Goblin Valley 2011

 In May we went with my whole family to southern Utah and camped at Goblin Valley. I say that we camped, but really can you call it camping if there are hot showers available? :) Seriously gotta love the Goblin Valley campground. We were concerned there was going to be a lot of rain, but it ended up being beautiful almost the entire time we were there. We spent the first day in Capitol Reef. I know that I have been there before as a kid, but I couldn't remember anything about it. It was really beautiful. We went on a fun little hike to a humongous natural bridge in the morning. In the afternoon we did a little walk up a slot canyon. Doesn't this picture already seem like a classic?

 The following day we spent in Goblin Valley. It was really fun to go with Ellie this year because she actually wanted to walk around and see things.

 Okay, in all reality her favorite things to see were the other girls' shoes and playing in the dirt.

 It was so beautiful and we couldn't have asked for more pleasant weather to walk around in. We even did a bit of climbing. I had to get a belly shot at the top of the wall at the edge of Goblin Valley.

 Here is a view at the same spot looking the other way.

One of my favorite things was having my eight year old nephew tag along with us. He is seriously the perfect age for Goblin Valley--endless energy, curiosity to climb everywhere, and absolutely no fear. John was the super uncle and would go climb around with him.

 In their explorations they found this awesome cave. Check out the small opening.

It went a lot farther than I thought it would.

I had to go check it out too, but only had just enough room.

The next day we drove home, but made it fun by stopping at a beautiful sand dune. Ellie was in heaven!

 Here is a picture of most of the grandkids. I did pretty well at getting them to look at the camera, don't ya think? :)

 We had such a good time. Ellie really wants to go camping again. She's figured out that everything fun happens after a long drive in the car, so instead of asking specifically to go do such and such, now she just asks to go on a long drive.

Funny Jokes

Ellie has recently discovered jokes. This video shows one of her favorites: saying you are going to eat something that you don't actually eat. Pretty funny. A week or two ago she told her first complete joke. She said, "What says ribbit-ribbit?" We said, "What?" The answer: "Grandpa."

Mother's Day

 Mother's day this year was so wonderful. I don't think I have ever felt quite so maternal being 7 months pregnant and having a kid.

John and I designed this card for the grandmothers. The little rhyme is a primary song that Ellie sang for them. It was pretty cute. :)

Recently I did some major clean out of my old room at my parents house. It was pretty awesome going through the trinkets I saved throughout my childhood and teenage years. Turns out rocks aren't that cool if you don't write down where you brought them home from. :) Also, all of the moody journals that I started as a tween were hilarious!
This whole project made me think about my growing up years (which I am probably still in). I remember wondering how my life was going to turn out, what my husband and family would be like, and what I would end up spending the majority of my time doing. I was so worried about school, fitting in, and being an adult. Don't get me wrong, I was so blessed to have a happy childhood, but I am so glad to be in the situation that I am in now. Going through all of that stuff, I was just overwhelmed with gratitude that things worked out the way it did. I am so lucky to be John's wife and Ellie's mother. They really are my whole life, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I am excited to have a new little one too. We saw a new little cousin the other day. I can't believe how nervous/excited it made me. Hopefully Ellie likes being a big sister. She was pretty fascinated with the baby.