Our Nation's Capitol

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks that I didn't get a chance to upload until now:CK and Andrew Tanner and ReeseReese's first experience with a soccer ball. If her Uncle Jeff has anything to say about it, this won't be her last.We just got back from a great trip to Washington DC. We stayed with my friends from Duke, Amanda and BJ, and saw A LOT of DC in 3 days. CK's mom, aunt and two uncles from South Dakota all met us there for the weekend. Some pictures below from the trip:Jan and her sister Theresa in front of the Supreme CourtCK and Reese viewing JFK's grave in Arlington National Cemetery What would a trip to DC be without seeing the pandas?And the tigers...this picture is for LindseyJan joining the bread line at the FDR memorial park Jan, CK, Reese and Steve with the great Thomas JeffersonThe one and only Abraham LincolnMe posing with Kermit the Frog at the Museum of American History Mark, CK, Jan and Steve at the Museum of Natural HistoryA nice family photo in front of the White House. If you look closely you can see the Obamas gardening in the yard :)The crew on the plane ride back. Despite the early hour and the very tired feet, smiles all around

We got very lucky and had an open seat next to us on the way to MSP so Reese got to fly in style. She was a real trooper this weekend and traveled really well- on the plane, in the Metro...she adapted to the time change like a champ. We are grooming a world traveler I think.

CK and Reese flew back to Provo with me on Monday and then, after repacking, flew to Phoenix this morning to start the cabin project in Show Low. The summer has officially begun.

Reese's News

CK says I have been delinquent in my blogging and that is true. However I have a few excuses, namely the news below:Besides the constant nausea and exhaustion, we have had a busy few weeks and have officially moved out of the hotel in Provo. Well, truthfully CK and Reese have moved out. I, however, still live here 3 nights a week, albeit with a lot less stuff! We are currently squatting with Val and her family in Helena before we "move" to Show Low, Arizona in June to start the cabin project. For those of you who don't know, CK is going to build a cabin in Arizona for my Aunt and Uncle (see, I wrote it Jane, it's actually going to happen!).

What this all means is that this week I started traveling again. So far that means: 1) I am missing my family but 2) I am sleeping A LOT more. Actually, to be honest, I have been working so much this week that I've barely had any time to do anything other than work and sleep. So the return to traveling is so far so good. And the bonus is that CK has assured me he will have Reese sleeping through the night by the time I return home this weekend.

So in case you're finding out the news above for the first time on this blog, here is the important info: I'm due the first week of December. I will be traveling until at least Jeff's wedding (as my doctor found out during my last appointment, this one is non-negotiable). We aren't finding out the sex. Yes we are officially still homeless. No, we don't really care. No, we're not sure where the baby will be born. In fact, we're not sure where we're going to be living after Show Low but as you know from reading this blog, we like to go month by month in terms of making big decisions like these. :)

Runny noses and visitors

Well, it took over 8 months but our little girl finally has her first runny nose. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that it took this long. It's also not surprising given that everywhere we go her tiny little hands want to touch EVERYTHING. Anyway she's fine, just a bit stuffy and runny and not sleeping all that well.

The reason I haven't posted in so long is that I am in the middle of my go live at work which results in very long hours and little time to do anything else like see my family. Luckily we are almost through it. Valerie came down to visit last weekend and we had a lot of fun despite the rainy weather. Sarah and Fred are coming this weekend so we are pretty busy out here in Utah.

Zion and Bryce Canyon

We finished our tour of Southern Utah with Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks yesterday. Didn't do too much hiking since we had Reese but we got to see a lot of beautiful scenery. Check it out:CK and Reese hiking in Zion
Driving up to Bryce Canyon, this is where the landscape completely changes. As you can see there's an actual dividing line in the mountain.
The natural bridge (which is actually an arch, not a bridge).
Some great shots of the hoo doos in Bryce
Here are some more pictures from last weekend in Phoenix:Reese and Great Nana
We tried to interest Reese in Isabel, the turtle, but she didn't really care...

Pat's Run (PHX)

We're just now returning "home" to Provo from our 10-day trip to Southern Utah, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Last Saturday, Mom (who was also visiting from back East) and I walked 4.2 miles with Reese in Pat's Run (a benefit race for the Pat Tilghman foundation) in Phoenix. My Uncle Tom, Aunt Jane and cousins all ran the race. Here are the pre and post-race pictures.
Those last few miles really tuckered her out!At the finish line: all smiles :)

Utah Rocks

I took Thursday and Friday off of work this week for a mini family vacation. Reese, CK and I woke up to this in Provo (keep in mind that it was 65 degrees two days before):

We then headed south to Arches National Park in Moab and did some hiking among the natural rock formations there. Pretty incredible sights (and much warmer weather!)

Friday we met Tom and Jane in Show Low, Arizona to check out their cabin property for the first time. It's a beautiful piece of land (but of course we didn't take any pictures!) We are currently headed to Phoenix where we'll be all weekend before I head to Las Vegas on Tuesday for a conference. Next weekend we hope to hit 2 more National Parks on the way back to Provo. A few more recent pictures of Reese from before our trip:

The best toy ever

What fun you can have in a Jumperoo 

Rice is the yummiest

Reese's first meal - 6+ months

Our Water Baby

Here is a video of Reese in Lake Havasu City, AZ

Weekend in Lake Havasu

CK, Reese and I headed down to Lake Havasu, Arizona this weekend to visit the Matthews family (Craig's sister and her family). Sue and Larry just bought a house in Havasu and are now officially snowbirds. They'll be returning to Malta this week so we figured we'd better get down there and see them before they left for the summer. Their three kids were also visiting for the weekend and to celebrate Lyndon's 21st birthday. So we took off mid-day Thursday and drove through Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam (see below) on our way to Arizona. Reese got to meet two of her second cousins, J.J. (4) and Ava (14 months). Ava referred to Reese as "bay-bay" the whole weekend. I'm sure she can't wait until Reese can run around so the two can get into all kinds of trouble together :)
Here was our Friday night poker game which CK managed to win but only afte he lost out and started playing for Laura. Does that really count? From L to R: CK, Sue, Lyndon, LD, Josh (holding Ava) and J.J. in the foreground.

We enjoyed the 70-80 degree temperatures (a nice change from Provo) and took Reese swimming for the first time. As you can see, she loved it.

Laura and Ava with Lyndon in the background hydrating while trying to recover from his 21st birthday the night before :)

CK and Reese with Sue and Ava

And Reese with her new favorite toy. Not it's not some fancy, expensive educational one. It's Daddy's shoelaces!