We Just Got Back From South Dakota! Jealous??

We took a little break from the general Utah splendor and headed up to Rapid City, South Dakota to visit Sam's mom for a few days. Amazingly, after 3.5 years of marriage, this was the first time we ventured to make the trip. We spent a glorious few days enjoying free meals, good company, Sam's mom's hot tub, beauteous weather and all the wonders Rapid City has to offer.

We stopped to take this photo because we were completely mesmerized by what appeared to be human faces reflected in the mountain facade. Weird.

Sally (Sam's mom) was the brilliant photog behind this next masterpiece. Before you look, it should be known that after she snapped the shot, the following convo ensued:

Sam: Ah! Mom, you have to tell us when you're gonna take it!

Sally: Oh, I already took it.

Sam: Ok, take another one real quick.

Sally: I already took it (looking at the cam). It looks great.

Sam: Oh ok.

The result....

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Mmmmm... that's nice.

Surprisingly, South Dakota has a lot of beautiful scenery to offer. The Black Hills are full of lovely spots (and ladies) as seen below.

Leah spent the majority of the trip harassing Max. Luckily he is a very patient and affectionate cat and slept with her every night.

Speaking of cats... I was thrilled to learn that my husband's claim to have "severe cat allergies" has been a sham all along, just as I suspected. When I pointed out to him that he didn't seem to be bothered by the cats at all, he claimed that he only has a reaction when he touches them and then touches his eyes. After hearing this, I did what any well-adjusted, concerned, bound-to-call-her-husband-out-on-his-cat-hating-fraud wife would do and gave one of the cats a thorough rub down. I then proceeded to pretend I spotted something in Sam's eye and lovingly put his allergy claims to the test. Magically, Sam's eyes remained sparkling and clear. Thank heavens, he's cured! When I revealed to him my evil (ingenious) little scheme, he tried to convince me that he had, indeed, been suffering itchy eyes all along... to which I scoffed and threw my head back in maniacal laughter. We'll be getting a kitten as soon as we get to Chicago.

There's nothing I can really say about this shot aside from that I love my daughter... despite her weaknesses.

Brace yourself for the cutest thing you've seen in a while!

That's right--turns out Kathy, Sam's step mom, has had our wedding cake stashed in her deep freeze all these years. We didn't really get the memo that you're supposed to bust it out for the one year anniversary, so we seized the day, scraped off the mystery black film that it had sprouted, and ate it in celebration of 3.625 years of bliss.

On a different note, and in a completely different mood than the rest of this post, on the drive home from SD we stopped at Martin's Cove, a memorial to the early Latter-Day-Saints who crossed the plains with the Willie-Martin Handcart Company after being driven from the church settlement in Nauvoo. If any of you find yourself driving across northern Wyoming, it's definitely worth the stop, even if you aren't a member of our faith. You can read about it here. Even though I had heard the story many times, I was filled with overwhelming gratitude and sorrow as we walked over the hallowed grounds.

It was another great chapter in our book of adventures.

15 days and counting to Chi-Town!

I Told You There Was More... Just A Few...

For those of you just tuning in, the documentation of our adventures up to this point start on the post below this one. Extreme fatigue caused by extreme living resulted in extreme blog laziness halfway through my previous post. SO, here are the rest of the pics. 

**AHEM** In no particular order....

Now, my husband has never been known around town for being young at heart. In fact, he's always been a rather old soul. SO, you can imagine how smitten I was watching him at Seven Peaks the other day.... running from slide to slide...  lit up like an 8 year old... throwing elbows and bulldozing his way through the lines. Makes mama proud. Anyway, I snapped this tasty little morsel and it was too good not to share:

Just look at that face. I know it's blurry but you can still see the glee and delight shining through.

Little family shot before we got down to business. And by business, I mean whipping down waterslides and being awesome in general.

This is a pic I took at Tautphaus Park in Idaho Falls. When we noticed my dad had gone missing we were relieved to find him at a picnic table reading. Because I didn't recall him bringing any reading material along with him, I thought perhaps he had found some rare manuscript or artifact that was holding his attention. You'll all be thrilled to hear that it was, in fact, a copy of the children's book, "I'm a little Tea Pot." 

The book was so riveting, so thought provoking, that he sat in a deep reverie for a good 15 minutes after finishing it. I'm not sure what happened as he read that book.... but I do know he insisted my mom sanitize it and bring it home. It is now a part of the Grammy and Papa children's library.

 

Living in the Bay Area, Leah grew accustomed to parades and events that encouraged exhibitionism. Welp, you can take the girl out of the Bay, but you can't take the Bay out of the girl. 

She love love loves her soccer ball. And gets a little smug when she retrieves it successfully.

On our obligatory trip to the Green Belt in Idaho Falls. It doesn't matter how long you've lived there, or how often you visit, a trip to I.F. would not be complete without a little jaunt to feed the geese. 

Me and Mera and Tub at Guru's in Provo. 

The littles... loving each other... and the rendition of the Itsy Bitsy Spider that all of the adults at the table were performing in perfect four-part harmony. 

Enjoying the 3D IMAX at Thanksgiving Point. We were all able to successfully bypass the security guard with our 3D glasses intact. Unlike the security guard at Seven Peaks Water Park who, while wearing an actual gun on his hip, searched my diaper bag and confiscated all of my baby food due to the "dangerous nature of the glass containers." Dang it all. Completely foiled our plans to bomb people on the free fall with pureed chicken sticks and pears.

At first glance I was very happy with this next little family shot. Everyone smiling, looking at the camera, nice background, you get the idea. However, upon further inspection of my little angel.....

I realized that she was, indeed, making a mockery of our special family moment.

Tune in next time!

Our First Update---I know, I know, Your Day Just Got WAY Better

After spending the first 10 days of our vacation in Idaho Falls at my parent's house I'm feeling very refreshed... and sad to be gone... but grateful to feel like my adult self again. Kinda. Ok, not really. Seriously though... being at the 'rent's house reverts me directly to my 10 year old self. It didn't take long before I found myself yelling, "MOMMMM!?!" no matter where I was in the house, no matter how far in proximity my mom was from me, whenever I needed or wanted anything. Also, to this day, the mere sight of my dad (a man of rather large stature) perched in one of his several overstuffed recliners (thrones, as he calls them... which, come to think of it, is also his name of choice for the toilet. He's gonna get it) provokes an immediate response in me to climb up into his lap and settle in for the long haul. This phenomenon can be quite unsettling when either or both of my sisters are around... often resulting in a violent scuffle for the coveted spot under my dad's arm.

This morning I've been feeling quite put out being a full time mom again. My mom is super Grammy and is thrilled to feed, bathe, change, teach, and play with Leah on a full time basis. Really, who am I to interfere with a Grammy's greatest joys? I humbly sacrifice my own desires and let her. At any rate, when Leah filled her drawers this morning and I realized that I was going to have to change her myself (or recruit Sam) my feathers were more than ruffled.

NOW! On to more stimulating blogging... PICTURES. I've got lots so hold on to your seats ladies and gents....

And it should be mentioned... there are no less than 8,000 pictures of yours truly and company coming up. So only continue if you really, really love me. You know you do.

OH, and one more thing. Because there are so many pics, trying to arrange them in any particular sequence would be pretty much the worst thing ever... so don't be judgy. 

ANNNDDD... just kidding. Here we go!

A couple self-explanatory Mesa Falls pics:

 West Yellowstone IMAX--Go to Yellowstone, watch IMAX film on Alaska. Makes sense. 

What is it about men and fire? Seriously, it's like cat nip. Sam and my dad couldn't even bring themselves to enjoy our little evening "fireside" because they were so insistent on tampering with the flames. Rearranging the wood, adding more wood to the teepee, rearranging again due to excess smoke produced by the flame, adding kindling, rearranging again, etc. etc. My mom and I were so annoyed by the end of the night that we left them out there by themselves to reevaluate a few things. Sure showed them. When we returned, they were both peeing on the fire.... well, not really peeing. But I'm sure one of them suggested it. Then they probably shared a nice awkward moment.

This is my dad's "patronizing my mom" face. Peter Pan stance and all. Sam standing by, taking notes.... practicing the face...

We dubbed him Lord of the Flames after he emerged from the nearby bush with this big stick. Unfortunately we had to strip him of his title when he started practicing unrighteous dominion.

This is what Leah thought of the park...

This was pretty much my best hair day ever. Had I known what I looked like, I wouldn't have been so hasty to hop in front of the cam.

This is what my mom thought of the park...

What could a dear sweet wife have done to warrant such a stinky look from her husband, you ask? Get caught sneaking a bite of his huckleberry ice cream, that's what. 

Don't hate us. Just love us.

This is a rare moment captured on film of a little native boy luring Leah by performing this hypnotic tribal mating dance. Just look at the intensity in his eyes...

Sam's sister, Liz, brother, Seth and Turkey Sub. We randomly ran into them at Yellowstone. No... no we didn't. Seth agreed to allow his appearance on my blog under one condition; that I include that he is the "cute, single bro-in-law." I told him that I'm pretty sure all of my readers are married but this minor detail did not seem to deter him. Watch out ladies!

Sam's dad and stepmom's house in Alpine is pretty much a wonderland--complete with two trampolines, dozens of fruit trees, a swing set and THIS little gem:

Seconds before the geese converged and... goosed me

I have about 30 more pics ready for posting but just had a sudden depletion of love and motivation in terms of this blog, so that's all for now. But don't you worry, there's plenty more where this came from.