Lovin' the 'lympics

Is any one else as exhausted as I am? We have been up every night watching the Olympics on tv and are fairly sleep deprived now. Poor Travy, having to get up and be sharp for court every day. He has no idea how grateful I am and how much I admire him for "slaying the dragons" every day for Gracie and me.

Anyway...did anyone see the poor little Japanese guy on the rings tonight? I thought for sure he would land on his head. And now, here he goes on the vault. I hope he doesn't break his neck. That fall looked like it hurt. It brought back memories, and not good ones, of the time Travis dropped me on my head...in front of my family. (He's sitting next to me, pouting, for telling on him.)

Manassa Pioneer Days July 2008

The parade...that, as Travis always likes to point out, we saw four times.

This was the float that won Sweepstakes this year. Ramona said she wasn't going to do much of a float this year. Even when she doesn't try, she still does a fabulous job.

GraceAnn and her Mama at the parade. She had a good time, but didn't like having her ears covered when the firetrucks went by.

GraceAnn and her Daddy at the parade.

GraceAnn, Travis and Grandma at the parade.

GraceAnn and her first sucker. She loved it.


GraceAnn and Grandpa having her first sucker. He gave her lots of goodies that weekend. A sucker, caramel popcorn, home made rootbeer...and that's only what I know about. She loved it, though. She had a great time eating on that sucker.

At the carnival.

After the parade we took GraceAnn to the carnival to ride the rides. The first day Travis and I took her with mom and dad, and the second day we went with Cynthia, Andy and the kids. She had a great time. Here she is on the merry-go-round. She liked the up and down and would kind of junp everytime the horse went up. Then she tried to suck on the bar. Gross, Grace.

The second day Jackson took Gracie on the little train, with Tatelyn, while Madison took Triton and I rode with them. We had a good time laughing and playing on that little train. It was fun to go with the kids.

At the rodeo. She wasn't really into the rodeo, and I guess we weren't either. It wasn't the best rodeo we've seen, unfortunately.

She seemed to enjoy the demolition derby much more, although she slept through a lot of it.

KariAnn and GraceAnn's Trip Home

KariAnn and GraceAnn went to Manassa to see Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brett. What a fun time we had! Gracie loved it there, especially going outside every morning. When we got up I would take her out in the front to look at the fields and trees and look for deer. She would get so excited when I opened the front door. She just squealed and wiggled and squirmed. And then when Oreo and Maggie came to say good morning, she would get so excited. What a girl. She loves to be outside.

On the Friday before the celebration we went up to Platoro to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's home away from home. It was so nice up there. Dad went fishing with A.D. and Mom, Brett, Gracie and I went to visit with Mertie. She just adored GraceAnn and had her just a giggling.

Gracie and Grandma in the camper.

Mertie had a whole bunch of little hummingbirds around her camper. She had one that would sit at the feeders and watch for the other birds to come around and then he would chase them off! Brett and I decided that mom and dad needed one, too, so we went over to the store and bought a hummingbird feeder and hung it up. Brett spent the next hour taking pictures of hummingbirds. This is a picture of Mertie holding one on her finger.

Brett took this picture. Sunset up at Platoro. It was such a nice night, but lots of mosquitoes.

One day Mom and I went over to Cynthia's to take pictures of Gracie. She didn't like the grass on her bare legs, and the sun was really bright, but I managed to get a couple of good pictures.

Once I took of her dress, she was really happy. We found some shade and took a picture with the kids. She had such a good time with them. And Tatelyn was so funny. She kept bringing out toys for Gracie to play with.

GraceAnn had such a fun time with Grandpa. He had her going one night. And we wonder where she learned to wrinkle up her nose.

The Brick House.

The evening we rode down to get a picture of the Brick House it rained. After the rain stopped, and as we were driving down to the Brick House, we noticed all of these frogs in the bar pit. There were tons of them! As we drove by the little tiny ones would jump in the water, so there was a ripple of jumping frogs as we went by. And the big ones were content just to sit in the water.

Lonely Dad

Dad's girls have been gone for almost a week and dad misses them. They went to see Grandma and Grandpa Jackson. I hope they took a lot of pictures. I am going to see them on thursday. They drove and I get to fly. I have been working long hours and getting a lot done. Business is good. I am very busy. That is the only thing that makes it bearable to miss my girls.

Here's a video of Gracie rolling over. It wasn't her first time, but it was the same day. She hasn't done it since. She just cries until someone moves her.

5 Months Old

Gracie was five months old on June 26. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like yesterday I was walking through Taipan Trading, looking for a birthday present for Kim, when my water broke. Kim said she wanted me to have Gracie on her birthday, which would be fitting seeing as how she flew with me to LA for one of my appointments and the girl hadn't flown for fourteen years. She was scared to death. But, I had her a few hours too late and she was born on the 26th. That's okay, though. She needs her own day.

Anyway, five months. Everyday is better. GraceAnn is so much fun, although she's a little spoiled. She's definitely an attention hog.

Today I took her up to girl's camp at Kolob to see Travis and relay some messages to him. She was so excited to be outside in the sun and the breeze with the birds chirping and the leaves rustling in the trees. She just screamed and laughed and wiggled. It was so funny to watch her. She loves to be in the mountains, so she can be Grandpa's goin' to the mountains buddy. I think I win that one. She's a mountain goat! She's her Grandpa's girl!

Here are some five month pictures of our girl. And, there are also some videos that we've taken over the past few weeks that I'm adding. One is of GraceAnn and Travis opening his Father's Day present, one is of her first attempt at holding a bottle, and the other is of her and her Uncle Trey, whom she just loves. She wiggles and screams when he comes over. She loves to see him.

Looking Back

This week GraceAnn and I have been working for daddy while Connie is out of town. I don't think Gracie is too thrilled about having to go to the office everyday. She gets a little fussy. You see, it's not all about her at the office. So, we are taking a break this afternoon and we'll go back later.

During our break I've been working on Gracie's scrapbook. It's only been about five months since she was born and I'm finally getting around to her book. Oh well, at least it's getting done. I have three pages done so far and it's been fun looking back at the pictures of her when she was so tiny and remembering how I felt when she was born. I don't think words can ever express how much we love this little girl and how grateful we are for her. Sometimes I can't believe she's here. She's such a joy in our lives and she's just so much fun. All her little quirks and noises she makes are so precious. We just love her so much!