The Fair!

Every year when the trailers and trucks roll into town towing the rides and booths that will make up that year's fair, Joel and I get practically giddy with excitement. What part of the fair do we like the best? The elephant ears? The dizzying rides (which I was forced to refrain from this year)? The bright, gaudy lights and music? The farm animals, some cute and little, some large and grotesque? It's really hard for us to choose (although if pressed I think Joel would land on the elephant ears).

We realized that this is the 5th year we've gone to the fair together. In fact, the fair was one of our very first dates and our first lesson in fair etiquette. We both ate an elephant ear and then decided to go on the spinning rides... the result was almost disastrous. Neither of us rediscovered our elephant ears, thankfully, but we were close. So in the years to come we've been much more careful.

This year as we toured the crafts section, I couldn't help thinking about pumpkins. I've always loved pumpkins, they are one of my favorite decorating pieces. But this year they're doubly special because that's what the baby books use to describe your baby at full term. One week she's a kumquat, the next thing you know, she's a full-out pumpkin. So here's our 37 week photo, posing next to what we hope will be nowhere near the size of our pumpkin. But she sure would win a prize, wouldn't she?

Artsy-Craftsy and Baby Update

Recently I've been thinking about changing tables (surprise, surprise) and how a lot of babies seem to need distraction while they're on them. And since I haven't been able to find a cute mobile to suspend over our little gal while she's being changed, I decided to go with a different form of visual stimulation to occupy her. My friend Kathryn was given a toy that has black and white images on it that she said her baby loved to stare at on the changing table. When I went searching online, the cheapest I could find them for was about $30 (like this one). So I went to Michaels and found a styrofoam bifold on sale and some great black, white and red stationery and made my own! And I think it turned out pretty cute.
Here's one side, laid flat:



And the other side when it's folded.



I'll probably buy some ribbon to attach it to the wall next to her changing table if I can't get it to stay up just being propped.

And once again we skipped a week, but we are now officially at 36 weeks!



I can't believe how soon this little girl will be here. Look how excited I am!!



And one more picture for you, yesterday we went to a luau at our friend's the Church's house. We had a fantastic time. Joel found a fabulous hawaiian t-shirt for the occasion. I could not fit in to the grass skirt we had at home, but my old navy dress was just as festive.

34 1/2 Weeks

Well we forgot 34 weeks, but since we remembered halfway through the week we thought we might as well do it then! Yesterday my good friend Kathryn came over to help me organize my baby room. This entailed moving furniture around for about an hour until we finally decided on the proper layout, and her standing precariously on top of books stacked on a chair to screw the canopy into the ceiling. But doesn't it look cute over baby's crib? Thanks Kathryn for the decorating tips! Once I've purchased the remaining items for her room I'll snap some photos of the whole deal!

Final Pictures from Glacier

I'm finally getting up the last pictures I took on our Glacier trip! At the top of our second hike we reached a lookout spot over Hidden Lake. Joel and I agreed that this was the most beautiful lake/mountain landscape we had ever seen. If I had a better camera you might be able to appreciate its beauty more fully, but these shots will have to do! We spent a very long time just staring out over the lake and marveling at its beauty. It got me thinking about how long this lake probably was hidden from mankind, and how many years this magnificent scenery was enjoyed by God alone. I think it shows how much God loves to create beautiful things, even when no one else is around to enjoy them. He is extravagant in His creations, going all out even when their beauty might not be appreciated by anyone else for a long time.

33 Weeks

Happy 33 weeks to baby! Her favorite things right now are getting the hiccups at least three times a day, sticking her heel as far out of mom's right side as possible, and becoming very excited right when mom lays down to sleep at night. We're getting very excited to meet her, the end is in sight!

Glacier Trip, Part Two

After our big hiking day we decided to take it easy the next day and hang out at Lake MacDonald. I didn't bring sunscreen, but I magically managed not to get sunburned...everywhere except my right eyelid, that is, which still looks pretty red. I think it takes great skill to be so selective in your sunburn.

None of the girls were brave enough to venture into the frigid waters, but the guys actually spent a fair amount of time swimming, playing frisbee in the water and (surprise) throwing rocks.



We all brought our camping chairs and had a great time eating food and reading books and magazines.



The local wildlife also had a great time eating the cheeto we accidentally dropped. I've never seen a chipmunk stuff its mouth so quickly. I imagine it was in for an impressive stomach-ache later that day.




And here are the gals, enjoying our fun in the sun!



And of course, here's a shot of an activity we did several times during the trip:



The next day we felt rejuvenated enough to go on another hike. This time we took the suburban on the Going-to-the-Sun road and drove halfway on it to Glacier Pass (which fell along the Continental Divide).


The road was definitely steep, and occasionally the builders decided that guard rails were not necessary. While everyone else was craning their necks out of the suburban and commenting on what a sheer drop it was off the side of the road, I was pressed up against the opposite side of the car just praying Brian was a good drive (which he was). I have a very acute fear of heights. But we made it there and back, and it was definitely worth the few moments of road-stress. This second hike was even more incredible than the first. We were up so high that the view was incredible.




Plus we got to see a lot more wildlife, both big and small. There were ground squirrels:



And marmots (I think):



Plus plenty of mountain goats (from a distance):


Which divided their time between the green pastures and the icy glaciers.


And even more impressive than the goats, I thought, were the bighorn sheep:





Here's Joel and I next to one of the glaciers:



Okay I feel like that's enough pictures for this post, so I'll save the best for last. At the end of the hike we came to an area that overlooked Hidden Lake. I'll post those next!

Glacier Trip, Part One

(prepare for picture overload)

Well, we did in fact end up taking our camera with us, and we're so glad we did! Morgan and Brian and Dave and Lesley also took their cameras, so between us we have a veritable google of pictures (Joel recently explained to me what the word google actually means and I've been trying to incorporate it into my vocabulary ever since).

Anyway, we had a fabulous time. I've heard that Glacier is the most beautiful of the national parks, and I would certainly believe it. We had relatively few inconveniences on the trip: we didn't run out of food, no one was eaten by bears, so we considered the trip a success.

So here's part one of going to glacier. Days one and two:

The first big feat was fitting six people's luggage/camping gear into the back of one suburban.
But the guys were resourceful, and this was the finished product (plus quite a bit of stuff tied down to the roof).



And so we began our six hour drive to Kalispell to pick up our RV. I was given the seat of honor in the back which had more leg room for elevating my easily swollen ankles.



We hooked up the trailer and set off for the remainder hour drive into Glacier national park. Our little campsite was very cozy and had a little trail that took you down to Lake McDonald. The girls set up the trailer, the guys did manly things like make fires. Here's a very common shot of Joel over the next few days. He was our expert fire starter and meat cooker. I think this was the second morning we were there, judging from the rather groggy expression on his face and the mug of hot coffee he's clutching. Whoever created the descriptions of the beds online was very liberal with their use of words like "queen size". Perhaps the bed was queen size in width (although I doubt it) but none of them were made for anyone over 5'3 (which would be everyone on the trip but me).



Oh well. Who really expects to sleep well on a camping trip?

Our second day at Glacier we decided to take a shuttle on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, up to Avalanche campground (wouldn't you want to sleep there? Sounds a little too foreboding to me). From there we did a pretty impressive four mile hike, up to Avalanche lake and back. Here's Morgan and Brian on the shuttle:



And Dave and Lesley:



The hike, although quite steep on the way up, was absolutely beautiful. The area sees so much rain that everything was lush and green, and we hiked next to a river for a good portion of the way.
Morgan also found time to get in touch with the tree-spirits (courtesy of her native american roots):



Here's Joel and I next to the river (Joel was kind enough to carry my very girly backpack.



And Brian, Morgan and Les:



Here's another very typical shot from the trip: guys throwing rocks. I'm still not sure what is so enthralling about that process, but basically whenever we came across a combination of rocks and water, this action occurred:



This is how amazing the river was:





And here I am doing my 32 weeks shot!



Everyone admiring the fast-flowing river (except for me, I don't think I could get down to where they were with the ol' belly in the way).


Dave pretending to be very tall:



None of the wildlife in Glacier was scared of humans. This deer didn't even bother looking at us as it made its way across the path.



Here are the girls at Avalanche Lake, showing off our stylish rolled up jeans (it was very cold in the morning when we set off). I might be smiling, but really I was thinking that a long shower and a gondola ride down the hill would be quite nice. Thankfully the hike back down went much faster.


It was definitely worth the effort. Here's how beautiful Avalanche lake was. The waterfalls coming down the sides of the hills are from a glacier that's just out of sight.



And so after sitting for a while and admiring the view we started off back down the trail.



So there you have it! The first few days of our trip to Glacier! I think I took the majority of the pictures then, so hopefully the next post or two won't be so long. But in such a beautiful place it's hard not to take as many pictures as you can!