truffles + july 4th

Doug is a truffle making fool these days. Danny, I blame this on you. And the Truffle Shop in NC. I think there should be a truffle bake off this summer with Danny, Doug and Julia who told me she has been making them too lately. Any volunteers for judges?







Didn't get a picture, but for my birthday Doug made me the most delicious key lime truffle. Yum.

4th of July was pretty perfect. Some Waimea fun in the morning then a quick nap for Tucker and a quick trip out to the hole in the rock near the point for Doug and I. Thanks Becca and Holli for helping that happen. Then back to the beach behind our house with the thousand other people to relax and play on the swing and swim. Then off to Turtle Bay for some fireworks enjoyed by all.

From JPEG

Finished it all off with a bedtime story.



Low point of the day: somewhere along all this fun I lost my favorite necklace of all time.

Favorites and Firsts

#1 Favorite:
His blankies
Randy and his yard

Favorite Toys:
Balls, every single kind
Cars and trucks
Sand shovels
Books that make noise or are touch 'n feel

He carries these big balls around with him all the time. No matter if it's a basketball, volleyball, beach ball or this huge birthday ball. He's got a serious grip.

Favorite Animals:

Dog

Duck

Birds

Favorite Foods:
Lilikoi's
Cheese sticks
Avocado
Hotdogs
Ribs
Watermelon
Pretzels
Black Olives
Tomatoes
Biting into apples, peaches, plums, oranges or anything round
But luckily he's not terribly picky.



First word:
I'm pretty sure it was dog. Pronounced da.
He says Da a lot all of a sudden and totally is talking about his Dad and following him around like a shadow. But he did say Mama the other day, and looked right at me. He knows who I am if Doug asks, he points. He can mimic sounds and his lips are so cute when he's concentrating on making a certain sound.

First kiss:
Open mouth. Not sure who got it, me or Doug. But Tucker definitely loves to go in for the kill.


First Shoes:
I just put shoes on him for the first time today and he was not at all sure what he was supposed to do. So he crawled around for a while to afraid to walk on them. Finally took a few tentative steps. Then started crying.


First time he was ever good in church!He sat on our laps the entire time, relaxing on and off with his blankie. The best day of church so far. It was my first time fasting in a long time and I might just claim that was a nice blessing from it.

First time he demanded that he sleep with a toy. Last night and it was his blue car. He would not let go of it last night so he slept with it.

He makes really funny faces and is so expressive. He is starting to interact and understand really well. He can get things when I say "go get your blankie" and dad tried "got get my phone" and it worked! How exciting. I can understand him a bit better too. His noises at least. Still has that funny gremlin growl. And still no progress with baby sign. We'll just have to wait til he starts talking I guess.

We have tons of pictures like this. Don't even know what this face is.


Things that are not his favorite:
He's a big scaredy cat around loud noises. He hates or is extremely wary of them, the vitamix, vacuum, lawn mower, other babies crying loud.

Doug is really good at savoring the moment and remembering to enjoy it right now with Tucker because it won't last forever. I'm glad he does that. I like the reminder now and then.

Lilikoi Birthday Hike

Becca was there in the morning with balloons and chocolate and breakfast. How's that for the most awesome babysitter in the world.















For my birthday I wished that we would hike up and searched for lilikoi's, finally, since we've been talking about it for a month. We were not disappointed. Although we did get attacked by mosquitos and Doug did have to climb a very high tree standing on vines to get these delicious fruits on the tippy tippy top. Found out that a lilikoi will keep Tucker quite and busy for a hike, a car ride, and any number of activities where you need to be still. Which reminds me, we still have a few left in the fridge waiting to be finished off.

On the way home from the hike walking back to the car we saw one of the kids from our scout pack walking home with his mom from the activity we were supposed to be at but we skipped. I really do feel blessed to have such an awesome ward and so many awesome people around us.