Photo Booth!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JURZEE!

Devin was able to see Riley and Jurzee this past weekend!  Ben and Grandma Teresa took them all to Chucky Cheese for Jurzee's birthday.  He didn't get a lot of pictures, but here is the group!  Do you guys see all those curls on Riley and Jurzee's head, definitely from their father!

Hair Cut!

Yeah that's right, today after work I went and got about six inches cut off my hair!  It feels a lot lighter and healthier, I'm ready for spring time!  

Here are a few pictures I took of Devin yesterday.  It was our day off together, I cleaned the house and the basement for about 7 hours and I'm actually soar!  Here is Devin drawing and him feeding himself.  He does really good getting the spoon to his mouth, he just needs help getting things on his spoon.  Potatoes are a good thing to practice with because they don't fall off of the spoon.

Okay you guys don't really care about my hair.  Yesterday Devin had his first hair cut!  That's right I took off his little curls :(  I had no intention doing so until Ben told me he just about did.  I figured I better do it so I can keep his little locks!  I didn't get a good before picture, but here it is.  I don't think that I did too bad of a job.

He looks so grown up!

Vacation Part VIII: Ivins, Ut

Ivins, Utah is a suburb of St. George, which is located just north of the Arizona border and about 120 miles northeast of Las Vegas.  People have often asked me why my parents choose to live in St. George's.  When you visit there it is obvious. St. George's trademark is it's geology.  Looking to the north you can see the red bluffs.  To the south is the northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert and the Zion National Park can be seen to the east.  To the north and northwest you can see the Pine Valley Mountains. They are all Simply beautiful and seem to meet right in St. George!  The furthest we had to travel to see the wonderful things we explored was to Zion National Park, which was about an hour away.  The rest of the places we went were within ten miles! Here are some pictures of the town that I took while just driving from place to place.

Vacation Part VII: The Petrogliphs

On Thursday, Devin and my last day, mom and dad took us to see the petrogliphs that are located about 2 miles from my parents house.  We walked a trail to them, which Devin is getting so good at!  Dad was trying to give him a ride on his shoulders, but Devin wanted to walk! 

The following are some pictures that I took on my phone of the Petrogliphs.  For a great picture of Devin and I as well as more information browse on over to my parents blog!

After we explored the petrogliphs we went to a place... Kenya maybe, I'm not sure what it's called.  Anyways, we explored a variety of art galleries and shops where there was pottery, photography, metal art, ceramics, found art and a lot of other types.  The pieces there are amazing!  I decided that everything there was too expensive for me so our last stop was to a place called "Dirt Cheap".  There I found some ceramic pieces that I really liked.  I stayed away from the metal pieces because my dad can make those.  I have a pretty good little collection of southwestern art now.  I had to leave it in Utah though and my parents will bring it home for me later.  

Vacation Part VI: Swimming & Shooting

On Tuesday mom took Devin and I to the Aquatic Center near their house.  Knowing how much Devin loves his bath I thought that he would really like this.  The first half hour he didn't know what to think.  He clung to me and would not let me go for anything.  I walked around carrying him. He was so cold and shivering.  Mom had left to run some ahrends or else I would have probably given up on the swimming.  Then all of a sudden Devin wanted down and to walk.  I was right next to him so every time he would start to lean in one direction I would help him get his balance.  But he walked and walked all over in the water.  It was a gradual pool so it started at zero inches and just kept getting deeper.  Devin would just keep walking even after his mouth would be in the water and wanted to go further.  So, I had to redirect him. There was a few times he went under getting a mouth full of water, but it didn't stop him at all.  Devin is just like me, we both love the water!  I will have to look into getting a pass to the Aquatic Center in Cherokee this summer.

The following day my dad and I went shooting.  I fired a shot gun a few times before, but not like this.  We went to a shooting range that had 12 different stations for shooting clay pigeons (is that what they are called?) They would come from different directions at different stations so we were able to have a wide variety of targets. Out of 50 I was able to hit 10.  That is not to bad for a first timer.  We then wanted to shoot the hand gun, but the pistol range was closed.  My dad then took me up the mountain to a place where he and Bill go which has a stand for targets he made.  I did much better with the hand gun, especially at the end when he taught me how to aim!  We did not get any pictures of the shooting : ( it would have been nice though.  This is something that I will definitely do next time I go to Utah.  It was a lot of fun and worth still being soar in the shoulders from. 

We are Home

Friday morning Dad woke Devin and up at 4:00 am so that we could start our long day home.  We rode to Las Vegas where we were dropped off at the airport and had to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa.  I want to thank them for their hospitality and all the great adventures they took us on.  

Devin was very good on the airplane, except of the descend, I think that his ears were bothering him.  Then Uncle Lee picked us up and we dropped him off at home and we were off to Cherokee.  After close to an entire day of traveling, we arrived in Cherokee at about 3:50pm.  Devin is a great traveler!  Towards the end he got a little antsy and the only thing I had to give him was frosted animal crackers, what a mess!

Devin was helping with the unpacking!

I do have a few more post that I want to do over our time in Utah, but I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it back to Cherokee.  Ben came yesterday and will be taking Devin to Vermillion for a few days so he can see his Grandma Teresa, who I am sure is waiting for him!

Thanks again everyone!

Vacation Part V: Snow Canyon

Snow Canyon is located a few miles from my parents house.  We were able to spend an afternoon here where we walked on one of the many trails.  

There are many lizards living in Snow Canyon.  We saw many tracks in the sand from them, but this is the only one that we spotted.

Here is the rock that we were able to climb.  We spent quiet a bit of time on top resting and taking in the scenery.

At first the climb was difficult for Devin, but of course he kept practicing and with time he got pretty good climbing up the rock to grandma.

Lee's alteration to some other LeRoy's name.  This LeRoy is not for Devin LeRoy, Lee A.K.A. LeRoy and Grandpa Steven LeRoy!

Tickle, Tickle & Milk Please

Here is the best video I have been able to get of Devin tickling himself.  I cut off his hands in the shot so you can't actually see the tickling part, but you can sure hear him.

The best thing I ever did was teach Devin some sign language.  He doesn't know that many signs yet, but the one that has been a lifesaver is the sign for milk!

Vacation Part IV: Zion National Park of Utah

Lee's last couple of days here (he went home Friday) we spent at Zion National Park and at Snow Canyon.  Our first trip was to Zion, which was about an hour from my parents house. I took so many picture that it's hard to choose from the 160 to share with you.  My pictures, however don't even compare to the actual scenery.  The first few pictures I took from the vehicle as we were driving towards Zion.   

There are a lot of curve that are in the middle of the rocks.  I'm not quit sure what causes them, but there are quit a few. Below are just two that I captured.

The next two picture were taken at the Visitors Center the first one is of course Devin and the one below that you can see the moon in the sky.  Both days of exploring the moon was visible!

The first trail we went on was a steep, but short hike up to Weeping Rock. The name Weeping Rock comes from the continuous water which "weeps" out of the alcove. As you can see in these next pictures there is a steady stream of water coming off of the rock.

Grandma Marilyn and Devin standing below Weeping Rock.

We continued our exploration on another trail, which I am not sure of the name.  This one was a bit longer. This first picture is in the parking lot of the trail. 

The picture above is a waterfall that is located at the beginning of our hike.  Below you can see The Virgin River.  This is the river that ran along the trail.  The trail we follow leads up to the Narrows, which is a long hike in and out of the water.

Above you can see a deer.  It is the first of a few that were along the path.  They weren't to frightened by us, but why would they be when they get 2.5 million visitors a year! Below is a picture of the path that we were following.

Below is my favorite spot of the trail.  There were many colors and shapes that were a result of the water coming from above.  We were debating about one particular shape and whether it was a fish of something else.  I also saw a ghost which was white and a little man looking thing. Also you can see some snow as well.  

Below is a picture of Devin by a rock which for some reason had white swirls in it. 

I'm not quit sure what Devin thought of the whole experience, but of course he was as good as gold. He looked around curiously at the whole thing taking everything in.

After the walking on the trail we went on a car ride that took us through a long tunnel, which I did not get a picture of.  On our ride we saw some Big Horn Sheep crossing the rode. Lee then saw some babies up in the rocks.  We saw these five and then later when we came back around we counted seven more Big Horn Sheep.  

At the end of our journey we turned around at the Checkered-bored Square Rocks.  These were real neat, you could see, well checkered-boreds in them. You can also see some snow along the side. I did not get the best picture of this because by this time my camera was dead!

We also went to Snow Canyon and because this post took so long to do I will have to work on that post later.