Since coming back from vacation, We're going naked and gonna give peas a chance

Sorry about the long pause between posts.  We've been away from home and internet access, and I've been lazy.  Much fun has been had in the last two weeks.  We left for Salt Lake two weeks ago and spent a couple of days with Gramma and Grampa.  Up in SLC we stopped in to see the Declaration of Independence at the capitol building.

We would have gotten closer, but the wait was over an hour long.  G-man was fascinated by the all the frescoes in the capitol and it's dome.  The next morning we went downtown for the farmer's market.  

I picked up a Mei Tai which is what you see G-man being carried in on my back.  It works well, but soon he will be way to heavy to carry around in it, so I think it will be used more with our second child.  

That afternoon we left for Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  Unfortunately for Jared most of the time we spent there, he was in meetings.  His company scheduled them from 7:30 am to 8 or 9 pm every day we were there.  G-man and I had a lot of fun, though.

G-man made himself right at home in the hotel room as soon as we unpacked.  We spent our days shopping, swimming, and watching the olympics. 

  

One afternoon we took the gondola up to the top of the mountain and took the stroller four-wheeling on a hiking path.  It was beautiful up there and it reminded me of why I loved living in Salt Lake.  The mountains are so peaceful with such clear air.  I miss living so close to the mountains. 

  On our last day there, G-man and I took advantage of the lovely weather with temps in the high 70's to relax in the park.  

Instead of heading home from Steamboat, we picked up the dogs and met up with friends Dave and Mandy and their two girls at a cabin in Fish Lake.  

Here I am at the edge of the lake as the boys were fishing.  Jared says I don't post pictures of myself, but I did on this post, so HA!  Jared and Dave supposedly caught loads of fish one afternoon, but I'm not sure I believe them since we all went fishing together two other times and nobody caught anything while I was around.  Maybe I'm fish repellent.  Do you think that can be bottled?  

So since we've been back I'm doing the south beach diet again.  It's not as easy as it was in May because now I have to make real food for G-man since he doesn't just eat baby food anymore.  Thank goodness for Easy Mac.  He loves mac-n-cheese and that's definitely a no-no for me.  Today we had Naked Nuggets (okay for south beach cause there's no breadding), peas and Easy Mac.  So far his system has done okay with the peas.  *crossing my fingers*

Men are that they might have JOY

At least Garrison seems to have been created to be joyful.  Last night we introduced him to pasta with tomato sauce.  I wasn't planning on letting him feed himself (thus the omission of a bib), but he was much happier when he was able to squish the noodles between his fingers and into his hair.  It was so fun watching him enjoy eating.  

9 months is an age of discovery, and Garrison is taking on everything he can.  Unfortunately, it is also an age with a lot of frustration.  He is getting his third tooth right now- one of the top front teeth, and its a doozey.  He's so happy most of the time and then I think he notices that his teeth hurt and he'll start screaming.  Thank goodness for Ora-gel and Tylenol.  Crawling comes with it's frustrations, too.  He is getting so good at it and now that he can reach things up on the coffee table, he is learning the word no.  He doesn't like it AT ALL. 

So this brings me to a discussion question.  Back when I was waiting every day for Garrison's first smile, I remember understanding a little better the scripture in Nephi that refers to opposition in all things.  Garrison learned what discomfort and pain were before he could learn to smile.  It would seem that every milestone is preceded by frustration and unhappiness.  So...  do you think that we have to experience pain and sadness before we can truly be happy?  Do you think that people that experience more pain or difficulty in their lives have the potential to feel more joy?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.