Hot and Happy in Utah.

Alot has changed in the last week. My mom found a great deal on a plane ticket to Salt Lake, so Saturday Alex and I boarded and flew back to SLC. Then Tyler came back from California on Monday and so we have been able to spend the last 2.5 days with him! It's been great!

Tuesday we ran errands and went to Grandma Jake's house to visit. Afterwards Ben, Kate, Tyler and I went and saw Handcock. About half way through Kate got feeling pretty sick so Ben took her home. About 10 minutes later I started feeling like I was going to throw up, and by the end of the movie Tyler felt the same. I think it was a mixture of how close we sat to the screen, and the jiggly, up close non focuses cinematography. Interesting movie though. Crazy ending.

Wednesday we went swimming with Alexandria and Ben and Kate. It was a lot of fun playing with baby in the water. Although we can't wait for her to be a bit more exciting. We were all so exhausted afterwards we came home and crashed. Alex's new thing is sticking as many of her fingers as she can in her mouth and sucking. Usually she just ends up with two from each hand. Very cute.

I don't have a picture of them right now, but Tyler ordered a new pair of firefighting boots about 3 months ago. They are custom made and very nice. His old pair are falling apart so he needed new ones about 2 months ago. These fancy ones are very stylish, and 16 inches tall!!!!! They have a function though, they protect his legs from all the brush and branches while out in the woods.

Alex is sleeping in a crib now, with more room to wiggle she is sleeping better at night. During the day she has become very "needy", always crying to be held. This is unusual for her, she wasn't like this at all in Montana and i'm wondering if it is a new stage, or just her reaction to being moved to a completely new place for the 4th time in her short life.

Thank goodness for Grandma's, Grandpa's, Aunts and Uncles!

As for me I'm doing pretty good. Grandma Jake keeps pointing out how much weight I seem to have lost. I looked at the scales and I'm down a good 10 lbs in the last month! Life is good, I've learned how to deal with my baby, I'm starting to look and feel like a normal person again (first time in a year), and I have my husband for however short a time!

Jewel of Markels Fantasia Ace

This morning I was woken up at 7 am to the news that Julie had been hit by a car during the night and died. We all got up and went across the creek to dig a grave a bury her.
I don't remember especially liking Julie, and I went off to college just a few years after we got her, so I wasn't as close to her as everyone else, but it was still very sad. She was 7 years old and finally to the non-chewing, barking or jumping stage of her life. We had finally taught her not to chew on the lambs ears or attack the chickens or chase the cats. She was better at catching mice than any of the cats, and was very jelous when I brought the baby home.
She was one of the prettiest dog's I have every seen. I already miss her and the way she would sit on your lap if you sat on the ground.
It's funny because Grandpa received her as payment for some veternary work he did. He didn't want the dog and so he gave it to us. Brought it up on Mom's birthday which irked her because she never wanted a dog in the first place. Julie was a purebred Australian Shepard but no matter how many times we tried to breed her, she just wouldnt. Grandpa said she thought she was a human.
She was such a goofball. Yesterday Alexandria and I went out to feed the chickens stale cheerio's. Everytime I would throw a handfull out for the chickens, Julie would walk over, chase the chickens away and search out every single cheerio from the grass and eat it. I think she ate just about the whole box.
Well, Tyler is out in California finally. we have sporadic communication but it sounds like his crew isn't getting the chance to do much, but at least they are out doing something. Yesterday he mentioned that one of his bosses I think, was driving a 4-wheeler to check out the fire, up the steep side of a mountian, and the 4-wheeler rolled on him and broke his shoulder. Then that same day a bulldozer drove off a cliff. I don't have many details about that one.
Alexandria has started using every pitch her voice will allow and will sit and talk to herself for 20 minutes at a time. It is very cute.

The best laid plans of mice and men........

As a preemptive strike against boredom, Alexandria and I decided to come to Billings to visit my family while Tyler is out firefighting. The original plan was to move here as soon as possible, but with Alex's hips and doctor appointments and such we just get to come visit for awhile.
I thought we had it planned perfect, Tyler got home from California after a 2 week work stretch, we had 2 fun days together and then he got sent out right away on another fire, this time in Utah. Alex and I packed up and left, picked up Gwen in Logan and got to Worland Wyoming just in time for a fun 4th of July family reunion. It was great, everything was fun, except that Tyler's fire didn't last.
Now here I am in Billing's with my family, and Tyler is sitting in Provo with his family after a 41/2 day weekend and no fire yet. I was so sure that he was going to be gone on fire for the next 2 weeks that we didn't even think of sticking around just to make sure. Don't get me wrong, I am having a great time in Billing's, but I just know that by the time I return to Utah in a month, Tyler will be long gone. Sigh.
Well, you would think it would be cooler up north but that is not the case, it is so HOT here. Alexandria is having a great time hanging out with her Asay family, and I have realized that I really shouldn't ever play RISK because no matter who I play against, i am a very sore loser.

End of June catch up.

Alexandria is officially done with her harness! We went to the doctor on Thursday and he told us to throw it away and come back for a check up in 6 weeks! It has been so fun to be able to dress Alex up in clothes she hasn't been able to wear yet, and not have to strap her up before bed time. It's like having a whole new baby! The whole experience has sure made me grateful for a lot of things, I have really come to appreciate all the small stuff.

A few weeks ago Kara (Tyler's little sister) got married. It was beautiful and fun and Alex looked so cute in her dress. The day after the wedding Tyler let me give him a mohawk, the next step to him going completly bald and shaving it all off for heat control at work. Not the greatest picture but you get the idea.

Tyler has been in California fighting fires for the last 2 weeks. He left right after Kara's wedding and is coming back today! He will finally get his 2 completely free days off and then leave on Wednesday to go right back to California. Alex and I will leave on that same day and go to Logan where we will pick up Gwen and drive to Montana! I was pretty nervous to travel the whole way by myself and Gwen was so sweet and offered to come along and then fly back home! That is great in itself, but she just got married like a month ago. What a great friend!

Alex is such a tough little kid. Her cute cousins just love her to death and want to play with her all the time, sometimes it gets a little rough, but through it all she hasn't cried a single time.

Kate and I have been hanging out a lot lately and decided to try and make care bears for our kids. I got some pink fur and have been sewing the last few days trying to get it done. I think inhaling all the air born fur clogged my nasal passages and gave me a sinus infection! I'm pretty miserable right now, but darn proud of that bear. The first time I sewed the head on it ended up being almost backwards so i had to undo all my work and redo it only to find out the head is still off center. I am beyond caring at this point. The thing will be lucky to get eyes and a nose.

Alexandria with her cousins

Nicholas and Christian love Alexandria to pieces! Every chance they get they they give her tons of kisses!

Hates pacifier's, loves fingers. and daddy.

Naked babies are the cutest

We took Alexandria to get her pictures taken at kiddie kandids yesterday. She was very cute and making all sorts of adorable faces for half the time. The other half of the time was relentless screaming. Unfortunatly we could only pick one picture, so this is what the Grandma's are getting for Mother's Day!

Tyler came hom for 24 hours on Tuesday afternoon and we had such a great time. The crew then left for New Mexico and upon arrival got shipped off to Arizona. Right now Tyler is sitting 12 miles from the Mexican border. His discription so far is that it is about 4 degrees cooler than the surface of the sun.