Rollin' on the River

We have arrived in the mother land! Carter and I made the 11 hour drive with my parents from Colorado to Texas! She was a trooper and did awesome, I didn't even whip out my DVD player until we were 4 hours from Abilene, I was so impressed with her. We had a wonderful week tucked away from civilization in Buena Vista. Our cabin was amazing and definitely lent it's self to hanging out and relaxing with my family and our best friends. We had several really fun adventures and I think I'll just break them up into a few different posts. The beginning of our week kicked off with a bang and we hit the rapids on the Arkansas river. We did our best to locate a last minute baby sitter but none could be found. My mom came to the rescue and watched Carter so that I could go rafting with everyone. It was incredibly unselfish and greatly appreciated. I felt guilty but took her up on it because I was looking so forward to going!

Carter and Roxi as we left the cabin:We arrived at the company where my sister and John work, it's called Noah's Ark. We geared up and got ready to head out.

Kim, Me, Clint and my Dad:The whole gang (the only thing missing was Nate): Joe Cool...oh wait that's my dad:
The understatement of the decade:We were all able to fit in one boat so John was our "official" guide, but they're both awesome:
All smiles (mine will be missing a little later):
Me and my fearless sister:

The water (for anyone who knows what this means) was running at about 2700. I'm not going to beat around the bush (even if I did the pictures would give me away) rafting just about scares the pee out of me. It is a wild feeling to be riding through this crazy water in an inflated boat. Here we are as we came through one of my sister's favorite rapids (which translated means one of the craziest)! It's called zoom flume...I am obviously fearing for my life at this point!

I'm panicking because I see what is ahead! In case you need a closer look...here is what sheer terror on my face looks like:

Needless to say I survived! The thing that I liken it to the most is a roller coaster ride (probably because those scare the pee out of me too)! But, like a roller coaster, you get off at the end and think WOW that was REALLY fun! So fun that sometimes you get in line and ride it again. Which, is exactly what I did almost a week later. The Saturday before we left I rode the river again. This time my sister was the guide and the water was running quite a bit higher at 3700 (the highest water they've seen since 1995). For whatever reason I was much less fearful the third time around. It may have been that I felt less "allowed" to be afraid since I was with a boat full of people I didn't know. It's a good thing I had kicked a little bit of my fear. As we went through the first rapid the boat in front of us flipped on a rock dumping everyone in it in the water. Thank God my instincts kicked in and I managed to grab a guy, the size of my dad, right as he almost went under out boat. I remembered hearing my sister talk about how to pull someone in and I grabbed him by the life jacket and fell backwards into the boat. He came in right on top of me...it was awesome! I heard my sister yelling for us to keep paddling (mind you her incredible guiding skills were getting us through a rapid while chaos was all around us). I got the guy off me grabbed my paddle and we made it through. For the mom of a two year old, whose daily excitement meter is usually based on how dirty Carter's diaper is, I was feeling like quite the adventurer. I put my sister and John right up there with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods...they are amazing!

Land of the Cool People

Colorado is like the land of the cool people. It seems like everyone walking around just threw on the first thing they found that morning when they hopped out of bed, and somehow they still manage to look like they stepped off the pages of REI. It is really fun being here. It's nice to be around my sister, her husband, and friends. The rest of my family just arrived a few day's ago and we're having another great week! I've decided the thing I battle most when Nate is away is loneliness. I really just enjoy having company. Carter did great on our trip here. It was a really long day but we managed to make it fun! She had practiced the day before and assured me she could handle rolling her own suitcase through the airport. She did a great job

Carter always does really well on airplanes, I'm super thankful for this. When we arrived in Denver Kim and John were waiting to greet us with a pink balloon for Carter. She loved it! We also loved the view from my sisters house. Carter enjoyed having a little picnic with Aunt Kim the first morning we were there...it was really beautiful!
Later that morning we made a trip to the Library and just happened to be there at the same time as Skeeter the clown. I think we were all a little leery but it turned out to be fun:
She has been super enamored with all the animals that are around. While we were shopping one afternoon she became fairly obsessed with this super cute black puppy. She didn't want it out of her site, but wasn't too sure about petting it. She insisted on getting a picture of it!
She also enjoyed hanging out on the bank of the river and watching the Kayak's:
Now I think she wants to BE a Kayaker:
Later that night we had a little slumber party with a couple of Kim's closest friends. Carter enjoyed spending time with Katie and Eve, who she loves! She also enjoyed doing a little Yoga with Eve:

As usual she enjoyed playing photographer, here are a couple of her photos of Kim, John, and I:




We were excited about the chance to "camp out" in my sister's living room! Here is Carter chilling in our tent before bed:

Saturday we all made the trip back to Denver to pick up Uncle Clint. Carter is really starting to remember everybody and was excited to see him! She went right to him! The next day they enjoyed a jump on the trampoline...Carter loves all the attention from her Aunt and Uncle!

Our week so far has been another eventful one! I enjoyed rafting a couple of day's ago, it was a blast and also completely terrifying! The pictures are worth a good laugh, especially of me, I look like I think I'm about to meet my Maker! I'll post about the rest of our trip when we get to Texas early next week!

D is for D-A-D-D-I-O

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY!

No I'm not crazy! I know that Father's Day isn't until tomorrow...but technically where Nate is it is already tomorrow so, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! We only wish we could hug your neck and let you see in our smiles how amazing we think you are! I've been thinking a lot today about what exactly it is that makes Nate such a great dad. I think that there will be different things during different stages of our life that stand out, but the word right now that I can't get off my brain is INVOLVED. He is involved in all that our family is in every sense of the word. He is a family man through and through. Of course when I thought of what made good husband material these were things I had in mind, but I think way back then I had no idea of how important they really were. You see for Nate there is no question...his family comes first. This, I'm learning, is not always the case. I'm so incredibly grateful that he chooses to roll up his sleeves and be a part of everything that goes on with "us". He is never too busy, too tired, or too overtaken with work. He puts the well being of our daughter and our family at the top of his list...we are blessed beyond belief to be his. So, although we aren't together on this day, we are (as we do everyday) thinking about you. Carter just told me from her car seat (completely unsolicited I might add) that she misses Daddy. I miss him too. He has doted on our baby from the moment she entered this world, and before actually. He loves giving her baths, taking her to the park and chasing her in circles around our house. He may not know it but I love watching him do all these things. I fall a little more in love with him every time he looks at her with adoring eyes. We can't wait to be together again, but until then...here's a little photo tribute to the dad Nate is:

A super proud dad, even before Carter arrived (don't mind my really dark hair!):

The first of many kisses for our sweet little girl:

Always one to pitch in and help...Nate and Carter enjoying video games at an early age:

Carter has always loved giggling at her daddy!These two make a good pair when it comes to housework:Carter hanging with Nate after her baby dedication:
A little kitty catchin' her favorite ride: There's never been any denying, these two go together!There's always a good reason to steal a kiss, this one was a sunny day at Dugualla Bay:

Carter and her daddy searchin for the "perfect" Christmas tree:One of my favorites, my two favorites hanging out in the tulip field:Nate, the past two and a half years have been amazing. You are, and I mean this, one of the most amazing dad's I have ever had the privilege of being around. Your devotion to Carter and I is not something I take for granted, I know it is a gift from God. I hope your day is special...we love you with all our hearts! XOXO YOUR GIRLS!

P.S. Of course I can't miss out on the opportunity to wish my own Dad a happy day...I get to see you and I'm so happy I can do it in person! You're the one who instilled in me the values that make me the person that I am today. You taught me that nothing is so hard I can't tackle it. You are the man I've looked up to my entire life. I love you! I guess it was not so long ago that I was just about Carter's size. Thanks for molding me into the person that I am today...I am forever grateful.

My dad and I not so long ago...

Flying South

Carter and I are headed for the land of warm weather! I cannot wait! It is still like winter here in Whidbey and I'm beginning to wonder if we are just going to skip summer all together! So, I'm most excited about packing up my tank tops and heading for Texas, which will always be home. We are making a pit stop in Colorado to see my sis, meet my family and do some rafting and relaxing. We're then making a 10 hour trek in the car with my parents (prayers are appreciated)! Carter has not made a trip like that since she was a baby so we'll see how it goes! She's pretty excited about our vacation. She keeps asking me to list everything that we'll be doing and everyone that we'll be seeing. I love the age she is at right now.

She was "ready to go" as I was working on packing up our stuff:

We've enjoyed our last weekend here in Whidbey. The highlight was a birthday party for one of Carter's friends Connor. I thought I would post a few pic's.

Here is Carter and Batman (aka the birthday boy Connor):

My little jumping bean:

We're going to have to work on this swing:

The highlight of the party was this little blower:

She and Cooper also enjoyed blowing them "at" each other:

I'm excited about traveling with a laptop, should make staying connected easier. I'll post when I can...here's to the sunshine!