A daughter is a little girl that grows up to be a friend...

Take time to smell the flowers...



Kinlee and I went to Gardner Village today. I love to spend time with just the two of us. They have a petting zoo with goats, and pigs and rabbits and other animals. They also have horse rides which Kinlee absolutely loves. "Charlie" was the mini horse that Kinlee got to ride on today. Kinlee just adores the animals, and I am sure they love her high pitch screams of joy in their ears. There are so many cute places to take pictures at Gardner Village, I probably got carried away. Owell... Oh yah, we are leaving for Disneyland on Tuesday so we are counting down the days. Don't be jealous!

A good neighbor is a priceless treasure...

We met some neighbors of ours (which happen to also be great friends), up at Silver Lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We had dinner together and then went and walked around the lake. After that, we did S'Mores by the campfire and visited. We are so lucky to have such great neighbors. On the way home; Derk, Melinda and I nearly crapped our pants when we spotted a deer chillin' on the side of the road coming down the canyon.

Families are like fudge - Mostly sweet with a few nuts...

(this is only half of the "McDermaid" bunch.)
(above: Derk - below: Kim) Derks uncle has some property in Kamas (located on the east side of Jordanelle Reservoir) so we decided to go up over the weekend and spend some time with the family. Derks brother Chaz completed his first triathalon held at Jordanelle, so the family went up early Saturday morning to support him. He did a great job. We had a ton of fun spending time with the "McDermaid" bunch. Derks family is so big (as you can see in the above picture). We went on the four wheeler and mostly just visited and let the kids play. Kinlee and her Grandma McDermaid spotted a deer on the trail when they were going for a walk. On Sunday, Derk and I left Kinlee with Derks parents and met some friends of ours at Jordanelle to go boating. Derk got to wakeboard for his first time. He got up after only 5 trys. It was my second time wakeboarding. What a blast. The water was about 67 degrees. It takes your breath away when you first jump in. After about a minute you just become numb and then it's not so bad. We are both very sore today.

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart."

Derk is out of town this week, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to leave Kinlee with my parents and get out with my close girlfriends. We decided to go to the Porcupine Grill. They are right by the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon. (It's like this yuppie hangout) I have known these girls since 3rd grade. (with the exception of Heather-the one in green that moved here in 7th grade from California). We have all changed so much and are at different stages in our lives, but we try hard to stay in contact with one another and we cherish the friendship that we all have. It was a blast!

I can drop bombs with the best of them...

We are in the process of teaching Kinlee to use the "Big Girl Potty". We skipped the whole baby potty and just bought a little potty seat that fits right on to our toilet. She loves to "Schlup" (flush) the toilet after she is done. She is a little slow on telling us when she has to go. She usually poops her pants first, and then tells us... But she is getting a good start. She loves getting her "sticky" (sticker) after she goes potty and we make a big deal out of it every time. She is getting so big and she is so smart.

Kinlee

I took this picture of Kinlee when she was 5 1/2 months old. This is my favorite picture of her.