it is glowing.

 If I remember right these were called "soda straw" formations, and I think this was the only place they have been seen.

 Here is a view after you come out of the cave and look down.  Be careful, it's a loooong way down.

Our Trip Down South

Here is part one of our trip down south to Arizona and Nevada (the format on this has changed and it giving me fits)

 Here is a painting inside the museum for the Fremont Indians

 Here is Jeff with his Grandma Lois Gardner at their house in Arizona.  They live right outside of Mesquite and that is where we went for lunch so we get to say we went to Nevada as well :o)

 The weather was pertty good and we even got enough rain for  a rainbow :o)

 Jeff listened to his Grandpa tell us stories of him growing up, it was a lot of fun to hear him talk about life back then and how he and his siblings are now :o)

 On the way down a beautiful plateau

 If anyone can tell us the name of this mountain we would appreciate it :o)

 Pointing out the rainbow to Grandma

 some of the petrogliphs on the rocks

The Fremont Indian museum area

Vacation time

Jeff and I took a short trip down to Arizona and Nevada to see his grandparents who live down there. On the way back we stopped at the Fremont Indian Museum and saw some cool petrogliphs.

Here is a mini Bryce Canyon starting to form :o)

 Here is Jeff sitting in a Fremont pit house

 Here are where a lot of rock art is

and me in the other side of the pit house

Cat Nap

Marian and Pho caught cat napping in the chair ;o)

Reed's baseball signing

My parents and a neighbor who had connections got Reed into the Owlz baseball game early for a chance to meet the players. He got a game ball signed as well as this shirt. Notice how he is wearing a read shirt now and a few pics later he is wearing the shirt that was just signed. :o) Needless to say he had a blast! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa McNeff!

Reed loves to "pose" for pictures now.

Reed showing his shirt off!