Hooray! Vacation!

We are home from a spectacular vacation to Yellowstone National Park.  We enjoyed the scenery, wildlife, and the company of some great friends during our week in the town of West Yellowstone.

In addition to vacationing, I've been participating in summer classes at Bal Swan on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings;  as well as a group Speech Therapy class set up for kids with hearing aids and cochlear implants on Wednesday mornings.  I enjoy class times, but look forward to playground times most.

I am looking forward to another big trip in a few weeks for my aunt Julie's wedding on August 4th.  I get to be one of the flower girls.  Mom and Dad don't have a lot of faith in me performing all my duties for that day, but, I plan to wow them all!

I think I can expand on vacation details more with pictures... however, there are over 500 pictures to choose from, so I'll try to narrow that down to about 20!

Here goes:

Getting ready for the trip... Mom said, "let's see if the backpack still fits you."  Not sure this is what she meant.

Entering Grand Teton National Park on the way to Yellowstone.

Mom and me in front of our resort.

We drove out on Thursday and on Friday we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center located one block from our resort.  We were able to hear the wolves howling in the mornings, evenings and during the fireworks on the 4th of July. 

Eddie and I had a nice time at the discovery center.

Hello Mr. Grizzly Bear... glad you're in your cage.  Saw one of these in the wild off the road in Yellowstone, but didn't get a good picture of it.

Glad we saw these at the center - we didn't see any in the wild.

Later on Friday, we went for our first hike in the park.... "Where to next troups?"

This 'little' fella decided to cross the road between our car and Dave and Lori's car.

The whole group checking out one of the geysers... this one hasn't gone off in at least a decade, but when it does, you know it... it shoots several hundred feet in the air.

Just a nice shot of the many geysers and hot spring pools in this small area.

Hi friends!

Travel companions, Paul and Heather.

Travel Companions, Lori, Eli, Dave and Eddie

And, of course, Mom, Me and Dad.

Bullwinkle hangin' out by the river... a moose, just in case you thought it was a horse!

Saturday was a full day in the park.  We did the North loop and spent a lot of time at Mammoth Hot Springs pictured here.

Paul, Heather and Dad posing in front of a feature at Mammoth Hot Springs.

The stairs down to Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

The Falls... quite nice.

Thanks for carrying me around Mom!

Sunday, we spent a beautiful day with Mom's college friend Mary and her husband Kurt and their kids, Andrew, Garrett, and Olivia.... unfortunately, we took mostly video that day - but that super fun too.
Here is a picture of Daddy and me in front of a geyser on Monday when we explored the south loop of the park, including Old Faithful.  Hey dad do you small something?

Here's Old Reliable!  Had a fun time waiting for it to go off... lots of fun characters in the park that week of the 4th of July.

On Tuesday we went west to visit Quake Lake.  Here's we are posing among the wildflowers.

One of my favorite moments of the trip was throwing rocks into Quake Lake with Eli and Eddie... splash!

The sunset from our condo... pretty nice setting.

Yup... we were really there!

The whole group at the park entrance just a 1/2 mile from our resort.

I know that was  a lot to take in, but we had so much fun that I wanted to make sure you got a good idea of what we all saw.

Hope you're all enjoying a great summer and enjoying some vacation times also.

God's creation is glorious!
Til next time,
Lydia

4 year old fun!

Hello everyone,

It has come to my attention that I have not blogged in quite some time. Of course a lot has happened since my last entry. Here is a picture summary of what I have been up to. Also, just so you know I am now 4 years old.

We celebrated my cousin Liv's birthday party at Casa Bonita in early April.  It was such a nice day that we went to the zoo as well and saw the new elephant exhibit.  We are looking forward to many trips to the zoo this summer.

 

In May we took a trip to Iowa so that my mom could help throw a wedding shower for my aunt Julie.  They had a fun time and it was a good trip, although it was short and was sweet.

Fun in the yard with my cousin Maddie.

Preview of me in my dress for Julie and Trent's wedding in August.

Grandma and Grandpa "T" took us for a day at Santa's Workshop near Colorado Springs.  It was fun to be surrounded with Christmas in warm weather.  There were lots of rides and fun to be had by all.  We were cut a little short with a thunderstorm but I was ready to be done anyway and fell asleep before we left the parking lot.

A fun little train ride by the park.

Zoom in to see how much I enjoyed the candy cane slide.

On my birthday my mom took me to the pool.  It was a great pool day.  That night we went out for dinner and then picked up my gift from my mom and dad.  It was a swing set and I was so excited to open it and put it together.  On Saturday we had a little party and I got to open gifts.  It was a warm day but it was so much fun and I am so excited to be 4 years old.

Sharing a birthday treat.

I want to make sure that Dad is doing a good job.

Dad finished my swing set when I was taking a nap and I was so excited to run out to it when I woke up.

  

Mom made me an Angelina Ballerina themed birthday cake.

I hope that you are all doing well and thanks as always for your patience around my sporadic blogging.

Love,

Lydia

Happy Easter 2012!

Happy Easter everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed a blessed day reflecting on the savior's love and sacrifice for us.  I also hope you enjoyed some family and friend time.

We had a great day yesterday starting with church in the morning and then heading down to Colorado Springs to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa.

I am happy to report that I'm feeling much better following a two week recovery from my tonsillectomy.  The first week was pretty hard, especially toward the seventh and eighth days after surgery, but I made it through.  Unfortunately, I now have a bit of a cold, but this too shall pass!

Well I'll get to what I know you all look forward to most.... the photos!


Sorry, Mommy's camera and computer aren't communicating very well lately and only some of the photos will rotate when asked.... None-the-less, this is my retro Easter dress this year (I had my own idea of what the style should be - I thought my jammy pants added that last great touch)

Here's Daddy trying to coax me into a nice pose - "On my time, Daddy, no sooner!"

Just a quick shot of the back of my outfit.

Mom just wanted to have another shot of the dress before we went inside to have lunch - couldn't eat spaghetti in my Easter dress.

I realized after finding the first egg that they had snacks in them... from then on, I would find an egg, sit down, enjoy my snack, and then look for the next.

"I'm done with this one... help me find the next!"

Thanks for the hint Grandma!

The concentration tongue runs in the family.

"Don't rush me... I'll get to it."

Is there something behind me?  I've got a funny feeling....

Once the snacks were consumed and the sugar buzz was at full strength - time to head to the park.

I love the big kid toys at the park.

Just hangin' around.

Good times!

There's the skinny via pictures!
Hope Spring is treating you well.
Love,
Lydia

Surgery #4

Hi friends,

So last time I mentioned that I needed to have my tonsils and adenoids taken out... well, it's done!

On Friday, Mom, Dad and I headed to Childrens' Hospital at 5:30 am.  Mom and Dad talked to me about it during the week leading up to that, but I wasn't listening very well because this all kinda took me by surprise.

For the first time Mom and Dad came back to the OR to help with the anethesia process... now they know why I was afraid of their blue suits and funny hats.  I am not a fan of the gas mask or the bright white rooms with blinding lights.

The surgery only took about 20 minutes - I guess it's pretty routine.  The Dr. had decided when we scheduled the surgery that I would spend the night at the hospital, so they didn't have to wake me up from the anesthesia.  Waking up from anesthesia can be pretty hard, so I was glad that I was able to sleep it off instead.

Even though I don't appreciate the process, I'm hopeful that this was all for good cause... not sure if it's because of the surgery, but I was able to stay off O2 the whole time at the hospital and none was prescribed for at home.  My snoring is rampant, but they say that will be that way for awhile until the swelling goes down in my throat.

I feel pretty good now, as long as Mom and Dad keep up with the tylenol - waking up this morning was not fun.  I didn't get any medicine while I slept last night, so when I woke this morning I was in a lot of pain.  The tylenol seems to do the trick though.  I got a prescription for stronger stuff, but haven't needed it since right after surgery on Friday.

Thank you all for your prayers around this surgery... I'm told that I did very well and that things seem to be going well.  Thanks for continuing to pray for me as the recovery process is said to be about two weeks.

Totally unrelated to surgery.  A picture of me enjoying the giraffes at the zoo - can you believe they can eat out of the top of the trees?!

Here I am helping Daddy up.  Pull!

 

Why do they have these tie in the back?  I can't get it off this way!

Before surgery, we met lots of people coming in and out of this room getting all my information before surgery.

I started getting very concerned once this garb was brought out for Mom and Dad - I think I have some supressed memories from previous surgeries about the blue suits and hats.

Mommy helped me feel calm and relaxed after I got out of surgery... I watched "Nemo" and "Tangled" in the post-op area before they finally had a room ready for me in the hospital.

I found out I couldn't eat some of my favorite foods while I ate an orange popsicle.... I was a bit taken back.

Heather and Paul brought me this awesome cake today!  I feel better already!

Thanks again for thinking about me.
This week is Spring Break and Grandma and Grandpa bird will be coming for a visit from Iowa, so I'm sure we'll have some stories to tell.
Love,
Lydia