Summer Part XIII: Hiking the Y

Before we even started our big trip, Tom and I decided that we wanted to hike the Y with the girls. I'm not sure why we didn't think about the fact that our family consists of an 8 month pregnant woman, 3 very young children, and a guy with a bad lung who aren't used to the altitude, but despite our MAJOR handicaps we decided to do it anyways.

We headed out about 10 in the morning in order to get this done before the heat of the day. Here we are in the parking lot at the head of the trail . . . if only we knew what we were in for!



Off we went. This initial part was an easy start, but it didn't take too long before we had to start climbing up.



Payden started off walking, but it didn't take too long before she was up on Tom's shoulders. She would occasionally get down and walk, but sometimes she'd just want her mama, so I'd carry her for a bit.



Of course we stopped lots of times to look at the views.



Or to take a breather and a water break.



I was really impressed with the girls. They did an AWESOME job. They really didn't complain much at all. We would sing songs or give them encouraging words or talk about stuff to help them not focus on how hard it was. We would spot these white butterflies all along the way and the girls decided it was just one or two that were going along with them up the mountain. It was cute. Then further along Taylor decided she needed to collect some rocks, but she decided that she'd call them dragon scales. She'd then have Shelby and I hold on and we'd say, "I wish I wish with all my heart to fly with dragons in a land apart" (this is from the PBS kids show Dragon Tales). We decided to play along and told the girls that we'd get to Dragonland when we reached "the white Y," which is how the girls referred to the Y. I think it helped make the goal a little more exciting. Every now and then Shelby would say, "I wish I could get on a dragon and fly to the white Y," but for the rest of the way we would talk about how exciting it would be to get to Dragonland. We also had Shelby think of what the Y could be made of. So all along the way she'd come up with some pretty cute ideas of what could possibly make the Y white (of course I can't think of any of the ideas right now). Once we got closer to the Y and higher up the mountain, we had to take more breaks. I had the hardest time because between the baby and the lack of oxygen I was getting dizzy, so I had to stop a LOT. Finally though, the Y was in sight.



Tom headed off with Payden on his shoulders while Taylor and Shelby had to hang back with me, taking tons of breaks. When we got close enough to the Y, Shelby and Taylor headed over to sit with Tom and Payden.



After a bit of a breather, it was time to head out.



I told the girls it was a lot easier, but I forgot how cautious they are and the feeling of going downhill really scared them a bit. Tom and I switched off either holding Payden or holding Shelby and Taylor's hands. I must say despite it being a bit slippery on the way down, it was SOOOOO much nicer to be going downhill than going uphill (I'm definitely not a fan of the thigh burn).



We were so excited to finally make it down and sooooooooo proud of the girls. They really did an awesome job, and we made sure the girls knew what a good job they had done.



As we drove away, it was amazing to look back at the Y and look at what we had accomplished. It was hard, but we really had a good time as a family and are excited to do it again.



On the way back to Tom's sister's house, we drove by the house Tom lived in when his family lived in Utah way back in the day.



Once we got home, Tom and I were EXHAUSTED and thought that maybe all of the girls would be ready to sleep, but in the end it was just Payden, Tom, and I who napped. Nothing like a good hike to help you get some sleep. I was amazed that I had handled it well and actually my body didn't ache nearly as bad as I thought it would. What an exhausting, but fun day!!!

Summer Part XII: A Baby Shower and Dinner at Grandma's House

Tom's sister Cynthia was very thoughtful and decided to throw me a baby shower while we were there. With all of the Orme girls in the house, they all pitched in to get everything ready. The food was delicious (you can't go wrong with cheesecake and fresh fruit and dips), and the shower turned out really nice. I must say I have a hard time being the center of attention, but am very grateful that they thought of me. Thanks sooooo much, Cynthia, for the shower!!! Thanks to all my family who came!!!!!



Opening the first present. Oh how I love the double chin!!! I have been in too many photos lately; I generally try to avoid them at this point in my pregnancies.



Most of the Orme girls



Aunt Marie with niece Bree



Sister-in-Law Carlee, Grandma Johnson, sister Nancy, and nephew Jack



Niece Bree and Payden

After the shower, my mom's side of the family had a family dinner in honor of my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. Tom wasn't feeling well, so he stayed at his sister's house. I headed off with the girls over to my grandparents' house. My sister who missed the wedding was finally in town, so we were excited to see them as well as everyone else who was there. The girls were really excited because they were finally going to get to play with their cousin Maddie. She's the only cousin their age (she's right in between Shelby and Taylor), and the girls always LOVE playing with her. Well they immediately started playing as soon as we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had an awesome dinner of pasta carbonara courtesy of my aunt Mariolina (and my mom and other aunts who helped with the preparation). Mariolina is from Italy, so we always love when we get to eat some of her food . . . delicious!!!

After dinner we talked and played some more and then eventually headed out front to take some pictures.



These are all of the nieces and nephews from my side of the family, except Avery (she's already off to Cedar City to visit her other grandma). Payden just wasn't in the mood to take pictures . . . again, and poor Bree just does not like grass. I am very thankful that we get to see each other often enough and especially love having these pictures of them with their cousins as their growing up. It's too cute.

After the pictures, the kids found some sprinklers to play in. They had a blast running in and out of them. The sprinklers were in the yard right by where I parked our car. Payden, who loves to clean, decided that, with the water in the gutter right by our car, she just HAD to clean the car . . . without a cloth. By the time we left, she was soaking wet and black from the dirty car. It was pretty gross.

Anyways, thanks to my aunts and my mom for organizing the dinner. We had a lot of fun being with the family and can't wait to see more family again sometime in the future. We love y'all!!

Summer Part XI: Orme Family Time

Because we were going to be in Utah, Tom's family decided they would come up and visit. Over the weekend, we ended up having every sibling and Tom's parents there. It had been about 20 years since they were all together at once. We decided that we'd better take the opportunity to get family pictures with so many of us gathered together. (Now Tom's family is really, really huge, and we were still missing quite a few people, but we at least had a few representative from every family.)

Anyways, here's the pictures from Sunday. There's a park across from the Mt. Timpanogas Temple where we took the pictures. With Tom's brother-in-law Jeremy behind the camera, we ended up with some really, really nice professional-quality pictures.



The Original Orme Family



The Orme Kids











The Orme Grandkids



Most of the Orme Family Today



Brent and Family



Barbara and Family



Todd and Family



Courtney and Family



Cynthia and Family



Sheryl and Family



Tom and Family



Andrea and Ronan



Bob and MaryLou

Since we hardly get to see some of Tom's siblings, we spent most of the rest of our time in Utah being with them. We had a fun time filled with family dinners, nights at the ballpark, soccer with the big cousins, Rock Band on PS2, swimming, movies, shopping, a bead fair, a baby shower, playing, and lots of talking.

We were so glad that so many of them came. The girls had tons of fun meeting and playing with cousins. We were so glad that the cousins were so willing to play with our girls since, with the exception of 1, all of their cousins are 9 or older. It really was a wonderful week, and we're sad to know that it might be a really long time before we'll see some them again. Hopefully it won't be quite so long.

We definitely want to thank Cynthia and Jeremy for their hospitality. They ended up letting around 20 of us crash their house for a week. It was fun, loud, and crazy, but what more can you expect from the Orme family!!!!

As a side note, Tom's family was raised to love Dodge, so Tom just had to take a picture of the cars at his sister's house. You can't see one of the trucks, but in all there were 3 Dodge trucks and 2 Dodge Durangos.



Thanks again everyone for travelling to Utah. We had a wonderful time!! We love y'all!!

Summer Part X: Karin's Wedding

On Friday, the festivities for my youngest sister's wedding began. We had the groom's luncheon at Brick Oven. I think no trip to Provo/Orem is complete without a trip there. It's so yummy! Tom's family was nice enough to watch the girls while Tom and I went. Originally we weren't going to be back in time to go, but at the last minute we realized we could leave Washington early, so we didn't want to try to cram 5 more people in last minute.

Tom's family was nice enough to take them out to eat (I kept asking them if they were sure they'd be okay taking them out to eat). The girls did pretty well although Taylor did have a moment. Apparently they were trying to get her to go in the restaurant, but she was refusing. When my niece went to talk to her, Taylor said, "Can you hear my attitude? My mom can hear my attitude." They did eventually get her to go in, but in true Taylor fashion she had to be difficult for a bit.

The next day in the early afternoon was the wedding. I was so glad that Karin scheduled it for early afternoon because are girls were still on Washington schedule so they didn't wake up until 9 or 10. I was a bit nervous about how Payden and Taylor would do at the temple because my brother David (who just graduated from high school) would be the only one to look after them that they knew. My sister's friends would also help out, but Taylor and Payden can be quite the stinkers if they want. Fortunately, David brought a DVD player and Meet the Robinsons; my girls being the movie lovers that they are settled right in and watched the movie the entire time we were in the temple for the wedding ceremony. Good thinking David!!



Here's the lovely couple - David and Karin. (Yes we now have 2 Davids, but we generally call my brother "The Boy," so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.) David did come visit at Christmas time. I figured if that didn't scare him off (the ENTIRE family was there . . . every single one of us), then he would do just fine. :)



It was a nice hot day as we waited outside the temple for them to come out. Of course it had been nice weather up until just recently. Go figure.



Karin and David were married at the Salt Lake Temple, and there's a certain set of stairs where everyone likes to take pictures. We got in line, but seemed to have to wait forever. The couple ahead of us was taking their time with the picture taking. Well as we sat their watching and waiting all of a sudden we noticed Taylor was climbing up the stairs towards this couple. Fortunately they were taking pictures in front of the doors at the top of the stairs, and Taylor's goal was an alcove off to the side of the doorway. Apparently, she saw the alcove and decided she had to go be a statue there. It was hilarious. Of course (as I noticed while doing touristy stuff in Seattle), she doesn't get the idea to wait her turn. She just goes ahead and will scoot herself right in the middle of a bunch stranges to see or do what she wants to do. The nice thing about this is the couple taking pictures seemed to finally realize that a HUGE group of people was waiting for them to hurry up and finish. My sister Angela ran up and grabbed Taylor, and the couple soon finished their picture taking.



Fortunately, my sister had decided that she'd be fine with just a few pictures at the temple because their reception would be at a place with nice enough gardens to take pictures. They took pictures with the parents and then a huge group photo and was done. While we were taking the group photo, Taylor kept asking me if she could go up and be a statue in the alcove again. I told her we had to wait. After trying to juggle, Taylor and Payden a bit, I sent Taylor up to Tom who was at the back of the group (near the top of the stairs). Well, Taylor got even more antsy being that close to the alcove and not being able to go be a statue. She kept bugging Tom and bugging Tom, and finally out of frustration said, "Just turn around big boy." It was funny! She is hilarious!

After the wedding, we headed to my brother and sister-in-law's house for lunch. They had gotten fruit and little sandwiches. It was so nice of them to think of everybody and to get everything; plus, it was VERY yummy. After waiting there for a bit, we headed off to the reception.

The reception was held in this HUGE house that belonged to the groom's uncle. Unfortunately, nice, huge homes and little kids don't mix very well. We lost Taylor while we were in the kitchen area getting refreshments. I went searching (and there was a lot of places to search). Tom came down to tell me he'd found her at the exact moment that I had spotted her. Apparently from the kitchen windows she had seen a playground in the backyard and decided she wanted to go play. Of course, she didn't feel it was necessary to tell me or Tom where she was going, so I had quite the scare. Since I really didn't want to have to pull her away from the playground (pick your battles), I ended up there for the rest of the reception while the girls played. It would have been nice to have been able to visit more with family that I don't see often, but with 3 little girls and this nice house it really was necessary for us to be outside playing. At least I did get to talk with my sister Lori for awhile, as she was outside with her 2 year old daughter in the same predicament as me. Finally near the end it was time for pictures (and yes quite difficult to pry the girls away from the play area).



Here are the cousins from the groom's side (they're in the green with white polka dots) and the nieces from the bride's side (they're in the white with green polka dots). As you can see the 2 two year-olds weren't very cooperative about taking the picture, but that's what you get with two year-olds who have had little or no naps all day long.



Here's the girls in my family. To the left is my sister-in-law Carlee and then the rest are me and my sisters. We are missing one sister who had some MINOR airplane/airport problems, and they ended up missing all the wedding stuff. It was quite the crazy story, especially as they were flying with 3 young kids. Fortunately, they weren't just coming for the wedding, but to visit family, so it wasn't a waste, but still disappointing that they weren't able to make it for the wedding.



Here's all of the sisters and sisters-in-law.



The groom with the girls. I'm glad to have everything hidden except my face in this one . . . I definitely wasn't looking forward to the picture taking knowing I would be nice and pregnant. I guess it is my turn as my older sister has been the pregnant one for the last 3 weddings.



Here are all the boys. It was hilarious because my sister Michalle had warned her husband to not play basketball, but he just couldn't resist a game or 2 or 3 of HORSE and came to the picture-taking looking quite disheveled. It was funny!




Finally here's my side of the family. Apparently they didn't want Payden's crying/pouting in the picture because they cut off her face. Hopefully somewhere out there is picture with her in it.

Anyways, it was a nice wedding, and I'm so glad we were able to go. Welcome to the family, David, and congrats to David and Karin!!!!

Summer Part IX: The Rest of Washington and our Return to Utah

On Wednesday, Tom had a meeting with a dental broker. We went down for the meeting, which she had planned for us to meet halfway in a shopping center. It was perfect. While they talked, the girls and I shopped a bit at Old Navy and then headed back to the car.

It was a really good meeting. She and Tom were able to get a feel for each other (which was great so that she knows exactly what Tom's looking for in a dental practice). They were able to talk about everything so that she can start looking for a dental practice for Tom. This was actually one of the main reasons we came to Washington - to get going on a job for next year. We are excited to be working with dental brokerage company and even more excited that the time is near for Tom to be done with dental school. Yea!!!!!!

We also looked at a few more areas around town to just get a feel for which areas we liked. Now it's up to finding a dental practice, which will hopefully be near one of the places we would love to live.

We were glad to go have a bit of vacation, but to also get the whole process started on buying a dental practice. It really ended up being a great trip to Seattle.



On the way home, we finally got to see the Cascades. When we drove into Seattle, it was late at night, so we missed the beautiful mountains.



They really are gorgeous. The scenery was just amazing.



In Idaho, on the way up Tom had seen this abandoned place and wanted to snap a picture, so we made sure to catch it on the way back. The trip was a pretty long trip - about 14 hours and a time change. We finally made it back to Utah after midnight. Again, the girls handled the drive well. Fortunately, we won't be driving the next 2 days, but will have a bit of a break as we stop in Utah for the next part of our summer adventures.

Summer Part VIII: Woodland Park Zoo

On Tuesday we decided to go visit Seattle's zoo - Woodland Park Zoo. This was one of the tickets we got in our CityPass. We entered the zoo and immediately we saw a building with a carousel in it. The girls were so excited to ride it. I think this was Taylor and Payden's very first carousel ride.



While we waited for our turn, Shelby picked out the "pretty" horse that she just HAD to ride. As soon as we got to go sit, she ran around the carousel until we were at the "pretty" horse. It's a good thing Taylor and Payden didn't really care because it was a lot easier being together. Shelby's and Taylor's horses moved up and down. I decided to just put Payden on a stationary one because the last horse ride she rode she did NOT like the moving. They really had a fun time. Unfortunately, at $2 a ride we only let them go once, but I'm glad they got to do it.



Afterwards we had to take a potty break. While waiting, Tom found this table with the skyline of Seattle that he thought was really cool.



We then headed off to see the animals. They had the animals grouped by geographic areas. We first got to go to Australia. I taught the girls the song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree," so they were REALLY excited to see a real, live Kookaburra. Of course we had to sing the song right then and there.



As we wandered around, we came across the Komodo dragons. The girls always love looking at them because they are the only dragons they've ever seen.



It was nice because Taylor insisted on pushing Payden around. What a good helper!



Unfortunately, the girls were wearing Crocs, and Taylor could not stand having the least amount of dirt in her shoes. As you can tell by my face, this was about the billionth time we stopped, so she could clean them out, and we weren't even halfway done for the day. After this Tom tried to snap shots of her everytime she did it.



Throughout the zoo, they had cool little things here and there. Tom loved having the girls pose, so he could take a picture of them. This was just some random animal they built out of bricks on one of the buildings.



They had this African village you could walk through. We were looking around, and Taylor found the jail and decided she had to climb in it. I guess she thought it was a cage, and since she's always pretending to be an animal, it must have seemed perfect to her.



Payden decided standing under this building was pretty cool.



Here's another one of those pictures of Tom's. He found this elephant skull made out of rock and had the girls pose. I love their faces.



I don't know if it was too cool for the animals or what, but there were a lot of exhibits where we couldn't find the animals. We had to look a bit, but we finally found one of the elephants. The girls just thought it was too cool that he was playing with a big ball.



One of the interesting things about the zoo was that you felt like you were walking through the woods. There were trees and foliage EVERYWHERE. Sometimes you even felt like you were in the exhibits.



When we saw the wolves, it felt weird because the foliage in the exhibit was the same out of the exhibit, so the one little fence that separated us from the wolves just didn't seem like enough. Plus wolves just really scare me.



We came across this mountain goat, and he had to come over and take a look at us. He ended up staring Tom down forever.



One of the last animals we saw was a bald eagle. They are such beautiful birds. I took a nature class at BYU and had to go bird watching. I ended up seeing this bald eagle flying over a lake with the mountains in the background. It was absolutely beautiful and I understood why it was picked as our national bird.

Anyways, it was a good day at the zoo. We had fun, and the weather was perfect. We're definitely not looking forward to leaving the cool weather (upper 60s/lower 70s) for the hot, nasty weather of San Antonio.