Baby Shower

I have the best friends! I am so blessed to know such amazing people and get to learn from them and feel so loved by them. I wasn't planning on having a baby shower, but when my friend, Rachel, offered to throw me one and since PC still hasn't started (nor do we know when he will start) his new job, she was able to convince me that we could really use one.  So I gave her the go-ahead and she planned this amazing party! I had so many friends who came, as well. Even friends who live in town that I knew from England came, which was so nice! Rachel had different stations for them to make things for the baby. She had little wooden blocks for them to paint for the nursery and a hairband station for them to make her little bows for her hair. They all turned out really cute, too! The food was amazing as well. There was a chocolate fondue fountain and lots of goodies to dip in the chocolate. I was given some amazing gifts as well. Lots of cute things and very useful things. Best of all was just spending the evening with lots of friends. It was so nice!

Camping 2

Yes, we went camping again this week as well. I do believe that if I am ever pregnant and we decide to go camping when I am only a month away or so from delivering, we will get a cabin.  We had wanted to go with PC's brother and family and it worked out that we could go this past Thursday night. We knew it was supposed to rain, but we really didn't expect it to be that bad.  Yeah, it kind of was. It rained so hard, then thundered/lightning, then hail, then back to rain and do it all again. I love Minnie and Tink's faces in these next two pictures. They really capture the mood!

 The rain did stop for about a half an hour and we all warmed up around the fire and sang songs. I think that was the best part of the whole trip.

 This was the "river" running through our feet while the rain poured down.

We were worried we wouldn't get much sleep because it was raining so hard, but it actually didn't rain through the night much. Of course, it started right up in the morning, though. We were all ready to just get out of there and get home to a warm shower. PC kept reminding us that this would make for great memories, and he was right! I'll never forget Shortcake waking up in the morning and opening the tent, coming out in her socks and crying for me. I was in the Suburban waiting for everyone else to wake up. Her socks were soaked, but she was happy to find me.

Park

We had cousins in town and they invited us all to go out to a park for lunch and to play one day. We all had a blast. I sat in a chair with my feet up the whole time, of course. I feel like that is what I do best these days. But it was great to talk and the kids had so much fun.

Camping 1

We went camping last week with Nana, Papa, and Johnny up at Farish campground.  We love it up there. It is so pretty and peaceful. We got the same campsite that we had when we went back in October. It is right on one of the lakes there. Papa brought fishing poles this time and the kids were able to fish some.  I sat around most of the time, directing the kids on how to help PC set up camp and what to do.  My feet were so swollen and I couldn't wait to go down to the lake to cool them off. The kids had fun trying to skip rocks and catch minnows.

 We did foil packets for dinner and mountain man casserole for breakfast. That was the first time we had used our dutch oven, and it turned out great.

We all had a good time and the weather was perfect.

The Incline

While my sister was here, she and PC decided to hike up the Incline in Manitou Springs. If you don't know what the Incline is, it's basically a mile straight up Pikes Peak on an old cog railway that they've turned into a hike. It's pretty intense.

This is at the bottom, looking up the mountain.

They made it!

I dropped them off and then took Shortcake to the park in Manitou Springs. They were going to call when they were almost down and then I would pick them up. We used the toilet at the parking lot before walking down to the park, and about halfway to the park, I realized I had left my phone on the toilet paper dispenser in the bathroom! I always take it out of my back pocket so that it doesn't fall on the floor, or even worse, in the toilet. So we turned around and sped back. Luckily, it was right where I left it. Shortcake and I were having lots of fun at the park--climbing, sliding, and singing. She would go across the "bridge" on the playground and down the steps, singing "Let it Go."  Super cute. I stopped to look at my phone to check the time, and it wouldn't come on. Nothing. Dead. I knew the battery still had charge because I had taken a picture of Shortcake playing. I tried everything to get it to turn on and was really starting to stress out. I waited about fifteen minutes or so, really stressing and trying to turn it on every few minutes, when I finally stopped and said a prayer. I needed to be able to communicate with PC and Auntie K. I needed me phone to turn on. A few minutes after the prayer, voila! It turned right on with no problems. I taught the young women on Sunday about prayer and I shared that story. I felt so blessed that even when my phone wouldn't work to be able to communicate to my husband, I always had a line directly to my Heavenly Father. He truly hears and answers our prayers.

 Here is one of the pictures I took of Shortcake playing at the park. This is right before my phone stopped working.

 And I took this picture as we were coming into Manitou Springs. See that line going straight up the mountain? Yep, that's the Incline. Auntie K was like, "No, that can't be it!" But it is, and she made it. She did get a little dizzy. The altitude gain is tremendous.