A Post of Firsts

We have had quite a few FIRSTS at our house lately. Here are some pics to commemorate them. (BTW-I have been into picture mosaics lately. If they bug, someone is going to have to tell me).
1) Claire's first cereal! Hooray! She seemed to really like it. She didn't even pull any funny faces, just chowed down. Good girl!
2) Syd's first day of 2nd grade. What a big girl
3) Don't walk me to the bus stop mom, I'm just fine. Bye!
4) Brynn's first day of Kindergarten. I can't believe it.
5) Brynn with her buddy, Tyler. They are the only two kindergartners in our neighborhood. They are super friends and I'm glad they have each other. Besides. isn't he cute?!
6) Getting on the bus. Don't you love how it looks like all these moms are going to kindergarten too? Brynny loves the bus.
So there you have it. Lots of first. Kids grow up really fast. My house is really quiet in the afternoons now. Maybe I'll go take a nap. . .

Go to the Mountains. . .

We went Camping! We haven't been up to the Tetons in several years and decided it was high time we saw the mountains in person again.Overall the trip was very fun and exciting. . . and a few other things. You know how vacation can be with kids, right? Putting aside the barfing, the crying, the "accidents", and the whining we had a great time. Here are some pics from our fun adventure:

1) What?! We are going camping today? I just woke up!
2) Riding in the car. After lots of crying baby, 2 barfing incidents, 1 "accident", 2 poppy diapers, several potty break stops, and 5 1/2 hours, we finally made it to Colter Bay. I tell you, we will not be driving long distance again for a while.
3) This was about the only time the baby was in the car and NOT crying. Ugh!
4, 5, 6, 7) Our lovely accommodations. We stayed at the tent cabins at Colter Bay. They were really fun. We were able to keep the baby out of the dirt and away from the bugs, but we still felt like we were "camping". Plus the girls had lots of room to explore and run, and we met some nice people. We also saw a red fox, a bat, a squirrel (who was very mad at us), and lots of fat whistle pigs.
8) Washing dishes outside was considered fun. I had lots of helpers.
9, 10) Brynny won the award for the dirtiest camper.
11, 12) Riding the boat across Jenny Lake
13) Hiking to Hidden Falls
14, 15) We made it to Hidden Falls! We got lots of cute comments and a couple of dirty looks about us hauling a tiny baby up the trail. The older two were great little hikers. Brynny even got to be the "judge" for a while.
Syd tried to head up the trail to where the Exum guides were practice climbing with their students. I think she wanted to join in.
16) Baby got a bath in a wash tub.
17) Hanging out at the tent cabin- Brynny's blanket was dubbed "Stinky Pinky" by the time we got home.
18) Going for a walk around the tent cabin loop. We found a squashed squirrel and Syd wanted to poke at it.
19) The girls resting after a hard day hiking- we later went down to the lake and threw rocks and Shawn and Syd even went swimming in the VERY cold water.
20) We went down to look at the dam. We threw lots of rocks in the water.

It was so great to be in the Park again. Of course it made me all nostalgic and itchy to get in the mountains. It was so fun to just wander around Colter Bay, see the lake, visit the Lodge, and just see the mountains. We really enjoyed the tent cabins and look forward to trying to get back up to the Tetons next year. The girls said as we were leaving "We are going to miss this place!" Me too!

When It Rains It Pours

It rained today! And I don't mean a little sprinkle. I mean it poured for a good half hour which is so unusual here. We have not had a good storm for a couple of months so we all went out on the front porch to watch the rain come down.

It all started very innocent but soon turned into this:

Which then tuned into this:

Which was followed by this:

And then this happened, I'm still not quite sure how:

And then we had this:
And last, but not least, we had a little of this:

And here is some video of some cool tricks in the rain:

All this great fun was followed by hot baths and warm jammies for everyone involved. The neighbors probably thought we were crazy, but I think spontaneity can be a good thing at times!

How Unique are You?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 137 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I Need Some Help

So about a month before we had Claire my mother-in-law, Julie, was so kind and gave us her king sized bed. I have always wanted a king bed, and we LOVE it. Honestly we cuddle more now than we ever did before. I think it's because I have the option of getting so far away if I want to. (I love you Shawn!)
The problem comes in where the bedding is concerned. We haven't gotten a king comforter yet because I haven't bothered making the bed for quite a while. I blame that on my cute baby. I have actually started making the bed again and I got the OK from Shawn to spend money and get a new comforter. But I don't know what to get! That is where you people come in. Here are some pictures of what our bedroom looks like:

The look we have had is pretty formal. I really like it but honestly want something a little more casual. I want to keep using these decorations, besides I did NOT get the OK to buy new ones. :)

I really love the colors in the painting above the bed.

These are the mirrors over our dresser. I like them too, but again the are kind of formal. I thinks this picture shows the walls at their truest color.

Oh hey! Where did that cute baby come from? She just recently discovered that she has toes!

So I need advice from all of you. What color of comforter should I go with? Patterned or solid? How can I make the room feel a little more casual while still using these decorations? What kind of pillows would be cool? I anxiously wait to hear for you all! You can be responsible for me blowing lots of cash!

July 24th Fun

Derek and Becca have a cool tradition of holding a watermelon eating contest on July 24. They held it at Grandma Julie's this year and we went to join in the fun. Here are some pictures of the action:

In Memory

My Grandma Lee passed away last year today. I still miss her lots. She is one of the greatest people I know. I hope to be just like her when I am a Grandma. Here are a few pictures that capture Grandma's personality for me:

Sylvia and Carl Lee

With Grandma you never questioned who was in charge.

I loved her orange apron- if she was at home she more than likely had it on

At the old house in Woodland Hills. It had the coolest fuzzy wallpaper and red carpet. I loved to visit Grandma. She always fed us cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Grandpa spent a lot of time in those overalls.

Grandma taught me how to make chocolates. She thought it was really important to include the little ones in anything we were doing. Syd was a regular helper when Grandma came to make chocolates with us. My girls call her "The Chocolate Grandma".

I love Grandma's goofy side. I also love that she knew my girls so well. She loved to play with them-just like when I was little.

At Eric's wedding. Grandma was so silly and fun! Her little hair cap will be very familiar to those who knew her. :)

Once again- with Grandma you never questioned who was in charge- you can tell Mike knows just by the look on his face.

Here is Grandma doing one of the things she loved most- feeding people!

I hope I am making Grandma proud by the way I am living my life. I am trying really hard to keep my fridge clean just for her. I love you Grandma!