Butterfly catcher

Ali is a little butterfly catcher. She loves catching butterflies and she loves to read about butterflies. When she sees or catches a butterfly she can tell you exactly which of the bazillion types of butterflies it is. (Okay I don't really know how many types of butteflies there are but she probably does.) Here are some pictures of some butterflies she caught on our camping trip and brought home to release. These are owl face butterflies.

A camping we will go...

We went camping for Thursday and Friday night.... somewhere. I thought it would be fun for you who read my blog to guess where it is. And what is a guess without a prize so the first person who guesses correctly... the city near the campground we went to gets some sort of prize. I will decide. If you went there with me please tell me what you remember about the trip.

On Tuesday I will let you know where it is that we went. Here are some pictures to help you figure out where we went. And a couple clues....

#1 We drove there in less than 4 hours.
#2 I have been there with many of you who are reading this blog
#3 Cameron and I have never before been there together although we have both been there seperately.
#4 This place burned both in the 2003 and 2007 fires.

My phone call screaner

Hello... Who is this?

Ashling is in love with answering the phone. She adores it. She has to know exactly where my cell phone and home phone are at all times. She makes dry run answers of the phone. She practices what she will do and tells me how it will go. And she does all this at least 10 times a day.

When one of the phones rings she drops everything and moves with lightning speed to answer it. She says... Hello. Then "who is this?" You are not allowed to talk to me or Cameron until you answer this question. Beware she will keep repeating herself until you say who it is and she tells us who it is. If we accidentaly answer the phone before she does she pouts and cries. So beware all of my phone calls will be screned and if my daughter approves you will be put through to me.

Annika stats

Just a little update for my baby book which is not made yet but that I will do.... someday. I took Annika to the doctor today and she weighed 13 pounds 13 ounces and was 25 1/2 inches long. She was 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height. She also got her 2nd tooth yesterday. She is growing so fast but I am glad that at least her weight has slowed down!

Happy 7th Birthday Ali!

Yesterday was Ali's 7th Birthday. We had a great day. First we woke up fairly early and went rock climbing. We took a boy from our ward who has been wanting to go for awhile. It was nice to have the extra hands and I think we will take him again. Ali tried rock climbing for her first time. She did not really enjoy it that much. She climbed a little but it felt weird to her to be attached to a rope. She enjoyed climbing the rock the easy way. I have always said that rock climbers are weird and I guess that is true.
Annika just had fun watching and sitting in her seat.
This is Conner

here is Ali trying it out

The girls at the top of the rock via the easy way!

After that Cameron, Ali and Ashling met Chalon and Cam's parents on Keller Peak for a little walk. I didn't go because Annika needed a nap and I needed to finish the cake. They had a good time and found a little water fall.Ashling is wading in the water

Ali is standing on a rock

the girls in the water

Next we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's and had a bar b cue, cake and presents. We then went swimming down the hill and finished the day with a bite to eat at Chili's. It was quite a fun day and we were all tired at the end of it.

Here is my little fishy. Swimming is her favorite thing to do. Just like her mom!

camping in Bishop

This is our campsite.

We went camping over the weekend with Mike and Sue. It was a lot of fun. They took their trailer and we got to try camping with a trailer. It is a lot easier and fun. Cameron, Annika and I still slept outside but we were able to have more options for cooking inside and enjoyed using the sunshade that the trailer provided. The girls thought that the trailer was an excellent playhouse and it was everything from walmart to their own personal house. They loved to sweep it and Ali liked to guard the door.

Mike and Cameron went up to the Sierras with the intent to fish. And so they fished.


Sue and I along with the kids explored Bishop Canyon, ate some snacks and tried to catch butterflies on Friday morning. I took the kids to Lake Sabrina and they saw a high rock way out there and decided that they needed to climb to the top of it. We found Mike and Cameron and they took Ali with them because she wanted to fish. We went back to the trailer and had a nap. Sue and I read our books and generally relaxed.

Ali came back and told me that she loved fishing. She caught the biggest fish of the trip on her twitty bird pole. A 19 inch long trout that was about 3 pounds. Sue took a picture and when she gives me it I will post it here.

For dinner we had fresh trout and rice. I even liked the fish!

This is Lake Sabrina.

Ali wanted to carry Annika in the backpack. It didn't last long!

On Saturday Cameron and Mike wanted to go fishing in Pine Canyon. They took Ali and Ashling who both wanted to fish with them.

The fisherman

Sue, Annika and I went into Bishop and enjoyed girl talk and a little shopping. We met back up in the afternoon. Sue and Mike took Annika with them and the girls, Cameron and I went to try out the local hot springs pool. We enjoyed a relaxing swim in the pool and got a chance to shower too! It was very fun and we think it should be a tradition to go there everytime we are camping up there. We enjoyed the evening by having enchiladas and then playing settlers of Cataan while the kids watched a movie.

Annika is playing in the tent.

On Sunday we packed up camp and went to see the Buttermilk boulders. We also drove up to Whitney Portal and looked around and hiked a little. Then we drove home.

Annika is 4 months old

Annika is now 4 months old. Some things that she has learned this month are to use her hands with purpose and grab and shake all her toys. She has also learned to roll from her back to her tummy. I put her on her back several times and she just kept practicing rolling to her tummy. She is also looking at things and rolling to get them and moving by scooting on her back. She also received her first tooth while we were on vacation.

She is fun to have around. She is mostly happy and loves to smile and coo at whoever will look at her. She has her favorites: she loves to look at her sisters. She also has spent some time with her grandma Sue and seems to really enjoy being with her. She will stop everything to say hi to daddy when he comes home. I am the favorite of course which is the best part of being a mom.