one last hurrah

I don't know why it takes a family vacation to get me to post on my blog...but apparently it does! We just got back on Tuesday from our last little adventure before The Arrival. (i just decided to start calling my due date that!! i love it!!)

We spent 4 days in Provo at my parents' house. We had so much fun there! Grandma and Grandpa spoiled my girls, Reid got in a round of golf with his brother, my mom's family had their family reunion, Abby, of course, took her semi-annual trip to the Urgent Care, we went to the Brick Oven for dinner with some of my dearest friends (Carrie, Tiff, Brandalee and Kathy), and my family put together a wonderful early birthday celebration for me, with homemade ice cream and all (thanks, Julia!!) I was too busy to get my camera out, so i have few pictures of this part of the trip....but i do love this one of Abby and my dad. She LOVES her grandpa! she even learned how to say "grandpa" while there!


(on a side note, abby's visit to the UC was just for a bad cough she had-- i just wanted to make sure it wasn't bronchitis cause she was so miserable at night--which was explained by the fact that she had an ear infection in both ears!!! i can't say that i recommend this specific doctor. she recommended 3 OTC drugs and 1 perscription drug for the cough ( all of which my doctors here have strongly advised against for kids under 5), and 1 antibiotic for the ears, and then she said "i don't usually give this to kids this age, but if she's not sleeping at night here's a rx for cough syrup with Codine, too." i know i'm a bit of a hippie with my home-rememdial ways...but even the pill-pushing parents in the world would've left that office feeling a little drug-overdosed.)


We then spent 6 days up in WY with Ried's family. All his siblings were there and we had a GREAT time! There's probably more info here than any of you care to read...but this is my "journal", so i'm not holdin' back!

Grace had SOOOO much fun with her cousin, Ella. They are so cute together, and, of course, they fought tons, too. Here are some cute pics we got of them during the not-so-feisty moments

Pumping water at Palisade Reservoir

Throwing rocks and pine cones into the lake

Enjoying Tom and Jana's AMAZING home-made corndogs

the rest of these pictures were the closest to
"posed" photos we could get. The girls had been bribed with
a licorice if they'd cooperate....this is the best we got :)

Reading stories with Uncle Tom before church

One of my favorite moments of the whole trip was the morning of the 4th. It was about 9:30am, we were getting ready to head to the small-town parade and Reid's mom comes in the door and tells us that her organization needs someone to dress as pioneers and push the handcart in the parade. i SWEAR on my life i have no idea what transpired the next few moments, but by 9:45 i'm wearing some pioneer-ish apron and bonnet, Reid's in his dad's old jeans, plaid shirt and suspenders, Grace is in a bonnet, and our little family is in the line-up for the Thayne City Parade!! Needless to say, people got quite the kick out of this 22-month pregnant woman manning a handcart (even though Reid did 99% of the work). It was actually really fun, and a really great reminder to me of how happy i am to not be a pioneer. Thank heavens for those women and their strength. And thank heavens for mini-vans and air conditioning. Trips to WY always remind me of what a wimp i am....this 4-block parade did so, too.

Reid loves that i'm posting this pic of him :)

Reid's family isn't really a "birthday family," so i had pretty low expectations as far as my 30th b-day went (yes, you should all feel really bad right now for not remembering, sending an e-card, calling, etc... ) but they went ALL out to make it a really fun day for me!

They put balloons up around the house (i'm guessing that's the

first time they've ever put up balloons for a b-day)

They made an adorable and delicious flag-cake and homemade ice cream
(sorry for the blurry pic!)


and we did dutch-oven dinner down at Murray's Dam.

And Reid gave me an awesome gift! He remembered that last Christmas i'd said how much i'd love to add the Willow Tree nativity set to my slowly-growing creche collection and he gave me the entire collection!! (Have i mentioned how lucky i feel to be married to this guy!?!?! The best part is he's not like one of those guys who's lame 358 days out of the year but really kicks butt every holiday, you know? He's so good to me on a daily basis, PLUS he's so thoughtful on special occasions!!! how did i get him!??!?!?) It was a perfect b-day present because, let's be honest here, who doesn't want to celebrate a little Christmas in July!?!??!

Thanks, babe!

Other highlights from the trip include the slip 'n slide (grace wouldn't do it alone, but she rode down on Reid's back several times)

Watching my sweet Abby 's vocab grow by about 700%. She honestly changed so much over those 10 days . She's talking so much more now, and she's got even MORE of an opinion and attitude....but she's SOOO much fun, and anyone who's around her can't help but smile!!

Having a break from my kids while Grandma and Grandpa SPOILED them!!

Celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary at the in-laws.
And, of course, those breif moments when both girls were asleep on those long stretches of dry, dead, Wyoming highway!