Green Mountain

Now that we have such a sweet baby backpack, we've been going on quite a few family hikes. These pictures are from our hike to the TOP of Green Mountain a few weeks ago. The view from the top was beautiful.

Zayley seems pretty happy as a passenger. Sometimes she gets bored and fussy, but that is usually when the hike has taken us a couple of hours. And by that point, we're all a little fussy.

She is also really in to pointing right now so whoever is carrying her usually spends the entire hike with an authoritative baby finger pointing forward in his/her peripheral vision.

Man. Ain't that perty.

I know all of these pictures make it look like Nate did the majority of the carrying; but, I'll have you know that so far our system is as follows: one parent carries up, the other carries down. Then, we trade for the next hike. So there. Also, of course we ALWAYS bring Izzy. If we didn't, I'm pretty sure we would reek of hike the way a cheating spouse reeks of perfume and she would divorce us.

Here's to more family hikes. I'm thinking Memorial Day.

More MORE More?

Cousins Can Be SO ANNOYING!

All By Herself

Yesterday I noticed that the house was very quiet.

I asked Nate to check on Azalea to make sure that she wasn't dumping all of our DVD's into the toilet or something equally fun and exciting. Nate walked in to Z's room to find this:

Sometime when we weren't looking, she learned to climb into her rocking chair all by herself!

As you can see she was quite proud of herself. She especially enjoyed looking at herself in the mirror and rocking.

I was lucky enough to catch it on video. This is also when we learned that she could get down by herself too. Who knows how long she's been doing this!

Z climbing into rocking chair. from Miranda Walker on Vimeo.

And in case you were wondering...she picked out her outfit all by herself too.

Rachel is a Nurse!

Our dear friend Rachel graduated from the Regis Nursing Program on May 1. For her graduation party she asked if I would be interested in helping her make cupcakes and plan decorations. I was deeply flattered and immediately suggested we try these hi-hat cupcakes that I had been dying to make. They were a beautiful success!

Rachel snapped this lovely picture while we were making the cupcakes the day before the event. The topping is meringue that you pipe on and then DIP UPSIDE DOWN into MELTED CHOCOLATE to coat the outside. Nerve-wracking I tell ya.


Rachel wanted to use spring colors for the decorations so we covered the cupcakes in yellow and white melting chocolate and topped them with what else but more yellow and white! (sprinkles...three different kinds)


And of course, our most avid of cupcake eaters declared them: DELICIOUS.

Congratulations Rachel! We're all proud of you.

Up To...

We have received numerous phone calls and emails lately wondering what we have been up to and if we have any news to report. Allow me to now use our blog for its primary purpose: updating people on the minutia of our life.

April 16-23

We took an unexpected trip to Idaho so that Nate could interview for a job with J-U-B Engineers in Twin Falls. This was actually his second interview (the first was over the phone) and I was invited to come along. We both thought the interview went well but we're waiting to hear back from them. Thus...no news. As always, it was fun to be in Idaho with friends and family, and it was interesting how the thought of possibly living there made us look at things differently. Of course Azalea was spoiled with attention and got to do a little farming with Grandpa Ken.

No Hands!

Chillin' with Uncle Spencer

Azalea would like to suggest a dinner option for you tonight.

Chad looks just like my dad doesn't he?

Azalea looks after the last of three bunnies in the Davis Family.

Isn't Idaho beautiful?

On the drive home I looked back to see Azalea doing this. What the? She hasn't done that in ages.

April 24-29

Fortunately for us, Azlaea didn't have to suffer from her usual attention withdrawls after leaving Idaho because the day after we got home Bill and Gail (Nate's parents) flew in from Washington for a visit. It was great to see them and for once, we actually had some plans in mind to keep us all occupied. Nate took Bill to a Pin Ball Expo with Ben and Brian, we all had tea at the Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver, and we had a small get together for Nate's birthday on the 28th. If we took any pictures the entire time Bill and Gail visited, I sure can't find them. So I would like to thank and credit Bill for the following pictures.

Keepin' it real by playing outside in our underwear. Oh wait, that was just Zayley. Would you look at those thighs.

This is my favorite picture of the Pin Ball event. Look behind Nate in case you're worried that he is the oldest person there. He wasn't...so don't judge.

We took a trip to Jose O'Shea's (our favorite Mexican restaurant) so that Azalea could gorge herself on black beans.

The outside of the Brown Palace.

Waiting for tea and sandwiches.

Because I took Bill's camera and made him move.

A little more about Nate's birthday: He got a couple of presents that both of us can enjoy. Azalea and I gave him an external flash for our camera. It looks like the one on Ben's camera as they try to take double flash pictures or have a flash race or whatever.

Bill and Gail got him a Deuter kid carrier backpack. I don't have any pictures of either one of us wearing it yet but here is a picture from the manufacturer.

This thing is so totally sweet. Anyone who likes to hike and has a kid should save their money and buy one. Or, have a birthday and get their parents to buy it for them. We've already used it on Green Mountain and we love it. Thanks Bill and Gail! (And yes, it comes with the bear.)

I made Nate a rockin' cake that (as an added bonus) was delicious. I used my friend Charlotte's recipe for a "Giant Ding Dong Cake" per Nate's request. It wasn't the most beautiful cake ever, but I was overflowing with pride none the less.

Ta-Dah!

Here Nate sucks the ganach off the end of the candle. Or pretends its a cigarette...you decide.

And there you have it. That is what we have been "up to" lately. Minus the pictures of Rachel's party last night that are still on our camera. Now that I've taken my entire evening to write the longest post ever please leave us alone. (I mean) I am looking forward to spending some quiet time with my little family while we wait to hear whether or not Nate has a job in Twin Falls. Wish us luck!