Ready, Set, Splash!

Here's our little man in the bath.

I really love some of these pictures and just wanted to share them.

Road Trip...

This past weekend Bryce and I were able to jump in a car with my parents and head down to Southern California for a mission "farewell". My cousin Bryce will be leaving to serve a mission in Florida and we were lucky enough to get to spend a little time with him before he departs. On the way down, we picked up Bryce's (our Bryce) cousin Sammy and spent a night at Grandmama's then to Ontario for the "farewell".

You can see from his face, Sammy is always a kick to have along. Bryce was especially grateful for the entertainment.

An extra bonus:
Bryce and I were able to meet up with Ty's parent's one evening... They met us near my relatives' house and we enjoyed yummy Wahoos, home of the best fish tacos ever!... Every chance we can get to see them, we'll take it!

Bryce - showing Grandma and Grandpa Carlson his tricks.

Front View:

The profile:

And the main reason for the trip: Soon to be, Elder Bryce Miller.

A family tradition, Aunt Donna (my mom) embroiders the missionary's name and mission onto a laundry bag. It's been all over the world and now is headed to Tallahassee, Florida.

My beautiful cousin Caitlin... between my cousins and all their friends, I think Bryce touched the floor for maybe ten minutes the entire weekend. What a lucky boy.

One more pic. with Big Bryce and Baby Bryce.

A lot of people asked me over the weekend if my Bryce was named after my cousin Bryce. In truth, Ty and I really just liked the name. It flowed the way we wanted with the middle name that was important to us. However, my cousin Bryce is the person that truly endeared me to the name. Bryce Miller is an outstanding guy whose kind example has influenced my life and so many others. He's a gentleman, a great athlete, driven, hard-working... everything I could ever hope for my little Bryce to become one day. I am so thankful Baby Bryce will have such a strong and wonderful person to look up to throughout his life.

Uncle Carl... Father of the Missionary... Three full-time missionaries actually... at this very moment. Do I even need to say any more about his character?

Aunt Kathy, Courtney, Bryce, Caitlin, Uncle Carl

Free Tickets!

We've never been season pass holders at Six Flags, but last Saturday we found ourselves with free tickets and lucky for us, our friends the Kuhles had them as well. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great day. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends to spend time with.

Mating Butterflies... Bryce handled the birds and the bees-talk quite well.

For anyone wondering...

Bryce and his girlfriend, he was so happy she came with us to the park.

A fabulous day!

Proof... the teeth exist!

I can't begin to describe how hard I was laughing when I took this picture! We'd stuck a pillow in his shirt so he looked big and buff like his Grandpa Carlson, and in the event of taking several pictures, I was lucky enough to get this shot. In this picture Bryce is chasing me down, trying to get the camera... I thought I'd actually missed the shot I wanted, then this one appeared in the screen. Officially, my new favorite! Gold medal winner for sure!!

This one for sure took silver.

Okay, maybe this one ties with the one above for silver.

This, below, is Grandpa Carlson... The big, biff guy we mentioned. Facial expressions and upper body strength are amazingly similar... don't you think?!

(Rose, I know you're probably not loving this picture, but it seems Bryce inherited traits from you too...so I couldn't crop you out.) We love you both!

Our buff little nine monther!

Let the races begin!

Left to right: Mary, Spring, Joshie, Thomas, Bryce, and Sammy!

Sunday Afternoons are always fun with cousins around.

The races started on their bellies, but then they decided the rug burns weren't worth it. So we decided bottoms worked best, also making it so Bryce could play too. Thomas made sure Bryce made it down safely, over and over again.

Watching the weeds grow...

Our little man is loving the window! When it rains he likes to just stand there. I thought these pictures were really cute with a bit of his reflection showing too. We go on walks when we can, he loves being outside... And if he's inside, we do our best to keep his view curtain-free.

9 Months!

Bryce has been sick for the last few days, but on the morning of his nine month birthday, he decided it was time to get better. It's so sad when babies are sick, and such a relief to hear them squawking and crawling around again. He had two more teeth break through, probably the reason for the recent sickies. Just this past week, Bryce discovered the pots and pans. I give him spoons to bang inside them, but he'd rather bang them together. In this picture, he'd stood up to get another and when he sat down his booty got stuck and he got really frustrated when I sat on the floor laughing and taking pictures, before helping him get his booty un-stuck.

We love Bryce so much. His new trick for his ninth month of living: He now uses the couch, ottoman, chairs, whatever he can to walk from place to place. He is so much fun and we love, love, love having him around.