Camping in Hades (end of June, 2013)

Stole away to the Uintas with the Phillips clan for a early summer camping trip.  We lucked out with location, and bugs. 

First trip to dentist

Before

After


Miles had his first trip to the dentist on June 13th.  During the exam it was discovered that a tooth he fell on when younger had intruded into his gum and was infected.  Bless his heart (and ours!), but this necessitated a tooth extraction. Since his permanent teeth are already formed and waiting, infection can cause pitting and/or  discoloration.  Not to mention the risk of continued infections and antibiotic use.  We worked so hard to prepare him for this first visit, to navigate the anxiety, encourage cooperation and now, here we were faced with going back and having him undergo anesthesia.  I think it is safe to say, both Craig and I were wrecks.  I, more the night before.  Craig, the day of.  In the end, the procedure was very quick and smooth.  He ended up only needing the first drug they gave him to relax, combined with the numbing of the gum.  He seemed to be just fine once the drugs wore off, but was definitely groggy and out-of-it for awhile.  The new tooth won't be in until he's 6 or 7, so we have awhile with this new and improved grin!  :-) 

Summertime Fun

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Miles wanted to ride his bike.  Unfortunately, it's a bit small for him, but he is undaunted.  We've gone out quite a few times and are going to try to find one with peddles before the summer/fall ends.  His balance is getting quite good, so I hope the transition to peddles won't discourage him.

Enjoying flowers we found while on a walk.

Another favorite place, Memory Grove.  We take Butters and they both run up and down the trails.  Of course, we also spend quite a bit of time at the creek for rock throwing!

Picnic and carousel ride in Liberty Park.

Miles got awfully quiet and when I peeked in his room, this is what I found.  I love that he spread his blanket out before falling asleep.

Smoothies in the hammock with dad!

LaGrande (end of May 2013)

This winter proved to be the final straw.  Terrible air quality had us housebound and gasping.  Seriously, I was actually physically affected by the air this past winter.  Moving always seems to come up right around February and I guess this time we are serious.  Craig is ready to make some serious career changes and we want to leave the smoggy air behind.  Right now, LaGrande, OR is top on our list of places we'll go.  Actually, it's the only place on the list.  Craig has two sisters there, Miles would have lots of cousins and Grandma Julie, Grandma Lucy and Aunt Lori only live about 1.5 hours away.  So far, my mom is open to coming with us, which is great, because we want her to be around us too!  Miles has really developed a sweet relationship with her.  We took a trip out there to look at the town with critical eyes.  It's a lovely place, a small town with lots of open land.  Lots of details to be figured out though.  The plan is to move this spring, early summer. I guess I will be able to update as I have more details.

My mom bought Miles a Rubik's cube to play with.  He was interested at first, but quickly wanted mom and dad to figure it out.  Ha! It's still a mess.

Beautiful countryside complete with rainbows.  Now you're just showing off Oregon!

I woke up from a little nap and found this. The kids found their 'Cars' movie and had it playing for Miles.  He was happy as a clam. The whole weekend was amazing that way.  Miles was off and running with all the kids and hardly seemed to notice or need us at all.  Quite a difference from our times in Salt Lake.  

The girls built Miles a little fort, complete with personalized details!

Throwing rocks at a little lake just up the road a bit from town.  

Camping in Torrey (May 2013)

Baby goats and lambs at a petting zoo in Scipio.  It's located at the rest stop and they had just put in teeny, tiny baby goats and some new, new lambs. Adorable!  

I just love how this picture makes it look like they were having a little conversation.

Hiking in Torrey, UT.  A last trip with the gang before our friends, Sam and Mark, moved to Minneapolis. 

Still loves to spot tracks!

More tracks!  Seriously, it takes a bit of time to cover any ground.

"I'm not tired!!!!"  Really?

The car ride home.  Miles loved that Butters was in his seat with him.  They both fell asleep shortly after this picture, two exhausted adventurers.

Dinosaur Playland

This little gem of a play area helped us keep our sanity this winter, which had some of the worst air quality days to date!  We have a new mall in town and they added this play area filled with giant hard foam dinosaurs.  Miles gets overwhelmed by the amount of kids running around sometimes, but overall, he has had a great time testing and improving his climbing skills.

St. George

Craig's dad and step-mom moved to St. George and we were able to visit them during the last weekend in April.  The weather was perfect and it was nice to feel a bit of warmth without it being overwhelming.  

On a hike in Snow Canyon.  Miles was obsessed with footprints, tracks and playing in the soft sand.  Most of the hike was spent like this, trying to get Miles to actually walk with us.  The situation improved greatly once we got to the rocks and had to do a bit of climbing.

Gorgeous vistas.

Teaching Grandpa about games on the tablet.  Perfect after a long morning outside!

Exploring small caves and rock formations at our last stop before heading home.