Cousins, Turkeys, and Trees, Oh My!

We set a record and headed out for our third road trip to Idaho this year in honor of the passing of Aaron's grandma and of course the Thanksgiving holiday. The road trip was very different with an almost toddler than a little baby lump, but thanks to our friends, The Porters and the Baby Einstein division of Disney, we all made it there in one piece!

We thought we would be bored while Aaron's fam was in school, but we had a fun little trip to Idaho Falls one day to visit some friends and some fam there. Little did I know Idaho Falls has a CAFE RIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you Kim for making it possible. Here is her daughter sharing some quesadillas with Adelyn. So cute, and of course so tasty. We also found out they have one in Twin Falls now...yes, trips to Idaho just got that much better! :)



Now here is the babe proudly showing off her Thanksgiving feast. We had such a great day with all of Aaron's Stoker Family. Brooklyn quickly became Adelyn's favorite because she was the one most willing to get up and walk around and around and around the house with her. Adelyn is STILL missing her terribly.



Our last day there we had a fun little adventure with everyone and headed up to the mountains in search of the perfect Christmas tree. We drove an hour and a half to get there and tromped around in the snow (Adelyn stayed in the car with grandpa) to find it.



Can we say it is a far cry from the Washington tree farm experience of driving five minutes from our house, getting out of the car, and being surrounded by perfect trees. The first was definitely a better adventure, but Adelyn LOVED them both.

I'm sure she wondered what the heck we were doing bringing a live tree into our house. She still stares at it in wonder and doesn't really want to touch it. That is a good thing of course....don't need all those ornaments strewn about!

Anyway, hope you had a good Thanksgiving too. If you want a few more pics, I'll post them on facebook for ya!

Maybe we are Reading Rainbow After All!

This is Adelyn's favorite thing to do lately. For those of you who aren't related, you might find the video dull, but I of course could watch it over and over...and watch the live version of course. Who knew how entertaining flipping pates could be. Yes, the book is upside down. That's why it's awesome!

Butterflies

Some may think of Michael Jackson, some of Reading Rainbow, but for us this Halloween it turns our thoughts to the little papoose. She was so excited to get invited to her first ever Monster Bash, which gave us an actual reason to dress her up. Wardrobe was kindly provided yet again by Miss Olivia Rosado...a lovely orange and black butterfly...though you can't really see the wings in this pic.



Aaron decided the only thing we could pull together for ourselves that went a long with a butterfly would be to dress up in 70s garb. Yes, Aaron dressed up without his mullet wig, though I'm not sure how it actually happened, as that is usually the central figure of his every disguise.



We also went to the ward Trunk or Treat with cousin Jadyn and afterward had a little photo shoot. Of all the ones we took of the butterfly and the ballerina cat, this one has to be my favorite. Toward the end of the picture taking, Adelyn realized that Jadyn was already feasting on her halloween candy. Not realizing fully what Jadyn was sucking on, she figured it must be tasty and decided to give the other end a try.

We also got an awesome Halloween package from Aaron's parents that helped us celebrate. Thanks you guys!

Tis the Season of Pumpkins

I am sure we all know that this coming Saturday is Halloween and I am sure we have all been busy gearing up for this holiday season. Traditionally, summer is my favorite time of the year and I absolutely loathe its departure (I do live in the Pacific Northwest after all, can you blame me? I love sunshine!!). However, this year I have strangely been enjoying fall immensely.

That of course is aided by my love for EATING all things pumpkin, kicking that off with some ymmy pancakes. But now that we have a little one, we have been doing a little more with pumpkins than eating them. My sister does a pumpkin painting activity every year, so Adelyn and I joined her for that.



Then we went to a local pumpkin patch, which was a first for all three of us. It was an unseasonably warm and beautiful October Saturday, so we, along with the rest of the town it seemed, took advantage of it.

We finished off the week with some yummy pumpkin cheesecake muffins. I wish I could find the recipe online, but my sister brought it to me from her Rachel Ray Everyday Magazine. I suppose I will have to end it with something from last year's fall that was another pumpkin cheesecake twist. Hope you are all enjoying the season too!

Zipping through the Rainforest

On our anniversary I posted about our trip to Whistler. In that post, I said that we had gone ziplining and promised more pics, but forgot about it completely until now. It was so fun! We debated beforehand whether or not we were too chicken to try it out (I never was much of a thrill seeker, but now that I am a mom, it's even worse!), but we figured we might as well give it a shot. We were so glad we did because not only did we have a great time, but it was in the most picturesque setting too, in the canyon up above the Whistler Village where there is a beautiful rainforest.

We tried our hardest to capture the beauty on film, but as you saw from my picture of Mt. McKinley last week, our camera is not the fanciest (I refuse to blame it on personal lack of photography prowess). We were going off one of the lines and the guide went backwards and flexed. I thought it was a cool shot of her seemingly suspended in the air, flexing. So I suggested that Aaron go first and try to turn around so he could pose and flex for me to take his picture. Unfortunately...this is what I got.



Thankfully, there was a safety net to our little plan: they were taking pictures for you. Of course they were expensive, but we needed to capture Aaron's poses somehow. If only we had realized!! Then we could have saved the trouble and he could have just posed for them to begin with. You can decide for yourself who caught the better shot:



More posing that I hadn't even seen him do because the camera had shut off right when I didn't want it to.



Kickin it over the creek.



They took some of me too of course, but I wasn't quite as adventurous!

But I did have a moment of bravery toward the end of that line, that thankfully they caught because Aaron hadn't even seen it! Now it is captured eternally for our posterity.



On the last line they taught us how to go upside down and I ALMOST redeemed myself by ALMOST catching Aaron fully inverted. It still looks pretty cool though!

Our advice to would-be zipliners: just go crazy from the beginning because when you get used to it and stop being worried about crashing head first into the pointy rocks below, it is a lot more fun when you aren't holding tightly to the rope!

Happy adventuring!

The Last Frontier

A lot of you have been asking about our recent trip to Alaska. Unfortunately, I didn't really get too many good pics to share with you. This was due in part to Aaron working most of the time and part to the less than best weather that we had while we were there. Lucky for Adelyn and I the first few days were pretty nice, sadly for Aaron, the day that he actually had free was the rainiest and yuckiest of all. So we probably had more fun than he did, but all in all it was a good trip, and always good to get away on a little adventure. This was the first plane adventure that we had taken with Adelyn and this first pic should show you how much fun she had on the plane ride.




She and I went to the zoo one day and it was a very nice little zoo--with a lot of animals local to really cold regions that we don't see too much down here--polar and brown and black bears, Musk Oxen, Yaks, Snow Leopards, Moose, etc...we had a lot of fun but it was already soooooo cold!! Strangely enough, Adelyn seemed to love the Alpacas the most. We actually ran into a group of Taiwanese people, so that was random and cool.



One thing that was cool was that we could see Denali, Mt. McKinley, from the window of our hotel room. I know it's not the best picture in the world, but we were amazed by how big it still seemed so many hundreds of miles away. I really wanted to go to the park, but it, like most of the rest of Alaska, shuts down mid-September, just in time for us to miss it!



Anchorage is pretty much surrounded by mountains except for the inlet where the ocean comes in, but even on the other side of that you can see mountains. It was beautiful, especially with all the fall colors all around.



The babe liked the flight home a little less than the way there. I suppose you could say that Aaron and I liked it less--she was still having a ball but was so tired and trying so hard not to fall asleep that she just finally crashed. She was sitting on Aaron's lap one minute, and the next minute looked like this.




So there's a short version of our trip. We had a great time, but would recommend to all interested in going to Alaska, do it in the summer!!

She's on the Move!

Well she's not quite crawling or walking by herself, but she has developed a style all her own for each that we thought we'd share with you far away relatives. She's not quite up to getting on her hands and knees yet, but here is her army scoot!

And this is her true love here. If we put her on her tummy too long she cries and screams as though we were torturing her. But she will walk with Dad until she can't think straight...this is one such time...she was so tired but still wanted to walk! The other day she and Aaron actually walked a lap around the entire backyard. What a cute little nut.

The Best Two Years

No, it's not the mission that I'm talking about. Of course, my mission wasn't two years, so perhaps you weren't confused, just annoyed by my cheesiness. But if you can't be cheesy on your anniversary, when can you be?!?! Aaron LOVES it when I am cheesy, so I do it just for him. :)

Anyway, two years ago today, we were married in the Seattle Temple. I have had fun looking at everyone else's wedding pics on their blogs on their anniversaries, so I have included ours here as well.



Then here we are celebrating our first anniversary up in the San Juan Islands. Yes, I'm a bit pregnant here. I wonder what percentage of Mormon brides are pregnant on their first anniversary?! Glad to be numbered among them, that's all I can say!

51

And here we are celebrating our second anniversary (this past weekend) getting ready to go Ziplining at Whistler (more fun pics to follow). We had so much fun up there, all made possible by Aaron's aunt and uncle wedding present...thanks Evan and Norene!!



And since two years really isn't long enough for us to look much different, I thought I would scan and include the VERY first picture I could find of us together. Whoever took it for us could obviously tell that we were in love and wanted to catch the moment.

Anyway, I am so grateful for Aaron and all that he has done for me in the past two years of marriage and seven years of friendship. Life would be so dull without him. You are the best hun!

The Little Seahorse

So I promised more pics of our trip, and here they are, hoping to illustrate just how hot it has been!! We have been spending as much time in the water as possible this summer, also because we discovered Adelyn absolutely loves it. She never wants to get out.

This first one is actually the week before our trip and was Adelyn's very first time swimming. We were pretty close to heat stroke in our record breaking temps, so we just headed to the lake down the street from our house and took a dip to save our sanity.



Then we were on to the Tri-Cities for more hot weather. In looking for ways to keep busy while Aaron was working there, we were lucky enough to have a free wading pool just next door to the hotel. It turns out she likes water where she can't touch, where she can kick her legs, so we headed to the indoor hotel pool afterward.



Then in Utah my cousins were nice enough to invite us up to their ranch to help celebrate my cousin Lauren's return from a mission to Chicago. We had so much fun with all the family and all the boats...until Aaron lost his wedding ring in the moss!!!!



Oh, and Adelyn didn't really have too much fun with the life jacket...something kept getting in the way of zipping it up!!!

In our last stop on the vacation, we did a little more indoor swimming, with Aaron's cousins this time. I love this shot with his cousin Kori, the sweetest little kid ever!! Adelyn absolutely loved her and started grinning and kicking her legs everytime she came into the room. We miss her already.

Now we haven't been swimming once since we've been back, but hopefully we have enough summer left to do it.

P.S. Adelyn's swimsuits were provided courtesy of Rachel and Olivia. Thanks!!!

Animal Lover?

Yes, it has been a busy summer. We just returned from yet another family reunion and had yet another great time. Though we haven't been seeing much of the folks in our new ward, we have been seeing a lot of family and old friends. All in all Adelyn and I were gone two weeks and put almost 3000 miles on the car (her longest trip yet) and she handled it pretty nicely.

Aaron's reunion was centered around the Cassia County Fair & Rodeo, which is apparently a big deal in Burley. No one in his family could believe that I, being from Texas, had never been to a Rodeo so they were all pretty excited for me to go. I will admit that it was a lot of fun and wish I would have gone to one sooner. I didn't get any pics of the actual show, but I just had to share these of Adelyn.

Aaron's mom was really excited to see Adelyn with the animals and truth be told, her reactions were indeed priceless. If you can't see the look on her face, please click on it and zoom in!

But then again...maybe it isn't just the animals that have her concerned after all...

More pics and stories soon, just had to share these first because I got such a kick out of them.

Baria Vacation

To start things off, I have to share the latest in our attempt to catch the little squirt laughing on film. This one showcases quite a few of her favorite way to try to stifle her laughter when the camera comes out.



We started out our family "vacation" locally because Liz wasn't able to join us adventuring down the Oregon Coast due to work. We had our first family pictures in SIX years (Yikes!) taken, which will hopefully produce good results soon. Then what we thought would be a "lazy" float down the Deschutes River turned into Survivor: Pacific Northwest, with two of the rafts collapsing mid-float. Only Ben & Jadyn managed to float completely unscathed, while Jenn & Michelle had the worst of it, having to swim/walk half the way to the park at the end (unfortunately no cell phones to reach the rescue party).

It was an adventure I am sure NONE of us will forget!



Here we are, having made it safely to Oregon, with the little one having the time of her life!!



One evening we sat and watched a bunch of Seals and Cormorants hang out while the tide brought their food in.



Aren't they so cute??!!



This is on the way heading down to Florence, at Seal Rock...I know, it was a Seal-Filled Vacation. We visited the Sea Lion Caves as well, boy were they smelly!!!

Ben's biggest request for vacation was to go four wheeling at the sand dunes. Since he is leaving on his mission this Tuesday, my mom obliged his desires. Here we are on our sweet rides.

Last but not least, here is the view from the house we rented. It was right on the beach and was so peaceful and beautiful. Just what the doctor ordered--until we were on our way home and hit 90 degree weather in Portland. It's been gross ever since! Idaho, Utah, and central A/C here we come!!

Back to the Cuteness

So now that I have posted about something other than Adelyn, we're going to get right back to it...that's what we all love anyway right?? Babies!! Aaron's mom did wonder why we hadn't posted anything of her in awhile, so I'd better take care of that.

We'll start things out with a video of Aaron trying to get her to laugh and then I'll share some of my recent faves.



Unfortunately, so far this summer Aaron has had to work quite a few Saturday mornings. But Adelyn was not about to let that affect her time enjoying the sun!



So we had a picnic with Michelle and Jenn (and Cooper of course, though he wasn't cooperating when I wanted them to smile together for the camera).



Aaron was excited to see that she finally fits into her Seahawks clothes, though it looks like the hat may be a bit small!! Hopefully she can still pass for a girl with a Seahawks beanie in the place of her flower bows!!



And last but not least, my sister snapped this at our pre-fourth of July picnic (yes, once the weather starts getting nice up here, I just can't stay away from the picnicking!!). It's so cute that I had to steal it from her.



Looks like it could be a nice little tribute to the late MJ. :) I think I'll post a few more pics on my facebook, so if you are still hungry for more, go ahead and try there!

Nerd Alert

How about a post about something other than our trips or Adelyn?!?! Many of you know that I majored in Linguistics at BYU. While there I bought this book about the origin of certain words and never really read it. Well I was flipping through it this morning (after putting it the bathroom for some potentially dull moments) and came across "OK." Since I have heard the word OK in every country I have travelled to, I got curious. And just in case you all are curious, I thought I would share the entry.

America's greatest contribution to the English language and indeed to languages all over the world is a joke. Or at least that's how it began. In the summer of 1838 newspaper columnists in Boston thought nothing funnier than to reduce a phrase to its initials (with an explanation in parentheses). To add to the humor, columnists sometimes misspelled the abbreviations. One 1838 example was O.W., meaning "all right," with blatant misspellings of both initial letters. That set the stage for an even more outrageous misspelling in March 1839: O.K. translated as "all correct." The joke was that neither O nor K was correct.

O.K. might have died out if "Old Kinderhook," President Martin Van Buren (born in Kinderhook, New York), hadn't been running for reelection in 1840. "O.K. clubs" supporting him were established throughout the country. Old Kinderhook lost, but O.K. won a permanent place in American English. Until about 1900, however, O.K. remained obscure. But the twentieth century turned out to be an OK century, perhaps encouraged by scholarly President Woodrow Wilson's use of "okeh" on official documents. (He spelled it "okeh" because he mistakenly thought it came from the Choctaw Indian language.)

So there you have it! Then I got online and did a little more research and it turns out that Ok's origin is actually still debated by scholars. Crazy. Could it be America's greatest contribution to worldwide linguistics?? It's certainly a popular one. The Chinese use it (in Chinese) all the time. Have you heard it in other countries where you have been?

Family Reunion

We just got back this week from a nice week long visit to Idaho for Aaron's family reunion. Even though I joke about there not being much to do in Idaho, we always have such a great time when we go there. We wish they all lived closer...especially now that we have a kid to brave the drive with. Even though it took us two hours longer than usual so she could eat, it was worth it.

I realized though that I didn't take too many pics of reunion festivities, but many of the papoose. I guess no matter where I am I am baby obsessed. It seemed someone was always taking pics, but I think it was Hillary, so you'd have to ask her if you want more! Here are a few pics that I uploaded, but I will post more on Facebook (better join if you haven't yet!!) so those of you who are in them can have them if you want them.

Here is a great one of Aaron with his grandpa at the at the cool reunion place they rented for the weekend. He is definitely one of my favorite of Aaron's relatives and I really appreciate the love and welcome he shows for all of us "in-laws." But everyone in Aaron's family has treated me like family right from the very beginning and always make me feel right at home when we visit.

We didn't take Adelyn's tub with us, so I had to bathe her in the deep sink in the great room. It was amazing the crowd of ladies that swarmed the area with the cameras and their cooing once I started the washing. Can you blame them?!?!

And here he is...one of the highlights of the weekend...the infamous Ned Bowen just happened to show up in Aaron's parents ward while we were there (even though he is in a different ward) and sit right in the middle of the clan. What are the odds???? It sounds like Aaron has great plans for this little photo shoot, so don't worry.

We got back from the reunion and what did Aaron spot in our backyard??? My favorite flowers, in full bloom. Did we plant them?? No. Did we do anything to help them?? No. We weren't even aware of their existence.

That's been a fun thing about this house. Even though the backyard was a jungle when we moved in because the house was vacant for so long, you can tell they put a lot of effort into things when they lived here. New flowers pop up all the time...like these.



Now if we only knew anything about gardening so that we can keep everything alive and beautiful....