Canada Trip, Part One

A nice place to stop for lunch between Banff and Jasper. It's really too bad the camera can't catch the beauty and the color of the water...

Athabasca Falls in the rain

The best part of the trip for the girls, a highly trained chipmunk or two at the top of the mountain. Guess some people can't read the "Don't feed the wildlife" signs.

Going up Sulphur Mountain in a gondola. Banff, Alberta. None of the girls were scared at all!

The Watsons at the top....

Abby and Grandpa Gulka

Playing in the amazing indoor plyground at out hotel. We went there every day while Whitney napped, the girls loved it!

The Watsons by Bow falls, outside banff

So we are already back from our trip!! After months of planning and researching online and coordinating schedules, my whole family was able to get together for the first time in years. The first part of the trip was up to Orem, then to Tooele to see our neice get baptized. It was really nice, even though we had to leave early. So proud of Natalie. We then drove 12 hours to Lethbridge, Alberta, getting there after midnight. The drive went quite well, thank goodness for the DVD player! I had bought some new movies and saved them for the trip. We also had lots of other stuff to do, and snacks. It was mostly smooth sailing, except Whitney refused to fall asleep in her carseat and cried until 10:30 pm when exhaustion took over. Even then,she woke up and screamed for every bump.
In Lethbridge we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel and went to a church nearby. We then drove to banff. We got to tak ethe scenic route through downtown Calgary and all it's construction, so that was nice. We got to banff, met up with my dad, went for a walk and then cooked dinner together. The weatehr was a little uncooperative, being cloudy and drizzly off and on. We poked around the shops, went for drives and just hung out with grandpa, who we don't get to see often enough.

I tried to get Sara a T-shirt. she did not like any in the store because "that's not a girl shirt" even if it was pink, if it had a cartoon bear or moose or Mountie on it, it was a no-go. Eventually I found a pink shirt with purple rhinestone moose and that was ok. So they all have their souveneir :)
The next day we took a gondola up to the top of a mountain. At the top you can hike another kilometer up stairs to get to the VERY top. We did this and the girls all did quite well. We saw mountain goats and birds and a marmot and of course, the chipmunks. They are currently obsessed with Alvin and the chipmunks, so this was a big deal.

Here are Abby's favorite parts:

My most favorite part is when I got all my new stuffed animals. One of them's name is Peanut. it's one of my favorites now. It's a cute little chipmunk. Also, my most favorite part was when we climbed up a big dinosaur. And we went on a fun gondola. we went so high, there was even snow up there. and we saw a very funny chipmunk because it was standing on it's hind legs dancing! I also saw a mysterious animal in the trees. It was black and small, but it was bigger than a chipmink. And we saw lots and lots of mountain goats. I also met part of my family who I didn't get to meet so soon. I met auntie Jean and saw my cousin Natalie (Gulka). It was really fun cuz me and Natalie made sortof a club. That's all I want to say for now.

We left and drove on the Banff-Jasper highway, and it was all cloudy and rainy, so the views were not that great but we saw a ton of animals. We saw a grizzly bear and a mother with two cubs and then another bear right by the road. Of course, with the requisite tourists snapping photos just feet away from it... We stopped at a big waterfall called Athabasca falls and it was pouring, but I had planned to pend the whole day on this drive, enjoying the outdoors, so we got on our stuff and went through the rain. It was beautiful. Isabel was looking down with her hood on and managed to walk right into in information plaque....right on the nose, poor kid. But she was ok. We passed through some very beautiful country, this is my favorite place on earth and it made me miss home a little. The mountains in Utah are quite different, but it was good to visit and share it with the girls and Scott.

more to come...

Whitney is ONE!

Mom confession: I bought this on clearance before Christmas, but I thought Whitney wouldn't use it because she couldn't even sit up at the time. And we had so much other stuff. So I saved it and now it is the Birthday present! and yes, it plays obnoxius music but she loves it and was already dancing like crazy and giggling at herself in the mirror. Of course, her sisters like it as well.

Cake always tastes better if you rub it in your eyes!

Tried to go classy and modern with the cake, got an idea off the internet, and then just googled "Tiffany blue" and got the frosting color. I thought it turned out cute. The butterflies are chocolate.

My little girl is getting big! Of course, looking over at her sisters...

Well, all the cute newborn pictures are on our old computer, but still i wanted Whitney to get her own post. Whitney was the first pregnancy i ever had any problems with, and of course it was when Scott was away in Georgia. It was a struggle the whole way through and even getting her here was crazy with Scott gone all the time and completely full maternity ward so we couldn't go in and induce while he was home (of course i was already past my due date). But she got here, safe and sound. I think the fear of losing her helped us be even happier to have her in our family. She has been a sweet baby, happy and content most of the time. She struggled with a sick tummy when she was smaller. We didn't use burp cloths, we used burp blankets! She spent a lot of time relaxing in my lap, out of the traffic patterns of her sisters. She got to move when she was less than a month old! Thank goodness for the baby Bjorn, I was able to pack and unpack! She was not interested in eating a whole lot, or moving, she never really has rolled much but now that crawling has happened, she is ready to walk! She still only has two little teeth on the bottom, but the cutest smile. We all love her and she's been a fun addition to all the other girls. Happy first birthday Whitney Hope!

End of the Year activities

Scott spent a week in Richfield, UT learning about fire investigation. When he got back there was an activity learning how to sew simple skirts, so I went and spent my saturday morning making four skirts with matching hair bows. It was fun and pretty easy, I think I could do it on my own at home. It was great to get a little time to myself and actually come home with a finished product. The girls all wore them to church the next day.

This is Abby and her teacher, Mrs T. Abby loved 1st grade and did very well. She got an award for "Most Outstanding Student." I think she far surpassed her requirments, especially in reading. She is so proud to be able to do "chapter books". I am glad she loves to read and has lots of friends, although there was some of the usual friend dramas that come with elementary school. Hopefully we will get her report card soon and see who her 2nd grade teacher will be. He class is the largest, and is similar to how mine was growing up. There are enough kids for 2 huge classes or 3 smaller ones, and most grades have two classes, so they will be shuffling people around i am sure.

Isabel had her preschool graduation. This is her teacher, Miss Becky. She is also doing very well with her sounding out words, knowing letters and numbers and also some sign language, which was her favorite part. She is so excited for kindergarten.

Scott is heading into his busy season. He has been all over the state and all over the mountains. He has been quite successful catching people breaking the law. HIs favorite is to use small trail cameras that are motion activated to find perpetrators. He then loves questioning them, when of couse they say "it wasn't me" and then he can pull out the pictures to show them. We are so glad he loves his job and is so good at it.

I have been spending time researching and reading about different subjects. Still trying to learn all I can about dog ownership and training, although the scales tip back and forth on whether or not we will get one. Scott is against pets in general, but I think it would be fun for the girls and I. And maybe he would change his mind. Abby has had terrible allergies, so i need to see if she is as allergic to pets as she is to pollen. Poor kid.

I have also been looking into investing and other financial things. It is interesting to see how many different ideas are out there. At least I get to use my brain for a few minutes of the day, and everything i am learning will come in handy sometime.

Anyways, life is pretty regular around here. We are excited school is over and we will have a little less schedule, but i am also worried for the same reason. We leave this week to head to Canada, and are really excited. I will try to take lots of cool pictures and update from the road.

Birthday and Bridges

Finally using the kid pack we bought for Sara last year!

All the hikers

Whitney loved the hike, too

The girls under the bridgeYou can see the bridge in the background

Adding more sugar to Mom's birthday cake

Yesterday Scott was able to be home on a Saturday after working all week, and so we went on a little trip to Natural Bridges National Monument. it is a canyon south of us that has interesting rock formations that look like bridges. You can drive past a few of them, but others you have to hike. Luckily, the last one has a pretty easy hike so we all went down to it. The girls had a lot of fun running, climbing, spotting lizards, and throwing rocks, which never seems to get old. We headed back to Blanding for a late lunch at Patio Drive Thru, which has really great food, and some more rocks which the girls love to climb on. How amazing was it to be able to eat outside after all our chilly weather!! We got home and were able to play and work a little in the yard, so it was a good day.

Scott and I went out on the 13th for dinner at a steakhouse. It was fun and good food. we have been eating elk for a long time, so beef was a treat. We also took a few minutes and went shooting, which was fun and I still have a pretty good shooting skillz ;) We haven't been able to go much together since we've had the kids, so it was a nice and free activity. The girls also love having a babysitter, so everyone is happy.

On the 14th Scott had a father and Sons campout, for which he adopted some boys. They had a lot of fun. our sortof-cousin Joanie came over to make pizzas with me and the girls and spend the night, so it was nice not being alone in the house. She and her husband, who is Scott's dad's cousin have bought some land not far from town. It has been nice having them around. Now Scott is gone to Richfield for a week to a fire investigation training course. I will be busy with my Activity day girls (8 yr olds) party tomorrow at my house, without my partner to help. Then Wednesday is Isabel's Preschool Graduation. On tuesday they will be visiting Kindergarten. she is SO excited. I don't think she'll be clinging to my leg come fall. Tomorrow is also Abby's field trip, things are winding up for the end of the school year, it seems like there is something every day. We will try to document it and put it on here.

The other big news is that Whitney is now a pretty darn good crawler, and yes, things are getting crazy around here. She only wants to be away from the safe, carpetted area with baby toys. This is BORING. so she explores, finds all kinds of things to taste and often gets stuck. My little lap baby may be a thing of the past. I guess we held on as long as we could. We have already installed a gate at the stairs, and we now need it! Here's hoping she only swallows a few pennies.

peace out!

kickin' it

Mmmmm....whitney loves sweet potatoes

Abby and Isabel after their spring recital

Da Puddle

The playground, still missing its swing, but we'll get them on soon

The exciting new Suburban.

Yay, dance is over for the year!! The girls performed 2 dances each. The theme went through the decades. Isabel Danced "boogie shoes" and "Earth Angel". Abby did "raindrops keep falling on my head" and "macarena" They both did well and seemed to have no stage fright. Whitney in the audience was bustin' her own baby moves, it was hilarious. I will try to get the video on here. Sara did her usual "I want to go home" oh well, it was crazy but fun. I am glad there is at least one dance teacher in town. I have decided to forego baseball this year, since scott will always be gone on saturdays, and two girls on two different teams just seems like too much. So we'll take a break, and maybe go watch some of our friends.

I went and did my citizenship interview which ended up being really simple. Getting there was the hard part, driving up to Orem thursday night so we could be in Salt Lake friday morning at 7:50. I was able to finish quite easily (after being pretty stressed about it) and will now have to swear in sometime in July. June 9th was the next date, but we will be in Canada then, so unfortunately we'll miss it. It's another trip up north, but at least it should be the last!

Whitney will soon be turning one! I can't really believe it. I guess I need to plan a party. I am thinking of inviting everyone we know around here and just having a BBQ, since we won't have any family around. Or maybe we'll keep it simple. After theat we will be driving north for our niece's baptism and then up to Canada! We are excited for the trip and really crossing our fingers that Whitney loves road trips. ;) Luckily for us, Scott can drive through all kinds of crying, whining, and complaining, so we should be good.

Scott and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary on the 4th with Kindergarten registration and the dance recital. This year our anniversary, mother's day and my birthday are nicely 5 days apart.

That's about it! Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there,

Guess I have a lot of catching up to do...

Abby "After" the haircut

Before the haircut

Enough bubbles for a modest but adorable picture of our 4 bathing beauties!

At Abby's Spring Festival, each class does a dance, it was really well done, and she loved learning a hula dance.

After the little easter egg hunt at the school. Thank goodness it was indoors, it was freezing! Fun to search all around the bleachers and everything to find the eggs

Mohawk Whitney

Scott's birthday

My 96 yr old Gran sent these mittens, hats and sweaters she knit to the girls, so they are modelling them

Close up of pretty Sara

Well, the last month has been busy! I always think i am doing better at updating this, and all of a sudden it's a month later! The biggest news is that we finally got Spring here! it took forever and there are still a few snow drifts lingering, but we have grass! It was a long winter here, with the snow 178% of normal. Good for filling the reservoirs. Last weekend we were able to get half of the girls' playground put together, but still have some work to do. They LOVE being able to go outside, even though Sara is still afraid to go down the slide! She'll figure it out. Isabel is also able to ride her bike with no training wheels, but as expected she just took off like a rocket and now needs to learn starting and stopping safely. It is fun but scary to have two of them who can travel far and fast now! We really appreciate our quiet street with very few neighbors at these times.

Scott spent a lot of work time on his work snowmobile. He now is back to the 4 wheeler, and has managed to get stuck in the mud a few times with his truck. There are always ups and downs with the public sentiment towards federal officers here, but overall people get along with him.

I have been just doing my regular stuff, happy to be able to send the kids outside. For some strange reason I have been wanting a dog for a while, and have been researching breeds and training quite a bit. Even if we never get a dog, i think I have learned a lot, and it's a fun little side project for me. Scott has vetoed any pets, but I think when the time is right we will get something. I also got the letter with an appointment for my citizenship interview on April 30. I have to study some American info, which has not been too hard, considering some we learned in high school, and then I got an "A" in American Heritage class in college. There are 100 questions to study, and a computer picks 10, of which you have to get 6 correct. I am hoping I get "Who is the President of the USA" or other tough ones :)

After that all I need to do is swear in, and i will be a US citizen. I do have some mixed feelings, but i will be happy to vote and also to never deal with Immigration again. Someday we'll have to do the paperwork for the kids to show their Canadian citizenship, which they get automatically from me.

Abby is loving school and dance, and we were both sick of brushing her long, tangly hair so i got to cut it yesterday. it will be really nice for summer, not to deal with it, and I think it turned out cute.

Isabel still asks to go to friend's houses every 5 minutes, and loves her preschool. She is learning a lot and I think will be reading by kindergarten if I work with her a little more. She is funny and crazy. She got some blue sunglasses from Wal-Mart and wears them all the time. She says she needs them to see. And then she dresses herself and asks "do you like my style?"

Sara is still her bi-polar self, whiney one minute and hilarious the next. I think she is read to be doing more big girl things like dance, so she'll be happy this fall if we put her in it. She also traded her toddler bed for Abby's bed, and got to choos a new blanket. Thank goodness she chose Polka dot, instead of Dora, or even princesses!! I think she likes it, but still won't stay in bed more than a second at night. someday, right??

Whitney is on the verge of figuring out llocomotion. She can now sortof scoot in her own way to get to what she wants, which is usually a speck of something on the carpet. Baby toys are no fun. She is still working on her first tooth. She also weaned herself and is now on a bottle and baby food. I would have nursed longer, but it is kinda nice to be done with all that, especially how distracted she was every time her sisters walked by, which of course was very,very often. it's like they had a radar for when I would sit down to feed the baby.

So things are good in monticello. We are making plans for yard projects, and are thankful we had a sump pump installed which has been working hard for over a month. This snowy year was a great test of the system, and I think we'll be ok from here on out.

peace out!

No planes, but trains and automobiles

Abby was so excited to feed Whitney

At the train museum in Durango, CO

So I keep forgetting to take a picture of our new Suburban. After much discussion and online car shopping, we decided to trade our fabulous Honda Accord for a Suburban of some kind. We bought the Honda when we were living in California and needed a dependable family car. When we moved back to Utah it became Scott's commuter car. Since he now has a work truck and we outgrew the car, it was just taking up space. So we found a nice used Suburban and Scott made a very long day trip up to Orem to get it. It works great mechanically, although it definitely saw its share of kids. Scott is seriously contemplating replacing the carpet. It is cherry red, 2005 half-ton 4x4 and we had a new DVD player installed in the ceiling as part of the deal. So now we can all fit for road trips, or during snowstorms, and when we need a little more cargo room for our now infrequent trips to Costco. It will still be a backup for the van (unless\until we have another baby, not in the near future), but we are pretty happy with it. The girls love it, and it is fun watching them try to say "suburban."

We took a little trip to get out of Monticello and ended up in Durango, Colorado. They have an old working railroad and a train museum. The prices to ride the rain are insane, so that may at some point be a once-in-a-lifetime idea, but for now we just went to check things out. It is a touristy kind of place in the mountains. lots of little shops, some skiing, a river and the train. I think it would be better in the summer, but at least now we know where it is and we got some good pamphlets. It is about 2 hours away.

Other big news is that Whitney finally took a bottle! She is now 9 months, so this is quite a nice development for me. Maybe not for Scott :) Scott was away for a week in Page, AZ, and I just tried giving her one before bed and she actually drank it like a pro. We have been trying for months, but she has never been interested at all. She didn't seem to like the taste of formula. At least now I can get away a little more, or feed her in places like church or in public without it being awkward or inconvenient.

Scott's was away at a course talking about ancient artifacts and the rules around them. This is a hot-button issue around here with some people viewing it as trash anyone should be able to pick up, and others viewing everything as sacred and that it is a crime to take or touch anything. The law sides with the latter idea, but it's hard to change people's ways when they have been doing something for generations. There are Native sites everywhere in our area, some are managed, like Mesa Verde National Park, and others are just on the sides of roads, and others you have to hike to. Below are some Anasazi pot shards, and a complete pot. It can be a felony to pick up one of these pieces and take it. No other news, just waiting for it to quit snowing and be spring already!