Where Did The Time Go?

I bought a frame that has openings for a photo from every month of Tyson's life and I was so excited to put it up. That was like 4 months ago. So I sat down today to print out photos to put in there and my damn printer won't print the colors correctly. So since I went through and picked out all the photos, I thought I would share 12 months of Tyson's life! Amazing how much change comes about in just a year.

June 2007- Welcome home little Tyson

July 2007 - Strong boy!

August 2007 - Always with the fists...

September 2007 - Drool, tongue and grins!

October 2007 - Mr. Happy. Who'd have thought?

November 2007 - Is it POSSIBLE to smile any bigger?

December 2007 - First Christmas!

January 2008 - Watch out! Crawling already!

February 2008 - The Chippendale pose

March 2008 - Starting to look like a little boy and not a baby!

April 2008 - Able to take a few steps now.. forget crawling!

May 2008 - Walking? Pssshh! Running is more like it!

June 2008 - Happy 1st Birthday!

The Great Outdoors

I'm a sucker for punishment apparently. Despite the dirtiness that goes along with toddlers and camping, I decided that we would brave the outdoors and go camping again with my Mom. Unfortunately for me, Doug decided that he'd prefer to stay home and go golfing (who can blame him?!). So, I convinced my best pal Sodavy to tag along and camp with us. HA! She had no idea what was in store for her! Good news was that between me, my mom, Sodavy and my Aunt, we were able to keep a close watch on Tyson without one of us collapsing from exhaustion. Although I did come close. See, Tyson had picked up this stomach bug that causes awful diarrhea and I spent the entire weekend changing dirty diapers. He literally would just be changed and then I would smell that familiar odor within five minutes. Not fun on any normal day. REALLY not fun when you're camping. Needless to say the minute I walked in the door at home I glared at Doug and grumbled something like "you're on diaper duty for the next century" (expletives deleted).

Tyson playing with my Aunt Ruth.

One day my mom, Sodavy and I decided that we would go for a short hike to a nearby lake. I have a backpack that I throw Tyson in and away we went. He loves to swing his arm out the side trying to grab branches as we walk along the trail. He points to trees and other random things saying "pretty" and "cool".

The walk was very relaxing, even with 35+ extra pounds that I was packing on my back. I didn't even huff and puff too much. Then again the mosquitos were pretty bad so maybe it was just that I didn't want to inhale any unwanted bugs.

Hey, it wouldn't be me without some fauna photos!

One of the things I love (and hate) about Mirror Lake is that you can never count on the weather. It could be a beautiful day in the morning and then that evening it could pour buckets on you. Which is exactly what happened to us. The biggest, scariest lightning storm I'd ever been in. I was sitting at the picnic table and saw the lightning and heard the crack of thunder at the exact same moment - that's how close it was! It scared Tyson so bad he started crying. We took off to the car and sat in it while the rain came down. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the storm. I was too busy cowering in the Subaru.

Who'd have thought riding on someone's back could be so tiring? Alright, I will admit if you're tired enough, sleeping anywhere will do. He just didn't look comfortable at all!

Worth the Wait

I love history. Call me a nerd, but I find it fascinating. It doesn't even really matter what type of history... American, European, Ancient. I love it all. So when I heard that the Declaration of Independence was going to be making a stop in Salt Lake, my nerdy ears perked up. Someday I hope to visit Washington D.C. and the National Archives to see the original DOI, but that could be years down the road. So, Doug and I loaded up little Tyson (future history buff) and headed out to see it at the State Capitol. We figured we'd go check it out and then stop and get something for dinner.

This is the Capitol. It is a beautiful building. I hadn't been here since high school when I shadowed the late Senator Ed Mayne for a day. That itself was an awesome experience that only fueled my love of history.

Turns out, we weren't the only ones who wanted to see it. I could not believe how many people came out to get a glimpse of this amazing document. The line wrapped from one end of the building to the other, where it finally ended in the center with the DOI. We ended up making friends with the people in front of and behind us. What else are you going to do while waiting? You can only stare at marble for so long.

Tyson got tired of being held in line (and of course if you put him down he shot off like a rocket searching for trouble), so Doug and I took turns chasing him around the building trying to keep him entertained. We wandered around and found the rooms where Utah Senators and Representatives make laws and decisions. I found it all very captivating, Tyson was more interested in zooming up and down stairs and looking out windows.

When we finally did reach the front of the line (after more than 3 1/2 hours of waiting), we chatted with one of the people touring with the DOI about the turnout. She said that this was the largest crowd that had come to see it so far in their tour (having made 11 of 15 stops already). She was amazed at how many people came. I later heard that 12,000 people had come over the two days to check out one of our country's greatest historical documents.

The nice thing was, Cricket (sponsoring the tour) had people there that would take your photo in front of the DOI. Unfortunately, they aren't the most camera savvy and although I explained quite simply ("press the button halfway down to focus then press it all the way to take the photo"), something got lost in the explanation. She got the snap the photo part down, which I suppose is the most important. So here you can see, we made it finally to see the famed Declaration of Independence. It was over all too soon though, as I felt guilty for wanting to savor it after enduring hours of standing, chasing Tyson and hunger pangs just to witness this piece of history. In the end it was worth it. I can check it off my list of things I must see in my lifetime.

Tyson's Lil' Buddy

So there's a new edition to our family. STOP right there with that line of thinking, no I am not pregnant nor did I have another monster.. err... child. NOOOOOO. My sister-in-law Lisa had a little boy today at 6:50 in the morning. He took his sweet time getting here (12+ hours!) and weighed in at 7 lb, 2 0z! A whole pound less than Tyson!! Anyway, mom and baby are doing fine. The name is TBD right now, as they are still deciding between three different ones (although I'm pulling for 'Zachary Ryan' myself). Congrats Lisa and John!! He's a keeper for sure.

I don't think Tyson really knew what to make of the little guy. He just knew that Mom and Dad were giving this new little person a LOT of attention and he wasn't the center of attention anymore. He sort of warmed up to the baby after a little while but soon went back to finding naughty things to get into.

It Runs in the Family...?

Today was a very proud day for the Cook family. My younger brother Paul was sworn in as a Salt Lake County Sheriff's Correctional Officer this morning. This is the culmination of many months of applications, background checks, physical tests and psychological evaluations that he endured just to fulfill his dream of entering the law enforcement field. Congratulations Paul! I love you and am so proud of you!! Paul is not the only member of our family that is in law enforcement. My older sister Tracy was a Corrections Officer for SLCo for many years before going "on the road". She's now working as a police officer in Washington. We're so proud of our officers!!

He's so handsome in his uniform!!

Our Mom got to pin his Sheriff's badge on while Sheriff Jim Winder watches.

Red Butte Gardens

This is a bit late but we went to Red Butte Gardens for Pioneer Day. It was a beautiful day and since everyone was at the parade, we figured what better opportunity to go explore the gardens. We saw tons of beautiful flowers and even a fat squirrel that was obviously NOT scared of people because he sauntered right up to us! We had a lot of fun playing in the fountains with Tyson.. He got very wet. Here are some of the photos of flowers that we took...