A good and sad week

This week has been a tough one. Late Tuesday, we received word that Darcie's dad had died. She has been busy helping with the funeral plans since then. A bit of good news is that I have one job offer on the table and had a really good interview as well.

Darcie will fill in more when things calm down a bit more. The funeral will be on Monday.

Silly Derrick

I have been meaning to post these pics for awhile. Since we just celebrated Derrick's birthday I felt it would be good to show how much laughter and joy he brings into our lives. We love our Derrick dude!

Those are carrots in his ears, if you can't tell.No, those aren't Mary's sandals. They are Build-a-Bear shoes for grandma's bear :)

Derrick's Two!

Happy birthday Derrick! I can't believe that you are two already. This is the first birthday that grandparents have been able to celebrate with us, so we had two separate parties for our families. Derrick understood the whole present thing a ton better this year, and was enthusiastic about all of his gifts. Grandparents spoiled him above and beyond what they have done in the past, and he enjoyed every minute of his time in the limelight. Without further ado here are some of the pictures and video taken of the celebrating. These are just a small portion of all of the pictures and video. After all was said and done, we took pictures, Uncle Tim and Aunt Jenelle took pictures, all grandparents took pictures, and Grandma Waite took actual video with a camcorder. So everything is documented extremely well :)

The presents at Grandpa and Grandpa George'sThe presents at Grandpa and Grandma Waite's.The cakes. Yummy!

Playing with presents.

Parade "Flutes"

Tonight for FHE we went to look at the 24th of July parade floats or 'flutes' as Mary was calling them. There were over 75 floats all displayed indoor in an expo center, which was wonderful and made even better because of the air conditioning. The theme for all of the floats had to do with "Now and Then". My personal favorite was labeled "Turning Trials Into Treats: Now and Then". I can't explain it very well, so I will let the pictures I took do the talking. Other floats of interest were the BSA 100th anniversary float and a hilarious "Trekking: Now and Then" float, depicting and family in a minivan driving to Nauvoo for a family trip, and a pioneer family in a covered wagon headed to Salt Lake. It was neat to see the floats up close and personal. I hope we can turn this into a family tradition, if we are still in the area in the future.

Turning Trials Into Treats.

Seagulls collecting crickets to make cricket cookies.The cricket cookies. It has eyes and bits of cricket in it. Haha!

All of the crickets being chased by a seagull with a net.

This picture explains itself. How funny!
Danny and Derrick next to the BSA 100 years of scouting float.
1960's scouting uniform.

One of the very first scouting uniforms.
Closeup of the 100 and first scouting uniform.

Trout Farm Fishing

We went to the local trout farm last night and let Mary and Derrick go fishing. It was amusing. Mary didn't want to get close to the fish when they were caught and flailing around. She did think it was funny the way the fish jumped for food. Derrick liked holding the fishing rod and looking at the fish in the bucket. Both liked throwing the fish food. Allen just sat in his car seat the entire time and slept. The best part of the entire activity was eating the fish, of course. YUM!

Derrick caught a fish!
Mary taking a peak at the fish. Derrick looking and talking to the fish.
Grandpa, Mary and Daddy fishing.

Mary catching her first fish with Grandpa. Listen carefully, and at the end you will hear Mary exclaim EWE!

Allen's Baby Blessing

This last Sunday, the 4th of July, we blessed Allen. It was enjoyable to have family around to be able to participate and witness the blessing. After church was over we all met back at Danny's parents for delicious food and mingling. We were also took current pictures of the family, and the family with extended family. The only way it could have been better was if all of our family members and good friends could have been there. We miss you Chris, Alicia, Nick, Carrie and Kambrya! Everyone is doing what they need to be doing, so I can't complain :) Anyhow, here are pics of everyone. Enjoy!Darcie's family from left to right: Uncle Trevor, Grandpa George, Grandma George, Me, Allen, Danny, Derrick, Uncle Tyson, Mary and Aunt Natalie.Danny's family from left to right: Me, Mary, Danny, Allen, Grandpa Waite, Derrick, Grandma Waite, Uncle Tim, Aunt Jenelle.

Silly Mary and Derrick under the picnic tables.

Random Mary Quote

Sarah, you inspired me. Telling all of the funny things Ian says, made me think about Mary. Furthermore, I also have been a blogging slacker. I have a ton of things I could blog, even with pictures and all, but haven't. So, I'm just quickly writing about what Mary asked me tonight.

Me: "Mary hand me those books so I can put them on the shelf."
Mary: "I tooted. Can you smell my stinky stink?"