Waterton!

The week before my sister and brother-in-law started school for the semester we took a trip to Waterton Lakes in Alberta Canada. My mother-in-law has a cottage there and she let us stay there for our little vacation. This place is beautiful! There is a waterfall almost right behind the cottage and the downtown are is about three blocks away. It feels so secluded but is still right in town!

To sum up our trip, we went hiking a lot and took the boat tour around the lakes and drove down to the Glacier part of the park and drove the Going to the Sun road. Niko learned to say hike (and the men brought him out almost every morning and I got to sleep more=that alone made the vacation for me). He also learned what a boat was and thought it was really fun. The Going to the Sun Road= terrified me a bit!

Now some highlight pictures!

I let Niko sit forward for the long ride so he could watch movies in grandma’s fancy magic car with movie player

Niko starting his first hike Red Rock Canyon

And playing in the creek in the canyon with grandpa and Trevor, he liked throwing the rocks…such a boy

 

 

Checking out the neighborhood deer!

So grateful for the help with Niko while hiking!!! I forgot the backpack carrier and was having enough trouble hiking with the baby I had to carry and I was a little slow chasing my toddler!

There was construction on the Going to the Sun Road so we were able to take pictures, but I didn’t trust Niko out of his car seat so we took one of him waiting in the car. This is also where I fought a wall of rocks and lost.

LOVE this face!

In Glacier at some fancy hotel on the lake

Everyone except Kaitie (our photographer) at the Prince of Wales Hotel

Just cute with the Lakes and mountains behind

And our boat tour:

We were able to see this guy swimming across the lake! The guide said it’s very rare for them to swim across the lake so he must have been chased by a predator. It was very cool and Niko really enjoyed it.

I’m almost done I promise! Niko was a really great trooper, he ran/walked (and had to be slowed down since he almost fell off an edge once, my mom was like a ninja and caught him!) a lot of the trails (a lot for a 20 month old anyway) and he even climbed up hills and crouched under trees.

I have so many awesome pictures because my sister was there and is far better about keeping the camera out than I am (but I blame having a toddler)! But I will end with Niko’s first s’more experience. We roasted marshmallows over the grill(because of all the fire danger this year) and then ate them at the fun picnic table in front of the cottage.

Okay I lied, I’ll end with a good group shot

Update

So I’m still trying to get organized (moving a whole family and try to fit most of our stuff in a bedroom and a half is difficult) and arrange things so Niko doesn’t have pens easily accessible along with other things that could be dangerous to him or to Nana’s house. But I was just glancing at old posts and I am happy to announce that Niko now LOVES Scooby Doo! He is always asking for it…I may get to use that cake pan again

Also, my family took a trip to Waterton (Thanks to Carmella for allowing us all to stay at their cottage) and I’ll be posting about it hopefully soon.

Look what I made!

I’m really excited to be getting a baby girl soon so I can put pink ruffly things on her. And that also includes hair accessories! So I made this:

There are ribbons for hair clips and hooks on the bottom to hang up headbands.  I’m just impressed with myself…and once I just started doing it, it did not take long at all!

Way behind!

So it’s been quite a while since I updated because we have been so super busy. Turns out I didn’t have to pack up all our stuff by myself, thank goodness! Nathan was sent home from his training because he broke his toe when a car almost hit him on his scooter. So he was home to “help” (he’s good at lifting heavy things, otherwise he’s the worst procrastinator ever). My cousin was married in the Logan temple two weeks before we were sealed so my mom and gramma were able to stay and help pack between the sealings. I’m so thankful and I have vowed to never move while pregnant and sick again!

Which brings me to another reason I feel a little crazy! I’m pregnant again. We found out we are having a girl and “they” say women who are pregnant with girls are more forgetful than those pregnant with boys. I have been forgetting everything! (including paying some bills which is really really bad)

Nathan is officially deployed and is currently half way around the world.
We were lucky enough to be able to go see him for his last weekend in the states and we had so much fun. He got a nice hotel so we went swimming most days and we also went to the El Paso Zoo. Niko did really well for our whole trip down there, but the lay over and sitting on the tarmac before the second flight home were rough for us. The last flight felt like forever because of the delay and grumpy kid and everything, but it was the flight that we received compliments on how great he did so I guess it really wasn’t as bad as it felt.

We are settling in to our new normal and getting ready for another baby (trying to find places for essentials for two kids while trying to keep as much stuff in our rooms as possible). Nathan seems to be doing well and his parents bought him a phone for there because he doesn’t have much internet time. Niko loves when he calls and hates when he says good bye (he threw my phone last time). But we generally have a happier day after talking to Daddy so I’ll take the little tantrum right after hanging up.

That’s all for now. (I really should get my pictures uploaded for next time)

Our Happenings Lately

We’ve been sick around here…not fun at all. I didn’t work out for a full week and I was really missing it, so I hope I didn’t overdo it this morning!

And there is nothing exciting going on around here (besides all the cute things Niko is doing). Nathan is busy with school and work and keeping up with the soldiers he is in charge of so we hardly even see him already

I’ve been stressing about everything that needs to get done and worrying about how I’m going to pack up the whole house almost by myself and with a toddler (pre-toddler? I don’t know a busy little boy for sure). Then at church yesterday a very nice lady offered to take him while I get stuff done…her youngest is almost four and her kids love babies, awesome. And my visiting teacher also offered to help. Now I just have to remember that it is okay to take that help (I have problems accepting help from people that are not family and I’m not sure why).

Speaking of family, mine will be here during the crazy few days before we need to be out of our apartment because we are being sealed on my grandma and grandpa Hawkins’s anniversary! We are very excited that Grandma said it was okay….that day just works out with everything and I feel like it was meant to be this way

I always wanted to be sealed in the Laie Temple, but with this crazy pre-deployment schedule it was just stressing me out. So we are going to do it close to us. Then move very quickly. Hopefully we’ll have a week and a half to relax before more craziness after we move.

Maybe these thoughts sound scattered, but that is how I feel lately and often. I’m going to go window shop and try to forget all this craziness!

PS sorry no pictures

PPS Niko is now climbing EVERYTHING!