New Mexico

This month while Luke was in Seattle, Brynlee and I went down to see Grandma and Grandpa Nelson at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch. We were able to stay with them for a week. It was nice to get down to the Ranch and spend time them. Brynlee enjoyed hanging out with her Grandparents and when it was time to leave didn't want to go home. I didn't blame her, we had a lot of fun and home was a long trip away.

Here are a few of the things we were able to do while visiting.

Here is Brynlee's action shot. She has been jumping off everything lately.

Brynlee with Grandma and Grandpa

Brynlee playing on the toys at the Ranch. She could have spent hours on the swing and slide.

Brynlee was able to paint stamps and made this T-shirt at the craft center. Way to go Brynlee.

Brynlee was able to cook Smores several times.

She really enjoyed catching them on fire and then liked to shake them. Thank goodness grandpa helped stop the flame so nothing started on fire.

Here is my Cow-Girl. Brynlee was lucky enough to have a new outfit and cowgirl boots to ride her favorite pony, Butterscotch.

Grandpa and Brynlee setting off for her pony ride

Brynlee riding all by herself. (Kind of) At least she is Happy and is touching an animal.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back again to the Ranch.

Hippie

With a three year old there comes a time when they insist on dressing themselves. I have been documenting Brynlee's concoctions of outfits and I've decided she is a hippie. Here are a few of our favorites.

Fouth of July

Yellowstone National Park

This fourth of July Brynlee and I headed up to Yellowstone National Park to meet up with my family. We were without Luke this year so it made it feel a little different. Luke is in an ER rotation in Seattle Washington so we missed having him around for the holiday.

The first day we were in the park we went out on Yellowstone Lake with my Dad and Jake. They were able to do a lot of fishing that morning. Brynlee and I had fun hanging out in the boat with them. Brynlee fished for a while but it didn't last long. She just had fun driving the boat, playing around, and eating snacks. It was fun speding time with Jake. He was leaving for Basic Training a few days later so it was nice to have some time with him before he left to SouthCarolina. Brynlee will miss her Uncle Jake a lot.

Driving the boat with Papa.

Brynlee attempting to catch a fish. No luck.

Papa, Uncle Jake, and Brynlee on the boat.

Cousin Aliza and Brynlee with their matching Ranger hats that Papa got them.

Later we took a drive to see the Canyons of Yellowstone. It was fun to watch Brynlee see Yellowstone for the first time. She liked walking around the paths and looking at the huge water falls. She impressed all of us when we walked down to see a section of water falls. We walked down an exposed metal stair case that was over 300 steps long. Brynlee got down just fine with the help of me and my dad, but we were worried about the way up and how she would do. Considering she has most of her dad's blood running through her I should have known not to worry. She climbed all the steps and did it faster than we could. Then to rub it in she ran most of the way up the trail back to the car.
Brynlee and I at the lookout point for the falls.

The big stair case, heading back up.

We also checked out the stinky sulfur pots. It was funny watching Brynlee as she tried to figure out where the smell was coming from. This is at a "mud pot" geyser, the next one to it sounded like a dragon and she liked that one a little better.

Brynlee and my parents on a beach along side Yellowstone Lake.

Brynlee and I at the "Black Pool." I loved the bright colors of it.

Brynlee and Grandma eating Tin Foil Dinners.

Brynlee cooking her first marshmallows by herself.

Eating Smores, our favorite camping dessert. Yummm!

This was the mighty 4th of July Parade in Grant Village. It consisted of a few cars and the employees of the area...most of which were not from the U.S. It was pretty funny. Brynlee was the only child watching the parade and ended up with a handful of 4th of July mints for candy.

Old Faithful. I wanted a photo with Brynlee by it, but she was more concerned with going to the car and watching a movie than seeing the Geyser. Guess we'll have to go back when she is older.

On the way home we stopped by Big Springs and Brynlee fed the fish. They were not very interested so we found a group of baby ducks that were much more fun to feed.

Thanks Dad and Mom for a fun 4th!

Bye Uncle Jake, we will miss you and look forward to seeing you at Christmas.

Weekends

The last few weekends we have been trying to enjoy some time as a family before Luke leaves to Seattle for a month. We went to Rigby to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Allred. While there we were able to play at the Riot Zone. Brylee had so much fun. We took a few rides on the go carts, played a round of miniature golf, and then Brynlee spent 2 hours playing on the huge blow up toys. She ran non-stop for nearly 2 hours, climbing and sliding and jumping. It was so funny to watch her just run and run. She always likes to tell me that she is a "running girl." Thanks mom and dad for a fun weekend!

We spent last weekend up at my parents cabin. It was rainy and cold, but we were able to relax and enjoy the beautiful green mountains. This past weekend we went to Utah and supported Luke in the Wasatch Steeple Chase race. This is his third year running the 17 mile trail race and he did awesome. He won the race and nearly beat the record. He ran 17 miles half of which was running up a huge steep mountain and then back down again. His time was 2 hours and 16 min! He only missed beating the record by 36 seconds. It has been fun watching him at his races. This year he has done really well. He placed first at the Menan Butte race, setting a new course record, then third at the Pocatello 50 which was cut short due to the snow over memorial day weekend, and then first again this weekend. Way to go LUKE!

Kitchen Updates

For mother's day this year Luke told me that he would make remodeling our kitchen a priority. Yeah! I have been waiting for us to be able to do this so I was very excited. Luke with the help of my brother Jake pulled up the flooring, well...as much as we could. Our original plan was to lay tile down, but after seeing hard wood floors under the linoleum flooring we did not have the heart to cut it out. We refinished the hardwood in a really nice walnut color and then were lucky enough to have a friend install granite. Never in my wildest dreams would I have granite, but we could not pass up the price. Next, we will move to updating the cabinets. Not sure yet what we are doing, but I will post photos when we get it done.

This is how it looks today. We are looking at doing a tile back splash and are just waiting for the tile. I love how it has turned out. The darker flooring and and counters really warms up the kitchen. Plus, my favorite part is no more old yucky WHITE linoleum that showed everything on the floor.

Brynlee Turned Three

Brynlee turned three clear back on May 1st. She had requested a Dora Party with Rice and Beans, so we had a little fiesta. We had friends and family come over, we were a little crowded but we were happy to have everyone together for her birthday. We were crossing our fingers for good weather, but as you know we did not have a good spring. We did get a break in the weather and were able to have the little girls go outside for a pinata. Brynlee had a lot of fun and I can't believe she is three years old.

Spring Updates

This spring we attended Baby animal days in Logan, Utah again. This time we had more company. My parents came along with Jake, Brandi, and Aliza. Brynlee still wasn't sure of what to think of the animals. I was hoping that having one year to grow up would have helped her to be less afraid of touching little harmless baby animals, but this was not the case. Again, even with grandma and grandpa she was too afraid to touch anything. She decided just looking was good enough. Her favorite part ended up being a little train ride. While it doesn't look like it on her face she really liked this part. Hopefully one of these days we will move past this part. At the end of the day they had a candy canon that went off and all the kids could get little goodies. I was surprised how well she did. She actually got quite a few pieces of candy even though there were so many kids. She ended up picking up the candy that was closest to us while all of the other kids ran for the middle. Overall it was a nice day to be out with the family.

While we were in Logan my parents, Casey, Brynlee, and I ran another 5K race. It was good to have my parents out and running again. My dad pushed Brynlee in the Chariot and was able to get third place in his age division. Way to go Dad. It was fun to be able to get out as a family and see them be active and do well. Even my mom ran/walked and had a very good time. Now we just need to find a few more for them, thank goodness for the Pocatello Fun Run Series.

Easter was nice. We didn't have the best weather but we did get out for a little Easter egg hunt.Brynlee enjoyed finding her eggs and helping her little cousin Aliza find eggs as well. It ended up being a quiet Easter because Luke had to ski patrol so Brynlee and I watched conference and stayed in side.

Since Easter our weather has been up and down, normal for Idaho spring but I always have high hopes for something better. Brynlee has been dying to get out side ever since last weekend when the weather was way too nice and has been talking about going to the pool nearly every day. She can not wait, and I have to admit I am a ready to sit at the pool as well.

Over spring break Luke went to Peru with Idaho Condor. It is a group made up of medical and dental professionals and students that go to small villages out side of Cusco Pero and offer services to the indigenous people. He was gone for 12 days and had an amazing trip and is already planning on the next trip back to Peru.

Right now I am enjoying not working full time. I have completed the spring semester with the hygiene students so I have a few weeks off unit I work a few days in summer clinic. It is nice to have this part completed, and knowing that summer is around the corner and that Luke will be graduating soon makes me very very happy.

Brynlee's birthday is coming up this weekend. She has been excited for a Dora Party for nearly 6 months now, so we can't let her down. She has been very excited for her Dora Party and has been talking about the different aspects of this party. We will be having a Dora cake and several different dora themed games. Luke and I talked to her about what kind of food she wanted for her birthday, we told her that she could choose her most favorite type of food to have with her friends and family, and guess what she chose?? She said she wanted Rice and Beans..... Rice and Beans is a three year old's favorite food! Funny huh, I love it! (I am not sure if this girl knows what a Happy Meal is...) So needless to say we will be having a fiesta! Dora Party here we come!!!