Mother's Day Weekend: Part 4 - BBQ with the Drage's

Sunday afternoon we headed out for our last Mother's Day event. We went to Grandma Jo & Grandpa Lionel's for a bbq dinner. It would be the official kick-off of many more dinners to come that Grandma Jo would prepare out on their fabulous back patio. Jimmy grilled the steaks while the rest of us engorged our self with shrimp. After dinner we hung out on the back patio and visited while the kids ran around and played. Preston (Uncle Sterling's youngest) was also there with us. One of James' highlights of going to Grandma Jo's is her piano. One of these days we'll need to get him into some lessons. He's so fascinated with the piano, which most kids are, but he also does not bang on the keys, he presses each one individually while he listens. Thank you Grandma Jo for such a fabulous dinner.

James playing the piano as usual at Grandma Jo's.

Mom & Grandma Jo. Happy Mother's Day!

The Lawrence Family - Maddy, Allison, Kelsey, Sport.

The Hallam Family - Wendy, James, Jimmy

You can tell how much Sport, Allison and the girls

miss having James around.

Mother's Day Weekend: Part 3 - Park City

After Grandpa's birthday bbq we all headed up to Park City and stayed at the Westgate Resort at The Canyons in Park City. We had a condo that slept 10 and also over-looked the swimming pool. It was so much fun. We all went swimming at the indoor-outdoor pool and all took our turn in the sauna and steam room. I really liked the way that the pool was set up there. On each side of the pool, there was a huge landing shallow enough for James to play in. He did a great job considering this was his first swimming since last summer. And he only went under a few times and managed not to freak out. He did even get a little more daring then I would have hoped, so next time we'll need a life jacket for sure. After the pool closed we headed back up to the room. James couldn't get enough of the swimming so he played in the over-sized jetted tub that was right there in the master bedroom. He played there, while Allison and I made a McDonald's run to town. The next morning we all went over to the Park City Outlets to do some shopping. It was a great trip up to Park City. Can't wait to go again.

James in his cute new swim suit that Grandpa Jim & Grandma Mary sent him.

He LOVED it!

All of us swimming in the pool (Jimmy's taking the picture).
Mom & Dad stayed up in the room.

Mom, Maddy & Allison hanging out after swimming.
Allison loved the robes that were provided by the resort.

Could you get a more perfect view fromy our balcony? I don't think so.
I just wanted to jump in from right there.

Mother's Day Weekend: Part 2 - Grandpa Fontana's Birthday Bash

Saturday afternoon we went to Grandpa Fontana's Birthday Bash. There were two sets of Fontana Cousins that were in from 'out of state' - Sport & Allison and Barb & Andy Miller. Since they were in town, we had a pre-birthday celebration for Grandpa at Ray & Ronnies house. I hadn't been to one of these parties in a couple of years, but always saw pictures. As usual, there was a great turn out, great food and great company. There is always fun stuff for the kids to do and Uncle Ray is amazing with the dutch ovens and bbq.

Jimmy and my dad hangin out
The girls: Emi, Maddy, Addi, Kelsey and Calli

James taking advantage of the water fountain. He's such a boy!

Uncle Ray -He's so proud of his BBQ Pork. Which we were all too. It was so good!

My Mom & Dad, Georgia & Buzz.

Mother's Day Weekend: Part 1

Better late than never! Last weekend Allison, Sport and the girls came up to Utah to visit for the weekend. We packed a lot of stuff into one weekend, so bare with me here. Friday night, we all met up at Buzz & Georgia's house for bbq and bonfire. James was so excited to see everyone. And ever since James heard the story of Uncle Sport falling in the fire and getting an ouie, he was extra excited to see Uncle Sport. The kids played baseball on the grass while the rest of us swarmed the food as usual. We ended the night with a nice bonfire.

The girls taught James how to run bases. They made the mistake and made first base his little bike, so he would run to first and never get off.

Sport and John playing 'catch up'

Jimmy & I and Sport and Allison hangin out by the fire.

Salt Lake Bees

Tonight we went to the Salt Lake Bees game with Cousin Ann and Leslie. We got hooked up with great seats right behind home plate. This was James' first baseball game. I have to admit, I did not have faith in James that he'd actually make it through an entire game. I even tried to talk Ann and Leslie into driving separate in case we have to leave early due to James. But our sweet son proved me wrong. Don't get me wrong, he has the normal attention span of a two year old, but there were no melt downs, freak outs, or misbehaving. He watched the game, let me take pictures of him, and he even got drenched by a spilled beer- that was directly over his head- and didn't make a fuss over it. We just had to listen to him repeat twenty times "Daddy spilled beer on me?" If you look close you can see the beer stains on his hat lol. Turns out, Tuesday Nights its KIDS EAT FREE. Bonus! That kept James entertained as well; his own drink, cheese-its and a hotdog (that I helped him eat). James was completely fascinated with the mascot, The Bee. At one point we were able to catch The Bee up in the walkways. To my surprise, James was not afraid once we got up close. He was so excited to be able to touch him. From there, James and I took a walk around the stadium. There was a lack of crowd tonight so there were a lot of open seats. Every once in a while, James would find himself a seat, sit down and watch some of the game. He was like his little own version of 'Goldie Locks and the Three Bears' trying to find the perfect seat that suited him. After a little train ride out in outfield, we made our way back to our seats behind home place - which were the perfect seats. It was a great night. Ah and the Bees WON! Thanks Les for such a fun night out. We definitely plan to go back to more games. Here are some pictures.

James' Friends

Here's the drill. The days that James goes off to school, when the day comes to a close, I walk or drive down the street to pick him up. With the weather warming up, I'm able to walk down, which James loves because then we get to 'walk' home. Well this means that when we get home, there is NO going back inside to the house. Once we're outside, we're outside until I find something special to get him to go inside or the sun goes to bed. And what do we do outside the entire time....we play with his 'friends'. Meet James' best friends. His BIKE and his TRACTOR. Normally TRACTOR stays at Grandma's house, but last week he got a little too attached, and TRACTOR had to go everywhere with us. Even if it meant riding in the back of the car while we ran to the store. Also, recently James has picked up on the peddling skill. Now he peddles his big wheel instead of scoots. Its so cute.

Breakfast with James

Let me first introduce you to the new members of the Hallam Household....our five fish. Their names are Nemo, Dory, Nemo, Nemo and Nemo. You know, from Finding Nemo, the movie. James' new favorite. Well its the boys routine every morning and every night after bath time to feed the fish. Now James insists on eating breakfast with the fish. Its the cutest thing ever. He'll even talk to them while they all eat.