4th of July

We headed to Indiana for our 7th annual Brooks RiverFest at Camp Pierson. We brought along our friends, the Barkers. We decided to go ahead and camp 2 nights. The weather forecast wasn't looking too promising for us but the first night was great. We woke up the morning of the 4th with the sun shining and things were looking to be in our favor. Well, soon and I mean very soon after that the clouds started covering up the sun and the next thing you know it starts raining. It was a light rain and so we were pretty protected from it sitting under the trees. Slowly family started arriving and eventually the rain started coming down harder. We had planned on a float down the river around 10 and that obviously didn't happen. As the day progressed a few of us were really itching for that float trip and so WE DID IT!! Yes, it was raining (probably the hardest of the day) but so what it was an experience we'll never forget (or probably ever do again!) We did have fun despite the fact that we were freezing. Allie actually fell asleep on the float trip! I have no idea how. She had to have been exhausted. Despite all of the rain we still enjoyed hanging out with family and the Barkers. The fireworks were awesome as usual and camping was lots of fun. We're glad that Kevin and Tami could join us for that last night! Looking forward to more of that this summer! Because of the rain we didn't do our usual cornhole tournament (we didn't want to risk ruining the bags) so instead we played ladder golf...lasso golf or whatever you want to call it. My Mom and Craig won.......as usual. Congrats you two! Below are random pics from the two days.

Random Pics

These are just some pics that I came across that I liked and never posted before.

Beach - Tattoo

We had a really busy Friday........it was sooooo much fun!! We spent a good portion of the day at the lake, taking turns on the boat and watching the kids. I had the most fun I've ever had tubing! The weather was perfect, the water was just right, everything was great. The girls had a blast. This was Avery's first time to the beach and she loved the sand. It was so cute watching her bear crawl through it. She wasn't a big fan of the water at first but she warmed up to it really quick. Allie loved the water! She headed straight for it when we got there and didn't want to get out.....she also didn't want any help. What a difference a year makes!!
Speaking of that, I can't believe how quickly this past year went by. I remember last year's military Tattoo just like it was yesterday and this year's is already here! We headed there after our day at the beach. Everyone was really tired, but it was still nice and relaxing. Enjoy our pics from the weekend. There are a few in there from yesterday when we took the girls over to Kevin and Tami's for some slip n slide fun.

Catching up

A lot of things have happened in the past couple of weeks and I've been behind on blogging. We enjoyed the few weeks that Derek had off of school....spent a lot of good fun family time together. Derek's brother and his family moved to Ohio (just a few minutes down the road actually)and so we've been trying to help them get settled. Derek did a much better job at that than I did, it's hard with kids and preparing for a party and family to come in town, but I'm glad that he was able to do all that he did. It will be a lot of fun hanging out with them. It should be an enjoyable and memorable year! I have started taking Allie to some outdoor adventure toddler class things. This one we went to last week was all about how animals protect themselves from danger. There were sooooo many kids there that it wasn't really all that great of a learning environment. We did play a game of hide and seek in the woods with everyone near the end of the "class" and Allie and I were the last ones to be found!! We're going to try another one tomorrow on silent fliers(owls). We'll see if it will be worth it to go to anymore. Lets see.......the girls have been kind of sick. I think they are finally just about over it. I started getting a scratchy throat the night before Allie's birthday party and haven't been feeling that great ever since. I'm actually really hoarse today.

So we had Allie's party......you can read more about that below......and Avery is now 10 months, which you can read more about her milestones below too! We really enjoyed having family over the past few days. It was a lot of fun and great to spend some time with them. It was also nice to be able to see both Dads for Father's Day.....just wish I wouldn't have been feeling so sick so I could have made the most of that time.

Oh and Derek and I are getting really addicted to LOST!! Our friends talked about it all the time so I went and borrowed the first season. Derek started watching it half way through and then kept watching it with me.....now he's on Season 3..I'm still at the beginning of Season 2. It's great!

On another note......this is my 100th post!!!

Princess Allie is 3

I can't believe our little girl is already 3! She is growing up right before our eyes. Allie loves all things princess so we thought it would be fitting to have a princess themed birthday party for her. She talked about it for weeks and weeks up until her party....and actually still talks about it. I thought she might enjoy a princess castle cake, but figured if I tried to buy one at the store it would be really expensive......so I made it myself. It definitely didn't turn out like I had pictured or hoped, but then again I am no cake decorator so it worked. All that really mattered was that Allie liked it (and I put a lot of love into it). Allie had a great day, she was soooo happy. She loves all of her gifts. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family that made the trek all the way to Ohio to help celebrate with Allie on her special day! We can't thank them enough for their sacrifice, support, and love!

Avery ~ 10 months

Okay, so about a week and a half ago Avery turned 10 months!!

Things that have happened/changed in the past months are:

• she's a little speed crawler now
• pulls herself up to standing position and maneuvers herself around things
• climbs stairs (doesn't know how to come down them yet)
• puts EVERYTHING in her mouth (makes things easier for dinner time, but way harder for everything else)
• her favorite finger foods are: bread, cereal, puffs, goldfish crackers, graham crackers, and any soft fruit
• she's drinking formula only now and some juice/water every now and then
• shakes her head no if she doesn't want something
• says mama ALL of the time! ( I really like this)
• doesn't like bath time anymore ... used to LOVE it

It's been a lot of fun watching her learn new things. She's very curious..wants to touch and feel everything (and of course now taste everything). She is so close to walking. When she is standing she will turn and let go to go to something else that's really close. She also will let go completely and just stand there until she realizes that she's not holding onto anything and then she'll get scared and fall. She loves it when we hold her hands and walk with her, but she gets really carried away and tries to go faster than she really should! Ever since she's started the finger foods she definitely prefers them over her "baby food." We usually have to almost force her to eat that now. She started shaking her head no while we were on vacation and it was the cutest thing ever. She also got brave enough to start her sitting down after standing while we were on vacation. I got a cute video of her doing that.....it was like it was a game to her. She's so fun to be around.....has the cutest, most infectious little smile. Love you Avery Bug!

Moving up in the ranks

On June 12th Derek was promoted to Captain in the US Air Force!! He didn't want any sort of ceremony or a party........but........I went ahead and helped plan a little party for him and one of his friends that was getting promoted too. We also threw in another reason to celebrate, one of our good friends was turning 30! The party was actually on May 29th (our anniversary).....we celebrated a little early because the other two were having family in town that weekend so it worked out really nice. I don't have any pictures of it, but I did take one yesterday of Derek with his new rank.

Our Mini Vacation

Derek has a little break from school right now so we decided to take a little vacay to see Niagara Falls and some church history sites.

Day 1
- Traveling - 6 hour drive - to Buffalo, NY
- went to Niagara Falls to see the Illumination of the Falls
(this was awesome)

Day 2
- hiked at Whirlpool State Park
(grueling hike, especially with an added 20 lbs on your front.....got to see the Niagara river close up. We would have liked to see the whirlpools, but it was just too long of a hike)
-off to Niagara Falls State Park to see the falls in the daylight
(again, so awesome......sweet view from Terrapin Point)
-Cave of the Winds tour
(after seeing the falls for the first time......this would be my 2nd favorite thing. It was breathtaking (literally) to be soooo close to the falls. We went at the perfect time of the day.....the heat and humidity were probably at its peak and we were still hot and sweaty from our hike.....and there were no lines. We all got wet. It was quite windy down there and so mist was flying around us. Derek and I both went up to the Hurricane Deck......where it is hurricane like conditions with the water & wind blowing and pounding down on you. Derek was the bravest and went up and under the falls (and it ripped his poncho)!!
-walked over to Three Sisters Island where you can stand right next to the river

Day 3
-drove an hour and a half to Palymra, NY (since we got everything in that we wanted to at Niagara Falls this was a spur of the moment thing)
-went to Hill Cumorah
-drove by Palmyra Temple
-went to Smith log and frame homes.....then into the Sacred Grove
-toured the Book of Mormon publication site
- drove onto Kirtland, OH (3 hour drive)

Day 4
-visited Newell K Whitney store and home, John Johnson Inn, sawmill, ashery (met a really neat family from Rexburg, ID......they were visiting the area because their oldest son is graduating from Ohio State with his masters.....and another cool thing......their daughter served a mission in St Louis while we were there so we had lots to talk about!)
-toured the Kirtland Temple
-headed home (3 hours)

It was a very fun, educational, and spiritual trip.....wish we weren't so rushed, but all in all.....GREAT!!! Enjoy the pics!

Breakfast Conversation

Allie: "Excuse me."
Daddy: "Did you burp?"
Allie: "No, I tooted."
(giggles from Mommy and Daddy)
Daddy: "Thank you for saying excuse me" (holding back his laughter)
Allie: "The goose pooped on our car."
Daddy: "Yes, Allie it did but we don't talk about poo when we're eating."
Allie: "We're gonna have to wash it when we get home."
Daddy: "Yep, we will."
(Mommy is shaking from holding her laughs in the whole time....while trying to feed Avery)

By the way, this was at the hotel breakfast area with quite a few other people around :)

Splish, Splash!!

Yesterday Allie heard the rain pitter pattering on the window and she went running for her umbrella begging to go outside. She does this every time it rains, but it's usually raining too hard or it's just too cold out. This time actually worked out to be a good time because I had just put Avery down for a nap and it wasn't really all that cold out. She loved it! After it stopped raining she decided to run through the puddles.....


Then today we went to a splash park in Centerville. It's pretty cool! We just need to get some of Allie's little friends to come along next time to help motivate her to move further into the water.