July

Ah, July. What a wonderful month! This year it brought the promise of the end of a hectic semester and the tantalizing hope of a new baby in our home. I had been having Braxton Hick's contractions since mid-May and was just sure that the baby would come a week early. 

On the 3rd we went to the Freedom Fire show with Chelsey and Cody. The band that played was a cover band for ABBA. It was pretty fun but man was it HOT!!! We were sitting facing the west and right about 8:30 I thought I was going to melt right into the bleachers! Finally it got dark and we had an amazing firework show. I had been prepping Bekah all day, letting her know that the fireworks were loud but safe...she still freaked out a bit. She kept pulling at me saying, "Should we hide?" She finally decided that Cody was a good protector and snuggled into his shoulder, peeking out now and then before hiding her face again. 

Poor little sweaty girl! But she did so great waiting for the fireworks.

Three patriotic girls. (And two boys in the bellies!)

On the fourth I took a picture of Bekah wearing my old night gown before dressing her in her flag shirt to go to the parade in Hyrum.

She loved that people threw candy to us from their cars and floats. She talked about the candy parade for weeks!

We were somewhat shocked that she didn't get scared by the sparklers since the fireworks had scared her so badly, but she loved them. When the firework show started that night she got scared again and hid her face in our blanket.

All the talk about Baby Xander coming any day got Bekah into baby mode. I couldn't find her one day and finally spotted her rocking her baby and singing to it! She's going to be a great big sister!

Whenever it's time to have a new baby, Garrett starts feeling like life is ending and has to pack in as much fun time as he can. So on the 19th til the 21st, he, Brett, Riley, Jack, Isaac, Jacob, Josh, and Kevin went on a backpacking trip to Red Castle. They had a great time and it got Garrett's wiggles out.  :)

June

June brought loneliness as we felt the continued absence of Garrett on his field camp. It also brought more classes making it so I was gone from 7:30-5 rather than getting home by 3. Bekah was a trooper, but I could tell it was difficult for her. Garrett rarely had cell service or battery on his phone so we rarely heard from him.

Garrett and Cody on top of a huge rock during their field camp. They had a good time but it was so great to have them back on the 16th (Father's Day!). 

We went to Bear Lake on the 22nd with the Watkins. It was so cold and windy! We stayed for about two hours then gladly climbed into our sun-warmed cars and drove away to get shakes!

Beautiful, even though it was cold.

Wearing her "pretty dress" Garrett put on her. (It's really just her favorite blanket held on with a paper clip)

June 27-30th we went to the Brinkerhoff Reunion near Manti. What good times we all had together! There's nothing like getting family together for love and laughter.

Bekah and Eliza hit it off and posed for us as we praised them for holding hands so adorably! 

We found a waterfall to climb around in. Bekah was pretty impressed and let Garrett carry her up into it. She's almost always up for an adventure with her Daddy!

May

We were so excited for the end of April because it meant the end of the semester. But with May, a new semester started. Garrett was gone all day the first two weeks for his field methods class and was gone the rest of the month on his field camp. I was gone all day doing my practicum. It was really hard to say goodbye to Bekah and leave her with a sitter, but knowing it was temporary really helped. 

On Mother's day Garrett made breakfast for me then took me outside to see the awesome canopy he got for me! That evening we made a time capsule with the Watkins and went up a canyon to bury it.

Hopefully we can remember where it was in 40 years when we're supposed to dig it up!

The 20th till the 22nd Garrett, Bekah, and I took off for a family vacation while Garrett had some time off from field camp. Bekah was thrilled! We spent all day getting packed and ready to go and the poor girl had finally decided we probably weren't really going camping and hiking like we had promised, when we loaded up in the car and announced that we were going! Unfortunately, it was a really long drive, especially for a two-year old. She finally fell asleep right as we were nearing our camping spot so we left her in the car while we set up the tent by light of our headlights. When we had the beds ready we got her from the car and tried to keep her asleep as we moved her to the tent. When she opened her eyes to see the tent she started shrieking and squirming. We thought she was just disoriented and afraid, but when we shined the light on her, we realized she was just so excited she literally couldn't contain it! It was hilarious!! The next morning she woke up just as thrilled that we were camping and immediately set about exploring our little camp site and asking when we were going hiking.

Well we made it hiking soon enough and as soon as she spotted the rocks, she was all over them! Her dad couldn't have been more proud about the enthusiasm for all this outdoor time she kept showing. 

Slot canyons are the best kind to take a two-year-old hiking in. 

One set path + no way for her to get lost = lots of freedom and a very happy family!

Seriously, her excitement didn't die away for most of our trip!

And we actually drove through a slot canyon. Be amazed. 

Day two, Bekah pretended to drive the car while we packed up camp. 

Her face says, "Look how daring I am!" The thrill of hiking had not worn off yet.

My view

 My view if I looked down. (It's not too easy to hike when you can't even see your feet!)

 The view of all those lucky enough to see me.

The thrill finally wore off and of course it was mommy who she insisted on carrying her. Through a slot canyon. 7-months-pregnant. 

In the backyard for our Memorial Day BBQ. She chose her outfit. 

Apparently it's time to prepare for Halloween!

Garrett loved field camp and found a dead animal to tie onto his bookbag. What a man!

The last day of May, Bekah and I headed out to Vernal to spend time with family, because Garrett's field camp was there that weekend. It was so great to see him for a couple more days. We had fun playing with my sisters and their kids and Grandmas during the day, and then Garrett was there in the evenings. It wasn't enough time, and soon enough we were headed back to Logan. Back to school.

April

I have a two year old! She's adorable! On Thursday the 11th we celebrated her birthday early since we were going to Salt Lake for Baer's blessing that weekend. She woke up from her nap to find balloons and streamers and wrapped presents. She was so excited! We had sung happy birthday songs all week so she was excited to finally be having the party. Chelsey and Cody came over for presents, cake, and ice cream. Bekah got tons of dinosaurs, books, and nail polish. She was in heaven!

Kissing a dinosaur. Notice the freshly painted nails. 

Dr. Seuss books are so fun!

It's so exciting to have fire on top of a cake!

So many presents!

You know when a two-year-old is silent for too long and you get nervous?

Well here's what mine did, then she begged for a picture to be taken!

"I look so pretty, mom!"

She just loves going on hikes with daddy!