I can't believe I had blogger block in my last post! It seems like I have been running non-stop since my last blog update. Too bad the kind of "running" I've been doing doesn't shed a few pounds.
Speaking of pounds...
I rarely give my kids cupcakes. Not because they are bad for them, I just hate the mess they make. My friend gave Parker a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting the other day. I sent him to the kitchen and within 2 minutes, this is what he looked like.
After a quick scrub, I had him model his uniform he made at preschool that day. He looks so serious!
Fern gave us this mini couch when Carson was probably the same age as Cameron is now. Carson loved it, Parker loved it, and now Cameron loves it. It's so trashed but I can't get rid of it! Cameron is practicing for when he's an old man. He's laying on the couch, in his underwear! Let's hope he doesn't suck his fingers when he's an old man.
The biggest news in the Sweet family happened on Friday morning...REAL early. Sam's brother, Rod, came home after serving a year in Afghanistan. After dodging two accidents, icy bridges, and an early arrival of Rod's plane, we finally hooked up with him at about 6:45am. It was all tears and smiles as we greeted him at the National Guard Base.
Here is Sam welcoming his brother home.
Here is Rod's wife, three daughters, and his mother-in-law. I bet they were happiest of all! I can't imagine how hard this last year must have been for them. They are amazing and stronger than I bet they even realized they could be.
If you know Rod, you know his love of scaring the heebie jeebie's out of kids. One of Carson's first experiences with Rod, was in a swimming pool. I think it was Carson's first time in a pool. Sam was trying to convince Carson he was having fun, when Rod swam underwater, and popped up, right in Carson's face, and gave a loud roar. Basically, it freaked Carson out and made him fear Rod for a few years. Rod just laughed his head off.
Since Cameron has never met Rod, Sam was determined to give them a proper introduction. For the past 2-3 months, Sam has been sneaking up on Cameron and scaring him to the point that Cameron is oblivious to it. So of course, we had to test all of Sam's hard work.
When Rod growled at Cameron, all he got in return, was a simple smile and a soft caress of his mustache by Cameron's index finger.
We told Rod what we had done, which made him want to try harder to scare Cameron....after numerous attempts at freaking out the newest member of the family, Rod was met time and time again, with the same response. Good job Sam!
Parker was excited because his Uncle Rod gave him a whole box of Mike and Ike's, which he promptly stored in his coat so no one else could see.
4 of the 8 Sweet Siblings: Rod, Fern, James, and Sam
After a year of being gone, Fontella was so happy to have her son home, safe and sound!
Of course, we can't be too serious in this family!
After the welcome home, Rod went home to be with his family. The rest of us went to Denny's. Oh yeah, love it!
Syd and Mel.
Aaron, entertaining the little ones with games on an itouch. Brilliant games on a brilliant contraption!
Hopefully Rod can catch up on his sleep now that he's home! We love you Rod!!!
Friday night was another big event for us. It was Carson's first Blue and Gold Banquet for scouts!
The meal was perfect for a bunch of rowdy scouts: Hot dogs, chips, grapes, and cupcakes (ahhh, the dreaded messy cupcakes!). Carson was in heaven.
I didn't realize that I would be getting a pin for all of Carson's hard work. Isn't that nice?? Sheesh, had I known I was going to be getting up in front of everyone, I probably would have worn a newer sweatshirt. :)
Right now our ward has awesome cub masters, Patrick and Autumn Johnson. They made the night fun, entertaining, and memorable for the scouts. Way to go! Now....I wonder if I can get my mom to sew on some patches...
Check out our friend Tyson. If you ever have two plastic spoons, and you are feeling the need to make someone laugh, try this:
As we walked out of the blue and gold banquet, we noticed the awesome shot of the moon and the planet Venus! It was amazing.
Ryan Patterson, our good friend, has taught Sam a lot about using our new camera and digital photography. Sam went to Ryan's house to borrow a tri-pod and ended up staying there and taking a myriad of pictures, using different aperture and time settings. The picture taken on fully automatic mode, is the one that turned out the clearest, which would make Ryan cringe.
To his credit, I think this one is pretty cool as well. This was NOT fully automatic, but don't ask me the settings because I don't have a clue.
On Saturday, Cameron's 2nd cousin, Cash, celebrated his first birthday! Cash was born on a leap year so Cash and Cameron are actually 10 days apart, but on non-leap years, they are 9 days apart. File that in your "gee whiz" file.
Jed, Nalani, and Cash. I love these guys!
Cash loved his cake. He literally dove right in!
Happy Birthday Cash! Now I gotta figure out what to do for Cameron's birthday...child #3. Hmmmm, somebody at Cash's party told me to just super-impose Cameron into a birthday scene so when he's older we'll say "We DID celebrate your birthday, look at this picture!" We could even have him placed into a Disneyland Celebration. Then Cameron will think we are super cool when he's older. Or maybe we could do cake and ice cream with the fam. The jury is still out on that one!
