Sunday Fun

Jessica has discovered the joy of talking into a fan. I think it's so funny.

Can you see the clothespins hanging from her dress? The past few days she has spent many a happy moment inserting clothespins into an empty juice bottle & dumping them out. Today we put them to a new use; pinning them to Jessica. She's try to run away while her sisters would pin them on her. After the fun subsided she'd look for clothespins & bring them to Kate, to have the accessories applied.

Jenny's Lake

Some of my favorite childhood memories include trips to Jenny's Lake in Grand Teton National Park, annual backpacking trips over the Tetons with my sisters & dad, & weekend drives to Jackson. I've been yearning to go to Jackson all summer; maybe for the past year. Yesterday, we finally did it. We took the girls to Jenny's Lake in the Grand Teton National Park yesterday. It was SO GREAT! I was so proud of Amber & Kate for hiking the almost 3 miles to Hidden Falls.

We made it! Kate only got a piggyback ride the last 100 yards.

A few hundred yards into the hike the girls were dying to play in the lake.
It quickly turned into swimming in the lake.
They tell me they're going to wear swimsuits next time.

Ah, the girls can take pictures of us.
It's still a matter of trial & error.

Growing up, we called this trail "Main Street of the Tetons."

There's no problem finding someone to snap a picture of the whole group.

I collect pictures like this.

I love them!

Ah, cute!

Best buddies or allies?
Rich told them that if they were ahead of us they could climb boulders.
Here they're trying to ensure we couldn't get past them.
He also made a rule that the last hiker in the group couldn't pick any huckleberries.
Oh man! I think he made that rule just for me.

Mom, mom, take a picture!

This hiking stuff is exhausting!

In the good old days you could hike around the Lake and get a free ferry ride back. Ah, the trickery. That's no longer the case. All the same, it was worth the $24s for the 5 minute ride. I'm not sure we all would have survived the hike back around. Once we were in the car it took Kate all of 30 seconds to fall asleep. Amber stayed about for about 15 minutes. Now Jessica, she'd had a lovely nap in the backpack.

Another great camping trip

We have about worn ourselves out playing this summer. I've taken hundreds of pictures, but made very few blog entries.

We spent last weekend camping with my parents. My sister Tonya and her family stayed Friday night. My other sister Rebecca and her family came on Sunday. My girls LOVE camping! The night we returned home I laid in my bed reflecting & thought "Life is truly glorious!" I love the role my parents and sisters play in my children's lives. They are wonderful! And they let my children believe they (my children) are wonderful.

The girls biked around the campsite until their legs burned. We fed fish, seagulls, and even a muskrat.

We enjoyed two water-skiing outings with my dad. I love it, because my dad loves it. I almost tried to slalom this trip. Now I have a new respect for my dad, who at 62 still water-skis like a crazy man. Amber & Kate love being in the boat this summer. Amber even loves being out of the boat. She loves to swim around the lake in a life-jacket. She had me laughing hard when she untied my inner tube and pushed me out into the lake. So mischievous!

We made a day trip to Yellowstone. I was invigorated by the beauty there, and then even more enthralled when Amber said, "Mom, this is amazing! It's SO beautiful!" Then later. . ."I can't believe we got to see a bald eagle!" They were fascinated by Old Faithful and even more fascinated by the geysers & hot springs around Old Faithful. We'll be returning more often. . .next time we're going to hike to Fairy Falls.

We squeezed in a mini-hike for Amber just before coming home. The hardest part of the hike was convincing Amber to turn around. She loves to hike and didn't want to stop. We'll be fitting in a few more hikes in the next few months. Want to join us? The wildflowers were amazing! I have two bouquets sitting on my kitchen table & I don't even feel guilty for picking them, there were so many. On our two hour drive I think we saw two dozen different kinds of wildflowers. They were plentiful and beautiful.

Happy Birthday Kate!

6 weeks
1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

Barely 5

Kate had her 5th birthday last week. I can't believe it. Partly because she's been acting like a 6 year old for two years, and partly because I can't believe five years have already gone by. She was the cutest toddler and pre-schooler. In my mind, I still envision her that way.

I love to be around Kate. She's a doer. She's a worker. She's easy to be around. I'm glad kindergarten here is only half day. I will miss her while she's away. Of my three children, Kate is the cuddliest. She's eager to please and likes to do things just the way they should be done.

I'm so grateful for Kate. I love how her hand fits in mine. I love the way her life fits into mine. She's a happy girl; an easy child to raise. A wonderful and kind sister. She enjoys her life and that helps me enjoy mine.