Dear Te-Te and Oma...

Last night I was thinking...

I have been the worst niece and granddaughter, ever!

I know how much you love to see pictures and read about Drake's adventures.

There is really no excuse for my complete lack of blogging other than pure laziness!

No excuse... no excuse!

Keeping this thing up to date so you can see your baby is the least I can do!

You both bless my life on a daily basis.

I can definitely do my part to bring a smile to your face!

All of us here in Utah love you ladies so very, very much.

I hope you enjoy this massive update! 

** These aren't exactly in order.  I was just trying to get them on here and didn't want to take the time to order them by date!  xoxo

In June, we all got together and took Big to Cars 2.  We had been waiting for the movie to come out for months and were all excited to see it.  Big of course wore his Cars shirt to the show and made sure to bring his "Lightin'" too.  After the movie, Big and I went to Costco for a hot dog, per his request.  He sure does love a good hot dog from Costco!  As for the movie... it was okay.  Definitely not as good as the first, but Big liked it enough to sit still so I guess it was a success. 

After a chat with my playgroup girls, I decided it was time to take the plunge and potty train.  The very next day, Biggie and I headed to the Dollar Store to pick out "potty prizes."  Letting him pick whatever he wanted was one of the most fun things we have ever done!  When we walked in, I handed him a basket and told him to go to town.  It took him a few minutes to understand that he could choose anything he wanted but he got the hang of it and before long we had a whole basket full of prizes.  When we got home, we unloaded our bags into his basket and laid out all the unders.  Oh was Big excited!  He couldn't wait for Dad to come home so he could show him his prizes!  It was adorable and was definitely an afternoon with Big that I will remember always.  We had so much fun!  As for the actual potty training... that only lasted three hours the next morning.  He ended up peeing three times in three hours and didn't seem to care one bit.  I could tell I was going to get frustrated with him so I bagged it and have yet to buckle down again.  He has been wearing unders for the last few days and is more than ready to be completely potty trained but I've been lazy and haven't wanted to make the transition yet.  We'll see how he does this week.  Maybe I'll stick with it, maybe I won't! 

This it typically what I get when I ask him to say cheese and smile for the camera!

One Sunday in July, B and Bah came over and brought Biggie some poppers.  We weren't so sure that he'd like them but as it turns out, he thought they were very cool and blew through both bags within a few minutes.  He especially liked the multiple pop approach and would throw three and four at a time.  It was fun to see him get the hang of it.  I'm sure that poppers will be a new favorite in July!

One weekend while Mom and Dad were in town, we all headed up to SLC to go to the soccer game.  I was a little nervous bout how Big would do with the crowds but surprisingly, he did great!  It was s fun night spent with the fam!

For playgroup back in July we went to Color Me Mine in Orem.  I wasn't so sure about taking my two year old to paint ceramics but it actually turned out to be so much fun.  Big LOVED painting and made Grammy a beautiful plat for her birthday!

While mom was visiting in June, we were able to meet up with Nick and Melissa for dinner.  It was great to be able to see them both, even if it was only for a few hours.  We love them both and wish we got to see them more often.

Bah is such a good sport and is always willing to play with Big.  Big LOVES Bah!

One night while mom was visiting, we met B and Bah at BYU to see Bah's senior project.  He had been working so hard on it and it definitely showed!  His concept was so cool and the display looked awesome!  We were all so proud!  Bah even let me keep some of the awesome shadow boxes!  We love you Bah!

Because we didn't have a backyard in Orem, we spent lots of time in the front.  Our neighbors hated us, I'm sure, but you do what you gotta do when you have a two year old!  One of the favorite activities was squirting things with the squirt bottle.  On this particular day, Big discovered that he could squirt water into Dad's tail pipe.  He was pretty proud of himself and loved "washing Dad's car."  

Playing at the Provo pool was definitely a favorite summer activity.  It is right across the street from B and Bah's house so we often times met them there after work and played for a few hours.  This was our first time there and it did not disappoint!  Big had a blast and would have stayed there all night, had we let him!  He is truly a water baby!

One Sunday during the summer, we decided to take church vacation and drove up to Deer Creek for the afternoon.  We had such a good time!  We just sat on the bank of the lake and let Big throw stones.  The weather was beautiful and the scenery was too!  We truly loved living so close to the mountains and really do miss being so close to so many fun places.  

This was our last trip to The Eating Establishment in Park City.  We LOVE that place!  They have the absolute best breakfast and we made sure to take advantage when we could!

On the 1st of August, we celebrated Grandma Weaver's 80th birthday!  Rhys and Pam were in town, along with Dan and Ellen and their family.  It was so fun to see everyone!  We spent the day together and had a great time!  Big loved being with his Grandma and Grandpa and Bachie all day and was such a good boy.  At one point in the day, we all ended up Cottonwood Canyon at a nature reserve.  It was pouring rain outside so Big and I stayed behind and waited for everyone else while they walked around the lake.  While we waited, Big discovered the art of taking pictures.  I have over 100 pictures on my camera of the floor, his pants, my feet, his eye ball, and the chair.  It was pretty funny to see what he captured!  After the nature walk, we all headed to one of Grandma's favorite restaurants for lunch.  It was such a fun day spent with the Weaver family!

 When we arrived in St. George from Orem the weekend that we moved, Grammy and Pops had a huge surprise for Biggie!  They built him a dirt box and had boxes and boxes of new trucks waiting for him!  It was better than Christmas, it really was!  He was so excited to see all those trucks and all that dirt! He LOVES to play out in the dirt box and especially loves it when Bah plays with him.  Biggie is one spoiled little dude!

 Before I started school in August, I decided to take Big to the dentist.  I was kind of nervous about how he would do but he was actually perfect!  All the girls kept commenting about how well he did for never having been before.  Luckily, he was cavity or "bug"free and still talks about going to the dentist.  Phew!  So glad that it wasn't a nightmare!

 Playing with "Minnie's softy."

 Feeding the ducks was a huge hit!  Big LOVED throwing the bread to the ducks and still talks about getting bread for the ducks.  We definitely need to go back, especially since the pond is right down the street.

 After watching Big constantly wipe water from his eyes while swimming, I decided that we should try some goggles.  We took him to the store and let him pick out which ones he wanted and tried them out.  He didn't wear them the whole time but he definitely like them and looked adorable wearing them!

 Another trip to paint!

 Pops and Big have discovered "bammin'" at Lowes!  The first time they went, Big built a little school house picture holder and kept calling it bammin' so now we all just refer to going to the Lowes workshops as going to bammin'!  I''m pretty sure that Pops looks forward to it even more than Big does!  The goggles and apron are by far my favorite!

 

Phew!  That was a lot of catch-up!  Hopefully this was a good little "Drake Fix!"  I still have lots more to do and will work on it more this week.  Love you two so very much and hope to see you soon!

xoxo