Torrey Trip Pics!

Finally! I have been without internet for a week and now it's back up and I can FINALLY post some Torrey pictures! We had a BLAST with everyone down at Thousand Lakes and can't wait to do it again next year! Mom and Dad are actually down there again this weekend 4 wheeling with Aunt Nan and Uncle Steve and we're totally jealous! Anyway, here are some pictures from our weekend-o-fun.

Quote of the Week:
"Nothing makes a sound in the night like the wind does, But you ain't afraid if you're washed in the blood like I was. The smell of cape jasmine through the window screen, John R. and the wolfman kept me company. By the light of the radio by my bed, With Thomas Wolfe whispering in my head." -Don Williams

More pics...

More Vacation Pics...

Alexander Family Vacation Pics!

Wow! We had a BLAST at the Alexander family vacation and are sad that it's over! We drove up to Ashton, ID and stayed in a (there's really no other word for it) PIMPIN' cabin! There were tons of things to do and all the cousins had fun playing with each other for four days! We played tons of games, went golfing, floated the river, ate like kings, laughed, got pedicures, almost blew up, and basically had oodles of fun. (Can you doodle a poodle cloodle? :)) Here are lots of pics which can tell the story much better than I can. Enjoy!

Quote of the Day:

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
-Desmond Tutu

Little Drummer Girl

Is she cute or WHAT? I pulled out this drum that I bought a few years ago and Gracie (and Myles :)) have been loving it. For some reason though, I've had pounding headaches all week long. ;) They both just pound away at it, and Gracie likes to pound away at everything ELSE too! I think it's pretty cute...she's figuing out how everything sounds, I guess.
The top picture is one of Gracie's favorite activities...finding her cheerios container in the diaper bag and emptying it on the floor :) She tries to put them back in the container too, but hasn't quite figured that out yet because the opening is pretty small. She just drops the cheerios onto the top of the container and can't quite figure out why they're not going inside it. So innocent :)
Well, tomorrow's the big day! We're heading off to Island Park, ID for the big Alexander family vacation! I've packed everything but the cats, so hopefully we'll be all set! (The cats are bummed though!) :) We're going to have loads of fun and can't wait for next weekend too when we'll be in Torrey for the Gentry family vacation! Woo hoo! Scrapbook pages galore! :)
PS. Gracie's hair is getting pretty unruly, but I just CANT cut it. It's got to grow out so I can torture her with sponge curlers just like my madre did for me! (It's sort of a rite of passage, isn't it?)

Quote of the Day:
"A woman is like a tea bag - you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."
-Elanor Roosevelt

Ode To A Celery Stick

Gracie's Poem for her celery stick (translated by her mother):

O celery stick, o celery stick
I dearly love to chew thee.
Thy frogish shade and stringy-ness
Art so appealing to me.


Quote of the day:

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song
above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
-J.R.R. Tolkien

So Happy!

Well, here are some pictures from TODAY! :) I just uploaded all of the pictures that were on the camera and those ones below, I just had to post because they were so cute! I hadn't seen them...Joe took them. Anywho...here are some pictures from today. Gracie just woke up from her nap and that is her very smiley-est time, so I snapped some quick pictures. She is holding her fire engine soft book that Joe got her for Christmas. She loves it because it is a book on the bottom, and if you squeeze the tire it goes, "Wooo, Wooo." Like a fire engine :) The other pic is of her snuggling with her NEWly finished blanket! Sri and Brenda helped me tie the quilt and then yesterday and today I finished the binding. Isn't it so cute? I hope she'll really like it when she's a little older...it's a little big for her right now. It was so nice to work on that blanket...very satisfying. Ahhhh crafts! :)

Quote of the Day:
"A room without books is like a body without a soul." - Cicero

"Don't bother me, I'm eating."

I just LOVE this picture that Joe took of Gracie with her bottle. It just is the perfect picture for the Carl's Jr. tagline, "Don't bother me, I'm eating." :) Isn't her hair hilarious? She looks like Tina Turner or something :)

The Zoo!

Gracie went to the zoo for the first time while her Tanner cousins were in town a few weeks ago. She seemed to really like cruisin' in her stroller and checking out all the big animals. :) Here is a cute pic of her with her daddy.

Mess Maker, Mess Maker, Make Me A Mess!

Well, we're definitely into the "pull everything off the shelf/cupboard/basket" phase. She loves it! I guess we'll just have to start working on the "putting everything back IN the cupboard/basket/shelf" phase :) I just took these pictures of Gracie in her room pulling all the toys out of the bins and the books off the shelf. I clean all this up about three times a day, but hey, at least it's safe and not dirty messy, ya know? She likes to empty her diaper bag a lot, too.
Not much else is happening in the Alexander household. It's been sweltering hot, but we have two window units that are keeping us from melting into puddles of goo :) We went to the pool once this week to keep cool and that was pretty fun.
We keep getting more and more excited for the family vacations coming up! I can't wait! It will be so fun to spend time with each family and play some games!

Quote of the Day:
"George Washington had a vision for this country. Was it three days of uninterrupted shopping?"
-Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Bolt from the Blue, 1994

TV Junkie :)

Okay, so I promise that I don't let Gracie stand THAT close to the TV, but I do let her watch Little Einsteins every morning :) I'm telling ya, I don't know what parents did before television. Ever since Gracie was about 3 months old she has been enjoying Baby Einstein, which I just can't see as a BAD thing! At least I don't let her watch Alias with me! :)

These boots are made for walkin'...

She's walking! I truly think that her learning to walk has been the most exciting thing in my life as a mom. Wow. It's amazing, isn't it? Her sweet little self is just toddling all over the place and it is DANG cute. Of course, with her newfound freedom comes a lot of chasing her around and stopping her from emptying every cupboard and low bookshelf in the house, but hey!
We're looking forward to the Alexander and Gentry family vacations coming up in August. It will be fun to spend time with our families and let Gracie play with her cousins to her heart's content. How fun:) It seems like not very long ago when it was ME who got to go and play with cousins to my heart's content and I loved it! Those were fun times and Gracie is getting ready to experience those for herself. How neat.
We miss Grandma Gentry, as she's taken a new job and has to work until, and I quote, "O dark thirty." (6:00pm) which is when Gracie goes to bed, so we don't get to see her everyday anymore. :( Hopefully we'll be able to visit with her a bit on Saturday.
Not much else is going on with the Alexander clan. I got new eyeglasses...they're on order and will be here in a week or two, so next time you see me I may just look more sophisticated and totally hip...JK. It's SO nice to get new glasses though, isnt it? It changes your entire look. :)
The Restless Heart/Blackhawk/Little Texas concert was a BLAST for all of you who missed it. How fun that was to go with the entire Gentry fam. Woop woop! For all of you who love Don Williams, like we do, he's doing a concert at the Dee Events Center (Ogden) on September 16. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am! Woop woop again!! :) I hope we'll see you there!

"Charlie" Horse :)

Here's a picture of Gracie riding Charlie. (Get it? Charlie horse? Joe named him. :)) She sits on Charlie and watches a Baby Einstein while I shower in the morning. I think it's cute to see her. Usually she rests her head on his mane and just watches...what a good girl. Don't you love her pig tails?!

Pig Tails!

Well, as you can see, Gracie is sporting a new 'do! Her hair is finally long enough to do pig tails and I think they look so cute. They make her look like a big girl! Yikes! I couldn't really get her to smile, so these pictures are kind of goofy, but still cute.
Grace isn't walking yet, but she's making a valiant effort. At the pool on Saturday she took two steps then sat down. We keep trying to help her along, but she's just taking it "a step at a time" as it were :) It is so amazing to me how fast she is becoming her own person. She definitely has her own personality, and now she's becoming so independent! She's changing so fast...sniff...sniff. But all these changes are awesome and make me love her even more. Next thing you know she'll be asking for the car keys...sheesh!

I'm so glad when Daddy gets home...

Sunday was Father's Day so I made a sign and had Gracie hold it so I could make a card on the computer :) I love how her hair is all frizzy because she just woke up...it's so cute!

I LOVE CHEERIOS!