Asthma Camp Adventures

First of all, I just want to say that I have an amazing husband :)

Brad got the rare opportunity to go be a counselor at Camp Wyatt last week for Asthma Camp. I'm sure he wishes he could say he did it for some noble reason, but he didn't. Heck, he doesn't even have asthma. He really decided to do it to get elective credit for school. And after the week of camp, he said he deserves those credits. It was definitely an adventure. He got to do some really fun things as a counselor like a camp out under the stars, canoe, swim, teach kids about asthma, alleviate homesick children, eat cotton candy on a churro (you'd never see that at Diabetes Camp[which is this week]), walk sleep walking children to the bathroom in the middle of the night (or 3 times in the middle of the night!),and keep Jeffery's shoes on (not successful). He came home on Friday with so many silly stories to tell, I am glad he had a good time. Unfortunately,Asthma Camp had it in for our family. I think that just about any big event that could have happened, happened while he was away for Asthma Camp activities. Now I don't mean to complain, but let me just tell you all the things that overlapped with Asthma Camp. Training for Asthma Camp was on Ellie's first birthday. Rob, Kristen and family got to Utah the day Brad left. Whitney had her baby. We had our third anniversary. Ellie took her first steps. But we survived. I'm sure this wont be the last time that he will be away from us for long stints of time, so we better get used to it. I sure look up to those Moms who do so much without their husbands around. It's hard work to say the least.

Sorry for the picture-less post. I didn't take any pictures last week, and neither did Brad.

Miss Messy Ellie

We had a fun birthday celebration for Ellie on Saturday. We had a great party with lots of family and a few great friends. I made some homemade bubbles that we were going to play with, but for some reason, the bubble mixture didn't work out. I was pretty bummed because I remember having hours of amusement as a child making huge bubbles with the recipe I used. Despite the bubble letdown, we still had a delightful get together. We started out the party with a barbecue dinner with some of Ellie's favorite foods. After a little bit to eat, it was time for Ellie to have some fun with her presents. It was so fun to watch here open each gift. She did very well, considering a one year old's attention span. She loved each gift, and you can really tell because she hasn't even touched any of her "old toys" since Saturday.

I decided I out try my hand at creating a fun cake for Ellie's birthday. She loves her monkey, so I decided to make a monkey cake. I found the basic idea online, and then adjusted it a little bit. I think for a first time cake decorator, I did a pretty good job. That monkey is pretty darn cute. Too bad the monkey brains got consumed quite quickly. All of my hard work must have tasted pretty good too I guess.

And here's the cutie pie with the chocolate all over her darling face. Oh! I was so happy she got herself good and dirty for some nice first birthday cake pictures. She really didn't eat much of the cake, but I made sure she got plenty of frosting on her serving to make her nice and messy.

Ellie's Birthday

Ellie turned 1 yesterday. Holy cow. It is hard to believe that she has been a part of our family for a whole year. I think back to a year ago on the night she arrived, and it doesn't seem long ago at all. It is amazing to watch your very own little one grow and develop. Ellie definitely has her own personality and she showed it early on. She is usually a very content little girl, but whoa! when she doesn't get her way, she knows how to throw a tantrum. Some of her favorite things include her giraffe and monkey toys, balls, her fluffy blankey, books, magnets from the refrigerator, and tupperware. She also seems to like a lot of stuff she knows she isn't supposed to be playing with, but I guess every one year old is that way. Ellie is a very good eater in my opinion. She will pretty much eat anything that is put in front of her, but some of her favorite foods include peaches, sweet potatoes, spaghetti, graham crackers, sloppy joes, and anything sweet. She is accumulating quite the vocabulary also. About two weeks ago, she discovered the word "no" and now that is probably her most used word. It is so funny though, she rarely says the word defiantly, usually it is a soft little nod of the head and a timid "no". She usually says it when she knows she is doing something she isn't supposed to be doing. That of course, doesn't stop her from doing it. She also likes to say "mom" "dad" "tickle" "ee-eee-ee" (monkey sounds) , "hi", "ball", "dog", and a few others. And she loves to vibrate her lips together to make car noises too. I think she is on the verge of saying a lot more because she can sure babble up a storm. She is also learning to point at body parts, and some animals too. She isn't quite walking, but she is steady with just one hand assisting her, so fairly soon we'll have a true toddler on our hands. For now, her primary mode of transportation is still her signature scoot. She has a constant redness on the outer part of her shins from scooting everywhere. We love our Ellie, and look forward to many more happy birthdays with her.

Ellie with my phone (one of the many objects she seems to think is a toy. She does put it up to her ear and say "hi", which is pretty cute)

Ellie on her birthday in her birthday suit

A Trip to Park City

Last weekend we got to go to Park City and spend some time with the Christensen family. It was so nice for Brad to have a whole weekend off of work, and it was so nice to just get away as a family. We did some shopping at the outlets. Holy cow, a mom can just go wild at the outlets. I think there are more children's clothing stores there than any other kind of store. Along with shopping, we did some swimming in the pool. This was Ellie's first experience with "swimming". Like many things that we put her through, I think she tolerated it, at best. She didn't want to splash around and play like we were hoping she would, but she didn't really cry either. Well, then again, she did cry the second time we put her in the pool, but that we soon alleviated with the appearance of a ball to play with. And since Ellie didn't want to splash in the pool, we got to go see other people make splashes in a pool up at the Olympic Park. Those aerial skiers are pretty amazing to watch. I hope we can catch the show they do sometime, we only got to see them practice. Brad and I also did some biking around the city as well. There are so many trails in Park City. It was fun to ride just a couple of them while we were there. I would love to explore some other trails in the future. It is so scenic up there, it really makes for a pleasant ride. I wasn't the best at taking pictures, but here is one of Dad and Ellie in the pool.