Road Trip and more . . .

  Our camping trip to the coast over Memorial Day went better than expected. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when the weather was suppose to rain the whole time and we had a baby, a dog, and Jordan and I in a little camper all weekend. It did rain some, but not all the time. Austyn was a little trooper like always. She is such a good girl away from home. It was so nice to have the Bronco to drive all the girls around in when it was raining. Our camping trips are the best. Everyone gets along and can have fun just hanging out doing nothing sometimes. We have the perfect camping buddies.

Here we are all pack up and ready to go. I kind of feel

like we took just about everything we own

Us on the beach

I know, I know kind of corney. But we looks so cute matching

Buddies

I think this girl would fall asleep anywhere. I took her for a

ride and within 5 minutes she fell asleep

Jordan brought his 3-wheeler and they had so much

fun on it. The chain would fall off like ever two seconds

and then the whole thing just broke. This is them

towing it home.

  Austyn is doing great. She has the top two teeth now, so it is really painful when she bits us. She has started to grab our fingers and stand and wanting really badly to take a step (I can't tell who wants it more, us or her). She loves to stand and play all the time. She refuses to go into the jumper anymore. That sure was nice while it lasted. She can now be laying down and get back to a sitting position all by herself. She waves bye-bye all the time now and is saying DA for DOG. She points and reaches for what she wants. And lets us know when she isn't getting what she wants. I think right now Jordan is the preferred one, which he is soaking up. She does great feeding herself. I need to start transitioning her from baby food to regular food. It's a little nerve racking because I think she's going to choke on stuff since she doesn't have any back teeth. And it seems like every time we give her something new she has the worst case of diaper rash for like 3 days after. She's getting pretty good on the sippy cup too. I can't believe how much she is developing so fast. It's crazy to watch her mimic us and know that she understands certain things now. Austyn is definitely a kid that will not EVER be content to sit and play in one spot. She constantly has to be doing something. I wonder who she takes after? We had her 9 month check-up on Thursday and it went really good. No shots this time, so Austyn was happy. She weighs 19 lbs. 12.5 oz. and the doctor told us that sinces she is so HEALTHY she can bypass whole milk and go straight to 2%. She said she was horizontally challenged.


  One thing exciting that happened was that I went on a 4 day road trip with a friend. We flew into Omaha to pick up a truck her company had bought and then drove it home. Nebraska was a drag, but Wyoming was the highlight of the trip. We went to Casper, Sheridan, then to Cody, and on to Yellowstone. Then to Jackson, and then pulled an all nighter home. I'm still recovering from the all nighter. Holy smokes, I'm sure I won't be staying up all night ever again! We went through the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Yellowstone was so fun, it was like a scavenger hunt the entire time looking for animals. I want to go back and spend more time there. Like always I regret not taking more pictures and video. Some day I might learn just to take more. This trip was so out of character for me it's hard to even think I did it. I am such a planner/organizer and on this trip we literally got to Omaha with no idea of what to do or see. I found out I was going two days before I left. It kind of blows my mind just thinking of it again. It was so much fun to just do whatever whenever. I really enjoyed it. I never thought I would get the chance to do something like that. Glad I did it and had a great travel buddy too. Things we saw in Yellowstone: Big Horned Sheep, Moose, Buffalo, Elk, Deer, Random Weird Birds, Hot Springs, Old Faithful, lots of Gysers, a bear far off in the distance but close enough to count, and a mystery animal we count as a wolf.

This was a moose we saw right outside of Yellowstone

Wild buffalo

We were amazed at how close they got

  Jordan is getting ready to take his second test this week. He has been pounding the books like crazy. Wish him luck! Not that he needs any. Have I mentioned I'll be glad when this is over!? I wish I could report more on fun and exciting things with Jordan, but he has been so dedicated and working so hard on his Engineers Program that he literally has no spare time. He's going to be the best Engineer Eugene fire has ever seen!!!

  Well I was all ready for a good sized garden this year, but haven't even planted it yet. I did finally get my flowers planted. I think I'm going to just do the essentials in the garden this year. I keep telling myself summer should be her any day now, but still it rains. Blasted Oregon weather! We are getting ready to go on a houseboat at lake Shasta for a week in July. Then I'm not sure what our next trip will be. I guess we have plenty of time to figure it out. Hope everyone is doing great and getting ready to have a great summer. Thanks for keeping up with us (although we haven't been too exciting lately).