Grand Canyon & Flagstaff

Nora dressed up as a butterfly for the Halloween party we attended at her school. Fun!

Halloween is also Nevada Day, and a holiday with no school or work! We took advantage of the long weekend and went to the Grand Canyon and to Flagstaff to visit my friend Wendy.

It was a four-hour drive in the car

It felt great to get out of the car and walk around!

The weather was beautiful, and the Canyon is really Grand.

We had dinner (and dessert) at the Bright Angel Lodge on Halloween night.

Nora enjoyed breakfast the next morning at our hotel in her pumpkin PJs.

We rented bikes and biked along the Rim Trail for an hour or so. It was a bit cloudy and chilly, but still beautiful.

We saw an elk close up.

Nora got very cozy with this mountain lion.

We hiked Red Mountain, between the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff, with Wendy and Lian.

Then we saw snow fall in Flagstaff! 

July 4th (and Nora is 18 months old)

Nora is 18 months old, has strong opinions on many things, a vast and rapidly expanding vocabulary, and amazing curly hair. 

Star spangled girl in St. George, Utah

First ride on a carousel

Family photo at Grandma & Grandpa Brough's house

With Great-Grandma Brough

Mommy's girl

Too little for sparklers, but not too little for glow-sticks! Thanks, Aunt Kim!

When we get soy cheese at Trader Joe's, Nora has to keep it "wif you" (with her) in the cart. This is what it looks like when she says "cheese."

The American Library Association (ALA) annual conference was in Las Vegas at the end of June and we got to see lots of friends from Wyoming and from Illinois. This is Nora's new friend, Oscar, whose mom is my good friend from library school.

While Uncle Nick was visiting we went to the Mob Museum.

We've had some really hot days -- this was one of them. A person kind of wants to melt when it's 110 degrees.

Nora loves Nick and his "tar" (guitar)

Nora got to spend a day with her grandma and grandpa while we went up to Cedar City to the Shakespeare Festival. We had lunch with friends and then saw "Into the Woods." It was fabulous!

Note: Speaking of musicals, we also saw "Book of Mormon" in Las Vegas in June and really enjoyed it. The singing and dancing were fantastic! Let me know if you want to talk more about that one. ;)

Thanksgiving

We visited Idaho for Thanksgiving, and even though Nora was a little bit sick we had a good time seeing family and farm animals and eating a yummy dinner.

Pigs!

Calves!

Horses!

Nora tried a few foods for Thanksgiving dinner. She was not a fan of cranberry sauce.

Mike and my brothers grew mustaches for No-Shave November.

I didn't get any pictures of Nora with her cousins -- I guess I was just having fun watching them -- but she had a really good time playing with Clancy and with Seth. And we got to meet tiny little Baby Graham, who is seven weeks old.

DAM & Rocky Mountain National Park, Labor Day weekend

We took a little family vacation several weeks ago on Labor Day weekend. We checked out a Mark Rothko exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and then spent two days in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

I didn't take any photos in Denver, but Nora did pretty well at the museum. She was babbling and noisy in the very quiet galleries and she spit up on the floor when we were looking at Rothko, but other than that, she was quite good. We happened upon the Taste of Denver event, so downtown was full of people and food. We got a snack on the street and then headed for Estes Park.

Nora is learning at an early age that vacation means time to read a book. 

This was our first outing with the hiking backpack, Mike's birthday present.

We hiked about five miles, it was gorgeous, and Nora fell asleep. It was hard work riding on Daddy's back!

I could post a dozen mountain pictures. It was so pretty!

Right before hike number two.

Family Reunion in Idaho

After a couple of days in the Tetons, we continued to Idaho, where we spent a couple of days with my family and an evening with some of Mike's family.

The cousins had a pool party

Nora didn't love it

Seth did!

Clancy is just three months older than Nora

Kisses!

We went out on Robert's boat, which was lots of fun!

And "camped" with Grandma and Grandpa (we didn't spend the night)

Cousins got matching 4th of July outfits from Grandma! Getting a picture was a challenge.

Nora with Mike's Aunt June -- such a happy girl!

And with Grandma Brough