Happy Birthday Sean!

My darling husband is turning one year older today! He's getting to be such an old man, but I don't think he'll ever grow up! He's downstairs playing Xbox with his brother and laughing his butt off right now. For those who know the joy of Sean's true laugh, it is too funny. Our birthday plans are simple, hang out during the day, maybe catch a movie together while Grandma babysits. I will not reveal his birthday present yet, not that he ever checks the blog. But just in case, it will remain unnamed. I'm actually really proud of myself because he is a hard one to shop for, but this year I totally nailed it. And to top it all off, I think he'll be really surprised. He's always harassing me with every Christmas and birthday to give him his present early, or just a hint. I usually end up caving, because I'm WEAK! But not this year. In the evening we'll have a little barbeque with the family, and a few neighbors. I have his cake all made, and a little collection of pictures on the bulletin board. Looking though the literally hundreds of thousands of pictures we have of the past several years was lot's of fun, remembering fun family times together, and the little every day moments that I so often forget. Here are a few of my favs (it was so hard to narrow them down! I have 26 on the bulletin board!!)

There aren't enough positive things to say about Sean. He's such an incredible, genuine, person. He's an amazing father, the love he has for Griffin is unbelievable! My grandpa, who always has such a way with words, once said about Sean, "Now, I always loved my kids, but Sean's just a damn fool about it!" I think that really sums it up. He's an incredible husband too, helping me to keep things in perspective, and is always there with his sense of humor, even when mine is gone. I am truly blessed to have Sean in my life. Of course, he would not appreciate all this attention, because he likes to stay off of the radar. But on his birthday, he has to put up with it. So, Happy Birthday to my dear husband Sean. It's hard to believe how much time has gone by, but it's so exciting to think about all the time that's ahead of us.

Born to SKI

We've been talking about taking Griffin skiing since we moved to Utah. Well, my dad has been talking about it and I've been saying, "He's not ready!" A few weeks ago we visited my dad, and Griffin immediately wanted to try out the skis. He put his feet in the bindings and was ready to head out the door. After that, every time we go to visit my dad, Griff walks in the door and says, "where the skis?" We could tell, he was ready.
So, after three days of snow, we finally decided today would be the perfect day to go up. We bundled Griffin all up, headed over to Grampa's for breakfast (Griffin could barely be bothered to eat, he wanted to get on those skis!), and then went up the mountain for some fun in the snow. On the way Griffin kept saying, "Go to the mountain to skeeee!" It was literally all we could do to finish bundling him up and get him all ready to ski, he just wanted to GO! I felt like the mom on the Christmas Story, pulling on gloves and boots, picking him up when he fell over. It was exhausting.
Griffin picked out this helmet and put it on...

It was too big and backwards, so we found a smaller one for him. And we found some awesome sunglasses in the lost and found, which were good to have because it was so bright outside! We truly couldn't have had a better day. It was beautiful and sunny, and the snow was perfect. It would have been a great powder day. Finally, Griff was all outfitted and ready to go. Whew.

Here are Griffin's first moments on skis...you can see that he's a natural!

The we scooted around for a while, just to get used to it, and of course, had to take some pictures. Here is Griffin and his proud Grandpa and his proud Mama...



It was not easy getting him to hold still to pose. Not that that is any different from any other activity. He kept saying, "No, my ski!" I was a little nervous about sending Griffin up on the lift. I'm not sure why, I've ridden lifts a million times. I guess it's a little different when you send your own little two year old up into the air. But, in true Griffin style, he loved it!

The funniest thing was Griffin and his tongue! Apparently, this is a Lindsay trait, because my Grandpa does it, my dad, my cousin Lindsay, and myself, all stick out tongues out when we're concentrating or working hard on something. Oh, I think Alex does it too. Maybe it's a genius trait. Or, it could be that it felt cool in the wind. Either way, it was cracking me up!

You can tell my dad is a great ski instructor, because he was very good and natural with Griffin. He knew all the right things to keep Griff moving and happy. It is not as easy as you might think. I was most impressed with his skiing backwards skills. He helped Griffin a lot, but he also let Griffin do a lot on his own. Griffin did two runs, (that means two times up the lift and down, for those of you who don't know) and we decided to take a little break. That was a lot of work for the little guy! Plus, it was still shady and pretty damn cold! Griffin was none-to-pleased as we veered away from the lift towards the lodge. He kept saying, "No break! No break!" He did not want to stop, but I think he was entertained enough just walking in his ski boots, which is kinda tricky, that we were able to get him into the lodge to sit down. He kept pointing out the window at the other skiers saying, "Ski, ski!" He sat long enough to eat (well, crush to pieces) most of a muffin, and a sip or two of hot chocolate. Then, he decided the break was over, he put on his helmet and his sunglasses and he was out the door. In the little video, you can hear Griffin say, "Go ski." As he wriggles out of the chair. I tried to get a few pictures, but he was not having it. We were wasting precious ski time!

So, off we went again. Griffin was amazing! I mean, I figured he'd love it, but I did not expect him to take to it so well. He was very balanced, and comfortable. He did fall some, because his legs were tired and he was skiing all on his own for the second half of the day. Well, my dad was right next to him the whole time, but he would go on his own down the hill in stretches.

He did two more runs after our break, and we decided to call it a day. Of course, Griffin wasn't totally crazy about that decision, but he was so beat. And his silly gloves wouldn't stay on. We ended on a great note, even though Griffin was saying, "No bye-bye ski" the whole way out of the parking lot. He (surprisingly) made it all the way down the mountain before he zonked out completely. It was an awesome day, so much fun! You could just see how proud my dad was as he showed him off around the resort to his co-workers, and told everybody that this was his two year old grandson. I look forward to the many more ski trips we have ahead of us. If Griffin could have his way, it would probably be tomorrow. Sorry for the extra long post, but I am so proud of my boy! I couldn't put all the video clips on this post, so I uploaded them onto Youtube. Go to http://www.youtube.com/lizarrington80 to see them all.

Fly me to the Moon!

I usually try to plan some sort of fun outing for Griffin and I on Fridays, usually it involves riding the light rail. Today I decided we should go check out the planetarium at the gateway. Definitely worth the trip! Griffin was so excited to ride the train, he even helped me buy the ticket, he likes to hold on to it until we get onto the train. Then we walked over to the planetarium and checked out all the cool stuff. The best part was, it was totally free! At the planetarium Griffin ran all over looking at the rockets, and planets. We even walked on the moon and on Mars! There were several big groups of school kids, and Griffin was unfazed by them, pushing past them all to get where he wanted. Then we had lunch, and it was back onto the train to ride home. He's always so worn out after our Friday trips, so it's a double bonus for me. Here are a few pictures I took with my phone. Not very good quality, but I think you get the point.