And...We're Back!

Oh, you didn't know we were gone?

Nate has basically a month off work (did a temp job for the summer and starts with EY October 6!), so we decided to take a Loooonnnnggg vacation.

We started out at Mt. Rushmore. Pretty cool. Moving on. :)

We went to Bismarck to see my parentals and little sistahs for two of the weeks. My mom spent the whole time apologizing for all the stuff we didn't do (silly woman) and we spent the two weeks telling her now nice it was to just spend time with them! :)

We did, actually, go to a couple of museums and planned to go jet-skiing (love North Dakota weather!), Nate and I read ALL THREE Hunger Games (thanks everyone for watching our kid!), did a bonfire and had dinner at Space Aliens, so I'd say overall it was a perfect trip to Bismarck. I took my camera, but as we all know how awesome I am at taking pictures, here are some my mom took:

Suz and Karly were good buds (not only does my mom take pictures, but they look artistic! Why didn't I get any of that?)

Apparently is was mostly Suzie watching my kid while I read books. :)

Nate and dad watched the BYU games every Saturday and Karly sported the true blue each time. Too bad it didn't help...Even though it's blurry I LOVE this picture. So cute and candid.

We played dress up with a very confused Karly.
We went to the zoo, which happens to have a petting/feeding section to it. You have no idea how much I sanitized her hands after this. :)
Looking at the ducks.

Don't worry, there's a glass wall between my daughter's hand and the ridiculously large tiger, who stared at her like she was a gazelle.
We played in grandma's big tub with the jets.
I don't know what on earth she's doing, but dad (grandpa) was happy to have the attention.

Sharing food with daddy.

She had an ear infection while we were there and did NOT get the sleep she needed. This was about 7:00, which is 6:00 PM, our time, so she must have just been exhausted. This is the first time she's ever fallen asleep like that.

We made our boneless buffalo wings and completely pigged out. I don't even want to talk about how much weight I gained on this trip.

SO! That was North Dakota. From there, we drove to Utah via Yellowstone.

There was a controlled burn in Yellowstone while we drove through - this picture doesn't show it, but we could actually see the flames. Cool (that's the pyro in me talking...).

Waterfalls. Really big ones that even scared Nate. And here they are leaning over the edge. Makes me shudder.

I love how we are squinting in all our family pictures.

Waiting for Old Faithful.

Still waiting (it was COLD!)

We also went to Utah for a week to hang out with friends and family there. I took a total of 3 pictures, one of which was blurry and another which was the same as this one:

I love this picture. This is Bridget, Karly's good friend (and daughter to our friends Jake and Mekelle - we miss you guys!). I love the contrast in the faces.

We actually stayed the week at Adam and Becki's house (thanks again and again!) and hung out with little Mia. I think Karly enjoyed finally being the older kid!

We went down to BYU and both tried to visit our old jobs (nobody was there at Nate's and the stupid security guard wouldn't let me on the floor at AT&T - do I really look like someone who is going to steal secrets? If I was going to do that, I would have when I worked there!). Ahem. Anyway, it was fun to see friends and family while there.

Now home and back to real life!

Triathlon? Check.

For those who didnt' already know, I have been training for a triathlon. I just completed it last Saturday.

The operative word there is COMPLETED. I did a triathlon. It was awesome.

Now, before you start thinking I'm now a super athlete (ha), let me give a few more details. It was a sprint triathlon (so half the length of an olympic traithlon), it was with my ward so there were like 10 of us total and it was totally low key and finally, I came in dead last.

No super athlete here! :)

And now for the excuses for WHY I came in dead last (this is mostly for my benefit - to make me feel better...): I basically hadn't exercised for 2 years, I only trained for 10 weeks and in that 10 weeks, one week we had family in town and another week I was sick.

So anyway, I'm not sharing my times, but I will share a couple of pictures.

The whole group, pre-race

On your mark, get set...

That's me in the red cap in the front. I was actually in the lead for the first 400 yards and in a close 2nd for the rest of the swimming...

...it was the biking...

...and running that did me in.

But I finished!

Thanks to Nate and Karly for being there to support me and Jordan and Paige for coming to the finish line!

And thanks IHOP for existing so you could be my reward! :)

She is the only reason you're on here, huh?

I just have a bunch of random, cute pictures of Kar and I just love showing off this kid.

"waf" as Karly calls flowers (anything that starts with an F actually has the F sound at the end. Phone is Ohf, Food is Oof, Flowers are waf or awf. Totally funny).
My little smurf. She was blue all day from her blue popsicle (which she loves).
Man that kid loves Elmo! (Eck, as she calls him - I have no idea why). And yes, that is Julia Roberts - looking about 15 years younger - with Elmo

Dress up girlie!

MacLennans come to visit!

This past week, Connor, Lindsey and Graham came to visit, so I actually had an excuse to pull out the camera and take pictures! It was fun to have them here and since they were coming, Trav, Rachel and Kim decided to come as well) We loved having everyone together (except Bran Muffin :D - missed you!).

Here are a few pics for your enjoyment (prepare yourself for picture overload! and most of them of Karly!):

Tuesday: ZOO

Oh man, this day was so fun. Karly loves saying animals and it's SO much better when she can say it right in front of them!

Wednesday: WATER PARK

This was just a little kid park and my kid LOVES water. She was shivering and still didn't want to get out. Though she definitely does NOT like laying on her back. Might not do backstroke like her mama.

My cute little fishy. :)

Thursday: ESTES PARK/ROCKY MTN NAT'L PARK

Not surprisingly, I took more pictures on this trip of one stupid elk than people. I don't know why I do that. Just pray I forget my camera when we go to Yellowstone in the fall. :D

Once again, my water loving baby wanted to play in the freezing water, right next to a waterfall.
I just love having random strangers take your picture. They turn out so well....
The stupid elk. This was actually just about the only wildlife we saw. And he was practically IN Estes Park.

I love this picture of Karly. She looks like a little puppy hanging out the car window (she CAN pant like a dog - she just wasn't here...)

I don't really have any updates, but it's almost 2:00 AM and I can't sleep and I've already looked at all my blogs and Facebook, so I thought I'd write a little on here.

First of all, anyone know any cures for undiagnosed insomnia? And don't suggest Tylenol PM or anything like that. I still take forever to fall asleep when I take that and then I can't wake up in the morning and take care of my kid. But anything else? :)

So anyway, last weekend we went to a Frakes Family Reunion. First time in over 10 years (so I hear) that the whole family has gotten together. First time I had met 2 of Dan's (my Father in law) siblings. It was so fun to meet everyone and get to know even better those I had met! I, of course, took zero pictures. I think Kim is the only one from the Dan Frakes family who took any, so you get nothing here. Just imagine a lot of laughing and making fun of each other and river rafting and babies and food!

Other than that, life has been pretty chill. Since Dan and Kippy moved into a brand new house, we are helping to put the yard in this summer and that's about the most exciting that that has happened. :) But honestly, it's been really good to have down time and let Karly play with her cousin and work on a normal schedule (I feel like I've always been working on that?).

Nate, however, has not been "chilling." He is working full time while studying for the CPA exam. He has one section on Saturday (pray for him!) and has already taken one. Can I brag for a minute? You need 75% to pass each section. My super smarty pants hubby got a 94% on that first section! Woohoo! Okay, done bragging.

And for those who don't care about our life here are pictures of Karly. :) And other randomness (keep in mind it's 2 in the morning).

Karly is learning the parts of the face and will come up to you and says "ahs" and poke you (hard) in the eye. I'm not sure that's what she's doing in the above picture, but it reminded me of that.

Refried Beans.

One of my favorite times is when she's just waking up. She's so loopy and hilarious.
I miss this place:
Also, do you remember when my feet looked like this?

For those who don't know what my feet normally look like:

Doesn't even look like the same person's feet.

Anyway, I'm going to go try to fall asleep. Wish me luck!

Another evidence she is my child

So now the internet world can see a glimpse of what I was like as a child.

Here's Karly's story. Nate picked us up from the airport when we got back from Arizona. Karly had taken a grand total of 5 minutes worth of naps that day (this was at 5:00 pm). I had given her a bottle, but she kept pushing it away and it ended up on the back seat. I looked back and she had her big toe in her mouth and was sucking on it. She was literally almost asleep. SO funny. Not quite sucking her thumb, but close enough I guess?

My little water baby

Hey family: that's a rock in her hand/mouth. Does that remind you of anyone? :)

She would have stayed in that water all night had I let her.

Also, notice her little cousin in a couple of the pictures - she's the anti water baby. :)