The Weekly Photo (s)

I have pretty much been the worst blogger ever. I missed Elanor's birthday, all of the Christmas season, Alice's 9 month update (though I will still do that), and a bunch of Weekly Photos. Ugh. Life. I've been busy and living and enjoying life, so I suppose that is as good an excuse as I have. 

Should have been posted December 14th:

Happy 5th Birthday Elanor!

We celebrated with a Princess and the Frog party with friends, then out to eat for fish and chips with family, and then a Frozen themed party with Tyler's family!

Should have been posted December 21st:

This is probably one of my most favorite pictures ever...and it was taken on my phone (by my sister). 

Should have been posted December 28th:

Christmas!

The Nativity.

The girls with Mema and Papa on Christmas Day!

Should have been posted on January 4th:

 Zoo lights!

Should have been posted on January 11th:

 For January 18th:

 Elanor, Tyler and Alice have been sick all week. This was her at the beginning of the sickness. It has just gotten worse, so we are off to the doctor tomorrow. Poor little girl.

Thanksgiving

We went up to Spokane to spend Thanksgiving with my Grandpa and step-Grandma Vonnie. It was so much fun and I am glad we were able to go, as Elanor had not been to Spokane before and it had been at least six years since I was up there. I do not get to see all of my extended family very often, so it is means a lot to be able to see some of them!

There was some snow in Spokane!

Uncle Ian spent some time teaching Elanor how to "snowboard".

We helped Grandpa and Vonnie decorate their Christmas tree and tried to take some family pictures.

Ian is such a good uncle.

I love this one of Elanor and her Great Grandpa Roger.

Happiness.

 I love this picture so much, but why am I blurry?!?!

 Four generations.

 Grandpa and Vonnie with the girls.

(it is hard to get pictures where everyone is looking as there were multiple cameras going off)

On Saturday, we took Elanor on a mini Spokane tour.  First stop was the carousel in Riverfront Park (the very best one--it is beautiful and unique, moves quite fast, and you have to try and grab these rings as you go around--it makes sense, just go to Spokane sometime.)

How cute is this?!

My Uncle Scott, with the girls and his soon-to-be step daughter Marley.

I have a pretty mom!

Elanor and Marley got along so well and were fast friends in a matter of minutes.

We also stopped at the giant tree at the mall, walked around the very fancy and very cool Davenport Hotel and met my cousins, Marlana and Andrew there for desserts. If you ever happen to be in Spokane, go to the Davenport and explore. The ballrooms are beautiful, the main lobby area stunning, and the bathrooms are quite fancy.

 I am so glad we were able to travel up to Spokane. It is wonderful to see everyone and there are so many more family members we need to visit now that we live a little closer. I love spending time with family and hearing stories. It really is so important and our time here is short.

And to close, here is little Alice asleep on the car ride back home. 

And I stayed up way too late writing this.

The Weekly Photo(s)

Yes, I have not posted one of these since before Alice was born! It has been almost a month. Many of the pictures have already been seen, but I have to keep track of these Weekly Photos for my photo book.

Should have been posted on April 6th:

Should have been posted on April 13th:

 Should have been posted on April 20th:

I had to also add this picture of the snow storm we had. My mother-in-law is pictured above with the girls and it was super warm out that day. Later in the week, the day Kim left, it snowed 8 inches! More snow than we have had all winter. It was crazy, but fun!

Should have been posted this past Monday, the 27th:

I am all caught up and should be posting more frequently now!

The Weekly Photo

I know this picture has already been on the blog, but I want this one to be my Weekly Photo. So don't bother looking at this post; I'm just saving this here so I can later put it my Weekly Photo photo album, which I order every year.

Nature is Free

Well sure, National Parks cost money, and sometimes if you live in the city you have to drive out to nature, but really this beautiful natural world is pretty much free to roam. 

We love to go out and hike, explore and observe. There are so many beautiful things to see and you do not need money to see them, just the will to go.

Elanor and I are back in Utah briefly and Tyler had quite a few days off, being President's weekend. On Valentine's Day, it was 60 degrees here (crazy, right?) but we decided to enjoy it and went up to Little Dell Resevoir for a dinner picnic and some exploring.

Silly girl.

A beaver dam.

On Monday, it was a little cooler but we still wanted to do something fun outside. We decided to go to Little Cottonwood Canyon and walk up the stream. We anticipated some snow (though there should have been 5-6 feet), there was a little left over snow, but it did start snowing while we were up there! I love snow. We brought lunch and hot chocolate, which made the experience so pleasant!

We brought snow boots for her, but she would not wear them! Luckily, the snow was so hard that she did not sink through at all.

Slipping and sliding on some icy snow.

We love going on these adventures together and are so excited to add a baby into our family fun. I am getting really excited at this point and can't wait for her to come! Only about  nine weeks to go!

Also, I don't mind sharing name ideas, so here are some of ours (feel free to comment on which ones you like best and why):

Rosalind or Roseline

{we would also probably call her Rose}

Anja 

{pronounced An-ya--it is a Scandinavian name}

Alice

{Elanor really likes Alice}

Olivia

{unfortunately, it is the number two most popular name in the the U.S. right now}

Hermione

{I do love this name, it is a Shakespeare heroine name, as well as very obviously being from Harry Potter}

Thoughts? Any other suggestions? We have had a hard time picking a name this time around! I also don't like naming a baby until I see her, since I think how she looks/feels can determine a lot.