Cletis

In an attempt to make Mark a perfect clone of himself, John bought Mark his first bicycle this past week. It's actually pretty cool, it doesn't have any pedals so kids are supposed to learn how to balance on a bike at an earlier age. Supposedly they can then ride without training wheels sooner. We'll see. Anyway, Mark also got a new helmet and of course, it had to be a real cycling helmet...Giro. He actually likes to wear it because he always sees John wearing his. I burst out laughing every time I see this next picture...we really should have named him Cletis...



Does it look like Christmas morning or what? Mark saw me with the camera and said "Cheeeese!"

Oh my...as if they don't already look enough alike!!

We had some water fun this evening in the backyard. Mark climbed right up into his water table as John was filling it up. He's probably not allowed to do this at day care which is why its the first thing he did at home. Anyway I love this picture because it tells me that I have a great camera if I just knew how to use it.

Mobley and Rocky are so spoiled. Mobley specifically only drinks freshly poured water. They both had several drinks out of the water table while Mark was playing. Here's one of Rock...

Jackson Trip

John's grandfather, "Unc", passed away last year and his family had a large reunion last week to celebrate Unc. It was fun to get to meet some of John's family that I hadn't met before and catch up with some that we never see. It was even more fun that the event was in Jackson, Wyoming! BEAutiful. And to top it all off, my college roomate and her family live in Jackson so we got to hang out with them too!

By the way, I am intentionally saying "Jackson" and not "Jackson Hole" because apparently if you live there or are cool or something you know to call it Jackson. The town is offically Jackson and the surrounding area is referred to as Jackson Hole. Ya learn somethin' new everyday.

Well these pictures are all out of order now that I've downloaded them to the blog and I am too lazy to rearrange them...but here are a few from the trip.

John, Mark, Lindsay, and I took one last hike up SnowKing the morning before our flight left.


This is Mark's second cousin, Zoe. She turned two last week. Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of two toddlers while they are playing? I mean with both of them looking at or in the general direction of the camera. I figure you have all seen Mark's face so I would post this one of beautiful Zoe. We were actually at a cocktail party but as you can tell the little ones couldn't sit still for very long so we went out back to play with some sticks and rocks and stuff in our dress clothes.

This is Miss Hayden. My roomie from college's gorgeous daughter! We got to spend a few hours with them eating breakfast and they took us on a cool little hike to Sky Lake. We really want to go back and spend some more time with them!

We had a great little lunch out on a patio at the Teton Village ski resort. (Linds- what does Teton stand for again?) =) Here are Rick and Debi enjoying the great weather.


And here are Josh (Uncle CaCa) and Lindsay (Aunt Ninny) also enjoy the scenery. (They came up with their own names!)

We saw a buffalo!!! He was just walking down the downtown streets of Jackson!

We for real saw a moose! Mark learned the word moose this trip. So we bought him a stuffed moose who sleeps in bed with him at night. Mark has really started talking more and more and it seems to have cut down on the whiny-ness because I think he can communicate better. He has even said 3-5 word sentences!!! Seriously..and I'm not the only one who has heard it. So of course, we think he is a genious! =) But anyway, here's the moose.

One night John's family had a picnic/bar-b-que out at String Lake. The three of us took a little hike around it. It is beautiful and so peaceful out there. I didn't want to leave.

And last but not least my roomie and her family on our little hike. The pictures never do justice to the beautiful scenery but take my word for it, it was breath-taking! Speaking of breath-taking John has decided that Mark needs to go on a diet. After carrying the 30-some lb kid up a mountain we realized that Mark is definitly built "solid" there is nothing light about him. I kinda felt bad because as you can see I was the only one not carrying a kid! My roomie is 28 weeks pregnant! So I wasn't allowed to complain or ask to take a break...but I did. I just disguised them as photo opportunities!! =)

Family

We had some pictures taken of Lexi and Mark before Lexi left town. Well most of you know our photographer Kelly, but man is she like the kid-whisperer or what? I mean....Lexi and Mark don't hold still or pose for anyone! They are typical toddlers but she worked some sort of magic with them...we can't wait to see her proofs!



This is Mark flirting. See his little head tilt? I think he's saying, "Hi Ms. Kelly."

She even taught them how to play ring around the rosie!!!

Have you ever seen two happier grandparents?

More pics from the 4th...Britton, Leyton, and Mark.

Mark and Lexi

So after all the toy stealing, hair-pulling, screaming, etc...they really do love each other! This is Mark attempting to kiss Lexi

Like I said earlier we had a family reunion a couple weeks ago at MarVal campgrounds in Gore, Ok. Here is an attempt at a group photo of what was left of my most immediate family. There were sooooo many people there I didn't know. I think there were about 200 people there.

Our new lawn man

Aunt Brenda bought Mark a bubble lwan mower and guess who loves mowing the lawn now? We thought these pics were just too cute. And Mark insists on parking his mower right next to daddys. Oh and he prefers not to mow the lawn alone, so sometimes John has to go prance around the front yard with his lawn mower too. Its pretty funny.

So have you ever forgotten about some potatos you bought? I bet you haven't forgotten about them for as long as I did. That, or I just have the perfect climate in my pantry for a potato.

I can't resist...

...posting this picture!

We went to my family reunion 2 weeks ago and John did a little trout fishing. I will tell you that he LOVES fishing and has probably always thought he looked cool, or at least like a serious fisherman, until he saw this picture!! Hee..hee.

I realized I haven't posted anything from the 4th of July yet. John and PJ said they were going to set off a few fireworks "for Britton" but really....who seems to be enthralled with the roman candles? Britton? I don't think so!

Here you can see the gallery. Brandee, Tim, and Lexi, Jennifer and Britton, Me and Mark, Lisa and Leyton. We watched jaw-dropping fireworks like worms and smoke bombs! It really was pretty g-rated until Tom got there and shot a roman candle at PJ which made 1) John DIE laughing and 2) PJ dance like a mexican jumping bean (no pun intended!!ha) and 3)PJ got out the mother of all roman candles...see below.

ok so maybe its not the best picture and you can't even tell how big the thing is but I was laughing so hard it was hard to take the picture.

First thing in the morning on the fourth of July I dressed Mark in his new t-shirt and tried to make him pose in front of the fireplace...I love when his hair is freshly combed!

Splash Park Mania

Doesn't that picture crack you up? I don't know what is so funny about it but I can't look at it without laughing. Is it their shoes? Or maybe its cause they are such little people!

Ha! Both faces in the same picture and proof that they did play together....once.

I think he was cold. That, or trying to look thin for that hot two year old behind him!

Lexi L-O-V-E loves to jump. She hops every where she goes!

And again...both faces in the same shot at snack time. I deserve some sort of award! BTW, doesn't Lexi look just like Brandee?

One Happy Customer

Well I have never seen a more annoyed face in my entire life!! Mark had his very first hair-cut today and contrary to the picture he actually had a great time. I took snacks and he sat there busily gobbling down his snack for the most part. But for some reason this was the face we got in the end!

He is hard to get a shot of these days but this is what he looks like with his new do from the back. His ears got seriously lowered!!