back and fourth

After spending the summer in Austin, Utah air feels cool and crisp. Before we left for home my parents flew out to visit and then they were kind enough to take Millie home on the plane with them so we didn't have to try to entertain her for the 22 hour drive to Utah.

View over Lake Travis. This is a few miles from where we lived. You can see Austin in the background.


This cafe only uses organic locally grown/raised ingredients. They even have an herb garden in the front yard and a vegetable garden in the back which they use in their dishes. My parents love this idea!


The best BBQ in Austin, The Salt Lick.


We visited a few vineyards so my dad could get ideas on how to do his.


On the drive home while going through New Mexico, we saw the coolest rainstorm I've ever seen. We had to stop and get a picture.


While driving and trying to figure out where we would take our next pit stop Luke and I were both ecstatic when we realized we were going right through Roswell New Mexico! We pictured ourselves eating dinner in a little cafe with alien memorabilia decor and locals sitting around discussing the latest abduction........ Roswell, what a bust! There was nothing spectacular about this town! We were sorely disappointed. We stopped and got this picture of the museum and ate dinner at Subway.



We took our family summer trip to Lake Powell this past week. My dad's friend hooked us up with two condos and his sweet boat.

The kids loved riding the tube. Lily held her thumb up the whole time trying to get her dad to go faster.


Luke showing off his moves in the wake.




Millie and Luke swimming.


"No hands!"


Cruising on the boat at sunset.


The fam at Rainbow Bridge.


With the smooth red sandstone and the emerald green water,I don't know of any place more beautiful than Lake Powell.

Lady Bird

The list of "things to do in Austin" only has a few items left. Canoeing on Lady Bird Lake has been there from the beginning and we finally were able to cross it off. We decided that we would not let having a baby hold us back from anything so whatever we want to do we find a way to take Mill along. We did however get the "are they really taking their baby canoeing" look from many people.






We have really been missing the mountains this summer. We heard about this great "hike" near our neighborhood so we attempted it. I don't know if us Utahn's would consider it a hike, but none the less it filled a void.


We also have been missing our Kyah and to help fill that desire we have babysat Leslie's dog for her. We took him on the hike with us which was pretty entertaining because he is obviously a pampered indoor dog. He didn't like getting wet and would avoid any mud, he is an adorable dog and we had fun with him but it reminded us what a cool dog Kyah is. She is definitely missed!

July

I had some friends show me this great place here called the Oasis. The food isn't anything great but the view is spectacular! It has four levels of decks on the edge of a cliff overlooking Lake Travis. We ate there last night and watched the sunset.


There is a group of girls here who has taken me under their wing and invited me to their girls nights once a month. Last month we got dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. This month we ate appetizers at the Oasis.


Leslie, who works with Luke, is in love with Millie. She has threatened to take her back to Mexico with her. We joined her on the 4th to watch fireworks. I am one of those Mom's, I made Millie's shirt and headband for the festivities.


This is the rest of the group on the 4th.


Colledge's and Cook's, this is the much talked about stance that Mill has been attempting. She is so close to crawling.


Before we came to Austin I often wondered how I would fill up all of my free time. Lately I have been obsessed with sewing dresses for Mill. It occupies hours. I have explained to Luke that instead of spending $50 on a dress like this for Mill, I'm saving us money by just making them. Luke laughs at me and, he being a numbers driven man, explains to me that really by the time you calculate in the cost of the materials and my time, I've really not saved any money. I guess it's a hobby. Just like some people pay money to golf, I pay money to sew. The next two pictures are the two dresses I just completed.

this ones for the fam

Before we left I made a promise to both the Cook and Colledge families that I would post a lot of pictures of Millie. I guess they are missing their granddaughter and niece.







This picture was taken on our back patio which is a reserve. We often have deer hanging out in the shade and we've noticed the same deer comes around the same time almost every night with her baby. Millie loves watching her.

Sea World/ Utah

A few weeks ago we took a day trip to San Antonio and visited Sea World. It was amazing and really really hot.

Millie got really excited to see the dolphins. she would wave her arms really fast and kick really fast when they swam by us.


There was a rad aquarium with a massive reef which had millions of colorful fish and then right next to that aquarium was another one with ginormous sharks. That was Luke's favorite part.


This is at the Shamu show which of course was spectacular! I also really liked the cirque show and the seal show.


A few weeks ago Sasha convinced me to run the Wasatch Back with her and I last minute bought a plane ticket out for the weekend to run the race with her. I flew in on Thursday night, ran the race Friday and Saturday, then flew out Monday morning. It was a really short trip. I've forgotten how Utah has the best summers and how crisp the air feels. It was a nice quick trip.

Here is 3/4 of our car, Jared- "Bubba", Jazzy, Sassy, and "Captain" Craig. Sasha is gearing up for her 3rd and final leg of the race.


Shane, who put the whole team together and is so funny, invented the tunnel transition area. He would get all of the bystanders to create a tunnel of hands for the runner to run through. I was special enough to have a tunnel to run through on the ragnar. It put a smile on my face.


Camber at the peak of Ragnar. What a view!!!


Our team "Real Runners?". Such a fun group!

holiday in Tex

We spent the holiday weekend swimming, which is apparently the only way to cool off in the summer, bat watching, and enjoying a Texas style BBQ.

Luke's childhood dream came true when we noticed a stick hanging onto the side of the doorway here at our complex. Upon closer examination we noticed that it was alive!


We went to Barton Springs which is a river that runs around 65-degrees year round. There is a diving board and steep grassy banks for laying out and picnic-ing. Luke and I got in and had to force Millie to dip her little toes in. She didn't like it, she is more into people watching and eating grass.




On the "Things You Must Do In Austin" list one of the recommendations is to watch the bats fly out from underneath the bridge. So we parked our car at sunset and frantically pushed to stroller 1/2 a mile to the spot to watch. The crowds gathered. We waited. The sun went down. We waited. And waited. And waited. Two and a half hours later around 9:30 in the complete dark we packed up our crying, sleepy, hungry baby and trudged back to the car. We did not see any bats. However that night I did have a dream that we went to watch again and the sky was filled with them and the bats would dart down and attack all of the spectators like a scene from a horror movie. Maybe its a good thing we missed them!


Conner is a mastiff and ginormous! He loved Millie and would try to lick her and sit next to her. It was adorable. This is at the BBQ on Monday.

Hey ya'll

Yes we have made it to Texas. It was a long (24 hours, but who's counting) drive. We first drove to Phoenix and visited Amie Jo for three days. Then on to Austin. I'm a little lost as to what to do with all of my time, but I've begun to establish a routine which consists of running with Mill's, conducting my own water-babies sessions in the complex pool, and trying out new recipes for dinners. So far I've noticed that most people here are very kind and quick to smile and say hi, they are excited to see babies and will stop what they are doing to peak at Mills, and they've got fantastic southern drawls.

I took these next two pictures when Mills was six months.




For Mother's Day Sasha planned a fancy meal out in the garden.


All of the cousins on Mother's Day.




On our trip to AZ we stayed in Page and visited the Glen Canyon Bridge.


On our way to Texas, Mill was going stir-crazy so we stopped in Lordsberg New Mexico and pulled into a motel parking lot and fed her dinner on the hood of our bug splattered car.


We finally arrived to our apartment exhausted. Mill and I taking a nap.


Luke celebrated his 29th b-day the day after we arrived in Texas. Unfortunately it was somewhat anticlimactic, with us not knowing what to do, where to go, no family or friends. We had brownies and ice cream. This picture captures us at the height of the celebration.


For the past few days Mills has been entering into the Messy Zone. She eats her food, spits it out, rubs it all over her face, into her hair, ears, and nose.