Days of Summer

We've been enjoying a slight blogging hiatus these past six weeks. Really, it's just that we haven't been up to very much. Bryce is just about finished with his two MPH classes for the summer, I've been working 15-20 hours a week from home, and we've both been taking care of our little guy. Here are a few highlights of our summer.

For Father's Day, we went down to North Carolina. We had a lot of fun just hanging out. We appreciated our babysitter (Grandma) that allowed us to go to the temple. I finally got a haircut after eight months, Mark went swimming for the first time, and we played a lot of Rock Band 2 courtesy of Kim and Jason.

Mark didn't really like the pool. Despite it being nearly 100 degrees, the water was cold due to rains earlier in the week. We all got used to the temperature, but Mark wasn't willing to wait and adjust (go figure). Hopefully he does better next time.

The 4th was pretty quiet. Mark was having a rough week so after an early BBQ with the Blooms and Judds, we decided to skip fireworks in favor of Mark going to bed at 7:30 and having some peace and quiet together. That next week he was having a little bit of a fussy streak and not sleeping at night like he usually does. Then, on Thursday, we figured out the problem: he had his two bottom teeth! We weren't really expecting them to come in so early, but he handled it pretty well. It does explain why he has been trying to chew/suck on everything in sight. We expect his top two will appear within the week. Now we've just got to start him on rice cereal so he can get ready to use those bad boys.

This past weekend we headed up to New York to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We headed up on Thursday night with the Judds and Hardings to Elmira, NY. The next morning, we drove to Niagara Falls. While Tara and Andrew went over to Canada to see the falls from that view, the Hardings and we went on the Maid of the Mist. It's a short boat ride that takes you right up to the falls. In addition to the mist that comes off the falls, we got caught in a huge downpour. It was a blast. Mark was a bit confused at why he had a big plastic poncho on, but when we got to the falls, he couldn't take his eyes off them.

On Saturday, we hit the Church history sites. We stopped in at the Peter Whitmer Farm (where the Church was organized), the E.B. Grandin Printing Shop (where the Book of Mormon was first published), and the Palmyra temple. By the time we reached the temple, Mark was exhausted so we let him sleep in the stroller.

After a drive-by of the Martin Harris farm (the original burned down in 1849), we grabbed some snacks and drove to the Hill Cumorah. We got there almost three hours early so we had some time to kill. We played some Yahtzee, ate some dinner, entertained Allie, and tried not to freeze. Apparently summer hasn't made it to upstate New York. It was probably 60s during the pageant. Once we got Mark in his sleeper and wrapped burrito-style in a blanket, he warmed up and fell asleep about 30 minutes before showtime.

After my freshman year of college (six years ago), I was in the cast of the pageant. Saturday night I finally got to see the entire show. It brought back a lot of memories. If you ever have a few weeks during July, apply to be in the cast- it's an amazing experience. I hope we can do it as a family in about 15-18 years - we'll see.

Sunday we went to church in Palmyra, the Sacred Grove, Joseph Smith farm, and to the top of the Hill Cumorah before going home. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we had a good time. Thanks to the Judds for helping entertain Mark in the backseat for much of the trip. He did remarkably well, but still had moments when he just wanted to be out of his car seat.

I've Wanted to Take a Picture of This Sign for 10 Months

This is perhaps one of my favorite signs in Baltimore and I finally got a good picture of it. It's right at the beginning of I-70 out here. For one, my family lives near Denver so sometimes I think 1700 miles doesn't sound that bad and maybe I should keep driving (then I quickly come to my senses and realize I'd much rather fly that distance). Second, outside of the LDS world, who really knows where Cove Fort is? Even on Google Maps all they have is a dot where I-70 intersects with I-15 in Utah. I wish I knew what people were thinking when they see these three major cities and then an ambiguous name at the bottom. It's so random, but it always makes me smile.

Go Terps!

We went for a walk at Harper's Ferry (a national park that has some Civil War history) this past weekend. Of course, we took some more pictures of Mark. He loves to suck on his hands and we've given up on trying to fight with him about it. The second one is my current favorite.

Wagstaffs and Colorado

Bryce finished his first year of medical school on May 14. I am so proud of him for making it through and doing well despite having a tired, pregnant wife for the first six months and then a tired wife and a newborn for the last three.

The night he finished his final our friends Devin and Naomi and their 1-year old son, Spencer, came to visit us (well, actually they came to see D.C., but still claimed us as friends for a free place to stay-jk). We had fun having them around for a few days. We only did a few things togther, but saw them at night and enjoyed a trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

I had been debating whether or not to fly across the country to see my family for at least a month and finally decided to just do it. I found a decent direct flight to Denver and the swine flu seems to have calmed down, I went for it.

Our family has a tradition of surprising each other. So, since I had only bought my tickets two weeks before my flight, I figured this would be a great time to surprise my family. I only told my sister, Joy (since I needed someone to get me from the airport); everyone else had no idea. My mom is working on redoing our house and Joy was even able to convince her to do a lot of the furniture rearranging and painting so I would have a room to stay in under the guise of just needing to get moving on everything. The surprises went like this:

1) We got to my house in Colorado Springs from the airport around 10:45pm. My mom was in the kitchen (which has windows that look out to the front yard and driveway) so I had to duck so she wouldn't see anyone else in the car. I stayed in the car with Mark sleeping in the back for about 10 minutes until my mom went to bed. My sister, Susan, her husband, Brian, and their daughter, Grace, were up from Albuquerque. We knew they wouldn't go to bed until late, so Joy told them that I was in the car. Susan came out all excited and with Brian's help, we snuck Mark, me, and my suitcases into the basement.

2) The next morning Mark and I went upstairs to find my mom. She was looking for the cat with Grace so when she came out of her closet (the cat's favorite haunt), we were just standing there. She was super excited and Grace was kind of confused, but also excited. Grace will turn three in August so she's still pretty little. Joy just got back from her mission in April so to Grace, Joy and Cathi are one person. When Joy got back, Grace called her Cathi. Now, she calls me Joy probably 75% of the time. You should have seen the look on her face when both Joy and I were finally there together.

3) My dad was getting home late that day, so we decided that Mark and I would hide out that night and then surprise him the next day (his birthday). Yes, I was there for a day and a half without him knowing. We're good. My mom, Grace, Mark , and I met Joy at my dad's office to say Happy Birthday. Joy took Mark while I was still hiding and asked my dad if he wanted to hold him. He had to think for a second, but quickly decided that this was in fact, Mark. He came around the corner to see me. He was very happy (and slightly teary-eyed) to see us.

Anyway, that was long. We went out to dinner for Dad's birthday, but Grace was having a little bit of a rough day. Here she is watching a Mickey cartoon on YouTube on my sister's Blackberry (has it really come to this?). Mark, the angel child, slept for the entire restaurant outing.


Grace had been so excited for Papa's birthday. She helped him open all of his cards and presents.


In the meantime, Joy fed Mark who had woken up.



The rest of the trip was pretty relaxing. Joy gave her homecoming talk in church from her mission to Jackson, Mississippi. On Memorial Day, Joy and I went to cash in our Christmas 2007 gifts at the Broadmoor Spa- massages. They were wonderful. I wish I could have one every week, but I would never spend that kind of money.

Mark did really well on the trip. He's developing quickly. He cough/laughs and smiles regularly. He's discovered his hands and found that they are of most use to pull out his pacifier and then suck directly on his fists. He also loves this firefly. He'll hold and play with it on and off all day long.