Utah Road Trip

My cousin Erika was getting married in Utah. What better excuse to pack up the kids for a road trip? Any Northwestern Mormon knows the drive to Utah well. This was my first time driving from Seattle as opposed to the Tri-Cities. It's a twelve plus hour drive. Our plan was to leave early in the morning to take advantage of the girls being asleep. It took 16 hours counting all the potty breaks and run-around breaks. My sister Miranda mercifully put us up for the duration of our stay in scenic Eagle Mountain. The next morning was the temple ceremony in the brand new Draper Temple with the reception in the evening. Ginny really thought Erika was a real princess, thus the ecstatic look in this picture: Between the Temple and the reception we stopped in to see some of Bri's cousins and her Grandma. Everyone had a great time while I slept off the drive on the couch. This is Bri's cousin Missy with selected grandkids of her uncle Steve.
This is Lauren with her two kids. Katie and Kelly also stopped in.

That evening we were treated to the world's game. That's right Major League Soccer, Real Salt Lake. I've been to a few crazy soccer games in my day, but this was the craziest scoring wise. After being down 2-0 at halftime I was bracing for an embarrassing defeat. Then we came back and scored 4 goals in the second half. To top it off, we blocked a penalty kick. We were overjoyed:Saturday morning we went to visit my high school era pal Keith's family. We got to see their luxurious accommodations in South Provo. Sorry, no pics. A word on heat: it was really hot the whole time. Saturday was actually the coolest day, but it was still plenty warm for a little slip and slide. Ginny was a natural, though she preferred running down instead of sliding. Here she is sliding with a little help from dad.

Phil introduced us to the idea of the slip-and-slide relay. It entailed sliding the length of the slip and slide, getting up and completely submerging in the pool (which ended up giving me some trouble), then racing back to the starting point. It turned out to be a good mix of slap-stick and skill. Bri even got in on the action. Enjoy these clips!

We had a great time. Big thanks to the Lewises for room, board, and entertainment. We had a blast.

We are having a...

Girl! Apparently we are good at girls. So just incase you were wondering, we have a girl coming December 17th, but probably later because I dont go into labor. Anyone who sends me early delivery vibes will recieve chocolate desserts made by me. Here is a picture from today, and now I can see the Ginny/Violet resemblance. We will post our trip to Utah soon.

Goat Rocks Fiasco

It started with a bargain. Bri came up with it: Ben finishes reading the Twilight series (he was bogged down in book two) and Bri goes backpacking with Ben in the Goat Rocks. Deal. In case you're wondering why the Goat Rocks, it's where the vampires go hunting in book one. It was also on my list of places to check out. In case you're wondering what the Goat Rocks are, they're a high volcanic ridge just south of White Pass in south central Washington. The next major development came a few weeks later when we found out Bri was pregnant. But the deal had been made. That brings us to last Friday, when we set out from Conrad Meadows into the heart of the wilderness. Here's Bri with the highest point of the Goat rocks in the background. That was our destination.

So Conrad Meadows is apparently the largest sub alpine meadow in Washington. Take that for what it's worth. The first section is actually range land for cattle. After a few miles you get into the Goat Rocks Wilderness. Bri was stoked.It was a hot day. It was 102 when we passed through Yakima. Luckily the altitude, time of day, and shade were on our side. The mosquitoes were not on our side. Despite applying bug spray Ben ended up with 76 bites, mostly on the back of his upper arms, where he missed with the bug spray. Bri escaped with only a handfull. After a long hike with plenty of elevation gain we came to this nice cliff where we camped the night. What a view! Did we mention this was Bri's first backpacking trip ever? Another first for Bri was drinking water straight from a glacier (ok, ok, its technically a permanent snow field). Here's Ben refilling our water supply. Around our campsite we stumbled upon an entire herd of what Ben believes were mule deer. There were about ten that we saw, including big males and babies. They checked us out for a minute then ran off. We were the only people out there. Speaking of animals, Bri proved to be like a mountain goat, only much more attractive. Here she is tackling some snow. That women is four months pregnant!
Let's be honest. This trip was hard on Bri. Her bag was only about 15 pounds, but Ben ended up carrying it about a third of the way, including almost all the uphill parts. Here's what that looked like as we arrived at Surprise Lake on Saturday morning.
Our grand total in mileage was about 15 or 16 miles. It was a great time. Next time we'll do something a little shorter when Bri is a little less pregnant, though.

Violet shows walking skill, still lacks interest

Good headline huh? Yeah, so she started walking on Sunday. I even managed to get seven steps out of her today. The only thing is that she doesn't do it on her own. I have to stand her up and say, "Violet come here," or "Walk Vi!" I know I shouldn't rush her. You just wait, she will walk on her own this weekend while Ben and I are away, and we will miss it. Yes, Ben is trying to kill his pregnant wife by taking her up a mountain overnight. Okay, Okay, no the real story is I told him I would hike the Goat Rocks with him if he finished the Twilight series. He did. So think of me on Friday and Saturday, I'll need some good vibes. I'm sure I'll be fine, unless I meet any VAMPIRES!!! We will post photos when we're back.

Meanwhile heres a Vi Video.

Independence (from hunger) Day

Happy 4th of July! Bri went all out to make this 96 cupcake American flag. Just Bri being Bri. Ginny helped by placing all the candy on the red cupcakes (except the hearts). We went to Ben's Brother's house in unincorporated King County for some barbecue and explosives. Yeah, we had mortars. Here's a sampling of some of the ten cousins present (a relatively small number for a Wilson get together).

We partook of steak; potato, pasta, and jello salad; corn on the cob; etc. followed up by some mean desserts, including Grammy's apple strudel straight from the "old country," but shaped in an American flag. America was honored.

After things got dark we busted out the fireworks. It was a little strange to hear parents encouraging their kids to play with fire ("Come on, fire is cool!"). We had sparklers, fountains, strobes, and some of the big guns. It was a lot of fun.

Growing Up

Virginia started ballet today. Okay actually its called creative movement, she has to be four years old to do ballet. Yesterday we bought her her first pair of ballet slippers. I was so proud of her sitting so still but excited as they brought in pairs of slippers to try on. We also bought tights since we were there. It was the same store where I bought my dance slippers back when I danced for institute choir, which actually wasnt very long ago.

Here she is all dressed up, she is using hand me downs from Liliaan besides the slippers and tights we bought.

Here she is going to class.

Her slippers and a snack are in her back-pack.

Ben fought back a few tears last night when he held her little slippers in his hand. He had to chuck them out of his hands to keep the tears back. :) She did just fine even when I left her, this is her first class, besides nursery at church. Her buddy Riley is in her class, so lucky! Our little angel is getting so grown up.

Graduations and Milestones

This last week was a week of milestones for the Wilson Family. Everyone had a little something; let's go in order of age.

Ben

Ben graduated with his PhD in Electrical Engineering. He's not actually done yet, but you can walk if you plan on graduating summer quarter (July 29th, mark your calenders). PhD's get super cool caps and gowns, that make them look like Vasco da Gama or Henry VIII. They also get hooded by their advisers. Interesting fact: by July 29th Ben will have been in college for ten years, ten months, and one day.

Ben celebrated this fabricated milestone by jogging up Mount Pilchuck with Brandon. This was a home-by-lunch hike that packed a lot of punch.

Bri

Bri was working a little magic of her own. She's been taking one institute class a quarter since she got her bachelor's. Well, she graduated from Institute again. This was the fifth time. She would like to share a thought:

"I started attending institute in fall 2001, and basically didn't stop. I knew I wanted to take a class but then I realized I could park for free all day if I took a morning and afternoon class. This was great considering I commuted from Snoqualmie to UW. The institute program has been a guiding light for me throughout college and now into four and half years of marriage (2.3 kids later). With the many trials I have faced no matter the size, institute was the basis for my spiritual development. I have a stronger testimony of the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ, have developed scripture study skills, and I have always had others to ask questions to, to help me along the way. I know that our Savior lives and loves us, I know that the Book of Mormon is true witness of Christ, I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and restored the church in the latter days. These are all testimonies strengthen by my attendance and personal study. I hope that my understanding will be pass on to my children and strengthen my family. Thanks to all who have help me along the way."

Ginny

After nine months of being potty trained Ginny final past that last lingering hurtle. She ditched the bedtime pull-up. That's right, Ginny is now sleeping away in her big girl panties. Both she and her parents are ecstatic.

Violet

Last of all is Violet. Her milestone is that she is now considering maybe trying to walk. This is a change from not wanting to walk at all. In the mean time she's living up her last remaining time as a free-loader.

BNT

Baby number three is now thirteen weeks old. He/she is now a member of the bigger-than-a-peach club!