Mud Football!!

We had a combined ward activity and played mud football. I guess this is an annual event in Maricopa. Daniel didn't get to play football this year, but he sure liked the mud.

Daniel nodding

My rule for shopping is that I can last 1 hour or 2 stops, whichever comes first. After that I will probably be grumpy and complain about everything until we get home. You might be able to appease me with a Dr Pepper for a little while, but that will only buy you about 20 minutes, tops.

This particular day, Daniel got up at 5:00 am, never took his morning nap, plus endured 5 or 6 hours of shopping including I don't know how many stops, but he was sure one angry beast when he got home. I think we've decided he has my tolerance for shopping. Here he is at 5:00 pm eating dinner. He finally crashed after that.

Maricopa Home

So somewhere in the middle of August we got the keys to our new home and moved in. I've vowed to never move again, or at least hire movers next time.

Daniel loves his new home. He has lots of room to run around in and recently learned how to descend the stairs safely (yea!). He is enjoying his 3 days a week at day care playing with new friends all day and has probably come to think that home is now comparatively boring with only mom and dad to play with.

His cousins only live about 2 blocks away so he does get to play with them frequently.

Heidi works at a new school just down the street a couple of minutes from home. I still work down the street (I-10) in Phoenix, about a short 45 minute pre-rush hour commute. Well, the wife is happy, so we're all happy.

Family Reunion in the Pines

Also in July we had our annual Phelps Family Reunion and this year we drove north about an hour and camped out just outside of Payson. It was a relief to get out of the heat of the valley for a couple of days. It even rained for a few hours while we were there. Daniel, being the water bug that he is, had to run out and play in the rain. Luckily we had a change of clothes for him. Although I'm sure he wouldn't have minded running around naked.



We went to a fish hatchery (who knew there was such a thing) and saw loads of fish. Daniel nearly jumped out of my hands trying to get in the tank with the fish and swim with them.

Moving

We moved out of our Mesa home in the middle of July and moved in with my parents who only lived a few miles away. We stayed there temporarily for about a month while our house in Maricopa was getting finished being built. My parents house is kind of the hub where everyone comes to visit, so Daniel sure enjoyed the visits from his cousins who came over periodically. He also got to play with my mom all day since she just recently retired. He got to go on walks in the big red wagon, he got to go swimming in the pool and play with all new toys that they have for all the grand kids. We sure missed them after we left!

Daniels Summer Trip to Utah

Heidi's dad came to visit us a couple of days in July, then Heidi and Daniel joined them on their drive back to Utah. It was a long trip for Daniel who was always strapped in to his car seat, but it was sure fun for him.



He even made it as far as Idaho and got to visit Josh, Shyanne and Corbin.



One of his less fortunate experiences was getting stung by a bee. Notice his swollen upper lip in this picture. Poor guy! At least he got his own full size ice cream-pop cycle though.



Water sports are definately Daniel's favorite. His Aunt Heather organized a really fun water activity day. Daniel's favorite was the slip-n-slide. More slip than slide I think.

Learning to Walk

Taking my first steps.

1 years old!

Daniels 1 year birthday was June 16. He had 3 presents but liked the first one that he unwrapped so much that we just saved the other 2 for later. It was a new toy car. Really, what else does a little boy need? Except maybe the wrapping paper.





He also thoroughly enjoyed his cake.