Family Baby Shower - July 30, 2011

When James and I announced that we were expecting a Little Bandito, my Aunt Lynnette immediately offered to host a family baby shower.  THANK YOU!  It was so nice.  She used a "Oh Baby, the Places You'll Go" Dr. Suess theme and we really enjoyed the yummy food and visiting.  THANK YOU!!

Presents for Lincoln... Lucky Boy!

She let me choose the date - and I picked the weekend my Mom is in town.  Lucky me!  Aunt Lynnette and Mom.

I just love her 'vintage' Dr. Suess books - aren't they great!  I'll need to start my own collection.

The "Mommy-to-Be" chair

Kelley and Erin

Michelle (due late Oct/early-Nov), Aunt Nancy and Phoenix (Kelley's)

Chelsey and Aunt Lynnette

Mom, Shawnell and Jessi

Not Pictured: Grandma and Donna.  THANK YOU EVERYONE and thanks Mom for the photos too!

Work Baby Shower - July 28, 2011

My co-workers were very generous and put together a little baby shower for me at the end of the work day.  THANK YOU Emily and Kristi!!  (Especially Emily!)


Pam, Carol and me

Rose, Lisa and Robyn

Chocolate cupcakes - thanks Em!

The cute name blocks are from Ashly and the little skier decorations were made by Em.

Baby clothesline.  I got to keep the onesies and socks.  So cute!

Diaper cakewith receiving blankets - Thanks Jaclyn!

Thank you!  Lincoln thanks you too!

Simpson Reunion, Little Blue and Little Bandito...July 2011

Simpson Family Reunion. SISCRA Campground near Cascade, ID. July 6-10, 2011 - Happy Birthday Mom!  Happy Birthday to me! 

A couple months ago, I called home and reserved the back bed in the motorhome for the family reunion.  For my 33rd(!) birthday, Mom and Dad bought me a round-trip plane ticket between SLC and Boise.  THANK YOU! 

Opa and Oma are also hosting Kurt and Carlee's oldest three kids while Kurt and Carlee stayed behind in Boise to give birth to their youngest.  On the drive from Boise to SISCRA, we also brought Carter along.  And then stopped along the highway and collected Hannah, Hallie, Stella and Zoe.  (Jed, Maria, Tucker and Walter drove back home for some TLC for Walter - they came up the next morning).

The first night in the motor home (it rained hard at dinner time and we didn't set up any tents), we had Opa and Oma in the upper bunk, Tyler, Christy and Stella on the couch-bed, Zoe on the floor and Jake and Aunt Jessi in the back bed.  (Hannah, Hallie and Carter found other arrangements).  That is a full load!  Try putting 5 busy kids to bed all at the same time.  Oma did fantastic.  She called everyone in and began telling stories.  Stories about their parents, stories about the kids and stories from the scriptures.  Zoe fell asleep on Oma's lap before too long and all the kids went quietly to bed.  Only Jake was still awake at midnight.  But he was a pretty quiet bed buddy and didn't wiggle too much.

Story time: Zoe, Oma, Christy and Stella

This is how Opa goes to take a shower...

I tagged along to take charge of the wagon once we got to the restrooms.  (Christy, Zoe, Ellie - hidden behind Zoe, Bree, Jake and Opa)

I hauled all the kids back to camp, made everyone change out of their pajamas, added an extra kid and Nacho and we met back up with Opa just as he was coming back to camp.  Then the kids got an 'off-road' wagon ride back through the group site to camp.  Lucky!

The reunion was full of annual favorites - picking up trash along Highway 55 for our service project... Tie-dying clothes... Playing at the beach and in the boat on Cascade Reservoir... Really good food... Cribbage games... Homer the Clown and a pinata... Visiting... and this year we had the added bonus of waiting for news from Kurt and Carlee on the status of their little one.  Carlee went into the hospital on Friday July 8th to be induced and early that evening... A BABY GIRL!  And on Saturday they announced her name: Rachel Kathleen Simpson.


Along with tie-dye t-shirts, an annual photo with Oma-Great is a tradition:  Here she is with all the great-grands that could attend this year:

These are almost all of the Gil Simpson Grands - the only one missing is Rachel and as she is only a day old, she is excused.  Back Row:  Jake, Tucker, McKayla, Bree, Oma-Great, Hannah, Zoe, Stella.
Front Row: Aspen, Hallie, Emma, Carter, Tyler, (Rachel's onsie) Christy and Ellie.

This year, I got to tie-dye a onsie for my Little Bandito.  Next year, he'll be able to sit up on his own for a photo op!  (On my birthday, I am 31 weeks pregnant.)

Kurt and Carlee's big kids -Jake, Christy and Tyler- with Rachel's onsie.  So fun!

The last day of the reunion is a clean-up and mosey down the road sort of day.  But we had a deadline - my flight!  And I really, REALLY, really wanted to have time to meet Rachel before I flew home again.  Mission accomplished - Favorite Aunt Jessi and Rachel (2 days old).  Holding my newborn niece is a fantastic birthday present.

Little Blue.   My subaru has been having some electrical problems.  For a couple months the battery (which is less than a year old) has been dying.  If I drove everyday, driving would recharge the battery enough for a start the next morning.  But if I didn't drive for a couple days, then the battery would be completely dead and I'd have to jumpstart the car.  I finally bought a set of jumper cables so that I could use The Outlaw to jumpstart Little Blue and not have to ask the neighbors for help. For the last month or so, I just left Little Blue parked outside our apartment and drove the XTerra instead.  (My car is FILTHY because there is new apartment construction going on right next to our apartment.)

I didn't think it was the battery - because it was less than a year old.  I didn't think it was the alternator - because when I did drive, it would charge up the battery just fine.  Something else was draining the juice - even when the car was turned off.  The culprit... the radio.  Something was haywire inside the radio and even when power to the radio was off and power to the car was off, it was still draining power from the battery.  Now I have no radio, but at least the car will start in the mornings!

Little Bandito. I had my 32 week appointment on July 18th.  Everything is still perfect and normal.  Great blood pressure, lost one pound in a month, fundal height of about 31 cm, baby's heart rate at about 130-140 bpm.  He kicks around a bit, several times a day, every day and that is reassuring.  He is still finding new places to poke me - recently I have felt him all the way off to each side and sometimes down super low by my hip.  Kid must be growing! But mostly, I feel him right around my belly button.  I don't think I'm having any weird cravings...but I could eat ice cream every single meal.  It must be July.

Little Bandito Update - June 29, 2011

I got my one-hour glucose test done just before my Alaska trip.  I am at 116 and the normal range is 41-139.  Hooray!  Now just eat healthy and exercise some...
I had my 29-week appointment today.  Happily, everything is normal and boring.  Sorry, no pictures of the baby, but here is a fun 28-week belly picture.

His heartbeat is about 160 beats per minute (I love hearing that little shoosh-shoosh-shoosh-shoosh!). I'm measuring about 29 cm, which is right on.  I gained 1 pound in the last 5 weeks - yay!  Blood pressure is spot on normal.  As long as I don't hear anything back about the urinalysis that they do every appointment, I assume that those results are normal too.

Next appt is supposed to be in 2 weeks, but I was feeling sort of contrary, so I scheduled it out for 3 weeks (and then for 2 weeks after that and 2 weeks after that).  Lincoln kicks me every day and I feel great and I don't have any questions, so I don't really want to go to the doctor...  On the other hand, I'm not getting charged for each individual pre-natal appointment and I do get to hear that little heart beat when I do go...  Then again, once I start weekly appointments, she also starts checking for dilation, etc. and I'm not eager for that to begin any sooner than necessary...

I've already told Lincoln that he'd better plan on coming head-down, sometime 39 weeks or later, and not get stuck because we'd both prefer it if a c-section wasn't necessary.  If I keep reminding him of my preferences, is that nagging?

Eagle / Oregon Adventures - June 25-27, 2011

It is cheaper to book flights to Cordova out of Boise and book a separate flight between Boise and SLC, rather than directly out of Salt Lake City.  Mainly because Salt Lake is not one of Alaska Airline's hubs, so the flight out of SLC would be on another carrier and that increases the overall ticket price.  I prefer to book my flights between SLC and Boise separately via Southwest Airlines so that I have an excuse to visit Eagle for as long as I can!

On the way to Alaska, I just overnighted in Eagle (thanks Mom for picking me up, and THANK YOU Dad for driving me back to the airport so early in the morning!).

On the way home from Alaska, there was a 'school's out' sleepover at Oma and Opa's house the night I arrived.  This was my wake-up committee on Saturday morning.  McKayla, Zoe, Stella on the left, Aunt Jessi in the middle, Carter, Hallie Bree and McKayla on the right.

My cousin Katie and her new husband Christopher were just married in the Idaho Falls Temple and their Hermiston, OR reception was this weekend.  On Saturday afternoon, Mom and I drove the four hours to the Castellaw's and they let us work in the kitchen/cake table.  It was fun to visit with my Mom during the drive, so nice to be casual for the reception and wonderful to be useful.

We had a camper to sleep in (thank you!) and then we enjoyed the drive back to Eagle.  Stopped at a few Oregon Trail Historical Markers (Mom's Blog has more details) and we were home in time for Sunday dinner.
"Dedicated to the memory of the intrepid pioneers who came with the first wagon train in 1843 over the old Oregon Trail and saved the Oregon Country to the United States. Erected by Old Oregon Trail Ass'n July 4, 1923...Dedicated by Warren G Harding President of the United States July 3, 1923"

Old Oregon Trail marker placed by Ezra Meeker in 1921.

Replica of an actual size wagon - pretty certain that the replica oxen are a bit small though!

On Monday morning, this was my wake-up committee: Huge brown bear, Carter and Bree.  There was only one brown bear at my wake-up snuggle hug squish pounce laugh.  The first bear was a gift for the Davis kids, brought home from SLC by their Mom - Kim stayed at my apartment while I was gone (poor timing, I could use the company now!)   The second bear was a gift for Kim from her employers.  Lucky kids ended up with a bonus bear!  I saw twice as many bears in Eagle as I saw in Alaska! Ha!

This is my "thank you" gift from Kim for letting her stay at my little apartment for the week - even though there was ZERO food and the only way to watch movies was on the tiny portable DVD player because I haven't figured out how to easily hook it up to the TV.  Isn't it gorgeous!?  Now I'm on the lookout for some earrings - maybe something silver with the polka dots like the top ring... or something silver with the purple amethyst stone that is in the center.  THANK YOU Kim!  I love it.

And this is an early birthday present from the McCalvys - so sweet! I suppose it would officially be the only bear I saw in Alaska this trip. And some multi-color earrings too.  I'm so spoiled.  I love having such nice variety to accessorize with. THANK YOU!

And then I have to post the photo actually showing my face because I trimmed myself some bangs after I got back to Utah. Cute?  I think so.  Here's hoping they don't drive me crazy.

Happily, Monday morning was Kim's first day home from SLC.  Sadly, Monday morning was my flight back to SLC.  So this is a photo of our Welcome Home/Goodbye Committee. (Bree, Jessi, Carter, McKayla, Ellie and Kim)

P.S.  Most of those pictures are Mom's - Thanks!

When I got back to Life Flight, Emily had decorated my desk with a cute Welcome Back banner!  She had a very busy 2 weeks.

The backpack I ordered before I left arrived.  I had it shipped to Life Flight because I knew it would come while I was gone.  I got a super great deal on a Kelty kid backpack and this one came with the sun/rain shade. Even at over $100 off retail (why are they so expensive!?), I might have been able to find a used one for cheaper. But I figure we can use it for all our little banditos and don't you love the color!  Just how little a baby can safely be tucked in here?

Happy to be home again... except for the 95-degree weather. Sigh.

Alaska Adventures - June 11-24, 2011

Because my husband is spending his summer in Cordova mending fishing nets and I am spending my summer as usual at home keeping our health insurance in place and rent paid....  I needed a vacation.  Two weeks in Alaska with the McCalvys.  SO FUN!  There are additional posts with some of our more specific adventures, but this is a bunch of photos of exploring Cordova.
The local library also has a museum and a large conference room that doubles as an art gallery.  This year the theme for the art gallery was "Fish Follies" so all the art in the room had fish or fishing of some kind.  And I enjoyed an afternoon at the library/museum/art gallery and learned a lot about Cordova history.

Fish Art outside Library

This quilt is displayed inside the museum and the white writing in the borders is local names and businesses.  Each square is something that depicts life in Cordova.  Of course, I couldn't get the entire quilt in one picture, so it required two. On this picture, the square in the center row, center right is the Mt.Eyak ski hill.  I've skied there!  The bottom right square (looks like a white plus sign with a small man in the center) is the Lost Fisherman Memorial.  This is a depiction of the statue that sits at the edge of the Marina and commemorates Fishermen that never came home.

Here is a picture of the Fisherman's Memorial from February 2007.

(Top row of this picture is the same as the bottom row of the quilt picture above)  This one shows the Million Dollar Bridge (middle row, far right) and the Ice Worm (bottom row, center right)

McCalvy Family Pictures.  For Sharon's birthday, Kathleen put this picture frame together - this is as close as we're going to get to a family photo for a while and I LOVE IT so I took a picture of it.

A trip to Cordova is not complete without hiking Haystack Trail. It is a short hike with a great view at the end looking out toward the Copper River Flats and eventually the ocean. Usually there are tons of Eagles that you can hear in the trees and sometimes moose out in the meadows. 

McKinley and Dick

Kids don't float - this particular Life Jacket offering is at the boat launch on the Eyak River.  There are also Life Jackets available at both entrances to the Marina.  I'm impressed.  The life jackets are there all the time.  When you need one, grab it, put it on your child, have your adventure and when you're done, put it back for the next kid.

Soots - I called her the "Watch Kitty"  She spends a lot of time on top of the easy chair with a clear view of the front door.  So as soon as you walk into the house, the Watch Kitty had her eyes on you...  And if I ever came from the other direction and she didn't see me, she'd swat my hand if I tried to pet her.  Attitude.

Meow - he's a sweetheart of an old cat.  He will meow and meow and meow and meow to get some attention or food.  I loved that he would jump up on my lap and just let me scritch and scritch and he seemed to enjoy it too.

McKinley - She's a good dog!  James picked her out, so she's James' dog.  But we'd never bring her to Utah because she's die of heat exhaustion and she'd be bored, bored, bored - no bears to bark at.

Slug - this picture is for you Mom Simpson.  I laughed at you for swatting the tiny little white slugs off the bottom of the tent.  What if these monsters were wandering around the yard and eating your strawberries!

Salmonberry blossom and berry - these berries make really, really, really good jelly.  After they've had a chance to grow and ripen of course.

Baja Taco - this is where Kathleen works.  The kitchen and food preparation is all inside the red bus.  All the seating is inside the building or on the porch or picnic tables.  They have really good nachos and milkshakes!

Airport - This is where Mom McCalvy works and one of the two ways into town (the other is by ferry).  The airport terminal is that blue building in the background of the picture.  Merle K Smith was an Alaska bush pilot who flew for  Cordova Air Service and was eventually it's president for 29 years until it merged with Alaska Airlines.  He earned the nickname "Mudhole" when his plane augured into a mud hole on a tundra runway at the Bremner Mine (near McCarthy).  He spent the night scraping mud out of the engine and was able to take off again the next day. 

James and Mom McCalvy

I didn't get a picture of the Post Office or the PostMaster on this trip, but I did find one from May 2008 - I love that mural in the background.  I don't know what any other Post Office in the world looks like in the back room, but I like this one.

One beautiful day, Kathleen and I rode our bikes from home into town (about 4.5 miles).  We were about .75 miles on our way and stopped to look at a highway marker when McKinley caught up to us.  She was happy to be out for a run.  And then we got to ride with her home again and then back on our way to town - thanks McKinley for adding 1.5 miles to our ride!

Wildlife at the marina.  This beautiful bird speared a little fish or something while we watched her.  Mostly we see seagulls and maybe some otters or seals in the water.  So this heron was a nice change.

See - seagulls.  The younger ones are mostly gray, while the mature birds are the white and gray variety.  They are entertaining to watch though - especially the young ones.  One tried to land on the railing and missed - he was straddling the railing with his feet and wings wildly flapping around.  He finally lifted back off and I assume flew somewhere else out of embarrasment.  Another young bird landed directly ontop of a second young bird.  Both of them had their wings out for balance and it was a bit of a seagull totem pole for a few seconds.

I never did get to go for a ride in the river skiff, but I did get to hold onto the tie rope while James attempted to get the motor started.  We took it back home and Dick and James got it to start right up.  I had to leave town before it was officially launched for the summer, but I hope there are many, many fish caught from inside.

A favorite activity is to "drive out the road" or drive any distance along the Copper River Highway.  It is paved for the first 13 miles out to the airport.  And then it is a dirt road for another 30+ miles out to Child's Glacier and the Million Dollar Bridge.  We saw a few moose, tons of seals in the river and tons of eagles.  This eagle has a great perch above the river.

So... Those are some bits and pieces of a small Alaska community.  One of my favorites!