Camping

This past weekend we went camping at Garner State Park. It was fabulous! We decided this was probably the most successful camping trip we've had as a couple. ie it was more than one night (I have a hard time going through all the work it takes to camp for just one night), there were no alligators, few bugs, no rain. . . . the weather was great. We 'splurged' and got an electric site. It. was. awesome. We packed a fan (which we only had to use one night and during naps . . . thank you cool breeze), the 'snore-master' and the computer. Outdoor movie? yes please.


Furthermore, Rylee did great. The first night was the hardest as we arrived after dark and she'd fallen asleep in the car. She cried as we unpacked and then was a little worked up and freaked out about the inside of the tent, but warmed up after a while. The next morning she thought it was the coolest thing ever. She liked being able to roam the outdoors, eat dirt, try to chew rocks, eventually liked swimming (it was a little chilly at first touch) and hanging out with Dad for a whole 4 days!

Onto the pictures:

While shopping for a few items I came across this camping chair I couldn't resist. It was used for more of a climbing tool than a chair. Speaking of climbing- she did surprisingly well on the cement pad for the table- didn't even fall off once. Our site backed up to the Frio River. It was still a bit of a walk down to it but was nice to have some water relatively close- even if it was mostly ankle deep.

Who says only boys collect rocks?

The other side of the park was a damn. The water was mostly about waist deep there, but there were a few spots where we couldn't touch.

There were a few hiking trails. Since I forgot the Bjorn it was a little harder to take Rylee, but it was beautiful.

See, Texas isn't all flat.

I loved the giant cypress trees that lined the river. She's not crazy about the life jacket.

Her first pair of flip-flops:
The park had a little mini golf course. We hadn't gotten to the third whole before Michael had to go ask for another ball (somebody was ruining our game). She was funny to watch and made a pretty good caddy.

One night the park hosted an Astronomy club (they actually came from SA). There was probably about 15 or so people there with their equipment. We'd walk around from group to group looking through their telescopes and chatting about space. It was really kind of interesting and I thought really nice of them to come. Apparently their club meets weekly here in SA and it is also free to the public to go check out. I'd love to go check it out sometime.

There was also a pavilion where they have dances most weekends and every night in the summer. I thought that was really unique. It serves as a hang out spot for the locals - I kind of liked watching them 'practice'. Country music and country dancing is awesome. We danced a few songs and then headed back to our site.

When we weren't sleeping, eating, swimming, playing games, dancing, star-gazing, golfing, reading, watching movies, watching wild life or hiking we were lounging in our chairs loving every quiet moment. The park lived up to the hype and I can't wait to go back.

Garner State Park 2011 from tricia allsop on Vimeo.

The only downside was we discovered a hole in our air mattress and came home to find we'd left the garage door open all weekend. Oops. Thankfully we have sweet neighbors who watched out for us.

(this is possibly my longest post ever.)

17 Again?

Saturday Morning I wake up and head to the kitchen. Michael is sitting at the kitchen table and tells me his work truck was damaged last night. And in a very nonchalant voice says "yea, I think I'm going to call the cops" The general calm tone of his voice really confused me, and really? you waited for me to get up to file a police report? strange. To which I reply "ok." with the underlying tone "what do you need me for?" - {incase you just met me I am NOT a morning person and furthermore I was up late sewing Rylee's dress}


He then tells me to go look at it. I open the blinds to see this: drinking straws (not the animal feed straw ;) were stuck in every visible seam. Michael then asks if it was me. "You were still up when I went to bed" Yea, maybe 10 years ago that would have been me, but no. not today.


A few minutes later we go out to get a better look to find all sorts of writing on the windows "you got punked" "6:00" a picture of a dinosaur (huh?) and along the back window "we love you, love young women"


Now, an important thing to note here is we no longer live in Utah county, or Utah in general. Some terminology just isn't common 'round these parts. So the words "we love you, love young women" just make this 30 something year old driving it around look like a pedophile. After a few crazy looks he made it as illegible as possible using whatever was in the back seat.

Oh, and I can't forget my framed "Hottie" I must concur with that one. :)

Needless to say we had a good laugh.
As we were telling the story at our ward's Easter party I kept saying "Brother Allsop is going to the prom!" hehe I guess if I want him to be my date I'll have to ask early next year.

Easter

Rylee found the plastic eggs a little early and was pretty stoked when she realized they were filled with M&M's

(we've been sporting the single tiniest pony lately making it possible to keep a bow on her head again- YAY!) After Sunday naps we (the Easter Bunny? idk) had a little 'hunt'. It consisted of a basket full of fun stuff (books, summer outfit, swim diapers, flip-flops, Easter movie, a few cars, and of course a chocolate and stuffed bunny).

I made her Easter dress. It's the first garment I've sewn (start to finish) in YEARS. It was very special and fun. I had to make a few changes in the pattern, the sleeves were a little tricky (I don't recommend working within an 8 inch circle at 2am) and its big (pinned back about 6 inches in the back) but I still think it turned out cute.

She likes carrying the bucket around and putting a few items in and out of it. Don't you love that its half her size?

Sorry the video is a little long, but I didn't feel like cutting it much to make it shorter. Watching her beline it to the bunny is the best part.

Easter 2011 from tricia allsop on Vimeo.

She was worried here that I was taking her away from the candy- I just wanted a picture.

mmmmm . . . . . . .candy. . . . . . .

shoes

In true girl-like fashion Rylee loves shoes. She is often found rummaging through the basket of shoes by the front door to carrying them around (she has yet to try on our shoes though).

A while back we were in my bathroom as I was getting ready- I only half noticed her pace back and forth behind me a few times, when I stopped to see what she was doing I realized she was going into the closet to grab shoes one-by-one and carry them across the bathroom and place it on the scale.

Miss smarty-pants even grabbed mates.

I didn't have time to get anything but my cell phone camera and as soon as she heard my chuckle she promptly removed them. Another shoe related story I bought her her first pair of "real" soled shoes the other day. She LOVES them! When she first tried them on she kept tapping the floor and smiling. A few days later I gave her a shoe to hold/play with while I changed her diaper and got her dressed for the day. I put her down and she kept whining at me and crying until I put the shoes ON. This little lady is a crack up.

Utah Continued

The rest of our time in Utah was mostly spent seeing family.

Grandma & Grandpa Allsop

Michael's Brother & Family:My Grandma Wright (Dad's Mom)

Cousins seriously are the best! The older girly cousins were all over Rylee I loved to hear them ooh and ahh over her cuteness, to which I agreed. Or hearing their cute little voices saying her name "Lly-lee" (spoken with her tongue hanging out.) They were always eager to help - be it pushing her in the swing . . . .reading stories . . .

or trying to figure out what food/snacks she'd like to eat.She especially liked to get into Grandpa's church bag. . . . she knew that's where the bishop kept his treats :) She was sure to keep into trouble, opening every cupboard within reach. The cupboards containing games were her favorite (she'll fit in swell in our family) Little did she know her favorite game would send her the shock of her life if she could figure out how to turn it on. (what kind of game is that anyway?) She seriously screamed when I tried to take it away. silly girl.

She was however slightly frightened of Buster (my nephew's wiener dog). She didn't mind looking at him but the second he'd move, namely move toward her, she freaked. We pushed Buster in her direction a couple times just to watch her reaction. Don't worry, he was always leashed and never 'got' her. Furthermore there were some family members she was more frightened of than the dog and I forced her to spend time with them too. :)

Another common occurrence was the amount of people who told me how much I looked, spoke and acted like my Mother. I must say, that's the best compliment I could receive, so thank you very much! :)

Grandma Huff

It seems the hardest things for me to blog about are those that are most precious to me. But here goes:

A few weeks ago I received a phone call from my Mom. My Grandmother had been basically living with my parents for a while since she was advised to not be home alone. My Mom was calling to tell me that her health was failing and fast. They had set up hospice to come and help make things easier. That week was very difficult for me. It was hard to be so far away and every time the phone rang I had to take a deep breath. After what seemed forever, "the call" came. I so glad we were able to fly to Utah for the funeral.

My Mom kept referring to this as her 'graduation' - that its a happy time, she lived a great life, she'll be with Grandpa again (who she'd been separated from for some 14 years) and her sight and mobility will improve. There were some very special moments shared. As hard as dealing with the death of a loved one is, I must say that in this case the good out-weighs the difficult. I was able to be with my entire family for a few days and my testimony (namely that of the Plan of Happiness) has grown so much -she really is in a better place- it seems selfish to want otherwise. It was fun to reminisce on many stories both personal and collective that we each had with my Grandma.

A few things in the video I want to point out are the honorary pallbearers. The Great-Grandsons were all to follow (later lead) the pallbearers, and they had ribbons attached to the casket for them to hold on to. I thought it was so sweet! Another thing about Grandma is she was well known for having her freezer stocked with Schwan's ice cream. You couldn't visit grandma without having ice-cream (often that was the initiating reason for the stop). When the topic of lunch after the services was discussed of course the dessert had to be ice cream. My dad called the Schwan man to arrange for delivery ready with coolers and dry ice whereto the man said "no no no, I'll just bring the truck and park at the church." awesome.

I wish I could type the funeral service right here because it was perfect. I had a great time helping my sister with the display table {that turned into 5}. I have learned so much from my Grandma and know I will continue to learn from her wonderful example. She lived life with such spunk, and will truly be missed.

I am so grateful the last time I was in Utah, we had 4-generation pictures taken. I will cherish them always. As she would say "see you in church" . . . . . .

JBJ

So, what seems like months ago, we saw Bon Jovi. I must admit I was slightly hesitant, but after all the concerts I've "drug" Michael to, I thought I'd best go to one of his top choices. I'll also admit: it. was. awesome. Seriously one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Granted our seats were bad (quantity over quality for this concert goer) as we were seated behind the stage, but there were plenty of screens to watch from and he turned around often :) I'm not sure if it was the pluthera of sweet dance moves:

as seen here

the fact that he kissy-faced the audience to scream louder, or that after he took off his jacket he said "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" -He's one funny entertainer, and we had a blast rocking out. I also loved that even the nose-bleeders like us didn't sit through the whole concert. He played all our favorites and he giggled when the crowd would sing an entire verse and chorus without him. When we found out we both would be in Utah only a short 5 days later we contemplated round 2, sadly, it didn't work out.