Baylessfamily.org

Last week the kids and I went on an adventure. My sister-in-law Melissa needed a ride home to Blanding so we took her and made a little trip out of it. It’s about a four and half hour drive which stretched in to about a 6+ hour trip with the stops it take when you have 3 little kids with you. I was a little bit nervous about such a long drive but it turned out great! The kids were extremely well behaved which makes me excited for future vacations with them. On the way down and on the way home we stopped in Moab. I just have to say that Moab is my absolute favorite place in the whole world. I can’t explain it really but I have such a love for that place. As soon as you drive into the red cliffs I get so excited. I kept telling the kids “Look at the red rocks! Aren’t they amazing? Don’t you think this is the coolest thing ever? ‘Cause I do!” They were probably sick of me pointing out rocks but I just love it. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, my family would go down there for fall break and stay at the Big Bend campground along the river. The campground has this great beach area and I took my kids to play there. My kids were swimming in the river and playing in the sand and I was getting very sentimental about the fact that my kids were playing in the same beautiful spot as my brother and I did when we were kids. James and I have also stayed there together, we took a trip for my birthday one year. We had a Land Rover then and we spent so much time exploring all the off road trails. We hiked at Fisher Towers and in Arches National Park. When we got back from that trip we discovered that we had a tiny Savanna growing in my belly. Now that I took the kids there we can’t wait to go back with Daddy! We stayed for two nights in Blanding. We went to Bluff Fort where some Bayless ancestors lived and settled the area. The kids liked seeing all the cabins, including the Hanson Bayles (another S was added on later) cabin that my in-laws helped build and decorate. Inside there are pictures of our ancestors and Miles said that Hanson Bayles looked like James. There is also a quilt inside that James’ mom made, it was neat to be able to share those things with my kids. We spent the rest of the day at the swimming pool and having a BBQ at Andy and Melissa’s house. The next morning we went to the dinosaur museum then the kids and I drove home. We stopped in Moab for lunch and shopped a bit in all the gift shops and Main ST. The kids slept from Moab to Price where we stopped to potty and stretch our legs. We had to stop again in Helper because Avery threw-up all over the place. It was great, but I just cleaned her up then we made it the rest of the way home. It was a nice little trip and I am very excited to go back down south sometime soon. Did I mention I LOVE IT?!

On July 21st Miles had his fourth birthday! I cannot believe it’s been four whole years since he was born. Although he was my biggest baby, his birth was definitely the easiest. I basically laid in the bed watching TV, then three pushes later, he was here! The nurses told me his birthday would probably be the 22nd but he hurried up and was born at 11:58 pm. He is the sweetest little boy, he is always telling me he loves me and giving me kisses. He is the best to snuggle with because he’s so squishy! He loves super heroes and Ninja Turtles, whenever we walk by a sewer grate he gets down and yells, Hi Ninja Turtles! He is very smart and is starting to read. He has the most amazing memory, he remembers everything! I was helping him out of the grocery cart one day and he said “that’s one small step for Miles, one giant leap for mankind!” he remembered that from a book we read months ago! I love my goofy little guy.

This year for his birthday activity he chose to go to breakfast at Amber’s and to the dinosaur museum. We had such a fun family day, the kids loved the museum. They had an especially good time with the hands on stuff like the erosion table and the sand pit where they dug for bones. That night we had some family over for cake and ice cream. I have to give props to my brother Charles and sister-in-law Trish, who knew a whoopee cushion would be the perfect gift for a four year old?  He seriously loved it and the laughter that ensued after each fart noise was hilarious. James got him some Tranformers and I attempted a Transformer cake. Now I have to study the instructions to figure out how to transform the Transformers, it’s really hard. I’m pretty sure he had a great birthday!