CUSCO, PERU: PART TWO
September 11, 2017
When we pulled up to our hotel in Cusco I knnnnnew we were in for a treat. We walked into our room and instantly fell in love with all the brightly colored decor and high beamed ceilings. We were just a few minutes walk from the San Pedro market so we headed down before it got too late and loved walking around to all of the shops and booths filled with brightly colored flowers, souvenirs, and pigs! A man would carry in these huge skinned pigs ready for sale and just kept bringing them in one after another, Marcus and I looked at each other and said, “Only in Peru!”
The next day we headed off to our ATV tour of Moray and the Salt Flats. After some quick instruction, and scolding of not doing enough “practice” we were on our way. We completely lucked out when our entire group went one way to see a lake and we had a private tour all to ourselves. When we got to Moray, our guide gave Marcus a “bro hug” and said “Nice riding brotha! We’ll catch up to the other group later, you drive fast!” Moray was amazing to see the different temperature climates that the Inca’s grew their vegetation on. Next our guide took us to this lookout overlooking the Sacred Valley and we twisted and turned around the streets of Maras. We felt like we were in a video game as we drove through these little streets and had to stop for "cow crossings!”
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
When we pulled up to our hotel in Cusco I knnnnnew we were in for a treat. We walked into our room and instantly fell in love with all the brightly colored decor and high beamed ceilings. We were just a few minutes walk from the San Pedro market so we headed down before it got too late and loved walking around to all of the shops and booths filled with brightly colored flowers, souvenirs, and pigs! A man would carry in these huge skinned pigs ready for sale and just kept bringing them in one after another, Marcus and I looked at each other and said, “Only in Peru!”
The next day we headed off to our ATV tour of Moray and the Salt Flats. After some quick instruction, and scolding of not doing enough “practice” we were on our way. We completely lucked out when our entire group went one way to see a lake and we had a private tour all to ourselves. When we got to Moray, our guide gave Marcus a “bro hug” and said “Nice riding brotha! We’ll catch up to the other group later, you drive fast!” Moray was amazing to see the different temperature climates that the Inca’s grew their vegetation on. Next our guide took us to this lookout overlooking the Sacred Valley and we twisted and turned around the streets of Maras. We felt like we were in a video game as we drove through these little streets and had to stop for "cow crossings!”
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
We met up with our group at the Salt Flats and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen. Almost 2,500 pools filled with natural salt water from the mountain. When the water evaporates each family in Maras is in charge of 30 pools and they harvest the left over salt from them. I am a salt ADDICT so I couldn’t quit drinking and trying the stuff. Marcus was dyyyying because it was so salty!
That afternoon we visited a convent in Cusco, the Incan ruins of Quenco, Tambomachay, and ended with Sacsayhuaman. At this point our guide asked us if we wanted to see another church or stay at Sacsayhuaman and we both agreed, “Stay here!” Sacsayhuaman is made of huge boulders and each block was carefully shaped and molded. The joke is that the Incans invented Tetris-Ha! And…each boulder is hundreds of tons each! I couldn’t even believe how big they were until one of us was standing beside them. As the sun was setting it was one of those magical moments where everything felt so peaceful.
The next day we hopped on a bus and train to tour the Sacred Valley. We took the bus to Pisaq where we hiked to the top of the ruins and spent some time wandering Pisaq Market. We had an amazing lunch and then visited the ruins of Ollantaytambo. An hour after getting there, it started POURING and we found a cute little cafe with wifi and drank our hearts out of our favorite Inca Kola. After a little while the rain stopped and we explored the city, ate the best ice cream and empanadas (even thought Marcus was sure the ice cream wouldn’t be good-it was fantastic!), and picked up a few paintings and souvenirs for our girls. Then we hopped on the train to Aquas Calientes, the city that stands at the base of Machu Picchu.
IQUITOS, PERU: PART ONE
August 28, 2017
Marcus served a two year church mission in Peru, so for years he has wanted to go back. We started off spending a few days in the jungle. Marcus couldn’t go up the river by boat as a missionary, so this time we found a place to stay that was two hours up the Amazon. We didn’t know what we were in for when we pulled up to the boat dock but we were so surprised! Mostly, because we had air conditioning in our room. Ha! We felt pretty spoiled by this when at home it’s something we just take for granted.
The next morning we came to a small town where people travel by moro-taxis. Similar to a tuktuk in Asia. Well, our grouped was whizzing around these small paths and we felt like we were in a video game of MarioKart or something! We were laughing so hard with our guide shoved between the two of us! We then went on a canopy tour of the jungle 100 ft up with bridges that connected one tree to the next. Some were even 60 ft in length! We had one of those “moments” when we were at the highest platform and two macaw birds went flying overhead. The jungle goes out for as far as you can see and it reminded me of being over the top of a bunch of broccoli stems. I think I said “This is sooo pretty” about a million times.
One of our favorite things was riding the boat up and down the river. Nobody uses cars and they have to access everything by boat or mototaxi. Having the chance to stop at a few villages and see their everyday life was an eye opening experience. I was gravitated to the groups of small children and they just wanted to see everything I had, my sunglasses, my necklace, my fan made from a leaf-Ha! They loved looking at themselves on my camera from the pictures I took. But it made me miss my own babies who were at home!
One night we went on a “jungle hike” and our guide, Segundo, had been our fearless leader through the jungle for a few days, so at this point I was feeling pretty confident I’d follow him anywhere! But that night when we went into the jungle every little noise had me on edge. With nothing but a flashlight we were looking for crocodiles, tarantulas, and seeing the biggest bugs I’d ever seen in my life! I nearly had a panic attack when a spider fell down from a tree riiiiiight between me and our guide. But looking up and seeing the stars was like non other! It was incredible.
Our last day we went fishing for piranhas and I couldn’t believe it when I caught one! We had it for dinner that night, and it was surprisingly really good. Leaving the jungle I got super sad and emotional. It was just everything and more that I expected, and I honestly didn’t know how the rest of the trip could compete with my newfound love for the jungle.
Marcus served a two year church mission in Peru, so for years he has wanted to go back. We started off spending a few days in the jungle. Marcus couldn’t go up the river by boat as a missionary, so this time we found a place to stay that was two hours up the Amazon. We didn’t know what we were in for when we pulled up to the boat dock but we were so surprised! Mostly, because we had air conditioning in our room. Ha! We felt pretty spoiled by this when at home it’s something we just take for granted.
The next morning we came to a small town where people travel by moro-taxis. Similar to a tuktuk in Asia. Well, our grouped was whizzing around these small paths and we felt like we were in a video game of MarioKart or something! We were laughing so hard with our guide shoved between the two of us! We then went on a canopy tour of the jungle 100 ft up with bridges that connected one tree to the next. Some were even 60 ft in length! We had one of those “moments” when we were at the highest platform and two macaw birds went flying overhead. The jungle goes out for as far as you can see and it reminded me of being over the top of a bunch of broccoli stems. I think I said “This is sooo pretty” about a million times.
One of our favorite things was riding the boat up and down the river. Nobody uses cars and they have to access everything by boat or mototaxi. Having the chance to stop at a few villages and see their everyday life was an eye opening experience. I was gravitated to the groups of small children and they just wanted to see everything I had, my sunglasses, my necklace, my fan made from a leaf-Ha! They loved looking at themselves on my camera from the pictures I took. But it made me miss my own babies who were at home!
One night we went on a “jungle hike” and our guide, Segundo, had been our fearless leader through the jungle for a few days, so at this point I was feeling pretty confident I’d follow him anywhere! But that night when we went into the jungle every little noise had me on edge. With nothing but a flashlight we were looking for crocodiles, tarantulas, and seeing the biggest bugs I’d ever seen in my life! I nearly had a panic attack when a spider fell down from a tree riiiiiight between me and our guide. But looking up and seeing the stars was like non other! It was incredible.
Our last day we went fishing for piranhas and I couldn’t believe it when I caught one! We had it for dinner that night, and it was surprisingly really good. Leaving the jungle I got super sad and emotional. It was just everything and more that I expected, and I honestly didn’t know how the rest of the trip could compete with my newfound love for the jungle.
SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE
August 14, 2017
For Marcus’ family reunion we spent a few days up in McCall, Idaho. This place is the epitome of picturesque. They have this log cabin at the top of a mountain and a huge bright, red barn. While we were there, Marcus’ cousin Mitch is apart of the San Diego chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace. So he teamed up with the Boise chapter and for part of the reunion we constructed bunk beds for the charity. The charity SHP takes these beds and gives them to children who don’t have beds of their own. Their goal is to make sure no child sleeps on the floor. Mitch asked us if we could document the build and the family’s participation in it. We loved being apart of such a great cause, and I get a little emotional every time I watch it seeing all of the family members work together so hard. The money for the build even came from Marcus’ uncle who donated an El Camino to the family auction, and the money from the auction went to the build. We felt pretty blessed to be witnessing and capturing such a great event.
For Marcus’ family reunion we spent a few days up in McCall, Idaho. This place is the epitome of picturesque. They have this log cabin at the top of a mountain and a huge bright, red barn. While we were there, Marcus’ cousin Mitch is apart of the San Diego chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace. So he teamed up with the Boise chapter and for part of the reunion we constructed bunk beds for the charity. The charity SHP takes these beds and gives them to children who don’t have beds of their own. Their goal is to make sure no child sleeps on the floor. Mitch asked us if we could document the build and the family’s participation in it. We loved being apart of such a great cause, and I get a little emotional every time I watch it seeing all of the family members work together so hard. The money for the build even came from Marcus’ uncle who donated an El Camino to the family auction, and the money from the auction went to the build. We felt pretty blessed to be witnessing and capturing such a great event.
ROAD TRIP
August 3, 2017
We hadn’t seen Marcus’ sister since December so we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Utah. Days leading up to it, I was dreading the drive with a nine month old and newly potty trained toddler. The furthest we had ever gone in the car with them was 5 hours so we’d be pushing our luck on a 10 hour trip. But even with a few highway potty stops, we still made it and the girls did AWESOME. It’s funny how the times I get super nervous about them it ends up being just fine, but then the little things like going to the grocery store…foooorgeeet about it!
Harper loves her cousin Autumn since they’re only a year apart and she talks non stop about her. But when they’re together they want the same everything. Same drink, same cup, same toy, HA! You can tell they are both definitely the oldest and not used to sharing. We tried getting them to hold hands for a picture and they refused. Then 10 minutes later on our walk through the canyon they were skipping down the trail, holding hands, all on their own. I guess you can’t force it? We were trying to decide if we got the worst parents or best parents award when we took them to Utah Lake for a few hours and found out you couldn’t put your feet in the water. But it had just rained earlier in the day and the girls found the BIGGEST puddle to jump and splash in. They were in heaven! So we just shrugged our shoulders and said, “At least they’re having fun.” YOLO.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
We hadn’t seen Marcus’ sister since December so we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Utah. Days leading up to it, I was dreading the drive with a nine month old and newly potty trained toddler. The furthest we had ever gone in the car with them was 5 hours so we’d be pushing our luck on a 10 hour trip. But even with a few highway potty stops, we still made it and the girls did AWESOME. It’s funny how the times I get super nervous about them it ends up being just fine, but then the little things like going to the grocery store…foooorgeeet about it!
Harper loves her cousin Autumn since they’re only a year apart and she talks non stop about her. But when they’re together they want the same everything. Same drink, same cup, same toy, HA! You can tell they are both definitely the oldest and not used to sharing. We tried getting them to hold hands for a picture and they refused. Then 10 minutes later on our walk through the canyon they were skipping down the trail, holding hands, all on their own. I guess you can’t force it? We were trying to decide if we got the worst parents or best parents award when we took them to Utah Lake for a few hours and found out you couldn’t put your feet in the water. But it had just rained earlier in the day and the girls found the BIGGEST puddle to jump and splash in. They were in heaven! So we just shrugged our shoulders and said, “At least they’re having fun.” YOLO.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
A LETTER TO OUR NINE MONTH OLD
July 19, 2017
It’s crazy how a heart can burst and ache at the same time. Burst for watching you master new and exciting things, and ache for the days when you were just a small infant. Sometimes I can’t even believe you are nine months old and have been blessing our home for most of the past year. The memories of life before you came along are starting to fade, and you’re officially making your presence known in our family.
These last few months have been big ones for you as we’ve watched you crawl, sit, and now climb! Seeing you army crawl across the floor started slow; but now you’re starting to pick up speed as you get closer and closer to whatever it is you’re after. Over fourth of July weekend, we sat you up and you toppled right over. Then, only two days later, we tried again and you sat straight up with your cute little perfect posture. And the first time you climbed was onto Harper’s step stool. We looked at you dumbfounded as we read stories and saw how determined you were to pull yourself up. Harper get’s so mad when you touch her things, but she’s learning to share and you’re learning to splash her in the pool or pull her hair-ha! On our trips we’ve taken, you’ve absolutely adored floating and splashing in the pool. No matter how much water you get on your face!
It’s been fun watching you eat new things. I don’t think there’s been any food you haven’t liked, but the first one you tried and loved were carrots. At first you weren’t sure what to do, but now you start squealing as soon as you see the package! You love to be tickled and have attention, but you no longer like to fall asleep in anyone’s arms. No matter how long we try to rock you asleep-which makes my little mama heart sad. But as soon as we lay you down in your crib, you fall asleep quick and sleep as long as you can.
We started getting nervous that maybe you didn’t have two front teeth. When your first teeth came in at 4 months, we’ve been waiting months for your top two to make an appearance. Our dentist friend stayed with us over the weekend and he assured us that it wasn’t the timing that should be of concern, but the order. But just one night later I happened to feel something sharp on top and your front teeth are starting to come through. He must have worked some dentist voodoo magic on you!
Your teething symptoms are pretty low key, just some fussiness when you’re tired. We continue to say you’re the easiest and happiest baby we’ll probably ever have. You’re usually just happy to come along and are pretty quiet as long as you’re well fed. We can usually tell when you starting to get hungry, except for the other day at the grocery store! All of a sudden you just started sobbing, but were were already standing in the checkout line! We looked at each other unsure what to do (you’re currently eating every 3-4hrs and it wasn’t time yet) but we got you a bottle and you were just fine after that!
You’re just starting to babble and love to copycat and mimic what others around you are doing. Wether it’s shaking your head, clicking your tongue, or saying “mamamama” you just like to talk and talk until somebody laughs with you. We are so blessed to have you in our home, and to see the girl you will grow up to be. We sure love our Elle-belle!
It’s crazy how a heart can burst and ache at the same time. Burst for watching you master new and exciting things, and ache for the days when you were just a small infant. Sometimes I can’t even believe you are nine months old and have been blessing our home for most of the past year. The memories of life before you came along are starting to fade, and you’re officially making your presence known in our family.
These last few months have been big ones for you as we’ve watched you crawl, sit, and now climb! Seeing you army crawl across the floor started slow; but now you’re starting to pick up speed as you get closer and closer to whatever it is you’re after. Over fourth of July weekend, we sat you up and you toppled right over. Then, only two days later, we tried again and you sat straight up with your cute little perfect posture. And the first time you climbed was onto Harper’s step stool. We looked at you dumbfounded as we read stories and saw how determined you were to pull yourself up. Harper get’s so mad when you touch her things, but she’s learning to share and you’re learning to splash her in the pool or pull her hair-ha! On our trips we’ve taken, you’ve absolutely adored floating and splashing in the pool. No matter how much water you get on your face!
It’s been fun watching you eat new things. I don’t think there’s been any food you haven’t liked, but the first one you tried and loved were carrots. At first you weren’t sure what to do, but now you start squealing as soon as you see the package! You love to be tickled and have attention, but you no longer like to fall asleep in anyone’s arms. No matter how long we try to rock you asleep-which makes my little mama heart sad. But as soon as we lay you down in your crib, you fall asleep quick and sleep as long as you can.
We started getting nervous that maybe you didn’t have two front teeth. When your first teeth came in at 4 months, we’ve been waiting months for your top two to make an appearance. Our dentist friend stayed with us over the weekend and he assured us that it wasn’t the timing that should be of concern, but the order. But just one night later I happened to feel something sharp on top and your front teeth are starting to come through. He must have worked some dentist voodoo magic on you!
Your teething symptoms are pretty low key, just some fussiness when you’re tired. We continue to say you’re the easiest and happiest baby we’ll probably ever have. You’re usually just happy to come along and are pretty quiet as long as you’re well fed. We can usually tell when you starting to get hungry, except for the other day at the grocery store! All of a sudden you just started sobbing, but were were already standing in the checkout line! We looked at each other unsure what to do (you’re currently eating every 3-4hrs and it wasn’t time yet) but we got you a bottle and you were just fine after that!
You’re just starting to babble and love to copycat and mimic what others around you are doing. Wether it’s shaking your head, clicking your tongue, or saying “mamamama” you just like to talk and talk until somebody laughs with you. We are so blessed to have you in our home, and to see the girl you will grow up to be. We sure love our Elle-belle!
MT. HOOD ADVENTURE PARK
July 6, 2017
Getting to spend time with my family, and going bungee jumping, was all I asked for for my birthday. But over the years I’ve become more and more afraid of heights. So I decided I better do it while I still had an ounce of courage left to try it. So I talked my whole family into coming up to the mountains for the weekend, and considering it’s one of my dad’s favorite places I didn’t have to beg too hard. I couldn’t believe how much snow the top of Mt. Hood had. Mt. Hood is at 6,000ft elevation but because it’s considered a glacier they have snow year round. The ski resort at the top is the only resort in the United States where you can ski 365 days a year! And it’s also the official partner of the US Olympic team where all the athletes and future athletes go to train for the summer. The mountain was PACKED with athletes. I couldn’t believe how many people were out in July. Harper loved seeing all the snow and couldn’t stop touching it. She had a bit of a fit when I actually tried to make her put the snow down so we could take a picture. Sometimes, you just gotta let the kids get their way.
On Saturday we spent the day at the Adventure Park at SkiBowl. They had everything! Bungee jumping, zip lines, go carts, horseback riding, tubing hill, and our favorite, the alpine slide. We all felt like it was an adult playground and like we were kids again! It was SO much fun. A big thank you to my parents who spent half the day watching our kids. Parents are the best. We closed the alpine slide down after riding it TEN times in a row. We literally could. not. stop. Maybe it's because it was the first time I've ever been able to beat Marcus at something-HA!
When it came time for the bungee I kept thinking it wasn’t going to be too bad. It didn’t look too high and had the huge pillow beneath. But then every step up the ladder I kept looking down and my knees were shaking SO hard. My one request was that I got to go first so that I didn’t have to spend more time up there than I needed to. For me it’s the anticipation that is the wooooorst. So when we got to the top because of some weight adjustments, they had Marcus go first! Then it took another 15 min before it was my turn. I was FREAKING out standing at the top all by myself. At one point I didn’t know if I could actually do it. The worst was stepping out onto the platform before the big jump, but I remembered Marcus saying it only takes one second of courage. Well my one second turned into 10 when I asked the guide to give me a few more seconds. Finally, I did it and it was the worst feeling ever. The platform, the drop. Everything. And this is coming from a girl who LOVES rollercoasters. But the adrenaline and feeling of accomplishment was like no other either. So I actually considered doing it again later on in the day... But my favorite part was hearing Harper’s little screams from the bottom, “Go Mommy! Go Mommy!”
What a thrill at turning THIRTY-ONE! What? Crazy town.
Getting to spend time with my family, and going bungee jumping, was all I asked for for my birthday. But over the years I’ve become more and more afraid of heights. So I decided I better do it while I still had an ounce of courage left to try it. So I talked my whole family into coming up to the mountains for the weekend, and considering it’s one of my dad’s favorite places I didn’t have to beg too hard. I couldn’t believe how much snow the top of Mt. Hood had. Mt. Hood is at 6,000ft elevation but because it’s considered a glacier they have snow year round. The ski resort at the top is the only resort in the United States where you can ski 365 days a year! And it’s also the official partner of the US Olympic team where all the athletes and future athletes go to train for the summer. The mountain was PACKED with athletes. I couldn’t believe how many people were out in July. Harper loved seeing all the snow and couldn’t stop touching it. She had a bit of a fit when I actually tried to make her put the snow down so we could take a picture. Sometimes, you just gotta let the kids get their way.
On Saturday we spent the day at the Adventure Park at SkiBowl. They had everything! Bungee jumping, zip lines, go carts, horseback riding, tubing hill, and our favorite, the alpine slide. We all felt like it was an adult playground and like we were kids again! It was SO much fun. A big thank you to my parents who spent half the day watching our kids. Parents are the best. We closed the alpine slide down after riding it TEN times in a row. We literally could. not. stop. Maybe it's because it was the first time I've ever been able to beat Marcus at something-HA!
When it came time for the bungee I kept thinking it wasn’t going to be too bad. It didn’t look too high and had the huge pillow beneath. But then every step up the ladder I kept looking down and my knees were shaking SO hard. My one request was that I got to go first so that I didn’t have to spend more time up there than I needed to. For me it’s the anticipation that is the wooooorst. So when we got to the top because of some weight adjustments, they had Marcus go first! Then it took another 15 min before it was my turn. I was FREAKING out standing at the top all by myself. At one point I didn’t know if I could actually do it. The worst was stepping out onto the platform before the big jump, but I remembered Marcus saying it only takes one second of courage. Well my one second turned into 10 when I asked the guide to give me a few more seconds. Finally, I did it and it was the worst feeling ever. The platform, the drop. Everything. And this is coming from a girl who LOVES rollercoasters. But the adrenaline and feeling of accomplishment was like no other either. So I actually considered doing it again later on in the day... But my favorite part was hearing Harper’s little screams from the bottom, “Go Mommy! Go Mommy!”
What a thrill at turning THIRTY-ONE! What? Crazy town.
LIFE IS LIKE A BOWL OF CHERRIES
June 26, 2017
This summer we’re trying really hard to enjoy time being outside. We’re lucky enough to be in such a great neighborhood where we find ourselves outside visiting and playing pretty much every evening already, but also taking time to do things we don’t normally do. The other we decided to pick cherries from a local farm for our family activity for the week. We are so blessed to live in an area where there are U-Pick produce stands all over for different vegetables and fruits. So we loaded up the girls and headed out to one of the farms.
The CUTEST elderly man runs one of our favorite stands where everything is paid on an honor system. You weigh and pay for it all yourself. But as soon as we drove up he came out on his golf cart and offered to take us to a nice set of trees. After dropping us off, we looked under the cherry trees and they were covered in cherries! And they were only $1 to $1.50/per lb. Before leaving he told Harper that the rule was for every two cherries she put in her bag, she had to put one in her mouth. She was so proud of herself to pick them right off the tree and spit out the seed all by herself. The first time she spit out the seed half the cherry came out with it, but she said “Look mom! Look” and got juice everywhere! Elle was happily kicking in her car seat happy to be avoiding the heat under the shady trees. We made Marcus do most of the hard work climbing to the top of the ladder. I told him it’d give him a perspective of the clients he deals with at work, but truthfully I was just afraid of crawling that high up onto the ladder! Over the years I’ve developed a phobia of heights!
We ended up picking 15 lbs of cherries! Our buckets were full! Marcus just looked at me and said, “There’s no way we can ever eat these all.” I told him, “Oh yeah. For sure!”…we’ve given away half already! Ha! He knows me too well.
This summer we’re trying really hard to enjoy time being outside. We’re lucky enough to be in such a great neighborhood where we find ourselves outside visiting and playing pretty much every evening already, but also taking time to do things we don’t normally do. The other we decided to pick cherries from a local farm for our family activity for the week. We are so blessed to live in an area where there are U-Pick produce stands all over for different vegetables and fruits. So we loaded up the girls and headed out to one of the farms.
The CUTEST elderly man runs one of our favorite stands where everything is paid on an honor system. You weigh and pay for it all yourself. But as soon as we drove up he came out on his golf cart and offered to take us to a nice set of trees. After dropping us off, we looked under the cherry trees and they were covered in cherries! And they were only $1 to $1.50/per lb. Before leaving he told Harper that the rule was for every two cherries she put in her bag, she had to put one in her mouth. She was so proud of herself to pick them right off the tree and spit out the seed all by herself. The first time she spit out the seed half the cherry came out with it, but she said “Look mom! Look” and got juice everywhere! Elle was happily kicking in her car seat happy to be avoiding the heat under the shady trees. We made Marcus do most of the hard work climbing to the top of the ladder. I told him it’d give him a perspective of the clients he deals with at work, but truthfully I was just afraid of crawling that high up onto the ladder! Over the years I’ve developed a phobia of heights!
We ended up picking 15 lbs of cherries! Our buckets were full! Marcus just looked at me and said, “There’s no way we can ever eat these all.” I told him, “Oh yeah. For sure!”…we’ve given away half already! Ha! He knows me too well.
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