Utah

I haven't posted in awhile and I thought I would post about how Alden and I have been staying busy while we are here in Utah.  Mostly we play, go on walks and occasionally see friends.  Alden still gets to play with Brendon three days a week which is fun and keeps me a little more busy right now.  We have less than two weeks before the movers will be here and we are having fun with a lot of mommy and son time.  Here are some pictures from the last few weeks showing what Alden has been up to.

       

Alden still loves playing with his car and still loves his blanket...he is more possessive over his blanket than anything else.

Alden loves playing with my friends Keith and Skyler when we see them.  Here Keith was letting him play with a mini iPad.


Alden loves eating his chicken nuggets.

Alden loves playing in the backyard here and has started picking up any stick he can find to play with it.

 Alden loves discovering new things, like how to push the bench back and forth. (it glides)

He will walk around the yard discovering new things.

I love all the adorable faces that he makes!

 More discovery!

My little boy is growing up so fast and it is so fun to watch.  We are really excited to have Daddy home soon so he can also see all the cute things Alden does!

Cousin time in Utah

Alden and I made it back to Utah where we will be for about a month and a half.  Alden is very happy to have a play buddy three days a week again now that we are back.  They are getting better at sharing and taking turns as time goes on.  It is so fun watching them interact and play together and I love it when they hug each other!  Here are some pictures from their time together!

 This has been one of their favorite toys!  They love the car and the noises it makes.

 Football practice!

 They don't always want to take turns...so they share.

 They both love the movie Tangeled and it is one of the few things that has had them both sitting still for more than a minute.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

While I was in California visiting my family I got to take Alden to the aquarium with my sister, Maren.  Alden has always loved fish, and pretty much every other animal, so it is always fun to see how his reactions change around animals as he gets older. Here are some pictures from our day.

When we first got there we let Alden see the sea otters which he really liked watching swim around.

 Alden did not like being under this waterfall type thing.  He got scared and clung to me.

 Maren got to take these pictures of one of the frogs we saw.

Alden liked this tank with lots of "Dorys."

Alden had a lot of fun in the kids section where there were lots of different things for him to play with.  He loved the little area with the water (shown to the right) where he could play with rubber fish.

 We love penguins!

Alden had fun watching the jelly fish again.

 These birds were a new favorite of Alden's.  I think it was because they were moving so much while we were there.

We had a fun time being back in Monterey again.  

California

After getting back from Korea, Alden and I got to spend a great few weeks in California with my family.  While we were there Alden got spoiled by all the family and got to adjust back to this time zone.  Alden loved playing with everyone and by the end of the trip it felt like certain family members had specific roles in Alden's mind.  Alden would always ask Grandma to read books to him.  Aunt Katrina was there to help him get in to things that were too high to reach and let him see Scorch (Maren's bearded dragon).  Erik was the energetic one who Alden would go to when he wanted to play outside or be chased.  Maren was always there to supervise Alden's interaction with the dog and bearded dragon and make sure that Alden learned how to treat animals well.  Grandpa was the one who would take Alden on walks whenever he had the time which Alden really enjoyed.  And as for me, I was the one Alden came to when he needed security and comfort...which was rarely while we were there because my family looked out for him so well.

Here are some pictures that were taken during our time in California that summarize Alden's experience.

He loved sitting at the piano and "playing."  He would often go to Katrina when he wanted to play piano.

Alden loved the hose and sprinkler outside.  I still don't understand how he hates bath time but loves water guns, hoses, sprinklers and pretty much any other water.

We took him to the pool one day and although he clung to me most of the time he liked it a lot better than bath time.

 Grandpa loved to play with Alden when he got home from work.  Alden enjoyed doing the noble Duke of York with Grandpa more than he liked doing it with Mommy.

My freshman roommate, Debbie married Matt while I was in California and my mom and sister brought Alden up to the temple on the wedding day.  Alden had a lot of fun walking around the temple grounds and he loved the fountain.  It was a really fun day and I am so happy for Matt and Debbie and I am so glad that I got to be there.

Alden's favorite thing at the temple grounds.

Such a great couple and I am so glad that Tawny and Skyler came out to the wedding too!  The reception was a lot of fun and Alden just wanted to dance the whole time.  He was very upset that I wouldn't let him dance during the first dance! =)

At the end of our time in California Alden and I drove back to Utah with Katrina and we got to drive through areas that smelled like smoke for at least four hours.  These were some pictures taken in the Nevada desert just past Lovelock, and you can see the hazy smoke.

It was great being with my family for awhile in California and Alden and I truly enjoyed our time there even if it was hard to come back from Korea.  Now back to Utah to prepare for our next adventure!