Where the summers are cooler

In a few days, this little girl:

and I....

will be visiting one of our favorite places where the summers are pretty much darn near perfect (minus the occasional snow that has happened on a fourth of July or two, if I remember right).  Need a hint?  It starts with a Wyo and ends with a ming.

And as Alayna has put it, We can't wait to "fly on an airplane and go to Jordy's house." 

To the rest of the fam....she is excited to see you too, she just seems to think that the house is Jordy's.  I guess  :)

P.S.  She will be clothed for this vacation....unlike the picture suggests.

Gettin' Ready

to see the fam and watch Adam get married.


So excited!


I may be absent for a little while, but you can bet there will be some awesome posts about the fun that was had. 


Now, if I can just remember to pull the camera out every now and again....

A much needed break: part 2

In order make our trip a little longer, we sent the men who had school and work home on Sunday and the women and kids stayed for a few extra days.

With us getting to Worland late Friday night, I just had no desire whatsoever to make the same 5 hour trek on Sunday afternoon.

So us women and children just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. It was perfect.

Of course we had to bathe with our cousins. Most of our days involved water and being outside. Alayna particularly enjoyed the slip n' slide. She never quite got the 'slide' part down, but here she is crawling on her hands and knees. Close enough, right?

Connor liked just hangin' out in the water.

Alayna could not resist drinking the hose/pool water. I don't know how many times we told her not to....

I think it's safe to say she was having fun.

When she wasn't in the water, she was jumping on the tramp with her cousins. Jace took a little break to let me snap this picture.

Alayna went out to jump on the tramp after her bath one night and this is what happened:

Pretty wild!

Side note: Karissa and I did survive the trip home with the kids. They were surprisingly very well behaved. I think we'll have to do it again sometime. :)

Laramie

Alayna and I just got back from a trip to Laramie to see my family. I had not been back to my hometown since we moved in June and it was a much needed vacation for the both of us. We had such a great time spending time with family and friends. It was her first trip to Laramie and I think she really enjoyed it.

Of course I did not get the camera out as much as I should have so some important family members are not pictured (Sarah, KaLee, Ronnie, Easton, Phil, Karissa, Craig). So I guess we will have to make another trip before long.

Here is Grandma and Alayna reading her bedtime story, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? One of my favorite parts of being with family was the extra help all the time. Grandma is getting Alayna in her nightie. Alayna sure looks like she enjoys spending a little one on one time with Grandma.

Uncle Jordan and Alayna. Aren't they so cute together? It was so fun to watch them play together. Jordan is such a great Uncle.


Grandpa is telling Alayna some of his great stories. Look at how interested she is.

What a cute pair. Alayna loved Grandpa...especially his glasses. Those glasses kept Alayna entertained (and quiet) during church for several minutes. It was so fun to watch them interact.

Most of our time in Laramie was spent in warm weather (high 50's/low 60's), but toward the end of our stay, the typical Wyoming weather got the best of us. This picture doesn't even really do it justice. There was a pretty big storm and it was quite cold. (I definitely am getting used to the weather in St. George. It was in the 80's while I was enduring this weather.) I had to scrape my windshield. Something that I haven't done in a year! That was weird.

As always, the days flew by and our vacation was over before we knew it. We had a marvelous time and can't wait to go back.

Here is Alayna flying in an airplane for the first time. I think she likes it. Don't you?

My little brother, Jordan, told my mom that it wasn't fair that Alayna got to ride in a plane when she was only 5 months old. He had to wait a lot longer than that. Too funny.

By the way, Alayna did great on the plane! She cried for maybe 10 minutes collectively. I think she didn't like it when the Captain would talk on the intercom. It was pretty loud. And she fell asleep within 30 seconds of take off. (Probably the fastest she has ever fallen asleep in my arms.) Do you think there is a way to create that plane ride effect during church? I would kill for her to fall asleep that fast again.

Oh, and she did even better in the car on the way to Laramie. She maybe cried for twenty minutes collectively throughout the 10 hours. I am not kidding. If you don't believe me, ask my family.

We loved our trip, but there is nothing like being with Daddy. We sure did miss him!

(The entire hand in the mouth is due the tooth that is coming in.)

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come!

Vegas

A couple of weeks ago we were able to go to Vegas with some of Dan's family. It was a blast. Here are some pictures of our trip.

The drive to Vegas. This picture may be a bit deceiving. You may think that our ride consisted of a baby sleeping peacefully the whole way. Think again. Alayna actually only slept for about 15 minutes. (It wasn't bad though, considering the trip is only about an hour and a half from St. George.)
Here she is sporting her Wyoming shirt. Go Cowboys!

Uncle Phil and Alayna matching. (Minus the bib.)

What a rock star! Cousin Ashlyn was kind enough to share her sparkly heart sunglasses with Alayna.

Daddy and Alayna sitting in the Cheesecake Factory. Notice the "not-so-thrilled" look on Dan's face. Alayna had just threw a nice tantrum. She was exhausted and wanted her bed, but alas her bed was three or more miles down the strip so Daddy's arms had to be good enough.

(Note: Her crying was loud enough that people from other tables kept giving us the evil eye, but what are you to do when the restaurant you are at is in Caesars Palace and it is a good fifteen minute walk to even get outside? So we just let them stare. And she really only cried for about 10 minutes.)

We can endure a little crying when this is the result.

We went to The Flamingo for lunch one day. The kids loved watching the flamingos. Even Alayna enjoyed them for a couple of minutes.

We loved spending time with family. Ashlyn and Jace were so good with Alayna. They were so cute to watch. Jace made sure to let me know what Alayna was doing at all times. Ex: He would say, "Baby Alayna crying." every time she cried.

Here was some Ashlyn and Alayna play time. (Ashlyn and Alayna are the only girl grand kids on Dan's side of the family so it was fun watching them spend time together.)

Probably the favorite thing to do was go swimming in the incredibly warm outdoor pool at the hotel. That is, everyone enjoyed it EXCEPT Alayna.

Here is a rundown of her first swimming experience.

Daddy and Alayna getting into the pool.

Just chillin' with Daddy before he puts her into the water. (Notice, no tears.)

The "I'm-not-so-sure-I-like-this-look".

"Yep. It's official. I do NOT like this one bit!"

Daddy, will you please get me out of here!

What a sad face.

We really thought she would like the pool considering she LOVES baths and the water felt just like a nice warm bath, but it was a no go. We even tried it twice and the results were the same.

I video taped it, but the majority of it is her crying. I think we are going to bathe her in her swimming suit a few times before our next attempt. Maybe she will like it then.

We had such a great time! Thanks Thad and Ilene!

Grandpa and Alayna

Here are a few darling pictures that my dad was able to capture during our visit.


This is Alayna before Grandpa smiles at her. And Alayna after Grandpa smiles at her.

I think she might be just a little bit excited. I think Alayna associates smiling with opening her mouth as wide as it will go. Silly girl.



And a darling picture of Alayna and Grandpa before church.

We had so much fun spending time with you, Dad, we can't wait to see you next month!