Nanna & Papa McCleve

When I went back to AZ to get the boys after our cruise, I stayed for a couple of weeks. We ended up driving to AZ on Dec 24th as a family and the boys and I drove home January 24th. It just worked out that way for the best weather... and I had to have my CPE (continuing professional education) done by the 22nd. :)

McKay built Nanna & Papas house and the guest house, including windows, doors, roads, and sidewalks etc out of Dominoes. He had it all worked out.

McKay 'helping' Uncle David make white and milk chocolate covered pretzels. McKay thinks David is pretty neat for obvious reasons.

Silly boys! I think McKay was singing a song.

One of the apartments needed a new appliance and the box became 'McKay's house' We contemplated bringing it home with us... :)

It's no wonder McKay loves being at Nanna & Papas house!

Max loves his new toy.

I think I have a picture of David reading to McKay every time they've been together. David does these great voices and doesn't even mix them up! McKay loves it.

The weather warmed up enough for Dad and David to begin construction on a storage shed behind the house. I should say David, Dad and McKay. McKay loved being out there 'helping' them.

McKay was able to put his new tool set to good use!

Every now and again he took a break to swing.

'Hammer Hammer Hammer'

I tried and tried but he was just too busy to pause for a picture.

Every night when we set up McKay's bed the boys enjoyed playing on it.

Max hasn't ever been afraid of the vacuum. Here he is intentionally sitting on the cord so Nanna can't move.

McKay's job is to pick up nails. He took his job very seriously.

By observing Nanna teaching piano lessons, McKay learned that the names of the notes are the alphabet A-G. The first time he heard one of the students stop at G and go back to A he tried to correct her. :)

Climbing!

Help!

I'm STUCK!

Must... taste... everything!

I always point out the French Horn to McKay when we hear or see it so I asked my Mom to show him how to play it. She still plays in the local symphony.

McKay convinced Chantelle to make cookies with him. None of us complained one bit. :)

We left the cold winter weather and came home to beautiful flowers! I LOVE the roses!

I was a bit worried about making the drive home from Snowflake to San Diego with just me and the boys but it ended up being great. The best was about 30 minutes when BOTH boys were asleep. It was great being in Arizona but it was great to get home and back to our routine and Jordan!

Maxwell - 8 Months

We are enjoying our sweet Max who is growing up way too fast! Some things Max is doing at 8 months are:

• He has a loud voice and likes to use it. He grunts and growls and jabbers (babba, dada) a lot and likes it when we do it back to him.
  
• Max sPiTs! If you are in the right spot (or wrong spot depending on how you look at it), you'll get a shower!
  
• He has 6 teeth now, 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. He got one the week after Christmas, then took a break while Jordan and I were gone, and then broke 3 more the week after we got back. Max doesn't sleep well when he is teething so we were very happy when they finally came through!
• He has started standing alone for a second or two at a time and is comfortable using his hands while he stands leaning against something for support. He is also walking along the furniture and between things. (Really???)
• When Max falls he rarely falls fast and hurts himself. He has great core strength (must be all the Pilates I did while I was expecting him!) and sort of rolls over on his shoulder and then all the way down. When he does fall hard, he hits HARD and usually ends up with a bruise on his head.
• Max likes to be where everyone else is and will quickly crawl to join the group.
• Max moves his body and bobs his head (dances) whenever he hears music.
• Maxwell is very affectionate and gives the sweetest hugs and kisses. He melts into me when I give him hugs. He loves it when McKay gives him hugs and kisses too.
• He expects a 'Hi' when anyone enters the room (esp while we were in AZ at Nanna & Papas house) and watches them until he gets his 'Hi' from them.
  
• Everything goes in his mouth, whether or not it should. He eyes our food and does his best to grab it. He is quick and strong.
• Max likes to drink from a cup, especially when he sees us doing it, though it is more for fun that to actually drink the water.
• Max likes to climb on and over things to reach anything he sees and wants to touch or play with.
• Max likes to click his tongue and does it in such a way that you just HAVE to do it back to him!
• I have to have his food ready for him to start eating right when I put him in his high chair or he squawks. He doesn't seem to like being restricted by the tray or bib but as long as he is getting food constantly shoveled into his mouth, he can stand it. :) (Perhaps a very slight exaggeration here... ;)
• He loves to play peek-a-boo.
• When we laugh, Max laughs with us. He has a cute infectious laugh.
• He loves to play by taking turns saying 'hi' or grunting.

Check out those teeth!

Baja Mexico Cruise Jan 3-9, 2011

We celebrated our 5 year anniversary by going on a Baja Mexico Cruise. We left the boys in Arizona with Nanna Anna and Grandpa McCleve. It was hard to leave them but it was nice to be 'alone'. I was also able to pump during the cruise to continue breastfeeding Max after I got home.
Before boarding the ship in San Diego, we enjoyed a foot massage, detox & paraffin wax treatment at a spa. It was a GREAT way to start our vacation!

We cruised on the Carnival Spirit. We liked the food and entertainment better than when we went on Royal Caribbean in 2007.

Jordan's office overlooked the bay and he watched the cruise ships coming and going and was DYING to get on and go somewhere! So.Much.Fun!

I wish I had noticed what was behind us for this picture. It looks like these random ladies are looking over our shoulders!

We were not expecting to share a dinner table but it ended up being very enjoyable. We ate with Gordon & Alisha Mosher from Yuma, AZ. They have 2 children and Gordon worked for Hensel Phelps while in High School. We were shocked at all the similarities between us! (Gordon Mosher vs Jordan Moser, 2 children, Jordan currently works for Hensel Phelps, I am from AZ, Yuma is currently about 2 1/2 hrs from our home)

The food was FABULOUS! We had the chocolate melting cake several times and just really enjoyed our dining experience. The nightly comedy shows were actually clean and very funny too so that was great.

Our first stop was in Cabo San Lucas Mexico where we spent two days of fun. The forecast was for cool, cloudy weather the entire trip but we got lucky and the first day in Cabo was actually pretty hot. We enjoyed relaxing on the beach... except when someone tried to sell us something which was every 30 seconds!

Jordan has been parasailing before but I haven't and have always wanted to go so we took the opportunity! It was great! We had a girl from LA who was waiting for her turn take pictures for us. We were a little concerned a few times with how close we were coming to the water and to other parasailers but it was a great way to see Cabo and very relaxing!

Next we went on a tour in a glass-bottom boat, which was WAY overrated since we could see more fish over the side of the boat than through the glass! The fish like quesadillas and enchiladas. If someone feeds them green chilis, they disappear for a few hours. :)

The next morning we went snorkeling in the 'two best spots' Cabo has to offer. On the way we were lucky to see some whales! They were AMAZING! Had we known how cold the water was going to be, we would have been happy whale watching instead of seeing all the beautiful tropical fish in the frigid water. We had made reservations well before we knew what the weather would be though so $5 for wet suits was money well spent and we still had a good time.

Our last stop was at Ensenada Mexico. We went to see La Bufadora (The Blowhole). There were vendors all along the road from the bus to the site. They were unintentionally quite entertaining with some of their comments to passing tourists. They would say anything to get our attention.
Some of the things making us laugh were 'almost free!' 'non-profit', 'Hey Churro man, come see what I have', 'We sell panchos for lovers!', and 'hey honeymooners, come see what I have!' We must have looked like newlyweds! :) The air was filled with the smell of fresh churros and they were the best we've had.

This video is taken from the side so the water coming in from the ocean is on my left. It resembles the water/air coming out of a whale's blowhole, hence the name.

In case you were wondering: La Bufadora is the largest blowhole in the world, often shooting more than 100 feet above sea level. It is caused when ocean waves and air are trapped in an underwater cave and then the water and air explode upward. It is actually quite loud and shoots off every minute or so, sometimes much higher than others.

We totally enjoyed spending the week together!

After a long disembarkment, I jumped in the van and drove to Arizona. It was great to see our sweet boys! McKay smiled and gave me a hug before going back to his game with Uncle David. Max wasn't ready to let me out of his sight for quite a while!

Christmas 2010

McKay and Maxwell in their Christmas pajamas.

We left San Diego at 4 am Christmas Eve to drive to Snowflake Arizona to celebrate Christmas with the McCleve family. After about 2 1/2 hrs we stopped in Yuma, had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and got the boys dressed since they were still in their pajamas.

We also stopped in Tempe to see Norman, an architect Jordan worked with on the ConRAC, and his wife. When they worked together Norman loved treating Jordan to lunch, usually authentic Asian food so they took us to a Vietnamese restaurant in Chandler for lunch.

All of our stops made the drive seem like it took forever, even though it was only about 9 - 9 1/2 hours of actual driving. We arrived in Snowflake in time to go to the McCleve Family Christmas Eve program Uncle John & Aunt Laura were in charge of this year. Lots of cousins were home for the holidays so it was wonderful to be able to visit with everyone, especially since we have not been able to go to the McCleve reunion for the last few years.

McKay was so excited to see his Porter cousins, Kindsey, Kardon, Kenton, and Kaddie and loved playing with them after the Christmas Eve program.

Dad modeling the apron I made for him with pictures of the boys and his big bag of peanuts. We took our Vita Mix with us to make real peanut butter for him.

McKay LoVeS his Toy Story shirt!!

Mom modeling her apron with the Nutella we gave her.

So much fun watching the boys open presents!

This one was a hit. It is a toy with lots of things to see, push turn, etc that also attaches to a base that can be pushed around.

It also plays music. Max dances when he hears music. I love it.

New SOFT flip flops.

Early birthday present of hiking poles for the upcoming Grand Canyon hike.

Chantelle's photo book I made for her of when she came to visit us in Northern California a couple of summers ago.

This tunnel attaches to a tent. The boys had a lot of fun with it.

Too bad it was defective and we had to return it. :(

Uncle Devin made this cool boat for the boys. Kardon is showing them how it works.

It was like Christmas Morning all over again when the Porters came and we opened the rest of the gifts. We all enjoyed taking turns talking to Dustin on his mission in Peru and the cousins loved playing together.

Oh how I wish we lived a little (or a lot) closer to these cute cousins!! McKay and Kindsey are just under one month apart and are the best of friends.

The day after Christmas Devin blessed baby Kierra. We were happy we were able to attend. Devin was just accepted into PA school in Tennessee and they were working on getting their house packed up to move across the country. After church we went to their house and packed up the kitchen. I think we cut at a day or more off of their packing time and it was nice to get to spend just a little more time with them.

Nanna Anna and sweet Baby Kierra.

McKay (3), Kardon (4), Kaddie(1 1/2), Kenton (6), and Kindsey (3)

McKay and Kindsey watching a movie while we packed. Have I mentioned how I wish they could play together more often?? The web cam just isn't quite the same.

The next day, December 27th Jordan and the rest of my family hiked down the Grand Canyon. I stayed home with McKay and Maxwell (still breastfeeding) and played secretary at my parents house for all the calls on apartments for rent and people wanting to use the social hall while preparing baby food for Maxwell to eat when Jordan and I were gone on the cruise. They got home late on the 28th and on the 29th Melinda and Devin left for Tennessee just ahead of a huge snow storm. When McKay saw the new snow he was so excited and said 'Maybe my cousins will come play with me!' I was so sad to have to tell him he wouldn't get to play with them for a long time. On the 31st, Jordan, Chris, David and my Mom went to Devin & Melinda's house to clean it and prepare it to be rented out. They were glad they took our van when they saw all the snow in the driveway! They cleaned the whole day and got home with just enough time to shower before the New Years Eve party at our house. Of course the party was a lot of fun and we were happy to see the plumber shirt return to the white elephant gift exchange. Sadly, a friend of Felicia's got it so it is gone now.

McKay loves the tool set he got from Nanna Anna and Papa McCleve for Christmas and is anxious to use his drill anytime Grandpa or Daddy use theirs.

Other things that happened:

• My cousins daughter was baptized while we were there so McKay got to see 3 baptisms and 1 confirmation. We talk a lot about baptism but he hasn't been to very many so it was great reinforcement. My dad is the High Councilman in charge of the stake baptisms so it was great to see first hand what he does every month. It is quite the production.
• McKay loved being around everyone and was constantly asking where they were and what they were doing, especially Grandpa. "Where are you going Papa?" "Bathroom. Is that okay with you?" "Yes, that's okay."
• McKay enjoyed getting money from Grandpa to get candy out of the machines in the guest house. He ran out quickly though because he was eager to share with everyone.
  
• We played Perudo a lot. At one point we had a huge circle of about 17 with some of my cousins playing too. It is such a fun game.
• There were several days that Uncle David would play games with McKay all day long, usually with dice or dominoes. What a great Uncle.
• Anytime anyone entered the room, McKay greeted them like he hadn't seen them for days.
• It got so cold for a few nights that it was colder than in Rexburg Idaho. The weather report said the Grand Canyon was -31. We aren't sure which part of the Grand Canyon that was but regardless, it was COLD.
• With all the extra people to talk to, McKay's language improved a lot while we were there.
• "I am following Chantelle. After she goes to work, I'll follow Grandpa"

We are all looking forward to going back to Nanna & Papas house after McKay's birthday in July.