Timber Timber

This weekend we just got back from cheering Michelle on for her first triathlon.  She was great and it was awesome to see her do it!  Great job Michelle.

SWIM

 BIKE

RUN We also got to visit with Josie, Addison and Andrea.  We went to the fair to see all of the animals  Thanks for coming up to see us!
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Bozeman Pics

Since my race and Allee's birthday...we have been super busy.   That is why there hasn't been a blog in awhile.
We'll catch you up!

We went to MT for the Fourth of July.  We stayed with Nami and Papa for a few days and went to Glacier and played in the "car" a LOT. 

Then....we stayed at the cabin on Flathead Lake for the 4th!  We played in the water, rode the bike, went to Glacier again and PLAYED!

Allee had a fun birthday.  She shared lots of smiles, giggles and fun with us on her special day.  She was happy all day and enjoyed spending it with her friends...especially Curious George.

More Pictures of Allee's Birthday.

Allee and I just spent four days with Nami and Papa in Bryce and Zion.  We did some hiking, swimming, eating out (for ice cream too!) and playing.  It was fun.  Allee especially loved the horses at our first hotel.  She was able to feed them grass and give them loves.  Another favorite included the many tunnels we drove and hiked through.  We heard her say, "more tunnels" many times on our trip.  Trip Pics

On June 20-21st a team of 12 along with 570 other teams ran from Logan to Park City, UT for a total of 180 miles.  We finished in 28 hours.  It was a lot of fun!  In that time we each ran three times and had about an hour and a half of sleep.  Crazy?  Maybe, but it was a great experience enjoyed by all!

Race Pictures

We had a great visit last weekend from Doug, Katy and Austen.  Allee loved hanging out wit Austen and has been asking for her ever since.  This morning she asked for Austen dancing.  She wanted to watch the video of her dancing.  We went to see her compete in the Scottish festival and she did so well!  We are so glad we got to watch her. 

She got three golds, one silver and and overall trophy.

We also got to spend Father's Day together.  We went to our favorite breakfast spot. 

It was so great to catch up.  We loved sitting on the porch in the evenings visiting, sharing chocolate covered strawberries, walking Timber, shopping IKEA, and playing with the awesome kitchen that Austen passed down to Allee.

Thank you so much for a great visit!  Maybe we can make it an annual affair.

Hawley Visit Pics

I will blog more later...but until then, here are some videos to tie you over.

So..I'm a little late with the monthly posting.  She turned 23 months on May 28th.  I must say that she is SO fun right now.  It is such a fun age of watching her explore and learn every day! 

When Josie was here, she demonstrated that she knew her last name.  We asked Allee yesterday to start getting her to say her last name and she picked it up instantly.  Now when we ask her what her last name is, she says, "GALIN".  Very close.  She can't say her v's or f's. 

Other new things she's saying:

When we ask her a question that she's not sure of the answer, she will say, "UMMMMMM.""
When she hides something, including herself (she loves to play hide and seek) she will say, "Go?"
When she finds what's she's looking for she says, "there .is"
When she sees a baby or a puppy, she will say, "cute."
She likes to tell us when things are, "hot" "cold" and the newest, "warm."  I told her the oven was "hot" and now she goes up to it and blows on it saying, "hot."
She is also saying lots of two to three word sentences.  She's easier to understand and we love to hear the words put together.

Have I mentioned how independent she is?  Seriously....she wants to do it all by her"SELF" as she puts it. She says, "mine" a lot meaning she wants to do it.  She can also demand well.  She will say, "Mommy" or "Daddy" if she wants us to do something. 

Things she likes to do by her"SELF":

Buckle her top buck on her car seat.
Take her diapers off and try to put them on.
Put her pants on. (she has trouble pulling them over her bottom though)
Walk up and down the stairs.
Get her own snacks.
Blow bubbles.
Pick up pine cones in the yard.
Playing.  She will play on her own for awhile now, especially with her babies.  Stroller, crib etc.  Babies are still a favorite.  Play dough is a close second along with blocks and puzzles.

Poor thing is still teething.  This is fun with an almost two year old.  She has four front teeth on top and two front teeth on bottom.  She has all four of her first molars.  They cam in at about 19 months.  Since then she hasn't had any new ones pop through.  She's working on her bottom lateral incisors (the two next to the front two teeth).  She's been getting the fever and pain.  Hopefully the teeth will show up soon so she can eat corn on the cob with more success!

We got her a potty.  We are not pushing it hard yet...we are just getting her interested.  She has pee-peed on it a few times and likes to try to go on it.  I think when we get back from our MT trip in July we will take a consistent try at it.  For now, she is liking having, "Allee's Potty" near "Mommy's Potty."  She will point that out to us frequently.

Can't believe the next time I write about her progress she will be TWO!

Aunt Karen was in town for business and luckily Allee and I got to have lunch with her.  Allee hadn't met her Great Aunt Karen yet.  They hit it off right away playing hide the hand.  Allee likes to hide her hand in her shirt and ask, "Go?"  Karen played right along.  It was cute.  Thanks for lunch Karen!

We are so lucky to have such great friends!  Syd, Andrea, Josie and cute baby Addison came to visit us for a few days.  It felt too short, but we are SO glad they came.  Allee and Josie were so fun to watch play and interact.  They had a blast playing together and wore each other out.  It was fun to catch up.  And Addison is such a sweet baby.  We're so glad we got to see her.

Thanks for a great time and such a fun visit!!

Benson Trip Pictures

SIDE NOTE We went to the zoo and saw the tiger being super active.  He's usually sleeping every time we go.  I got this video of him playing in the water.  We've always seen the water pool there and wondered if he goes in or not.  This is after we watched him prance around on the rocks and grass.  He was SO cool to watch!  (All the kids you hear in the background are from a school field trip.)