Call Me Patters...Hattie Patters, Ankle-Biter

So I went up the mountain for work this past Tuesday. Yes, we actually say I am going "up the mountain." It almost has a pilgrimage sound to it..."And behold, he journeyed 'up the mountain' and the stars looked down upon him and the research was good." Anyway, I came back down on Friday and, lo, what did befuddle me greatly but the Hattie Patters doing this.



Everyone start wearing socks, Hattie is almost a mobile ankle-biter. On Tuesday she was an inadvertent roller/flopper. Now she is almost crawling and deliberately rolls until she gets where she want to go. I am afraid to go back up the mountain again. Who knows, maybe the next time I come down she will be almost walking! Now nothing is safe. Everything in our house just gained two feet of elevation.

Not Out Yet!

So the Dallas Stars went down 3 games to none against Detroit in hockey's Western Conference Finals. What? Insurmountable odds you say. Hasn't been done in 33 years but now it is 3-2. Halfway there! Clearly the juju from our Red Wing voodoo cake is taking affect...finally!

Jane Austen Revival

I have been on a Jane Austen kick lately. Paul and I seem to watch Pride and Prejudice about once a month, so I finally re-read it for the first time in years. That inspired me to read Persuasion, and then watch the new BBC version, thanks to my friend Kristen. I've watched it three times since borrowing it. She also had Sense and Sensibility. I think I even like it more than the Emma Thompson version.



Also, if I've never told you of North and South and Wives and Daughters, you should see them too. They are based on books by Elizabeth Gaskell. Absolutely love them.

Zion, Zion!

We made our first road trip of the summer. We left Spanish Fork Sunday afternoon and drove to St. George. My aunt and uncle were nice enough to let us stay at their place for the night. Paul was thrilled that they had satellite, so he was able to watch Game 6 of the Stars vs. Sharks series...sadly, the game lasted until 12:40 am, going into 4 overtime periods. I went to bed long before he did - he of course stuck it out til the end. But we won! So now it's off to the Western Conference Finals!

Anyway, back to the trip. We left pretty early in the morning to go to Zion National Park. It was a nice day...not too hot, a little overcast at times, and the park wasn't very busy since it was a Monday. And Hattie was an angel. Paul just carted her around in the Bjorn all day, while I lugged the backpack full of stuff since I'm always overly prepared. The highlight was definitely hiking up Angel's Landing. Everyone was impressed that we brought a baby...she was certainly the most popular person on the trail. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

This is called the Court of the Patriarchs, three rock formations (from left to right) named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the white one behind the red one). The red formation is actually called Moroni.

Our destination: Angel's Landing

Paul and Hattie making their way up Walter's Wiggles, a series of 21 very steep switchbacks.

Paul and Hattie prepare to begin their ascent up the ridge to Angel's Landing, with 1200 foot drop offs on both sides.

We stopped for a rest in the shade and a nice Guatemalan took our picture.

We made it!

The view from Angel's Landing

Hattie slept most of the way down the trail, thank goodness.

Hattie started getting impatient with her hat.

I'm sure fried foods are bad for babies.

Melanie standing under the Weeping Rock...there really is water falling on me.

The Great White Throne, the largest monolith in the world.

Hattie got really tired.

Me and Hattie posing...she just wanted to be out of the Bjorn at this point.

We saw this tree on the drive home. Click on it and you'll see that it's full of shoes. Does anyone know anything about this tradition? We thought it was quite unique.

Adventures in Rock Canyon

In our attempt to get as much fun stuff in during these last few months, we went on a hike up Rock Canyon this morning. Hattie loved it - she could have stayed there all day - and Paul and I were jealously watching all the rock climbers. We'll have to go climbing there soon. We had to turn back earlier than we would have liked since we were infringing on Hattie's nap.


My favorite part was watching Hattie bounce back and forth in the Bjorn as she and Paul crossed the "Troll Bridge".

More suggestions

Since we've recently started a blog with Paul's brothers and sisters that is also entitled "The Iverson Family" we've felt a need to spice up our blog with a more snazzy name...but mostly so that we don't get the two confused. After sitting in front of the computer last night for 30 minutes, suggesting names back and forth (lame ones like" MPH" for Mel, Paul, and Hattie or "Say Eight" in honor of our favorite comedian), we came up with nothing.

So again, any input would be great. We are two not very creative people and we appreciate creative people like you.