Colorado Trip

Miranda was kind enough to give me a weekend pass to go visit our friends, Matt and Rene in Colorado. We contemplated the thought of a family trip, but the added stress of traveling with Gavin combined with the extra cost proved too much. I headed out on Thursday afternoon in search of a little relaxation and a few trout to pull on my fly line.

Matt and Rene were kind enough to allow me to tag along to a cabin that some of their friends own in Keystone. The accommodations were first rate, and I even got to sleep on the top bunk. :)The next morning we headed out for some fishing on the Colorado River. We stopped by a fly shop to get a fishing report and some flies. The report wasn't good - fishing had been pretty tough in the last few days. But we went ahead and tried our luck anyway. Sorry, no pictures of the fishing trip today. We were fishing bigger water, so I didn't want to take the chance of dunking the camera if I fell in....which has been known to happen. The fishing was tough as expected, but I still managed to catch a couple brown trout before we headed back to Keystone.

The next day we headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were going to be hiking into a high mountain lake to fish for cutthroat trout and greenback cutthroat trout. Here is a picture of the continental divide tunnel.
We saw a lot of these type of views over the course of the weekend. Lots of climbing in the less than powerful rental car. But the views were hard to beat, so I can't complain too much.The rain rolled in once we hit Trail Ridge Road in the Park. This is the highest road in the United States - 12,183' at the highest point. What happens to rain at that elevation - sleet of course...we had some sleet coming down for about five minutes on the drive. Kinda surreal considering I had just come from 100 degree temperatures in Texas.We saw LOTS of elk in the park. They didn't seem camera shy. The herd created a crazy traffic jam of people trying to get pictures.Nice scenery on the hike up to our final destination - Loch Lake.Alberta Falls on the way to Loch Lake.Matt didn't think the hike was too bad...I on the other hand had a different opinion. Thin air and a southern boy don't mix well together when hiking to a high mountain lake. The hike was just over 3 miles with an elevation gain of 900'. This was considered a moderate difficulty hike...I might still be up there if we had tried a difficult hike.A few switchbacks in the trail kept things interesting. In hindsight it could have been much worse.A cool log that had been worn away by the wind next to the trail.Lock Lake - elevation 10,200'. All the effort put out on the hike was totally worth it when we got to the lake and saw this view.We caught cutthroat trout and greenback trout in the lake and also in Icy Brooke that feeds the lake. We fished for about four hours, and had a brief (and cold) rain delay for about a half hour.We had to head back down the 3 mile trail before it got too late. Incidentally, while we were up at the lake, Matt had some trail mix stolen by a thieving chipmunk. The chipmunk crawled into his backpack that was on the ground and chewed through his bag of trail mix. Something tells me that those chipmunks have that routine down pretty well.My wading boots decided to die at Loch Lake...at least they waited till we were done fishing before coming apart at the seams. The real bad part was that I had to carry them back down the 3 miles of trail while they were soaking wet just to throw them away.The next day was a low key day spent resting in Golden. I had to catch a flight in the afternoon, so we both decided to rest a bit instead of trying to get in a final rushed fishing trip.

I had a great time on the trip this year. Good friends, mountains, trout, elk, cool temperatures, thieving chipmunks, who could have asked for a better weekend? To cap off the awesome weekend I was greeted at the airport by my wonderful wife, and my sleepy smiling boy.

Happy Birthday Grandma

Six Month Photos

Some days, I really don't have any idea where the past six months have gone. Gavin is growing too quickly. I know that time will only begin to pass exponentially fast.
Gavin is rolling over. We're still working on sitting up. He has discovered his feet and toes and is actively grabbing them; I can't wait for him to get his foot to his mouth. He was awfully close in the car on the drive home tonight. I guess it's a good thing that he didn't get his foot up there, I probably would have wrecked. Gavin has become a big fan of rice cereal in the last few weeks. We expect the pediatrician to give us the go ahead to add vegetables when we go in for his six-month well visit next Friday.

Pep Rally

Saturday Gavin and I dragged Dave to the annual kickoff pep rally. There are so many high school things that Gavin will get to experience long before he gets there thanks to my job. His buddy Dean (and Dean's mom and dad) enjoyed the show, too.


We took a minute for a photo with one of the school's mascots, Babs. We'll pose with Buster at an upcoming football game. (I know our devoted followers will be waiting with bated breath for that picture.)
And, of course, every show is better when viewed from the mama-recliner while holding our best friend, Mallory.

A Little Wet Behind the Ears

We were able to schedule Gavin's baptism to coincide with Grandma and Granddaddy's visit. Gavin behaved very well during the ceremony despite not having his usual morning nap Sunday. When our minister, Ken, took Gavin and walked him to the congregation, we hear from friends that Gavin gave the biggest smile, as if on cue. (I can't wait to get the DVD of the ceremony to see this.)

After the church service, one lady (whom I don't know) walked up and told us how cute Gavin is and "that was the best baptism I've seen." Following the ceremony, we were able to take a few photographs outside the church. Above is some of our extended Texas church family.
After lunch, we took a few pictures at home.

We are so blessed by Gavin. Our desire is to raise him with a strong faith to be a man that loves God. With God's help and the support of our family--both blood and chosen--I know we can. I know that his needs won't always be as simple as they are now. But, I know I can always show my love to him and encourage him to trust in God for all the things Mama and Dad can't make better.

Grandma and Granddaddy Visit

Gavin is always glad to see company. Granddaddy and Grandma came out for a visit last week. Gavin got to play hookey from school three days. He and the grands had a great time playing. Monday they went to the mall. Grandma says when she comes back next time, they'll go for a ride on the carousel.
I think Grandma and Granddaddy were both impressed with all the new things Gavin is doing and his overall happy demeanor. The last time they visited, Gavin was still a bit grumpy in the evenings. Thankfully, he has outgrown that. We were able to go to Babe's for dinner Friday evening. Gavin was a good sport despite the 35 minute wait for a table. He enjoyed eating his rice cereal in Dad's lap.
Grandma and Granddaddy were also able to go to the Open House hosted by Gavin's school. I'm sure Grandma enjoyed getting to see where Gavin is spending his days.
And, Grandma and Granddaddy pampered Mama and Dad a bit by helping out. Granddaddy cut the grass; Grandma did the laundry and took care of dishes. And, Granddaddy grilled great steaks Monday night. Mama and Dad even got a few hours off Saturday night to go to a work party.
We can't wait to see them again.

QUACK QUACK QUACK

I think that we told you earlier that Gavin's new bathtub quacks. Well, Gavin loves the new bathtub and thinks that the quacking is just so much fun. We got some footage of the duck in action.

Hand Me Downs

Miranda and I are loving all the hand me down items that family and friends have sent to us. This is the lastest shipment of toys from cousin Hayden that Matthew and Cindy sent. Gavin says THANK YOU!

Your Daily Gavin Fix

We know why you really come to read the blog - and it isn't because of the coupon deal, or cherry limeaid recipes....So here is what little G has been up to lately.

Kroger Coupon Craze

Kroger is doing double coupons up to $1.00 this Saturday! Being the savy coupon shoppers that we are, you can guess out excitement over this event. We rose early and got to the store at 6:45. There were people already in the store snapping up the good deals. When we saw that they were doing the coupon deals we agreed to only buy the things that we would normally use. If we used all the coupons that we have that are $1.00, we would be spending a fortune.

The pantry and cuppords are now stocked to the top with stock up items. I don't think that we will have to buy deoderant, toothpaste, pasta, cereal, pop tarts, shampoo, and many other items for at least a year. We saved 53% on our items this time. That's pretty good considering many of the items were on the expensive side - diapers, etc... Here's the haul:

Gavin's Rubber Duckie

Rubber Duckie, you're the one,

You make bathtime lots of fun,
Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you;
(woh woh, bee doh!)

Rubber Duckie, joy of joys,

When I squeeze you, you make noise!
Rubber Duckie, you're my very best friend, it's true!
(doo doo doo doooo, doo doo)

Every day when I
Make my way to the tubby
I find a little fella who's
Cute and yellow and chubby
(rub-a-dub-a-dubby!)

Rubber Duckie, you're so fine
And I'm lucky that you're mine
Rubber duckie, I'm awfully fond of you.

Every day when I
Make my way to the tubby
I find a little fella who's
Cute and yellow and chubby
(rub-a-dub-a-dubby!)

Rubber Duckie, you're so fine
And I'm lucky that you're mine
Rubber duckie, I'm awfully fond of -
Rubber duckie, I'd like a whole pond of -
Rubber duckie I'm awfully fond of you!
(doo doo, be doo.)

Gavin has outgrown his bathtub. It had been pretty tight quarters for a little while now, so we needed a little bigger one till he can sit up in the regular bathtub. After some searching we found an inflatable rubber duck bathtub, and Gavin loves it! He was splashing and smiling, and just having a great time.

The duck quacks too! You press on his bill, and he quacks. Gavin gets really excited when the duck quacks, and he starts splashing and joining in all the fun.

Sonic Cherry Limeaide

Miranda and I are both addicted to Sonic drinks. Miranda typically only gives into her obsession during their happy hour when drinks are half price. I on the other hand just get one whenever I get the urge. I almost always get a diet cherry limeaide, and Miranda rotates between a diet cherry limeaid, oceanwater and other various drinks.

So, you can imagine my excitement when Miranda created a cherry limeaid drink at home. She used cherry flavored diet 7up, 2 tablespoons of Minute Maid Limeaide mix, and a cherry. IT TASTES EXACTLY THE SAME! Actually I think that it might taste a little better...So thankfully now I don't have to give in and pay $2 each for my little addiction. I can make one at home whenever I want. Add this to the list of many reason that I love my wife.

Getting the Hang of this Chewing Thing

Gavin has quickly caught onto this whole spoon feeding thing. It took several days, but the light bulb turned on one day. Now he has decided that he likes to chew his food. Or even chomp sometimes. He usually gets really excited when he sees us break out the rice cereal and spoon.

You would think that he was eating steak he chews so much....even though he is eating the equivalent of very runny grits.

work work work work work work

Does the title give you any idea of what I have been doing lately? I guess that I am now paying for all those slow times that we had this summer. Imagecraft is bidding on a job for the University of Texas. More specifically it is for case work, trophy cases, and graphics for a football "Hall of Honor". This is where their national championship trophies, Heisman trophies, conference championship trophies, etc will be displayed for the public to view them. So it is a really BIG DEAL for the Austin office (just about all of whom are UT (west) fans.

It all started last Thursday night. I was attempting to get a jump start on the project so I stayed up till 1:00 working at home. This trend continued for a week. Every night I would work till 5:30, come home eat dinner, bathe G or assist in the bath, play with G a little then work till 1:00-2:00 in the morning. Last night took the cake - I was up all night working trying to get everything completed. It really isn't that big of a project as far as the scope, but the specifity of it is what has been challenging. When designing a Heisman display and graphics you can't exactly just stick some random football player in the graphic. I think that Mack Brown would be able to tell the difference....I spent 6 hours last night just designing graphics to put into the model.

But, I finished everything up today around noon. I was then able to come home and take a nap this afternoon. That probably wasn't the best idea since I am now wide awake even though I have only had about three hours of sleep in the last 40+ hours.

Eh - the renderings turned out pretty well...here's a few:

August 3rd

In March, August 3rd seemed like such a long way away. I could handle that I go back to work and Gavin would start school on August 3rd. In June, August 3rd was still a ways away, and Gavin and I had the entire summer before us. On July 31st, August 3rd was way too close. On Monday, August 3rd came. Ready or not.

I arose from my slumber around 5am, listening to Gavin move around in his crib in his sleep. I was up by 5:25 and ready at 6 to get Gavin up. I fed him and had him dressed by 6:45. Over our morning bowl of cereal, Dave and I discussed the day and the drop off. Then because Gavin was yawning in his bouncy seat, Dave asked, "What if he falls asleep on the drive there? Are you going to carry him in in his car seat?"

"No. I'll get him out because I want to wake him up. I don't want to leave him there asleep. I don't want him to wake up and not know where he is." Begin the tears. Leave him. How can I leave him? What if he doesn't nap? Will they rock him and bounce him and cajole him to get him to nap? Will he just be exhausted when he gets home? How will I survive?

I got up to grab a napkin to wipe my eyes lest my tears make marks down my face through my make up and blush (I've been wearing waterproof mascara for years; I need to start looking for waterproof blush). When I returned Dave was wiping a way a tear. And so, I cried again.

Of course as it was time to go, Gavin had a dirty diaper that needed to be changed. Dave changed Gavin; I loaded the car. Dave came downstairs sniffing after the diaper--must have been some dirty diaper.

Gavin studied Mallory and Buford on the way to school, chewing on occasion. When we arrived Ms. Kim opened the door for us. She said hi to Gavin and walked us down to the room. We filled out forms, put away milk, and got settled. Dave walked around the room with Gavin showing him all the cool toys he would have to play with. And then it was time. We handed our most prized possession over to Ms. Kim. (At this age, I feel I do possess him, I know in time, my "possession" of him will become less and less until he is his own little man.)

Gavin snuggled up on Ms. Kim's shoulder. We took a picture, mustered all of our courage, and walked out the door. Making a stop at the front desk to discuss payment and sign the contract, there was no more reason to linger. We had to leave. Out in the parking lot hugs and tears. I knew I couldn't cry too much; I only have to drive 1,584 feet to work. (Yes, a whopping 3/10 of a mile.)

Gavin had a great day. He napped only 30 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon. He was laying on the floor resting his head on a cute yellow square pillow chewing on a toy when I walked in. Dean was sitting next to him shaking a toy. I sat down and played with the boys for a minute while I talked with Ms. Tiffany. Then, I gathered Gavin up and headed out. I was surprised I didn't get any smiles out of him and asked him if he was mad at me. On the drive home, he fell asleep about 5 minutes from the house, so I drove around a bit to let him nap a while longer. When I took him upstairs after he awakened, he was all smiles as I changed his diaper.

Hopefully this will get easier for Mama and Dad.

Ms. Kim promises to take good care of Gavin.