Kittitas in the Summer Time

It feels like it has already

been months since 

we were in Iowa.

Weird how time does that.

How about a quick update 

on the things going on

in our life?

Tyler finished his first year

as a graduate student

with amazing grades!

He works so hard

and I for one am very proud of him.

One more year to go!!

This past Saturday morning (June 22)

I ran in my first 5K.

It was really cool!

I was invited by a girl in my ward, Kye Gibb,

and another friend, Rachel Smith.

Rachel is 4 months pregnant

and she still ran it,

that is the definition of a 

champion my friends.

I think I did pretty good for 

a first timer and I'd like

to do some more now.

I don't think I want to do anything

longer than a 5K, 

I'm no Farley Gerber :)

Plus, I got a t-shirt

which is pretty much the main 

reason for doing it!

Just kidding, but seriously.

An exciting thing is coming up this fall,

I will be starting an online 

Masters of Social Work program!

I'm super excited for it.

Hopefully I'll be able to find

the time to do my schoolwork 

and still do a good job

of taking care of Kale.

Mommy first!

Other than that, not a whole lot going one.

Tyler has worked a few football camps

and he has a few more camps

coming up.

I've been asked to help at Girls Camp

so I'll be up there for four days.

My friend Rachel Smith is in charge

of the 4th years overnight 

hike and she asked me to be her

assistant. 

Rachel, as you already know

is a champion,

so we should have lots of fun.

And the best news that is

happening the soonest is that my 

mother-in-law, Pam, is 

coming up to stay with us for

2 weeks!!

Lucky for Tyler she's going to be here

while I'm at Girls Camp.

Dodged that bullet! :)

We can't wait for her to get here!

All right, enough chatting, more pictures!!

So, Kale is very techno savvy...

Hilarious.

He's also recently come into

a phase of wanting

to help me and Tyler with everything.

Like sweeping...

 

He still needs some practice :)

The other day the three of 

us went out to the playground

in our backyard 

and found a cool surprise.

Can you see it???

 

I think it's a frog but maybe a toad?

Idk.

But Kale LOVED it.

Every time it hopped he

burst into laughter.

And he wasn't afraid to touch it.

 

But then he started dropping rocks 

on him so we had

to distract him so the frog/toad

could make a run for it.

 

Kale loves the slide :)

 

 Peeking through the window!

This is how Kale watches TV now:

 

This is how Tyler and Kale

watched the NBA playoffs:

 

This is a foreshadow

of the teenager I will

have in my home one day...

This is Kale saying,

"I do what I want!"

because we told him he probably

shouldn't sit in the windowsill.

He sits there often now.

And plays "his" Kindle.

 

Today we took Kale to a 

"magic" show at the

Library.

I say "magic" because

the guy basically just made

jokes the whole time.

The kids loved it.

They thought he was hilarious.

Kale got bored.

He expected magic!

No, he's just not even 2 and all

he wanted to do was touch all

the other kids.

 

That is just the silliest face!

He must of got that from his dad :)

 

The following is a picture

of how Kale laughs now.

We might want to nip this one in

the bud before he 

gets bullied for it...

 

Well, that's all the pictures we've got!

Hopefully we'll have some outings

soon, and there are sure

to be lots of pictures taken

when Pam gets here.

TTFN

IOWA!!

Let's start out with a little mess.

And some silliness.

And now let's fly halfway

across the country

to Iowa!

Unfortunately Tyler couldn't come 

with us.

Curse you adult responsibilities!!!

Kale LOVES his uncles!

Took Kale to the park

to play.

Good ol' Uncle Dain :)

Kale was determined

to get a drink from this bottle.

I think this is the best picture ever!

So, the reasons for our journey to

Iowa were threefold.

Firstly, because Dain was graduating

from High School.

Secondly, because Uncle Kyle was 

coming home from his 

mission and had never met Kale.

Thirdly, because Nana and Grandpa

miss their grandson :)

Kyle had no idea that Kale and I

had come to Iowa,

so we were really excited to 

surprise him when we 

picked him up at the airport!

Kale loved playing with the

balloons while we waited

for Kyle.

And, like any normal child,

he loved going up and 

down the escalators,

over and over and over and over.

Sorry I'm not sorry Grandpa,

I tried to warn you!

Kyle pulling a Robin Hood on us.

I bet this was way more

enjoyable than that

gross beach.

Jake also surprised us by driving up

from Oklahoma on his 

way to Pennsylvania!

The whole crew was back together!

Can you guess what was on TV?

Kale watching How to Train Your Dragon.

That movie was on basically

all day every day.

Before Dain's graduation party,

mom put us all to work

cleaning the outside of the house.

And by we I mean everyone

but me.

I was the supervisor.

Hard at work....

Mom was really not happy

when she realized I 

was taking a picture of her.

But I just love her

outfit so much,

I HAD to take a picture!

(love you mom!)

Kale's job was to decorate

the concrete.

He's very artistic.

Lawn mower Jake.

Kale was actually really excited

to eat Nana's famous 

chocolate chip cookies.

This was about the cutest thing ever.

Kale asked Jake to read him

Go Dogs, Go!

And he cuddled with him while he

read the whole thing,

and when Jake said The End,

Kale said Again!

More TV

Then, we gathered around to watch 

Dain open up his gifts.

Kale was bored so

he played Angry Birds.

Pancakes for breakfast!!

Watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

The kid is obsessed!

Nana got Kale a pool

and some pool toys.

He loved it!!

We wish the weather could have been

nicer, but we're glad

he got to play in it a little bit!

His trunks might be a little 

big on him...

The bugs were TERRIBLE!

We spent the whole time doing this:

This is the willow tree in Nana and Grandpa's

backyard.

I remember when they planted this tree.

I can't believe how big and pretty 

it is now!

Full moon tonight!!!

One day I came downstairs to 

discover Kale inside a bucket...

And Uncle Jake swinging him around 

in it.

Kale couldn't get enough.

The bucket had to be hidden.

On our second to last day,

Nana and I took Kale 

to a park

where he got a lot of good 

playing time in with Nana.

Stopped to say hi to 

Uncle Dain at the pool.

Kale rode the lawn mower

with Grandpa for a little bit.

And then we left.

It was really sad to me because

I didn't realize until we got 

to the airport that

this was the last time I'd see Dain

before he left on his mission.

So I'm so grateful that we were able

to go to Iowa and see him

for 2 whole weeks!

Our layover in Minneapolis

was about 3 hours,

so we had to find things

to entertain us.

And by us I mean Kale.

 

We hung out at the payphones

for the better part of an hour.

And then we found an 

arcade room

which was awesome.

Lots of buttons for him to push.

Kale did amazing on all of

the flights. 

On the way to Iowa he slept

the entire flight

from Dallas to CR.

On the way home he slept

the almost the whole flight 

from Minneapolis to Seattle.

I snapped a quick shot of the scenery.

Beautiful.

Kale was pretty out of it...

It was a wonderful trip!

But we're happy to be home.

We missed Tyler :)