A few random pictures we took in July

Addison cooking- she loves to part of making dinner EVERY night- she is also saying "cheese" - Sorry the picture is so blurry

Eating bananas on the front porch- I think that it is funny that they both have their eyes closed. It is moments like this that I love- How cute Ethan begged to clean his toilet- so I let him I was crazy worried about germs so I supervised and directed- the funny thing- He wants to do it again- I guess this could be a good thing. I told him that I needed to take a picture so I could show him when he is older that he once liked cleaning toilets :)

Where did all of the dinosaurs go??

This is for you Joel:

July 23- Arrive, Bear Country and Water park.

We got up early- for me that is and we were on the road by 7:30. We arrived in Rapid City at about 1 and things could not have worked out better. Tyler and his family and Wendy & Joe and Kim & Ryan were only 10 mile out. Grandma and Grandpa Bauer arrived about 30 minutes later. We checked in and tried to keep Ethan from not going crazy- he wanted to go to the water park REALLY bad! First we headed out to Bear Country. You drive through the first part. It was pretty crazy when a bear is only inches- yes, I said inches away even if a car door was between us. Then we walked through baby land and saw the otters, badgers, foxes, skunks, baby bears, lynx and more that I cant remember the names of. We had a great time and are very thankful that Tyler and Jen would allow us to pile into their car with them.

After that we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the water park. Two hotels are connected by the same indoor water park. There was a child's part that had three slides of there own Ethan loved these ones because he did not have to wait in line and could go down by himself, he also took Addison down one- it was really cute. Although Ethan also loved to go down the big slides as well. After going around the lazy river several time Tyler told me that I could take Addison with me down the slides. I wasn't sure if she would like it or not - well she LOVED it. I would asked her it she wanted to go again and she would run to the stairs, even through she was shivering. After we would go down a few slides I would take her over to the hot tub. She also LOVED this and would want to float on her back. Trent and I had several people ask us how old she was and tell us how brave she was in the water. We didn't take our camera so I took picture just before we left. We had a blast at the water park.

July 24- Mount Rushmore, Alpine Slide and Reptile Garden.

We started the day off by going to Mount Rushmore, Trent has been there before so he was familiar with the surroundings. At first I was like "there not very big" kinda like the statue of liberty is not as tall or big as I thought it was going to be, but as the same time very cool and pretty amazing. There is a path that walks up to the base of mountain and is on the Movie National Treasure. It was a nice little hike.

Next was the Alpine slide, first you ride a chair lift up then you slide on down. I didn't think that Addison would ride in the chair lift very well so I stayed at the bottom- not to mention that an adult ticket was 9 dollars. But Ethan and Trent had a great time! Ethan thought that he was steering and told every one that his Dad was screaming like a little girl- it was pretty funny.

Then off we went to Reptile Garden, Ethan has wanted to go there as soon as he woke up that morning. We saw tons of snakes- Dad, I suggest you do not go here. But we also saw huge tortoises that were over 100 years old, alligators, crocodiles, lizards and they even had an exhibit of prairie dogs, and much more. It was really rainy but we had a great time!

July 25- Roo Ranch, Devils Tower and the long journey home.

We started the day by heading towards Sturgis, which for those of you that don't know is the home of the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and happens to be August 4-10. And even though it was about two weeks away we saw our far share of motorcycles on the road. At Stugis we took a side road to Roo Ranch. Supposely -- "The Roo Ranch is an exciting and fun filled place to come and see kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos and other interesting animals that are rare to North America." To say the least it was kinda a let down and a rip off. But the kids did get to pet a Kangaroo.

We then headed to Devils Tower, it is a National Monument in Wyoming and on the license plate. It seemed like a great big rock shooting out of the ground but as we got closer the texture of the column is very cool, it is also a holy place by the Indians in the region. There were several prayer bundles ties to the trees. It was a pretty cool to experiance.

We left Devils Towers at about 4:30 and had about a six hour drive home- and the scenery is very boring, and most of the towns where pretty small. The most that we spent on a gallon of gas was $4.15. We had a really good time and are so glad that we got to see our Aunts, uncles, cousins and Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks Everyone!

Joining a new club

I have had a few people ask me if I was pregnant, stemming from a comment left on one of my posts. So please let me explain. My cousin, Monica also has a blog, she has a widget that counts down her pregnancy in days(so I didn't know for sure what week she was), I was thinking - she should be about 20 weeks that is far enough along to find out the sex of a child, I wonder if she knows what she is having, So I leave a comment on her blog that reads: Valerie said... They do look yummy (her blog was about tamales)- Hey aren't you about 20 weeks- which means that you can find out what you are having- so are you going to find out or not and are you going to share- cant wait to find out :) And she replies with: Monica said: You better include me if you go private there cuz...LOL! Oh, and we are about almost 20 weeks along...and NO, we are not going to find out what we are having. It is going to be a surprise for everyone! So welcome to the club! LOL! Take care! I am thinking that people are reading into the "So welcome to the club part" The club is "not know what she is having until she gives birth club"- phew I hope that puts your minds at ease. This has given me a pretty good laugh. For many of you that would like me to invite you to my blog - I don't have your email addresses so please email me with that- I posted my email for a short time (it is on the left hand side on the top) Thanks- I hope this post made you smile.

Also, If any one can help I need it- My posts are not the way my preview appears with paragraphs and spaces can anyone help me on how it fix this- thank you

Going Private

Well, due to the fact that the person from Hamilton, Montana will not comment on who they are (but they look everyday) I have decided that I will be going private. Please let me know if you would like to be invited by leaving a comment. Thank you, and please if you are the person from Hamilton, Montana come forward.

Memories

Here are the directions: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

A missed video of Ethan mountain biking.

Happy Freedom Day! You get to read the second part before the first part- I wasn't thinking when I was posting-

After waking up from our naps we headed a campground near by to cool our foil dinners. Ethan went on his first mountain bike trail and thought it was a blast. Trent and Ethan bike nearly the entire time Addison and I cooked the food. After that we all went on a hike it was pretty fun. We then took family pictures Ethan choose where to take the pictures and how we would pose- how funny.

After that we headed down to our church to wait until it was dark enough for the fireworks. I was a little disappointed in the fact that even sparklers are illegal in Laramie - I think that is one of the funnest things to do with children! Other than that we had a pretty good time.

The First part of Freedom day

We started the 4th of July with a ward breakfast at 7:00am it was pretty fun and we had a better turn out than we do at church on Sunday- Yeah!

Here are a few pictures of Ethan and Trent Playing the Doughnut game- Everyone loved this game.- that made me happy :)

Then we went to a community celebration at Washington park here in Laramie, And we had a blast, every thing from face painting, inflatables, snow cones, train rides, climbing walls, ice cream cones, craft projects, watermelon and balloons were free. Then we headed home for a nap, the kids crash before we were half way home.

Addison's sore tongue

Today we were playing on the school playground and Addison tripped and bit her tongue- it was pretty bloody but I was wearing a red shirt so I wasn't sure how much was blood. It bleed for a while but then it stopped so I thought nothing more of it- then I asked her to show me her tongue after her nap and I was more concerned.

We tried really hard to take a good picture of it. The pictures don't show how bad it really is but

(Warning) if you not like stuff like this don't study the picture below or watch the video :)

What kind of flower

I really love these flowers but I don't know what they are, they are in my neighbors flower garden and I would just ask her, but she is out of town so I thought I would put the word out to find out what they were- Trent tells me that his mom has some so I bet that she can tell me.... But they are so pretty and fun that I had to share them. Ants are needed for the flower to open... Then the petals slowly expand, form this small bud an amazing flower appears... Who would have thought that there would have been that many petals I love how full and bright they are, My neighbor also has light pink and white but I love the bright pink! I don't believe that this one is in complete bloom- how lush :)

Hamilton, Montana

Who are you??-- You look at my blog everyday- please let me know who you are so I dont have to go private- thanks

Happy Bed Time

Addison is so good at taking her naps and going to bed at night- all we have to do is put her in her crib with whatever the "special" item is at the time- in this picture the monkey, Carebear, and Cabbage patch doll( the doll and bear were mine when I was little). Put her favorite blanket on her- this changes as well and she will let you know- We share goodnights with with each other and turn on her music and she goes to sleep- I Love It! - But beware when she wakes up- she is like her mom and takes a while to adjust.