Montana Trip

Places We Went
1. Cabin just north of West Yellowstone (yes that is snow on the ground)
2. Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman
3. Wheat Montana in Three Forks, MT
4. a peek at the Jefferson River near Caldwell MT
5. Granny's house in Butte


Things we saw
1. lots of elk
2. one moose
3. lots of deer and antelope
4. dinosaur skeletons and Da Vinci inventions
5. beautiful scenery
6. a really small post office


Things we did
1. stayed in a rustic cabin
2. cooked bacon and pancakes in a sauce pan with no cooking spray
3. listened to a mouse run around the cabin while we tried to sleep
4. enjoyed a gorgeous drive
5. played at the museum
6. ate a yummy cinnamon roll at Wheat Montana
7. went to a wedding
8. ate KOA chicken and jo-jo's
9. got sick and puked at a gas station in Dillion (only I did that, not Justin or Katie)


Katie loved the cabin. She kept saying "this is great!" She was absolutely delighted with the old cook stove. I think she thought it was a play stove.
She keeps telling me about moose and deer so I think she liked that part too.
Her favorite part of the museum was the dinosaur eggs and the tank designed by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Katie got lots of time with Granny which she loved. She keeps asking to go back to Granny's house.
Granny cured her of her fear of swings and she will now go on them at the park...for a limited amount of time.
She could not get enough of Chubs the dog. She tried to feed him everything in sight even a rubber band. We'll never have a dog.
I got to see a friend get married. It was so great to see her so happy and so beautiful. I think Jessie is the friend I have known the longest. We met in kindergarten.
It was such a fun trip and I'm so glad we got to go. I want to road trip again soon.

Old Mac Donald's Farm

What we have been doing:

1. We went to a dairy farm. Reed's Dairy in Idaho Falls. You can walk in where the calves are and pet them. They have sheep, chickens, and goats, too. You can also watch the machines milk the cows... and they have a little restaurant with foods made from their dairy products. We got ice cream cones! Yum


2. Katie and I made wheat rolls and turtle bread. My mom used to make me a little loaf of bread in the shape of a turtle when I was a little girl. Katelyn loves turtles so I decided it was time I made her a turtle bread loaf. I let Katelyn play with a little bit of the dough while I was baking, and I turned around to find a piece in her hair. I think she was pretending it was a hair clip.
3. Went for a walk in the rain...we had no other choice since the library has been closed for a few weeks and the sun won't shine, we decided to go out anyway. When we got too cold, we came in and ate warm bread from Great Harvest.

4. Katie and I took a quick trip to MT for a funeral. We will miss our Aunt Cindy, but we're grateful she doesn't have to suffer anymore.

5. Justin took Katie and I on a day trip to Fox Creek near the Tetons. It was such a beautiful little place to play, and a beautiful drive. I forgot to take pictures.

In the Merry Month of May

Happenings
1. Katie got her first black eye ( at the library of all places)
2. Jill turned 24 yrs old
3. The whole family got colds
4. Justin registered for fall classes at U of U
5. Jill and Justin redid a dresser

Five things about me:
1. I love shopping at thrift stores...too bad Rexburg only has one.
2. Pretty much anything with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, I just can't resist.
3. I can't whistle...
4. I think I've finally outgrown my fear of the dark, thanks to always having to get up at night to put the toddler back in bed.
5. I'm going to miss Fongs and Craigos horribly when I move to Utah.

Woman is not meant to be alone

I miss Justin. So I've been keeping busy. I'm catching up on sewing. In two days I have made two throw pillows, one dress, and a diaper bag. I like sewing, but I like my husband better. Hurry home Justin!

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done ThankfulThursday in awhile and by the time I'm done posting it technically won't be Thursday anymore, but I don't want to go to my empty bed yet so I'm stalling, hoping Justin will call before he goes to bed (he's in Vegas visiting family).

1. I am thankful for Katelyn. What a little ray of sunshine.
2. I really like having a husband.
3. I really like having a husband who has three day weekends for the whole summer
4. I'm grateful to have another girl because I like sewing dresses and making hair bows, and other girly things.
5. I love my sewing machine.

To expound on the last one, I have developed quite a little passion for sewing. I love to make something and feel so proud of it. There's just something magical about taking a piece of fabric and turning it into something beautiful and useful. I also really like being frugal and using what I have. What a super good feeling it is to know that I saved money by cutting up an old shirt or pair of pants and making a pillow or clothes for Katelyn. I love it. I also really like being able to give things away that I made. Sometimes I get scared that my little projects might seem like "Aunt Eunice creations" to those that I give them to and they might be too nice to say "ew, what yucky taste," or "this looks homemade and tacky"......but mostly I like giving a part of myself in whatever I give as presents so I do it anyway.

Toddlerhood

Being the mother of a Toddler is so much fun. Most days are roller-coasters so life is never boring.

5 Things about Katie as a Toddler:
1. She is a daredevil. Justin's mom once put it this way "She's a Three ring circus in one little person." This week she put her rocking horse on her bed and tried to ride it..aka fell off and bumped her head and then proceeded to try, try again. This resulted in her rocking horse being confiscated for awhile.
2. She really likes to sing. She has a good little voice and can actually sing the melody to several songs. Her favorite songs to sing are Old MacDonald and the theme song from Elmo's world. She also really likes to make up songs...currently we are enjoying her original "Hi Jesus" and "Ahhhh, bubbles."
3. Big Helper. Katie is a doer. She will do a full load of laundry by herself. I set the laundry basket next to the washer, and she goes and gets her foot stool and puts the entire load in. Then I give her the detergent, she pours it in, and then she turns on the water and switches the water temperature. It's amazing. Other chores she loves to do include putting clothes in her drawer, setting the table, and putting the groceries away.
4. Obsessed with the potty/diaper changing. She loves to pretend that Elmo or her baby doll has a poopy diaper, and she likes to wipe them clean and put diapers on them.
5. So stinking cute and adorable. Her expanding vocab and growing sense of humor keep a smile on my lips and melt my heart. One of the greatest days of my life was when I heard her little voice say "I love you" for the first time.

A Sister For Katie

I told Justin when we were engaged that he would be a great dad for girls. I guess I was right because today we found out we're having another girl. We're pretty excited.

Happy Easter

This year we did things a little differently and decided to do Spring Day on Saturday (Despite the blizzard) which included our baskets, eggs, and candy, and Easter Sunday has been spent watching conference, watching an Easter video, eating a yummy dinner, and opening eggs filled with pictures of the Savior and other related images and telling Katelyn about them. This has been a nice change for us, and I think we'll repeat the experience next year since Easter this year has been much more meaningful and satisfying to the soul ; ).

Justin did such a fun thing for my basket this year. Instead of filling it with lots of candy, he got me a little candy and then a strawberry plant! So we're going to grow strawberries. Yay! I think we'll make getting plants/seeds in our Easter baskets a tradition. What a good way to start a garden.

Katelyn really enjoyed conference. She got lots of treats she doesn't normally get so that she would stay busy and quiet while Justin and I tried to get things out of conference. Surprisingly, she's a pretty good listener while playing and snacking. She would hear "Jesus Christ" and immediately her head would pop up and she would say amen regardless of if it was said in a prayer or not ...or everytime she heard the word heart, she would start making her heart sound of "thump thump" Also she kept asking a billion gazillon times "Prophet, where'd he go? Prophet where'd he go?" She always catches me off guard by how attentive she is. During scripture study the other night, she was playing on the floor while I was reading aloud to her and Justin. I didn't think she ever actually listened along, but I read a verse that said "eyes" in it and her head popped up and she pointed to her eyes. A couple verses later I read "heart" and she started making her heart noise. It just goes to show that you never know what impression you're making.