Happy Birthday...take 2

O.K. so I wasn't able to download this from my home computer and had to wait until I got to work. Anyhoo...Amelia's birthday wish to Miss Kim.

Happy Birthday Miss Kim

Happy Birthday...We hope your day was fantastic and that you were able to make it to the beach. (Amelia has recorded something for you on video, but I'm having issues downloading it; will try later)

Lion, Tigers, and Bears...Oh my!

I just got back from traveling to the East side of Idaho and into Wyoming to conduct our annual inventory at our dams: Minidoka, American Falls, Ririe, Palisades, and Jackson. We do this in three days, it is a lot of driving, but it is a beautiful drive. We stay one night in Alpine, WY and then one night in Jackson Hole, WY. Jackson Dam is located in the Teton National Park. We lucked out and had beautiful weather and even got done with our inventory with enough time to do a little shopping in Jackson Hole (Yeah). We saw the usual Bald Eagles, Buffalo, Elk, Deer, and Moose. We received a special treat this year: a Grizzly. We had just entered the park and fellow employee, Trina, had never seen a wild bear and was oh-so-hoping to see one. We turned a corner and saw this lighter color fur through the trees and at first thought it might be another elk, but as we got closer we realized it was a bear. We of course pulled over and got out to take pictures. (Joined in with all the other stupid tourists.) I'm not great with distances or measurements, Spencer always has to hold his hands out to show me, but they say we were about 20 yards away.





We all know that when one car stops, pretty soon there are a google of cars all pulled over. The bear was foraging around eating grass, grubs or something. He decided to cross over the road. It was so cool to watch this bear. He was crossing the road right between the parked cars and all the not-so-smart tourists with their cameras. All of a sudden, a truck pulled up and started honking its horn. The bear took off in a run into the brush. We were all a little irritated with this driver before we realized it was a park ranger. Guess they don't think it is too safe or smart to get that close to the bears. We think it was a three year old because our Dam tender, Larry, has had a momma bear with three cubs hanging around and just that week, she swatted them away. Larry has become quite familiar with this momma bear and has been charged and snorted at by her. He claimed after that encounter, he had to go change shorts.

It was a pretty cool trip. I realized that this was the first time that I had ever been away from Amelia. I have to admit, that it was a little hard to leave, but I knew she was in good hands with her daddy. He had a little bit of an adventure with her: one night she woke up three times, he forgot Pooh Bear (very traumatic) and a sippy cup one day, was forced to take off his boots and be the only dad in Tumble Time, and wasn't able to get as much work done as he would have liked (we all know what it is like to try and accomplish work with little ones...doesn't happen). Overall, I think it was a good daddy and daughter bonding time for the two of them. She cracks me up, she will walk behind and mimic him as he is talking on the phone pacing between the kitchen and the living room. She defiantly loves her daddy.

Mother's Day

We had a busy Mother's day of having guests over for brunch and then over to my dad's for a BBQ. Spencer gave me a gift certificate to a local nursery. I am so excited as my goal for this summer is to plant two trees, get one flower bed planted, and my garden.

We had a really nice Mother's Day. I had my mom, sister, niece and nephews over for quiche and fruit. Spencer kept the older kids occupied upstairs playing games. Collin and Camille had a lot of fun playing with their Uncle Spencer. Amelia and Corbin were so good playing together. With all the kids occupied, my sister, mom and I were able to have a nice adult conversation. It was a really enjoyable morning.




After my sister and mother left, we headed to my dad's to celebrate Mother's Day and our birthdays. The day was beautiful and we had a great BBQ outside. The kids were busy playing outside and before we new it, they were all down to their skivvies.

Amelia and her great-grandma. I don't know if grandma would like me sharing this, but Amelia has this thing were she will touch your boob and say "Mommie's boobie" or "Daddy's boobie." Well, Amelia reached out and said "boobie" to grandma. Grandma didn't quite know how to take this and got a look of shock on her face. I just started to laugh as I am used to her doing this to me. Poor grandma.

The kids decided to play in the water. At first Amelia wasn't too keen about getting in as the water was "ooh, cold" (as Amelia puts it). She eventually made her way in, but not quite to the sitting position as Corbin and Collin. They all had fun and it was a nice day. I truly enjoyed my day of being a mom, sister, daughter, aunt, granddaughter, and wife. I have a great family and am so thankful for them all.

A Day at Grandpa's

Spencer was helping my dad with the bathroom remodel, so Amelia and I tagged along. The day was an absolutely beautiful day. After Spencer and dad were done, we all headed out to the yard. We explored the backyard looking at the frogs under the irrigation box cover, all the blooming flowers and anything else that peeked Amelia's interest.

I am a little bit of a sun freak and am really quite determined to make sure Amelia has sunscreen and a hat on whenever we are outside. She is just so fair skinned and has the thinnest hair on her head. She loves the sunscreen tube and thinks that it is chapstick. I have to repeatedly tell her to put it on her cheeks and not on her lips.

Big Girl Swing

So it has been a little bit since I last blogged. When I think I will sit down and add posts, by the time I cook dinner, give Amelia a bath and then put her to bed, I am just exhausted and all I want to do is veg out. So consequently, the computer stays shut and the camera in its case. My other dilema is I received a new camera for my birthday (not the dilema part as I love my new camera) but for some reason, it takes forever to download pictures. I have to do one at a time and I tend to get very impatient.

Amelia has moved up to the big girl swings. I was a little nervous, but she did really well. I think her smile says it all.

Happy Birthday Spencer

So, I am posting this a day late and no pictures, but yesterday May 4th was Spencer's Birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUSBAND, DADDY, BROTHER, SON, UNCLE, COUSIN, AND FRIEND.

The big 29. Ooh, scary. Only one more year and he will hit the big 30 . We all had a really nice day. Amelia slept in until 9:30, which was great for me. Spencer opened his presents and received some new boating shoes and a new beard trimmer. The trimmer was very important to him and was going nuts without one. We then headed out into the beautiful day with one mission, to find him some running shoes. Why you ask? Well, Spencer got some wild hare and has decided to run a 10K with the neighbor. Now this is really neat, but the run is May 17th. That's right...2 weeks away and he just started training this last Saturday, like two days ago. After running his mile and half, he discovered that the shoes he thought would work perfectly weren't as fine and dandy as he once thought. So, we need to get this guy some new running shoes. Spencer is even talking about competing in a triathlon in August. I suggested that we see how he does with this run, because you know, we would have to buy him a bike for the triathlon. Can't these boys ever play or hunt in an area that they already have all the toys for? We were invited over to Mom and Dad's for a great steak dinner. All-in-all it was a very nice and enjoyable day. As we were lying in bed last night, Spencer made the comment that he thinks that this was one of the best birthdays he has had in a long time.

Pony Ride

So we weren't quite sure how Amelia would do with riding the pony, especially how timid she was around the other animals. Well, we plopped her on and she seemed a little nervous.

She sat on the saddle, but made sure to have a hand on dad.

By the time she came around the circle, it was no big deal. The gal walking the horse asked Amelia if she wanted to go faster. Amelia responded "Yeah." Spencer and I looked at each other, thinking for sure she was going to freak out. The gal got the pony to do a slight gallop. Amelia had the biggest grin on her face. Both Spencer and I were so surprised. Our timid, careful little girl loved the pony ride.

I think this picture says it all...she absolutely loved the pony rides. We actually had to tackle the mini tantrum issue when her turn was over. She would tell us "mine" and we had to explain to her that it was someone elses turn. She was quite upset and would have been perfectly content to continue to ride. She actually had three turns. To pass the time in between her turns, she would swing. It was a big kids swing and the minute she saw the horse coming around the bend to where the next kiddo could saddle-up, she would bale off of the swing. It caught Spencer by surprise. Thankfully she somewhat held on and didn't just fall.

The comfort of daddy's protection. I love it when she comes and hugs on my leg. As long as I'm not trying to get something done in the house.