8 months old!

Chase is 8 months old! As far as I can tell he is 28" and weighs 19 lbs. It can be hard to get his exact length when he tries to eat the tape measure.

Chase laughing

Family Pictures...what a good looking family!

Chase's first time at the ocean. This is my families favorite beach,Wingaersheek beach, there are lots of rocks to climb and when the tide goes out three tidal pools appear with size and depths similar to a clubhouse swimming pool.

Chase loved the ocean. He would sit at the edge of the water and splash and laugh when the waves rolled up to him. He also loved motoring through the water; i.e. dad holding him running him through the water. When a wave would come he would laugh, or sputter if his face went under. Surprisingly he never cried after a wave got him in the face, instead he would blink his little eyes and use his little tongue to lick up as much salt water as possible. He is a little fish! Once he got tired of swimming, I buried him up to his waist in sand. He thought sand was the most interesting thing in the world, until he ate a handful. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to watch both hands go for the sand. Of course, he didn't like eating sand as much as salt water and told me so with a bout of tears. Poor little guy!

Chase at the 4th of July parade. My mother took him to use as a shield so we would try to get her wet. Problem is, Chase loves the water!

I think I'm going to submit this picture to a contest of sorts. I can say, with no bias whatsoever, that he is the cutest baby I've ever seen.

The race!

Danielle and Chase.

We had a wonderful time with family in Boston and are looking forward to the next trip. I was fortunate that my boss was on vacation and I didn't have to work practically at all. Hopefully, the same thing happens every time we visit family.

Utah in June

I'm back from my short blogging hiatus. We've been spending quality-time with family. We went to Utah in June for Royce and Rachel's wedding. It was a nice getaway. Grandma Porter with Chase Chase took his first canoe ride and loved it. The little life jacket brings back many boating memories with Dayne bobbing in the water in that yellow jacket. The girls at youth conference are already batting their eyes at Chase. Maegan's mom made us a yummy salad for lunch. Maegan and I were best friends most of middle school and did everything together in high school. When we went to dances the boys we went with made certain we were in the same group. Having a picnic at Ledgemere Grandpa and Chase, two peas in a jacket Another dear friend who couldn't get enough of Chase Chalece's family moved into the neighborhood when I was in second grade, and she has been one of my best friends ever since. Our families have also enjoyed many trips to Lake Powell. We thought Chase might feel silly if he was the only one with his fist in his mouth. They blocked off the room that we were in at the restaurant, and so we decided it was the perfect time for a silent dance party. We had such a blast in Utah! Thank you all. I wish I had some pictures with Devin and my mission companion Kristen. It was fun spending time with both of them.

2010 Goals

I love setting goals and having something to work towards. This year I tried to set goals that would stretch me, but that were still realistic and attainable. A few of the goals I have been working on are improving my artistic abilities, serving Steve and Chase, checking my e-mail once a day, and only eating one serving of food at a sitting. With some of my goals I've done really well and taken giant steps forward. Unfortunately, with a few of my goals I've taken small steps forward and a bigger step back.

I think the hardest goal for me to show improvement in is only eating one serving of food. I'm very good at buying and eating healthy food. I don't want to be so stringent that I never indulge, because that might make me a very boring person. However, if there is something really sweet around, or something else really yummy, I go crazy and definitely eat more than one serving. I'm working on it. I have faith that progress will come. Hopefully this will serve as a resplendent reminder. I would love any suggestions you may have!

I use the habit making bookmarks and yearly goal files found at lds.about.com. I have really liked them. Here is the link if you want to take a look: lds.about.com/od/visualmusicalaids/a/habitbookmarks.htm

Chase in turban/head wrap

I love this picture of Chase in his headwrap/turban (whatever you want to call it). The picture is not a recent one, but still cute.

4 month stats

Height: 26 inches (86th percentile) Weight: 15.3 (58th percentile) Head: 17 1/4 Jenny and Denzil in the swimming pool. I love to swim. Some of my fondest childhood memories were created at Lake Powell. Do you think Steve will be keen on retiring there? It will be interesting to see how Chase feels about the water because today he seemed indifferent about the experience.