50 Years of Love!

My Grandma and Grandpa Keele are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and we all got together at their home for the first weekend of August to celebrate.  Everyone was there except one son-in-law who had to work.  It was so cool to be together and hang out with the cousins and aunt and uncles.  We had a blast talking, playing, and fishing.  Such good memories were made and I'm so glad that all three of us were able to go.

Together again after 2 years

After two years it is so good to be back together with all my siblings again!!

Meeting Uncle Clark

So My brother Clark has been serving a mission for our church in AZ for the last two years.  Because of this he had not met DJ, until June when he returned home.  We are so proud of his service but it is really good to have him home and to see him with my son.  They are already best buds!

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Our first Plane ride

So DJ and I went to California for my brothers homecoming from his mission.  My Grandmother wanted to come as well so we had decided to drive out there together.  Well to make a long story short my wonderful cousin (with lots of money and a generous heart) thought it would be better for us to fly.  So he got us a private jet in which we flew from the Provo airport to the tiny airport in my home town.  It was an adventure I will never forget.  I am very grateful to him for the easy with which we were able to get there and back without  stress or lack of sleep.  Looks like DJ will be almost a year old before he makes the twelve hour drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house, but he was only 6 months when he went on his first plane ride.

Hanging at the Falls

In June David had a rare day off of school and a reasonable start for work the next morning so we took a day and did our first family picnic.  We went up the Bridal Veil falls in the Provo canyon and enjoyed the beautiful mountains around our Utah home.  After sandwiches we went on a walk to the foot of the falls and played in the pool of ice cold water that is there.  D.J. was not such a fan of the water or the sunglasses we tried to put him in, but he did like playing with Mom and Dad and being out of the house.  Family time really is the best time!

The Zoo

So I had this great idea.  My aunts, my cousin, and I all live around Northern UT but not really close to each other and never seem to hang out.  So I thought why don't we all meet in the middle and go to the Hogle Zoo!  We got it all planned and worked out, I was going to be amazing!

The day arrived.  David really wanted me to try the new umbrella stroller we had just purchased so I decided to pack super light.  Just what I could fit in a diaper bag.  All seemed well.

On the drive up things were going okay.  DJ was refusing to sleep but wasn't fussing so that was okay.  I was making great time!  Until I took the wrong exit.  Long story short 1 hour and directions from a crazy guitar guy later I finally got to the zoo super late as everyone else is finishing lunch.  By this point DJ was super hungry so I mixed up a bottle for him.  He wouldn't take it.  I looked at it to make sure it was mixed up well and got a whiff... it smelled sour, no sour is the wrong word, it smelled like the milk in those commercials that turn the guy into a zombie would.  GROSS! But I was prepared, I dumped the bottle out, rinsed it thoroughly and mixed a new one.  Same thing.  Not good.  I nursed him a little bit while every one was on the train but he was so hot under the cover that he didn't really want to eat.  So we snagged some cheese puffs from aunt Kim and yogurt bits from the diaper bag and pressed on.

The first animal DJ had a really interaction with was the Monkeys.  There were some really cool ones right at his eye level and I pushed the stroller up so he could see them.  I didn't think he was paying attention till I tried to walk away and he reached his arms out and fussed.  So we stayed for a while and until it was time to wave and move on.

Things were going really well until the Elephants.  Now I have a confession to make.  I put my kid in front of the TV.  Not often, only about once every 2-3 weeks when I get totally fried and behind and am trying to get dinner done and cant handle the crying.  Our go to is the musical extras on the Jungle Book.  He LOVES the Elephant song.  You know "Oh the aim of our patrol, is a question rather dull.  For to march and drill over field and hill. *trumpet* is a military goal".  Every time it comes on he bobs back and forth back and forth and giggles.  So I thought that the Elephants would be really fun.  BOY WAS I WRONG!  The trainers were starting a show right as we got there and I elbowed my way to the front so I could get DJ up close.  They had the elephant eat and wave his trunk and everything was good.  DJ even smiled a little.  Then they had the elephant stand on his back legs and trumpet.  THE END!  DJ was done, cooked, and finished.  He turned and grabbed me so fast I got whip lash and began to scream in terror.  Poor kid.  I had to go to the back where he couldn't see the elephant any more just to calm him down.  I tried to take him back but every time he saw the elephant he would freak out again.  (Luckily that doesn't apply to the movie, he still loves the song).

 Well it was all down hill from there.  He got hot and tired and hot and hungry and hot.  He began to wail unless I held him, which was hard while pushing a stroller.  By the time we got the the giraffes (my faves by the way) he was a disaster.  So I said good bye to the family and raced to the front of the zoo, all the way up hill, pushing a stroller containing a screaming baby.  Yeah you can imagine the looks I got.  To get out we had to go through the gift shop and as soon as we entered the air conditioned store DJ stopped crying and started smiling.  (He must have seen daddy give mommy money for a stuffy that morning).  We took a minute and I let him pick between a monkey, giraffe, and a elephant.  He picked the monkey/gorilla/lemur thing (that we have dubbed Lemurilla).  Off to the car we went. I stopped at a store and got a new bottle and apple juice so that my little man would hydrate on the ride home.

Not a perfect zoo experience but not the worst I guess.  Hopefully we can go back sometime with Daddy and things will go a little better.