Three Favorites

Our Daddy/Daughter time together on Saturday afternoon landed us at a fun spot...the circus. Here are the three things that Haley said she liked the most...

The Elephant Ride! There she is, in the pink jacket. She wanted to go again...but $10 for two trips around the ring was enough. We couldn't do another $10.



Face Painting! She was so excited to get her face painted. She saw the Spider-Man option, and wanted to get painted, according to her, her true identity...Somehow she has become Spider-Girl lately. She loves superheroes. And, did you know that Spider-Man and Spider-Girl are married? So are Batman and Batgirl, Superman and Wonderwoman (she knows that Superman and Supergirl are cousins), Green Goblin and Green Goblin Girl, Venom and Venom Girl, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Girl, Hulk and Hulk Girl, and so on.



Can't be Spider-Girl if you don't know how to sling those webs. Sorry for the poor quality picture.



The Bear! We sat by a real live bear. The only thing separating us was that inch thick piece of plexiglass. He's pretty big. He was eating Frosted Flakes during the picture taking time, to bring out the "Tiger" in him. He was actually really calm and just sat and smiled...and ate Frosted Flakes.



While I am at this blogging thing...it seems so foreign to me...I thought I would share a picture that Sondra took on our way back home from Wyoming at the beginning of the year. This was just south of Worland next to the canal.

No Particular Order

I didn't know where to start, so why try to find a beginning? These photos are not placed here in chronological order. That was messed up from the beginning. I started importing pictures from a more recent folder, at the end of the folder. Then I went to another folder that was older. Then who knows what. So, instead of trying to rearrange them, I decided to be lazy and leave them how they are. Hopefully no one gets offended by this. But then again, I think there are two people that look at this, me and Sondra. (Hi Sondra, I love you! Thought I would surprise you with a new blog post while you are gone.)
Anyway, this first picture hearkens back to an earlier picture that we took of Haley in this very same spot. The picture from before was from Haley's first visit to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. This picture is from her second visit to that very same museum. She still has the whole world at her fingertips.


Haley love going to cub scouts with Mommy. She loves playing with the boys. And the boys love playing with her. But when it comes time to do service, she lets them go ahead and do that while she sits and supervises while eating fish crackers from a Cheerios container.


One night I went upstairs to find Haley in one of my Jones t-shirts. That was pretty cute. The only thing that could make it more cute was to put my Celtics shorts on her, held up by a head band. That is pretty darn cute, even if you don't like the Celtics, or Jones.


Haley visited Grandma and Grandpa Sanders for Christmas. Here she is on Christmas day in all of her Christmas glory, standing next to some presents.


While we were in Wyoming for Christmas, we went tubing up on the mountains. "Going up just above Shell" turned out to be heading down the other side of the mountain. It was a long drive to get there. It was freezing, about 20 degrees below zero. Haley and I went down the hill once. She was crying at the bottom. Didn't like it one bit. Then we were hauled up the hill on the back of a snowmobile. I was sitting backwards holding onto Haley. We almost fell off a couple of times. That was scary. Then we warmed up in the car for a half hour or so, and then drove home.


Haley received a Micky Mouse percussion set for Christmas, or maybe it was her birthday. I will be in trouble for not remembering...but they are just a few days apart. Anyway, it looks like she is taking after her mother.


We do have a McDonald's in Vernal. Or as Haley calls it, "My McDonald's." She love going there, but mainly for the play area. Here she is on one of the play things, a lady bug.


Here is our little Super Girl. She is really cute, and likes to dress up in this every now and then. Maybe we can use it for Halloween next year too.


Somehow chocolate does not all end up in her mouth. This brand of chocolate candy melts in your hands and on your face, and your shirt too.


We had quite a bit of snow in Vernal this year. Luckily Haley has a warm coat, and she likes to play in that white stuff.


She is even a cute little girl when she is mesmerized by the newest movie. Just love her hair.


It has taken a couple of years, but Haley is finally warming up to Uncle Greg. It usually takes a few hours to get to where she is comfortable enough to sit on his lap.


We went for a walk while we visited Haley's cousins. She sure loves those cousins of hers.
She talks about them all the time...and talks to them on her hand phone, or her shoe phone, or her paper phone.


Sometimes her bed is just more comfortable that way. I don't know why. A lot of times when she goes to bed, that is the way she wants to be.


Somehow Haley thinks Daddy can fit on her tricycle and she can push him around in the house. And when she wants him off, he can't get off fast enough for her. He's too big, Haley!


During a visit to Boondocks, Haley enjoyed a nice ride.


Haley likes to help Mommy with the laundry. I am not sure that she wants her doll to see or tell what is going on.


During the trip to Texas for her uncle's wedding, Haley got the chance to do an Easter egg hunt in her aunt's backyard. She had lots of fun. She even found some eggs that her cousins didn't. Or maybe they just left them for her.


This was a picture taken during picture time after the wedding. Haley just wanted her Mommy. A lot of times Daddy just isn't good enough.


At the reception, the cousins did a little dancing together.


Hmmm. Who taught her to do that? I think I saw a picture of her aunt eating roses too. Must be a girl thing.


While in McKinney, we went to an Earth Day event at the elementary. Haley got to pet a bunch of animals at the petting zoo. There was a hedge hog, a turtle, a dove, a snake, a chinchilla, a frog, and several others that I can't think of.


On the way back from the Earth Day event, Haley and her Mommy hitched a ride on her uncle's go-kart with her cousin. She had a lot of fun.


Here are my Super Girls.


And here is my fairy princess.


We were lucky enough to be in Texas during the Great Blossoming of the Blue Bonnets. They are pretty, and made even more pretty with Haley's presence. We had a little photo shoot out in this field with her cousin.


The photo shoot was exhausting.


Daddy made a cardboard car for a Stake Youth Activity. He tried to make it look like Mater from Cars. Its a...little too boxy.


Here's Haley and Daddy. What a cute smile she has.


Looks like eating helps her stay awake while driving. She really likes this tricycle that her aunt and uncle gave to her for her birthday. Or was it for Christmas? I don't know. They are just a few days apart. ;)

Travelin' and Playin'

We have been scolded a couple of times now by a very good relative of ours about our lack of blogging for the last 4 or 5 months. We thought we should remedy that, so that, next time we see her, we won't be as guilty...

We have done a lot of things over the last few months. For starters, after six months of being apart, this sign finally ended up in our front lawn. It was nice to sell our house. We only wish we could have sold it faster and for more money.
But, now we have sold it, and we are back together, everyday!



We have done a lot of traveling. It has been fun, but sometimes kind of tiring. Since I have a different schedule at my "new" job, I have three day weekends quite often. We have taken advantage of those by going to Wyoming 4 times in the last 5 months. Other traveling we have done: Texas twice, Utah County, a few times, and Syracuse two or three times.

Haley has done a lot of growing up during this time. It IS a shame that I don't blog more often. It would be easier to remember all the cute little things she has done. What a terrible father I am.

Haley enjoys going on walks. Sometimes she even wants to ride in the wrong spot in her Jeep stroller. I think she may have learned that from one of her baby sitters.



She really enjoys playing with other kids, and especially her cousins. Here she is giving one of her cousins a goodbye hug. Or maybe its a "don't worry, we will get more candy. I'll show you how its done" hug.



I am sure they were watching something amusing on the ceiling at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Those three have a lot of fun together.



One of the first things Haley does upon arriving at Grandma and Grandpa's house it to get the barn and animals down and play with them. She loves all the toys there.



Haley has become a pretty good self-feeder. She still can make a pretty good mess, but she is so cute, the messes seem cute too (sometimes).

Doesn't everybody like to make noise? Haley was going through each page in the Christmas song book saying, "This one daddy?" and when I told her yes, she would "play" the song.

Its a good thing we have taught her how to brush her teeth! Even little ones can get stuff stuck in their teeth.

Haley loves to play on her daddy. If he is laying down, Haley will jump on, lay on, play on, stand on, or sit on him.

Here is a picture of Sondra and I getting ready to go to her 10 year high school reunion. We had a lot of fun driving in the rain, walking a few blocks in the rain, and visiting with some of her old friends. She lost her voice because she had to yell in everyone's ears in order for them to be able to hear her over the music. Isn't she pretty? Now you all are reminded of where Haley gets her looks!

On one of our trips to Texas, we visited my brother Jeff in Houston. While there we went to a MLB game. It was my first ever. We watched the Braves beat the Astros. Yay!

Also while in Houston, we went to the zoo. Haley got to see a lot of animals. She even got to pet some. At first she needed a little protection...

But then she could do it all by herself.

She still needed a little help petting the lizards and other reptiles.

Hey, its Haley! I didn't know they had any of those in the zoo! Isn't she the cutest animal?

Here is Haley, reminding her daddy that she loves him.

We weren't the most exciting guests that Jeff has had. But the kids enjoyed us. Ok, they all enjoyed us. Jeff was just a little sleepy. Thanks for letting us stay at your house for a couple of nights. We will have to do it again sometime.

Not only did we attend a Major League Baseball game, but we also attended a Little League Baseball game of Haley's cousin. They sure do play with big baseballs in Little League!

Here is another example of what I was talking about earlier. Daddy layed down next to Haley to watch something on TV with her. Next thing you know, she is sitting on him, watching TV without him.

One of our visits to Syracuse included a visit with Haley's Grandfather and Dorothy. She really enjoyed it. It was her first time to meet Grandfather Burdick. Hopefully she will see him and Dorothy again soon.

Haley enjoys her Grandpa Sanders too. She asked him to read a book to her.

Here, Grandpa is entertaining Haley and Matthew. They really got a kick out of seeing themselves on the TV.

We didn't bring him along, but Haley was able to find Mr. Potato Head and Grandma and Grandpa's house. Or as she calls him, Tater Top.

Somehow, Haley managed to get into one of Mommy's shirts. She had a lot of fun in it. She was even able to get a lot of powder on it from a powder coated cookie.

Haley has been able to explore a couple of different playgrounds in Vernal. It is starting to get a little too cold to play on them now, but they have been fun so far.

Mommy and Haley have been practicing the "We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home" song. Here she is squeezing my cheeks towards the end of the song.

Just thought I would show everyone our new apartment. It is a two bedroom apartment with 1 and 1/2 bathrooms. It is smaller than our house was, but we are getting used to it. It is just nice to be together.