Birthday

I turned 29 while in Utah. I wasn't expecting much because a) we were so far away from all my friends, b) Eric was so busy with his rotation and usually got home pretty late and c) I didn't want to make our hosts feel obligated to provide my birthday, so we weren't even going to tell them. We figured, we'd just celebrate later.

well.

I forgot to take Facebook into account. Aunt Melinda knew right away. And then Mama Allan sent me a package with 2 Bobby Flay cookbooks I've been wanting. And then I got special birthday emails from several people. And then my wonderful friend Jordan, definitely the best roommate I ever had, brought her family up to visit me and remembered it was my birthday and brought me colorful ramekins! It was really wonderful to see her, get to meet her kids in person, and just have a great time chatting.

lil R adored Caroline... who didn't quite know how to react to the lovin...

and THEN I got this mysterious text from Eric telling me not to eat too much and to dress up nice for when he came home...

So we left the girls with Uncle Matt and Aunt Melinda to put to bed and headed back up to downtown SLC for a special date. to..... Melting Pot! I've been eyeing their menu for years, it seems, but we've never been. It was wonderful! Really fun, delicious, and surprisingly not an over-stuffed feeling despite the quantity of food. Probably because we were there for more than 3 hours and the food consumption was spread out over that entire time. Terrible pic of us, all blurry, but had to document the night!

days later, I got on Facebook and was really touched by so many of YOU leaving me messages on my b-day. Seriously, I got almost teary-eyed for the sentimental thoughts from people I didn't know cared about me enough to think of me on my b-day. I don't do that, so the fact that someone else thought enough of me to take time to write a lil somethin, well, it just made me feel like a million bucks.

turns out, I had a pretty wonderful birthday!

In Utah with Cousins

We spent a little less than 2 weeks in Utah with more family. Explaining to Gwen that her newest friends were "first cousin once removed"s just didn't make sense. They really were wonderful with her and she still talks about "Cousin R" and "Cousin S" and "Cousin L" (only she uses their names, of course. I just omitted those for online). She was THRILLED when they got home from school!

Gwen loved the trampoline and anyone willing to take her out to it. She enjoyed the anthropomorphic tendencies that it gave to balls... they would chase her and she loved it! Cousin S shows her some things...

Cousin R painted her toenails, which she still talks about. Apparently, I don't do as good a job. :)

Cousin L shared her toys... but really, Cousin L's deepest love was for Caroline. Had to take these pics because they matched. Unplanned, but so cute.

okay, so pretty much everyone loved Caroline and showered her with attention whenever she was awake. She ate it up! Thanks so much Uncle Matt and Aunt Melinda for hosting us for a couple weeks (and Eric for the entire month!) The girls loved it, really!

"Night" stroll

We wanted to take a stroll along the Canyon rim. There's a nice paved trail there. We decided to go in the evening when it would be cool... and that "evening" kind of got away from us and turned into "night". Oh well, had a great time anyway. The girls were bundled up, the scenery was lovely--even as it got too dark to capture on film--and the walk was a great time with Grandpa!

Isn't the Twin Falls temple lovely at night?

Interruption

I interrupt the Idaho-Utah blog roll to tell you some fun stories:

1) Caroline is rocking on hands and knees... yes, already. I'm surprised, actually, because Gwen didn't do this until like 8 months.

2) Caroline adores the johnny jumper we got from a friend--- as soon as her toes touch the ground her face lights up and the big grin doesn't disappear for about 20 minutes.

2) Gwen has entered the "why" stage with full force. (Honey, do you REALLY want to know why the sun goes down? or why the car needs gas instead of coal and water?)

3) Gwen has also entered the "no, mommy, I do it myself" stage in the past few days. and for the most part, she does a really good job doing whatever it is herself. Except wipe. She still wants me to do that. figures.

4) Gwen's verbal confidence has increased with her physical confidence. She kind of likes to tell us what to do. a lot. So far it hasn't been disrespectful, but that 'first-child-bossy-tendency' is definitely alive and well in our girl.

in other words, our house is gettin pretty crazy.... :P

bonus story for your tickling pleasure:

Gwen was taking a bath.

Eric was... ahem... using the restroom discreetly turned away from her.

All she knew was that he WASN'T sitting down.

She declared:

"Daddy! You pee pee out you belly button!"

hilarious, no?

Hike down in the Canyon

Papa Allan (aka Grandpa) had a day off work so we decided to go on a morning hike down into the canyon for a good workout, some brisk air, and lovely scenery. It was breathtaking, and I'm not exaggerating about that. If I can be perfectly honest, I've never really thought Twin Falls was pretty (Much to Eric's dismay). This trip changed that for me. I fell in love with the canyon. Can you blame me?

Gwen was in a backpack---not a child carrying backpack, just a regular backpack. She just stood in there. She didn't seem to mind, though.

Caroline enjoyed the Bjorn.

Wild blackberries for a quick snack

Enjoying the river with Ollie

I LOVED the hike down... and got a FABULOUS workout on the way back out. Man. I'm telling you, my Father-in-law makes it look a lot easier than it is! Either that, or I'm in a lot worse shape than I thought. Which, I suppose, is entirely possible.

Gwen with Grandpa

Gwen has her Grandpa wrapped around her finger. I'll just say it like it is. She was always thrilled for Grandpa to come home from work because it meant someone to take her outside...to the swing, the castle (club house), the dog (Ollie), and the horses.

The swing

the castle

the animals (and the water!)

Thanks Grandpa! Had a great time. Shall we do it again tomorrow? :)

Family Photos Courtesy of Mama Allan

Several of you have complimented our new family photo (and I'm POSITIVE the rest of you were thinkin it, even if you didn't say so!). Well, this gorgeous photo is the work of my very talented mother-in-law. When Eric was home for Labor Day, she obliged and took some family pics for us. She captured the lighting perfectly, don't you think? There were so many, but here are my favorites:

love this one because you can see Caroline eyeing my glasses... and the next pic was her hand slapped across my face!