Girls trip

I meant to post several days while we were in Arizona, but that obviously didn't happen. So now I am posting one large-long overview of the trip.
We spent some time at a few parks.

Ashlee only went up this slanting tube once because after one time I didn't want to follow her again.


Ashlee and Caitlin love their Annie

Mudding our feet with Dead Sea mud.
Annie said as the mud started drying "my legs look like an elephant"
Caitlin said "mine look like a zebra"

Many puzzles (and books).

Ashlee was a great helper in canning this chicken.

Caitlin made a new apron that says she is a good helper- which she is.

Caitlin was a bit under the weather at times with a terrible cold.

Picking apples at a nearby orchid. It had rained earlier so the leaves had so much water on them. Every time we would pick an apple we would get a fresh sprinkling of water.

There is such thing as a perfect apple and I was determined to make it mine.

We enjoyed plenty of time outside.

Annie and I made super cute sling bags- thanks for the idea Michelle Ross!

Great time with Bamma and Bampa.

We had a wonderful time- as we all do love to go down to Arizona. It was great to get back home and back to Dad (Chris), and find that fall has sprung in full force here now. The first frost of the season even came the night we got home- I'm glad our garden was grown out.

Week away

The girls and I are in Arizona for the week! We arrived today after spending the day yesterday in Logan with my Grandma for her 77 birthday. My mom threw a fun birthday party for her- her first since 4th grade. We flew with my Mom down to Arizona today.

We got here just after noon, exhausted and ready for a nap, but the girls had other ideas after napping in the car.

They played with nearly every toy in the house, and are loving every second. Luckily they went to bed tonight without even a peep, exhausted from playing and from lack of sleep last night.

We all were sleeping in the same room last night, and Ashlee was NOT sleeping well. I think about 1:45am I said to my Mom, "this is the longest, worst night EVER!"

Ashlee loves this chair because it is the perfect height to climb up and down.

Caitlin got out the dress-ups first thing.

We are excited to be here, and are missing Chris already. We are glad that he will be so busy he won't have too much time to sit around bored without us- we love you, Chris!

Rock On

We are rocking out to a CD of kids songs. Caitlin loves to play the "Kintar".

We are borrowing a Wii from some friends currently, and have especially enjoyed playing guitar hero. Let the record stand that I am not as good as Chris, however I am sweet at "My Name is Jonas". Chris can't touch me on that song.

Us this morning

On any given morning Caitlin can be found watching PBS cartoons in her nightgown. And, this morning, Ashlee was practising standing with Dad. She is getting pretty good and can stand for any amount of time up to about 5 seconds. We say "Good standing, Ashlee!" and she smiles and looks like she considers herself so clever to be figuring out this standing thing. We know that walking will be following soon- but not too soon. I give her another month at least.

Go Pokes!

It is that time of year again. College football, and the Cowboys kick off today! We are hoping for a win and a better season than any of the past- oh- 4 or so seasons. Caitlin is even getting into the spirit of things.

fun with ashlee

Ashlee makes us laugh with her funny ways and attempts to imitate others. This is her in a one minute time frame the other day at dinner.

Sunshine flowers

They have opened and shown their sunny faces. We love having these up on our back retaining wall because they grow so tall and give us a little more privacy.

We know they are actually sunflowers, but it is just much more fun to call them sunshine flowers.

in heaven

That is where Chris is because.......

We had fish

for the second time

THIS WEEK!

and-

We have some ripe large tomatoes!

(We had three but he all ready ate one- and said "ummmm, this is the best tomato I have ever had")

homesick for NY

(the luscious greens of Forest Hills)

I have found myself feeling a little homesick for New York this week. We moved away 1 year ago, and while we have "unpacked" our bags here (thanks pres. turner) we still miss it and feel that a piece of our hearts will always be there and with the people we left. Our time spent in NY was something we will never forget and will always hold dear. Our friends their made the time unforgettable and absolutely wonderful. We are all spread across the country now, but will always have a special bond.

You know who you are, we love you all and miss you.

all about ash

Ashlee is not walking, but she abandoned crawling as well. She now enjoys this.....

I think it looks exhausting, but she seems to quite enjoy it. I ask her if she is an elephant and she stops, sits down, grins and shakes her head no. Then she is up again and across the floor in no time flat.

We practice colors and hair colors with Caitlin.

What color is your hair?

"Yellow"

And Mom's?

"Brown or black" (she says either, although it is brown)

What color is Ashlee's hair?

"Ashlee doesn't have hair."

What is all this on her head than?

"Tangles"

Today I just might have to agree with you Caitlin.

fruits of our labors

Here we are, 2/3's of the way through August and we finally have some veggies ready to harvest! Yeah!

We are still waiting for our large tomatoes to turn red, and crossing our fingers that they will beat the first frost of the year. Our thermometer read a low of 32 last weekend, so we were cutting it very close, but it has warmed right up again.

Our "sunshine" flowers are towering to the sky and we hope to see their sunny faces pretty soon as well. What a great time of the year.

A big kid at heart

Summer playing is up for this kid. It is back to the grind starting tomorrow with first of the year meetings- fun, fun.

(for all you dancers: he is practicing his spotting)

Chris' job is great. For one thing, he LOVES it. And we get all holidays off, a huge amount of time off at Christmas, and all summer off. We loved having him home all summer, and were able to do so many things and take so many trips. I think this is truely the life.

camping

Last weekend we went camping with a few other families. We had a fun time, especially on Friday when the weather was nice. Friday night it rained a lot. While our tent stayed dry, Ashlee was cold and cried a lot.

Ashlee and her pack-n-play took up almost half of the tent.

We three had the other portion to squish together in. So we stayed nice and warm, and she was less than warm. At which point we brought her out to sleep with us and wondered why we had even brought that pack-n-play in the first place.

Saturday was raining and cold so we spent most of our time by the fire. We left mid afternoon, which was great timing as it snowed later that evening. Overall, it was fun, and beautiful up by Pinedale, and Caitlin really loved everything about it.

Our friends brought up their 4 wheeler and a kid 4 wheeler for fun rides.

Colorado trip continued

Our trip to Colorado included visiting the Denver Children's Museum on Saturday. A very fun place.

side note: Caitlin had an accident before we left, and was all out of pants. So she is wearing Ashlee's jeans. They became cute capris on Cait.

That night we enjoyed a Rockies game without the kids! I guess it would qualify as a double date. It was a great game, except the Rockies ended up losing. It was still fun though.

we were glad to share a fun weekend with our friends.

Happy Birthday Ashlee

Our Ash babe turned 1 today! She is such a joy in our lives. She is content to play with anything and is amazingly good at communicating with us with her noises and actions. We love her fuzz head and round cheeks. We love you Ashlee!!!

I had to actually open all her presents, but she loved what was inside!

We are in Colorado with our great friends from Rock Springs- Broc and Sarah and their 2 boys. And Grandpa Will (and we are missing Grandma Will who is in AZ right now). We had a blast today celebrating Ashlee's birthday.

We played at a park.

And in the water

The kids loved it and got soaking wet.

And Chris got soaking wet, and I got a little wet for instigating a water fight.

Ashlee's birthday couldn't be complete without a birthday song and cupcake......

to enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEE

.......summer.........

Two weeks and counting until summer, as we have know it, ends because Chris goes back to work. We are making some effort to fit in a few more things, and keep things fun.

Today:

• library with Caitlin to collect her first summer reading prize (we've got to start reading faster) and check out new books. She helps me pick out books and says "Is this one cool Mom?"

• new park with the family (there are much better parks here than I originally thought). This park had a swimming pool that is only 3 feet deep- and yet Caitlin was still a bit scared, but did warm up a bit.

• free lunch at the high school (which is not just for underprivileged kids despite what Chris may think)

• failed nap time

• playing outside with Dad

• eating Popsicles outside while we read scriptures

• more playing outside

• bed at 6:30! (thanks to the failed nap)

The day was pretty packed for us, and the girls had fun. Our summer continues tomorrow in Rawlins with college friends Michelle and Brandon and than on to CO. Our summer couldn't be complete without the Rockies.

goggles

Caitlin hates getting her face wet and especially water in or near her eyes. I got these goggles thinking that they may help a little.

Needless to say the girls looked hilarious in them, but they were VERY tight and they didn't like wearing them.

So they went swimming without them- and still had a great time.

Frustrations

I finally got this post done after over 24 hours of trying. Never buy security shield 2009!

Anyway, this is one thing Caitlin does best, talking on her cell phone. And taking pictures with it since it is a "camera phone". Funny thing how we all look just like Tinkerbell.

Ashlee learned to climb the stairs while I was at girls camp. That girl is quite the expert already- at going up anyway. We've had no major spills yet, which is a great thing considering we haven't even invested in a baby gate. (the video is sideways because I recorded it that way and don't know how to change it.)