I'VE BEEN TAGGED

I read my sister's blog while on the phone with her and she tagged me, so I need to pull the 6th picture from the 6th file on my computer.....................
This is a picture of Gracie last year just after the new year and we were putting things away from Christmas and she happened to find the Santa hat and put it on. Only she actually thought that she was pretty funny with the pom-pom in her face. She was waddling around and watching it swing in front of her and just giggling. So, we snapped a bunch of pictures of her and that's the story. She is still just as spunky and fun as she looks.
If you have read this, consider yourself tagged, and pull the 6th picture from the 6th file on your computer and write about it.

Thanksgiving

We made it to Kate's house for Thanksgiving and got to see her beautiful baby and wild, fun and crazy girls. We had a great time and WOW! We got to have our pictures taken. Yippee! The boys don't get very excited about having their pictures taken, but the girls love to pose. We couldn't keep Emma's head up straight and get her smile just right with all the head bobbing she was doing. At one point she had completely turned her back side to the camera and still had a smile for the camera. At least she was having fun. Every time we told Gracie to smile, her eyes disappeared behind her cute cheeks. I think that Kate took over 20 pictures of our family and here is one of my most favorites. This will be posted in my front entry and Christmas cards and calendars so enjoy! You have to have some idea of how hard it is to get everyone looking all at once for one good shot.

Arches

On June 20, 2008, we took our family to Arches National Park with my brother Jared, his wife Wendy and their two kids, Allee and Jaxon. We actually started the trip off with mosquitos! We sprayed the kids and they still came after them. Finally Tom covered his entire body in clothing just to avoid getting eaten. I hate mosquitos. We stayed at the Slick Rock Campground and the mosquitos were terrible and huge. Lucky for me and Tom we got a cabin to stay in for $45 a night, with a broken bed, no bathroom and no water. J and Wendy brought their tent and stayed in it for the first couple of nights. We all got to share the community shower and bathroom with the mosquitos.
The first night, we were awakened at about 4:30 a.m. to banging on our cabin wall and laughing and loud obnoxious , single adults. So, we talked to the owner and complained, but we still had to stay one more night or pay for it anyway. This led us down the street to a hotel called the Virginian. We could stay there for $60 a night with a kitchen, tub, shower, and a double queen and NO mosquitos.
The first day was my birthday so we drove around and spent some time sightseeing, and then we went swimming. AHHHHHHH! The community pool was wonderful. It felt so good to get out of the 100 degree weather and cool off. The kids loved it too.
The hike to the Delicate Arch was by far the hardest hike I have ever been on, and the most worth it. WOW! We were stopped on the way up by some people from Louisianna that told us to turn around and go back. Only, because they couldn't make it up there. We were determined and poor Bryce was struggling with his knees. The whole Osgood Slaters Disease was really affecting him. Emma started out so happy and was so excited about this adventure and then by the time we had made our first bend in the trail, she wanted in the backpack and water. It was about 97 degrees when we started out, but when we got back to the van, it was 114 degrees. I would love to go back this fall and hike it, I bet there is a big difference in the temperature. The Delicate Arch is huge and yes, there was something on my camera lens when we got there. Right in the center! It was probably steam, as it was very hot and we carried it in the back pack with the water bottles. Who knows?
The last two days we spent seeing some more of Arches and then we went to the Canyonlands. That was a really pretty drive and there are a few hikes as well that we went on. Sorry to J and Wendy. They asked me to take their picture and I jumped up on a rock and missed and slammed their camera into the ground and broke it. Ouch! Anyway, I have scars, but I am still looking for a replacement.
Now everywhere we go, we see the Arch on license plates and billboards and postcards and Emma says, "Hey, we went there!" They loved it. We even caught a lizard and played with it for a while. Man those things are fast!

"There She Goes, There She Goes Again"

So. we had just had a brand new baby arrive at our home and while I was nursing her, my dear little Emma took PERMANENT BLACK SHARPIE marker to herself. Oh my, how could this happen in a matter of 15 minutes. She looked like a Gothic child and I was hoping that this was not a glimpse of what is to come. I told her "We only color on paper not our bodies." She was 2, so what she probably heard was, "We color on paper and our bodies".

This must have been so, because within the same week she got a hold of the PERMANENT RED SHARPIE marker only to make a bigger mess with it. She colored down the hall on the walls, the closet doors, in her room on her white cabinet, her table I had just painted white, on her body and oh yes, did I fail to mention it is PERMANENT marker. That same day we had a contractor come to our home to find me scrubbing the walls with Denatured alcohol and her body with Disolve-it. At least she drew some really cute smiley faces and there is still one face left on her cabinet just to remind me that I need to hide the markers at all times and that 2 year old kids only hear half of what I say.