Major Postage.

Here are a BUNCH of pictures of our Canada trip and just some others throughout the summer. Mom, Grandma, let me know if you want me to send you any and I'll be happy to send them along. (Or anyone else, if you want them) Enjoy!!!

Some Fav's

Here are my most favorite pictures I took of Rachael in Canada this summer. Most of them were at TuVu (my parent's property), but others are scattered throughout southern Alberta.

She would crouch in the grass then pop up with her arms spread.

Aaahhh... just relaxing while camping. (At least one of us got to...)

Delicious chocolate milk. Waiting for a fireworks show called "Thunder in the Valley." If you'll recall from the 4th of July post, she is not a fan of fireworks and hid under her blanket the whole time.

Bubbles while waiting for fireworks. (This is on my Top Ten list of favorite Rachael pictures)

Goin' for a stroll through the wildflowers.

Ugh, I love this one. The color looks altered but its not, this is legit.

She loves her some watermelon! She had like 5 slices.

Watching the horses before the wagon ride.

I love Waterton and I love Rachael in Waterton!

Ok, this wasn't in Canada (because Nate wasn't able to go. Lame school and work.) This was in Twin Falls Idaho where Nate's older sister, Sarah, took Rachael's two year pictures. (Those will be up once I get the CD. SO CUTE!!)

Cousins!!

Rachael has had her fair share of cousins this Summer, and has she ever loved it! I love how many cousins she already has and how many of them (FOUR!) are so close to her in age, two within a month and the other two within three months. She has already had so much fun with them in her life, I'm excited for the years to come with more cousins being added all the time!

Rachael and Liam

This is my oldest brother's youngest son, Liam. He and Rachael are 10 days apart and are so cute when they're together, I couldn't stop taking pictures of them. Liam is a tiny little guy, and Rachael is big for her age, so Rachael thinks he's a little doll. When she sees him she'll walk up to him with her hands out wanting me to put him in her arms. (She's gotten over this, actually.) Seriously, Liam has the sweetest disposition and would snuggle with you all day long. Hopefully these two keep on keepin' on being good buddies!

Cake!

So I bought this fun round 3D cake pan off of Craigslist for $5 and already made this cake with it. Amazing!! I got it because I have this super cute idea for Rachael's birthday and the cake needs to match the cuteness of my idea, but I won't spill the beans on what it is yet, you're just going to have to wait. But I made this cake today just to see if I should even attempt to make this amazingly cute cake, and turns out, I should!! It turned out pretty good, no? We're taking this cake with us to Twin Falls tomorrow to have a double celebration with Rachael and her cousin, Josh, who is 3 weeks older than her. Wish me luck in my cake decorating endeavors!!

Dance Memories

When I was in High School I danced, a lot. Dancing was the best thing I have ever done. It gave me confidence with my body and with my talents. I stumbled across these pictures and got lost in the memories. I had amazing friends who I still love to this day. We took a trip to NYC (little did I know that I'd be moving there eventually...) and spent hours in the studio and performing. We never danced competitively, nor was I ever on drill team. I just danced because I loved it and it made me feel amazing to use my body as a piece of art. I can't even begin to express how much I miss dancing and I hope to find an adult class to take in Cedar City. I'm also excited to get Rachael started in dance. One year!! (Don't worry, I won't be one of those moms who will pressure her kids to do what she did. If Rachael doesn't love dance, she doesn't have to do it. But she has to give it a good shot first:))

(Can you see me? I'm to the right of the girl in the very center)

These hurt, but they're AMAZING!!

I still have all of these costumes to put in a dress up box someday!

Goals

Rachael and I got back from our Canada trip this morning at about 7:30. Ugh. I'm so tired you don't even know. Its good to be back cuz camping and traveling in general with a two year old is completely exhausting. I am SO looking forward to moving to Cedar City in three weeks and I'm going to make myself some goals to make the time go by faster.

1. Begin to wean Rachael off of her sippy cups. She is totally addicted and drinks so much that she doesn't eat.
2. Plan her birthday party (-ies) (she's almost TWO??)
3. Make her some birthday presents (I'm going to try my hand at "felt" food cuz you don't need a sewing machine and felt is super cheap).
4. Play outside with her every day (except today, today is the unpack, do laundry, take a bath, take a nap day. Her daddy will take her out when he gets home from work. Man oh man did I miss him!)
5. Organize all of our stuff (i.e. clothes) and just keep the minimal amount in our room.
6. Sub at Evan's Hairstyling College again this Thursday and Friday (its a goal because I need to find a babysitter for those two days, so if you're interested please let me know!)
7. Look for a salon job in Cedar City
8. Pick a ton of raspberries from my in-laws garden, and freeze them to take to Cedar with us. DELISH!
9. Detail the car. Is that too ambitious?
10. Be POSITIVE!! Its only three weeks right??

I'll have posts on our Canada trip soon!!

Fireworks!!

We went to Idaho Falls for the big Melaluca (?) show. Rachael didn't like it at first, hence the hands over her eyes. She would point to the fireworks that made loud noises and say, "No, no, no." Pretty cute if you ask me... After it was over we hauled out of that place and didn't have to deal with the traffic. It was fun! And the first picture is currently in first place for my favorite picture, because it contains my two favorite people!! Hope everyone has a happy Fourth!! We have already!

4th Parade

These are gonna be quick posts cuz Rachael and I are leaving for Canada early early with my family. I just wanted to post because I knew my mom would want to see pictures of today but I had to get them off of my camera. Today was the 4th of July Parade, and Rachael LOVED it. Or loved the candy. No, she did have fun. They even gave out chocolate milk and Grandma R. got her a little festive ribbon twirler thing. So fun!!

Bone to pick...

Dear Rexburg/Madison County, I have a bone to pick with you. This.......
...is unattractive. Chopping out huge chunks of tree to make way for power lines just does not look good. Now I understand that we can't have an electric conductor (such as wood) pressed right up against another electric conductor (such as electric power lines), but there must be another solution. Here's one. Chop the tree down. If this was my yard, I personally would rather lose the school bus sized pine tree in my yard than have a chunk missing from my huge school bus sized pine tree. Un. Attractive.
Just some thoughts.
Sincerely, Erin Russell

(*I know most of the time chunking trees is the only option, its just a pet peeve and it is so ugly!! Thanks for letting me rant!*)