Time in McCall

After a week in Utah, we drove 7 hours north to McCall, Idaho, where my family shares a condo with my extended family. It was my family's turn to be there, and no one else was interested in coming up, so we took advantage. We had a few days there by ourselves; then my sister Laura, who lives in Iowa, arrived with her 6 children. The kids had fun riding Grandpa's boat into town to visit the legendary Ice Cream Alley.

Hattie was pretty excited about wearing a life jacket for the first time

And she did pretty well on the boat ride

Cousins Grace and Myra walking with Hattie

Myra, Grace, James, Paul and Hattie

Our huge banana split...but they forgot the bananas!


Hattie certainly ate her share


Hattie with Grace...one of my favorite pictures


The view of the lake


Myra and Grace

Anson loved playing in the sand, but Hattie was paranoid about all the sand on her feet and preferred the swimming pool

The pictures really don't do this place justice. I grew up visiting McCall often and consider it a second home. I'm excited to share this place with Hattie.

A week in Utah

After driving through the Grand Canyon, we made our way up to Utah to spend a few days visiting friends and family. My Uncle Len was kind enough to let us stay at his house all week. Here are some highlights:

We met Paul's brother's fiance, Julia, and had a wonderful dinner at her house, followed by a rousing game of croquet. The backyard had 3 terraces, so Paul and Michael set up an intense course, ending in a long drive back up the hill we just came down.

This is how the game ended - with the three brothers playing a twisted rendition of Poison. The best part is watching Hattie play with the train in the background.

Living in Lubbock, we have really missed being near the mountains, so one day we drove the Alpine loop from American Fork Canyon to Provo Canyon. We got out for a while to hike along the trail that leads to Mt. Timpanogos peak. Of course, we didn't make it that far with Hattie, but she walked for a good chunk of the way, surprisingly.

Paul sure wished he could go to the top...maybe another year

And Paul's uncle Gregory and aunt Vikki had us over for dinner and he made some amazing burgers...carmelized onions, balsamic sauce, roasted onions, toasted buns, smoked hickory bbq sauce, bacon, cheese, roasted red peppers, mushrooms...it was hands down the best burger we've ever eaten.

And Hattie got to play with her cousin Nora

We also had some late nights with Paul's brothers playing board games, just like the old days. And I was able to meet up with some friends who live in the valley and catch up a bit. Being back in Utah reminded us how much we missed the mountains, good restaurants, decent shopping, rock climbing, and friends and family close by.

What's so grand about it?

When I was a kid, probably six or so, my family visited the Grand Canyon. All I remember about the trip was asking, "What's so grand about it?" And as much as they tried to explain it to me, my family couldn't convince me of how amazing it was. Now, 20 years later, I was anxious for the chance to visit again, since I love geology and visiting National Parks. We took a detour on our long drive from Lubbock, Texas to Ontario, Oregon and drove through the Grand Canyon. Because of Hattie, and since we had a lot of driving still ahead of us, we didn't spend as much time there as we would have liked. But I was glad to go back and spend a while enjoying the beauty and majesty of the canyon.

Hattie was a little scared at first, but she overcame her fears after Paul held her for a while

Home Improvement

We have LOVED having Paul home from school for the last few weeks. We've been able to get so much done around the house. Here are a few pictures of what we've done:

I got the itch to paint something, so we started small and did Hattie's bathroom. We love how it turned out. Now I want to paint the hall, the family room, and Hattie's room. We'll see when I make time for it.

We've finally turned Hattie's room into a proper nursery. She is 21 months old and we finally have a crib for her. She has been in a Pack and Play since she was born, so it's nice to finally have a cute room for her. It seems most parents do this before the baby is born, but I'm just glad we did it before baby #2 was born and we needed another bed!

Paul also built the kids' play table that you see. He spent quite a few days in the garage with his tools, scaring Hattie to death whenever he turned on his saw or drill. We love how it turned out and Hattie loves to play with it. And it makes her room look so much cleaner now that I can shove all her toys underneath.

Diaper hats

When I asked Paul to get a diaper this morning, he came back like so, with a matching one for Hattie. She fell in love, as you can see in the video. Hopefully she doesn't request one every day!

Fashion issues

The other day at the store, Hattie had a serious diaper explosion, reminiscent of when she was but a wee babe. Her onesie and her shorts were completely dirty, leaving her only her little tank top shirt she had been wearing. Because of her ever-itchy skin, she was constantly pulling up her shirt. At least she is thinning down a bit!

Then, Paul realized that his shorts were getting a little old.

And Hattie finally discovered Paul's cowboy hat on our bookshelf and begged to wear it. I think it goes well with her jellies, don't you?

Tickets and tires

Wow...I hope this van isn't bad karma. I bought it on Thursday night. Saturday when driving back to Lubbock, I was pulled over for speeding (I guess I have had bad luck since moving to Lubbock). He pulled me over just a feet yards after a speed change sign, so I simply hadn't slowed down yet. Gratefully, the officer was kind - maybe because I was pregnant and Hattie was sleeping in the backseat - and only gave me a warning.

Sunday, when dropping off dinner at a friends' house, I heard a strange noise at the back of the van. I looked at the area where the noise was coming from, but saw nothing. Later when Sam and Brittney came to dinner, they said there was a bolt in my tire. Upon further inspection we discovered this:

Gratefully we patched it up easily, but now I'm worried about what other strange van trouble will happen!