The Red Neck Safari....

Last week my cousin Ammon, and his wife, Jillian came into town with their kids.  They stayed with Aaron and Haley, but we hung out with them while they were here.  One of the days we went to an animal safari, about and hour and half away.  This place was in the middle of nowhere!  You rent a gutted out van that has bars across the windows.  Then you slowly drive through the park and feed the animals as they swarm your van.  It. was. so. fun!  I know it sounds crazy, but it was so funny to see these animals surround you.  They got right up in your business.  You had to watch for slobber, but the kids had a riot!  Here is the view from inside the van.

Giraffes have long, sticky, blue tongues. 

 Creepy....

 Check out this buffalo's tongue!

How's that for a red neck safari??

Lucy's Third Birthday....

It's hard to believe that it's been three years since I held my black-haired, 4 1/2 pound newborn in my arms.  Three years have gone by.  Three!!  Last Friday was Lucy's birthday and she was so excited about it.  The previous Sunday I went to pick her up from nursery and this is what I found.

 When I walked in she yelled, "Happy birthday mommy!!"

 Lucy's face was priceless when she woke up Friday morning and this was waiting for her.  However, she had to wait until that night to open her presents.  She kept trying to sneak little peaks into the bags.

We had plans to go swimming with friends, but it was raining.  Instead we went to 'Catch Air' playplace with the Sheltons.   

 Heather from the ward came too.

 When we left 'Catch Air' Lucy looked up at me and said, "Mom, this is the best day ever!"

Jordan was able to get off work early, so after a nap our next stop was.....

The movies!!  We had planned to see Madagascar 3, but it stopped playing in theaters that very day.  Instead we took Lucy to Ice Age 4.  She was embarassingly loud, but had a great time.  I'm not quite sure what face she's making here.

After the movie, we headed home for dinner and to frost cupcakes.

 The Hales and the Sheltons came over to celebrate with Lucy.  We had cupcakes and then opened presents.

 Thanks for the movie Grandma Hale!

 Thanks for the books Grandma Walker!

Overall, a good day.  Happy birthday Bug!!

Lucy's New Bed...

After a fun, exhausting, LONG trip to Utah, we flew home on July 6th.  Jordan was not able to book his flight until long after us, so we ended up on different flights.  I was nervous again to fly with Lucy by myself because of my back, but everything went pretty smoothly.  Lucy slept the entire first flight, which was blessed. The second flight she was a little more tired/whiny but overall did pretty well.  Things were not so great once we reached Atlanta, however.  I was extremely motion sick when we landed and my back was hurting horribly.  I then had to wrangle my overtired toddler to the baggage claim.  I needed help hefting our heavy luggage onto a cart and luckily found some nice people to help me.  At this point I received a text from Jordan informing me that his flight was majorly delayed and that he hadn't even left Denver yet.  The original plan was for Lucy and I to wait for Jordan at the airport and then we would drive home together in a car my cousin had parked for us.  I decided it probably be best for Lucy and I to just drive home and then go pick Jordan up when his flight came in three hours later.  The only problem was....I didn't know where the car was.  Supposedly, there was a "dropped pin" to let me know via GPS where the car was, but it wasn't working.  I found myself in 102 plus degree heat (plus humidity) pushing a huge, heavy cart of luggage aimlessly around the airport parking garage with my toddler.  I was tired, in pain, hot, and stressed.  I finally broke down and started bawling, because I didn't know what else to do.  I found an airport gargage worker and she could see that I was in a bad way.  She told me about a courtesy car that would take me around to find my car.  In the meantime, I finally got ahold of my cousin who told me specifically where the car was.  The courtesy car pulled up and a very nice man helped me load all my luggage in the car and then drove me in his beautifully air-conditioned car to where my car was parked.  I had been wandering around the completely wrong lot.  I would have been there all day!  I was so thankful for his help!  Lucy fell asleep the second we started driving home and slept for the next three hours.  Then we went and picked Jordan up.  Oh boy.

The next day was Saturday and we decided that it was finally time to put Lucy in a big girl bed.  A family in our ward was selling these bunk beds for a great price, so we snagged them.  We spent Saturday shopping for mattresses and bedding, and then put everything together.  

One last picture in front of her crib.

Her new big girl bed!!

She was so excited when we set up her bed.  She did really well falling asleep the first night, but woke up at 3:00 AM disoriented.  She called for Jordan every 10 minutes for two hours until she finally fell asleep.  The next night she was a little anxious to fall asleep, but finally did.  The last few nights she has done great!  I can't believe my baby is potty trained and sleeping in a bed.  Where has the time gone??

Lucy's Pre-Birthday Celebration....

Since Lucy's birthday is on the 20th, we decided to have a pre-birthday party so that our families could be part of the festivities.  We spent the afternoon at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden and then went back to the Walkers for dinner and cupcakes. 

I can't believe this girl will be three years old next week!!

The remnants of Lucy's cupcake.

Being silly with Daddy.

I'm not sure what I'm going to for her birthday here in Georgia.  Stay tuned for another birthday post.

Fourth of July....

Happy Birthday America!!  The fourth of July has become one of my favorite holidays.  I love spending the day with the people I love doing celebratory things like parades, barbeques, and fireworks.  We started our fourth out with the Centerville parade.

Elaine and Len are from Canada, hence the traitorous shirt.

Even the newly engaged couple came.

That afternoon we went back to the Walkers for a delicious barbeque.  We took naps, watched "The Sandlot", saw Jordan's newly returned missionary cousin, then finished a perfect day off with fireworks.