Happy 2nd Birthday, Cameron!!!!

So hard to believe that our cute little Cameron is already two years old. He's come a long way in those two years, too. Babies grow up too fast. In the past few months Cameron has started using vocal speech more and more, and his motor skills have continued to develop. He loves to run and jump and climb. He's such a big boy, now, that it is hard to call him a baby, but he will always be my Baby Boy.

This year his birthday was fill with a lot of fun. The day of his birthday, September 18th, we took him to meet his hero, Rachel Coleman from the Signing Time videos. He had so much fun! He loved signing and singing along with all the songs, and even got to go up on stage to help perform one! After the show he got to personally meet Rachel and Hopkins the Frog. Normally, Cameron is a little shy around strangers, but as soon as he saw Rachel he ran right up and gave her a great big hug! Since it was his birthday, Rachel sang and signed the Happy Birthday Song just for him! He loved being with her so much it was hard to pull him away.

We had a birthday party for him later in the week. We invited his little cousins and a few kids form nursery. It was a small turn-out, but was really just right for him. This year we did a Clifford the Big Red Dog theme, becuase Cameorn loves to watch Clifford on tv. All the kids got to make funny faces with balloons, and everyone helped open the presents, LOL. And of course, there was plenty of cake and food to go around.

Cameron has learned so much in just the last year, we can't imagine where he will be at next year. But we hope whatever he does he will have fun and grow more!

Our San Diego Vacation

We recently took an exciting trip down to San Diego California, and we had a blast! We stayed with my Aunt and Uncle, who I have only met a few times in my life, but it was great. They are awesome people, and we really appreciate putting us up (or putting up with us, depending on how you look at it, LOL).


Our first big adventure was a day at Sea World, and honsetly, I think Cameron thought he must have gone to heaven. He loved it! His very favorite were the dolphins, he just loved watching them jump out of the water. Later we took him to the dolphin pool to meet them, and he was just the happiest boy ever. The dolphins came right up, and they just stared at each other for the longest time. It was so cute!

One of my favorite shows was the Cirque de la Mer, a Vegas style show with awesome acrobatics. I was totally amazed at the strength these people had, both men and women. No way I could do any of it.

Of course Shamu was a hit, but we didn't see him until the very end of hte day, and by then Cameron was pretty tired, so wasn't quite as interested. He still liked those big jumps, though!

Our next big adventure was a trip to the beach, a first for both Craig and Cameron. Unfortunately, Cameron wasn't quite so enthralled as we had hoped he would be. For the first two hours he sat on his towel and complained about the sun, the sand, and the water. Meanwhile, Craig enjoyed splashing in the waves, and I enjoyed building my first sandcastle! Eventually Cameron realized that sand is fun, especially when you throw it at Daddy, and he was much happier.

Our last big adventure was a trip to the San Diego zoo. Cameron LOVED the petting zoo, and had to pet ALL the animals. I guess he didn't want anyone to feel left out. But probably his most favorite were the elephants. I am not sure why, but elephants are his new favorite animal. He was all smiles and giggles when he saw them. What was funny is when we first went up to them and Cameorn saw how huge they were. I thought his eyes would pop out of his head! But he really loved it. My favorite part was seeing the pandas. So totally cute! The baby had just turned a year old, and I just wanted to cuddle her! We had to see them twice becuase Cameron feel asleep the first time, and we really wanted him to see them. And of course he liked them!

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I think I took about 400 pics, but I narrowed it down to about 300. Still, how am I ever going to get all those in a scrapbook? I think it is going to be a multi-volume work!

PS. I can never get my picutres to post. I will have to keep trying, and maybe I can pu thtem in another post.

He Talks!

As unbelievable as this may sound, Cameron is actually starting to talk! He is learning new words all the time, and it's great. So the list so far is:

Mama
Dada/Daddy
Gate (sounds like Gay)
Uh-oh
Ooohhh!
bye-bye (his new favorite)
Whoo-whoo (like a train)

He also has a few other words that he has only said occasionaly, like car and baby. We were getting a little worried that he was going to grow up as a mime, but fortunately hours and hours of Gilmore Girls has caught up with him and he is realizing just how fun talking can be. Now if I can only get him to shut up now and again, LOL.

In other news, Craig is desperatly trying to finish school by next Spring, but UNLV is not making it easy for him. They keep scheduling classes inteh middle of the day. I mean, the nerve of some people! Who goes to class in the day time anyway? He may end up quiting his job in the Winter so he can finish school. We REALLY don't want to stay here in the Land of Desolation and longer than is really neccessary. Our goal is Bountiful. Utah, I mean.

As for moi, I am working every now and then at the chapel. Work has been very slow. Then it sucks because my boss makes me stay 10 1/2 hours on Saturday (our one busy day) and then complains that I don't "give enough", which makes me feel all guilty, but only temporarily. After those initial five seconds I am ready to throttle him. I love my job, really, but sometimes I really want to scream.

And here is soemthing even bigger! I am working very hard towards taking a great photography course, which I am hoping will help me break into the business on my own. I think I am really leaning towards children's photography. I love working woth kids, and really showing of thier wn individual uniqueness.

And speaking of children's photography, here are a few cute pics of my niece Krystal that I took when she and her parents came for a visit in July. They are not perfect, but I am working on improving my techniques, as aforementioned.

Twitchell Family Camp

We just got back from the annual Twitchell Family Camp. Every year, Craig's family get's together for a great big camping trip. I am a huge fan of camping, so this is good for me:-) The downside is htat there are SOOOOO many people there, adn usually if I wasn't cooking, I was cleaning, and if I ever tried to do something fun on y own time, I would face a lot of guilt for not helping out in camp. Bummer. But this year Carig's immediate family decided to try somethign different. We set up our campsite a little away from the main camp, and instead of sharing meals with everyone else, we did our own fmaily meal, which means there was a lot less to cook, a lot less cleaning, and no long lines to wait for food. It was also nice to have a little quiet spot away from the hussle and bustle of the main camp. Very relaxing.

Setting up camp was lots of fun. Cameron was a big helper. He helped put together the poles and hammer in the pegs. Next year he'll be ready to do it all by himself!

The first night we were there, we nearly froze to death. In Las Vegas, summer nights are still somehwere around 85-90F. But our campsite was at Duck Creek in Utah, some 9,000 ft above sea level. Therefore, at night it got down to around 40F. Not only was it hard for me to sleep, but poor Cameron kept waking up becuase he would throw off what little covering he had and then wake up freezing. Fortunately, the next night we were able to procur extra blankets, and we all slept much better.

One of my favorite parts of camp this year was the hiking. First we went to the Ice Cave, a small, unassuming cave. Strangely, even in the heat of the day, the cave was freezing cold. As a result, precipitation would fall into the cave and freeze, causing the whole floor to be covered in a thick sheet of ice.

After visiting the Ice Cave we went on a hike to Cascade Falls. The hike was amazing. The path was set high up on the mountainside, with a cliff wall on one side, and a very long drop on the other. The view was SPECTACULAR!! The mountains and forest seemed to stretch on forever and ever, fanilly becomgin lost in the hazy atmosphere. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "purple mountain's majesty". The falls were beautiful, and we had fun, until Cameron tried to slip through the guard rails. He almost succeeded, too, but fortunately Craig was there to grab him. If he had managed to slip through, it would have been a long drop to a nasty death. I don't think I have ever been more scared in my life. Still, despite that brief incident, we had a lot of fun, and Cameorn felt like he was on top of the world!

On Sunday we all got together for church, which was held in a nice shady spot under the trees. I felt like a poineer, which is was fitting, considering that Pioneer Day is next week. There was such a peaceful feeling sitting out in Heavenly Father's Kingdom.

When we came back home Sunday afternoon the first thing we noticed is how hot and dry Las Vegas is. And very brown. The cool air and green mountains have spoiled us, nad we are more determined than ever to get out of Nevada as soon as Craig graduates. Hopefully, we can go back up to Utah. I don't like how cold it gets in the inter time, but I hate how ridiculously hot it gets here inthe summer time, so I guess it's merely a matter of picking hte lesser of two evils.

Our Fabulous Fourth

I have to say, we enjoyed our Fourth very much. Surprisingly, I had the day off work, so we spent the whole day together as a family, a rare treat. I had done some wedding photos in the Bellagio casino and noticed that the new garden theme was Americana, and had numerous miniature trains. I thought Cameron would love it, so we took him there in there in the morning. Sure enough, he thought they were about the coolest things ever! He couldn't get enough of them, and oohed and awed. Just as fun were the water spouts the had throughout the gardens. Shooting water! What a fantastic concept! After checking outhte trains we went outside to watch the water show. Cameron liked that, too, but not as much as the great big fountain out in front. Why watch it, when you can play in it?

In the evening we went over to Craig's grandparent's house to eat and set off fireworks. Cameron thought they were even cooler than the trains! HUGE EXPLOSIONS!!! LIGHTS!! FIRE!!! Honsetly, what could be more exciting to a little boy? After setting off our own, we went down to the park to watch the fireworks show there, which was great fun. I got some awesome pics, but I took them on an SLR, and haven't been able to download them into the computer yet.

All in all, it was a fantastic Fourth. I wish I had more days like that.

Happy b-day, Dad!

Once in a lifetime you turn 50 years old. Thank goodness, right? My wonderful father-in-law just celebrated his 50th b-day today. In honor of this occasion, I have baked a special cake. Unfortunately, we didn't know that he (and the rest of the fam) went up to Utah for the weekend. So the cake sits on my counter for now. I will post pics of it later when I get it set up.

Have you ever thought about your life in perspective to your age? Let's say you live to be 100. Hey, in this day and age, it is entirly possible. So at age 50 you have only lived half you life. That's it! Your still a young spring chick! I like to think of it as the past 50 years as one life, and the next is another. You are reborn, to live and learn a whole new life, with new experiences. How exciting! This is true for other ages as well. Whe I turned 20, I felt the past twenty years fall away behind me, and the next 20 lay ahead, a road untraveled. A new life. Fortunately, we can still take our former experiences with us into our new life, which makes life nicer for everyone. So Dad, Happy Birthday, adn welcome to your New Life!

Look! I'm blogging!

I feel as though I have entered a new realm. Blogging. Funny word. I wonder where it came from. At any rate, I am now a blogger. As such, I will be posting my many memoirs on a fairly regular basis. I'm online a lot, so you can expect to see quite a bit. I figure this would be better than those mass emails I always used to send. did anyone ever read those? I don't know, I never got any responses. Hmmmm. . . Anywho, now you can read at your own leisure. I hope y'all will stop in from time to time.