Swingin' in the Breeze

We went up to the Rasmusons' cabin for the weekend. Here, Grace and her cousin, Chase are swinging with Aunt Tiffany. Ahh, the little pleasures of life. Swings make everyone happy.

Recital

We went to Gramma Marilyn's house one day and Grace dazzled us on the piano.
What "graceful" little fingers! (I definitely intended that pun.)
Then I noticed her reflection in the piano. It looks like she has a tiny set of wings on her back. Ahhh. Little angel.

Townhome Toddlers

William Robison, Brooklyn Trussell, and Grace Rasmuson: growing up together in the same neighborhood. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to live close to your family. Grace gets to see her cousins nearly every day. We all go for early morning walks several times a week. And if any of us needs a babysitter, no problem.

Beautiful Girl

Some days it just blows me away how beautiful Grace is. My sweet little angel.

The Joy of Cake

William had his first birthday yesterday. His party was great. His cake was even better. His mom, Tasha, made it. Just a simple white cake with a killer frosting on it. It's got those colorful, waxy beads mixed in it. Dang that stuff is good!
To me, William's expression says, "That was great. The sugar rush should be kicking in right about now."

Blue Eyes

Gotta love the bright blue eyes. Sometimes when I look at her, I feel like she is trying to hypnotize me. Mostly, it works. I'm a huge push-over. But wouldn't you be too? I mean, look at that face! I can't say "no" to that face!

Monkey Jumping on the Bed

My brother Daniel, his wife Tasha, and baby William recently moved into our neighborhood. Grace and I were visiting the other day and Grace had some fun juming on their bed.

Washing the Car

Grace was helping me wash the car the other day. She's easily distracted.

Missoula

Okay. So, I know it has taken me a while to get any new posts on my blog. This summer has just been so full of activities I feel I have hardly had any down time. We’ve gone for hikes, been swimming, had play-dates, and our latest adventure was a trip up to Montana. But, unfortunately, I have not had very good luck getting any decent photos of it all. Either I forget to bring my camera, or I bring it but don’t get a chance to really use it. (All the scenery photos in this post are ones I found on the internet.)

So I’ll just have to tell you about most of the things we did in Montana. We drove up Friday, June 29 with my mom and two youngest sisters, Emma and Hannah. My sister, Sara, lives in Missoula with her husband, Ken, and their three sons: Boston, Benjamin, and new baby Payton.

Ken’s parents own a cabin on Placid Lake (about an hour’s drive from Missoula), so we were able to spend Saturday up there swimming and relaxing. We did have a freaky little experience with a bat, however. Hannah was out on the deck when she just started screaming. There was a bat perched on the outside of the cabin in an I’m-gonna-pounce-on-you stance, and it was hissing at her.

Now, there have been bat problems at the cabin before. Sara and her family had to go through a terrible series of rabies shots a while back. Even if you don’t think you have been bitten, apparently if you sleep somewhere with rabid bats, you can be bitten in your sleep and not even know it. And I didn’t know rabies was such a serious disease, but according to Sara, you may not show any symptoms for several weeks, but once you do, it’s too late to get the shots, and you just die. (Yikes!)

So, needless to say we were all pretty freaked out about this bat. Signs of a rabid bat are if it is awake in the day, or around people. My brother, Brook, was able to catch the bat in a fishing net, and he killed it. Sara took the bat in to be tested, and sure enough, it was rabid. We are so lucky that no one was bitten and that we didn’t spend the night up there.
Despite all that, we had a great time at the lake. On Sunday, we were able to take the kids to the Rattlesnake River in Greenough Park, just a few blocks from where we were staying. The Rattlesnake is more like a big stream than a river, and there is a great spot that it sectioned off with rocks so that the current isn’t strong. Grace loved it! It was fairly cold, but she still jumped right in. (Photo above and below.)
Monday, we left all the kids with Sara, and floated the Blackfoot River on inner-tubes. It was a blast! (Photo below.)

The last day we were there we went to “A Carousel for Missoula.” (One of the only places I was able to get a picture.) Grace had a pretty good time. I got really dizzy. I used to be able to handle anything. Fair rides, roller coasters. Since I became a mother, I’m pretty much a sissy.
As we were waiting in line, my mom pointed out this sign to me. I think it is the most hilarious thing. Check it out:
After the carousel ride, we walked next door to this amazing playground. It’s called “Dragon’s Hollow.” I’ve never had more fun at a playground.
Here's Grace loving it too.

Hair-Do's and Don'ts

I frequently see little girls with beautiful hair fixed up so cute in all sorts of fun styles. Almost every children’s store I visit has tons of adorable little bows or headbands for girls to wear. Grace’s hair is very thin, and it seemed that I had to wait forever for it to be long, and strong enough to fix up. Well, now that it is, and is also absolutely beautiful, she refuses to let me touch it. Occasionally she will let someone else get close enough to try (pictured here is Aunt Tiffany.) I love these photos because they illustrate exactly how she feels about that.

In the Garden

We spent this Father's Day in Salt Lake with the Rasmusons. Aunt Tiffany has an amazing green thumb, and she taught Grace a thing or two about gardening.
Water goes in here.
Dig a little hole...
...and stuff it with a plant. She makes it look so easy! It must just be me, 'cause apparently even a 1-year old can do it.

Playin' in the Dirt

This was Grace's first trip to Moab, and her first time four-wheeling. She liked it about as much as I did. But, when we stopped for lunch, she had a bit of fun playing in the dirt.
At first, she only got a tiny bit of dirt on her face. So I casually suggested, "Grace, let's go put war paint on you!" I didn't know she knew what war paint was. But she headed straight for a soft patch of red dirt and began smearing it all over not only her face, but also her onesie, arms, legs, head, boots, and everywhere else. Before we put her back in the Jeep, I took off all her clothing. She looked like she had falled asleep in the sun and got a terrible burn. It was pretty funny.

Off Road

I must admit that four-wheeling is not one of my favorite things. It terrifies me. When I four-wheel, I usually have tightly shut eyes and a white-knuckle grip. So consequently, I don't take many photos of our family on the various trails and obstacles. If you aren't familiar with wheeling, here are a few photos that I Googled.
This one is called Mickey's Hot Tub. What a friendly name for a freaky little Jeep-eating hole.
Look at all those spectators. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in the Jeep either.

Sand Dune Arch

Ricky and his family love to go four-wheeling. We all went to Moab for the weekend just as school got out at the University. The first day we were there we drove into Arches National Park.
We hiked a great easy little trail that the kids loved. Sand Dune Arch. It's short and mostly a big sand pit. Grace liked to play in the red dirt at first, but then I took her shoes off. It reminded me of the first time her toes felt grass.
She was eager to leave after that. She asked me to put her shoes back on her feet, then...
...she helped me put my shoes on too.

On a Bicycle Built for Two

We bought Grace a helmet so she could go for bike rides with her dad and me. She rides on a nifty little seat that hooks to the bike like so.
"Here we go!" Grace says. "See you later!" (Either that or she's trying to signal that her helmet is choking her.)

All Smiles

My brother, Daniel, his beautiful wife, Tasha, and their absolutely adorable baby, William showing a few pearly whites in Zion's. (Except for William who doesn't really have any pearly whites yet.)

Emerald Pools

One of the hikes we did was the Emerald Pools. We stopped at the Middle Pool, and Grace explored a bit with her Gramma.
The water was really cold, and Grace didn't like her feet to get wet.
Precious.