Camping Fun

This past weekend Luke, Ty and I went up to Mt. Graham and stayed at Ty's grandma's cabin. It was so nice! I can't even describe it. We pulled up and it just felt good. It did take a lot of work to get everything ready to go for our 24 hour trip, but it was worth it. Ty grilled. We read. Luke explored. Saturday morning we went on this really nice hike near the top of Mt. Graham by Treasure Park to see a waterfall that Ty remembered hiking to as a Boy Scout. We stopped and let Luke play in the water and he loved it, once he got used to it.
On my own little tangent, can I just say that this summer is way better than last summer. Luke was just a newborn, and I had such a hard time adjusting to being a new mom. To go from being a student and then working full-time with people I loved to being at home full time with a new, very demanding baby was really difficult for me. It was opressively hot outside all the time in Scottsdale, and I just felt trapped in our dim apartment. I didn't know any other young moms that lived nearby. Is it just me, or does no one ever tell people how hard and 24/7 demanding it is being a mom? The hardest part was realizing that a lot of my hopes and dreams would have to be put on hold for a whild and maybe forever in order to be the best mother to my son. Have any of you ever felt the same way? Not to say that last summer was all bad and hard, because it did have it's high points and I was blessed with a healthy baby that was happy most of the time. Also,I love my son more than anything, it's just that this summer has been better. I'm loving living in Thatcher. I'm making friends with other moms in our ward. I enjoy living close to Ty's family and being able to visit with them a lot more. I LOVE having a house of our own and a yard. Luke is not nearly as dependant as last year, and I've been able to do more things for myself. For example, taking a tennis class with Chantel really cool because I learned something new. I've loved taking Luke swimming, outside to play, and on little vacations. I also understand now that being a mother is the most important thing that I could every do in this life. I love my job, and I have fully embraced it now. This perspective has helped me a lot too. The best news is that the summer still isn't quite over yet!

A look at the last couple weeks

These last few weeks have been busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Here's some pics of the last 2 weeks. Starting with tonight.

Luke walked around tonight for an entire hour with his last mouth-full of dinner in his right cheek! He just went about doing what he normally does and it didn't slow him down. Ty finally made him spit it out so that we could brush his teeth before bed.



I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time Monday and Tuesday with my friend Savannah and her little girl Rhylan before they moved to Mississippi today. Luke and Rhylan are just a month apart. Savvy and I already had their futures planned out together before they were born. Anyways, we had fun at the park in Pinetop. We fed the ducks a burnt waffle. Luke loved throwing the bits of waffle at the ducks. Rhylan just ate the waffle. For some strange reason known only to one-year-olds, they both wanted to drink out of the other one's sippy cup over their own. I will definitely miss them, but I'm really excited for their big adventure move to the South.

Also while I was in Lakeside I went wedding dress shopping with my little sister Necia. We went to the shop in Show Low where I rented my dress from, and they had the exact same dress that I wore on my Wedding still there. I had to put it on again just one last time.

A little over a week ago, I took Luke to the swimming pool. He was playing on one of those lounging beach chairs and fell. Two of his bottom teeth poked through the skin just below his lip. He started screaming and I was scared to see blood coming from both the inside and outside of his mouth. (It might be hard to see from the picture.) I'd heard stories of teeth going through kid's skin before and it always ended with scars and the kid needing stiches. I was suprised when it was all cleaned up that it was only a tiny little cut. Once the lifegaurd gave him a popsicle Luke was fine.

My cousin Lauren got married on our 4th anniversery, August 7th. Ty and I got to eat breakfast together, but that was it. I went down to Mesa that night for her wedding with Luke. It was so much fun to see all my family again at the wedding. The next night in Pima she had a reception, and I had so much fun danceing like I hadn't since I was in college.

We also had lots of fun just being at home too. This is Luke trying on his dad's work boots. He loves shoes!

Rhino Ride

On Saturday Ty and I took his parent's Rhino out for a couple of hours at 6am. We went up to Fry Mesa and the Pot Holes. When we went to EAC we went up there in a truck and it was miserably slow going, but on that Rhino the road was a piece of cake. We had so much fun! Special thanks to Ty's mom for watching Luke for us, and letting us have a little adult fun! Here's a few pics.

Water fall at Fry Mesa

My new favorite picture of Ty!

We hiked a little bit to get to the pot holes water falls. Then a little bit of spontaneity took over and we decided to climb up to the slide and go down! It was so fun and soooo cold!