Bicycles

Since Zach is almost one, we decided to invest in a bicycle seat so we could go riding again as a family. We recieved it, installed it and took him on his first bike ride. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but by about 10 minutes in, he was smiling and laughing and having a great time.

It was tons of fun and it felt great to ride again.. I'm now looking forward to many more family bicycle adventures. :-)

The Last 5 Months..

OK.. I know I've been a total slacker, but I really really want to be better in 2011.. but first I have to play a little catch up. So.. here's a brief summary of our lives since last you heard from me. Over Labor Day, we loaded up the RV and headed up to the Sierra Mountains just outside Fresno. We stayed up there for 10 days and did some 4-Wheeling, hiking and just plain enjoying the mountains. Zach loved it and traveled like a champ.



The first weekend in October, we headed up to Monterey to hang out with my niece Meesa, her husband Trevor and their three adorable children. Meesa was running the San Jose half marathon that weekend and we crammed every possible sightseeing adventure in the two days we were all there: Beach, Tidepools, Giant Sequoias, Apple.. yep.. we did it all.



For Halloween, our little munchkin was a terribly cute dragon. I was going to make the rest of us matching costumes (knight & princess) until I found out we weren't having a Ward Party and Halloween was on a Sunday.. but we dressed Zach up to go 'trick or treating' on Saturday night at Grandma's house.



In early November we went up to Monterey where Sam was kind enough to take our family pictures.. and we got to hang out again for a bit, get some Christmas shopping done and generally get away from it all.



We were in Phoenix for Thanksgiving.. we drove there stopping in Kingman to see Grandma and Grandpa Johnston and then went onto Pinetop where we stayed in a friend's cabin for a couple of days and then drove on into Phoenix, making a small pitstop in Prescott. Whew.. We saw most of Northern AZ in that week and poor Zach thought his new home was his carseat. BUT.. we had loads of fun in every place and enjoyed being home with the family for Thanksgiving.

Zach turned 9 months old during our trip to Phoenix. It's amazing to think it's already been 9 months.. sheesh. Here is his 9-month 'portrait' (actually.. photo by Dad, photoshop by Mom).



At nine months he was starting to get into everything and had his patented 'swim crawl' down



I know.. I know.. it's terribly inefficient, and although he had actually crawled correctly, he preferred this method for months..

Right before Christmas, Chad's sister Sharon and her family flew in from Texas and we all headed up to a cabin in Big Bear to spend a couple of days enjoying the snow. It was so beautiful up there and just the thing we needed to get in the Christmas Spirit.

We had a lovely Christmas here at home in Lancaster. Zach LOVES to tear paper, so he was definitely into the whole gift opening thing. He also loved all his new toys.. and actually played with them instead of the wrapping or the boxes.. so I think we can definitely count it as a success.



Since Christmas, we've been lying low and trying to recover from the craziness of the holidays.

Somewhere about mid-December Zach finally figured out that if he crawled correctly he could get.. well anywhere FAST. He continues to be a happy little guy.. making friends everywhere he goes. It's hard to believe that in one short month he'll turn 1!! Where has the time gone?? (Obviously not to writing on the blog, eh?)

OK.. caught up we are.. and now we start afresh.. wish me luck.

6 Months

(Just as a note.. Zach was 6 months on August 24th.. which is when I actually wrote this entry.. I just didn't get the pics/videos attached until today.. yes.. I know it's almost two months later..)

We've made it!! 6 Whole Months! Whew!!

So.. just to document some of Zach's progress over the past couple of months..

He mastered the art of rolling from back to front as well as front to back on July 1st, and by mid-July had developed his highly skilled combination of rolling and scooting on his back, inch-worm style to get around:



He loves to be on the ground scooting / rolling around and hates to be confined anywhere -- high chair, car seat, etc. Don't get me wrong, he tolerates these places for a time, but then starts to complain if he doesn't get his freedom.

He has started sitting up on his own for fairly good chunks of time, and can easily pick up just about anything, move it between hands, etc. His favorite? Chords (especially those attached to electronic devices) and paper (which, of course, if you don't grab it fast enough gets eaten).




Just a couple of weeks ago, he started eating solid foods and is catching on quickly and has gobbled down everything I've given him so far (which pretty much amounts to bananas and rice cereal)



Just recently, he's started to get up on his hands and knees and 'rock'.. looks like we're going to have a crawler on our hand in the near future:



He is such a happy little boy and LOVES to smile -- especially at strangers. It's amazing how much he's grown in the last 6 months.. it will be fun to see where he's at in another 6.

Reed Family

The day we came back from Monterey, Sharon & the Kids flew in for a visit. They were here for a week or so and then Greg joined them and on Saturday, August 14th, Lindsey was baptized. We were excited to see them and spend time with them and were really happy to be able to be there for her baptism!!

Since it was the first time in a very long time that the entire family was together, we actually succeeded in having some family pictures taken.

Escaping the Heat

Truth be told, it's been a very mild summer, with very few days in the 'intolerable' category. However, by about the 2nd week of triple digit temps in July, I took Zach and escaped to cooler climates -- up to Monterey.

We hung out with my parents, Keri, Tanner, Andrew, Isaac, Shel, Sam & Meghan for two whole weeks where the temp never got above 70 (and rarely above 65).

Chad came up with us for the first weekend and we took Zach to check out the Monterey Aquarium. He was sporting his terribly cute golf hat and got quite a few comments





Chad left us on Monday and we spent the rest of our trip just hanging out with the family..

We went to the playground with other kids from Michelle's ward and Zach got his first chance to play on the swings (which he loved)



We went up to Apple and had lunch with Uncle Sam



Tanner went with us over to the Elkhorn Slough where we had a lovely little walk and saw some pretty cool birds





Mostly, though we just hung out with the cousins.

Zach & Tanner:



Zach & Issac:

The Perfect Shot

Sometime around June, I had this crazy idea that I wanted to enter Zach into the Babytalk cute baby contest. Not really becuase I thought he was the cutest baby in the world (although I might actually think that), but because all the semi-finalists got a free trip to NYC.. and I thought I might have a shot at one of those spots.. and when have I ever passed up the idea of a free trip??

However, I also knew that I couldn't submit just any old shot.. it had to be the cutest one I could get which had to include a huge smile and those big blue eyes. So.. I spent the next month taking pictures at least every other day in hopes of getting that one perfect shot. Which, I finally did, exactly 2 days before the entry deadline.. When I finally went back and looked at all of them, I decided that, if nothing else, I got a lot of terribly cute pictures. Here are some of the 'losers':



And the winner:



As for the contest.. the semi-finalists were supposedly notified by August 13th.. and, unelss my notice got lost in the mail or on my answering machine, it looks like we didn't make it. Better luck next time, eh?

4th of July

We had family in town over the 4th of July weekend for my nephew, Jared's blessing. Of course, true to form, I took no pictures of Jared or the visiting family, but here is one of Zach in his 4th of July finest:



We had everyone over for a 4th of July swim party on Saturday and, being in a fairly festive mood, I had a Martha Stewart moment and decided to create a flag cake for dessert..



It was just as tasty as it looked! :-)