Camping Out

This weekend we had our first family campout since moving back to Utah and it was terrific! After a day swimming at Bear Lake, we headed back up Logan Canyon and found a beautiful spot to set up our gigantic tent. Anna and Quinn enjoyed collecting firewood and picking their Momma every wildflower they could find, and we had tin foil dinners, roasted marshmallow Peeps, and cozied up around a toasty fire. It was so much fun to see the kids so excited and we hope this is the first of many outdoor family adventures this summer!

Baby Rupper

Here is the first peek at our Christmas present-everyone knows I can't resist opening and rewrapping gifts and an unborn baby is no different-I wanna see it as soon as possible!!! I had this ultrasound done last Tuesday, the baby's head is on the left side and looks to have gigantic eyeballs like it's Mom! Yes, it's the little alien creature in the middle of the black peanut shape-which is my uterus. Yep, that's my uterus-just wait until after the thing is delivered and I try to get you to see my actual uterus on the c-section video! They pull the whole thing out and hand clean it! Brett got it all on tape with Quinn's delivery and much to his embarrassment, I showed the footage to anyone who'd see it-it was pretty awesome! You'll have to visit me in person to see the video though, don't think I'd actually post it online!!!

Anyway, my official due date is December 25th-no joke-but my doctor said he'd try to get me delivered, home, and feeling decent in time to celebrate Christmas with my family. Which means I better start my holiday shopping now since I'll be too preoccupied to do any last minute trips to the store.

Well, this is all there is to share about the baby now. More updates to come. . .

Escalante National Monument

Over Memorial Day Weekend Brett and I met up with Jill, Dave, and Lindsay (Dave's really cute girlfriend) to backpack into Escalante. After our first trip to Coyote Gulch we were drawn back to the area and we weren't disappointed! We chose a different hike this time and although the dirt road drive down to our sweet spot was a brain jiggler, the hike was perfect and we found a great secluded spot to set up camp and spend the night.
Here Jill and I are showing off our sexy socks-and-sandals look. You can never look too good while camping and yeah, we looked good. Smelled great too!!!

Oh, Baby!

I thought about buying a t-shirt that says, "Yes, I'm Pregnant. And yes, I know how it happens." Oh, and also not telling anyone I'm blood related to until I show up for Caralee's wedding in August sporting the t-shirt and a half-watermelon belly. But, I thought I'd give everyone plenty of notice so that baby Rupper #3 can make it onto your Christmas lists, as she/he will be born around that time! (Tina, this also gives you plenty of time to get knocked up so baby #3 can have a cousin the same age!) Plus, lame as it is to announce it in my blog, at least you all have an even chance of finding out at the same time and nobody can whine about being the last to know!

As it happens, Brett is responsible for poor timing of baby #3. Each time we've had a kid I've conceived in the cycle after Brett has announced that he's ready for a new baby. I'll mention it for months, but once HE says the words, as he did this time- something to the effect of, "I miss having a tiny baby curled up on my chest. We need a new one." BOOM! I'm knocked up! Okay, something else happens in there too but I'll leave those details out! It's happened that way for Anna and Quinn, so when Brett said he wanted one I told him that he'd vocalized it, he said the words and now we were in trouble. . .

Anyway, after I'd gotten over the initial shock of realizing that Christmas dinner for me might be hospital meatloaf and green jello, festive as it is, I realized that I might be harvesting the best Christmas gift ever! A week or two ago Anna asked me when she was gonna get a little sister and I told her she should ask Santa for one. (We hadn't told her at that point that it was in the works) Anyway, she whined that Santa would give her a fake one, a doll, and she wanted a real live baby instead. So, then I told her she should ask Heavenly Father for one in her prayers. She asked me to pull over, as we were driving to her preschool at the time, and she said a little prayer right then and there to get a baby sister! I think she has an inside source, I think she knew before we did and, I won't be surprised if our baby, now 3/4 " in size is a girl after all! Regardless or whether it's a boy or a girl, I think I've taken care of the "big" gift for Christmas for the kids, and for Brett too!!!

Four of a Kind. . . and working on a full house!

This year on 7-7-07 Brett and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary! With numbers like that we're thinking about hitting Vegas! (if only we had some money to gamble with!

We had this portrait done last month and it makes me happy to look at it-seven years and we're still happy together (and I'll have to say-Brett is HOTTER than ever!!!)

It's amazing to think back about the changes in our lives. . . together we've gotten three college degrees, lived in five different cities, had two amazing kids, and now live in our first home.

Thank you for sharing your life with me Brett. You are an amazing man and I love you so much!