The Great Yellowstone

My parents own a cabin in Montana near Yellowstone National Park and Lois and I got the chance to go up and enjoy some time there with my family. We made a trip into the park one of the days, went boating, ate lots of Arrowleaf Ice Cream from town and enjoyed the great company!

About the only pictures I took were the day we went into the park. Remember that huge pit of regret? Anyway, some fun things that did not get photographed: the elk we saw that Lois kept calling horses, a few buffalo, a fun day at the lake and family time around the cabin. You'll have to use your imagination to picture how awesome that all was. And on a side note: I was a bit disappointed in the wildlife non-sightings that day in the park. Three elk and a couple of buffalo? Lame sauce. Wish we could have seen more...

We stopped for a quick little picnic right by a beautiful stream and grassy field. It was a beautiful scene!

My cute mom and Tandi and Phoebe at our picnic site.

A few of the crew wandered down, along with Lois and Stella. They had fun playing in the water. Uncles rock, did you know that? My brother Mack is walking Lois up in the picture below. Thanks, Mack! This tired mama was not about to risk her last bit of energy to walk you down and up that teeny, tiny hill. So pathetic, I know!

Lois didn't have to do much walking with adoring uncles around!

Here's the whole group minus the 'rents. Dad's taking the picture and mom was hanging out in the car.

There was just a *slightly* GIGANTIC drop right behind those rocks. I was just a *little* nervous when she wanted to climb the stupid rocks. Thanks to my hero, Preston for saving her from an imminent death even though she was quite unhappy about it. She'll thank him later, I'm sure.

Rals, Tandi and their beautiful girls. And look at that gorgeous waterfall!

It was really cold that day in the park. Well, cold as in probably 67 degrees. I'm such a lightweight when it comes to feeling cold. A desert rat, I am.

Uncle Preston on his quest to becoming the "favorite uncle."

I just kissed these cheeks as much as Phoebe would let me. Isn't she too cute for words?

Some of the group...

Grandpa and Lois

Here's a picture of our cabin - although this picture was taken over two years ago, I think. Just thought it'd add to the ambience of this totally awesome blog post. Did it work?

Lois playing out in the grass in front of the cabin. She just loves dirt and rocks.

Here's the little ham - AKA Stella. Every time I got out my camera, she would make some silly face! I can't believe how grown up she is. (This is back at my parents in SLC.)

Lois and Stella playing in grandma's cool pool.

Some more silliness from Stella

While I was in Utah, I had the chance to attend the temple with my parents and all of my siblings and their spouses (we really missed Jason!) to celebrate my parents' 34th wedding anniversary. We continued the day of celebration, of course, at a family favorite, Chuck-a-Rama. I think I ate there three times in my month stay in Utah. Seriously, my family loves that place.

It was a great month. After all the festivities, my mom and Mack helped me drive some furniture back to Tucson, including a grand piano! Jason is in heaven playing songs every day and Lois thinks it is pretty awesome, too. Thanks for all your help mom, Mack, Preston and my dad for packing everything up! My house feels like a home because of you guys. Many thanks, indeed. What would I do without family? I love those guys.

I'm hoping to post some picture of the house soon. Maybe if I can get my tired self off the floor, I can put some finishing touches on the place and finally take some pictures! I can do hard things. Like get out of bed. I promise. I'm hoping this tired phase will subside soon. My fingers are crossed!

Jesperson Reunion

As promised, here are some pictures from the Jesperson Reunion that took place last month. Jason's grandma and her family were in charge of planning it this year and I think they did such a wonderful job! Thank you for all your hard work - grandma, grandpa - and all of Jason's awesome aunts and uncles and cousins! It was such a pleasant time, the food was fabulous and we had such a great time.

Now, if I were functioning on more than one brain cell these days, I would have had more foresight to take a lot more pictures. I'm feeling some serious regret about this. I've officially become a horrible picture taker. The entire month of July seems like a blur, so hopefully these few photos will suffice for our posterity's sake!

Lovin' that semi-smile, Lois. Thanks for the effort.

We were anticipating the "candy cannon" in this picture...so much suspense, right?

Lois found these little baby glasses and insisted she put them on. I could barely hold the camera steady to take this picture because I was laughing so hard. She thought they were totally neat-o. I thought they were pretty fantastic, too. What do you think?

This is the giant slip n' slide they set up every day for about three hours. And it got used the ENTIRE three hours - what a hit! Jason took Lois down and I'm pretty sure she's scarred for life.

Lois and Grandma watching kids and adults alike coming down the huge slide!

Jason's grandparents = total awesomeness. And grandpa is looking so stylin' in his aviator sunglasses! What's really neat is that the Jesperson family lived in Tucson for several years and is the place where Jason's grandma was born. Her father helped build the chapel that we attended for three years and there are still a few Jesperson folk that were laid to rest here, so we've been able to visit their graves. Way to go for some Tucson heritage!

This is right after Lois and Jason took the plunge down the slide. She kept saying, "No again slide, no again slide." Alright. Point taken. She looks like she's about to vomit holding her stomach like that. Poor kid.

Lois did love the boat ride with her daddy. She was a happy camper splashing her hands in the water.

My beautiful mother-in-law and my oh-so-tired self.

Lois was in love with this huge dog. This lady has no fears of big dogs...I was terrified of big dogs when I was a kid. Lois = fearless, unless it comes in the form a huge makeshift slip n' slide.

Lois and Sophia were born only a few weeks apart. They shared some popsicle moments together...

Some of the registration crew - the beautiful Gordon women.

We love family reunions! The last reunion we were able to attend, Jason and I were only engaged. It was nice to be an "official" part of the family this go around. Fun times.

I'm not dead!

Hi friends. A few of you have contacted me to see if I'm still alive since I haven't posted on my blog since June. I'm not dead, although I kind of feel like I am. I'm still alive, amazingly! Thanks for caring and for checking in on me. The truth is, a lot has been going on here in the Wright household and this poor blog has suffered because of it.

Here's a quick update to fill you in on our crazy June/July summer.

Event #1

WE MOVED TO A HOUSE IN THE END OF JUNE

Wow, moving is a doozie, isn't it? When we moved from Washington, DC to Tucson, it was a completely different experience. No toddler, less things and it was a transcontinental move.

This go-around we moved locally, which always begged the question: Do we or don't we pack it in a box? While I think it was nice to not have to pack every little thing away, it ended up being a lot of work to "transfer" our belongings. We made that 20-minute drive in our packed-to-the-brim Corolla over and over and over and over again. Add an into-everything toddler and a busy husband to the mix and you can imagine the craziness.

But let me tell you: IT WAS ALL WORTH THE PAIN AND SUFFERING! We could not be happier to bid apartment dwelling goodbye forever and welcome in this new stage of our lives! Lois is in heaven with all the space and so are we! Needless to say, I think this will be our last move for quite a while. A big shout out to our many friends, family and ward members who helped us out tremendously in this move. We couldn't have done it without them! I'll post some pictures as soon as we get a little more settled.

Event #2

LOIS IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER

Yep, you read that right. We are expecting baby #2 - ETA March 6th. I'm 10 weeks pregnant and so, so, so, so, so tired. Did I mention that I am tired? Wow. I'm tired. About the only way I can make it through the day is a little Diet Coke to awaken my brain cells to be a semi-functioning adult and mother. I'm not nauseous this time around but I feel like I can barely lift my head off my pillow. This is somewhat problematic with a toddler, but we're making it through okay. We are so excited and my plethora of doctor's appointments have already begun. Those are also very lovely with a toddler. Thank goodness for portable DVD players, which I believe to be man's greatest creation.

And just to throw a little diva into the mix. This is how our lil' lady rolls. In style.

Event #3

JASON'S AWESOME

Did you know that my husband is amazing? Well, he is. Jason finished his training in internal medicine and started his training in radiology in July. I'm so, so proud of him! This event has also welcomed a drastic change in our quality of life. Radiology is much more scheduled and less demanding on his time. He's learning more and working less and we are excited to have daddy home on weekends and at night! What a novel idea, right? His next big hurdle is taking the Internal Medicine boards this month. Keep him in your prayers!

She's cute, huh? She's getting so big. I'll have to do a Lois update soon.

Event #4

WE WENT TO UTAH...again.

We left Arizona the first part of July and we (Lois and I) spent the remainder of July in Utah and Montana after J flew back to Tucson. Family, reunions and friends kept our schedule busy and we had a great time. Lois has been sleeping non-stop since we got home. I think her little body was so exhausted from the lack of naps and tons of playing! I'll post pictures about some of our fun times soon!

Event #5

COMCAST

We've always had our suspicions, but we can unequivocally declare that Comcast is the DEVIL. I think Jason's blood pressure just rises when he hears that dirty word. To mitigate further mental and physical damage, I ask that you never, ever speak that word in our home. Thanks a bunch. Maybe if I'm feeling good, I'll tell you all about our continuing nightmare.

Event #6

BOWZER

We found a large turtle roaming our yard! It was a friendly little guy and we fed it lots of yummy lettuce! Lois loved it and we had fun hanging out with him until he took off to see some more friends in the neighborhood.

Event #7

I HATE SCORPIONS

I became an official Arizonan on Friday when I was stung on my forearm by a scorpion hiding out in our dirty laundry basket. I hope and pray that this never, ever happens again. Long story short, I was sorting my laundry and brushed up against my laundry basket and suddenly felt a very strong sting. I thought I had gotten a splinter from the basket and took some time to see if I could find the splinter. The pain kept getting worse and worse and I couldn't figure out why it hurt so badly. I went back to sorting laundry and I pulled a shirt out and out scurried a scorpion about two inches long. I appropriately FREAKED out, grabbed the closest flip flop and kung fu'd that nasty bug to death. I then realized that I had NOT gotten a splinter but had gotten stung by a stinkin' scorpion! AHH! My whole arm was tingling and was partly numb and still today, 26 hours later, the two places it stung me are still numb. Let me tell you - it was so painful. But I'm still alive, which I am very grateful for. P.S. Scorpions are not friendly. If you see one, SMASH IT DEAD!

So, that's about it. I'll post some pictures soon! Thanks for hanging in there with me. We're blessed. We're happy. And we love you all.

The End.