Family Reunion 2012

On Monday we went to J's family reunion at Gunnison Reservoir.  Many of the family hadn't had a chance to meet Kai, and he was much loved and held while we were there.  It was our first time bringing him into the mountains, and while he did well, we did need to increase his oxygen.  We had a good time and it was nice to see everyone. 

When we first arrived, we brought him inside one of the trailers, but as the day wore on, we took him outside.  He loved being outside! He fell asleep almost right away, and slept until we left--even though he was passed off several times!


There was much to do.  The kids could play in the water, or jump on the trampoline which was set out in the water.  Next to the trampoline was a slide that they could slide right into the water!  There was horseback riding, canoeing, just hanging out, boating (including tubing and wake boarding), 4-wheeling, and more!

Zuri is the smallest one--second from left.

Zuri and Adilynn on the tube (Zuri is on the left)!  Zuri loved it until it started getting really bumpy.  In the tube next to them are Maria and Emery (mostly out of the picture--they were in the shot but slipped out as I took the picture).

The girls had a lot of fun until the tube went under the water.  The wake started to get really choppy, so the boat was slowed down, only it was too slow, and the tube got pulled right down.  I admit it, I had a little panic attack when Zuri and Adilynn went under.  I saw and heard Adilynn, but Zuri must have popped up behind the tube where I couldn't see her and she didn't cry.  I dove in the water with my clothes on and got to where Adilynn was about the same time Maria made it to Zuri (whom I had finally seen while swimming--she was fine; Adilynn was just slightly closer to me than Zuri).  There were jokes about "lifeguard Bambie," but I tell you, I wasn't even thinking at that point.  All I knew is that the tube went under and I couldn't see or hear Zuri.  I must have swimming pretty fast to make it to the girls at the same time Maria did.

Zuri was a trooper, though, and even went for a second round with me!  She didn't enjoy it nearly as much--she was nervous any time we hit a bump, and she was shivering.  Next to us are Marci and Emme.  After the second time Zuri went down, she was done.  She was cold and exhausted.  She fell asleep on the boat while I was tubing. 


After boating, we rode on the horses, which Zuri absolutely loved.  From the moment she saw the horses, she wanted to ride.  Once on, she kept reaching down and petting the horse, saying what a good horse he was.  It was really cute.  She also didn't want to get off the horse.  Looks like we have a little horseback rider in our future!

Zoo Day

Saturday we went to Hogle Zoo!  It was hot hot hot, but luckily toward the late afternoon we got some clouds rolling in to provide some relief.  Kai stayed home with the nurse, and it is a good thing because I don't think he would have done well in the heat.

The new exhibit at the zoo is Rocky Shores, where they have the polar bears, seals, sea lions, otters, etc.  It was our favorite part and Zuri loved how close she could get.  



This picture (above) is funny because she kept turning around to "show" us the seals, and every time she would turn the seals would swim right by the glass, so it would make her jump when she turned back to the seals and they were right there!



Zuri kept talking about going to see the elephants and turtles, but when we got to those exhibits, the animals were so far away that she wasn't as interested.  She liked the tigers because they roamed above her, but she was more into the mist that the zoo had to help cool people down, which was located beneath the tiger's walkway.



For a break from the heat, we went to the bird show; it was about that time that the clouds started to roll in.  It was a lot of fun to see the birds and they put on a good show!  A couple of the birds had minds of their own and weren't quite cooperating, which always makes for an interesting show!




There are doves in the background.  It was really cool.

After the bird show, Zuri and I took a ride on the carousel! She loved it and didn't want to get off!

Little Things

It is amazing how little things can make a big difference.  On Monday, we picked up Kai's new ear molds for his hearing aids, and now they don't fall out anymore!  I picked a fun electric blue this time, and they sure do pop!  I am loving his hearing aids now because I am not constantly having to put them back into his ears.  He can move his head side to side and they stay in!  Whoohoo!


We are also starting the process of packing to move to our new place in a couple weeks.  We are both really excited and really sad to move.  We have absolutely loved our current place.  In fact, we would stay here despite the distance if we had the option of a month-to-month lease (really too bad, because I know several others who would stay if they could do month-to-month) until we get our house.  We love our neighbors and our ward and we will miss them.

We are excited about moving because it means that J will be home every night as well as forty minutes closer to his work.  We will be living next door to my aunt and not that far from my mom.  The place we are moving to is quite a bit smaller, but our landlords seem to be really great people and we are looking forward to working with them.  The best part about our new place is that it has a backyard.  I know that may not seem like much, but when you are essentially housebound with two children, one of them an active four-year old, to be able to say "go play outside" is heaven; plus, I would love to sit out in the sun and soak up some vitamin D (with plenty of SPF of course).   :-)

A Beautiful Day

Good morning all!
Today is a beautiful day.
I am blessed; so truly blessed.
I have a wonderful husband and a terrific family.
The sun is shining and it is the beginning of a new day. 
How are we going to spend our day?  We are house hunting!
Life is wonderful.
God is great.
Have a fabulous day!

Photo of the Day

Guess she was tired.

We were eating dinner and Kai started beeping, so I went to see what was going on.  It couldn't have been two minutes later when I returned, and in that time she had fallen asleep mid-bite.  I don't know if you can see, but she has a mouthful of food.

Palisades

On Friday, we went down south to spend some time with J's family.  Friday night we saw The Amazing Spiderman.  Saturday we went up to Palisades and spent the day playing in the water, fishing, and canoeing.  It was a lot of fun and really relaxing, despite the heat.

I caught four fish!  Nolan was the only other one to catch any fish, and he only got one.  I was pretty proud of myself!  The fish Zuri is holding in the picture below is the fish that Nolan had caught.  

Our 4th of July

Our original plans for the 4th of July were to go out to Lake Tahoe and spend the weekend watching fireworks and playing on the beach.  Unfortunately, when we did calculations with our respite hours, we just didn't have enough to make the trip out to Tahoe and move at the end of the month, so we scrapped the Tahoe plan and stayed in Utah instead.



We tried getting some pictures with Kai and Zuri in their 4th of July outfits, but they just weren't cooperating.  I was able to get this really cute one of a spontaneous hug from Zuri to Kai.  It was really cute.

We went out to Thanksgiving Point and watched the fireworks.  I counted nine different displays at one time, completing a 360 degree circle around us.  It was fabulous.  We brought Kai with us, who was content as long as he was either being held or pushed along in the stroller.  When we would stop, he would start to get fussy.  He enjoyed the first five to ten minutes of the fireworks, but soon the novelty wore off and he fell asleep.








Zuri was watching one of the fireworks shows in the distance.





Zuri was enthralled with the fireworks.  After each one she would exclaim; "do it again!"  She didn't like the noise however, and kept her ears plugged the entire time.  She did the same thing when we saw Brave--she really doesn't like things loud.  Funny kid.

About three-quarters of the way through the main fireworks show, I realized that I had my camera on the wrong mode.  I thought I had switched it to the fireworks mode just before the show started, but apparently I had it in landscape mode, so most of my firework pictures didn't come out.

Our location also gave us a great view of the Alpine fire raging across the mountain.  The mild winter was nice, but we are really paying for it with the many wildfires across the state (and the country).  We have had nurses who have had to evacuate their homes because of their proximity to the fires.  

The hotel is blocking a good portion of the fire, but the bright red-orange glow behind is the fire.

We had a fun, relaxing day, and it was a blast with the fireworks.  The strangest part to me was not staking out our spot early in the day and spending all day romping around on the beach.  Traffic was a killer though, and we didn't end up making it home until almost midnight!