Grand Teton Camping Trip

Anna, Addi and I just got back from a week in the Teton's.    Addison was such a trooper, the trip took us 1900 miles and we spend 36 hours in the car over the 6 days we were gone but it was all worth it.   Here are but a few of the pictures of the great memories of her second road trip/camping trip, we forgot to take any pictures during the first one. 

Day 1 - Camping at Sugarite Canyon State Park

 Day 1 was driving from Albuquerque to Raton in one of the most severe and crazy rain storms I've ever experienced.    I was really glad we had rented a big vehicle for the trip.  

Dinner night 1

 Right before dinner, I went for a run and not a quarter mile from the campground scared up a black bear that was rummaging in a culvert next to the road, he didn't hear me, I didn't hear him and thank the Lord, he took off when I passed him, amazing, he was no further than 10 feet away!

Nap Time

While Daddy was cooking Addi went for a walk

Day 2 - I am so happy when I wake up.

 Addi slept fantastic, we set up two cots and her pack-n-play between us in the REI Hobitat tent.    She woke up every morning with a big smile and ready for whatever might come.    Day 2 we left Sugarite Canyon and drove to Cheyenne.  Along the way we stopped and visited our friends Kneil and Jodi, and their two kiddos Abigail and Bethany.

This was my command and control center for the trip.

After a long trip north we stopped in Cheyenne and...

 I rediscovered KOA's on this trip.  :-)  They do make it a bit easier to camp with a small one.

Daddy and I got beat playing Mom putt putt.   She's really good.  

 The KOA in Cheyenne was really nice.   It was a bit loud because of the proximity to the interstate but it had Putt-Putt and a pool and ended up being a really fun place to stay.

Day 3 - another day of travel but tonight we'll be in the Teton's.

Stopped for coffee at a used book store along the way

 If I can find a way to purchase Anna a used bookstore/coffee house in some sleepy town during our lifetime for her to make her own, I will have done a good thing.  It is a dream for her.   We love stopping in them in little towns when we travel.

Beauty along the way.

Stopped for gas in this rocking town...traffic was rough...

Finally we are here.

Yeah!

Daddy made smore's, these look like something I will try later on 

Morning!

:-) My two beautiful ladies.

Starting the hike around Jenny lake

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Lots of flowers

Might be hard to see but there is an elk bed down in the center of the picture.

Hidden Falls

I love hiking

Love these girls.

Daddy played with my feet

At long last we are done, back at the trailhead

Hiking wore me out.

I got cold so daddy and I snuggled

Pics from a run to Hermitage Point

Same run, pics at Heron Lake

Ahhhhh, tickle time!

Final night camping in Ouray

The trip was wonderful.   We spent a lot of time in the car but we also spent a lot of time taking breaks and going on walks and exploring new places.   Made ton's of new memories!  Jesus did a nice job of creating such beautiful places for us to explore and what a blessing to be able to go and explore the great outdoors for a week.   

Addi is growing so quickly.   She is 6 1/2 months old now, sitting up on her own and teething like a banshee. She starts daycare this week as Anna is going back to school and so am I.  

Double the FUN! Addison Telling a Story and Swimming on the 4th of July

Addison has been talking up a storm.   We've not had a video camera handy for her longest bouts but did get this just yesterday.   We'll keep trying because her little talking spells are so much fun.   She's got a tooth coming in and is teething quite a bit.

Below are some pictures of her swimming lessons.  She went to Kay's All Swim School for two weeks, 8 sessions and swims like a natural.  If she decides to do triathlon she will kick my butt in the pool, course a log could probably kick my butt in the pool.   She learned how to kick, roll, use her arms and go underwater.  It's actually amazing, she uses our breathing as a cue for when to close her eyes and hold her breath and then dives.

Unfortunately we didn't get any shots of Anna in the pool with Addi.   We told the instructor we wanted to switch at the midpoint of her lesson but got caught up in the time and didn't realize it was almost over.   The lessons are pretty quick - 20 minutes!

Anyhow, here she is!

This is Addi looking at Mom, with Amy her swim instructor.

I am NOT a fish!

Motor boat.... 

dive, dive, dive!

Addi loved the green hippo

Still not quite sure about this upside down on my back stuff...

5 months! Sitting, sort of, talking and having a great time playing.

Below are a few of my favorite friends...


My buddy Blue man group

My buddy cupcake

My buddy Beatrice

My buddy Picard

And my BFF, Pooh, who I talk to all the time.  

A Day in the Life of Addison Scarlett Taylor

Wide awake at 7 am ready for a great Saturday. I feel it is important to start may day with a smile-every day.

7:05 Freedom! The moment I gets out of the swaddle, I need to stretch and stretch and stretch.

7:10 After we are all dressed, we have to go say hello to the furry siblings. They tickle my feet.

7:15 No morning is complete without a kiss from Daddy.

7:16 Yummmmmm.

8:00 I am not a big fan of tummy time but Mom and Dad insist that it is necessary for my growth and development. I try my best for about 10 minutes then I break down and cry.

8:10 Getting a clothing change is MY FAVORITE! I laugh when the clothes are pulled over my head. I think this is my favorite time of day so I spit up often so that I can spend more time here.

8:15 Thank goodness Daddy picked out a blue outfit, it makes my blue eyes stand out.

8:30 No day is complete without a conversation in the bouncer.  I get tired of laying around and need to sit up once in a while. I hang out in Daddy's office while Mommy gets ready for the day.

9:00 I've been waiting to get big enough to be carried in the front pack. I have another inch to go before it fits perfect, but for now I don't mind chewing on the fabric. After all, it is the best way to travel.

9:20 The bank is BORING!

10:00 After a walk back home from the bank, my mid-morning shut eye in the swing was in order.

11:30 An hour nap was just the ticket. The binkie is nice, but my fingers are delicious. One of these days I will be a thumb sucker but I can't quite figure that out yet.

12:00 Nothing like another 7 oz bottle when I wake up around noon!

1:00 Costco is not my favorite place. If you want to babysit next time Mom goes to the story I would be much obliged. However, I did get another good nap about 10 minutes after this picture.

3:00 Now this is tummy time I like. Daddy gives me some special attention after I get back from Costco. Can you tell I love my Daddy?

3:30 Story time from the Bible is important. Never neglect your education or your faith, I always say.

4:00 Play time, a walk, the bank, lunch, Costco, tummy time, Bible reading...whew, I am wiped out.

6:30 Finally it is dinner time. Daddy made Mommy steaks! She sure is spoiled. I talked to the ceiling fan through the whole dinner

8:00 What is a day without desert and friends. Adrian fed me and burped me...he is definitely on my top 10 list.

9:30 I can't go to bed without a debriefing on my day to my Winnie the Pooh mobile. The whole gang knows how to listen.

Leaving a Legacy

My great-grandpa Goodner made me a doll cradle when I was perhaps 5 or 6 years old. Today it is worn out, doesn't stand up well and is dirty, but now is when I see its greatest beauty. Despite all of its use when I was young, it means more to me now than ever. Now I understand its history.

My great-grandpa was a man who had always worked with his hands. He was strong. When he gave me this present, however, he was in tears. I remember this clearly but at that age wasn't able to understand why. I received it awkwardly and with little to no thanks. I barely knew him. My mother had explained to me that he had had a stroke and was no longer able to speak. He wanted to give me something special but was unable to communicate to me the love behind it. He was only able to pass it over with a nod of his head and frustrated tears.

I never saw my great-grandpa again.

I was the end of his legacy...the last that he would be able to see and tangibly influence. I keep that doll cradle now as a remembrance of him. I doubt that Addison will ever be able to play with it because of its condition, but perhaps as an adult she will understand that it was crafted by her ancestor. His story is not just about making a doll cradle after having a stroke, it is about what all of us desire deep down...leaving a legacy.

Great-grandpa Goodner left a more lasting legacy, one I hope to leave for Addison. He grew up a half-Cherokee on a farm in Oklahoma several miles from any local town. One day, as a child, he rode his donkey (yes, a donkey) to the church. He rode alone. He chose on his own to follow God with no regard to his parents disinterest. A child coming to the feet of Jesus in a place that probably wasn't that interested in a half-breed poor kid.

That is his legacy. He loved God and his love has passed down to the third and fourth generation!

Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV)Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

Jason and I have been reading a book called Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas that has shifted something in our hearts about what is important (in parenting and life) and what isn't. Of course, we want to provide Addison with the "American Dream" but in 100 years will that really matter? It has only been 30 years since I received that cradle and my great-grandpa has all but passed out of human memory. I don't know how nice his house was or whether or not he wore fashionable clothes, but I do know that he loved God and he loved his children. Even if I didn't know that from experience, I would know it by the legacy of love that has been passed down.

I tend to think of good parenting as giving Addison a nice life of "things": car when she is of driving age, European vacations, new clothes, good education, beautiful home. But those things don't last! If I want to leave a legacy then I have to think about the intangible: sacrifice, love, patience, kindness, humility, listening heart. The only way that I can give those to Addison is to be them myself. Then in 100 years when no one know who I was, the sacrifice, love, patience, kindness, humility, etc... will still survive.

I want to leave her with Matthew 619-21.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

No one can steal that legacy.