Regarding Henry

Henry is this awesome kid who belongs to our friends, Kevin and Megan. He and Abby seem to get along pretty well (at moments, too well for Rich's liking -see photo below).

After dinner we let Abby and Henry play in the backyard while we finished up. As I looked out the window to check on them, this is what I saw. Henry was just hanging out on the ground, seemingly stuck. It gave us all a good laugh.

We just had to throw this picture in because we like it.

This picture of Abby and Henry was taken almost exactly a year ago, it starts off innocently enough...

Rich has now gone into defensive mode, 14.5 years before he thought he had to.

And the sheepish post-smooch grins.

Will

One of the great things about being back in SL is the opportunity for Abby to get to know her cousins. Here are some pictures of our 4th of July celebrations at cousin Will's house.





This little playhouse is one of Abby's favorite features at Will's house.




Watching fireworks...in the infamous Santa jammies.

Bed Head at Grandma Lowe's

We arrived in Salt Lake the night of June 26th. Abby immediately fell in love with Grandma and Grandpa Lowe's home because of the stairs. So, needless to say, she was a little ticked off at us when we had to block them off (we quickly discovered that she could - and probably would- fit her little body through the railings at the top).




This picture is actually the reason I had the camera out. She woke up with one of the best cases of bed-head I had ever seen.

Back to the Civilized World

After a lengthy absence (just in time to give Lake something to do during the work day other than work), we are pleased to report that we FINALLY have internet access in our house. We will try our best to pick up where we left off and catch up quickly.

This post is about our time between Charlottesville and Salt Lake. We stopped in St. George to visit the Hansen family for a few days. Every time we go, my dad has to take Rich out on various hiking/rappelling trips and four-wheeling rides. During this visit, he did both. The hiking/rappelling took place in a slot canyon called Pine Creek (Zion Nat'l Park). On the last rappel, one of the girls in their group had an unfortunate incident that ended with her dad having to cut one side of her hair off all the way to the scalp (note to anyone desiring to go rappelling: don't wear piggy tails when your hair is long and thick, one of them might get caught in the rope) . For once, Rich was grateful for his short hair.

The day after Pine Creek, my dad took Rich on an all day four-wheel ride in Grande Staircase- Escalante National Monument. Somehow he was able to survive swarms of biting flies the size of helicopters, triple digit temps, and insufficient sunsceen application.

More battle wounds to flaunt.

Leaving Charlottesville

We spent our first night away from Charlottesville in this awesome hotel room. Gotta love Priceline!
When we rented our car (which, incidentally, looked like something a pimp would drive), they gave us an infant car seat instead of a toddler one. Kind of a tight fit, even for Abby.
Abby, the jetsetter, takes her 9th airplane ride. Not a bad way to celebrate her 17 month birthday.
Rich takes a break from traveling to play the slots in Las Vegas. He didn't win anything, I guess that means we won't be retiring back to Charlottesville just yet.
Finally, we are done flying and driving! What better way to celebrate than a romp in the dirt with cousin Natalie.

Fireflies

On our last Sunday in Charlottesville, we went to the Lawn to see the fireflies. If you go around 8:45, you get quite a spectacular show. Unfortunately our camera didn't pick it up. So, instead of bugs whose bums light up, you get to see Abby (whose bum just smells funny at least once a day).





Here is Abby climbing the steps to the Rotunda; in 20-something years we expect to take another of her after she has just defended her dissertation (or with law/medical, etc... degree in hand).

Father's Day

If she was going to have a meltdown on Mother's Day, it's only fair to do it for Father's Day!








And once again, dad comes to the rescue, entertaining Abby with his big fish stories.