Catching Up

It is ridiculous how long it has been since I've posted! The truth is that I have been waiting to get Evie's birthday pictures so that I can do things in order. My sisters took pictures, but I just don't have them yet. All I have to do is go to my parents house and put them on a flash drive...but I so easily forget every time I am there!
I feel awful for slacking on my goal of being consistent for 6 months. I guess I will just have to extend it another month (and then I can be as inconsistent as I want :). No, that's not the goal- but I won't feel as bad when I don't have a concrete goal. Which is why I don't like to set goals. Wow, I am just sounding like a greater person every second. Goals are good, and I'm going to be better at setting them. At least that's the goal :).

Instead of waiting for the pictures of Ev's birthday, I will just post one now and then do the rest later. That is a good way to ease my mind of disorder. 

So, without further delay....here she is in all of her glory. She loved her cake and basically downed the whole thing. She along with her chair.

If anyone is wondering why her Uncle Jared and David are asleep, we had Evie's party after the Freedom Festival Parade. Most people in our family don't get very much sleep on the eve of the parade. It is such a fun tradition that we have in our family. Since we grew up on University Avenue in Provo, the parade always went right past our house. We would stay up all night saving seats for our family and friends. When that wouldn't work, we would turn on the sprinklers to save our seats for us (or to steal them back). He he, we're such rebels.

Speaking of the parade, a man from the Salt Lake Tribune took this awesome photo of Evie. It was online the next day. Look at her, walking like a big girl on her birthday! 

My baby is a firecracker! This picture makes me so happy! The 4th and the days around it were so fun this year. My sister Allison came into town, so that was fun to see her family again.

Evie watching the parade from her cousin Addy's princess chair

Here are some pictures from the balloon fest this year. It's too bad that none of the balloons made it into the air the day we went to see them! That sort of made the 6:00 a.m. trip to Fox field not worth it.

The Coke bottle was the closest to making it anywhere, but quickly fell after it got to this point

All the people that had parked themselves under it after it got up, had to make a run for it when it fell down again!

My niece Natalie and me watching the balloons

Spencer and Evie- anxiously waiting for something that would not happen

I love the 4th, I love our country. I feel so grateful that we are in a promised land and we are privileged to enjoy our freedom. This land really is choice above all other lands. Yay for America!!

Evie says...

Have a happy day!!

Really, I just cannot get enough of this girl! She is so much fun, so happy and so cute! In case anyone was wondering, this is her new car seat that she really enjoyed lounging in before we finally put it in the car (yesterday!). I think she likes to face forward like the big people and it is a lot easier for us to take care of her needs. I can't believe she's already one (her birthday was on July 5th)! Don't worry, I'll be posting a bunch of birthday pics...once I can get my hands on some. Our camera was out of commission that day :(.

I just thought that this picture could bring a smile to more faces than just mine. So, be happy- just like Evie!

YAY for WES!!!

After a year of waiting due to two pre-requisite classes, today Wes found out that he was accepted into the Information Systems program at BYU! I'm so excited, he's ecstatic, and life couldn't be better. 

Just so you know how prestigious this program is, below is part of the notice of acceptance he received: 

 

Our undergraduate program was recently cited by TechRepublic as being one of the top 10 IT undergraduate programs in the nation and we are thrilled that you have chosen to be part of the BSIS program to help further your study in information systems. You will be challenged and stretched as you experience the ISYS Core and other required coursework. We welcome you and look forward to working with you closely in the coming years.
 

I know it will be challenging for him, but I also know he can do anything he puts his mind to. We are just so blessed and finally have a clear direction! Happy Day for the Ostlers :).

Swing Swing

My sister Allison was nice enough to let us use their swing when Evie was born. She liked it okay at best, but would start crying if I left the room. It had been about 3 months since she had been in it at all, so I decided to move it the our living room, planning to take it to our storage shed. About a week ago, to my surprise, she started playing with it, swinging it back and forth and trying to press the music buttons. So I put her in it. This time she LOVED it! I couldn't believe it; what she was once crying to get out of, she was crying to get into. 

On Monday I put her in it for a long while and finally she seemed ready to get out, or so I thought. I left Evie in the living room to play while I went to the back room to vacuum. Here is a picture of the beloved swing as I left it. 

Evie was being abnormally quite, so I thought something might be wrong. No, nothing was wrong. She was having the time of her life. This is what the scene looked like as I entered back into the living room. She had managed to climb back into her swing, lock the tray back into position, and was swinging herself by holding onto the bar and moving back and forth. I really need to keep my eye on her! 

I took her out to see the process of how she did it. It was fun to watch, but now she thinks it's a game! At least it makes her happy, which makes me happy. I just love this girl! 

Look mom, I did it again!

How could life get any better?

Idaho

The reason why I haven't blogged for a while is because I went up to Idaho and visited my sister Allison for a week. Wes went to down to Zions with the YM, and I really didn't want to be home by myself, so I thought it the perfect opportunity for Evie to spend some time with her cousins! Allison's youngest Brielle is exactly one month younger than Evie. They aren't exactly in the 'playing' stage yet, but they can co-exist next to each other. Allison just sent me some pictures from when I was up there. Unfortunately they are all on the same day, but that's okay- they're cute still!

Evie doesn't know how to smile for a camera.....

but she sure knows how to take away toys.

On Thursday night we went to the Rodeo with some of Reid's cousins. Here I am with Evie on the benches watching the cowboys rope the cows. 

She was such a wiggle worm that evening! She started to cry because she wanted to play around, so I took her over to the petting zoo where we spent the rest of the evening on a bail of hay. I didn't sit on the hay, but Evs had a great time. She seriously loved every minute of it- especially when the sheep would come and sniff her. 

Here she is feeding the sheep, or at least trying :).

With Cousin Brielle. Aren't they so cute together? 

Even though they're only a month apart, Evie is so much larger.

She really didn't want to leave, but it became necessary as her diaper had leaked through to her jeans. 

Oh the joys of parenthood. 

While I was up there we also went shopping a bunch, made cute bows for our babies, watched good movies, painted toenails (thanks for the pretty toes), and ate lots of yummy food. It was fun to visit my family up in Idaho, but we were also happy to see daddy Wes again when we got home! Thanks for the fun trip Allison! 

What is it with kids and dryers?

I really don't know what could be MORE exciting in their little world. A barrel of clothes = a barrel of fun.  Live it up, Evie.

Camping Attempt #1

Wes and I decided to venture out on Monday afternoon to one of his favorite camping spots. He would always go there in high school with his buddies. Last year we tried to go at the end of May, but the Alpine loop was closed down and I was nearly 8 months pregnant- so hiking was not an option. We found that the Alpine loop was open this year, but when we got to the road that leads to the spot, the gate was closed! So, with no other options, we decided to hike in.


Here we are at the beginning of the trail. We were pretty excited...although the backpack with Evie, the queen size inflatable mattress, and the tent were a pain to carry.

Evie was way excited too...although you can't tell by her expression. 

There we go, she looks a little happier there.

On the trail there was a bunch of snow...but that didn't deter us.

Then we ran into some guys who had just been skiing. That should have been our first sign to turn around. They told us that it was five miles to the place they were skiing. Wes didn't believe it, Wes didn't think it could be that along. So we continued on. Later we saw more skiers and they told us it was a mile longer. Well, what they thought was a mile, felt like forever!

The trail just kept getting more and more full of snow....

until basically the whole trail was filled with snow. Finally, we saw the place that the skiers had been and Wes' heart sank very quickly. Everywhere we looked there was snow. We were too bummed at this point to take pictures. It was cold, Evie's lips were turning purple, we were still miles away from Wes' favorite spot. So we did what any sane person would do, and turned around.

Since it was still pretty cold, we just decided to cook our dinner and go back home.
We had BBQ chicken inside tortillas (we carried around that heavy pan on the hike!). It was surprising very good!

Yes, I look like a chipmunk, I know. Evie had a fun time playing around the campsite and on the table.

And here she is eating her cracker.

Although our camping plans didn't work out, it was still a lot of fun, and hopefully a good learning experience. We realized that we need to know a little more about where we are going before we try to get there. Wes had always hiked in from a different way, so he didn't know how long the other way was. When we got home, we looked it up on google maps and it was almost 7 miles from where we started to where the place was. I'm just glad we didn't go any further. Now we're ready to plan our next camping trip!

Shopping and Escaping

Evie likes to go shopping a little bit more than her Dad, but for some reason she always tries to get out of every cart she is ever in! Even when she has her fun cart safari from her Aunt Jenni and Great-Grandma Ostler (thanks guys!), she still tries to escape! All toys can only entertain kids for so long.

It can't be safe when she is standing up in the cart where she's supposed to sit. So I finally give in to the inevitable, and put her down in the cart where she can't get out. At least the chair makes a nice holder for mommy's purse. It's amazing how two little sample cups can entertain kids for hours!

Maybe next time I'll try to use the straps for the cart....I just have a feeling that they will be just as effective for Evie as the straps are for her chair at home. She always finds a way to get out of anything! I guess I can say that it is never boring with Evie!