A Week in Review

Hello faithful readers!! Everett and I survived our excursion to west Texas and have lived to blog about it. It was a wonderful trip and Everett traveled extremely well. I was super impressed, since I was prepared for the worst. He finally did melt down - yesterday about 20 minutes from home. Hurray for good babies!

But a great time was had by all. Everett got to meet his bisabuela, Lola, along with his great aunts Esther and Elena and great uncles Albert and Fernando. Everyone thought he was very cute, very chubby and very white.

And now for a day-by-day account...

FRIDAY:

We had been in the car driving for about an hour or so, when we stopped for some food (I know, it doesn't make much sense, but that's what we did). We were eating in the car when I noticed Everett being especially quiet. You'd think I'd be hip to his game by now, but no. I was SHOCKED when I went to unbuckle Everett from his carseat to find an explosion all over his onsie. As you can see, Everett was quite amused by his little activity.

A close-up of the mess

And the grinning boy who created it.

SUNDAY:

Saturday was spent driving - we arrived at Grandma's after 9 pm. On Sunday, we had dinner at Esther and Albert's house. Enchiladas - yum!!

The perfect pose by the (almost) perfect baby.

Playing around in Grandma's living room:

Everett had a love/hate relationship with this table.

He loved to play around it, but hated it when he kept hitting his head on it.

MONDAY:

We drove 45 miles north to the looming metropolis of San Angelo to do a couple of things: 1) Get Grandma's meds, 2) Go to Wal-Mart, and 3) Buy yummy tortillas! It was an arduous schedule to keep to be sure, but we felt we were up for the challenge. On the other hand, somebody wimped out on us within minutes of beginning the drive.

Random shots of San Angelo:

So we got a hankering for a steak while in San Angelo. Following the advice of a random old man in a gas station, we made our way over to a rundown part of San Angelo to this spot. For some reason, we weren't quite sure we had found the right location. Ha! Like it wouldn't be OBVIOUS to anyone that this was definitely the place:

TUESDAY:

There was a cute little girl selling snowcones by the courthouse in Eldorado. She even had a sign and everything: "Snokones, $2". Ahh, love that education at work. Anyway, since I love snowcones, I just had to get one. I decided to throw caution to the wind and gave Everett some bites too.

Grandma and Everett sharing a glance:

YUM!!

Grandma's cute little casa

She had this sign on her front window. Apparently, she's Catholic. Who knew?

We're grateful she let us Mormons stay with her!

My grandfather, Francisco.

As you can tell by the picture, he was obviously a super nice, very friendly kind of guy.

My mom when she was in high school. She was so cute!!

THURSDAY:

We took another trip to San Angelo on Thursday. We had lunch at another steakhouse - Zettner's. Zettner's been there for who knows how long, but judging from their highchairs, I'd guess sometime in the 1970s.

After lunch, we ran into the missionaries. The one of the right is from Stockbridge, Georgia - just south of Atlanta.

This is a picture of the house my parents lived in right after they got married. (By the way, happy 34th anniversary - it was on July 1st)

Everett's make-shift crib, or shrib. Yeah, he fell off the bed while we were there. I felt like a crappy mom, but he wouldn't sleep in his pack-n-play, so this was the best alternative.

Birthday dinner at my Aunt Elena and Uncle Fernando's. It was my mom's 55th birthday on the 29th.

My grandfather's headstone.

Everett being as cute as ever!

The gate to the FLDS property in Eldorado. They fled Colorado City, AZ and went to Eldorado, TX, naturally.

If you look really closely, you can see their temple.

My mom with her mom and two sisters.

And Everett and his bisabuela!

Thanks again Mom and Dad for a wonderful trip. Everett and I enjoyed it!!!!

To Grandmother's House We Go

Everett and I (along with the Grandparents Kilgore) will be heading to Texas on Friday for a visit with Everett's great-grandma, Lola Garza (as well as various aunts, uncles and cousins). We are both VERY excited, especially me, since it's been a decade since I've see her. As I made the packing list, I was STUNNED at the amount of stuff we'll have to take for our week-long visit. Suffice it to say, it borderlines on the ridiculous. For those uninitiated with the southern states, I thought you might be interested in our driving (yes, you read correctly) route. Keep your fingers crossed that our little guy keeps his cool and travels well!

The Goal: We're headed to the blank space between San Angelo and Sorona.

Prizes to the first one to actually spot it on the map!

The beginning:

Hello to the Kilgores and Simpsons!

Hello to the worst roads in the Continental U.S.!

Hello to the Hansens!

And here we go. One week of hot sun, hot salsa and hot mexicanos! Hay caramba!

Let's Go Swimming!

Everett and I made it to the pool for the first time last week for our ward's weekly playgroup. I made sure Everett was totally decked out in proper swimming attire and I was pretty curious as to how he'd react to being in the water. Of course, he did wonderfully! Even though the water was a little chilly, it took about two seconds for him to adjust and start kicking his legs a bit. Our goal for the summer is to spend as much time as possible at the pool so Mom can get a tan without Everett getting too much sun. Possible? We'll see!!

Pre-pool poses. He actually didn't mind the hat.

The weather was perfect and the pool wasn't crowded at all.

All I needed was some Uno cards!

The aftermath. Check out the cool towel/robe combo.

Check out the wistfulness in those eyes. Don't fret, my pet.

The pool is definitely calling our names!

One Fish, Two Fish...

Everett was one lucky little boy last week because he visited the new Georgia Aquarium with Grandmama Lynn, Grandpa David, Uncle Paul and Aunt Autumn. It was such a lovely treat and I think Everett liked seeing the fish, sharks, whales and other marine life. Thanks for a great visit!!

One of the two Beluga whales. These whales were really neat to watch.

And incidentally, "beluga" means white in Russian.

(There, now you can't say you never learned anything from this blog!)

Will and Will Jr. in front of the Belugas.

Everett, sitting face forward (for the first time ever) watching the fish swim by.

"Wow!!"

Like father, like son. Both impressed with the gallons of water and all the neat animal life. Thanks again Strange Family for the fun adventure!

A Week of Firsts

This past week has been quite the momentous one for our little guy. Not only did he get his first cold (not fun), but he also took his first crawl (way fun) AND his first kneel (even more fun). Everett is now a bonafide crawling fool! He is absolutely thrilled to have a little more movement at his fingertips, as evidenced by the fact that he takes every opportunity to crawl and/or kneel. It looks like we'll have a walking toddler on our hands before we know it!

This is THE first time he ever kneeled.

Of course it's right next to the fireplace. Everett's always living on the edge.

He's leaning.

And then there's the fact that he's learned to kneel in his crib.

Uhh, we'll definitely be lowering that mattress this week.

He is soooo happy to be doing something other than lay on his tummy or his back.

I just think he looks darling with his little feet tucked up underneath him.

Mouth open with happiness - no shocker there.

I even managed to get a great video clip of Everett enjoying, and then NOT enjoying the wonderful world of kneeling:

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But all bumped heads aside, nothing's gonna stop this kid from having a great time!

Mr. Giggles

Will and I never tire of hearing Everett's cute laugh! He's almost too precious for words. Enjoy!


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So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Bye!

Our friends Aaron, Shayleen and Olivia said sayonara to Georgia yesterday and hola to their new home, new life and new career (for Aaron at least) in Cincinnati. Since Aaron is a smarty pants and graduated from Georgia Tech, he moved his ladies to the land of Ohio to start his job with G.E.

While we're overjoyed that he's gainfully employed, we are lamenting their move. Everett and Olivia were just starting to be able to actually play. Up until this point, playtime has consisted of Everett laying on a blanket and Olivia grinning at him. We went up for one last visit (we've all lived in the same apartment complex since August) and baby Everett and Miss Olivia got one final opportunity to grin and laugh with each other.

Shhh, it's their secret handshake.

Everett showing off his crawling skillz.

"I wonder when we'll see each other again?"

Soon, very soon. We promise!!

Sweet Home Alabama

Also while we were at the lake I got a good picture of Everett and Granny. Granny is my dad's mom and boy is she Southern! With a name like Granny, how could she not be? She is the proud grandmother of seven and the great grandmother of three (so far). She has been wanting a picture with Everett since he was born, and I figured now that he was almost seven months old, I could kick it into high gear and get these two together. Everett had fun with Granny even though she exclaimed, "He sure is heavy!" - Hey now!

That's Not Bath Water!

While at the lake, with the unbearable and humidity-filled heat, Everett and I decided he could cool off a bit by dipping his chubby feet in the lake water. He wasn't sure quite what to make of it, and his eyes got VERY big, but he took it like a champ and I think was a bit sad when we had to get out.

That hat looks like it's doing a WORLD of good, right?

Much to my delight, Everett wasn't the only little one testing out the lake waters: