Utah, part II

I guess I should start with the reason we went out to Utah. Brad's mom turned 50 on the 29th of May and everyone agreed that there should be a surprise party, and a surprise visit from those of us who live in Iowa (Brad, Me, Donovan, Lenna, Scott, Mason and until recently, Hannah). So we drove out on Thursday, stayed the night in Cheyenne and made the rest of the trip on Friday making a pit stop in Park City to shop, of course. The party came on Saturday and unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures there, not one! That is so unlike me, the camera is usually an extension of my arm. Anyway, Tia figured the party surprise out, but we managed to keep the fact that we were out there a secret. She was floored (literally, she fell on the floor), she had absolutely no idea we were there! It was pretty awesome to see how excited she was to see Donovan and Mason, and I guess she was a little excited to see the rest of us too.

While in Utah, Donovan decided to try and stand up for longer periods of time. I tell him, "stand up like a big boy" and he puts his arms in the air to let me know he's ready for me to let go. It was pretty cute, he even took a step once. He hasn't tried to take any steps since, but we are working on it.
My best friend Jessica came over to my parents house one day and brought her little boy Heath. What cute little boys they are. I wish I could live closer to Jessica, she was my running partner in high school, I really wish I had her out here to keep me motivated!
I took Donovan's swim suits out with us, but he didn't really get to swim. He had fun watching Mason throw toys in the water and they would both try to fish them out.
Here is Donovan trying to take a sip of Mason's water in the wagon. He will not stay in that thing, but Mason's wagon has seat belts, so hopefully he will be secure enough to ride around the zoo with his cousin this summer.
Donovan loved McRae, he had fun playing his guitar and grabbing at his face.
He also liked the silly laugh McRae would do. He would be playing and when McRae laughed he would smile and keep playing. He had a lot of fun pulling my brother's towers apart too.

This is my favorite picture. Donovan certainly isn't afraid of my scary dad!! I don't think he's scary either, but I know a few boys who do.
My mom bought a new 15 ft wide and 3 1/2 ft deep pool for the back yard and while we filled it up, we dipped Donovan and Jayla's feet in it. Jayla loved it, but Donovan couldn't decide.
Donovan enjoyed the all of the pets he encountered. He was more intrigued by Ivory than Rocky for some reason. Rocky would lick his fingers, which he didn't mind, and then lick his face, which he didn't like quite as much.
I think his favorite was Iggy, the Silvey's cat. This cat is extremely old and deaf. She let him do anything he wanted to her. I wasn't there, but his Granny let him play with her. He pulled her by the tail, pulled up her ears and even pushed on her stomach. Poor cat, but she let him do it, I think she liked the attention.

The ride home wasn't too bad. We made really good time and the boys were surprisingly quiet. Donovan slept most of the time, but had his moments of whimpering and crying. Mason did a lot better than Donovan in my opinion.
The worst part of the drive was my speeding ticket, yes, I got a speeding ticket. I have only had one other ticket and that was over 4 years ago. The crappy thing is, I hardly ever go more than 5 mph over the speed limit but I decided to be brave and set the cruise on 85. According to the state trooper, I was going 86, so he made my ticket for 11 mph over. He wasn't very nice. I was surprised at how well I handled it though, I was shaking a little when I saw the lights, but I didn't really get upset, I just got angry. So now I owe the state of Wyoming $100, as if the gas didn't cost enough. Luckily Brad is getting $75 back from a class he paid for back when I was making most of the money, so he isn't quite as mad as when he first found out. Anyway, that was our trip. It was a lot of fun and sad to leave, but Donovan was happy to see his dad and I was happy to see my husband. We miss everyone already!!