Montana

Walt and I took a much needed vacation to Montana to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends Land and Erica. It was a sweet and magical day!

"Brothers from another mother" :) We love Land!

Walt took this beautiful photo

Hidden Lake at Glacier National Park.

Glacier Park Montana...the drive was scarier than this pic, but a lot of fun. I have overcome my fear, no panic attacks like we had in Big Sur!

That's a longhorn sheep behind me...we were hanging out.

He walked past like I wasn't there.

I've always wanted to hike up to a glacier lake, it was well worth the haul.

Wedding Mobile...we had goodtimes in that van.

These guys were hanging around the trail on our way back down. It was really cool.

Fall Fun!

Daddy wasn't around when I dressed her on this day... Double Load!! As you know, she's a bit obsessive compulsive about order and cleaning. Notice she is holding a broom in this photo and staring down the little boys who just filled it with dirt...she's gonna whip up on the next guy who puts dirt on that cabin! Ok, I chased her all over the park trying to get a picture of her and she would turn her face. Until she saw this ladybug gate and stopped there in this pose until I noticed. She waited for me to take the picture. She is not looking at anyone:)

Walter is on the move now, he's crawling all over the place and trying to stand up. He couldn't be a better baby. He has such a mild temperment and smiles all the time, even when he's not feeling well. He and Izzy are starting to play more, unfortunately they are fighting more as well. Yesterday they got into it over a bowl of cheerios, Walter won but then Izzy took the bowl back and smacked him on the head with it. Walt said it's because she's just like me. I'm trying not to resemble that comment:)

Kanuga '08

Baby Walter was baptized this week while we were vacationing at Kanuga in the mountains of NC. It is a beautiful place and it was very special to spend it with family. We had a great time and it feels so good to go back every year.

Below is a photo of Salena with baby Walter in the Chrisening gown she made herself. It was so beautiful, hopefully I can take a picture of the gown to post here so you can see the details.

She loves to play the piano!

My parents with Baby Walter

Uncle Lee and Baby Kai

Walt's family on the porch swing at our cabin

She's really growing up...and she loved pushing Deepaw into the lake...over and over again. thanks Deepaw!

We got to take the kids to visit some of our very most favorite friends in the world, the Worley's. We miss them so much, but see them every summer. Izzy loved seeing all the horses, donkeys and cows. It is so beautiful there.

The kids have been going swimming at our YMCA pool a lot this summer and loving it! Izzy is getting so brave, she goes down the slide by herself and loves to jump in. She has no fear of the water, but we're teaching her how to climb out of the pool by herself to keep her safe. I think she'll be swimming unassisted in no time. She has a great doggie paddle!

Mommy Time...

Every girl needs a little girl time and every mommy must find the opportunity to remain her own person. When Izzy was 6 months old I went for a girl trip to NYC, so not to break up the tradition, I headed for Florida when Walter turned 6 months!

It was such a wonderful trip...I had my own room and bathroom. Showers all day as long as I wished and sleeping late. We stayed up late watching Sex and the city episodes back to back and ate...a lot. I missed the kids and Walt of course, but it was a perfect and very much needed break.

What we've been up to this summer...

It's been too long since I've posted here. Walter will be SIX MONTHS OLD! I can't believe it. He is so incredibly sweet and handsome. I've been calling him pretty, but Walt is quick to correct me on that one. Anyway, he's been rolling over both ways now for several weeks and can sit up unassisted, but not for long. He's sweet, did I already say that? I can't stop kissing him. He completes the family and we're wild about him. He's also been sleeping through the night for a few months now. Amazing baby!

Isabella has been taking ballet and tumbling at the Green Hills School of Dance. She is absolutely in LOVE with dance class. She asks me every morning when she wakes up if we're going to dance class. She's crazy about her teacher "Mssss Dowwy" (Mrs. Dolly). So far she twirls in a circle, hops three times and does two summersaults. That's 5 weeks of training, but for a two year old I think it's pretty good.

I think some of the sweetest things Izzy has done lately is learning to say her bed time prayers. Here are some of my recent favorites.

Thank you Jesus for:
Funtimes
Popsicles
Big dog and Lila
Barbie House
Choochoo trains

While taking communion she reached up to the rector with the bread and said, "I want Jesus". Talk about out of the mouth of babes!

One night while tucking her in she was being particularly disobedient and I said, "Izzy, I'm not going to stay in her if you're going to be ugly to me. So, are you going to be a good girl or are you going to be ugly". She looked us square in the eyes, furrowed her brow and shouted, "UGGY"!

Unfortunately, at a young age she has somehow inherited her daddy's struggle with road rage. At anytime a car tries to pass me on the right she will lean forward in her car seat, point at the window and scream, "get back car, get back", the yell at me, "Go Mamma, cars go fast, Go Mamma"! I don't even know how on earth she knows to do this. It's crazy, Walt is a bit passive agressive on this issue, you can see it in his face glancing compulsively at the rear view mirrors and staying just fast enough not to let the person pass, but no pointing, no yelling. How does she know? Our car insurance is strained with one "aspiring race car driver" in the family, we can't have two.