It's a long and winding road...

This is more for documenting purposes, but I wanted to report that we have begun our drive back home! We actually started on Monday, but this is the firs day I have thought to write it down.  So far our trip has looked like this:

***We are driving back because my wonderful parents blessed us with their old car, and we are driving it back! We are now a 2 car family! But that might not last too long since our other car is pretty much on its way out.  Either way, we feel very blessed!****

Saturday Greg flew into Salt Lake where the boys and I picked him up.  We were SO glad to have him back!

We spent the rest of the day in Provo with my family.  Greg slept most of the afternoon/evening since he was really experiencing jet lag.  

Sunday, everyone packed up and went their separate ways.  A very sad morning:(  We were able to see my brother Kelly who had just arrived back from Hawaii that morning as well, so we went to breakfast with my brothers , Cory and Kelly, and my mom.  It was a lovely meal, and shortly after we said goodbye once more. 

We spent the rest of Sunday with Ryan and Brittany, and enjoyed a lovely afternoon/evening with them.

We had thought we might stay around Monday and just relax, but when we woke up Monday morning, both of us were really anxious about getting going, so we took off! It was unexpected, but I am glad we did it because it helped to feel like we were making progress on our way back home.  We made it all the way to Denver, CO that night (about a 10 hour trip).  We stayed with Greg's sister and her family there.  They have a daughter, Lindsay, who is a day younger than Kayden, so it was so fun to see her and to see the similarities between the two.  

We hung out in Denver on Tuesday and relaxed, and we enjoyed the day with family.  Thanks Ashley and Jon!

Wednesday morning we woke up at 3:30, and were on the road by 4:30 am.  We drove for about 12 hours and then made it to Independence, MO where we crashed for the night.  It is very hot and humid here, so we have spent most of our time in our comfy, AC room.  We hope to get back on the road early tomorrow morning and continue on our way!  Our plan is to go to Nauvoo (5 hour drive) and see how we doing and then maybe go from there!

Both boys are traveling well considering how long we have been in the car each day. We have about 1200 miles behind us, and we have about that much left.  Oh the joys of living so far from family!

More updates to follow as we get closer to our home!

Deagan's Prayer

At bedtime tonight I asked Deagan if he wanted to say the prayer or if he wanted me to.  He said that he would.  So he folded his arms, closed his eyes, opened his eyes, looked at me and said, "You need to fold your arms."

So I did :)

He then started his prayer in a whisper.  And although I was not able to hear everything he said, I did catch a few things:

"Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day....sleep well...bless Kayden to sleep well....In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

It melted my heart.  What a sweet prayer.

What amazed me the most is that every night when we pray together we ask him if he wants to say the prayer, and most nights he wants to but with our help.  In his normal prayers he thanks Heavenly Father for the Grinch, Buzz Lightyear, and things like that, but tonight he was concerned only about his little family.

What a tender moment that was.

4 months

Kayden is 4 months old today!

Here is what our little man is doing now:

-"Talking" a lot.  You can tell that he likes to hear his voice because he constantly coos and at times seems to be screaming sometimes when he gets frustrated.
-He rolled over for the first time from his stomach to his back on Friday (July 17)  He hasn't done it again since, but he gets close a lot.  He doesn't like tummy time very much, but seems to be doing better with it.  Greg should be happy to know that we do do tummy time everyday:)
-He is really good at spotting something and grabbing for it.  His coordination has improved so much this past month, and even more so in the time that we have been in Wyoming.  Today he discovered his toes as he was sitting in his Bumbo seat and he couldn't get enough of them.
-He really likes bath time and splashes and talks the whole time he is in the bath.
-He has been a good sleeper for a while now, but is getting even better.  It makes me happy :)
-He has such a good temperament!  He is a baby and has his moments where he is hard, but for the most part he is a pretty easy going little guy.

We love our little Kayden man, and are so happy he is in our family!

In other news:

We are in Utah now for the next week while my little brother is at a tennis camp at BYU.  It is sad to think the Wyoming part of our trip is over.  It went by way too fast.  It was so nice to be there and to be with my family and to have all their help and support with the kids.  I am really going to miss that.  I don't know when I will be back in Wyoming again, so that is kind of sad to think of.  Powell will always hold a special place in my heart:)  Our plan is to visit family who live in the area while we are here, and to enjoy a few more days of vacation.  Greg flies into Salt Lake from Israel this Saturday, and we can't wait to have him back with us! After that, we begin our drive back out east.  I am hoping that it will be fun, but I know it will be long, so here is to hoping for the best!

Pictures of Wyoming Trip So Far #2

Happy Kayden in his new Bumbo seat and his vibrating chair

Uncle Kelly was able to come to town.  He was so good to the boys, and it was fun to see him!

We were able to go to Rexburg last weekend, and we met up my dear friend Jessica and her adorable little girls at Splash Park. Deagan wasn't dressed to get wet, but he ran in the water anyway and had a blast!

He got super cold and I didn't have an extra set of clothes for him, so he ran around in his diaper.  

Deagan and Layla

Kayden woke up at the end, and had the saddest little tears

Beautiful Jessica and her Gwen:)

Since we have been here, Kayden has started to really get good at grabbing things in front of him.  On this toy he is pulling, every time he pulls it it makes noise.  

My parents have a workout room in the house, and Deagan likes to play on the stair stepper.  He calls it is elevator.

Sadie and Bella.  Yesterday he was in this room by himself feeding them bones without anyone's knowledge.  Grandma walked in at one point and he was trying to put a bone in their kennel but told her that they were sick because they wouldn't eat anymore bones.  It makes you wonder how many bones he had fed them before that if they were not wanting to eat any?

Deagan has a great imagination.  This is a toilet paper holder, but here it is his microphone.

The many faces of Kayden:)

Pictures of Wyoming Trip So far

We are sure having a great time in Wyoming while Greg is in Israel for a school project. We all really miss him though!

Here are some pictures of our trip so far:

Playing with Grandma and Aunt Chelsea at Uncle Cody's championship baseball game

Deagan entertaining Kayden

Deagan brought a basketball to a baseball game.

Uncle Cody taking his place at short stop

All smiles!

"Talking"

Deagan made a new friend and instantly started threatening to put his friend in time out.  What does this say about us as parents?

Cody's team won the championship!!!

Cody's ready position

A proud and happy uncle!

Cody plays a lot of sports and is good at everything he does! He played in a tennis tournament and took first place in his age group. (which was 12-14)  Every player he beat was 14.  

Deagan decided to rest with Cody and Grandma

My sister turned 19 on the 5th! She was so excited for her birthday!! Deagan was too!

One of Chelsea's requests on her birthday was to go on a long bike ride.  Here she is ready to go!

Kelly, Chelsea, and dad before they left.