6 months old

 

Around 2 o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, I realized that Hannah turned 6 months old that day. I figured I ought to feed her something. We had a little party when Matthew turned 6 months old, but that's partly because we were at my aunt's house babysitting my cousins. So I searched through the kitchen to see what I already had that I could puree for her, and decided on apples. I made half a cake for Matthew's half-birthday, and it was terrible. This time, I decided to play it safe with brownies. I took her to her check-up on Monday, and she now weights 16 pounds and 3 ounces (57%) and 26 inches in length (59%). She still only rolls over one way - back to stomach - but she loves to sit up. And she has perfected smiling for the camera. Not a cheesy smile like Matthew, but a full on beautiful smile. 

 

Hannah's first bite

 

Tricking her to eat more

Temple Square

Yesterday, I decided to take the kids to Temple Square for the afternoon. Matthew was excited to see the Temple. The gates were even open, so he was able to go and touch the temple. We also visited the North Visitor's Center and the Church History Museum. It ended up being a fun afternoon. Looking at the pictures makes me feel like I should do more little outings with the kids. Then I remember that I had to drag Matthew back to the car, and I realize why we don't.

 

Basketball

 

I never did get a video of Matthew playing basketball when he was one. I bought him a basketball hoop a month or so after he turned one, but I didn't really realize that a four foot hoop probably wasn't the right height for a 30" tall little boy. However, by 16 months he managed to make a basket. I had moved it indoors for the winter, and he got quite good and making shots. Yet, whenever I pulled out the camera, he would either consistently miss or stop and stare at my camera. So, here a year later is a video of Matthew playing basketball.

Bubbles and a Kitty Cat

 The weather has been perfect here, so the kids and I hung out in the backyard the other day. While we were outside, our neighbors cat came and joined us. She's the friendliest cat I've ever met. She's great with the kids; if I were to get a cat, I would want one just like her - except short-haired. Matthew was playing the bubbles, and the cat found that so interesting. She would try and get the bubbles, which Matthew thought was hilarious. Later, Matthew threw the bubble lid - because he throws everything he can - and the cat went to investigate. Matthew thought that was fun, so he threw it again and said, "Go get it." I just shook my head ... Matthew trying to play fetch with the kitty cat.

 

My Happy Hannah Baby

 

 

 

Weekend at Jacob's

Last weekend, we got to visit Jacob and Serene and check out their new house. It's a really nice house, and Serene has done a great job decorating. Maybe someday my house will look as cute. We arrived Friday night, and just hung out and chatted. Jacob and Serene had found out a few days before the gender of their baby, and they surprised us with a pink cake to reveal that they are having a girl. On Saturday, we ate breakfast at Pufferbelly's, a cute breakfast restaurant at the train station in Grand Junction.

Afterwards, we went up the mountains to take some cute fall photos. Unfortunately, Mark wasn't aware we were going anywhere afterwards, and I didn't realize how far it was. Consequently, we were extremely low on gas. To make matters worse, there was no reception, so we couldn't call Jacob in the lead car to tell him to stop. As we drive farther and farther up the mountain, Mark starts getting worried. We tried pulling over, but Jacob didn't notice. Then we tried driving with our emergency blinkers on, but still no dice. Finally, we sped up right behind him and honked to get his attention. Jacob was thinking there would be gas in a small town just below our destination, but there wasn't. Someone in town directed us about 10 miles toward another town that did have a gas station. It was a bit of a detour, but we filled up the car and everything worked out.

Serene had intended for us to take pictures at an old ski resort with all the fall colors. But when we got up there, we realized we were too high and the leaves had all fallen. We went down a bit and found an abandoned Kiwanis campground to take pictures at. Afterwards, we went back to Jacob's and watched the Ohio State football game. Then, for the evening, we went to a pumpkin patch place with a corn maze, petting zoo, slide, etc. It was fun, but we went a bit late in the day and Matthew hadn't really taken a nap that day, so he was pretty cranky the whole time. The nice part was that once we got back to Jacob's, Matthew and Ayden went down for the night. We had some nice adult time. Per Pingel tradition, we played the train game and watched the new Star Trek movie. It was a great weekend.  I love living within driving distance of family.

 

 

Arches National Park

Last week, we went to visit my brother Jacob in Colorado with my brothers Aaron and Benjamin. We decided to visit Arches National Park on our way down. We got off much later than we were planning. Consequently, on Friday we only had time for one small hike. We visited Double Arch, which is the arch shown in the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was only a quarter mile walk to the base of the arch, and then there was plenty of places to climb the slick rock. I hadn't been to Arches since I was a kid, so it was fun to go back. Because we didn't have much time on Friday, we decided to return on Sunday on our way back home. We did the Park Avenue hike - actually, I fed the baby and then met everyone at the end of the hike. I had a nice conversation with an international couple - he was from Hungary and she was from Malaysia. Benjamin got to practice his Malay and they took a group photo for us. I love meeting people from all over at the National Parks. Our last hike was the Delicate Arch viewpoint. I would have loved to hike to Delicate Arch, but practically speaking, it would have been a terrible idea with the three kids. We did the viewpoint hike, which was nice, though the kids were all very tired. Of course, Matthew fell at the very end and scratched up his face. All in all, it is a gorgeous park. Sometime, I'll go back and hike Delicate Arch again, and maybe even go for a bike ride in the Moab area.

The Old WPA poster of Double Arch

 

Double Arch

Melissa and Hannah

Benjamin

Benjamin and Jess

Mark and I

View from the Arch

Benjamin and Jess

Matthew and Ayden

Ayden and Aaron

Ayden and I

Mark and Matthew

Melissa, Aaron and Ayden

Delicate Arch

Benjamin, Jess and Hannah

Matthew and Ayden