Florida

Over the 4th of July we went to Destin, Florida for a family vacation. It was so great to get away and just relax and not worry about anything but spend time with our family. It was the three of us, my parents, my brother and his fiance Brittany, grandma, Jill, Jeremy and his girlfriend Kathryn. We had a wonderful time!
We were to take Talan to see the pirates and ride on a pirate ship, see the alligators, let him hold an alligator, and play on the beach. We even got Talan his first pet there. He got two hermit crabs and names them Grandma and Buck. Where we got those names...we don't know.
I have posted quite a few pictures but we have many more. We don't have too many pictures of Talan on the beach because we didn't want to take a chance and get sand in the camera and ruin it.
This is the family picture we tried to take on the 4th. As you can see, Talan was done taking pictures. He wasn't crying, but when we said okay turn around and smile he just layed on the ground and waited until we were done. We thought it was pretty cute! It is a good memory too. He was ready to play in the sand.

Talan buried in the sand.

This is after I got finished burying Talan in the sand. We were at the beach waiting for the fireworks to start.

Just a cute shot of our handsome little man!

Family picture!

For my birthday, Justin surprised me with a trip to Shell Island, snorkeling, and a dolphin cruise. We had a great time. We found quite a few shells and sand dollars while we snorkeling. We saw a lot of dolphins but they didn't come close enough to the boat so we weren't able to get off the boat and swim with them. It was a wonderful birthday surprise!

Our boat!

I just thought this picture was adorable. Talan was laying and watching a movie one evening at our condo. He just looks so peaceful.

Talan has become absessed with pirates ever since we saw Disney on Ice. (Peter Pan and the pirates were there) Anyway, we heard about a pirate cruise from a family friend and decided it was a must for him. We were on a pirate ship for two hours and the kids had water gun fights, sword fights, dancing, a story, found a treasure chest that was in the ocean, and many other fun activities. We can say that Talan didn't find his sea legs. He wasn't quite sure about the motion of the boat at first.
This first picture is us with the captain of the ship.

Talan and I getting a water gun.

Watch out...he will get you wet!

Talan with his pirate sword.

Another cute shot.

Family shot.

The pirate ship.

We also took Talan to the Alligator Restaurant. You are able to feed alligators and even hold them at this restaurant. Of course, Talan got to do both of them. He was so excited when they brought the alligator to them. He told the lady, "please put him on my knees." He sat there so proud with an alligator.

Talan putting the alligator food on the fishing pole to feed them.

Talan is ready for a day at the beach.

We took this picture right after we pulled out of the drive way to head to Florida. Talan was so excited!

Bible School

This past week, Justin and I directed Bible School at church.  We used the theme "Celebrate Jesus."  We connected everything to miracles of Jesus and hawaiian decorations.  We finished the event off with a Luau on Friday evening.  We had a pinata, fire trucks, police cars, giant volleyball, limbo, and lots of other fun activities.  Here are a few pictures from the luau.

Talan and Mason playing with the giant volleyball.  They had fun trying to toss it back and forth to each other.  They couldn't hardly get their arms around it.

Daddy helping Talan collect some candy from the pinata.

Daddy and Talan sitting in the fire truck.  We couldn't hardly get Talan out of the fire truck.  He thought he was pretty hot stuff sitting in the fire truck.  He tried on their helmet and gloves.  

You can see the joy on Talan's face here while he was sitting in the fire truck.

Talan is putting on his seat belt in this picture.  He said he was going for a ride on the truck. The truck never moved but he was so excited that he thought he was going somewhere with the firemen.

Picnic and Park

After the Peace Pavilion on Friday we went to the park just south of the Temple for a picnic and play time.  We had a great time.  We were a little concerned about whether or not Talan would eat but he did.  He did a great job.  We sat together and had a little picnic and then had some playtime before we headed home for a nap and time to get ready for Bible School that evening.

Children's Peace Pavilion

On Friday, we took Talan to the Children's Peace Pavilion.  He had a lot of fun.  I hadn't been there since I was in elementary school so it was fun to go back.  They had a lot of fun new things that Talan really enjoyed.  They had a musical floor, finger painting, mask making, flag making, tunnels, ball drop activity, and so much more.  We got there in between two groups so it was just us in there.  It was great! 

Here is our little stud posing in front of the entrance.

Making a path for the ball to go through.

Talan was making me a hamburger he said.  It was really cute!  He was go get something out of the suitcase, stack it up and bring it to me.

Dominos with Dad.

We were making a mask here.  He liked putting the glue on.  What little kids doesn't like that part?

Corn On the Cob

I know the first picture is really gross but I thought it was cute too!  Talan loves corn on the cob.  He always gets so excited when we have it.  He devours the entire ear of corn he is eating. 

A few more lake pictures

These are mainly pictures from the boat ride.  The last picture is just him eating a snack after an afternoon nap.  He just looked so happy in it so I wanted to post it.

Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend we went to Johnson Lake in Nebraska to celebrate Memorial Day and Justin's birthday.  We had a wonderful time with Uncle Bill, Aunt Sue, Nana, Papa, and Grandma Great.  The family has a house right on the lake so Talan was up about 8:30 both mornings and had gotten breakfast and cleaned up a bit and was down playing in the sand by 10:00.  We all had an awesome time!  Talan really enjoyed making sand castles and then making tunnels to put water through.  He even let us bury him one time.  

We were worried he wouldn't like his lifejacket but he loved it.  A couple times he got made when we had to take it off to go inside and get cleaned up for dinner or something.  

I think the big boat was his favorite part of the weekend though.  He still tells people that he drove Papa's big boat.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend.  I will post a couple more in a little bit.

Talan riding in the boat.  He tried out every seat that is in there.

Driving with Papa.  I think Papa enjoyed it just as much as Talan did.

Daddy and Talan driving the jet ski.  We know you aren't suppose to let kids his age ride it.  Justin just made a couple little circle going very slow.

Talan and I lounging in the raft.  Aren't his sunglasses cute!?

This is when Talan let us bury him.  He thought it was so funny.  He said he was a monster when he got out of it.  It was really cute!