A few days at the condo...ahhhhhh

Well we just got back from the condo last night. We thought we had missed so much summer that we packed up and drove out there for a few days. It's so much harder to do last minute now with all of the gear we have to drag along, but it was so worth it. We had some fun at the pool and the lake. Michael got in his fair share of seadooing, and he was happy. They even went quading and came back very dirty. Kevin, Cyndi, Brett and Hillary were there with us. It was such nice weather. Claire was so snoopy there. She couldn't stop looking all around, and she even had a hard time sleeping because of it. She didn't want to miss anything. Cyndi made us amazing food, and we had gelato, so I was as happy as a clam. We headed back late last night so we could be back for Stake Conference with Elder Holland. It was so nice to hear him speak. I'm always so amazed to be with any of the brethren in a more intimate setting. He was so funny! He seemed so much more at ease than he seems in General Conference. I even got to shake his hand at the end. I was standing at the back of the chapel looking for Michael, and he happened to come out that door. He stopped to talk to my sister Erin before and luckily, she introduced herself, and then pointed to me, or he might not have shaken my hand too. It was a good day. We're now off to family dinner. Here are some pictures from the weekend!

She finally gave in for a nap on the beach.


Oh, she's started to spit all of the time. It's hilarious, but so annoying as you're trying to feed her rice cereal. It shoots EVERYWHERE!
She also enjoyed some gelato. She is so into food, and she LOVES to drink water from a water bottle...not so much from a real baby bottle. We're working on that.

Water babies

Every since before I was pregnant, I knew that any kid of Michael's was going to have to love the water. Well Claire certainly fits in with her dad in that category. She spent some time swimming with dad and LOVED it! She didn't fuss at all, and just cuddled him as they sat in the lake and the hot tub. It was so adorable. Sadly, I forgot my camera when he took her in the lake. I was so mad. I'll just have to remember forever.


Posing nicely...
Claire stealing the spotlight!

We're moving!

I know it seems like I've said this a lot lately. Really, it's not anything special. We're moving back home. I'm so excited. I keep thinking about all of my things, and Claire having her own room, and having our life get back to normal. I can't wait to go back. We were going to move back into our condo, but it worked out for us to go home and rent our condo out again. We're redoing the flooring in there and it's going to look so much better. I'm excited for the renters. We were doing it for us to move in there, but we decided since it was something we wanted to do before selling it anyway, we went ahead and did it. We're hoping to head to the condo for a few days so Michael can actually get a vacation this summer. I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. It makes me sad. The only thing I look forward to is seeing Claire in fall clothes...strange. I just think she'll be so cute all bundled up. Funny how things change hey? Anyway, enjoy the plethora of pictures. There are tons. And, thanks to Heather for helping me learn how to photoshop, even though I REALLY have NO idea what I'm doing. I need further instruction!

Some I missed

I just really liked these and I forgot to add them at the right time.

Her first lipstick. Too bad it's not in the right spot!

Claire's first rice cereal

Well we fed Claire her first rice cereal yesterday. She's been totally interested in food for a long time and recently hasn't been sleeping as long, so we thought we'd give it a try. She loved it! She really loves anything so I wasn't surprised. She slept as usual last night so I was happy. She needed a full belly. It's so cute to watch her eat it. I can't believe she has it figured out already. She was trying to eat the bowl. We figured out after this round that we needed to get her in a better chair. We need a high chair now. I can't believe how old she's getting

Sitting up

We were at Michael's parents last week and we sat her up on the table, and to our suprise when we let go, she sat there. It was adorable. We have to be careful when we do it because if it's too soon after she eats, well let's just say she has to eat again.



She got a little too confident here. Luckily we weren't far behind to catch her. She's a daredevil.

Matching Girls

I realized that Claire and I had the same color shirt, so for fun we took some pictures. We had Michael in them too, but those were blurry. Don't worry, I'm not one of those moms who will dress to match her child, but this time I thought it was cute.

Just because

I just thought she looked so cute. Also, we got a flash for our camera, and I can't believe the difference it makes in the pictures you can take.

I LOVE her eyes in this one. I can't believe that she has such blue eyes. Thank you Cyndi!

5 months old

So far I have pictures of her on her monthly birthdays. It's something I hope I can remember to continue. It's so cute to see how she's changed. Anyway, this is her on her 5 month birthday. Such a cute girl, but she wasn't so into smiling this day. She was practicing for a passport picture.

This is my favorite picture of her so far I think. I just can't get over those lips. I love them.

Bow Falls

We visited the falls, and again...I'm used to seeing them in the winter all frozen over. They are so beautiful.

Lake Louise

The beautiful group in front of the beautiful lake. I swear I felt like I was in the middle of a painting. No wind at all. The lake was so calm. Just gorgeous
Judy doing the hand signal for Lake Louis '08. Might not make sense, but we get it!

Lake Louise '08

It's so much nicer to have this picture in the summer than in the winter. So much prettier. The whole clan right before leaving.
I love this picture of Claire and Judy. Awwww.
My girl

In our hotel room right before leaving for dinner at the Chateau.

Well this summer, we started a new tradition. Just like we go to Banff at Christmas, we decided to go to Lake Louise in the summer. Judy and Aunt Joanne came to visit and Mom, Lara, Erin, Claire and I went to spend the night there. It was so beautiful, and so much nicer to be out and about in the beautiful summer than it is in the freezing winter. We spent the night at the Lake Louise Inn, and went to eat dinner at a restaurant in the Chateau Lake Louise. We ate at this steak house there. They bring you these "dips" essentially with nan bread as an appetizer, and this comes with every meal. They were interesting and fun, but I'm glad we didn't technically pay for them (although they're included in the cost of the meal) or I would have been disappointed. But, when them seem free, they were fun. Weird how that works. We then toured around the hotel for a while. It was so beautiful. The lake was gorgeous, and it was so calm there that night that it felt like we were in the middle of a beautiful painting. After dinner we went back to the hotel for some Haagen Daz and So You Think You Can Dance. The next morning we got ready and ate the rest of our ice cream for breakfast (we couldn't let it go to waste) and then we headed to Banff. We walked around and at at Earls (Erin and I got a horrible soup), and then went to the fudgery. I love that place. Although all I got was a caramel apple and some rundle rock. I held back. We drove home singing ABBA the whole time (like we did on the way there too). It was wonderful. Claire was an angel and didn't disturb anyone in the night. She knew she had to be on her best behaviour or she wouldn't be invited to BS'08. Anyway, here are a few of the pictures I took...I wish I had taken more.