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The fresh mountain air, chilly nights & glowing embers of the campfire are something I dream of every Summer. Ever since I was a little girl, my family went camping, to the same exact spot, every year. It was tradition. My mom's parents took her & her siblings camping to the same spot, so it has some sentimental meaning & has become a place that I love!! Nate thinks I'm crazy because I still know the bends in the long bumpy road up the mountain & count the "bridges" crossing over the creek until we arrive at the long awaited "Bull Dog Rock" campground. I wish I had a picture, but the mountain by our camping spot looks like a bull dog. (Jason said more like a boxer, but bulldog has a nice ring :) ) This year, before Jason left for Grad School we all packed up for a trip to my beloved spot (we weren't really planning on going here, but somehow just ended up here. Funny how that happens sometimes.)

We had a quick, but really fun trip! We went on a hike one day and found out that Jackobi is a pretty good little hiker! She enjoyed her share of shoulder rides, but actually hiked most of the time! Other than the baby fox living in our campground (totally freaked us out the first night) we even managed to see some wildlife on our hike.

It was pretty amazing how close we were able to get! Pretty close considering this is my regular lens (no zoom)! Jackobi thought it was so neat to peak at the "frozen" deer. They really DO stand pretty still!!

Yes ... we did pear at the deer longer than I'd like to admit. I think Nate was drooling a little bit, wishing he'd come that close in his hunting encounters!

We headed to the Little Wood River to try our hand and some fishing ...

and Jackobi decided she MUCH preferred digging in the rocks & dirt with her pole as opposed to actually "fishing." She thought it was pretty entertaining!

We also enjoyed Jason's version of smores ... with peanut butter cups instead of straight chocolate. YUM!! I didn't have one, but heard they were delish!!

and watched Jackobi enjoy playing in the icy creek & black dirt.

She loved every second of it!!

I love family traditions. Old & new.

We're having fun creating our own little traditions.

I can't wait for the next one!

{tea for two}

Jackobi has a great love for princesses. I'm not sure if it's engrained in every little girl, but it is in her. The dresses, dancing, singing and oh yes, we musn't forget her Prince. (Luckily for us, we have her convinced that Daddy is her Prince... for now at least!)

She also has a love for tea parties. So we decided to combine the two one afternoon and have a Princess Tea Party for her and Anna. It was divine. She was convinced we were in Sleeping Beauty's meadow and life was grand. It was so fun to watch their little imaginations soar as they sipped their "tea" and delicately ate their treats.

Then we played and ran. And oh did they run! ... and hid behind trees ... chased butterflies and completely exhausted themselves.

What a simply delightful day!

☼ ::Our Summer of FUN!!! :: ☼

As much as it pains me to admit it ... the brisk mornings & crisp air have let me know with much certainty that Summer is winding down.

Oh what a glorious summer we have had!!

I decided to re-visit my summer "wish list" to see how we measure up! I think we did pretty good [and even managed to add some additional greatness to our list!!]

☼ We made & ate yummy homemade ice cream

☼ had picnics & playdates galore!!

became VERY acquainted with these parks ...

☼ cloud watched on a sunny days

☼ went camping & enjoyed YUMMY smores!

☼ swam!

{{laughed a lot}}

☼ spent a day at the zoo

☼ took Jackobi fishing!

☼ sidewalk chalk & hop scotch

☼ chased bubbles & butterflies

☼ enjoyed county fairs

And MUCH, MUCH more!!

So what was on our list that we didn't complete??

☼ master making Summer smoothies! (HELP!! Any ideas??)
☼ fly kites (not sure how we missed this one with the Idaho wind!! Maybe in the Spring!)

As sad as I am to see Summer go ... I'm pretty excited for Fall and all it entails! I'm ready for some of this:

A visit (or two) to the Pumpkin Patch

and my favorite day for dress-up

An Update ...

I can't believe I'm 1/2 way done with this pregnancy!! It has gone SO FAST and has been SO DIFFERENT than when I was pregnant with Jackobi. I haven't journaled much, so thought I'd write a quick blog entry before I forget some things that have happened!

8/18 heartrate was 155

9/7 heartrate bounced between 130-136, but was VERY STRONG. The Dr. felt my tummy to see where I was measuring and Baby Boy wasn't appreciative of it & KICKED him :)

I've had 2 ultrasounds & little boy is healthy as can be! My "official" due date is January 29th, but the ultrasound tech said he thought & things were measuring a week sooner ... so January 22nd-ish. My doctor hasn't changed my due date ... so I'm just saying it's somewhere around the 25th of January ... I'll shoot for right in the middle!! Guess end of January sometime will have to do!

I'm feeling more and more movement each day which is one of my favorite things about being pregnant. It's a nice reassurance that he's doing okay in there. :) I've been amazed at how tired I have been this pregnancy. Even in the 2nd trimester (which I'm told is the "easy" trimester, ha!) Jackobi has noticed my tummy getting bigger and likes to talk to the baby and sing him "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" ... it's pretty sweet to watch/listen to her. I can already tell she'll be a great big sister!

I've had a lot of different symptoms with this pregnancy that I didn't with Jackobi & after a day filled with doctor appointments and an ultrasound, found out that I have a small tear in my placenta. Apparently it happens and I'm told that it will "take care of itself" {isn't the human body amazing that it can just 'heal' itself??!!} ... but for now I'm pretty limited on what I'm allowed to do, at least for a few weeks. Then I can gradually add more activity to my day(s) and hopefully be back to normal by October! {{that's my hope at least!!}} We are blessed to have a HEALTHY boy growing and couldn't be happier that everything else checks out perfectly. He's very active (even the U/S tech couldn't believe how much he wiggles around!) and likes potatoes & salty treats, not sweet. Which for me, is really weird since I have a GIANT sweet tooth that has pretty much gone dormant!

"Taking it easy" is going well, although I feel lazy more than anything! I really feel pretty good so it's hard to convince myself not to be more productive, but I'm doing pretty good! Jackobi has been a trooper and entertains herself pretty well. The first night it was apparent she knew something was different. I could tell she wondered why she went to the grocery store with Daddy, watched Daddy mow the lawn and helped Daddy cook dinner. (pretty great guy, right??) She threw a couple of fits which included her dinner making it clear across the room, but luckily it only lasted a day!!!!!! She's such a good helper now and I'm lucky she likes to just sit with me and do puzzles, build blocks, read & color!! I don't think I ever realized how I took for granted being able to run, jump, dance, play and PICK UP my little girl!!

I realize how extremely blessed we are!!! Not only for Jackobi, but to have another healthy boy on the way. It's all worth it!! We are blessed to live so close to family & have so many wonderful friends who have all been great. What a support system we have!

On the plus side ... in this "don't do anything" time, I can get caught up on some things I haven't seemed to have time for, LIKE, my blogging (since I've totally been slacking!) we've been having so much fun, oh what a glorious summer it has been!!

[::horsing around::]

Whitney brought a few of her horses for the kiddo's to ride last week and it was such a treat!! Jackobi is fasinated with ponies, so when I told her she was going to get to ride one she was thrilled. It was her first time riding on a horse & she absolutly loved it! At first she was a little nervous so I rode with her but after a few minutes on she became more comfortable and kept squealing "Look mom, I'm a cowboy!!

And what a cute little "cowboy" she makes!

Thanks Laura for bringing some darling little hats!

She LOVED petting this chocolate horse. His soft velvety nose was her favorite!

We each took turns riding & leading kids around. There were a few brave riders who flew solo, Kellee, Maybree, Tyson & Evie all took the reins and rode by themselves! Hopefully after a few more times on a horse Jackobi won't be as nervous.

{Laura, Peyton, Tyson & Becky}

What a fun, fun day! Thanks Whitney for putting this together! Looks like we have some cute little cowboys & cowgirls on our hands!!