Another Hike and a Question

This was The Hike That Almost Didn't Happen, since Utah doesn't know what "May" or "spring" actually mean (although, in Utah's defense, those are both homonyms). Our original hike was still crazy snowy, but instead of going home we let Jesus take the wheel and ended up doing Battle Creek instead. (Actually, we plugged "Battle Creek" into the GPS, which led us to a church, which led us to the trail. So it was almost Jesus.)

It was a short but steep hike, and I didn't know there was a waterfall, so that was a nice surprise. Not a nice surprise: the super awkward high school kids at the top of the trail who love Glee so much that they decided to sit by the waterfall and sing four part harmony for everyone. Loudly.

"This hike brought to you by Rogers and Hammerstein." - Dan

Also, we have discovered Anda's new arch nemesis: The ladybug. And low-hanging branches. She got a little beat up this time, but stuck it out and got a Purple Turtle milkshake at the end.

I spread some compost/table scraps in our garden spot a month or two ago, and I am pretty sure we have some surprise pumpkins popping up. However, I don't know what this is. It looks pretty planty, but does anyone know if it's actually a weed? I'm torn between nurturing and killing.

On Mother's Day

I hate it when people say dads are "baby-sitting" their own children...but Dan really means it.



Thanks for a nice Mother's Day, Dan. And thank you, Mom, for being such a great mother.

I also want to post this video of Anda on her swing. I don't really have a good segue for that one.

New Swing

We finally got around to putting up Anda's birthday present swing. She loves it.

Birthday Week

This has been a fun week.

We had a birthday barbecue/Annual Carter Fun Times Barbecue last Saturday. It was cold and miserable all week, but, like all men, the weather fears my terrible wrath, so it cleared up beautifully for us that day. I took a couple of pictures of the birthday girl in her dress before the party.

My very talented friend Veronika made not only a fabulous two-tiered birthday cake, but also a cute smash-cake for Anda. I ate all three kinds of cake and they were all delicious.

I did a terrible job taking pictures of the attendees (as in, I didn't take any), but there were enough people there that our rendition of "Happy Birthday" scared the guest of honor a little. She got over it pretty quickly once she realized those polka-dots were made of sugar. I have to admit that she was actually very dainty with the smash-cake and that any visible smashing was probably my doing. She sure liked it, though.

Dan made a rocket for Anda and I painted it in what I've decided are her favorite colors and pattern. The Anda 1000 flew like a champ, but was lost on its maiden voyage. Anda got to push the launch button, which, judging by her reaction, was just as scary as the "Happy Birthday" song.

Thanks to everyone who came. It was a blast! PUN TOTALLY INTENDED.

Today, her actual birthday, we had our own little family celebration. Actually, we had several celebrations. Grandma and Grandpa joined us via the magic of the internet this morning to watch her open the gifts they sent, which were adorable. Then we all went to her favorite restaurant (she has very mature taste and loves to eat Thai food--as well as lotion, paper, and wood chips) and picked up cupcakes on the way home. When we got home, we had another web chat with Nana and Papa (with Auntie Amy making a brief appearance) so they could watch her very daintily pick minuscule strips of wrapping paper off her present, then pick strips of cardboard off the box. She is a thorough unwrapper. Again, more adorable gifts. Hopefully all these seriously fun books she got will help get her more interested in sitting still long enough to look at them.

Her final present was one Dan was very excited to get her, and with good reason. Look at this child prodigy!

We sang "Happy Birthday" again, and before I could get the video camera out, she had grabbed a huge fistful of icing off the top of the cupcake and shoved it in her mouth. The rest is history.

To top it all off, this week was a very exciting one of firsts. The morning of the barbecue, Anda took her first steps. She has been steadily improving ever since--one of these improvements being the Frankenstein monster arms that accompany every waddle.

And, finally, just before she went to bed, we discovered that she is cutting her very first tooth!

We love our little science experiment, and look forward to all the years to come.

Happy Birthday, Chicken!

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