Baby Shower for Holland

While Mark and the girls were in Logan, I was at a Baby Shower for my niece Holland. She is expecting a baby girl the end of October. Kris hosted the shower at her house for the Fortie girls (Cousins, Aunts, Grandma and Mom) We were completely okay with the handsome little fella joining in the fun!

 Holland went away with a lot of needed gear for Baby Brynlee.

Olivia was a real helper

  We had some yummy food and this cute cake.

Mom and Daughter

It was fun to get together with the girls in my family to celebrate the addition of another sweet girl.

My girls were sad to not be there and a few others couldn't make it. We missed them.

 Can't wait to meet the little bundle:)

Gledhill Reunion

One of the reasons for our travel to Utah was for a Family Reunion. It was with the Gledhill's which is Grandma Shirley's side of the family. Mark took the girls up to Logan to spend the day. I was sad I couldn't make it. It sounds like they had a great time. They ate lunch and played games. It was actually held at the same park we had Bailee's 1st Birthday when we lived there: Willow Park

love these 2 Peas in a Pod:)

 Here is the Smith crew that made it. 

Four out of six siblings isn't too bad.

 Mark spent most of his time trying to catch up with the rest of the Gledhill's. He sees them so rarely that it was important to him that he get to visit most of them. I think he was successful. I guess he was really making the rounds. I am happy Mark got to spend some quality time with relatives. Every year we get the invitation and just can't seem to make it work. I am glad that he made it a priority this year. Family is a pretty big deal!

The Gledhill Gang

Birthday on the road

This 9 year old had an early start to her big day. She has to be at the bus stop by 7:05 so in order to have breakfast in bed, I had to wake her around 6. She wasn't so happy at first (she loves to sleep), but she also is able to get in a good mood relatively quick:)

We were traveling that day but the girls all went to school for the first few hours. Emmrey really didn't want to miss because she wanted to take in a treat to share. We can't do homemade stuff at her school so we decided on doughnuts and chocolate milk since it was in the morning. She got a new teacher this year (at least new to Eyestone). She is sweet as can be!

She spent most of the day like this:( Good thing she is a pretty happy little thing:)

We made several little stops and let her pick our lunch destination (Bagelmakers).

 Once we got to Utah we took our little birthday girl to Leatherby's for ice cream. This was a popular venue for me as a teen, whether for a family celebration or a date. I have not been there for about 20 years and I have been telling the girls we would go there at some point. The servings there are seriously ridiculous .. ..  but so delish!  (And for the record, the Swiss Milk Chocolate Shake was as good as I remember:)

Happy Birthday little lady!!

Woodland Party

For Emmrey's 9th birthday we planned a little Woodland Party for her and a few friends. This girl is a critter lover, so this was perfect for her!

 

The little gathering was right after school so we had plenty of snacks

  

It was such a beautiful day I was hoping to set up the food outside. As luck would have it, the wind picked up right about then so it was safer inside. 

They did get to eat outside .. .. although we lost a few plates to the wind;)

 I have a tendency to "over plan" at parties making them feel rushed and me stressed. This time I had one activity/craft and just a couple of games. It worked out just right and we actually only had time for 1 game and the craft. Musical Toadstools (which was cuter;) got scratched. The girls really just wanted to play outside with each other. They did play Matching Critters while taking turns to make their bunny.

 Here they are with their yarn bunnies. They loved them and wanted to make more.

B to F: Shelby, Izabella, Bonnie, Amilia, and Emmrey

 Emmrey opened a few gifts and then we had cake:
(white cake w/ choc frosting:)

 Along with their bunny, the girls all took home a birdhouse to decorate to their liking.

 

 Later that night, Emmrey opened the gifts from us since we would be driving to Utah on her actual birthday. Her sissies gave her some Moon Sand stuff she had been playing with at the store.

She got some $ from Gpa & Gma Smith and a darling dress and bag from Gpa & Gma Fortie

 We (mom & dad) gave her a new bike helmet and basket, another Strawberry Shortcake doll she has been wanting (Cherry Jam) a new dress, and a Learn to Play Ukulele book. Of course she opened it and wondered what it was for??

 Well she needed it for her new Ukulele!! She was so happy. She looks/plays at them every time we are at the music store for Karsy's guitar lesson.

 We are so lucky to have this snuggle bug in our lives for the last 9 years.

We love you the most Emmy Boo:)

Cirque Meadows

While Ashlee was in town, Mark and I were able to sneak away for a night. I have not been "backpacking" since I was like 15. Mark has been taken the girls for the past several years, but the two of us have not gone. We decided this was the time to do it. We left Sunday afternoon and drove up Poudre Canyon to the trail head at Pingree Park. 

 With all our supplies in our packs, we began our 3.5 mile trek to Cirque Meadows

 There are several primitive campsites spaced out across the meadow. We found one nestled in the pines and set up camp (our tent)

 We arrived just in time to head out to the Meadow for dinner

 The sun was just beginning to set

 Our campsite didn't permit campfires so we did the next best thing and had cocoa in the tent and called it a night:)

 We woke to a tiny drizzle of rain .. .. . so it was breakfast of granola and yogurt in the tent.

 Once the drizzle subsided, we left our tent and extra gear at the campsite and hiked another 2.5 miles to Cirque and Emmaline Lakes. The first half of the hike was easy peasy, but the second was a tough climb uphill.

 When we made it to the top, I was disappointed that Mark opted not to fish. It was chilly up there and the wind was blowing, but I just figured he would jump at the chance.

Cirque Lake

Emmaline Lake

The serene view and peaceful solitude was hard to leave but we still had a bit of hiking ahead of us.

when my head got stuck in a tree :0

We returned to camp and packed up ... .. ..

 .. .. ..before this happened!

 We waited it out for a while before deciding it wasn't letting up and we still had 3.5 miles to hike. We hiked in rain/hail for all but the last .5 mile or so.

 It did lighten up enough to eventually take hoods off

 Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. Not sure if it was being without kids or what, but it didn't ruffle me like it normally would. Besides, we got to see these bright green Aspen trunks. I don't know the exact science behind it (something to do with the chlorophyll), but I have never seen anything like it .. ... gorgeous!!

 It was nice to getaway with Mark and we are so thankful that Ashlee could/would stay with our girls. Needless to say, they were fine and were in no great hurry to have us back.
Can't say I blame them. She's pretty fun!

{Ashlee Returns}

We had another visitor.  Ashlee came back to visit for a second time in 3 months. She must like us;) and we definitely like her! After we picked her up from the airport, we stayed in Denver and went to the Museum of Nature & Science. 

 

 We checked out the new Poison exhibit.

The girls spent some time in the Lab doing all sorts of experiments.

 

Ashlee was super excited to find this enormous Anaconda to play with;)

We had a campfire in our pit that Mark just put in.

 Someone got punch drunk on marshmallows

I don't remember exactly what sparked it, but for some reason Mark dug out our High School yearbooks and a great deal of time was spent perusing through them and having some good laughs (mostly at Mark and I's expense) I think they are jealous they can't rock that 80's style like we did;)

 We were sad when the weekend was over and it was time for her to fly home. Come again soon!