Fishing with Daddy

For Labor Day, Erik decided to take Jordyn fishing. They loaded up their fishing gear and headed to lake Houston (just a few minute drive from our house and just around the corner from Mimi and Papa's house). Jordyn took her trusty Barbie pole (with the plastic butterfly still attached) and Daddy took his new pole that he'd got for Father's Day. It was a HOT day and they didn't catch anything but they still had fun. Jordyn spent more time playing with the worms in the tackle box and eating the peanut butter off her crackers than anything but she was with her Daddy and that's all that mattered to her. Towards the end of the trip, Jordyn got a little too hot for her liking so she took matters into her own hands and decided to strip down. That's our little girl!

Colt & Karen's Wedding

We're finally to the main event of our trip to Utah. The reason we went (and stayed so long) was because my little brother FINALLY got a girl to stick around long enough to put a ring on her finger. We're so glad that she did, we LOVE Aunt Karen (she's Jordyn's favorite). Jordyn loves her aunt Karen so much that she wouldn't leave her side at the wedding. It was difficult for their photographer to get pictures of just the two of them. They got hitched on August 15th in the Denver, Colorado temple. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was so glad that we could make it and I'm glad that Heather & Toni put up with Jordyn while Erik and I went to the temple with the happy couple. The bride looked beautiful and somehow, Colt even managed to look handsome. A week after the wedding they had a reception in Hurricane for all of their friends and family that couldn't make the drive to Colorado.

Happy Birthday Toni!

My baby sister is turning 22 today and I just wanted to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We love you and miss you tons. Hope you have an awesome day!

Birthday Party

Jordyn's birthday was a few days after we got home from Utah, so we decided to celebrate it a little early so my family could join in on the fun. Jordyn was definitely spoiled and got a lot more presents than she needed (or even deserved for that matter). She picked out a Cinderella cake for the celebration.

Hiking in Zion

We took full advantage of being so close to the mountains and beautiful scenery while at my parents. Our little family went to Zion National Park and went on a few hikes. We hiked to Weeping Rock (1/2 mile), on the Riverside Walk (2 miles), and the Grotto Trail (about 1/2 mile). Jordyn hiked the entire Weeping rock hike and a good portion of the Riverside walk (we didn't do that complete walk) and then after a bit of a rest she did about half of the Grotto Trail. Needless to say, she deserved that ice cream cone (and the nap) she got when we were finished. We attempted to wade in the river, but it was VERY cold so that didn't last long. The Weeping Rock hike took a lot longer than it should have because Jordyn had to stop every few minutes to pick up the rocks. She ended up with a pocket full before we were even halfway done with the hike. On the Grotto Trail, we had a deer cross the trail right in front of us. Jordyn was excited to see one so close.

Grandpa's Cabin

We were able to go to my parents cabin twice while we were in Utah. The first time it was Grandpa with all of the girls. We went on four wheeler



and paddle boat rides, saw deer chipmunks, turkeys, and ducks and tried our hand at catching fish (not much luck there). While waiting for our turn on the paddle boat, Jordyn tried her hand at fishing while Keegan tried to eat everything he could find in the tackle box (Yum, fish bait!) Jordyn was quite serious about her task (maybe I should of told her that the plastic butterfly on the end of her line wasn't really meant for catching fish). At one point, she slipped in the mud and got her pants dirty at that point she was ready to go back to the cabin, but since the rest of us weren't leaving yet, she stood around holding her shirt up so it wouldn't get dirty as well. Jordyn and I took the paddle boat out to a low spot in the lake to look at the ducks in the marsh grasses growing there. When we got back, Aunt Heather decided to test her patience and take ALL of the kids out on the paddle boat. Brave woman. On our way back to the cabin, Jordyn tried her hand at driving the mule (don't worry it was in park), and Keegan decided that it was nap time.

The next time we went up to the cabin Daddy was able to go with us. We did all the same activities, and we found time for Aunt Toni to help take a few family photos. I also took Jordyn's 2yr photos during this trip.

Odds and Ends

Here's a few random shots and side notes from the first half of our vacation:

This is a giant bull lizard that lives under my parents stairs (and not the largest one that we saw while there, these things are everywhere!)

We threw Aunt Karen a bridal shower and her friend Alli made her this cute vail and sash to wear. Before the shower, Karen and Alli played care bears and strawberry shortcake with Jordyn and quickly won spots as two of her favorite people. Even now she ALWAYS talks about Aunt Karen.

One day while shopping for clothes to wear to the wedding Jordyn and Keegan had a disagreement over something and Jordyn ended up looking like this. No one is exactly sure what happened and since Jordyn's vocabulary was limited and Keegan's didn't talk they couldn't exactly let us know what happened.

Jordyn wanted to go swimming EVERYDAY and SEVERAL times a day while at Grandmas and none of us had the time or the energy to take us as frequent as she would have liked, so we set up an empty sandbox on Grandma's balcony and she soon had her own private pool that she could play in as she pleased.