Happy Thanksgiving!

These are the things for which I am thankful:

My Mom and Dad

Buddies (Bat-Buddy, Cat-Buddy, Rat-Buddy, and the whole Buddy posse)

Mr. Bear (My favorite Buddy - But don't tell the other buddies!)

Diapers

Orajel, Tylenol and Teething rings (ouch!)

Baby Food

All of my toys (Blocks, rattles, vehicles etc. - you know who you are!)

My crib

Music

Bathtime (Splash!Splash!)

But most of all, I am thankful for you!

It makes me feel really special to know that, even though we are far apart, we can still keep in touch. I am lucky to have so many people who love and care about me!

I love you!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Party on Max!

I have been to my first dinner party!

Our neighbors had a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. It was really great. I got to meet the other folks on our street. (There are just three other houses.) I met another baby there, too. She is 7.5 months old and even though she was pretty cute, I had to tell her that I already had a girlfriend.

Anyway, I had a good time getting dressed up and meeting new people. It's just too bad that I had to bail on the party early to go to bed.

I'm a shoe-in!

I love shoes!

I love to chew on them, not wear them. I love the way the little rubber ridges feel when I am teething. I love to pull on the laces. I love the smell of the leather. I love to bang shoes on things (including Mom and Dad).

I love shoes!

Speed Racer!

Hello everybody!

I'm having a great day and I hope that you are too!

Gotta be cruisin' - See ya later!

Little Angel in the Devil's Garden

This is Devil's Garden (in the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument).

It is like a great big natural playground.

You can climb all over the rocks!

As you can see, Dad is just a little more adventurous than Mom.

Manhood 101

Yesterday I received an important lesson in being a guy.

We got a flat tire. We were 13 miles down a dirt road in the Grand Staircase. Dad showed me how to change the tire. He also told me that the most important thing is to not run over big nails or other sharp objects.

My next lesson in manhood was that it's okay for guys to give hugs and kisses.

I'm glad that I have a role model like my dad!

Hi-O Silver! (or the not-so-lone ranger!)

Today I rolled into Frontier Movie Town because I heard there was trouble. Low and behold I found a couple of bandits making some mischeif. It's a good thing I had Tonto sitting at the front door to keep an eye on things. I rustled them up faster than you can hum Rawhide. When I took them to jail I found out that they were wanted in a few states, including Minnesota. The marshall wouldn't tell me their identity, but he said "Thanks little ranger, you've saved our town and restored justice to Movie Town. Can I buy you a juice?" Of course, I could not refuse....as long as it was pear.

My next adventure led me to the high, narrow walls of Cottonwood Canyon. Pictures do not do it justice, so you might have to check it out yourself.

Half way through the canyon we spotted some rather large kitty prints. I think they made mom and dad a little nervous, but they were relieved when I told them "Ya ya ya ya ya!" Anyway, we wandered into a couple of dead-ends that were pretty cool. The whole hike was about 2 miles. When we arrived at the truck, we spotted the illusive "Red Stone Cat". It was sitting pretty still so mom and I jumped on for a photo. Again the photo does not do it justice, so you might have to check it out yourself. All in all this place is great! So long until my next adventure!

Zion Adventure!

For Mom's birthday I decided that we needed to take a little family vacation. I drove us to Zion National Park. We stayed at the Zion Lodge, which is in Zion Canyon, surrounded by beautiful mountains. We had a really great adventure!

We had planned to do a whole lot of hiking, but Mom broke her toe the day before we left. We went sightseeing instead, and we had a great time!

This is us climbing around Zion!

I had a lot of fun just playing in the grass outside of the lodge. I even met some new buddies there!

While I was just hanging out, some deer came meandering by. (You can see them in the background.) I also met some real turkeys!

This is my new friend. He is a little burro.

(Does that make him a burrito?)

Well, there are more vacation details to come.

To be continued...

Zion Adventure... Part II !

We took a drive to Kanab, UT. On the way we stopped at the Big Water Visitor Center for the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument. I went on a dinosaur hunt! While I didn't find any real dinosaurs, I did meet someone who has. This man has actually discovered a new species of dinosaur! They are currently naming a type of Therizinosaur after him - the Nothronychus Graffami. (It is the smaller one right behind my head in the picture.) Pretty cool, huh? He says that they find an average of one dinosaur a week here and that it will take at least a hundred years to discover them all. Wow! I hope I can really go on a dinosaur dig sometime!

We also stopped in old Paria. This is us at an old movie set there. (Actually, it is the recreation of an old movie set.) This is the site where lots of Westerns were filmed. The most recent movie made here was The Outlaw Josie Wales.

You can tell by our cowboy hats that we would fit right into the old west!

We drove to Page, AZ too! Page is the home of the Glen Canyon Dam.

I had fun looking down into the Colorado river gorge and seeing this huge example of water power in action!

This is us at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes state park. We climbed all the way to the top of the big dune. We really felt like we were in the desert. We tried to slide down it on our bottoms, but just ended up with sand in our pants. (Next time we will bring a sled!)

Just a couple of hours after we were at the sand dunes, we were back in Bryce Canyon. This is me at the top of Rainbow Pointe. The snow sure felt different than the sand!

Wow! What a whirlwind vacation we had! I can't wait to explore more of this place!

Pillow Talk!

It was a day just like any other.

I was helping Mom and Dad clean the Inn.

I usually keep an eye out for any foreign objects on the floor.

(As mom says, if there is anything around that I shouldn't have - I am bound to find it!)

I got to feeling a little bit goofy, so I crawled into a pillow case.

(I had a little help from Dad.)

I tried to fool Mom into thinking that I was actually a pillow, but she was too wiley for me!

I guess that I am a wee bit heavier than a real pillow!

Gettin' Old!

Well, I can't believe it.

I just turned nine months old!

Where has the time gone?

Tomorrow I will have been out longer than I was in! Wow!

I can remember when I couldn't even hold my head up; and now I am cruising, eating solid foods, and turning the pages in my favorite books. I have seven teeth now.

(You can see my newest tooth on the bottom left.)

I love to say "Yah!Yah!" all the time.

I am getting pretty good at giving hugs, but I am still working on kisses.

I love being a baby!

I really like to be silly! This is me with my pants on my head! What fun!

Grandma W. - This picture is just for you! While I haven't seen a Packer game yet, Mom and Dad are priming me up to cheer right alongside of you!