Katelyn's First Camping Trip

Bad News: We didn't go to Glacier National Park
Good News: We had lots of fun in Swan Valley

So as we were packing for our Montana trip, we were getting some bad feelings about going. We decided not to go and save the trip for next year...I thought we'd be devastated, but we felt so peaceful after making the decision that we weren't that disappointed. And we decided to go camping in nearby Swan Valley instead.
We camped at a little campground at Palisades Creek Thursday and Friday nights. On Friday morning we hiked four miles into Lower Palisade Lake where we saw a bull moose. The water was too cold to go swimming in, but we put our toes in. And that felt really good on our tired and hot feet. The hike was a pretty easy hike since it was not steep and was mostly in the shade, but Katie didn't like the hiking backpack very much when she was trying to fall asleep, so we ended up carrying her most of the way in. Luckily she did better on the return trip and stayed in the pack most of the time. Next time we won't pick such a long hike for her sake.

Here's a list of fun things we saw on our trip:

1. bull moose
2. beautiful lake
3. Falls Creek Waterfall
4. Golden Eagles
5. hummingbirds
6. a snake
7. natural springs
8. snail shells

Fun Things

We have done some pretty fun things in the last few weeks.
To celebrate Justin being done with the semester we went to Ashton to a cute little old-fashioned restaurant and had the best pizza ever and some good ice cream. Then we went swimming in the river. Katie loved the river. When we pulled her out, she was trying to wiggle out of our arms to get back in.
We had a fun Pioneer Day. We went to St. Anthony with Toni and the Ostlers and watched a good parade (Being a Stevens girl, I just love a good parade). We collected a whole bag of candy from people throwing it out. In fact I thought we got more than kids get at Halloween.
After the parade, we went to Ashton Reservoir and played in the river. Ethan caught a fish and ate it, and Justin, Emma, and I floated down the river several times. Ainsley made a lot of progress from last year. She actually put her feet in the water and wasn't scared of the mud. Katie and Linay were sick, so they chilled out in the shade with Mary and Toni. Then Emma and I played against Don and Ethan in a game of water balloon volleyball.

Earlier this week, we went to the International Dance Festival Parade and then the workshops on Thursday. The Chinese were our favorites in the parade, and it was a hoot watching Emma, Ethan, and Ainsley doing disco.

On Friday, Justin and I roasted marshmallows at a campground, and yesterday we hiked "R" mountain which is really a butte formed by an extinct volcano. Next on our list of things to do is Glacier then on to Trout Creek.

New email

Due to the fact that I haven't been a student for over a year now, my byui email account has been deleted. I tried to import all my contacts to my new email address, but our internet was being temperamental and I only got half transferred over before I couldn't get into my inbox anymore. I can get all my family's email addresses from Mary, but friends....I'm not really sure how to get to all of you. So if you would like me to have your email address, leave a comment. Sorry for the inconvenience...And Reanna, I think I remember your email so I'll be emailing you back as soon as possible.

Babysitting

Melody and Katie

A girl in my ward is taking classes this semester, and she needed someone to watch her baby while she took a final today. So Melody (the 6 month old baby) came over to play for a couple hours. Katie loved Melody, but Melody didn't love Katie. In fact Katie scared her. Katie wanted to be friends...she even tried to hold Melody's hand, but Melody didn't want to hold hands. Katie was content to sit and wave at her. Then Melody started crying. Now it was Katie's turn to be scared. both of them were scared by each other, but both wanted me to hold them, but not together. How do you solve that one?
Well, both were getting tired. I put baby 1 in crib and let her cry until I got baby 2 to sleep in living room on couch and barricaded with pillows lest she roll or crawl or move somehow. Then took baby 1 (she had only been left to cry for 10 minutes, don't worry, I don't let babies cry for too long...I'm too soft-hearted) and rocked her until she fell asleep.
I know, I am amazing...

Update on the Days

So while Justin is feverishly working on take-home finals and slacing away at work...I'm hanging out with Katelyn who is currently taking a nap (thank goodness). She's teething pretty hard-core right now so the last week has been up and down. She had such a rough day yesterday. We went to the store to buy some biter biscuits, and I showed her this stuffed bear that giggles. She fell in love with it, and when I put it back on the shelf, she had a meltdown. Considering that I've only ever bought one toy for her (a dollar store doll), we decided to splurge and buy the bear. She snuggles it and laughs with it, and it is so cute to watch her. I was afraid the doll would be like Woody in "Toy Story" and get left in the dust, but much to my pleasure, Katelyn still loves her doll. (In this video, she is a little more interested in getting the camera from me than she is in showing us her new toy.)

Justin is finished with school tomorrow until September and I am counting down the minutes until I get to play with him. We're planning some fun stuff for Pioneer Day, and then cmaping in Montana sometime in August. And I am looking forward to getting so much doen since Justin can play with Katie in the evenings instead of doing homework. Woot woot.

I am currently expanding my sewing horizons. I have decided to make Katelyn a jean skirt. So far I have it cut out and one seam down...two seams to go, the waist band, and the hem. I'm hoping to finish it tonight after Katelyn goes to bed. My next project is Amber's quilt. I've never made a quilt by myself so that should be interesting. My visiting teacher sews quite a bit, and she volunteered to help me if I need it, so hopefully it will turn out well. I like to sew, but sometimes, I'm not very good at following through with projects.

Eight Months

Katelyn turned 8 months today. In the last week she has moved from her inch worm crawl that started last week to full out crawling. She also pulls herself up on the furniture and is beginning to cruise along the edges. And today she learned to clap. She's so proud of her accomplishments that she has a hard time stopping them for bedtime. We play the stand up/put down game for an hour before she settles down to sleep. And then during her nap today she started clapping in her sleep. It was so cute. And the other night she was talking in her sleep not moaning or crying but telling a story and smiling. It was adorable.

Time to Catch Up

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Thanks to having the computer in the repair shop and being on vacation, I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, and I have so much to catch up on. So here goes...

June went by so fast, I think I can still feel my head spinning. We had so much at the family reunion. I can't believe all 12 kids were together in the same place for once. It was crazy with all the people and adults around, but it was fun. Some of my favorite quotes from the week were:

"Oh, my trusty ol' golf ball."- Cole, age 3

"You who, Ethan, come out of the bathroom and play ball with me." Cole

"Does everyone in here know that Jesus created all this [the planets and stars], or do we just know that?" Elise, age 7

"It's okay Katie, I do it too all the time" Alexus said this to Katie after I told her that Katie was crabby because she was tired and hungry.

"Everybody just calm down" Ainsley, age 3

Some of my favorite parts of the reunion were:

Watching Alexus's face when she crab walked
Playing kickball and volleyball
Singing "down by the banks" with my nieces and Tyse
Staying in the tent with Haleigh, Elise, and Emma
Watching the planetarium show with all the kids
Going fishing with Justin, Jordan, and John
Sending my husband off on a fishing trip with my brothers
All the girls dragging Shane out of the house for the picture
Our taboo game on the way back from Basin Creek
The impromptu talent show at the Museum of the Rockies




Independence Day
We went to Toni's in Orem for the 4th of July. It was lots of fun. We went to the zoo, watched the parade, and had a BBQ. Katie liked the zoo even though she didn't last very long in the stroller, and she liked the parade. She was scared by the fire engines, but once the floats started coming by and she could wave back at the people waving to her, she loved it. We watched the fireworks from a little bit of a distance so that she wouldn't be scared by the loud noises, and so she enjoyed those too. It was a fun holiday for us.

Happy Father's Day