July Vacation and the State Fair

Here's the continuation of our July trip.  

We miraculously timed it right to see Old Faithful go off, but the only wildlife we saw were a few deer on our way out of the park.  We stopped at a wildlife sanctuary in West Yellowstone and got our fill of bears, wolves, and eagles.  It was pretty cool.  

Here they are hanging out in a wolf's den.  

Aunt Melissa was staying with Grandma Sorensen when we got there.  The girls loved having time with their cousins Van, Lila, and Hazel.  Their Uncle Jeremy made a fire to make smores for them and they loved it.  

We went to the Huntington Reservoir during the Staker Family Reunion.  Syd found some sunglasses in Grandma's motor home.  

Cora got out in the Kayak.  

Jeremy and I had a great time taking turns paddling against the wind to get back from the other side of the lake.  

We found fishing poles for the girls.  Too bad neither of us know how to fish.  Their uncle Rod took good care of them for their first time out.  

Cora found a spot between her sisters to try out her skills.  

Katie was so patient and tried so hard, but no luck that first time fishing.   

We came home just in time to head to the Montana State Fair.  

Waiting in line together, then in a tornado ride with their daddy.  

Catching Up Round II

May 2014

Jeremy and I were able to make an incredible trip to Guatemala to do our first medical mission.  Love in Action was the name of the group.  We were united with old friends, gained a lot of new ones, and had his anesthesia, my nursing and interpreting skills put to the test.  It was such a wonderful experience.  This is setting up the OR.  

 This is the view of Lake Atitlan off of a deck where we were staying.  

 One of the cleft palates we were able to do.  It was miraculous the way things worked out.  Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Jeff stayed with our girls so we could go for the full 10 days.  

 We were able to see the other side of the lake and climb an active volcano while we were there.  

 We got home and enjoyed a brief period of warm weather with the girls running through the neighbors sprinklers.  

 Katie's school had a talent show at the end of the year.  The whole Kindergarten sang "Let it Go" (and so did several others).  Katie had a great time and was so proud.  

 The girls at their desks.  

 In June we did a race as a family in Rexburg, Idaho.  Jeremy did his first half marathon, me, the girls, and most of Jeremy's family did a 5K.   

 Sydney, Katie, and Cora making a fort in the rain.  

 The 4th of July weekend we were supposed to move into a house on the river, but thought better of it.  My parents had bought tickets to come and help us move, and instead we played and then put them to work.  We hiked Memorial Falls together, then went bridge jumping at the Sluice Boxes.  Katie jumped off once, and the twins three times.  I was so proud of them!  

 Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen.  

 Jeremy and my dad were given some decent cloudy weather to put together our first swing set.  

 It has been put to serious use.  

 Shortly after my parents left I took the girls on a trip.  We camped out in West Yellowstone for a night, made friends with the camp host, hiked in the rain to see some geysers, and had a blast.  

Beginning of Catching Up: Jan - Feb 2014

 Since we're now half way through the year and I've posted NOTHING, it's time to start catching up.  Starting out with the twins 4th Birthday.  

We were all very impressed with Katie being a good big sister and letting her sisters have their birthday.  

 Sydney wanted a strawberry cake and Cora wanted a cheesecake.  I'm glad we had some people over to help eat it all.  

 We finally bought a few more bath toys for them.  

Poor Cora.  Katie had mollescum contageosum in NH and we were able to get into a derm doctor for her and that got cleared up, but since we got here Cora and Sydney's skin exploded with it.  It finally left Sydney, but Cora still had way too many of those little bumps on her skin.  We called, but couldn't get into a derm doctor for several months, so we tracked down the ointment and did it ourselves.  That poor girl had a lot of little sores from it, but it worked.  She is free and clear now, and really happy her mom doesn't pick at her anymore.  

We did have a couple of warm days in between the -30 degree days and our girls took advantage of every minute of sunshine.  

 Katie loved to build little snow caves for her stuffed animals.  

 Sydney still sucks her fingers.  

 There's Katie reading the valentine she got from our neighbor in the mailbox.  

You have to love how they still take their shoes off in February.  

Other things I can remember from those two months: we all started something new.  Jeremy and Katie started piano lessons.  Katie, Sydney, and Cora started dance lessons, and I started violin lessons.  I thought I'd be able to catch on quick with the little bit of guitar back ground I have, but that was just not the case.  I broke a string the first time I tried to tune it, and couldn't make a sound out of it the first few tries.  I didn't know you could tighten the bow (which makes a huge difference if you want to make a sound out of it), and the hand coordination needed to move the bow is a bit more complicated than strumming the guitar.  So I'm being as patient as I can be with myself and it's good to remember what it's like to start from nothing with learning a new skill.  

Jeremy did go through another round of pneumonia in January, but after a hefty round of antibiotics, he recovered.  No one else seemed to have a serious health setback, which was a huge relief after how the beginning of winter went.    

Holidays at school always seem to shock me.  Making valentines and treats for 3 little girls and their classmates seems to make smoke come out of my ears.  They had a good time with it, at least, and we did give them each a new little animal.  The bear Cora got became her new favorite thing to suck her thumb with.  It was an awfully cold winter, but we were so happy about the constant sunshine.