Flaming Gorge

This week we went to Flaming Gorge with a lot of my family. It was so fun to see everyone. I haven't seen my nephews that live in Washington for a long time. We all got together in Manila to go boating. Growing up 15 minutes from the lake made us boating people. It was fun for me to watch the next generation learn to water ski and knee-board and catch some air on the tube. The lake is as chilly as ever but you just suck it up and jump in. Shaun loved driving my dads boat and told me more than once that he wants one. I love it too so someday... Cecilia had the best time playing with her cousins, especially Chandra. She just loved her! You should have seen her lounging on her and following her around. I'm sure Chandra was happy when we left the way she mauled her!





We also took Cecilia on her first boat ride. She was a little timid at first, but then she warmed up and I was holding on to her life jacket for dear life as she leans out the front of the boat going 20 mph.



We stopped off in Green River (where I grew up) on the way so I could reminisce. It was so fun to drive around as a grown up and remember old times and look at the town from a different perspective. I don't know when we will go back so I'm really glad we took the time. I also wanted to stop by my old High School. I was in the last graduating class from it. They built a new high school and turned it into a middle school. It was interesting to see the changes and think back to that time of my life. Here I am by my old locker.


I remember standing in the main hall by the office on graduation day thinking I would never go to that school again. I showed Shaun the classroom where I decided to be a scientist. Here Cecilia are knocking on the door because it was locked.


It was this same classroom where I took anatomy and decided I didn't have the stomach to be a doctor :) But we did a course on genetics and I was sold. It is interesting how trivial High School is, yet at the same time you can make decisions that will shape your whole life. I know more than one girl who got pregnant and changed their life forever. My decision to go into genetics changed my life, I know I'm no great scientist that will invent the cure for cancer and change the world, but that decision has effected me and the way I think for the rest of my life. It will effect my children in ways unknown, and who knows who else. So I had a great time driving around town and looking at the growth along with the things that haven't changed since I was a kid. Just like me.

catch up

I know it has been a long time since I've posted. I have two excuses. The first is our internet has had some real problems lately and it drives me crazy when I'm in the middle of something and it crashes. So I would rather not get on at all. Work has suffered too :) The other reason is audio books. A few weeks ago I was at the library and found the audio books for a trilogy called His Dark Materials. I saw the film for the first book a few years ago and was excited to finish the series with audio books. So I ran home and put them on my ipod. They were really fun to listen to and each day I found myself looking for things to do that didn't require brain power so I could listen to them while Cecilia slept. Let's just say my house and yard benefited from my addiction as cleaning is a good thing to do with your hands while your mind is elsewhere. But as I said work and blogging suffered. Well they are finished now.

So what have we been up to lately? Well Shaun mentioned the park where he and Cecilia had so much fun kicking a ball. We also were able to see family from out of town of the holiday weekend. My brother and his family came for a visit and we were able to see them for a bit. Cecilia had so much fun playing with her cousins and their dog. She quickly learned the sign for dog and does it every time I say the word. She is learning so quickly right now! She knows the sign for baby too. It is in the signing video we have and I didn't even know she knew it until I was pointing out things to her in a book and pointed to a baby and she stops and does the sign. I was shocked and amazed. She is so smart! We also caught this video yesterday and were so proud of her. It came about because we left her standing up holding on to the gate above our stairs and walked into the front room. A few minutes later she came walking into the room. We were so surprised that she just decided to let go and walk to us without any prompt. So we decided to get out the camera and caught this. I think we can officially say she can walk because she will actually let go of things on her own. She still can't stand up without props, but will figure it out soon enough.



My mom said "it is amazing that she picked up the sippy cup and kept walking, but it was really amazing she picked up a sippy cup!" knowing how difficult it can sometimes be to get her to take a drink. Maybe that will change?

Upcoming trips include a boating trip with my family next week, Great-grandparent wedding anniversary next weekend, and then a trip to Oregon. We are really excited about this trip. We will get to visit more family which we don't see often and we will be able to go pick blueberries. I think Cecilia will have so much fun doing this!!! I can't wait to see what she does. My little blueberry fiend! Today we are going to go see grandparents Hadley and extended family who are camping. No camping for us as we have a wedding reception tonight, but it will be fun to visit anyway. So nice they are camping close. Better go...

Sugarhouse Park festivities

Since we're celebrating Independence Day on July 3rd, 4th and 5th this year, we decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and get outside as much as possible over the weekend. The fireworks were back on in Sugarhouse Park after almost not happening this year due to budget cuts. Fortunately for the community, many hours of fund raising made it happen. We went to the park in the afternoon to enjoy the people and the preparations. Unfortunately, we weren't actually able to see the fireworks because we had to put the little one down early. But we could see some of them through the trees from our front porch. We took a few videos that we wanted to post but Shaun lost his iPhone today so all we have is this picture. Cute as ever. Oh, and Happy Independence Day, whichever day you decided to celebrate it. 

Birthday

Last Friday was my birthday. It was so much fun! Shaun took the whole day off and we went and played. My parents came down to watch Cecilia. I was a little nervous because it was the longest I've left her during the day. But she had a great time with grandpa and grandma Hadley and they spoiled her with lots of strawberries from their garden. They watched her while Shaun and I went horseback riding. It was the perfect day for it. Everything is still green and the weather was the perfect temp with just a few clouds in the sky. We went riding in a beautiful place through meadows with wildflowers and stands of trees while crisscrossing a stream. It felt so good to be out in nature. Plus it is a great thing to do here in Utah. After our ride we came home, changed clothes, kissed Cecilia, and ran off again. Shaun took me to Flemming's for dinner. It was so yummy, but definitely a special occasion place. Then to a movie to end the day. My parents put Cecilia to bed and she went down easily they say. I was really happy to hear that because besides me, only Shaun has put her down before and he has only done it a couple of times. It is a good feeling to know someone else can take care of her and I don't have to be close to run home and feed her or put her to bed. It was a great primer to leaving her overnight sometime soon.

It was the perfect day, besides the bug that crawled down my shirt and bit me. Although the other cars on the freeway may have enjoyed it because they got quite a show when I screamed and stripped right there driving down I-80. Luckily Shaun had a spare shirt in the car so it wasn't a show all the way home :) YEAH for Birthdays!

So close

Sunday's are a time when both Shaun and I are here and focused on Cecilia. She is usually in a good mood after church and we have a little bit of time to play before dinner and bed. Lately we have been working on her pulling herself up from a siting to standing position, or "cruising" along the couch which works her coordination of putting her weight from one foot to the other. She has done so well and became a pro after one or two sessions. Also last week she let go of one hand and will hold onto just one finger to walk. Even that isn't the death grip it used to be. So Sunday we decided to try to get her to walk between us. We have tried it before and she just sits down and cries, but we thought she might be ready for it this time. She took right to it and smiled huge and giggled the whole time. We had to hop on skype and show the grandparents, who were thrilled to see it. She isn't walking on her own yet, but I honestly think it isn't far away. Just needs a little more confidence, and to figure out how to get up there on her own better. Sorry for the poor placement of the video camera, it is more difficult with a tripod to get the right angle. But you get the idea.

Farr's Ice Cream stop

Katie and I took a trip down memory lane this weekend with a trip to Aesel Farr and Sons ice cream parlor in downtown Ogden. We both went there on special occaisons when we were growing up; me while on our annual summer vacation to Utah, often in my Grandpa Ritchie's big green monster of a truck. Katie would go after youth activities to the Ogden Temple. It had been at least 10 years since either of us had been to Farrs. We were on the way to the farm from a full day of family activities (mostly mine) including a memorial service for my late Grandpa Ritchie and a graduation swim party for a cousin on my mom's side. At roughly the same time, we both saw a distant Farr's Ice Cream sign and we knew we had to go. I don't think they've changed the green paint in here for at least 30 years! Apparently, we were too enamored with our sugar cones to snap a pic of the actual ice cream!

End of an Era

Tomorrow Cecilia will be 14 months old. Whew! Today marks a landmark, we stopped nursing. Done, no more, the end. On one hand it is a little sad, the end of an era. On the other, it is really exciting! I can leave her for a whole day and not have to be close to run home. Woman's weekend this fall? No problem! Plus I don't have to worry about how much I'm eating or drinking. I get more done in the day because I'm not stuck in a chair for 20-40 minutes 4 times a day. That is a lot of time if you think about it!

The whole weaning process took much less time than I thought. I think Cecilia could tell it was time and I was certainly ready for it. I had a goal of August. But it was only about a month from start to finish. Let's just hope she continues to go down easily for naps as that was the last feeding to be dropped and I really worried she wouldn't take one without falling asleep before putting her in the crib. But today she went down just fine. Keep your fingers crossed it continues :)