Viva Mexico!

We took a last-minute trip to Cancun, Mexico and let me just say right now, that place is a little slice of Heaven. Endless water, warm sunshine, and the largest sandbox I've ever seen! (Though people kept calling it a beach.) My parents were so excited for a relaxing vacation they were jumping for joy - literally!

I flashed my smile when we checked in to the hotel and they gave us a beach-front villa - score! So each day I napped on our beach patio listening to the ocean waves or in a hammock under the palm trees, not bad at all.

I played (okay, watched) my first round of golf. I'm not sure which was cooler - chewing on my dad's putter or the eight-foot alligator that was 40' away from me when I was crawling around on the greens! YIKES!!!

The property we stayed at had more than 15 swimming pools so I swam every day until my feet looked like lumpy, over-sized prunes. Not to worry, I wore a big, goofy hat the hole time.

I was pretty much the only pint-sized person at the resort, so I got lots of attention and several old people commented on my hefty thighs - apparently they're one of my best features. The one thing that was my size were the iguanas. But they too, were so relaxed that it didn't matter how much I squealed, they just relaxed in the sun.

Mexico left me a bit tanner, a bit wiser (I learned the word "Hola!"), and a bit more ready for the NEXT vacation - vamanos!

Check out our trip video by hitting the play button below....

Nice Tri

Dave competed in another sprint triathlon this weekend and did awesome. He placed 16th overall - wow. He had one of the fastest bike times in the competition and ended with his personal best time in this race to date.

When Dave and I started dating, his dad told me a story about Dave in elementary school. The gym teacher did jump rope. Dave, as athletic as he was and is, could not do a single rotation with the jump rope - he didn't have the coordination. He asked for a jump rope and began practicing every day in the driveway until he had mastered it. He now jumps rope like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky - it's intimidating.

He's an incredible competitor and always trying to reach a new physical goal. I'm one lucky girl to be married to such a sportsmen. Congrats on a great race!

S'more Please

If camping is for the birds, I want to be a bird! We went on our very first camping trip this weekend. While my mom has camped lots, my dad and I were new to the whole "sleeping on dirt" thing. Our tent was pretty cool; that's me peeking out in the picture. 

My dad eased in to the night by doing what he called "supervising." (I think it means you watch other people do the work.) First he supervised the fire being started, then the tent being put up, then he tossed our foil dinners in the fire pit and supervised them until they were done. But once those dinners were cooked, he was done supervising - he jumped in and took charge of eating that yummy deliciousness.

Aside from the encounter with the daddy long legs spider in our tent, my dad played it really cool the whole trip. I had no idea he could scream in such a high pitch tone!

As you may have heard, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the outdoors, so all night I was going 100 miles an hour - watching the fire burn, listening to the crickets chirp, seeing the kids run with flashlights, and of course, learning how to build a s'more - yum! My parents brought sleeping bags, pillows, and the pack-n-play. That pack-n-play never got much use, I preferred to stay up the whole night and explore the outdoors and camping. My mom took this photo at 3:45am - that grin was on my face the WHOLE night!

Our first camping trip as a family is now in the books. Even though my parents look a bit tired today, I say it was a huge success. I had a blast, and really, what else matters. I am definitely hooked on this camping thing and can't wait for s'more outdoors! 

Pop-ups, Pop-ins, & Pop Pop

The word of the weekend was "pop." My Nana and Pop Pop popped in to see us this weekend and brought me a pop up toy. With Nana in town, I spent a lot of time on my knees in "crawling school." Coach Nana took my skills to the next level and I should be headed for the stairs any day now. Mom and dad, it's time to bust out that safety gate!

Pop Pop took me for a 90 minute stroll during their visit. I'm told it was a perfect day to be outside strolling, but I was so relaxed I fell asleep and probably wasn't too good of company - sorry Pop Pop - but I appreciated the ride. We also had dinner at the Elia's house. I was so excited about dinner with my cousins that I hit the plate in glee and flipped 34 pieces of pasta into the air (but who's counting). Sorry about the mess Aunt Karen.

Eryn came to visit us from California and we had dinner with the Cogars Sunday night. Their kids showed me how to kick a soccer ball and catch flying things out of the air, pretty cool. I guess you could say the weekend was so much fun I almost popped!

Lucky Duck

I had a recent check-up with my cardiologist and he said "Everything here looks great!" (I assumed I was the "here" in his remarks.) He put the goopy gel on the wand and rolled it over my heart while the machine took pictures. The Gortex patch on my heart is a perfect match for my body - but what else would you expect! My dad said, "Doc, so he'll be a strong athlete?" The doc's response, "Well, he won't be limited by his heart...just his mother." (Insert glare by my mom here.)

My mom also used the stethoscope to listen to my heart. Because it will always have a murmur, I'm told my heart sounds more like waves crashing at the beach instead of at the "thump thump" most people's hearts sound like. Again, ocean wave sounds inside my body - it's like my insides are already surfing - what else would you expect!

All looked so good that I don't need to see my cardiologist until NEXT September! Yeah baby - that's what I'm talking about! (Um doc, don't take offense by my excitement - I'm happy to see you at the park, but prefer fewer visits to your office.)

Surprise!

A few days before Labor Day my parents decided to buy tickets to Utah and surprise our friends and family with an unannounced arrival. We let Staci St.Jeor in on our secret and she agreed to pick us up at the airport. Our original plan was a bit altered when we arrived at my grandparents house and found no one there - they were out at my Aunt and Uncle's lake. So my parents looked around the house, found a key to a car in the garage, and off we went!

As we drove up to the lake, we didn't see anyone we knew - they were in the boats and on the ATV. So it took a few minutes for our surprise to happen, but when it did, we got a perfect reaction. My grandma was about 500 yards from us when she realized who we were and jumped out of the ATV and started running towards us. Luckily my Aunt Margo reminded my grandma to get back in the ATV and she'd drive to us. We got the same type of reaction from my grandpa and Uncle Rick when they turned the boat near the shore and said, "Holy cow! What are you guys doing here!??!" Our sneaky arrival was a big hit.

So we put on our swim trunks and skied and swam the rest of the day at the lake.On Saturday, the Stevenson and St.Jeor families joined us out at the lake for a second day of water sports. Sunday my parents golfed with my grandpa while my grandma and I played. Then my parents challenged my grandparents to a game a of tennis and I played with Brenna and Tate - it was awesome!

Sunday night lots of friends and family stopped by to see us. I impressed everyone with my Cheerio eating (and throwing skills) and showcased my hand clapping and squealing skills - the crowd went wild.

Monday we hopped back on the plane and headed home. People sure make funny faces when they're being surprised, kind of like when you get licked by a dog, but without the after taste!

Average and Excited!

I'm average - woohooo! I had my 9 month check up today and I finally hit the 50% for height. I was in 1% for a while, then made it to the 10%, got close to the 20% in the past but wasn't sure this day would ever come. Now I can say I'm just your average kid - so awesome. I was 30% on weight - though if you've seen my meaty thighs, that's a bit hard to believe. And my head tipped the scales (literally) in the 50-70% - must be all those brains in there. The appointment went well and I didn't even cry when I got my shots - perhaps it was because I was flirting with the nurse. Average sure feels good.