The Gray Report

Kas, Hinckley, and I had a good visit to CO Springs for Thanksgiving and had no trouble on the road. We watched lots of movies, eat great food, and had fun watching H run around and do funny things. Kas worked on lots of crafts with her mom and Grandma, and also made some amazing dishes for Thanksgiving. I spent lots of the break trying to get ahead on my final projects which meant lots of research and writing. We made it back today and were amazed at how well Hinckley traveled in the car for 9 hours. Yeah! Thanksgiving! Hinckley loved the table Grandpa Dalley hand crafted for him Hinckley had fun going to the library, playing with cars, and running around. I (Greg) worked on lots of projects and recently finished filming a couple commercials for a hand-made chocolates company (yes, I am duplicitous but at least it is not for a tobacco group or something). The days keep zooming by it seems. I've begun working on paper with my advisor and am enjoying having some other wo

The leaves are off the walnut tree, and it is COLD. Winter is here and we've experienced the first snow of the season. Hinckley refers to it as "NOoooo!" or at least that is what we think he is referring to as he points outside at the icy landscape.  Hinckley has been sleeping well throughout the night, and eats pretty good too. He is obsessed with his bottle, and is really cute wandering around the house with it and sometimes doing squats (see video). Church is still quite the experience, and we are getting excited for his nursery eligibility in a couple of months.   One shoe brown and one shoe black I am doing well, and staying very busy. On Friday last week I was reading H a good night story when I looked down at my feet and realized I had spent the entire day with one brown shoe and one black shoe. I was flabbergasted! How had I spent the whole day and never noticed? Kassie and I had a good laugh. We are excited about the upcoming holid

Where did October go?! This month has been so much fun that it really just flew by. We enjoyed the Church's General Conference the first weekend of October. Conference is always a great reminder to get back on track with the things that are most important in life; it is so easy to forget those things with all the other crazy, busyness of life. We were also able to get together with some family during this time. Hinckley really enjoys spending time with his cousins. Hinckley loves walking around the house with apples in his hand/face. Shot up the canyon between conference sessions. Gonna miss that hair Kas decided to cut the boy's hair, and now he looks all grown up. Greg, Dad, Grandpa H, Ryan, and unidentified photo bomber The second week of October, Kassie and Hinckley flew to Colorado to spend time with the Burnsides. We went to many parks, a pumpkin patch, and an arcade in Manitou Springs. We learned that a one-hour plane flight is about all H

The  "bus on a bus" design by H What a week! School is in full-swing for Greg now. That means an early start to the day and a later finish. (And Hinckley still wakes up two or three times at night.) Just so you have an idea, we normally wake up at 5:30 am. Tuesdays are Greg's long day; he goes to campus at 5:45 am and comes home around 9 pm. Greg is enjoying school and is learning a lot. He finished his job with the law school this week. Next week he will begin work at the faculty center at BYU. The faculty center job should provide him with more instructional design experience. Since Greg was gone this last Tuesday evening, Hinckley accompanied me (Kassie) to a Relief Society activity. It was a great activity and I really enjoyed associating with the women. However, I spent much of the time chasing down Hinckley. This event was in the outdoor pavilion by the church, and since it rained a lot Monday and Tuesday there were puddles all around. Well, Hinckley took

Summer is coming to a close, and with it will go things like eating fresh fruit and swimming in the plastic pool in the back yard. Hinckley has really enjoyed both of these to a large degree. His favorite outside activity however is not swimming, it is eating grapes! As soon as one of us takes him outside he starts pointing and grunting at the grape arbor with a startling intensity.  Big boys sit in chairs.  Labor Day hiking with family in the mountains Keeping H busy during church.  Of the many things we love about UT, the farmer's market and the natural beauty are among the top. We've enjoyed having such fresh wonderful produce available in our own backyard and of course at the BYU stadium farmer's market on Thursdays. Shopping at the stadium farmer's market Beautiful flowers!  Making movies with the boy Having a temple so close is a huge plus, though with a baby we've realized how hard it is to get there still.  We are

This last week was scattered with struggle. Hinckley and me (Kassie) were sick for part of the week. Greg had a final for his class. And Hinckley continues to grow new teeth. Hinckley's favorite toy at church: the vacuum in the coat closet In spite of all that, we had a fun anniversary. We went to a really cool exhibit at the Museum of Art at BYU. They currently have a display of costumes from period-piece movies such as Jane Eyre, Sherlock Holmes, Phantom of the Opera, etc. It was amazing to see all the intricate detail that goes into every item of clothing. After that, we enjoyed this great restaurant called, Aubergine and Company. We were pretty excited because it has stuff we can eat--not many restaurants have a WFPB menu. Well, this place definitely lived up to our expectations! We both had Mediterranean salads, strawberry lemonade (sweetened with agave), and a brownie (whole wheat, no dairy, sweetened with agave). It was just wonderful! Greg went mountain bikin

Hinckley Feasting on Noodles We are feeling quite adjusted to Provo now and feeling grateful to have the support and company of family nearby. I (Greg) am wrapping up my first IP&T class which is all about learning outcomes and assessment. I never realized so much went into making and administering tests! I am learning quite a bit and have been reflecting on my TFA experience which was really starting to get underway this time last year.  Kassie has caught the canning/jamming bug and she has turned the bags of apricots we picked at the Jarvis' into some tasty jam and dried apricot chips. She is also busy transcribing an interview we did with the wife of a WW2 vet as a part of a small oral history project she's been pondering for quite some time. She is really interested in the women of the Greatest Generation and we are just getting 3 interviews at first to see if it is something to pursue in more detail later. I film the interviews and she asks the questions

Hinckley turned one on Saturday! In celebration, we went swimming at the Provo Rec Center. Hinckley had a great time staring at all the people. He enjoyed the water, too. Post swimming joy That evening we opened presents and had cake. It was Hinckley's first time having any sort of dessert or treat. He tried to stuff the whole piece of cake in his mouth at once. He also discovered that frosting is fun to squish in his hand. His excitement was enough to make anyone happy! I can't believe our little baby is one now! This was as much a celebration for us, his parents, as it was for him because we managed to stay alive and keep him alive for a year. In that time, there have been many diaper changes, temper tantrums, and sleepless nights. Many tears were shed, many mistakes were made, and frustration was felt by all. Along with those terrible experiences, there were also many wonderful times. There were lots of smiles, laughs, and cuddles. There were moments of tr