Preston, ID and BIG NEWS!

Earlier this month we took our first family trip to visit Grandma Elsie and Farmer Floyd up in Preston, Idaho. There's really not a lot to do in this little town just past the Utah border. We did have lots of fun just being with some of Jonathan's family for a change of pace. I don't know what I'd do without all my family near me. Jonathan's family is scattered all over the US. He and his mom were trying to remember the last time all five of his siblings were in the same room together and they decided it was at his sister Laura's wedding - about 20 years ago. YIKES! I get grumpy if I have to miss out on a family birthday party and I see my sisters at least a few times a year and my parents live down the street from us. That's one thing that will keep me from moving to another state. I'd have to convince all four of my sisters and their families to come with as well as my parents. It'll never happen. Sure, Jonathan and I could both find higher paying jobs in other states, but I have to be near my family. I just like them. We had our tough times growing up. I was probably the meanest and grumpiest of the five but we're close and I consider all of my sisters to be very good friends. Someday before too long, we hope to move up closer to the three that live in Davis County.

Anyway this was supposed to be about our trip . . . and our BIG NEWS. First, because I'm dying to make sure everyone knows: I'm pregnant again! Yay! Gwen's going to be a big sister! My due date is February 19th which means I'm 9 weeks along right now. So far, so good with this pregnancy. I have more energy and less nausea then I did with Gwen. I'm still exercising and trying to eat well, or at least eat something because I don't have much of an appetite with this pregnancy again. Oh, and the heartburn has already started. Other than those few minor things, I have to remind myself that I'm pregnant because it doesn't seem real yet. I remember it being that way with Gwen, and it was more real after I heard her heartbeat for the first time. That's usually around 12 weeks or so, so I've been putting off my OB appointment until around then so I can hear it when we go in. It's okay, I got the doctors I work with to write me a prescription for prenatal vitamins and I know what to expect these first weeks anyway. I'll keep the news posted on here and I'm sure many of you will get sick of hearing about my pregnancy.

So,our trip to Idaho. We spent three days there hanging out with Jonathan's mom and step-dad. We took their dog, Lady for walks and Gwen climbed their big tree as much as she could. We stayed in the one motel in the city and all slept in a king size bed. Gwen did great with the sleeping arrangements except that she loves to sleep sideways and shove her feet under your ribs. Not very comfortable sometimes.

Grandma bought Gwen this cute outfit. Guess what, no pink on it anywhere. Wow, I think that's a first. Check out that wood panelling and shaggy green carpet. Stylish.Gwen and Lady. Lady is the world's worst guard dog, she's very friendly and enthusiastic. She knocked Gwen over a couple times but Gwen still loved going over to play with her.Here's Grandma playing with Gwen. They got along really well.Grandpa Floyd and Gwen on his tractor. Gwen liked it until they started to drive away from Mommy and Daddy. Then, not so much.Gwen sleeping in the bed. This is what it was like each morning as Jonathan and I tried to stay in the bed and not be shoved off.Climbing the big tree in front of their place. I had no idea she was any good at climbing trees. She'd never done it before but she got up higher than my head. I didn't take a picture because I was standing under her trying to talk her down.We had some of Jonathan's aunts and uncles over for lunch the last day and Gwen ate all the olives and about half of the tomatoes before the hamburgers were ready.

Grand Canyon Trip

My little traveler.

We just got back yesterday from our Grand Canyon trip with Grandma and Grandpa Buckholts and Great-Grandpa Madsen. Jonathan couldn't get the time off from work to come with so it was just Gwen and me. I was worried about not having her Daddy there to help, but it turns out that Grandma was the best substitution we could have hoped for. She even cried and cried when Grandma didn't stay with us after the trip. She really loves her.

The first day we drove and drove to Las Vegas and stayed in the Sam's Town Casino. It has this big indoor park with a stream and animatronic animals up on rocks in the center. A few times a day they do a water and laser show there. I wish I had my video camera running when Gwen walked into the casino for the first time. She was shocked by all the loud sounds and lights. She stood there frozen for a few moments until I prodded her out of her stupor. After finding our rooms Gwen and I changed into our swimming suits and went for a quick dip. Gwen is even more fearless in the water this year and every time we go swimming she gets more and more daring. She showed Grandma how she can blow bubbles in the water and "jump" into my arms from the side of the pool. Her jump in more of a collapse since she still doesn't have the coordination to do a real jump yet. After swimming, we went to dinner at a buffet which is a great choice if you're traveling with an almost 2-year-old. She could have olives, jello, pizza, and cherry tomatoes. I don't know where else you can get that combination. She finished her meal off with a messy chocolate ice cream cone. After I cleaning her up, we piled into the van again to go see the flowers and fountains at The Bellagio. Gwen loves flowers and has to say "hi" to all of them. She was almost overwhelmed by all the flowers in the Bellagio. I thought we'd be there forever greeting them all. Gwen was getting really sleepy though and we moved outside to watch the fountains. We had a nice moment together where she just put her head on my shoulder and watched the fountains that way. She was a little scared of them when they went off really high because they're a little bit loud. That night she slept in my bed with me. We didn't even ask for a crib knowing that she wouldn't stay in it anyway. She did fine in my bed though.

Gwen watching the water show. She knew all the animals and kept "roaring" at this bear.
She couldn't take her eyes off of it. She was wowed.
Gwen's chocolate ice cream messy face.

Saying "hi!" to all the flowers at the Belagio.

A scale model down all with plant material of the Belagio hotel and fountains.

The next morning we drove the rest of the way to the Grand Canyon. Gwen did really well on the long drives. I had bought a portable DVD player and rented a bunch of Elmo and Signing Time videos from the library. That and a new coloring book seemed to keep her happy for the most part. When Gwen first saw the Grand Canyon she raised both of her hands over her head and said "Wow." I'm sure it was just how we all felt the first time we saw it in real life. We spent two days walking and driving all around the park. Gwen spent the time pushing her stroller around and wearing her doggy backpack (really a kid leash) so she didn't fall over the side. We even saw some "wild-life." Although, I think that by the way the deer and elk we saw just stood by the van and watched us, they're probably as wild as the burros they use to hike the canyon. Gwen loved seeing the elk and even tried to scare them by shouting "boo" at them. Too bad they couldn't hear her from inside the van. One night we went to a lecture on the canyon and Gwen fell asleep in Grandma's arms one night. I think that was probably one of her favorite parts of the trip. The other night we went to a star party and met a large number of geeks with expensive telescopes. I had this vision of my bored little girl trying to climb one and costing us thousands of dollars so we didn't stay too long. At our near-by hotel they only had king size beds so that meant that Grandma, Gwen, and I got to share one for two nights. It was funny because the littlest one definitely took up the most space in the bed. It was a fun and memorable trip- at least for me. Who knows how much if anything Gwen will remember, but at least I think she had a good time.

Sitting on Grandma's lap looking out at the "Big Gully" as Grandpa Max calls it.Yup, it's Grand alright.

Gwen and Mommy at the Grand Canyon. Even in the middle of the desert Gwen can find flowers to talk to.

Trying to climb the wall at Hopi Point. One disappointing part was that over half of the trail was closed due to construction. So we didn't get to see some of the neater places that we'd been to before.

Gwen was NOT going to be pushed around in her stroller - or let anyone else push it either. Remind me why I brought it again?

At the General Store in the middle of the park there's a big stuffed elk that Gwen was a little afraid of at first. Before long we couldn't get her away from it though.
Gwen in her night-gown with her pacifier and sunglasses writing a love note for Grandma in the bathroom of our hotel room.

Wheeler Farm

Wheeler Farm is one of Gwen's favorite places on Earth. We went there yesterday evening because the Terrible Two's have hit us hard this week for some reason. Gwen's been extra grumpy and clingy. She refuses to do anything she's asked even if it's something she wants to do. Her favorite word is no and it's all we hear these days. To counter our extra grumpy

nearly two year old, we've been spending more time doing her favorite things. We discovered that PetSmart is a wonderful and free place for a little one who loves animals when it's rainy and cold outside. One can only spend so many hours walking around the store watching the kitties and birds and saying "hi" to every single animal and person there. That's why we were so glad the rain cleared up so we could spend an evening at Wheeler Farm. It's also free and includes miles of little trails in case your kid is more active than ours. Gwen is content to sit in front of the animals and watch them forever. I remembered to take my camera and got some good pictures. She sure is cute even if she's quickly growing into a Terrible Toddler.The wagon rides end at 4:30 and we were there later than that but it didn't stop Gwen from climbing all over the wagons.

The sheep kept baaing at Gwen and she'd giggle and call them "silly". Just as I was taking this picture a bunch of kids ran around the corner. That's why she's not looking at the sheep anymore. The kids were more interesting anyway.

Looking at the bunnies with Mommy. Gwen still does that cute almost jump where one leg still stays on the ground.

Sitting on a bench watching the ducks and geese with Daddy. It was a wobbly bench and it was fun to scare Mommy by standing on it and making it wobble even more

You'd never guess that she's been super grumpy from her smile in this picture. Don't let her fool you. She's just thinking of ways to get into trouble.

Getting a piggyback ride with Daddy. She's actually squirming around trying to get down so she can run off.

So cute in her summer outfits. And so tall too.

Baby Ducks

They finally came! Our baby ducks hatched on Sunday morning, sorry no white ducks, Joel. Gwen and I found them all huddled in the nest on our way to church. When we got home Mama Duck was trying to lead them to the nearby pond. Unfortunately, she picked a bad time to head out - everyone was driving home from church. She got scared and headed back to her nest only three of the seven babies got stuck in the gutter and couldn't climb up the curb. I don't know how long they were there and it was really hot that day. It was near 90 degrees and probably a lot hotter on the pavement. Anyway, I saw them stuck there and quickly grabbed them and put them back near mom and the others. One didn't look too good though. He was having a hard time even standing. If you look hard you can see his poor little feet up in the air at the back of the bunch in the picture. After lunch I went back outside to check on them and he had gotten stuck in the gutter again and died. It was sad. We went to the ponds to see if we could find our little duck family today. Do you know how hard it is to tell ducks apart? We did see a family with some little babies, so that might be them. I hope they got there without any more problems.

It was fun to have had this experience. I wish the babies would have stuck around for a day or so. It was a little bit of nature happening in my tiny backyard. Now I finally get to clean up the weeds and her old nest. There's four or so duck eggs that didn't hatch. I'm going to toss them before they go bad.
On another note, I bought some cute summer clothes for Gwen today. They're all 3T and fit her great. My kid is so big. I also let her choose her new sandals. It was super cute because then everywhere we went today she would run up to people and hold up her foot saying "shoes". It's so fun to watch her pick up new concepts and I'm always surprised at how much she understands. She's really not a baby anymore.

Mama Duck and other pictures

There she is snuggled behind my rose bush and about a foot and a half away from our back steps. She's not the smartest duck on the block because we almost never go out our front door so we're constantly walking right past her. She tolerates us though because for the last at least 2 1/2 weeks she's been there all the time. We've seen three other duck families out for swims in our ponds nearby so we know that the eggs should hatch any day. Joel - it's just a plain old duck and the dad's a regular mallard, unless she's more of the Jerry Springer type duck. But, if there's a white baby duck I'll help you catch it and keep it as a pet. It's so tempting to touch her. She holds really still if you get near her. None of us have tried to pet her yet. I can't promise the same for the babies.
I know you all do it every day, but Gwen put on her pants by HERSELF for the first time the other day. We've yet to see a repeat of the performance though. She does insist trying by herself to do it before getting mad and screaming for help.
Gwen insisted on wearing her gloves all evening. Aren't almost two-year-olds fun? I was trying to get a picture of her coloring with her gloves on but just at that moment her shoe started to bug her.
This is from the Train Museum in Ogden on Mason's 6th Birthday. We drove up to spend the afternoon with the Witkamps and Laura and Noah. I don't think I got a picture of Noah - he just won't hold still long enough. Here's Kim and Gwen playing in the train engine.
Mason the Birthday Boy. I love his toothless grin and fauxhawk. He's gotten so big. I can't believe he's already six.
Daddy is a great ride. Gwen prefers to rough house with him which is okay by me. If we're all sitting around watching TV she come over and push us off the couch. She's keeping us young, that's for sure.
One word: talent. I'm not even that good at using chopsticks.

A New Month?

Gosh this last month went by so quickly.

First off: Happy Birthday to my BFF and Maid of Honor John. (hee hee, BFF, I'm sooo hip . . . or 13)

Jonathan had finals this week and is now one semester closer to having his Associates Degree in History. "What can he do with that?" you're wondering. Nothing. Except transfer to a 4 year university and get a bigger degree in another couple years so he can teach history to geeks like himself. He has one more semester at SLCC before we have to decide on U of U or Weber State for the rest. He's glad school is over for the next couple months but will be keeping busy working full-time at a center that handles calls for the Deaf. The work is just on a weekly basis right now, but we hope it settles into something more temporarily permanent that we can count on for a couple months.

I'm still working 5 or 6 evenings a week at the urgent care clinic. I'm sticking to my workouts at the gym. Sometimes quite literally since I sweat buckets when I'm there. I've started doing the different classes they offer and love the cycle and yoga classes so far. I even ran over 3 miles without stopping the other day. I've never been able to do that before. I feel good, sore, but good.

Gwen got her first ear infection the other day. She'd been battling cough and congestion for almost three weeks and then got a fever and goopy eyes. After two doses of antibiotics she was back to being my happy kid again. Her favorite things to do these days are to make forts in my front loading clothes dryer and play the piano. She takes her blankets, snacks, crayons and paper into the dryer and will hide in there while I cook or clean the kitchen. She climbs up on the piano bench and plays the piano with her tushie, bouncing up and down on the keys and giggling. She knows it's not allowed and I think that's why she likes it so much.

We have a mama duck just outside our back door who built a nest a few weeks ago and has been sitting on her eggs since. I'll post some picks when I upload them. There's 10 eggs in there but she wasn't around for a couple days after laying the first two so I don't know if they'll make it. Still, we can't wait to see if her eggs will hatch in the next few days. It'll be awesome to have a family of ducks in our backyard area.

New Glasses!

As promised, here are pictures of me in my new glasses. I went to Eye Masters and got one pair for free. I don't really need two pairs, but it will be nice to have a back-up pair for when Gwen (aka Destroyer-of-Glasses) gets her hands on them.Jonathan calls them geek glasses and he loves them. They seem pretty sturdy so maybe they'll survive my toddler's curiosity.
My other pair is less sturdy and far less obvious then the Geek frames. It was fun to try on all the different frames but after a while I ended up going back to the first couple pairs I tried on. Isn't it always like that?