Yellowstone with the Hursts

This past week we spent with Riley's family celebrating Mom Hurst's 50th birthday. We had loads of fun. Riley painted this three-panel painting of Red Fish Lake (the childhood reunion destination) for his mom. It blows my mind everytime I look at it. Gorgeous.

We stayed in a really lovely cabin out in the middle-of-no-where-Island-Park-Idaho. We spotted this moose just a few hundred yards away while the boys were bridge jumping.

Among the other activities, we spent one full day (starting at 4:30 a.m. Wow!) in Yellowstone Park. I've been there many times, but it is just so beautiful. I never get tired of looking out the window when I'm there.

Old Faithful is still doing her job. Hinder LOVED this part.

Mom and Dad Hurst at the Upper Falls.

A part of the Hardman family at the Lower Falls.

Riley, H, mom, dad, Sid, and Stephen at the falls.

A bison just hanging out by the men's restroom.

A few geological wonders.

We saw plenty of wildlife. Bison...

Elk....everywhere

Smelly, sulfury formations

More elk...

More smelly, sulfury formations...

All in all, it was a gorgeous day.

Happy birthday, Lorie Hurst!

Thanks for the fun adventures and great company!

The Latest and Greatest

Just a few snapshots of our latest adventures with our Killian visitors.

(Dalyn, Dallas, and Dakota fashioning their sticks for roasting a dog. Just a few feet away was the largest, most frightening beehive I have ever seen.)

(The kids plus Hinder floating around at Rigby Lake.)

(Dakota at Rexburgs newest attraction, Rexburg Rapids.)

(More cheesy smiles at the lake.)

(Cool dude shades at the Splash park.)

(Ditched the shades to play in the water.)

SO MUCH FUN! Can't wait until next time.

Jump!

The sibs came to visit again. We just LOVE when this happens.
First things first, bridge jumping. It's a must-do in the summertime around these parts. Our jumping excursions usually go something like this...

We arrive at the spot. Everyone looks anxiously over the edge. It seems like a really long ways down.

The rational people make up their minds that they are perfectly happy staying dry and snuggly in their warm towels.
Devon was one of those people.

The less-rational (like dear Mr. Hurst) just hurl their bodies over the edge. Over and over again.

Sometimes head first.

And then there is always that last person who wants to go but it takes a little prompting. This time it was Dallas. And it took, like, hours of chanting "Dallas, Dallas, Dallas..."

But he did it!

And I think the frigid water made him regret it. Look at that face. Not the face of fun, if you ask me!

Thankfully, Hinder was perfectly content sitting on the sidelines (for today) stuffing his face with Cheezits. That's my boy!

As for me, not this year. I have plenty of excuses going for me. Like I'm pregnant, or I'm too old, or not a strong enough swimmer. Or just plain too scared.

Maybe next year.

Maybe not.

Twenty Weeks

Yesterday was the exciting 20 week ultrasound.

Longest 20 weeks of my life....let's just leave it at that!

I was excited, but mostly nervous for the appointment. When I saw this cute profile and heard the sweet sound of a rapid heartbeat, the excitement finally over took the nervous.

We're having a baby! :)

Sweet little profile. So glad to see all the fingers, toes, bits, and pieces all in their right places.

And we were very excited to learn that Baby #2 will be a sweet little GIRL!

We weren't surprised, though.

All three of us felt pretty confident it was a girl for awhile now.

She was very active during the almost hour-long ultrasound, so the tech wasn't able to get great pictures. But I don't mind. I'd rather have the piece of mind that she's moving and shaking rather than a perfect snapshot.

When we got the news it was for sure (as sure a an ultrasound can be) a little girl, here was our reactions:

Riley- Cool as a cucumber, of course. He said, "a girl" in a soft voice. It was sweet.

Myself- My train of thought went something like this. "Oh the shopping! Girl clothes are so cute! And in about six or seven years I will have a little mini-mom to help me out. Yes!"

Hinder- Totally oblivious and mostly wanted to get the heck out of there so he could go back to looking at "Dory" and "Nemo" in the office fish tank.

He did offer up a great suggestion when the tech asked what we should name our little girl. "Girl"

"Girl Hurst"

And while the ultrasound was going on, I was pointing out features to Hinder to try to keep his attention. I was saying things like, "Look, here's her toes. And there is her arm. And look she has two legs just like you, etc."

Hinder looked closely at a picture and said, "And look mom, here's her fins."

We chuckled about that one.

Life is good.

I've Been Replaced

Lately, while I'm watching the boys playing, the thought has occurred to me that I've been replaced. No longer does Riley come to me with the question, "hey do you want to come watch me kite?" Or "let's go to the skate park". Now he goes straight to this little guy.

And Hinder is perfectly happy being the kiting pack-mule, or watching dad, and oohing and ahhing at the same tricks for hours on end.

They're attached at the hip. They're besties, two peas in pod. They could start a club, and I bet I wouldn't get an invite.

What am I, chopped liver?!

And pondering all of this made me a little depressed, I must admit.

Am I already a has-been?

BUT THEN I realized, "Hey, I don't care so much for kiting. Nor do I give a rats about the skate park!"

And the R and H duo actually means more man-dates and more time for me to peacefully finish Sherlock Holmes and munch on Twizzlers....by myself.

And maybe, just maybe, this next little one will pop out with the innate desire to do other things I don't much care for. Like scrubbing toilets or cleaning out the oven.

Here's to hoping :)

Festivities on the Fourth

First things first, my mom's birthday is on the 4th of July!

Happy birthday, Mama!

I miss celebrating this holiday with her. Even though her day gets overshadowed by the Nations day, she never complains and still graciously laughs at the old joke that my dad arranged the fireworks "just for her"...even after 25+ years. She's really the definition of a classy lady.

In our little corner of the world, our celebrations looked like this.

First, the usual parade with friends and family.

We unexpectedly were joined by my dad's twin brother, aunt Lisa, cousin Austin, and Meghan. It was really nice to see them. Being around my uncle Spence makes me miss my dad.

They still have so many similar mannerisms.

And the moment we were all waiting for was this....
Do you see that guy in the bear costume?

That bear with the abnormally long neck?

The best Broulims bear EVER! Playing the part was our cousin Preston. He really was the life of the party. (It's a small town. No Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade around here)

After a quick walk through the park, and of course a carousel ride with baby Archer...

We spent the afternoon eat, playing croquet, and sweating off the pounds in the July heat. Hinder crashed out from all the excitement.

(this almost never happens, and it's glorious when it does)

Around 9:30, we settled in for a little small-town fireworks show. Unfortunately, they were running quite late and the show didn't start until 11:30. By that time I had gone home to bed, leaving Riley and Hinder to enjoy the spectacle alone.

But in the meantime, Hinder made fireworks of his own.

Happy Birthday to this great nation of ours!

The older I get, the more I appreciate how truly blessed we are in this country.

Quick Trip

This past weekend, we made a quick trip down to hot, sweaty Utah for some face time with Ri's sisters and parents. H had a hay day playing with his cousins.

Hogle Zoo was the main event Saturday.

J.J. and Hinder made themselves a "tent"

After weeks of talking about seeing dinosaurs in the zoo (we're in a major dino phase around here), Hinder was a little leery of getting so close to the giant lizards.

A little bribery was all it took to get this picture. Hinder let me know that those little fences weren't tall enough to keep the dinosaurs inside. I've never seen the kid so nervous.

Nice break on the Hogle zoo carousel. Giraffes were the favorite animal of the day.

Despite the gap in age, these two did pretty good playing and sharing.

Some serious cousin/silly time going on.

The real reason for the visit was for little Trey's baby blessing. Here are four generations of Hurst men. They look related, right!? Genetics are fascinating.

Other highlights:

*Spending way too much time in the Larsen's massage recliner. Glorious*

*Seeing my old roommate again while enjoying a Delicious burger. I can't get enough of either of them*

*Lounging pool side while watching a rambunctious game of 500*

*Flying J stops*

*Hours of chat time with my Ri while the kiddo was passed out in his car seat. I love those moments*

Thanks to the Larsens for letting us crash with them and to Kylee for letting us take over her room. We had a great time!