Take your wife to work day

Friday was a rare occasion....I got to go out in the field with my hubby!  I have done this before {once or twice}, but it still a treat.  Mark is good to make sure that it isn't anything too out of my comfort zone.  This time we were stocking tiny baby {like tadpole tiny} Sturgeon along the Big Horn River.....

We made 4 stops, releasing about 42,000 fish at each location....WOW!!

We had a little system going....Mark would open the box...

...clip the bands on the bag...

...then hand it over to me so that I could set the little fishies free:}

 Of course we stopped for lunch when we were done.  It felt just like a date {with a little work thrown in}.  I love to spend the day with Mark ....getting to catch a glimpse of what he does:}

How we celebrated....

Bailee's birthday morning started off with breakfast in bed.  Her choice....crepes.  Didn't matter that we had just had them Saturday, they were delicious!!

She has been wanting to do something different with her hair for a few months, and she decided her 13th birthday was the perfect time.  I had made her an appointment with our favorite stylist and friend...Alicia.  She wasn't ready for anything too drastic and didn't want it short.  She decided on cutting bangs...which she hasn't had since she was a toddler.  Here is the before.....

And after {with Alicia} I think they make her face really pop!!

 After her visit to the salon, I took her on a special lunch date to the Willow Fence Tea Room.  This charming little restaurant is most definitely designed for girls....Tea party hats, antique decor and fancy dishes. Bay said she felt like she was in Alice in Wonderland.  

 It is very small {about 8 tables} and personal and is only open for lunch.  At first glance you wouldn't think much of it, but it is pretty magical inside and the homemade food is delicious.  

It was so fun to have a lunch date with my little "teen" in such a unique setting.

We relaxed a bit for the afternoon until Mark made it home for dinner.  He was actually scheduled to be out of town Monday-Thursday.   When he realized that her would be gone for Bailee's birthday, he rearranged things so he could travel home on Tuesday and then left again Wed. morning to finish his project.  All so he could be with his baby girl on her day:}

Bailee rarely asks for ANYTHING, and her birthday is no exception. The older she gets the more I appreciate this quality.  On one hand it is so nice to have a child that feels perfectly content with what they have {a true rarity nowadays}, but it sure makes it hard to figure out what to get her without just buying something for the sake of buying it:}  The ONLY thing she could come up with for an idea this year was the 3rd book from the Tennis Shoes Series {which Grampa & Grama gave her}.  They also gave her some darling lady bug accessories {because she will always be our little bug}  I am told that grampa even picked the jewelry box out himself....nice job gramps!!

We ended up giving her some cash {I hate that more than you know}, so she can use it when she decides she wants something, or more likely it will sit in her bank account so that if she ever wants anything:}  She also got a few surprises....

 

...lip gloss and a Scentportable from Kars, some new shirts and sandals.....

 Emmrey gave her a mini cake and swimsuits for her AG dolls ....wrapped all by herself and included little "treasures" taped on top:}

 We also surprised her by getting a story she wrote published into a book.  She worked so hard on this for her Faith value project for Personal Progress.

 Bay didn't want a cake this year...just ice cream  So we had a little Ice Cream Bar with all sorts of toppings.

 

We spent the rest of the night playing Clue {classic edition, of course}...another gift she received.  The girls played this for the first time at Grampa & Grama Smith's when we visited for Christmas.  You can't beat a good game of Clue!!

I made her a clothesline of all her birthdays.....I actually had to do a second line....made me happy and sad at the same time:}  Check out the message from Emmrey on our chalkboard....so cute!!

 

 Bailee was beaming all.day.long.  The simple things make this girl happy....something that reminds me she is still the same little bug....even if she is 13:}  We are so blessed to have her in our lives!!
!

13 going on 3 {if I had it my way}

It seems like just yesterday we were packing up our belongings in the LDS Hospital NICU and heading for home.  {We actually stayed at my parents home overnight, just to make sure all was well before driving to Logan}.  We were full of angst...and pretty much scared to death about taking care of this tiny baby.

Well, we managed to figure out how to take care of a little one, just in time for her to start growing up on us:}

 

 Bailee wants to do the right thing!!  She has always played by the rules and she expects everyone else to as well...not so easy for some of us:} Her "look" says it all

We knew from the start that Bailee was a very special soul.  

She has the kindest heart...SWEET as ICE CREAM!!

 

She loves to get dressed up and be fancy.....but has no problem roughing it and getting a little dirty.

Her imagination has been a thing of wonder..... and although as she gets older it doesn't always display itself in the same way, it is still there.  

All that imagination and creativity has made her a very good writer.  I think all the reading she does certainly helps:}

 She was born to be a BIG sister{a bit of a know it all and a little bossy for sure;} She does set a very good example for the little ones to look up to.

And she has always liked to be with us and that has been something we have never taken for granted or wished away.  Yes we have battled some separation/attachment struggles over the years, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

As I type this post, I can hardly believe the words that I see in front of me.....Bailee is 13!!!  This past year has brought a lot of growing pains for both of us and I am sure there will be more to come. As difficult as it is for me to accept the changes,  I look forward to new experiences with a teenage daughter.  Dad and I feel so blessed to have you as a daughter Bailee Rychel. We are so proud of the young lady you are growing up to be and have high hopes for all that you will achieve in your life.  

We love you BUGGY!!

Trip to the Northwest

We spent the past 5 days up North.....we took the girls on a road trip through northern Montana and Idaho.  The first day we drove to Missoula and stayed overnight (loved that town), then the next day it was on to camping at Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho.  On our way, we stopped at a Red Cedar Forest where the trees are 500 years old and gigantic.
The girls were in awe.....

They love any place where they can run around and explore {oh, and create "houses"} The forest was the perfect setting for this!!

 It was really hard to capture the size and magnitude of these trees.  We could have used 4 more bodies and still not completely surrounded this trunk:}

Although things can be a bit gray and damp in this area, everything is so GREEN and LUSH......love that! 

 For some reason, Emm became a human magnet for the butterflies that were flying around.  They would actually land on her.  This one landed and then stayed, even as we walked a bit.....it was the craziest thing:}

 All we could say is WOW!!!! 

{this is the girls making their WOW face}

 We stayed in the Sam Owen campground and Mark asked the hosts if there were any hiking trails nearby.  They recommended we hike to the graves of Sam Owen and his wife, up on a hill.  It was a nice little hike and a gorgeous place to be buried....I know, kinda morbid, but that didn't stop these 2 hooligans:}

 While hiking we came across some elk....well we heard them before we actually saw them.

We spent a fair amount of time at the lake.  Amazing how tolerant kids can be....it was plenty warm outside, but the water took my breath away...literally.  The girls thought it was just fine.  Guess I'm getting wimpy in my old age:}  Beautiful scene isn't it??

We skipped lots of rocks.......

 

The girls found many uses for the drift wood that was floating around.  One of which was turning them into ocean critters which they trained ....just like Sea World folks!!  There was extensive seal training taking place with Sanford.

 

 Karsyn kept busy practicing riding on Roo Koo, the bottle nosed dolphin.....

 And Bailee played with Anala, the whale.  I am bummed I somehow missed a pic of that because it really looked like a whale....blow hole and all:{

********

Our last day, we headed to Silverwood Theme Park.  We had come across it online and they were offering a pretty sweet deal for Father's Day weekend.  I am not sure that is exactly how Mark would have chose to spend his day, but anything for the girls....that's what makes him such a great DAD!!!

Emmrey rode quite a few rides all by her lonesome because unlike Disneyland, there were several rides where Bay and Kars were actually too tall.  She is a pretty brave lil' thing and rode most of the rides she was big enough for....we even convinced her to go on another River Ride {she said "never again" after Disney}  We got so SOAKED we had to go to the van and change clothes!!.  Oh man....I felt pretty bad about that.

 Bailee and Karsyn were good to ride some of the little rides that they were NOT to tall for.  This giant swing was one of Emmrey's favorites!!

"Our" favorites were over in Roller Coaster Alley.  Well maybe favorites is a strong word.  Tremors was seriously INSANE...fun, but insane scary.  I think we were lucky to get Kars on them once....she prefers the spinning action.  Bailee is a bit of a maniac and will go on them multiple times.  It's so funny to me how our girls "bravery" {or lack of} displays itself in different situations:}

 During lunch we watched Mysterium at the Theater of Illusions.  A bit cheezy {as those things typically are} but still pretty entertaining.

 Before we left we treated Mark to a Huckleberry Funnel cake that was as big as his head...no joke!  It was delish {yes, he even let me have a taste}

It was a fun day for sure.....Happy Father's Day babe.....Thank you for all the little things you do to try to make our life happier.  Our girlies couldn't ask for a better dad.  

WE LOVE YOU!!!  

We traveled home through Coeur d' alene Idaho.  We popped on over the border to Spokane, so now we can say we have been to Washington.  We wanted to get a pic of the girls by the Welcome sign for proof, but they had it in the middle of the interstate...so that was not going to happen:}  Mark has been up this way before and I think he would move there in a minute.  He kept telling me "I think you would really like the area".  He was right....I loved it.  I don't know how well I would handle the wet gray days...I really NEED the sunshine!  But I think my love affair is beginning as well:}