Welcome to our World

Okay, so I just couldn't let myself go to sleep tonight before I shared some of the pictures from Jenny's wedding this weekend.  We just got back tonight and should certainly being going to bed early after all the excitement, but I'm too happy looking at pictures to tear myself away from the computer.  What an adventure traveling from here to there & being in Abilene for all the wedding fun.  Jenny & Scott's family and friends are fantastic, and Danny must be praised for the wonderful job he did as a practically single dad the entire weekend.  He is the best husband in the entire world -- sorry Jenny.  (:  I loved being able to celebrate my great friend from high school and watching her enjoy her special weekend.  You can "bet your boots" Texans know how to make sure everyone is having a good time!  I feel so honored & am so glad our little family was able to go.  Thank you, Jenny & Scott!  Congratulations & best wishes to the happy coupl...

We've had a whirlwind of a week and a half, but it's been great.  From June 19th - 22nd we were lucky enough to have Danny's older brother & his family come to visit us.  The best part of the trip was simply seeing the cousins around each other -- especially Berkley & Kaelah crawling all over the place.  Those two (less than 2 months apart in age) made me want to adopt twins! Kaelah really liked the fan at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (above) and both Berkley & Kaelah liked crawling up the stairs.  I'm in the background because neither one of them are free from falling down them yet.  (: While Brennen, Jill, Carter & Berkley went to another baseball game, Danny, Kaelah, & I went to Barb & Mark's wedding celebration.  It was absolutely fantastic -- probably the best wedding I've ever been to b/c it was so uplifting.  We walked away feeling full of faith & more in love than when we walked in.  Thank you, Barb!!! Here's a ...

When we found out Kaelah was coming into our family, we couldn't even imagine her turning 11 months old.  She is just too amazing for words & we're not the only ones that think so.  Complete strangers will come up to us and comment on all sorts of things -- her smile, her hair, her personality, and those big brown eyes.  Kaelah is so much happier now that she can crawl and climb up the stairs.  Her new freedom allows her explore all sorts of things and play with whatever toy she pleases, but in most cases she just wants to be around her parents & her dog.  And believe it or not, she hasn't gotten ahold of anything she shouldn't.  I guess 4 years of dog proofing the house & then adding child safety latches to the cabinets has really paid off.  (: (Kaelah is pictured here sitting on my great-grandmother's rocking chair & in the 2nd pix. playing with one of my childhood toys -- she loves the springy tail.)

Happy Father's Day to Danny, one of the best dads around!  Our family was more than willing to spoil Danny on this special day:  shown here is the outfit his parents mailed out & sitting in the back yard is a brand new bbq grill.  My parents got him the movie Father's Day and cash to take to Hawaii later this year.  Kaelah, my mom, and I also made him a card with little K's hand print on it... which he promptly mentioned he would actually save.  And to top it all off, the Primary presidency let him hang out with his child at church by finding a substitute teacher for him.  You are one well loved man, Daniel Wayne, and you deserve it.  Happy Father's Day!

While in Utah, I had the privilege of my niece, Christine, driving another niece, Ashlee, and I to a couple pizza joints.  Why does everyone ask me if I was scared to drive with a 16-year-old?  How old  do you think I am?  Anyway, Christine recommended the movie 27 Dresses & I adored it.  Predictable like most romantic comedies, but cute cute cute.  On a deeper level, I think many women have a difficult time balancing the needs of others with their own & having a James Marsden around to help remind you to take time out for yourself is a definite plus.   On the way to & from Utah we had books on cd checked out from our local libary:   The Audacity of Hope by Barak Obama & The Secret by Rhoda Byrne.  We turned The Secret off in the middle of chapter one b/c we couldn't handle the audio drama of saying nothing mu ch of all.  Ok, so tell me a million times to think positively -- I'll try! Barak was much more encouraging.  Luckily, the book was read by the author, an...

Kaelah attended her second AquaBabies class today.  Since I seem to have strep throat, my mother got in the pool with Kaleah while my dad & I watched from the side lines.  Guess what!  Kaelah likes swimming with Grandma Karyl more than swimming with Mom!  I guess I was using too much gusto when I was in the pool and Grandma was more on the gentle side.  Here they are walking in the lazy river.  As you can see, Kaelah thinks I'm crazy every time I take her to the pool.  (:

At some point in every modern child's life, they must be put through the torture of being strapped in the car for hours on end.  Last Thursday we put Kaelah to the test.  We took the advice of many friends who told us to leave late so the baby could spend most of the time sleeping in the car.  Let's just say we'll never make that mistake again.  Every light, bump, or little noise woke poor Kaelah up & she (and we) were miserable for the last couple hours to Danny's childhood home.  I thought this picture, taken at Scott's birthday dinner, summed up what she thought of the entire weekend.  Gratefully she did really well on the trip home & is thrilled to be back in Colorado.  She has been giggling almost all day... and so calm....  I promised her I wouldn't take her on another road trip until Christmas.  Then Danny reminded me I'm going to be a bridesmaid in Texas at the end of the month... and that we had decided to drive.  Whoops.  But we are so gla...

I am a Bainbridge.  And at least for the past two generations, that means I have a tendency to overcook whatever I am making or baking.  It's due to things like this:  I get dinner started, set the timer, & know I have 10 minutes to do something else.  Imagine me playing with Kaelah in the family room.  I realize that, once again, I have not heard the *beep *beep *beep I should have by now.  I sprint up to the kitchen to turn over the pork chops.  Soon the distinct sound of a child's knees hitting the wood floor reach my ears.  I turn to see that yes, somehow, Kaelah followed me up the stairs... silently.  After about 24 hours of her proving to me that she could really climb the stairs, I decided to get out the camera.  The dog adds a nice little bit of suspense, doesn't she?  (: