Finally!

Ok, I know I have been a serious slacker. I am not even going to try and catch up all that has been missed because there is so much. I'll put the best pics as of late and update what is going on now.

My Mother-in-law is visiting. She is staying with us Sunday-Tues morning. I am so lucky to have gotten such a great Mother-in-law! She is the nicest person I have ever known. There is not one mean bone in her body! She will be alot of help tomorrow. Her assignment will be to play with Lana so I can catch up on all the things I have slacked on.

The reason I have been such a slacker the last few days is because I got 2 teeth pulled on Wednesday. I am trying to decide if I am just a wimp?... Pretty sure I am. My mouth is still so uncomfortable. I think my main problem right now is that my whole mouth is sore because I unconsciously started clenching my teeth after he pulled those 2 and so I am have just worn my poor mouth out. It is like a constant headache in my jaw. Well, I guess I better get used to it because I am getting braces on the 29th! That exclamation point is not an "I'm excited!" exclamation point.....it is an " I am so sad!" exclamation point. I am going to try to be positive so I will say...at least I am getting them now (while I still am and look really young) when it doesn't look so out of place.

Lana is doing great! She is just so dang cute I can't even stand it sometimes. You can't help but give her her way when she so sweetly says, "peese?" and "kankoo." (translation: please and thankyou.) She is starting to be a fast runner. She can tell you what horses, bunnies, kitties, doggies, monkies, and ducks say. She know where her eyes, nose, ears, teeth, cheeks, hair, toes, and belly button are. She loves Finding Nemo. She still goes to bed so well and when she wakes in the morning I just give her books and she "reads" for 1/2 an hour before she wants out of her crib. When I give her a bottle she runs and gets a blanket, lays it on the floor and then lies on the blanket with her bottle.
Sometimes, I worry that I am not being a good enough Mom. I think negatively like that alot when I think about myself ...but I know I shouldn't. A man in our ward said something the other day that I know,but hadn't thought about in a while. He said something like this, "Remember that discouragement in ourselves is Satan's tool ,not the Lords."

BELOW: I told her to jump

Lana, Where is your belly button?
She loves to hide under blankets. She seriously stood here for 5 mins, just like that.
DANCING!

Something I will go back and update on is mine and Dan's 4th Wedding Annieversary. Cami was so nice to take Lana for a few days so we could have some time to ourselves. We went to a cabin on Skykomish River. We did the same thing last year in a different cabin and we took Lana that time. It had an AMAZING view from our front window. (see below) It was so peaceful. We couldn't see any other cabins. It had a hot tub with a river view and a great wrap around porch to eat and play board games on.


The first day we totally bummed around. We did absolutely nothing and it was great! The cabin had heated floor which I thought was fabulous. The only downside was the that the furniture was awfully uncomfortable but stylish looking. The bed was the worse. I felt like they were going to collapse under my weight.


The second day we went on a the very scenic Wallace Falls hike. It was about 6 miles total and I would like everyone to know that it was marked as a "HARD" hike. :) I was very proud that I was going on a hard hike. It was a hike to 3 different waterfalls. We went to all 3. 265 foot Upper Falls was definitely the highlight. We kinda disobeyed the rules and went beyond the viewpoint. I was right at the edge and it was AWESOME!
The 3rd day we went on a little road trip to Leavenworth, WA. It is a small German town tucked in the mountains. It was so fun and quaint. We hopped around to different shops and ate a German style resuraunt. Oh, and we had Gelato! It was AMAZING! The highlight of Leavenworth was in one particular shop where Dan and I ignored the warning signs next to some hot sauce you could sample. Dan tricked me into trying it. I made him try it first and I waiting for his reaction. He managed to hold it together long enough to get me to try it. I thought I was good at handling spice.....oh NO. It was painful. We were both crying/laughing/coughing/sweating all at once. We had to run back to the gelato shop and get some more. Even that didn't help much.
Dan also got in the river in front of our house. It was ice cold. So cold that when you put your feet in it hurt. I told him I would make brownies and give him a 20 miniute back scrath if he did it. ( I think I still owe him the backscratch.)
I still can't belive it has been 4 years. I also still can't believe I got such a good catch. Lucky me!
Appearantly, there really is an eagle that lives around the cabin....unfortunately we never saw it.
Lance turned 1. We are all so happy he is here. He is such a sweet baby. He has given us a few scares and it makes us appreciate him all the more.