Hurray for Grandmas With Cameras!

I stole my Mom's camera card and can finally post a few pictures!

This was really cute-- Max found this leaf when we were boating. He looked it over for a while, and then he went to a nearby tree and tried to "stick" it back on. He couldn't understand why it kept falling down!

Cute Tate'O Bug playing in the sand at Pineview Reservoir

At Bridal Veil Falls.
Thanks to Katherine and Trevor for Max's cute Ute shirt!

Mommy and Max hittin' the trail at Donut Falls

Tate's new set of wheels! He loves to ride, and we go on several bike rides each day. Yesterday while Max was napping we rode down the lane next to us. Tate declared that there was a bear stuck in a net, so we had to go back to the house and get a shovel and "seaweed" (bottle of turtle wax) to get him out. It's fun to see his imagination!

At the dinosaur museum.

Tate making imprints at the dinosaur museum

Time Flies!

We have had a busy few weeks. We've been spending a lot of time doing outdoors stuff. We took the boys on a morning bike ride up to Bridal Veil Falls. It is one of our favorite places! The boys loved splashing through the water. There was a dog there that decided he wanted to join us--while Tate was eating a donut, the dog helped himself to a few bites! Tate thought it was soooo...funny! On the 4th of July we went up to Donut Falls. It was a beautiful hike. It was the first time that Max has ridden in the backpack, and he thought he was so cool! Tate was great and hiked the whole way up.

(Sorry for the temporary lack of pictures. Turns out my camera battery wasn't dead, the whole camera was! Grrr. On the bright side, I was able to buy a new camera that I'd had my eye on for a while, so I guess it's not so bad!)

Down On The Farm

For my birthday Chad got me a pass to Thanksgiving Point (gardens, farm, dinosaur museum, etc.) Today I took Tate and Max there for the first time. They both loved it! Tate even shocked me by asking to go on the pony ride--and then actually doing it! He named his pony "Peter Rabbit Pony" and had a great time going around in circles. (Me, being the brilliant photographer I am, brought the camera with a dead battery. Grrr...) Max liked the ice cream that his Nana bought for him at the end of our farm outing. He has recently learned to sign "more" and I don't think his little hands ever stopped! He ate as much ice cream as any of us.

Tonight we were able to go to a neighborhood luau. The food was great, (especially because I didn't have to cook it) and the Polynesian performers were awesome. Tate and Max were fascinated with the dancing. Tate wanted to know if I could dance like that. I told him I'd have to try :)

Love,
The Goeckeritz Gang

June 22, 2008

Max showing off all of his new teeth
Max in the sandbox

Max and Henry
Tate and Brooks
Cute Ali

We had a great time this past week just hanging out. We got a bike trailer to pull the boys in. They're are a ton of biking trails in Draper, so we've been having a great time! The boys love it--Max almost fell asleep in it! We also had a great time visiting with my cousin Kamille, and her three adorable kids. We decided to take all of the kids to the park for a picnic. They all had a good time running around, and especially loved swinging.

June 16, 2008

Tate had his first swimming lesson today. He loved it! It is a small class with only 1 other boy and 4 little girls. Tate had a hard time leaving. When his teacher, Amber, told him the class was over, he told her he was staying in the pool because he wasn't done playing. I had to convince him that we would go back tomorrow before he would get out!


Our poor little Max has been having a rough few days. We took him to the ER last night with a fever of 104. He was dehydrated, so he had to have an IV put in. 5 hours later (definitely do not recommend Alta View Hospital!!) we finally were able to take him home. His fever is still high, but is manageable with tylenol and motrin. We'll see in the morning if we need another trip to the doc.

Today is an exciting day--Chad got his first paycheck!!! He wanted to frame it on the wall, but we decided we'd cash it instead!

June 13, 2008

My little guys keep me laughing all day. Tate announced today that he was a fireman and that he just had to "peek" out the door to check out the fire. (He had been trying to escape all morning!) Max was quick to follow, and they both made it pretty far out the door!

Later on at the park, all three of us went down the slide together. Tate said that we were a train, and that he was the "conductioneer", and I was the caboose. I thought that was a pretty accurate thought. I love letting the boys lead, and following along as their "caboose". Sometimes it can be a pretty wild ride!

A Month Already??!

June 10, 2008

Wow! What a whirlwind month it has been! In the past few weeks we have managed to graduate from Dental School, move across the country, celebrate Chad's 28th birthday, and leave our kids for a whole week while we trekked off to Mexico. It has all been great!

Graduation was great. Four years of hard work finally paid off. We are so proud of Chad! Graduation lasted for several day. We attended a gala on Thursday night, Dental School graduation on Friday, and VCU commencement ceremonies on Saturday. Chad has now received his license and will begin work on June 11th. He is excited to begin, and to be able to practice all that he has learned.

We are thrilled to say that we now have an actual house--4 walls and all! It is just a rental, but we are loving it just the same. We have a large yard for the boys to play in. There is even a barn behind our house. There is a duck there that Tate has named "Chicken the Duck." She is sitting on her eggs, and we are anxiously awaiting the day that they hatch. We also discovered another animal in our yard yesterday. It was a snake! Chad found it and decided he would surprise me with our new found pet while I was in the shower. Chad is currently enjoying his time on the couch. (J/K :)

Both Tate and Max are adjusting well to the move. They enjoy having a little extra space to run around. Most of all they love being by their grandparents. They had a wonderful time playing with their grandparents while Chad and I went to Mexico. Tate keeps asking if he can go sleepover again at Uncle Kevin's!

Chad and I had a great adventure in Mexico. We managed to learn a little spanish, and discovered the joys of driving in Puerto Vallarta. We also learned that there are laws in Mexico, and they do actually enforce them (if you are an Americano that is!) We got a ticket for running a red light (it was yellow!) We got to have the fun opportunity of traveling to the police station and paying our 200 pesos ($20) so that we could get Chad's drivers license back. Memo to us: just use a taxi next time! We enjoyed going on a neat excursion down the coast of Vallarta to a tiny fishing town. We spent time on the beach, kayaked in the ocean, and went on a nature walk in the rainforest. One of our favorite things we did was releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean. The hotel we stayed at collects around 40,000 turtle eggs, and then releases them as they hatch.

Well, there is our month in a nutshell. It has been a very busy time, but one that we are enjoying!