High - Low

Our sweet friends leant us their cabin again this weekend so that we could get away as a family.  We had such a great time, and are so thankful for the chance we had to have some quality time together.  Here are our trip highs and lows!

James
High:  The Papes coming!  Our friends that live nearby came to visit Saturday morning and we had a great time!

Low:  Leaving:(  He's so sentimental.  Wait.  That's me.  We must've warped through the Twilight Zone this weekend.  Or Freaky Friday.  Or Prelude to a Kiss...yeah, must've been that one.  Weirdest.  Movie.  Ever.

Carole

High:  Getting to sleep in the room with blinds.  Last time we stayed in the bedroom that had nothing for window coverings.  You can see how pitch black forest doesn't mix well with my fear of the dark when there's no way to block out the creepy wooded 5000 acres behind my bed where you know crazy murderers are hanging out. 

Low:  The bazillions of bugs that decided to attack the house every night.  I never knew that locusts could be so loud.  Locusts, and giant grasshoppers slamming their bodies against the windows.

Hunter

High:  THE PINE CORNS!!!!  Hunter actually loved all of the outdoor activities, but he couldn't get enough of the "pine corns".  Somehow, though, this is the only picture I got of him and his favorite piece of nature...

I did manage to get some other ones of him, though...

Low:  McKellee leaving.  He was so sad when the Papes left.  Right after they drove away, he said, "I love McKellee in the whole wide world!" which in Hunter speak translates to "McKellee is my favorite girl in the whole world!"  Melt my heart.  I did manage to get 1 picture while the Papes were visiting....

What?  Don't you see that foot behind the stroller?  That could totally be one of the Pape's feet. 

Clearly picture taking was not my priority...in the words of Ashlee, it's too hot to take pictures.

Charlotte

High:  That would definitely be the stairs.  Hands down the stairs win her vote.  Luckily for us, she didn't discover them until the morning we left...but that still gave us enough of a workout to cover the entire weekend.

And I think that's my cue to put the camera down...

But I couldn't resist one more...

So worth it:)

Low:  Sleeping.  Or should we say lack of sleeping.  She did well at night, but had zero desire to nap during the day.  I wouldn't want to sleep in that pack n play either, so I was sympathetic...at least until the 100th hour of whining, crying and whimpering out of utter exhaustion.
 
Thank you Roberts!  We had such a great time and feel so refreshed!

Char

I took Charlotte to her 1 year well visit this week, and she had a blast waiting for Dr Halsell...

Her little personality is coming out more and more.  My once sweet, gentle baby girl is getting a little more sass in her every day!  She still has plenty of sweet and gentle moments, though...well at least sweet ones;).

Everything went great at her appointment.  She's jumped to the 74th percentile in weight and the 76th percentile in height.  They did a heel stick to check for lead levels and she was so intrigued by it.  She didn't even flinch, but just sat and watched the nurse very intently.  She got her fair share of tears in with the vaccinations, though:(

The next day we were having family cuddle time (aka, make sure both kids don't fall off the bed with all of their jumping and rolling and tackling time), and I got this video of Charlotte.  I love it because it shows so many of my favorite things about her lately...

She could play that falling game all day long.  She'll beg to be picked up and put on the bed or the couch then get up and fall backward over and over.  And then of course she'll take a little 2 or 3 second break to suck her thumb before starting the whole process over again.  I love that girl!  I can't believe she's already ONE!

Family Fun Night

Last night we were driving to get ice cream and passed Hawaiian Falls.  From the moment we drove by until the moment his little eyes closed to go to sleep, Hunter was asking if we could go to "the falls".  So we decided to go today after I got home from work because it was family fun night and tickets were only $8.88 a person (which is much more reasonable than the regular $23 for adults and $16 for kids 3 and up).

Supposedly Hunter was asking when we were going to "the falls" all day long, but when we actually got there he was really hesitant to get in the water....and we're talking ankle deep water here people.  The kid wouldn't even step in.  I eventually picked him up and put him in with us, which as you can imagine, he loved. 

Since he wasn't too thrilled about the mushroom pool, we decided to head over to the kid's area.  This was pretty much a repeat of what we'd already experienced on the other side of the park, but eventually he came over to sit with us...as long as we stayed in the perfect spot, just safe of being showered drowned by the big bucket, which who could blame him for not wanting to be flooded by that thing anyway?

After finding a good spot, we all sat and splashed for a while...

Charlotte kept trying to crawl around, which she was successful with most of the time, but we did have a couple of face plants into the water:(  I think I was more upset by this than she was, though.

Our self portrait attempt...

We decided to hand the camera over to Zack to help us out a little...

more crawling...

and laughing...

Family shot...

Thanks Zack!

Zack and Vanesa went to ride the Pineapple Express, so our little siblings decided to have some play time of their own...

Then we went over to the lazy river, which Charlotte LOVED.  We put her in her floatie and she was kicking and laughing like crazy....and of course I have zero pictures of this.  Who can blame me, though?  I was much too consumed with not being separated from my 1 year old by the crazy fast "tide" to worry about handling a camera.

Eventually we went back to the mushroom pool that Hunter was so terrified by initially, and this time he was so brave!  Look how deep into the water he is...

Vanesa and I decided to go ride some tube ride together and when we came back, this is how I found Charlotte and James...

He's already started swim lessons, and she loves it!  She kept crawling over to us in the water, pulling up to standing, and then letting go of us!  She was so happy by how excited I was about this:)  She's barely done it at home, so I was so impressed that she wanted to stand alone in the water!  Charlotte had a blast from beginning to end...

And although Hunter did pout out his bottom lip and sadly say, "I want to go to my house." after about 5.2 minutes of being there, he eventually came around and had so much fun playing with his cousins.  As we were driving off, he said, "Bye bye water park!" in his sweetest, happiest 3 year old voice.  It was the most perfect Tuesday night ever:)

Dear Charlotte

I remember the night you made your way into this world so vividly. Just one year ago your daddy and I were rushing to the hospital with great anticipation and excitement, but looking back now it seems like you've been with us all along.  You are a part of us.  You have made us a more joyful, more complete family. 

On that hot July night one year ago, I didn't yet realize just how much I would love you.  I remember while I was pregnant with you, wondering how I could possibly love you as much as I loved your brother.  But from the second I held you in my arms, you taught me that a mother's heart always has room to grow.  My heart was yours from that moment on. 

I've loved having you as my daughter over the past year.  You make me want to be a better woman just by being my daughter.  I want to give you the best that I have.  To teach you that God made you, you for a reason, so you should be confident in yourself and love yourself as I do...and as He does.

There are so many things I want to teach you.  So many things I want to save you from.  I so badly want you to be spared from all of the heartache that I endured on my journey to becoming a woman, but I know that you have to have your own heartache...for it is what will teach and strengthen you.  It is through your struggles that your relationship with the Lord will grow and develop.  So as much as it will break my heart, I will rejoice with you in those times, as we've been commanded to.  My daily prayer for you is that you would grow to love our Lord with all that you are, that you would know him from a young age and live a life in deep intimacy with Him.

I love you more than words can say, Charlotte.  Your sweet, gentle spirit melts my heart everyday.  I have been overwhelmed by the privelage of witnessing the miracle of you grow over the past year.  From then until now, here are some of my most favorite moments...

Happy Birthday sweet Charlotte Jane!  Your daddy and I are so thankful to be blessed with you as our daughter!