Monday, May 10, 2010

Happy Birthday Canyon!!

Today Canyon turns 2 years old! I can't believe it. He is still my little baby boy, but he is getting so big, and fast!

Canyon is talking up a storm, and is my most adventurous child! I swear he has no fear what-so-ever. He chases his brothers everywhere and tries to do everything that they do. He is genuinely funny, and he can make anyone laugh. His smile is bright and beautiful, and it melts my heart.

It is such a bittersweet day for me to see him growing up.

I'm very glad that he is growing up, and while I love babies, I am thrilled that we are out of those baby stages. As a friend of mine said "I'm a great mom to babies, but an even better mom to little boys." I totally agree with her, I much prefer the moments now, and the interactions we get to have as the kids get older!

I will always love the moments of holding them close, and cuddling with a baby who still has that "newborn smell", but there is nothing like those first bike rides, trips to amusement parks, and talks that you get to have with them as they get older.

I'm happy to say that we have made it 2 years nursing. While a lot of people don't understand, it is a wonderful thing to have a child extended nurse, and there are a ton of wonderful health and mental benefits to it. While he is 2 years old, he is still a baby, and still needs those benefits.

So, without further-to-do, here are a few shots of my (no so little) baby boy over the last 2 years. Some of these photos are take by Sonya Stone an awesome local photographer and wonderful friend. Others were by me.


Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends!

Today we had a picnic to celebrate Mother's Day, and Canyon's birthday. Tomorrow Canyon will be 2-years-old! Can you believe it?!

It was a beautiful day (although a bit chilly) and we had a great group of friends come celebrate with us!

On a side note, our bird nest is now empty, apparently it was time for the littleones to be kicked out of the nest. We hope they all thrive and do well!

Here is a shot of Canyon and one of Arden, I should have more from a friend soon. It was great!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Another Bird Photo!

Edited to add: This turned out to be our last shot of the birds! We checked in on them over the weekend, and they had left the nest!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Baby Birds 5-3

It rained today, so the robins look totally different. Amazing what they look like without all the fuzz! 




Sunday, May 2, 2010

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye...

We decided to cut off Arden's long flowing locks.

This past week, Arden began asking if he was allowed to get a hair cut, so today, after church, we took him to get his first cut in almost 4 years... I think I will cry tonight.

Here is the cut, preserved in photos:











Birds 5-2

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Today's Bird Shot...

Rory is going to do a story board for class for his show and tell. I figure he can do it a few weeks in a row and teach his classmates about them :)

Friday, April 30, 2010

They Hatched!

So of course, I didn't get a photo yesterday, but I did get a phone call from the neighbor late last night telling me that the eggs had hatched!!

I don't know who is more excited, me, the boys, or the mama bird!! Without further-to-do, here are the new little ones!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

No babies yet...

I'm not sure if the eggs have hatched, Mama Bird doesn't want to get off of them, and didn't seem to mind me taking a few shots.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

More from the Bird Eggs

The eggs haven't hatched yet, and from the looks of the weather report, we might not get photos for a few days. Lots of rain headed this way (which I am looking forward to). So, here are a few photos of the eggs from yesterday and today. Mama was on them today, so I tried my best not to disturb her.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Life Lessons...

So yesterday, while he was playing in the yard, Rory came across a bird's nest in one of our trees.

We decided to make a lesson about birds and how they grow, so we are going to take photos of the birds and/or eggs each day until they hatch and fly away. I just hope no little critters get to them since they are so low to the ground.

Here is a shot from today:

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Those unwanted, but needed visitors...

Today we had a snake slithering around the yard, he was in the side garden along the house, and looked like he had been eating well. I'm glad to see that he was plump and looked like a mouse might have been his last meal.

While I will never get over the first jump when I see a snake, and they will always scare me a little, I am glad they are here. I hate mice more.

So here is the little (or not so little, depends on how you look at it) snake that held my van hostage for an hour or so. 

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Moments that change our lives...

There are moments in our lives that change everything.

Some of those moments are the most joyous things we will ever experience, others are the darkest and most devastating moments that we could ever go through.

Jeffrey Allen Mayfield died 7 years ago today.

While I have come to terms with the loss, I still feel the harrowing pain I felt that day. The loss of Jeff was huge not only for me, but for so many people; losing him had a ripple effect which left emptiness across an entire continent. His death effected everyone from his family to his friends, to his colleagues, and even his students. We were all spread from one side of the country to the other, yet we all felt this loss and pain together.

If you want to read more about Jeff's death, and the struggle, I wrote about it a year ago today here on the blog: http://lmgittings.blogspot.com/2009/04/6-years-have-passed.html ; here is a thread from boatertalk.com from the first responders: http://boatertalk.com/forum/BoaterTalk/372350

A few months after his death I had this dream where he came to me... it was such a vivid, raw, emotional dream. Jeff came to our house, like he always had. He walked in the door without knocking, into my living room where my mom and I were talking. He introduced himself to my mother, chatted for a few moments, smiled at me, and walked out. In this dream, I looked at my mother and began to cry. She looked at me like I was insane, all I kept repeating was, "Mom, that was Jeff." After I had said that about 10 times, she said "I know, he introduced himself." To which I responded, "But mom, he died, he is gone. That was JEFF!" I was doubled over in unbearable pain from the tears and grief, I couldn't breathe. I heard the door open and looked up to see Jeff walking in the front door, into my living room again, he walked over and hugged me. He held me close and told me "I'm OK, it is all OK. I'm OK." Then he left again.

I woke up from that dream a mess. I was barely able to breathe, my chest was contracting in spasms from my cries and screams; I was crying and choking, my pillow was soaked in tears... and I was able to feel his arms on me still. Somehow, even with the agony I was feeling, I knew it was all okay, and that he was fine, that we would all be fine.

I have thought of him a lot through the years, but I have never dreamed about him again.

Where has that 7 years gone? Why did something that brought us all together, something that we all found so fun and uplifting have to become tragic and deadly?

Our lives have changed dramatically since then. Some of the changes are directly related to his death, while other changes were indirectly related. The biggest changes are because of that day.

His death caused me to question my faith for a long time. I just didn't understand. I still don't, and probably never will. Carl has been my rock, and explained faith, God, and how it all ties together in a way that brought me back to my faith. His view and strength has given me some clarity and as much peace as is possible.

The wounds aren't as open and raw as they once were. I can talk about Jeff with a smile, I can remember more of the good, rather then just the tragic end. But I miss him. His death changed so much, for so many of us. Honestly, I don't think it is ever far from my mind.

I need to go back out to the Big Sandy, out to Splat, and to the Rock.

I haven't been back since the year after it happened. I took Rory (who was 3 months old) with me the first anniversary. It was a stark contrast to the days following his death. Rather than the sun and warmth, it was cold, and pouring rain. I went out early, to have time to be on the Rock by myself. The river was high, the highest I had ever seen it. Many of the rapids (including some 10+ft waterfalls had disappeared and were deadly river-wide holes and not "falls". As I hiked the path, the creeks began to come up quickly. I didn't stay long, I said my goodbyes and prayers quickly... and it was a good thing. I was hiking back to my Jeep when I came to the last creek. It had gone from ankle deep to knee deep and rushing. I fell twice with Rory on my back while I was crossing. Another 20 minutes and I wouldn't have made it back to the Jeep. I passed Jason on his way in as I was on my way out... they slept on the rock that night, in the rain and flooding.

My last memories of the Big Sandy were of a violent turning river... I want to see it again, with smooth clear green water, not the brown mud and white foam it was that day.

I want to remember it peacefully running, as something fun and beautiful.

I want to remember it the way it was before. I want things like they were before...

God, I miss him so much.

So much.

From Moments of Our Lives

From Moments of Our Lives

From Moments of Our Lives

Sunday, April 11, 2010

My Granny ...

On our way back from vacation, we stopped at my Granny's house. Here are a few shots of her... Canyon didn't want to leave!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Zippiddy-Do-Dah...

Man, these kids are lucky, not only do their grandparents spoil them, but so do the neighbors! This past week the boys were lucky enough to get to ride on a neighbor's zip line and tire swing. It was so neat for the kids to get to experience something like that! We are even thinking about making one at our house now, it can't be *that* hard, right? 






Friday, April 9, 2010

Memories Past...

So, I might be dating myself here, but do you remember playground equipment when we were children? Old wooden see-saws, merry-go-rounds, metal slides, wooden swing seats with heavy metal chains, those octagon shaped climbing bars, etc?

I think back on my days as a little kid, watching my sister play softball, and playing on those parks. I remember riding the merry-go-round until the whole world was spinning and my legs couldn't hold me up... I can still hear the joyous sequels of our friends, smell the honeysuckles growing on the fences, and still see how bright and vivid the world looked to me. Those might be some of the fondest memories I have of my childhood. I still think of them when I am driving with my windows down and the sweet smell of the honeysuckles comes in the car.

Now-a-days the parks are bigger, safer, and seem somewhat less unique. One of the coolest parts of coming out to the lake is the opportunity to ride our bikes down to the park, and for the boys to play on some of that "vintage" (yeah we can be nice and label it vintage and not antique) play ground equipment. They always have a blast, and seem to enjoy it more then the big, new, beautiful playgrounds we have at home! I really hope that these are some of those memories that will stick with them the same way they stuck with me.

Here are a few shots of Rory on the merry-go-round, and of them riding back together.