Ick!

Have you ever laughed so hard that you threw up?!...

Jenna has...

Yuck!

A beautiful day!

Consider yourself warned!

If you want your child to learn sign language and you want to have a fun and educational way to occasionally distract your child whilst getting ready or making dinner,
then DO get this movie

however...

If you don't want the same silly songs in your head over and over all day and while you're trying to fall asleep at night and you don't want your child asking for "baby time" incessantly all the live long day,
then DO NOT get this movie!

Paul's Week

A couple months ago, we thought that we would get to spend this last week in South Carolina with Paul's family. Sadly, it didn't work out.
Paul was really bummed about not seeing his family, but what he really really wanted was to take a week off of work. SO, he decided to take the week off anyway! It was so nice having him home for a whole week! There was no "I have to go in early - I'll be leaving at 4am" or "I'll be home a little late" and strolling in around 11pm. (ok, it's not usually that bad, but it will be come football season... oh no, it's already here, isn't it?)

Here are some of the highlights from Paul's week off:

-Camping trip (see previous post)
-Trips to the park
-Picnic in the park
-Dinner in Salk Lake (with my mom and all 3 of her brothers!)
-Shopping! (for books - one of my favorites!)
-Lots and lots of Mexican Train
-A little bit of work:

• putting together: a play kitchen and a little tikes car
• writing a 10-page research paper (congrats on your A, babe!)
• a group presentation

And of course,
-A SUPER-HERO MOVIE MARATHON! Yep, it was an entire day! :)

Wish we could do this every week!

Paul's stunt double

Paul is playing a video game. He wants to beat it before he has to return it.
I'm tired and want to go to bed. I tell Paul that I can't fall asleep without him.
So, Paul rolls up his pillow and puts his hat on top of it. "There you go! It even smells like me."

I guess the honeymoon's over?!

:)

Camping Trip!

On Monday after Jenna's nap, we packed up our BRAND-SPANKIN' NEW tent and went camping on Mt. Timpanogos. We found a great campsite, set up camp, then decided to hike to Cascade Springs:

The kids were hiking the easy way!

Paul and Jenna, Spencer and Kaden

We found the cutest little bridge over the spring:

which Jenna absolutely loved!...

and would NOT leave!

We wanted to let her feel the water:

On the way back, I wanted to try carrying the backpack. Man, oh, man! I did NOT think it through first: it was all uphill, and I started out running, because Jenna thought it was funny! Whew!

When we got back, we roasted hot dogs for dinner and let the kids play around - ya know, in the dirt and rocks :). Then it got really cold, so we put on our layers...


I put Jenna in thermal pj's, two pairs of socks, flannel pj's over that, with several blankets on top. We put the kids to bed, made yummy s'mores, played some 'hand and foot', and enjoyed the beautiful outdoors for a couple hours...
then,
DISASTER!

Jenna woke up and would NOT go back to sleep. I don't know if she was cold, or uncomfortable, or just scared.
Bad decision #1: we went and picked her up.
After that, there was NO putting her back in the pack'n'play. I finally gave up and made
Bad decision #2: let her sleep with us.
She wanted to sleep on my chest, which was great when she was a newborn and weighed 7 lbs. But this time she kept scooting up and laying on my neck, cutting off essential air-flow. So, I slowly rolled her to the side, thinking
Bad decision #3: she can just cuddle up next to me.
If you have a cuddly-sleeping one-year old, congratulations! Most toddlers I've seen like to sprawl out and take up more space than they could possibly occupy at once. Paul and I were both kicked half-way off our sleeping mats, forced to sleep on the cold, rocky ground.
I don't know exactly how long it took me to fall asleep, but it felt like hours. Jenna woke up at 4:30am. Ick... We knew it was too early, but she wanted to play. She spent an hour playing with her shoes, our bags, and the lantern (turning the light on and off - that was fun..).
Then, lady luck smiled upon us - Jenna plopped her little head on my pillow and fell asleep. We all slept like logs.

In the morning we had a *nutritious breakfast:

*cherry texas coffe cake. I guess that's what I get for letting Paul do the shopping!

And then went off to hike Stewart Falls!
Before Paul and I got married, Alissa and I hiked here to get to know each other. We pretended to push each other off the mountain and took pictures. I was joking. She was too, I think ;)



The hike to the Falls went very well. Jenna was pretty excited to see a squirrel hanging out on a tree only a foot away from us! She spent the rest of the hike there looking around and holding on to her two little books (her security blanket for the day).
I kept seeing giant nails sticking out of the ground, and I asked Paul what he thought they were for. He said they were there to hold up the trail. Otherwise, it would fall right off the mountain! Typical Paul - so silly!

Paul carried Jenna in her pack all the way there and back, in the blistering heat, with no complaint. What a stud!

Pretty, huh?

Jenna slept most of the hike back, after making a HUGE mess with a nutri-grain bar. By the end, we were all pretty much covered head to toe with dirt.

What a fun trip!




p.s. We invited the Smiths to come as well. Spencer was great to have around because he's been to that area lots of times for snowmobiling! Kaden was a joy because he played with Jenna and, let's face it, he's fun to watch. And Andrea... well, I guess you're just not camping without a pregnant lady who brings her own queen-size air mattress, complains about the heat, complains about the cold, and pees 500 times...
Just Kidding! I love you, Andrea! And I'm really glad you guys came!

now THAT'S a comeback!

'hand and foot' scores from last night
I may not have won, but what a comeback, eh?

p.s.

playing games until 1:30am
+
baby that doesn't sleep in
=
bad idea!