This is what gardening looks like to Garret.

Garret really is such a great worker but there were really too many distractions for this little boy.

But somehow the rest of us trudged on.

There were 5 adults,

2 kids

1 toddler

1 infant and

one LARGE hat.

 Helping hands make light work.

MOAB: Boys VS Girls Weekend!

May 12, 2012 was a busy day for the Stryker family. We all went to Moab for a crazy day of adventure. However, it was a boys and girls kind of weekend. So even though we were in the same city ALL DAY LONG we saw each other not-a-once. So we made sure to take lots of pictures to really see what the other person did during the day. Lets start with the Girls Weekend.

Friday evening I drove down to Moab, Utah with some of my good friends and we met even more friends once we got down there. There was 12 of us total to be exact. What brought us all together? Red Rock Relay! Lots of running and lots of sun! It was a 70 mile race and each person ran at least 10 miles. 

I really do LOVE running and so doing a relay with other ladies who love running too just made it all that much sweeter. Enough said. Here are the pictures from the girls weekend.

12 ladies 2 teams

"Chicks with Kicks"

"Sisters with Blisters"

We really tried to stay hydrated and cool

But from the following pictures you can see the heat still got to us

Our ride

Finishing together. This was actually take two because we forgot to get a picture the first time around and I was actually at the car changing my shirt. So technically I missed the actual finish with the team...no big deal. 

Lots of fun with some really amazing ladies!

Now onto the boys weekend. Ace and Garret left our home Saturday morning at 6 am. They drove the three hours to Moab and met Ace's college roommate and close friend, Bob. The guys spent the day hiking around Arches National Park. I guess hiking was on the side of chasing Garret around everywhere. Garret is wanting to be so independent these days. He wont let us feed him, he won't let us hold him in the pool (which leads to a lot of face plants in the water) and Ace said he wouldn't let him carry him around very much in the pack. And when Ace took him out he would't hold Ace's hand and instead took off climbing rocks and trails alone. He had lots of scratches when I saw him Sunday morning. Here are some great pictures from the Guys weekend.

Garret's two loves: the outdoors and dogs.

Climbing on EVERYTHING.

What a little explorer. 

Good ol' Bob.

Lacy's two loves!

"Here Bob try this cracker. I already got it nice and wet for you."

Nice toned stomach.

Quite an adventure for a little guy.

Girls weekend was a success. Guys weekend was a success. One successful weekend.

Better late than never

Back in December the BECK family was all together for Christmas. My parents decided to have Jeremey Wade Shockley take some family pictures for us.

By the time Garret was 10 months old my parents doubled the number of their grandchildren. Lots more kids makes picture taking very interesting. See for yourself. These are just a few of my favorite.

(Cayson's face cracks me up every time)

All because two people fell in love.

Adding another Lady to the mix

If you had't noticed, I was getting out numbered by boys in my family. So to even things up a bit we added another lady to our crazy crew. Now before you get too excited, our little lady looks more like...well Sully actually. That's right we have another yellow lab.

Now those of you who know Sully know that he is sweet but truly a menace. He is CONSTANTLY getting out of our yard, chewing things up, barking at passing cars, digging holes in our yard, eating anything we have of value or interest and the list goes on and on. When we went to Florida my parents were happy to watch Sully for us, but by the time we got back my mother politely informed us that Sully had worn out his welcome.

Knowing all this many of you might be thinking, "why on earth would they get another dog if they can't even contain their one?" Well I have actually thought that myself a few times the past few weeks. BUT a wonderful family in our ward had a yellow lab named Callie (not Kali...like my sister. They may be pronounced the same but they are spelled differently so that makes it completely different ok Kali:-)), and she was too much for them to handle so they asked us if we were interested in another dog. We thought Callie would keep Sully in the yard (not so) and that they could be best buds (very true). When Sully is in our yard, instead of running amock in our neighborhood, he is totally happy and content with Callie. They play so well together and have from day one. So Sully gets a buddy, Callie gets a buddy (and she is working off some unnecessary pounds by keeping up with Sully) and the previous owner of Callie lives near us, so he walks home from school and stops by our house on his way home to get his fix of Callie and Sully.

So besides the fact that Sully STILL gets out of the yard, having another dog has been great. They are so happy together and it is great to have another lady in the mix.

(P.S. Callie is closer to the front and that collar around Sully's neck is part of our Invisible Dog Fence. Just another attempt at keeping him in the yard. Hope this one works. Also these two sweethearts are 2 weeks apart. They are going to be able to be buddies for a long time)

1st Trip to the Beach

I know Im a bit bias, but aren't these two just so handsome? Seriously though. They are my favorite.

Ace's Grandma passed away on the 2nd of February, and Ace's brother Mars and his wife Kaitlin had a baby on the 3rd. We were able to go to Florida for a week and enjoy a bitter sweet visit with lots of wonderful family.

My camera spent the entire week in Albuquerque in the trunk of our car. But my mother-in-law, Christine, sent me some wonderful pictures of Garret's first trip to the beach. These are the only pictures I have of our trip and I really love them so I thought I'd share.

Garret was a little unsure about the waves coming into the beach. Before they reached him, he would run back to Ace and throw himself on his legs. But Ace finally took his hand and they walked out until the waves came flowing over their feet. After that Garret wasn't afraid of anything, and he didn't stay dry either.

As far as parenting goes, I think Ace and I are a pretty good mix.
I don't like when Garret's clothes get wet or dirty. I only have enough energy to get him dressed once a day so if he gets dirty, the clothes just come off and stay off. That's probably why we have so many pictures of Garret just in his diaper. However, Ace does not care one bit if Garret's clothes get messy, and honestly he could careless about his own clothes too.

So Garret was wet.

On the other hand Ace doesn't like when Garret has food or dirt all over his face and hands. He is much better at keeping Garret's face, hands and body clean. Since Im home all day with Garret I find the battle of keeping his little face clean a lost cause. He is always sticking something in his mouth and often times it ends up all over his face. So on my watch Garret has dirt, chocolate, food, marker/pen/crayon, and other various things all over his face and body.

There is no exception for sand.

(although after he tasted it once, the sand and shells stayed out of his mouth)

He was wet and sandy but I think Garret's first trip to the beach was a great experience.

BUT SERIOUSLY, handsome boys huh?