Yikes! Beet eaters!

Shawn and I both dislike this little vegetable,

but the girls just lapped it up.

They looked like vampire bats when all was said and done.

Ughh!

The big birthday weekend...

So the year flew by! I remember thinking last summer that there is no way I would feel like celebrating July 26th. This day last year was so traumatic I thought I would cringe every time the calendar flipped to the date. Instead, I was pretty excited to put a year between ourselves and that scary time and take a moment to think of how lucky we are to have such healthy and beautiful girls! Mia and Allison seemed to have a lot of fun on their birthday. They got lots of attention from their cousins Max and Abby and got lots of snuggle time in with many other relatives!
Both girls got into opening presents. Mia was always most interested in the paper while Allison just seemed to hope that a new furry friend would emerge from the packaging. She LOVES animals! Just showing her this new polar bear made her giggle and when Aunt Lori put it close to her she would lean in to nuzzle it!

Here Grandpa Ken is modeling one of their new puppets, a one of a kind creation from the Blueberry Art Festival! The festivities left them pretty worn out! After opening presents they were too exhausted to eat cupcakes. We laid them down for what we thought would be a nap, but they sleep through 'til morning!

In keeping with the theme created by their special birthday plates (Thanks Phil and Joan!), I decorated some cupcakes with green and pink frosting. I've been following the guidance of a book that has us introduce foods in a slow and methodical way, so I was panicked that they would react funny to the wheat, sugar and butter in the cupcakes to which they hadn't yet been exposed. Being overly paranoid, I gave them each only a quarter of a cupcake... (I'll work on letting my hair down later) Alli dug in right away, but Mia threw 3 quarters on to the floor before she decided it looked edible!
The girls were so lucky and, I'm sure, grateful to get to spend the weekend with part of their extended family and to receive such generous and fun gifts! Thanks, too, for the cards, phone calls, blog comments, and emails! We think Mia and Allison are pretty amazing girlies and feel their progress over the last year is definitely worth celebrating. It is so touching to have so many others acknowledge their big day too! Thank you!!!

July 26th, 2008!

Today at 1:28 and 1:30 pm Mia and Allison will turn 1 year old!
We'll celebrate in Ely at the Blueberry Festival.
The girls are poised to eat their first cupcake!
Photos to follow!

Our last day in Glacier...

As the girls started to have more restless nights of sleep (Mia and Allison both cut their first tooth while in Glacier) and unfinished projects at home began to weigh on our minds we reluctantly came to the conclusion that it was time to head home. We got packed up quickly but dragged or feet a bit as we pulled out of Two Medicine/East Glacier. We had one last look at the camp store, one last round of hot dogs and huckleberry ice cream (lunch of champions...), said goodbye to our friends Ann and Karley and then stopped by the lodge again for last minute souvenir shopping.

The ride home seemed longer than the trip out. Mia and Allison again did their best to tolerate it, both sleeping all night while we kept driving. Ughh! Reentry was the real struggle. Since we've been home Mia and Allison have been a little bucky. Maybe their teeth hurt. Maybe they're sick of their same old toys. Or maybe they were just as sad as we were to leave the mountains and be back, once again, in the confines of our little house. We are so glad we took this trip and are so proud of how cooperative the girls were. We hope that, though they won't remember it, they will have grown from seeing mountains and waterfalls, beautiful wildflowers (which they touched gently at first and then ripped leaves off... sorry!), and even two black bears, mountain goats, big horn sheep and ground squirrels. At least we'll have pictures to show them later of their first big adventure west. Shawn and I are already looking forward to our next trip back to Montana. Skiing anyone?

On the trail...

Bath time, inside and out...

Since there are no shower facilities in the campground, we were grateful to have had the little shower in the camper and the ducky tub to keep Mia and Alli squeaky clean. They love splashing in the water!

The duck parished in the trip... There is a sneaky leak that we can't seem to find.

Scenes from the camper...

Mia's newest trick...

Mia gives eskimo kisses to her daddy

Thanks Cheerios!!!

There were many times that these wonderful little "O"s prevented impending scream fests. We were able to enjoy our meals at restaurants and keep on good terms with our camping neighbors just as long as we could keep the "cheeries" flowing! We even resorted to buying a $5.50, overpriced little box when our supplies ran low. We won't leave home without them!

Back in heaven!!!

It felt so great to be back in our favorite place. We were also relieved to discover that Mia and Allison seemed to like it too. They played well in the camper, enjoyed the views from their 'croozer', got to see the lodge where 'Mommy and Daddy' were married, and didn't put up much fuss when it came time for naps or bedtime.
Our new camper was spacious enough for Grandpa Ken, Auntie Amy, the girls, and Shawn and I together to have our own beds. We were able to keep Mia and Allison from rolling out of bed by putting swim noodles under the sheets. Thanks for the tip, Grandma A!

It was definitely a different trip than in years past. Many more hours were logged at the campsite and in the camp store than in previous years. We did take turns staying with the girls allowing for some longer hikes. Grandpa Day even braved a solo flight of babysitting so Shawn, Amy and I could go white water rafting! (The women that worked at the camp store told him he could bring the girls there and they'd help to entertain them!) The first hiking trip was quite eventful... Shawn walked full speed into a downed tree about five miles from camp. Ken and Amy got him patched up for the walk home, then we drove into Whitefish for some stitches!