Cousins

From my previous post some of you were probably wondering if I actually saw my family when I was in Burrton...you know, with the plethora of babysitters I just went off the deep end. Ha!

Yes, I successfully spent time with each member of my family within an hour of Burrton during my trip. And that amounts to quite a few people!

I wanted to post some pics of Helena & my niece Ellie (3 1/2) & nephew Kane (10 months). My mom and I are forever on a quest to get a good pic of the three of them together. You'll see after this batch how that is pretty much impossible no matter how hard we try.

Playing with the bubble machine.

Playing the piano.

Maybe if we just photoshopped these 3 together???

Oh, and Kane is going to catch up with Helena in height probably by the next time we see him. He already outweighs her by a few pounds.

My mom got this good one...a rare moment of relative stillness.


-Emily :)

Good times in Burrton...

Visited Burrton last weekend and had a really great time. I hadn't been back since Christmas and I think the two things that changed the most were that Ellie grew a foot and the lake was the highest I'd seen it in years. On top of seeing my family, I got to spend some quality time with Tracee, Jim & little Anderson AND my friend Casana. Also in the mix (and always a good time) were Tim, Ryan, Dan & Nicki having some good old times at the Paradise Grill.

I was exhausted when I got home (despite Helena being awesome on all of our plane rides)...and still kind of am, so I'm going to post some pics instead of elaborating any longer.

Me, Jessica & Evan (looking a little less scruffy than he did last time I saw him).

Ryan giving me 'the business'. No, we hadn't been drinking.

Dan & Nicki (& annoying guy we don't know in the background). I just think they're the cutest.

Helena on her first boat ride! Thumbs up!! (Thanks Joel for taking us and Sheila for taking this pic!)

And the best pic from the trip (in my opinion)...Helena going in to give Anderson a kiss. He's all..."Hey...you want some of this?!?" Or maybe I should give you all a crack at captioning it better. ;)

More to come...

-Emily :)

Day Trippin'

We had an itch to get the hell out of the valley yesterday, so we ventured south a couple of hours to Manti La Sal National Forest. Overall, it was a successful trip (our friends Dan & Ashley went with us, along with their two kids) - however we're still learning that spring arrives in Utah a good month after it does in the Midwest. We ran into some closed campgrounds and almost got stuck in the snow at one point - so obviously it was a little too early in the season to be so spontaneous at 9,000 feet.

The most promising part of the trip was that Helena LOVED her new hiking backpack. And, I didn't keel over carrying her 2 miles.

Another good tip while venturing out into the wilderness: take cash. Weird, National Park ranger stations don't take Visa.

Also, while observing the raging spring rapids near the trail we were getting ready to hike, we witnessed these two teenage boys carrying an air mattress up the hill. I figured they were camping up there somewhere. Then, this guy pulls up and says to me & Dan, "Hey, did you see two kids coming down the river on an air mattress?" I'm all, "Yes...but JESUS!... they're riding down on that!?! What a bunch of dumbasses!!! They're going to drown!" Guy: "Yeah, they're my kids." Me: "Oh...ummm...well I hope they don't die." Guy, laughing: "Yeah!" Why the hell would you let your teenagers do that? Seriously? And then come by and brag about your questionable parenting judgement in front of strangers?

This and the cougar skins people had proudly displayed on the top of their garages in this neck of the woods probably explains why this is rural Utah at its best. Kind of feels like home. Ha!

Some more pics of the scenery:

I heart windmills.














Fish Creek near Scofield, Utah.















Helena enjoying the car ride.




















View back toward Scofield from our hike.



















The ridge near the point on the trail where we had to turn back because the creek had TAKEN OUT THE FOOT BRIDGE.
















I also heart birch trees. :)


























































- Emily :)

Bouncing Around...

Last week was super busy...my birthday, an evening work event, and mother's day! Whew!

My birthday was great. Everyone at work was super sweet to me...lots of fun cards & cake & lunch! Oh, and did I mention I took off early to take a nap? That evening, Helena went over to Dan & Ashley's to hang with them and their 2 kids while we went out to dinner by ourselves. So awesome! Two raspberry martinis with dinner, and I was feeling good!

Mother's Day was great, too. Lots of eating & shopping & yard work...definitely a great low-key day. Helena ate more sausage at breakfast than Ash & I did COMBINED...it was hilarious.

Posting a video of Helena from this weekend playing one of her new favorite games. Notice the slept on pigtails, how she says bounce when she's on the ball, how she tries to say butterfly, and just the general randomness of a 19 month old.

-Emily :)