The Crocker Clan: October 2009

This was such a BEAUTIFUL day in every possible way! It was also a very very SPECIAL day for us! We blessed our adorable little VANDER on September 6th! Yes I am a little behind but I am getting there! Everything about this day was just perfect! Just seeing Vander all dressed in WHITE was so beautiful and so pure. I can't express how TOUCHED I was this day. I was so OVERCOME with EMOTION and HAPPINESS! It was a complete comfirmation to me that Vander was to come to us at this time. A confirmation that there is nothing greater than having a family and becoming parents. Vander is such a BLESSING to us. It is so hard to even put in words how much we LOVE our little guy. Everything about him is just PERFECT! We just love watching all his little milestones! He SMILES and LAUGHS all the time!!! He is just such a JOY for us! We could have not changed anything about his blessing day! Thank you to all who came and supported! And Thank you Charisse for having the gathering at your house! We love you all!

My parents and Keith's parents

With grandma Nana and grandma Joanie

Papa and grandma Vanderwel

Papa and grandma Crocker

He was so good the whole day! He would just hang out and play with all his little toys!

I just loved seeing him dressed all in white!

With cousin Ashton! Her twin Lindsey didn't make it! She was home sick with her daddy:(

She just loved touching him!

Aunt Cheri made this cake! And YES it was as delicious as it looks!!! It was a master piece! Thank you so much Cheri! We had just a beautiful buffet of food that I never got a picture of:( It was soooo good! Thank you to all my family who helped with all the wonderful food!

Me with my 3 beautiful sisters! Charisse Charonne and Charelle

And mommy!

Aunt Cheri who made the amazing cake and uncle Larry!

Caught in the corner! My adorable niece Braylee!

So to explain the sling my husband is wearing! We just came home from Lake Powell, and the day before we were leaving all the guys took the huge water weenie out for a ride! Well, it said do not go faster than 15mph! Well they had the boat pull them at 30! And yes, they all flew off! Keith tore a rotator cuff in his shoulder! If it didn't heal he would have had to get surgery! Luckily it healed! Here he snuck off to take a quick nappy!

These two gals are two of my closest greatest friends! Brooke right Stephanie left! Love these girls! Thank you so much for coming!

So if you can see what I am holding in my hand it is one of those Willow Tree figurines. I was up at Gardner Villiage with my mother in law and saw this one and just loved it! It's called "New dad" Well she had snuck off and went and got it for me! It's of a daddy holding his new little baby! I about cried when she gave it to us! It was just so appropriate for the day! Thank you so much Nancy!

Keith with his sis Truly! Thank you for making it! I know your family including you was sick! Thank you so much for making it out!

She got Vander a little gift for his blessing day! Her twins have this same squishy ball but in pink and he loved it! So she got him one to! Thanks aunt Truly!

With (my brother) Uncle Brian!!!

With my daddy on my special day!

The four generations!!!

Thank you everyone who came to see me on my special day!!!

Love Vander

I finally got the post of Lake Powell 2009 up and going!!! Now that we have been back a little over a month! But hey I got it done! This post is LOADED with pictures! Not because I am behind in blogging, we just took an INSANE amount of pictures! They're all so much fun and some just priceless! And it's only ONE post! That is right, ONE and it's ALL LAKE POWELL! What can I say?! I love taking pictures and capturing every moment possible! I say to myself maybe I should cut back on taking so many! It is to hard though! there are to many precious, fun, exciting moments to not have forever! And thank goodness for digital cameras you can always delete right?! Anywho! This trip was AMAZING! Keith's family goes every year! This was year 20 I believe! It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL there! We were at the most beautiful spot also! We stay on a house boat which you can't beat that! It's just amazing I tell ya! Not to mention our little buddy boy Vander was AMAZING! He was a perfect baby the whole time! It was go, go, go for Rachel and Allen and their FIVE kids!!! Truly had her hands full with the twins but she managed! Everyone helped here and there:) SO....enjoy our beautiful vacation of all our adventures from swimming, wave running, boating, wakeboarding, dress up night, Vander's first swim in the lake! Don't miss that! It's towards the end and it is freaken ADORABLE! Need I say more! Just enjoy:)

So let me explain these first few photos. We were trying to get a good family pic of us three! We could not get Vander to smile for anything! I was laughing SOOOO hard posting this! Because of all the different faces he was pulling! I just had to post them all so you could see!

He is saying here, "Are you gonna take the picture or what?!)

Ok! Now I am getting upset!

Are you freaken kidding me?!!! Take it already he says!

Ok....I will give you a little smirk I guess!

So then Keith and I wanted one of us, and we kept getting squirted with a dang water gun that was really powerful with extremely cold water! What the?!!!

SO COLD!!!

Daddy and the mini Van! Our two boat captains! This was the morning we were heading out on the house boat to get our spot for the week!

I know you can't get the whole image of where we anchored, but it was BEAUTIFUL! I would not have a problem going back there again! Vander looks so amused in the photo!

On top of the house boat!

This was actually from last years Lake Powell trip! I wanted to post it being I didn't have a blog at this time last year! We are standing infront of Rainbow Bridge which is just incredible! I absolutely LOVE this photo! The next photo was also from last year! These photos are very special, that is because Vander was brought about from this trip!:) He he! So Lake Powell will ALWAYS be special for us!!!

Our house boat!

I had to post this because Truly's little girl Ashton is INCREDIBLEY flexible! I swear I have never seen another baby like this! It is so funny and so bizzare at the same time! I told Truly she needs to get her in dance classes when she is older! She would be great:)

Super Star!!!!

Our little buddy boy! So cute!

Lunch time!!! Look at those little feet!

Our friend Jon and his wife Julie came and brought their boat! It was so fun having them there!

My baby driving the boat!

Love that my honey just popped his head in the background while I'm trying to get a photo of buddy and I!

Funny Honey!

We played games ALL THE TIME! mostly this card game that we liked!

Waking up from a nap!

So Truly and I were trying to get a picture together and the guys brought out that stupid water gun again with freezing cold water and was shooting us in the lake! I tell ya! It was funny though:)

We managed to get a good one!

Love his face! I could just kiss it off!

Truly brought this ball for her girls and Vander liked it so much! Truly went out and got him a blue one like it! Thanks aunt Truly! Right here he is thinking about it!

Testing it.......

Loves it!

Our baby has such BIG lips! I love it!

When he would go down for naps he slept soooo good!

Bath time in the sink!!!!

Cousin Taylor made him this hat with his name on it!

So Rachel Keith's sister painted Keith's toes while he was asleep! She did it to their dad also which I didn't get a picture of dang it! But it was funny!

My baby doing his thing! He is so good!

WHEEEEEE!

Vander and mommy! We have alot of pics like this! I was just always holding him!

Coke and mentos volcano! The kids built the sand volcano and Keith set it up and the kids LOVED it!

I put Vander in the twins little chair that hangs off the table and he just loved it! It was so cute just seeing his little feet dangle!

Stink bug!!!

I just love this!

Julie put Vander to sleep!

So this was dress up night! Vander and I were Pirates sort of, well he was I just put a bandana on my head and called it good! Everyone dressed up and put make up on it was a good old time!

I just loved seeing this little bandana on his little head!

Yes this would be Craig and Nancy! AKA my mother and father inlaw! I just love these two!

Whachya see out there Craig? LOL Love this!

Happy little buddy!

He loves to put his hands over his face at times when he is sleeping! it is so funny!

Some of the rocks there were just so cool and neat!

These rocks were actually green! I just thought they were so cool!

So the kids found an old bottle while they were playing and they opened it and found a treasure map in it! So we all went searching for Pirate treasure! Oh boy!!!

Keith with the map!

Ooooo Pirates!!!

Think we found something! Start digging honey!

Found a chest!

Break it open!

Oh my goodness!!!

It's Pirate treasure!!!

Look at what they all got out of the Pirate chest!

LOOK! Even our little buddy got some Pirate treasure! He is a real Pirate now!

ARRRRRR!!!!

Just hanging with mommy!

Me and Julie and her cute pregnant belly!

Keith and I had so much fun doing this! we rowed out far! Talk about a major arm workout! It was so neat though!

My mother in law Nancy brought shells and frames for us all to make! I am using a glue gun to glue them on the frame! I loved using a glue gun when I was little! I loved it! Buddy is just hanging out with me!

So let me explain this. The guys thought it would be so much fun to all load up on a ciac and see if they could all fit! Well you can take it from here! It was pretty funny!

Almost!

Getting there!

Made it!

UH OH!!!

Ashton and Lindsey and Nancy pants!

I just loved going and sitting in the sand with Vander. It was just so peaceful and he was always just so good and would just stare out with me! It was just so beautiful!

We all colored and decorated a hat and had a fun family photo taken!

A bunch of us rode to these caves that were INCREDIBLE! That doesn't even explain it! They were just amazing! I swear the pictures do not do them the justice as what it was in person!

On the ride back!

So this was probably one of the most memorable precious times on the trip for us! Before we left for Powell my dad got Vander a baby life jacket! We wanted to make sure we took him for a dip in the lake before we left! We weren't sure if he would like it, but he loves his baths and so I figured he would love this! So here he is just getting ready!

Getting my life jacket on!

Oh Boy!

Daddy taking me out to the lake!

And I was right!!! He absolutely totally LOVED it! When we first put him in he wasn't sure, but then he got a smile on his face and we just lost it of how flippin cute it was!

He just floated as we pulled him around! Have you ever seen anything cuter?!!

He loved sucking on his jacket!

So much fun!!!

I love his little face in this photo! He is like, hi mommy and daddy! I love you!

Well we needed to take him out cause the water was feeling a little bit cool, and not to mention we didn't want his little toes and fingers to become more raisins than what they were! He honestly would have stayed in longer! This was such a priceless memory for us!

This was the last day we were there and I loved this spot on the rock so we got a quick picture infront of it! Lake Powell was gorgeous as ever! I am so happy it is such a big tradition in Keith's family!

These next few photos are not Lake Powell but I just had to add them in! This is Vander with Papa Crocker! He is just so happy and Papa's little Crocker namesake! I am so happy we had a little boy! Keith was the only boy and I know how much it meant to Keith's dad to have another little Crocker boy:)