Galveston

Sometime in the end of August or beginning of September??? we packed up for the day and headed to Galveston to check it out.  We didn't have any specific plans- we decided to just wing it.

On the way there Henri got hungry and wanted the bananas that were on my peanut butter toast.  I could peel the bananas off without any visible peanut butter on, so I handed them back.  He has been diagnosed as being allergic to peanuts so I haven't given him any since the spring.  Before then he had never reacted, which is why I decided to give him the bananas.  Well, a few minutes after he ate them he started itching.  We had the epipens and watched him really closely and the rash went away after awhile, so we kept heading down to Galveston.  But, now we know.

 We spent some time driving around looking at the cool architecture and the beach.  We decided to skip the beach and head to the airplane museum where Henri was very excited...

 and James was very cute...

 I love this picture of Henri's face in front of the airplane that was "just my size."

 Here is cute James again.

 Afterwards we headed over to Moody Gardens and went to the Tropical Rainforest Pyramid.  It was really cool because there were animals just roaming around.  

 Handsome boys checking out the monkey that was not very far away!

 Henri was so funny with these birds.  He was fascinated with them, but when they cawed it was really loud and every time it shocked Henri.

 His face here really shows how he felt!  

We had a fun time in Galveston.  Henri talked about the different animals that we saw for weeks and weeks.  It is fun that he is getting to an age that he really enjoys seeing different things and remembering all of the things that we talked about and that we did.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Henri's DIY umbrella

Coming Home to Houston

This is basically how we felt when we got back to Houston!  Pretty tired!

One day Henri climbed into James' swing, asked me to buckle him in and then just fell asleep.

Other Utah Notables

Here are a few more random pictures from our time in Sandy. Silly time with Aunt Janie.

 Henri's sleeping arrangement

 Henri and Molly became quite close little buddies (which is nice considering their history: Molly screaming in close proximity to Henri and Henri freaking out and starting to cry.)

 Cousin Jake and James.  James was six months old here.  I hope these little guys turn out to be good friends even though they don't live close to each other!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Hope

On the way home from Bear Lake we stopped by to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Hope.  Henri LOVED the tractor!

 James loved getting cuddled by Grandma Hope

 We got to visit their amazing garden!

 where Henri got a few tomatoes

 We stopped by the Brigham City temple for a few minutes so that Henri could touch the temple.  We drove by it on the way and Henri wanted to get out, so we made the effort to let him touch the temple on our way out of Brigham City.

 while Grandma Hope sat IN Henri's carseat to be with James while we walked across the street.

Of course the fountain is one od Henri's favorite parts of visiting a temple!

 We made one more stop to visit Aunt Sylvia on our way out.  Henri was a big fan of the train and the cookies!

Thanks for the fun visit!

Bear Lake

This year we had fun at Clayton week at Bear Lake.  Henri did great learning how to swim.  He can swim (with his floaties of course) by himself by doggie-paddling around.  He LOVED being out in the sun and in the water.  The pictures below are after a full day of sun.  I was worried about him having too much sun on his shoulders, but I didn't have his little sunshirt, so I pulled out James' and it fits him! (kinda)

 We also went visited this place and it was a RIOT!  Let me tell ya!

 Here are some pictures of a boy that I love playing at a Lake that I love

Idaho City

We had so much fun in Idaho!  We took a lot more pictures than this, but this is all that I have on my camera.  We went to an awesome spot that Annabelle showed us on a river really close to the Hope's house in Idaho City.  Henri was super brave because the water was really cold.  He was much braver than Charles who "doesn't like cold water."

 This is how James experienced most of our adventures!

 A sign we found in Idaho City

 Idaho City has an old cemetery that we like to visit.  I know, it is weird to like cemeteries, but this one is really cool with it's old headstones and the history behind it.  Idaho City first had a huge population of people from China who were digging for gold.  It is interesting to drive through the roads and look at the land because there are huge mounds everywhere that show how much earth these people moved to look for gold!  In the cemetery there is a Chinese section. a Catholic section, a Protestant section... Anyway, we like to go visit when we get a chance.