A fun weekend!

This past weekend we got to go see our good friends Chad and Kenzie Bailey in good 'ole Fillmore, UT. For those of you who don't know where Fillmore is, you drive and drive and drive south until you are in the middle of nowhere...then you are there! We went down there last May and haven't been back since, so this trip was long overdue. The last time we saw them was in September. Anyway, we left early Saturday morning (6:30 am) and I thought Kaden would sleep the whole way down...nope! He LOVED being allowed to eat in his car seat! He just had this look on his face like it was Christmas morning. He didn't sleep at all and just looked around and munched the whole way there. He was SO well behaved! Lexi, of course, slept for most of it. We spent Saturday relaxing and catching up. Kenzie suggested having the boys (her oldest is Logan and he is 2 1/2 years old...Gaines is her other child and he is 5 weeks old) go outside in their massive huge yard and play. I told her that Kaden won't wear shoes and asked if there are thorns in their yard. She looked at me like I was insane and asked me why he doesn't wear shoes. I told her that we have tried a LOT the past year to get him to wear them, but each and every time he throws the BIGGEST fit and either acts like his legs are paralyzed or just screams and screams until you take them off. The longest he went was 30 continous minutes of screaming...that was Thanksgiving and the last time I tried to put shoes on the kid. She said that she has a lot of shoes from when Logan was younger and said we should try those. I reluctantly said ok, but could alrady picture the screaming and kicking that would result and I would once again feel hopeless. We first tried on size 4...WAY too small.....then size 5...better, but still small and not wide enough (he got his daddy's feet)....size 6 was perfect with a bit of growing room. Kenzie had some Nike tennis shoes that Logan never wore since he had so many shoes so she told us to keep them! Kaden threw a fit while we tried to put his shoes on. I held him in my lap while Chad got the shoes on and tied them in TIGHT double knots. Shane took Kaden outside and I was prepared for the temper tantrum. I grabbed the camera (I think odd things are funny) and went outside. Kaden was standing up...in the shoes! He was a bit unsteady, but Shane and Chad each held a hand and soon (with the temptation of basketballs) Kaden was WALKING around in SHOES!!! I was thrilled! It may sound completely dumb, but I have wanted to get him wearing shoes for SO long! I think he finally warmed up to the idea because he saw Logan wearing shoes. They played so well together and it was so sad when they had to take naps or go to bed. Sunday we had dinner at Chad's parent's house, Karma and Stewart, whom I absolutely LOVE! Karma is the sweetest woman you will ever meet (besides my own mom, of course). We ate until we were stuffed, then headed home that night. Kaden hardly ate anything all day Saturday and most of Sunday. When we sat down for dinner Sunday night, he made up for the last two days of starvation. He had just been too busy playing with Logan to eat! :) Here are some fun pictures for you...sorry if you get sick of seeing Kaden wearing shoes...I was excited. :D

Kaden enjoying the car ride down there. He loves the Beach Boys...or maybe just how mom and dad belt it out to their tunes....haha.

Kaden was still deciding what he thought about the shoes when their cat, Jasper, (Emmett ran away) came up and started rubbing against him. He did NOT know what to think of it. He had never seen a cat in real life before.

Tempting him with the basketball.....

Me, Lexi, Kenzie and Gaines! The weather was gorgeous. I am ready for spring!!

Kaden loved the tire swing!

"I think I like these shoes! It means I get to play outside!"

Logan playing on the rocking horse. He tried to show Kaden how, but Kaden did not enjoy it.

This is where Lexi spent most of the weekend. She loved the vibrating bouncer and we are looking into getting one now. :)

Gaines McKay Bailey

Logan cheesing it up :)

This was so funny....we put them next to each other and Gaines was out. Lexi just kept crying to be held (she even started punching Gaines in the face), but Gaines slept through it all.

"Mommy, why won't you hold me? Look how cute I am!"

She thought if she calmed down we would pick her up...nope! Just took more pictures! haha It is funny that Gaines is 6 weeks younger than her, but weighs more and is way longer than her, too.

Kaden learned to throw the basketballs into the hoop, well, he at least aimed in that general direction. :D

Logan repeats everything you say. We took advantage of this and taught him a bunch of new phrases to repeat over and over and annoy his parents! :)

The ground was a little uneven, so don't blame him for almost eating it. He recovers quite nicely, though.