Sweet Home Pendleton

We've been home for about two weeks now and it's been a great experience! Not much blogging, but we've been playing with our families nonstop! I finally have a chance to blog since it is Mother's Day (an entry about that later) and Tyler is watching our little pride and joy, Cameron, so I can relax.
The weather has been ultimately and wonderfully spring-ish, a welcome change from Utah which changes straight from winter to summer. It's been a bit too breezy for lots of walks yet, but it's warming up everyday and I anticipate lots of good walks in the 4 weeks we have left here. For now I enjoy seeing all the beautiful trees, flowers, plants, and rolling hills when I look out of windows from the house and car. I never realized how beautiful the rural scene actually is! I am thoroughly enjoying the commune with nature. Cameron is growing so much!! He is eating rice cereal now and liking it fine. This picture is of his first official eating of baby food, quite the big to-do here if you can imagine! He is sitting up very well, not completely by himself yet, but it's only a matter of a couple of weeks until he is! My parents say he is very "responsive" as he likes to smile, laugh, and play with us all. His hand eye coordination is getting much better and he holds on to toys very good now, and he is beginning to reach for the person he wants to hold him. We expect a tooth to show any day due to all the slobber and fussiness we are experiencing now.
Of course the Grandparents have been in heaven. Here's my mom with him outside enjoying some fresh dusk air. My mom has been so much fun to be around every day. The other day we went shopping and got Cameron some new clothes, and I convinced her to buy some bling flip flops!
There has been much fun had at meal times. Tyler and I took Amy out to lunch to the Safeway deli one day, a delicacy she had never partaken of before. We were happy to show her the light. There have been many other fun lunches and dinners including two dinners at Pendleton's two new fancy restaurants--TWO! Can you believe it? Just Tyler and I went on a date to the new Hamley's steakhouse, and last night we all went to Plateau, a fancy restaurant out at Wildhorse Casino, for mom and dad's anniversary. Pendletonians must have a new taste for the finer things. Either way, Tyler and I were both impressed.
We've also had a ton of fun with Tyler's parents. They live out in the country so we've had some really nice walks. Tyler has helped his dad with so much stuff--cleaning up the pasture and yard and burning the burn pile, fixing the garage door and back porch, and they still have plans to put in a new sliding door and refloor the master bedroom! Way to be an awesome son, Tyler!

Besides all that, Tyler is also doing his independent study classes and helping me extra with Cameron. In fact, he gets up with him every morning so I can get the extra hour of sleep I lost during the night. It's really nice. Way to be an awesome husband, father, and student too Tyler!
Meanwhile, I'm just enjoying life. I don't get much accomplished in a day since Cameron is still very time intensive--I'm hoping his increasing independence will start taking care of that on its own. But it's fun for me to watch him grow and to chat and play with family so often. I'm also reading a couple of books and putting in extra effort to work off my baby weight.
I heard a quote in church today about how when we have children, they become our vacations, blazing careers, developed hobbies, money and nice things we may now never have, or at least put off. I thought about that. Is Cameron worth all those things I may now never have? Would I take a million dollars and all the vacations in the world over Cameron? No, of course not!!