Take Your Wife to Work Day

I had an awesome opportunity this week to go on a family cruise on Kelson's ship for the day. I have never been under way with the ship before, and it was great!

 We started the trip with the tugs helping us pull out of Pearl Harbor, which was a pretty cool process to watch.

 The base historian joined us for the trip and narrated the transit through Pearl Harbor, telling us all about the historical events that have occurred there. 

 Behind me you can see the USS Missouri and our lovely Ford Island home.

 We sailed out of Pearl Harbor, along the coast of Oahu past Waikiki and Diamond Head, and then over near the island of Molokai and then back. What a way to see the island!

 Kelson took me all over the ship, and I got to see up close what the damage control teams do. These are some of the guys that Kelson is in charge of. I walked through a passageway full of fake smoke. It was dark and scary and made me glad I don't work on a ship. 

 I was actually pretty nervous in this picture. I was rather unsteady on the ship while it was moving, and then they handed me a very sharp, pointy axe. Don't worry, no one got hurt.

 The whole time we have lived in San Diego and Hawaii, I have been dying to see a dolphin. Kelson comes home and brags about all of the dolphins he sees all the time, and I am very jealous. We were in Kelson's room relaxing and watching a movie when they announced that there were dolphins near the ship. You wouldn't believe how fast I hopped up and hurried outside. There were three of them playing near the ship.  Excuse my dorky voice in the video.  I was so excited!

Kelson's shipboard career is winding down, and this may have been his last day at sea. I am so glad that I got to spend a day with him and get a little glimpse of his Navy life. I was very nervous leaving Sarah with a friend for the whole day, but she did just fine.  Thanks to the Benroth family for taking her so Kelson and I could have an adventure! 

Sarah: 10 Months

Sarah is 10 months old! Her little personality is coming out more all the time. We love her!

Sarah this month:

• Weight: 21 lb 8 oz (75-90%)  Height: 28.25 inches (50%)   Head: 17.75 inches
• Learned to pull herself to a standing position and pulls up on everything within reach.
• Crawls all over the place, but usually has one foot hitched underneath her. 
• Has an instinct for finding everything she is not supposed to get into.
• Loves having dance parties, riding on Daddy's shoulders, being outside, and swimming.
• Struggling with a little bit of separation anxiety. 
• Wants to do everything herself, especially eating.
• Starting to grow up and slim down, but she is still utterly squeezable and kissable!

Sarah: 9 Months

Our sweet girl is 9 months old! She is turning into such a big girl. I can't believe how much she grew up in the last month.

 What's up with Sarah this month:

• She can sit up on her own, army crawl, and even crawl on all fours occasionally. If there is something she wants, she will find a way to get it.
• She can stand on her own if she is holding on to something and takes steps if you hold her hands. She is really much more interested in walking than crawling.
• She has several new sounds, and she is rarely quiet. Her favorites lately are "guh" and "ung"
• She is in to everything now that she can reach more things.
• She loves anything she can feed to herself, including cereal, baby puffs, broccoli, melon, bread, and pancakes.
• Our baby is going to be a toddler before we know it!

Oregon Part 3: Daddy Came Home!

Kelson got home about a week before we were scheduled to fly back from Oregon, so we decided at the last minute to fly him out for a week of vacation. He hopped on a late night flight just a few hours after he sailed in. I was afraid that Sarah would take a day or two to warm up to him again, but she was excited as soon as she saw Daddy.

The awesome thing about staying with my parents was that we had built-in babysitters. Kelson and I got to go out for lunch and to a movie baby-free.  It was great!

 The Shriners parade was in Baker on Saturday morning, and it was really fun. There were Shrine clubs there from all over the state, and they all had different kinds of go-carts and floats.

 Later that day, we went for a hike above Catherine Creek State Park. Sarah loves hiking, especially if it involves riding on Daddy's shoulders.

We had fun splashing in the creek after our hike.

 That weekend was our family reunion, so Jeremy and his family came over. We had over 100 of our Baxter family there, and it was really fun to see everyone. 

 We tried to get a good cousin picture, but it was challenging. Sarah decided that Will's dessert looked pretty tasty. He had good reason to be afraid. Sarah's a pretty skilled thief.

 On Sunday, we went to church in Union in the chapel built by my great-grandfather with a congregation that was at least 2/3 made up of my relatives. I have such a rich heritage and a wonderful family. I am grateful that we got to spend this time with them.

 Monday night, we went camping at McCully Fork, a beautiful little campground on a creek above Sumpter. We were the only ones in the campground for the night, and it was very peaceful. We left the hatchet at home, so Kelson had fun smacking the firewood apart with a hammer.

 Mom found a little boa by the creek. Of course Kelson had to catch it.

 Mom, Dad, and Grandpa came up for dinner. Sarah was very happy to see Grandma.

 It was a little chilly in the morning, so Sarah got to dress like an Eskimo. A very cute, pastel, plaid Eskimo.

Kelson got to pick his first huckleberries too. 

Sarah went for a morning dip in the creek. It was a little chilly.

 On Wednesday, it was time for us to pack up and fly home. We were sad to leave, especially since we would be arriving in Hawaii only a day ahead of Hurricane Iselle. Thank you, Mom and Dad for the wonderful summer vacation. We love you!

Oregon Trip Part 2: Huckleberries, Cousins, & New Skills

More adventures in Oregon:

 Sarah spent lots of time playing on my parents' new lawn. Mostly she loved pulling up the grass and trying to eat it.

Sarah grew up a lot while we were at my parents' house. She mastered lots of new skills and was rather frustrated at her inability to learn faster.  One night, she managed to get up on all fours for the first time, and then sat herself up for the first time a few minutes later.

 We were there for Miners Jubilee, Baker's summer festival. We went down to the park one night and enjoyed a buffalo burger.  It tasted pretty much the same as a regular hamburger.

 The next day, we took Sarah to her first parade. She thought it was pretty fun chewing on the bag of gummy bears that someone tossed to us.

 Later that day, we initiated Sarah into the great summer pastime of huckleberry picking. The ride up into the mountains put her right to sleep, and she loved it once we got there.

 The reward for an hour of huckleberry picking: huckleberries on ice cream! YUM!

 My brother and his family came over on Sunday, and Sarah got to play with her cousins. Anne was very generous and went to the garden to pick peas for Sarah to chew on. She was also very skilled at feeding Sarah her lunch.

 Mom was in charge of a craft at girls camp, so Sarah and I went to help. We had a great time playing at Catherine Creek for the day. I have so many wonderful memories there!

 Most of the time we were in Oregon it was very hot, but there was one day that it was pretty chilly in the morning. Sarah and I put on our long pants and socks, and I drank a cup of cocoa. We don't do that very often in Hawaii.

 Sarah has become very adventurous in the bath tub. She spends her time crawling, rolling, and discovering things. She doesn't even mind if her face gets in the water now.  You may also notice the sad state of her skin. Her eczema did not appreciate the change from humid Hawaii to dry Oregon.

 We went up to the mountains for a picnic one night, and the mosquitoes were so bad that Sarah had to get wrapped up tight. She did not appreciate this.

 We went huckleberry picking again, and this time Sarah picked and ate them herself. She thought they were pretty tasty. She is definitely my girl.

 Playing with Great Grandpa

 We drove over to Fruitland one day, picked up my niece, Anne, and brought her back to Grandma's to play for a few days. Our first night together we had a girls-only movie night in Grandma's bed. We all ate popcorn and enjoyed Aladdin.

 We celebrated Dad's birthday by taking an ice cream cake to work for him. Anne decided that Grandpa definitely needed the blue cake.

 We spent lots of time crafting, swimming, and playing in the kitchen while Anne was there. Anne was a big help with Sarah, especially in the car. Apparently Sarah would like a sibling. That may not happen for a while.