Fun in Utah

Well, about a month ago, we took a road trip to Salt Lake for Cindy's wedding reception. It was fun to see her and AJ's new place, and to visit with them. We also took the opportunity to see two very close friends of mine. I always think that if we ever have to move anywhere, I would pick Utah because I still have several good friends that have settled down there.

As you can see, the car ride over had its ups and downs...

We figured out later that Mason's ears were probably not popping since it was in the mountains, it was so sad listening to him scream, and not being able to take him out.

Traveling with a little one meant taking more stops than usual...this time, we just stopped by the side of the highway and stretched our legs in the gravel.

The first full day there, we met my old roommate, Christy Lyman Lowe a

t an all you can eat Chinese Buffet. It was so fun to talk about the many fun times that we shared being roommates for a year in the Colony. Christy is such a good example to me, and I always feel so comfortable talking to her, and we have a great time!

The next morning, my MTC mission companion, Tasha and her husband, Christopher, invited us over for yummy French Toast. We were able to see the condo that they purchased for themselves.

Tasha, Mason and I chatted away and played in the grass while David helped Christopher and a friend fix a bicycle. The times that Tasha and I spent serving together brought us close, and it truly feels as if we are sisters.

Both Christy and Tasha are the type of friends that my mom always told me about. The ones where you can not talk to them for months, or even years, but you just start right up where you left off when you get together.

I feel so blessed to have experienced many such friendships throughout my life, I would count most people that read this blog as good friends like that. I wish that I still saw everyone as frequently as I did at one point!

That night was the reception, held on the U of U campus. Cindy looked gorgeous and so happy! It is so wonderful to see her and AJ starting out their life in such a joyful way!

Here is a picture of Mason having fun playing with his Daddy at the reception.

And then later that night, at Winger's, when my parents so generously took us all out.

What would you do?

So...a while back David found something outside of our house. The wind had been blowing a lot lately, and we're sure that's why it was there. What he found was a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for 25 dollars. Now I know that the right thing to do would be to return it to its rightful owner...but besides knowing that her name is Jenny, we have no idea who that is. It is not one of our neighbors, and there are no last names on the card that was with the gift card. It will just go to waste if we don't use it. I feel guilty using it with out putting forth a little effort to find out who the rightful owner is. But...how would I do that....put an ad in the newspaper? That seems a little weird. Maybe I'll put something on Craig's list, just to make myself feel better.

Twenty Five dollars isn't a huge amount, but it could get a couple books, or something fun for Mason. I know that 25 dollars is definitely not worth our integrity...so, what do you think? Do you think that if we used this gift card, we would be entering the company of thieves? Or would we just not be letting a good thing go to waste?

A tribute to Mason

On June 6, Mason turned one years old! It's hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly. I no longer have a little baby...he's a little boy! I know this is a lot of pictures, but I really would like to honor him by showing him growing up, month by month, over the past year. I am much better at this then scrapbooking and I want to have some sort of record.

I present....Mason Fischer Ford....

Mason was only 5 pounds 9 ounces when he was born. At first, he had a hard time keeping his body temperature up, so they gave us this super warm insulated blanket to keep him wrapped in.

When Mason was only a month old, we traveled to Grand Junction (a 3 1/2-4 hour drive) for a Park family reunion. Although it was kind of hard to travel with such a little guy, especially 'cuz I was so new at this mothering thing, it was well worth it to spend time with family that we don't see enough. Here he is with his cousin, Alexis, who, fortunately, we get to see quite often. To this day, Alexis adores Mason and always loves hugging and playing with him.

As I was going through photos, I realized that we had taken more pictures of David and I then I had remembered (see our anniversary post). So...here is a family picture of us when Mason was exactly two months old, on his blessing day.

Because you can't really see his face that well (and Mason is just so cute as a sailor), here is another picture, taken the day before to represent his two month old picture.

This is Mason at 3 months...I didn't realize back then that I should have been enjoying how nice and still he was when I laid him on his changing table. Now, it's a race to get him changed, and I have to constantly be turning him back to his back 'cuz he always is flipping over and trying to escape!

When Mason was 4 months old, it was General Conference. We all watched it on our computer in our room. As you can see, Mason has always been such a fun little guy!

Here is Mason in his jumping exersaucer at age 5 months. He always has gotten excited about new things. His face lit up so big when he saw us taking this out of the box, he just knew it was for him!It was so fun to see him enjoying himself so much!

I love this picture of Mason at 6 months. It always makes me so happy when he smiles so big at me! :)

Mas always has loved to play with pots, pans and all other kitchen utensils.

Here Mason is at eight months, enjoying one of his favorite things, the stairs.

Caught in the act at nine months. We put cupboard locks on some of them, but he has so much fun, and it keeps him occupied for so long, that I let him play in others.

Climbing under the stairs at 10 months

Here he is at 11 months...banging his hands on the table to his heart's content, and laughing hysterically. It was so funny!

And...we finally arrive at our current condition. One years old!! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful son, we can't imagine him being any different!