Yankee Dental Confrence

Mark, Lindsay, and Brad

I affectionately refer to Mark and Lindsay as "Brad's high school friends" mostly because the dental school social world reminds me of what it was like to be in high school but to an even greater degree. Brad spends all day every day with same 115 people...and he will for the next four years. Good thing he has found some good people! It has been fun for him to have some 'local' friends that give him good tips about what to do in New England.

Brad enjoyed a somewhat random day off of school today. We had planned to go to the temple but guess what? SNOW DAY! I called and the sessions had been canceled due to inclement weather. Brad spent time putting David's new dresser together and doing other things around the house. He also did my least favorite part; shoveling. He even cleared off the car. I really am grateful he is so willing to do tasks like that.

He excitedly left David and I for a night alone at home (sigh) while he went and enjoyed the keynote speaker a big dental conference downtown. I've even heard the name Gordon Christensen before so I guess it was a big deal. (For those of you who don't know he is a super famous name in the dental community--he is based out of Utah Valley too!)

I Like Books

Sometimes we honestly wondered if our little baby was getting anything out of the stories we read to him. You just don't get a lot of response from a newborn or even a six month old. I think maybe he was paying attention during all that reading. I came into his room and found him like this. I guess he wasn't quite reading but close enough right?

As evidence by the most recent photos we don't believe in fully clothing our child, especially during the cold months in MA. (Note sarcasm.)

Ebelskevers a Cammack Tradition

Before church we reheated some leftover ebelskevers. They are danish pancake balls that you dip in butter and powdered sugar; it is a breakfast that Brad's family likes that has really grown on me too. While Brad was shoveling I took the chance to update our blog. I heard David getting into something and told myself "oh it is just the newspaper...." first clue: we don't take the Sunday paper!

I guess we need to give him more credit--he can now climb up on chairs and he knows to "dip" them in sugar...

Never mind if you have to pull the sugar off the table and use the floor as your plate.

We are going to have to be a bit more careful about what we leave out!

He came out to me looking like this. Don't you think I should get the mother of the year award?!
(Note the powdered sugar footprints.)
Too bad it was so funny that I had a hard time scolding him for it; I really felt like this one was due to my negligence anyway. Can't punish a one year old for being smart enough to take the opportunity right?

SNOW & NO CHURCH

This was after the walk had been shoveled once

When Brad said that church had been canceled the Sunday before Christmas because of snow I laughed. The weather couldn't be THAT bad right? Sitting in the Arizona sunshine I just couldn't imagine it, but I've learned that it isn't funny. Church was canceled last week too. And we found out why today.

We woke up early and got everything ready to go; Brad does the programs so we have to get there around twenty minutes before the meeting starts. I was annoyed that I had to walk through the falling snow to get in the car. (The car that was warm and scraped down and the path that had just been recently shoveled by my fabulous husband.) Three plows were doing their work and passed us on our way to the freeway. We were slipping and sliding all over the newly cleared road in our well maintained car that has good all weather tires. We called our home teacher and told him the programs wouldn't be there today. He said his family wasn't going either--he had the car at church for early meetings and it was just too nasty to drive back. Scary. We were both disappointed because we were looking forward to taking the sacrament and attending our ward.

Posing for a shot

Not just shoveling but picking at the ice...what a hard worker!
(See David there in the corner? He loved watching and wasn't too happy when Dad left to shovel out some neighbors.)

Matching David and Brad

To cheer ourselves up we took a few pictures after we came back home. Brad found a sport jacket for David that he couldn't resist buying yesterday. He was so excited to wear 'matching' clothes to church. I think they looked pretty good! I guess there are worse things than having a husband who likes to buy your son nice clothing. :)

My boys

After Brad finishes his friendly neighborhood shoveling we'll try to enjoy a quiet Sunday at home worshiping in our own little ways. Today we learned to be thankful for the blessing of being able to attend Church! We don't always want to go and fight David and fulfill our callings but after two weeks we can't help but feel that something is missing.

First Haircut

Grandpa went to get his haircut today and we went with. It was finally time for David to have one too. Brad had been asking me to have it done for awhile but I thought he just didn't have enough to trim. I was wrong, he did look good after he had the extra at the top and around his neck and ears was gone. I don't know how Emma (the longtime stylist of Grandma Duffy) did it because he never stopped moving but it looked nice.

On a side note...while I was trying to load David into the car seat to leave he bit me. Talk about bad behavior! I guess kids come knowing how to bite because he has never done that before.

Playing with the trimmer is ok as long as you don't get it near your hair

Provo Trip

Danielle and David at the Malt Shoppe

David and I were snowed in on Monday and Tuesday so we just did things with family around Salt Lake. The weather finally let up so we took a much anticipated trip south. We dropped by Lara's house in Plesant Grove first. We had fun playing and chatting with her. We went to a late lunch at Olive Garden. Can't beat the soup and salad lunch! It was really wonderful to catch up with such a good friend and former roommate. I always enjoy visits with Lara.

Then it was onto Provo to see Danielle for a quick minute. We picked her and her roommates up and took them all to the grocery store. Danielle only needed a few things, but everyone was grateful for the ride. Since we weren't too hungry but didn't want to say goodbye we stopped at the Malt Shoppe for a shake (yes in the freezing cold) I asked the guy at the counter for a high chair and he said they didn't have any. I thought that was crazy in a town like Provo and sure enough I spied a few within minutes of asking for one. I don't know why I bothered though because David preferred being out and about and getting little tastes of our shakes.

He was having fun walking along the booths but wouldn't look at the camera

David at the Lyon's Den

My uncle Dave Hasen holding David Cammack, my cousin David Lyon (with his son Andrew), and my grandpa David W. Lyon. Must be a family name!

He found the bells that were hanging on the doorknob.

My grandparents were nice enough to hold a little get together at their house so we could see family. It isn't often that my Mom, Danielle, and I are in Salt Lake at the same time. Again, it was so wonderful to see everyone. This past year I've come to realize that I've been blessed to have strong relationships with my extended family. I loved visiting and David loved all the attention from my uncles and my grandpa. I felt bad for keeping my Mom up that night (she was driving to Phoenix the next day) but I also had a nice time chatting with her one on one before we went to bed.

Cowboy Grub

Grandpa Duffy
Sherlock Holmes hat is a favorite

We packed our stuff up and said goodbye to Brad at the airport. He went back to Boston and we headed for Salt Lake. You should have seen us trying to get all our luggage into my Dad's car. I was wondering which bag (or stroller) we'd have to leave at the airport.

The highlight of the day was a Duffy dinner at Cowboy Grub. The restaurant has themed food and decorations and even a little room with some kid cowboy games and rides. Too bad we couldn't have done a party there!

It was a lot of fun to say hi to cousins and aunts and uncles and to see how much Nick has grown (the other great-grandson who is a year older than David). David liked opening a few birthday gifts from Jan and Ann; he actually enjoyed playing with them too. I just enjoyed chatting with my aunts. Jan's kids were oh so cute with David. They gave him a lot of attention. Danielle was able to stop by toward the end of the meal and that was nice since most there hadn't seen her in over a year.