The Wedding

Last Saturday my Aunt Lacey and her fiance Danny tied the knot.  We had a great time.  The wedding was beautiful (especially Aunt Lacey), the food was amazing and the after party was, well let's just say it was unforgettable in many ways.  I had a blast and so did mom and dad!  Lots of people held me and danced with me and the wedding cupcakes were delicious (Grandma and Aunt Scooter helped me sneak a taste)!

I am all dressed up in my wedding finery and ready to go watch a wedding.

This is the fantastic photo booth that provided all of the guests with hours of entertainment.    I sure had fun posing.

Uncle Dan, stealing my thunder.  Hmph.

He let me have the bigger frame, so all is forgiven.

Great Grandpa walked with Aunt Lacey and Aunt Scooter down the aisle. 

The bride and groom enjoying the moment.

Things got weirder in the photobooth...

For the record, I was never in favor of this pose.

Here is Mommy and her brother and cousins. I've decided that being in a picture frame can make a person cooky.

Ah, my family... Really, they can be quite more stately than they appear to be here!

Uncle Dan. The picture says the rest.

Uncle Kit deep in contemplation.

Here's me with Mommy and Grandpa Stewart. Finally people are acting normal again!

I'm considering my Uncle Dan for a moment. You never know about people who wear orange ties.

Our Canadian Adventure

We met with our friends the Kooles in Banff, Canada and enjoyed several days of beautiful hiking in the Canadian Rockies. I thought the mountain peaks around Missoula were big, these were impressive! I also had some quality play time with Racquel. She does this thing where she stands and then moves without leaning on anything at all! It was quite the trick and seemed to enable her to get places faster than the crawling maneuver I have mastered. Since our trip I have been studying this "walking" and feel that I am coming very close to mastering it myself...

Heidi, Racquel, Isaiah and Lindsey - clean and excited about three days of not showering, sitting around the fire and hiking to our hearts content.

Lake Louise on a beautiful Sunday morning. 

Racquel, Heidi, Reuben, Lindsey, Paul and Isaiah - All smiles before the start of our first hike.  Racquel is already a nature connoisseur.  As you can see she is way more excited about the view than posing for a picture :0).

A view of the beehive just before the first teahouse.  There is nothing like tea on top of a mountain or at least we’re assuming that’s the case since we all forgot to bring any cash and thus had to forgo tea.  We did enjoy the view immensely though.

Isaiah is all smiles after enjoying a tasty lunch and a gorgeous view.

Daddy and Isaiah are hamming it up.

Who wouldn’t want a graham cracker for dessert?  They are so delicious!

Another gorgeous view.

I like to travel in style.  Thanks to some generous family members I have the ultimate seat when hiking.  I have the best view, I stay cool and I can nap if I so choose. If only everyone could be this comfortable.  

We are at the top and (surprise of the century) everyone is smiling.  I felt exhausted just watching all of the adults walk up the switchbacks on this trail.  The view was definitely worth it though.  

On the way down...

I took a very comfortable nap.  I am dreaming of mountains, snow and my next bottle of Similac.  Ahhhhhh.

Racquel and I had a blast playing in the “pen”.  Our parents enjoyed some hands free dinner prep time :0).

I am enjoying my fantastic view of the “raging river of death” (tell me what movie that quote comes from and you will win my everlasting respect), while mom and dad do more smile for the camera stuff.

This is my personal bug screen.  Only problem is the designer of this backpack put it on the side instead of on the front.  I am going to have to take it up with someone when I get old enough to talk because I see this as a serious design flaw.  What were they thinking!?!  I mean what if I actually swallowed a bug? Ew!

We couldn’t pass up this photo op at the Upper Falls.  It was the culmination of two great days of hiking.  Afterwards we practically ran back down the path for some ice cream.  I have to say I’m pretty excited about maple walnut.  Delicious!!!

Meeting My Birth Uncle and Grandpa

I had a quick but wonderful visit with birth family.  I was able to meet my birth grandpa and uncle and I got to see Tawnie and aunt Kelli again.  Meet the crowd :0)!

I finally got to meet my birth grandfather Alex.  Here I am with grandpa Alex and Tawnie.

Tawnie gives the best hugs!!!

Uncle Nick and I get acquainted.

The whole clan.  I have an iron grip on uncle Nick, good thing he doesn’t eat fingers!

Here I am with Tawnie, uncle Nick and aunt Kelli.

First Geocache

Mom and Dad are obsessed with treasure hunting.  I'm not surprised it's pretty cool to find buried treasure.  Here is my first adventure in pirating :0). 

Once again, I fell asleep while urging mom to the top of a peak.  It’s just so much work!  Despite my seeming unconscious state I am enjoying the view immensely.  Shhh.

I played a key role in finding this treasure.  My keen eyes spotted it hiding underneath a mountain of rocks.  I alerted mom with a quick shriek, which she correctly interpreted, as you can see.

Mom and dad are proud to have finally located a geocache.  This was our third try in as many days.  Having a GPS with working batteries seemed to do the trick.

I did the heavy lifting when we decided to replace the cache.  Look at that bicep!

Life in Missoula

After months of traveling here, there, and everywhere else we had a few weeks at home to recuperate and enjoy our new home state.  We went hiking, sight seeing, camping and played around at home.  It has been a blast and I have to say I am becoming quiet the outdoorsman.  

Hiking with Dad outside of Missoula.  He’s a great pack horse.  He carries me and my food.  What more could I ask for!

Rood’em Cooboo!!!

Oh!  They caught me.  There is nothing I like less than a neat room.  Point made.

Almost....got.....it......  Time to steal that camera and show them what my life is really like.  Dun dun dun.

Mommy finished reading a book called “American Buffalo” and insisted that we visit the National Bison Range that is located an hour north of Missoula.  I slept for an hour and then woke up to find this massive beast running towards the car.  A couple hundred yards out he decided that we didn’t really look like a feasible lunch option and decided to take a nap instead.

Wow!  The view from this pop-up is outstanding.  We will definitely have to do more of this wilderness exploration.  Mountain man status is quickly approaching.

Look at that view!  I worked hard to get up this trail.  I bounced on Mom’s back in an effort to urge her forward.  “Onward and upward I say!”

After working so hard to get mom moving I fell asleep and enjoyed a nice nap while she and the dogs enjoyed the cooling spray of the waterfall.  I’m not that enchanted with  waterfalls myself, but mom and dad sure seem overly enthusiastic about them.  I mean who else would walk three miles just to see that!?!

My puppies sure love to swim and chase things in the water.  They are exceptional stick retrievers.  Dad seems to be an exceptional stick thrower.  I will join their ranks someday soon and be the best stick thrower ever.

Peek-a-boo!  I am helping pack up.  Dad is my living puppet.  I tell him where to go and what to do and he does it.  Oh, wait, I guess mom’s the one who does that.  

Here I am helping dad coax Skye to a glacial bath.  Naturally, he is wary of my charms.  

BRRRRRR!  

Mom and I are dancing to some Coldplay.  I’m the next Fred Astaire.

Mom says that a down comforter is almost heaven on earth.  For the record I totally disagree.  You can’t crawl on this stuff at all and personally I think it is suffocatingly hot.

Dad and I mastered clapping today.  Look at that blur of action!