Poor Brooklyn

We had a VERY traumatic night last night. I had tucked Brooklyn into bed and was on my way out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I didn't realize she was right behind me and she walked right into the shutting door. (Yes I feel like mother of the year. Acutally I felt so AWFUL) As soon as I heard it, I thought, "Oh no." She was in a panic cry and I looked and just saw blood coming down her face. Immediately I got her into the bathroom and put a washcloth to her forehead so she wouldn't see the blood. When I looked at the cut I knew she would need stitches. I called Sean and he couldn't hear what I was saying because Brooklyn was crying so hard and heard " Brooklyn and stitches." He came home and Kami and Paula came up to sit with Gracie and we headed to the ER. When the doctor saw it he said it would need 3 or 4 stitches. (Which just about sent Brooklyn over the edge.) Sean's brother Keith lives close to the hospital and he was nice enough to come up and help Sean give Brooklyn a blessing which helped calm her (and me down). We had the sweetest nurse that was SO good with Brooklyn. She was explaining what they were going to do so nicely and Brooklyn was under control. I wish I could say the same about Sean and I. I was sitting on the bed holding Brooklyn with tears and I looked over and saw that Sean had the exact same look on his face. It was so hard because I would have done anything to trade places with her. When time came for stitches it was BRUTAL. Sean, the nurse, and I had to hold her down as the doctor stitched (she ended up getting 3 stitches). She was screaming and bawling and yelling. But after it was done she was just fine and slept good last night and had a great day today. She got to go to lunch with the gals and then go and hang out with grandma, pops, Nat, Garrett, and Gracie. Tonight I had to take the bandage off and clean the area and I think that it looks pretty good. I hope she doesn't have a nasty scar.

The bandage from the hospital (she did her own hair today and wouldn't let me touch it.)
With the bandage off
I had to clean it with baby soap

We had to make sure it was dried, put ointment on it, and bandage it again (we get to do this twice a day for 5 days and then she will get the stitches out on sunday.)

All done

Yellowstone Adventure

(I apologize in advance for the length of this post and all the pictures) We have just retured from staying in Island Park and visiting Yellowstone National Park. I have got to say that we had a blast! Growing up we went to Yellowstone every year for our family vacation. My grandparents had a trailer that we stayed in- so I have so many wonderful memories of up there and I was so excited to share it with my girls. It was sad because Sean couldn't come up with us- he had everything covered at work except for 1 hour and couldn't get anyone to cover so he had to stay home- we missed him a ton! Yellowstone was full so we decided we would try and stay in West Yellowstone. We searched the internet and found a place that we thought would work for us and accomodate all of us (my parents, me and my gals, nat and garrett and the andies). Well a week before we are to leave, I come home and there is a message on my answering machine telling me that the cabin we are supposed to stay in has been condemned. Condemned!! We could not believe it. So the next day we searched and searched trying to find somewhere to stay. We have good friends (Jim and Mary Mullen) up in Island Park that gave us a few suggestions to try. So the last call I made that night we found the place we stayed in. It was SUPER nice. We were only the second people to stay in it. It was nice that we were able to put the babies on the floor and let them play- I am sure in the other place we would have not wanted to. So it was actually a blessing in disguise. When we drove through West Yellowstone, of course we had to drive by to see where it was and we were so HAPPY that we were staying where we did. We went into Yellowstone 3 different day and had a BLAST! Nat and I are so lucky that we have such great babies- we were in the park all 3 days for at least 8 hours and the babies and Brooklyn were so good- besides a few meltdowns they were angels. We got to visit some of out favorite spots in the park; Canyon, Lake area, Bridge Bay, and Fishing Bridge. We love in between Canyon and Fishing Bridge- there is an area called Hayden Valley- it is where you see a ton of Buffalo and if you are lucky grizzly bears. We were lucky because that first day we saw 3 grizzlys. People are so nice up there and let you use their spotting scopes so you can see really good- Brooklyn was even able to see good and she loved it. Our second trip in my family went to see Old Faithful- it amazes me every time I see it. On our way out of the park we were driving through Hayden Valley and the buffalo decided to cross the road. One stopped right in front of our car and would not move. It finally did and we got past- but it came out again in front of my parents car. Brooklyn was in that car and absolutely loved it. We finally got through that and headed home. We got in a big jam and knew something had to be up and sure enough there was a grizzly bear making his way down the river. It was really cool because you could see it really good without a scope. We watched it for over an hour. I think that it is really neat to see bears in the wild like that. We finally made it home late that night. Our last day in we went to another favorite spot of mine called Mammoth. We went on this beautiful drive and at the end of it same thing we looked down on the road and saw lots of cars and Forest Rangers light flashing- when we got up close there was a black bear probably a block or 2 away. It was way cool. We had an awesome trip full of great memories and lots of sightings! We saw beautiful water falls, tons of elk, buffalo, bears, moose, coyote, wolf, and chipmunks and squirrels (which I might add out of all the big animals we saw- Brooklyn liked these the best.) I hope that I can make this a tradition with my family the way it was for me when I was little.

This is a picture of the condemned place and then the place we actually stayed!

Welcome to Yellowstone! My Family: my dad, Nat and Garrett, my mom, me, Brooklyn, Sher, Gracie, and Brian. (we really missed Sean, Brett and Chelsea, and Derk)

Me and the gals at Old Faithful

Nat and Garret and my mom and dad and my brother Brian and his wife Sher at Old Faithful.

This is how Garrett and Gracie spent most of their time. Either sleeping or needing something in their mouths.

Brooklyn was also such a trooper. We had a lovely picnic at Bridge Bay.

Picnic at Bridge Bay

Beautiful water falls

Our first up close animal sighting of the trip was this elk and this is the squirrel Brooklyn was so thrilled about.

The many many buffalo (the babies were so cute)

The buffalo that stopped in front of our car

A picture of the black bear ( i realized my sister has the good picture of the grizzly)

We also had a GREAT time in Island Park- the guys golfed, we visited some good friends, and we rented these paddle boats and had a blast! (they are a lot harder than they look I might add)


Gracie LOVES water and waded in the river I also had to post this picture because it shows how cute her legs are. Brooklyn saved some money and from donations from family was able to buy this cute grizzly bear that she LOVES!

It is always sad when vacations come to an end but also good to get home. We were so glad to see Sean. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family. They are all so good with my girls and love them so much. When I am at my witts end, someone will step up and help me out. Thank you all so much for helping me and loving my girls- we love you so much!

A walk down memory lane...

This is so fun!
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Week of Bear Lake Fun!

Every year since I can remember, my dad has had the whole week of the 4th off and we go up to the cabin. This year we did the same. My parents had a wedding in Vegas and came straight home and went on the Trek with their Ward. So my sister and I were in charge of getting all the groceries. What a job. I have such a new appreciation for my parents and vacation planning- it is a BIG job. Me and the gals went up on the 28th of June and stayed until the 5th of July. Sean was able to come up on Wednesday. We do a whole lot of nothing when we are over there. It is a ton of fun. Paula's family and our friend Karen were also up with us. We did go swimming a couple times and that was a blast. And Pops even performed at the pool with his legendary canonballs. It was so cute to see the all the little kids in the pool chanting "cannonball, cannonball!" Then after he came up they all cheered- it was GREAT! Brooklyn got to go golfing with Sean and Pops and even got to drive the cart- she was thrilled. On the 4th we had an amazing cook-out- thanks dad and Ric- is was delicious! We had such a great week. I have such an amazing family (and Karen) that are all willing to help with my kids and have such great patience with them. Thank you so much for your help! My cousin Jan had brought a bag of fun things up for Brooklyn. Brooklyn had to be a good girl to get the treats- so it was great motivation for her to be on her best behavior. Thanks Jan for that-it was a life saver!!! Thanks mom and dad for all the vacations you planned for us growing up and all the hard work you put forth in making us have a GREAT childhood. I hope that I can pass that on to my kids as well. I love you guys! I love the month of July and the opportunity we have to honor those who have made it possible for us to live in this wonderful country. And also to remember the pioneers. Their endurance and perserverance is such a great example to me. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe month of July!

(This is kinda fun! I saw it on my friend Shelly's blog and decided to try it out.)

You Are Cinderella!

Dignified and hard working. With a gentle and soft-spoken manner you have something many people don't. Patience. Even through the moments of heartbreak you're still able to hold onto all of your hopes and dreams. Bide your time; your dream will come true.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Happy 6 Months Gracie Kaye!

(This pictures shows how good she is a drooling)

Can somebody please tell me where time goes? On friday Gracie turned 6 months (she had the doctor today and I wanted to wait for that to post). I cannot believe that 9 months of pregnancy have passed and 6 months since she was born. It seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant. Gracie came into this world weighing a whopping 8 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20 inches long. She has not stopped growing- as of today she weighs 21.19 lbs (99 percentile) and 27.5 inches long (96 percentile). If I had to think of one word to describe Gracie it would be SWEET! She is such a good baby and has been since she was born, between about 6-8 weeks she started sleeping through the night (no complaints from me). She loves her sister Brooklyn. Brooklyn makes her laugh harder than anyone and I love that laugh so much. It is so fun to see them interact with each other-(I hope they are the best of friends their whole lives.) Gracie has 2 of the cutest dimples you have ever seen. Her smile melts my heart. I feel so blessed to have 2 beautiful daughters. I love being a mom and I love my girls.

Fun Week!

It has taken me a few days to get this post done, but last week the gals (my mom, me and my girls, Nat and Garrett, Paula, Jan, and Karen) headed up for our first trip to Bear Lake for the year. Brooklyn loves the "cavin" (or cabin) and this was Gracie's first official sleepover up there. When we got there it was 38 degrees and had been snowing earlier in the day. It was a COLD couple of days. We had a fire going to whole time. But it was also nice and relaxful! My mom's cousins Kathy and MaryAnn were there at their cabin and it was fun to be able to spend some time with them as well. I am so lucky that before I was born my grandparents had the vision of having a family cabin where we could go up and spend time together as a family. I have so many wonderful memories of times at the cabin. My cousin Ashleigh and Willa were here from North Carolina and Tara and Guimo from Boise so we got to spend a little time with them as well. I am grateful that my mom, Paula, and Robert decided to keep the cabin after my grandma passed away. I cannot imagine us not having it.

One night before bed (I had Gracie asleep and Brooklyn came in and woke her up- I was really happy about that) we put Garrett and Gracie on the bed next to each other and next thing we knew they were there holding hands. It was way cute.

We came home on Friday and on Saturday, it was my 10 year High School reunion. I can't believe it has been 10 years. Some of my friend's husbands didn't want to go and mine didn't want to either (even though we graduated together) so us gals went together and we had a BLAST! It was nice not worrying about if the hubbies were having fun or not and we got to visit and laugh a lot. I am so lucky to have such AMAZING friends. Even after 10 years!

Brooklyn, Me, and Gracie at the Cavin

Garrett and Gracie holding hands
10 Year High School Reunion

Traci, Ashley, Julie, and Jackie

Michelle, Me, and Melissa

The Gals
(Me, Melissa, Michelle, Ashley, Jackie, Kylene, Julie, Traci, and Brittney)