I just want to jot down a bunch of things that have been said or have happened in our lives that I don't want to forget. Mostly cute things Jasmin or Kenya have said or done.
Kenya gets so excited about things that Jasmin is doing. For example; Kenya has been wanting to hold Jasmin's hand since the day she was born. We told her that Jasmin does not know how to hold hands and that she would have to get bigger before she could hold hands with her. Then a couple weeks ago in the car Kenya reached over to Jasmin's car seat and Jasmin was crying and grasped Kenya's hand. (I know it was just out of reaction.) Kenya yelled, "Mommy, Jasmin is holding my hand!" She was so excited. This moment was great!
One day I was telling Kenya not to do something because it could hurt the baby and she said,"And it might break her and then we will get a new baby." I told her no we would not get another baby we just get this one for now.
Any time Kenya holds the baby and Jasmin burps while she is holding her, Kenya gets SO excited!! And she thinks she has done a good job because Jasmin burped for her. (I have a hard time getting Jasmin to burp. I am getting better at it, but burping babies is not my specialty!)
One of the first times Jasmin made a noise that was not crying Kenya yelled, "Mommy, she talked!" Then she went around for days saying, "Jasmin talked 1 time yesterday, mommy!"
Jasmin since the day she was born has been giving kisses. Mostly to Daddy and Kenya, but I get them occasionally.
Jasmin has been smiling since the 1st week of life even when she is not asleep, but yesterday when she woke up she gave 2 really big and intentional smiles. 1 for Mommy and then minutes later 1 for Daddy. She has been smiling frequently ever since yesterday morning!
A few weeks ago when on our way to the doctors Kenya was talking about wanting to see the temple. I then told her, "Yeah, we are going to go BY it." She then said, "We are going to pay for it mom?" It took me a minute to process what she was saying. Then I told her, no it was too big and "pay for" and tied to explain that we were going by it and that we were not going to buy it. (Try explaining that without using the word BY.) So, then we go to the doctor on the way home and she asked to go by the temple again and I am still trying to explain it. I then go by it and say, "See we are going by the temple. Say, bye-bye temple." I could not help but laugh out loud. Kenya still tells me that the temple is too big to buy when we go by it sometimes.
Having two kids is fun! I find so much joying in watching Jasmin make Kenya so happy. Kenya still asked to hold the baby every 5 seconds. Kenya does a great job at holding her too! What great girls we have been blessed with!
More to come on this post at later dates.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Blessed, Honored, Pioneers: Trip to Martin's Cove Day 3 of 3of 3
So we start the morning off with some breakfast and we are all hurrying to be packed, loaded, and gone by 8am so we can make it back in time to go tour the Fort Seminoe museum near the visitor center.
I though this would make a cool picture. So during the whole trek there were youth companies. There was one company that had around 300 people in it! The children in our company watched in awe as the parade of youth went trekking by. Seeing such a large group made the trek seem more real considering that was really how large the companies were back then.
Kenya geared up for the trek back to the loading area. Here she is giving the sign for "I love you."
She wanted to walk so bad. We let her a couple of times, but for the first mile or more the pace was so fast that she would have been left in the dust.
Lois and Brother Strupp were leading the way. Lois didn't get to push the handcart much during the trek so she got to the whole way back! Looky how burnt her face is! :)
Here lies the skeletal remains of a covered wagon at the turn off for the cove.
A picture of Devil's Gate as we were approaching HQ.
Devil's Gate
So we had made it in time to visit Fort Seminoe or what remained of it. The Fort is not the original, but was made in almost the exact fashion of the original not far from the original foundation...originally.
This is what it would look like if we were giants.
Here are some wax figures depicting the harsh winter they had to tough out in the fort. They had to make soup out of the leather hides of their skin and bone oxen in order to survive.
Kenya and yet another friend are stalking a little, white butterfly to try to get a picture. They never got that picture. Oh and check out the sweet sharpening stone!
Now that's an old buggie!
Before we made our journey home we stopped to have lunch and a some pioneer stories at the Willie Handcart Company site. It was pretty cool. I wish we could have gone on that trek too!
We had finally hit the road and decided to stop in Dubois to go potty and get pictures of the world's largest Great American Jackalope!
There are the Grand Tetons. We did not see them on the way in to Wyoming because it was already dark and so we didn't even know we passed them, but the drive back was magnificent! We were practically right next to them, but couldn't stop because we needed to get home at a decent time. This was the only picture we got of them from far away.
I though this would make a cool picture. So during the whole trek there were youth companies. There was one company that had around 300 people in it! The children in our company watched in awe as the parade of youth went trekking by. Seeing such a large group made the trek seem more real considering that was really how large the companies were back then.
Kenya geared up for the trek back to the loading area. Here she is giving the sign for "I love you."
She wanted to walk so bad. We let her a couple of times, but for the first mile or more the pace was so fast that she would have been left in the dust.
Lois and Brother Strupp were leading the way. Lois didn't get to push the handcart much during the trek so she got to the whole way back! Looky how burnt her face is! :)
Here lies the skeletal remains of a covered wagon at the turn off for the cove.
A picture of Devil's Gate as we were approaching HQ.
Devil's Gate
So we had made it in time to visit Fort Seminoe or what remained of it. The Fort is not the original, but was made in almost the exact fashion of the original not far from the original foundation...originally.
This is what it would look like if we were giants.
Here are some wax figures depicting the harsh winter they had to tough out in the fort. They had to make soup out of the leather hides of their skin and bone oxen in order to survive.
Kenya and yet another friend are stalking a little, white butterfly to try to get a picture. They never got that picture. Oh and check out the sweet sharpening stone!
Now that's an old buggie!
Before we made our journey home we stopped to have lunch and a some pioneer stories at the Willie Handcart Company site. It was pretty cool. I wish we could have gone on that trek too!
We had finally hit the road and decided to stop in Dubois to go potty and get pictures of the world's largest Great American Jackalope!
There are the Grand Tetons. We did not see them on the way in to Wyoming because it was already dark and so we didn't even know we passed them, but the drive back was magnificent! We were practically right next to them, but couldn't stop because we needed to get home at a decent time. This was the only picture we got of them from far away.
Blessed, Honored, Pioneers: Trip to Martin's Cove Day 2 of 3 (Continued)
The Square Dance
So after some r & r at the campsite we had to take a walk down to the corral where the square dances are held. The pioneers would have square dances, even after tons of walking, for two reasons: One to help break up some of lactic acid build up in the body and to raise the spirits. Some good music helped to reinforce the morale and thus helped them to push forward. Kenya ditched us for other people and was dancing in a different group. She had a blast! We danced the Virginia Reel and another one I don't know the name of but we said, "O Johnny, O Johnny-O " as the chorus.
Check her out! She was kinda dancing with a large group for a bit, but then decided it's time to make a kid's group.
Even though it was still hot and we had been on our feet all day it was still nice to dance!
So after some r & r at the campsite we had to take a walk down to the corral where the square dances are held. The pioneers would have square dances, even after tons of walking, for two reasons: One to help break up some of lactic acid build up in the body and to raise the spirits. Some good music helped to reinforce the morale and thus helped them to push forward. Kenya ditched us for other people and was dancing in a different group. She had a blast! We danced the Virginia Reel and another one I don't know the name of but we said, "O Johnny, O Johnny-O " as the chorus.
Check her out! She was kinda dancing with a large group for a bit, but then decided it's time to make a kid's group.
Even though it was still hot and we had been on our feet all day it was still nice to dance!
Blessed, Honored, Pioneers: Trip to Martin's Cove Day 2 -Women's Pull
Women’s Pull:
There was a part of the trek where the women had to push and pull the handcarts without out the aid of any males.
What the women didn’t know: The missionary leading the women’s pull took all of the males to the top of the pull and gave us a prep talk on how special these sisters are and how they should be treated and that they are our treasures. He also said that this is the most spiritual part of the trek and he can’t figure out why. He had all the males stand in two lines across each other and had us take our hats off, hold our right hands over our hearts and remain in complete silence. (This pull is the hardest pull they trek offers). The reverence that we men and young men displayed was unheard of. However, not being able to cheer my wife on was probably one of the hardest things for me! I was almost in tears. I felt so helpless and useless…standing there doing nothing!
Now the pull wasn't as hard for the handcarts toward the rear of the company because by that time the women from the front of the company were going back and helping the others.
Something about seeing my wife take on this pull reassured me of how happy I am to be married to such a strong woman and for all eternity! That we are growing a forever family together and that she is so talented in so many things she doesn’t even know makes me feel so happy.
Blessed, Honored, Pioneers: Trip to Martin's Cove Day 2 of 3
Day two started off with breakfast and walking! Both girls slept well through the night and Kenya was up at her usual 6am. We hung out around camp and then left at 9am (much later than the Saints would have) on our journey to Martin's Cove, to do a river crossing and a women's pull. We had a lot of walking to do ahead of us!
Here's Kenya gettin' ready for the trek to the actual cove where the Martin Handcart Company stayed.
...and here she is not even 10 minutes after we left! She wanted to walk and probably could have, but she was kinda board in the hand cart and it was time for a morning nap.
These next few shots are of the terrain that the early saints had to endure, but all of this with 18+ inches of snow!!
Sister Doby and her daughter, Cat, were having fun with Kenya as we walked the trail to the cove.
We had so many people who were wanting to help out with Kenya. She even rode on Bishop's shoulders the entire walk back to our handcarts from the cove. (At least 1.5 miles.)
We left our handcarts at a picnic area and walked into the cove. There some missionaries told stories about the pioneers and we had a sweet devotional.
The next pictures and videos are of The Crossing of the Sweetwater River. Now even though our company was looking forward to this part of the day, because it was so blasted hot, we still remembered what the saints went through. They had to cross this river multiple times in the dead of winter. When we crossed the water level was just to the tops of our thighs, but when the pioneers crossed it was not more than two feet deep. However, they did it while it was freezing cold and there were ice chunks floating around in the water cutting peoples' legs. This is where we crossed.
There were 4 young men that helped hundreds of saints cross all day long. This memorial was built in their honor. We heard stories about these young men here.
This is a closeup of the previous one. He is holding an infant in his coat!
Here is a series of short videos of the Drapers crossing (the camera setting wasn't changed when we passed off the camera. the person holding the camera thought she was taking stills! Our bad!)
This was great to be able to feel the special Spirit there at the water and know that we were honoring these people by attempting to understand what they went through. There would have been several handcart companies that would have crossed about the same time of year that we did. It was the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies that got caught in the storms and went through in winter like conditions.
Daddy totally sport the Dad Life! check out the following link to a video to understand! This was at the only rest stop on the trail more than half way back to the tents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DOKuSQIJlog
Kenya and Jasmin were a little worn out at this point ;) We got back to camp between 2-3pm. Then we all just rested until we found the creek!
I know it looks like were baptizing folks, but there was a little creek nearby that was great for swimming and cooling off a little. Truth is the water was just a few degrees different from the air outside, but enough to give some relief from the heat.
Jasmin is watching Kenya and Lois play in the water. We wanted to take her in but the current was just a little too swift.
Next was dinner and then to square dancing!
Here's Kenya gettin' ready for the trek to the actual cove where the Martin Handcart Company stayed.
...and here she is not even 10 minutes after we left! She wanted to walk and probably could have, but she was kinda board in the hand cart and it was time for a morning nap.
These next few shots are of the terrain that the early saints had to endure, but all of this with 18+ inches of snow!!
Sister Doby and her daughter, Cat, were having fun with Kenya as we walked the trail to the cove.
We had so many people who were wanting to help out with Kenya. She even rode on Bishop's shoulders the entire walk back to our handcarts from the cove. (At least 1.5 miles.)
We left our handcarts at a picnic area and walked into the cove. There some missionaries told stories about the pioneers and we had a sweet devotional.
The next pictures and videos are of The Crossing of the Sweetwater River. Now even though our company was looking forward to this part of the day, because it was so blasted hot, we still remembered what the saints went through. They had to cross this river multiple times in the dead of winter. When we crossed the water level was just to the tops of our thighs, but when the pioneers crossed it was not more than two feet deep. However, they did it while it was freezing cold and there were ice chunks floating around in the water cutting peoples' legs. This is where we crossed.
There were 4 young men that helped hundreds of saints cross all day long. This memorial was built in their honor. We heard stories about these young men here.
This is a closeup of the previous one. He is holding an infant in his coat!
Here is a series of short videos of the Drapers crossing (the camera setting wasn't changed when we passed off the camera. the person holding the camera thought she was taking stills! Our bad!)
This was great to be able to feel the special Spirit there at the water and know that we were honoring these people by attempting to understand what they went through. There would have been several handcart companies that would have crossed about the same time of year that we did. It was the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies that got caught in the storms and went through in winter like conditions.
Daddy totally sport the Dad Life! check out the following link to a video to understand! This was at the only rest stop on the trail more than half way back to the tents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DOKuSQIJlog
Kenya and Jasmin were a little worn out at this point ;) We got back to camp between 2-3pm. Then we all just rested until we found the creek!
I know it looks like were baptizing folks, but there was a little creek nearby that was great for swimming and cooling off a little. Truth is the water was just a few degrees different from the air outside, but enough to give some relief from the heat.
Jasmin is watching Kenya and Lois play in the water. We wanted to take her in but the current was just a little too swift.
Next was dinner and then to square dancing!
Over all impressions and thoughts of our trek.
Looking back at our trek there are many things that I learned, but really none of them are things that I was expecting.
We went on the trek hoping and thinking that we were going to deepen our appreciation for the pioneers and understand a little bit about what they went through and how they felt. When we talked to others who had been on the trek they often told us how hard it was physically and that they could not imagine have to walk so much. So, naturally we thought we were getting ready to go and burn ourselves our physically, especially because it was in August when it is was really hot!
PLEASE UNDERSTAND WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING AND WE ARE NOT SAYING IT WAS NOT HARD SO SOME, BUT IN OUR EXPERIENCE THINGS TURNED OUT DIFFERENT.
Robert or I did not find the physical part of this experience demanding or even challenging. We did think it was ridiculously hot and we did more than our share of sweating and of course I got a good sunburn, but each night we did not feel the trek was hard physically. Our feet did not hurt nor were we exhausted.
I thought taking 2 kids would really make it difficult mentally and more physically demanding because come on a toddler walking all day and such. But this was not so. Our trek family and our ward was so amazing that they helped with Kenya so much! Jasmin was awesome and just slept the most of the time. So, really the kids did not make it more difficult. Even when sleeping at night both girls did really well and we did not loose much sleep.
We felt that we were rushed through the places that would have let us feel the Spirit and let us get closer to those who pasted before us. Our group was trying to stay ahead of some youth groups there so that we would not be caught behind them and that we would not have to wait so long. In fact on the second day we finished at least 2 hours early and so we all just sat in our tents and then played in the water a bit and waited for dinner. This was fun and refreshing, but we feel if we had spent more time reflecting at those sacred places we might have gotten more of what we were expecting.
Well, here is our experience and what we realized while we were there.
The night of the first day Kenya was so tired because she was up late that we decided that she could not go to the fireside that night. We wanted to go so bad because it was the missionaries there dressed up and acting our stories of Ephriam Hanks, which we knew were going to be inspiring and amazing! As I sat out of the tent and Robert was putting Kenya to sleep in the tent I had an impression that our sacrifice was not going to be physical, but it was going to be that we could not partake of those extra experience while having a young family. Then it was sometime on the morning of the second day that I was getting people telling me how seeing me there with my family made them feel. People were telling me that it made things so much more real for them to see our young family out there walking the trek with them. There were a few families that went who left their smaller children at home because they did not want to deal with their toddlers on the trek. After a short reflection I was told through the Holy Ghost that our part of this journey was not going to be physical, but it was to be adding to the experience for others. I was able to think about this all day and it helped me feel as though I was there doing my part. Robert however was kind of disappointed all day because he was feeling the same way I was before about not being able to really get anything out of the experience. Then when we had a moment to ourselves after square dancing that night I shared my feels and impressions and he said that as he looked back he could see what I was saying was true. He began to feel a little better things. One other thing that I learned was that letting others help you, even if you don't NEED the help it is okay. Letting other help with Kenya and Jasmin was on this trek I think helped other to feel of worth and that they were serving. It was good to see them find join in serving us and have fun with my girls. People were genuinely worried about me just having a baby they wanted to help and that was nice to see! (Maybe without there help things would have been harder.)
We learned a lot, but just not what we were wanting/expecting to learn. Our journey was very different than most. We are just fine with that. We learned what the Lord needed us to learn and hopefully someday we will go back and get a different experience.
We went on the trek hoping and thinking that we were going to deepen our appreciation for the pioneers and understand a little bit about what they went through and how they felt. When we talked to others who had been on the trek they often told us how hard it was physically and that they could not imagine have to walk so much. So, naturally we thought we were getting ready to go and burn ourselves our physically, especially because it was in August when it is was really hot!
PLEASE UNDERSTAND WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING AND WE ARE NOT SAYING IT WAS NOT HARD SO SOME, BUT IN OUR EXPERIENCE THINGS TURNED OUT DIFFERENT.
Robert or I did not find the physical part of this experience demanding or even challenging. We did think it was ridiculously hot and we did more than our share of sweating and of course I got a good sunburn, but each night we did not feel the trek was hard physically. Our feet did not hurt nor were we exhausted.
I thought taking 2 kids would really make it difficult mentally and more physically demanding because come on a toddler walking all day and such. But this was not so. Our trek family and our ward was so amazing that they helped with Kenya so much! Jasmin was awesome and just slept the most of the time. So, really the kids did not make it more difficult. Even when sleeping at night both girls did really well and we did not loose much sleep.
We felt that we were rushed through the places that would have let us feel the Spirit and let us get closer to those who pasted before us. Our group was trying to stay ahead of some youth groups there so that we would not be caught behind them and that we would not have to wait so long. In fact on the second day we finished at least 2 hours early and so we all just sat in our tents and then played in the water a bit and waited for dinner. This was fun and refreshing, but we feel if we had spent more time reflecting at those sacred places we might have gotten more of what we were expecting.
Well, here is our experience and what we realized while we were there.
The night of the first day Kenya was so tired because she was up late that we decided that she could not go to the fireside that night. We wanted to go so bad because it was the missionaries there dressed up and acting our stories of Ephriam Hanks, which we knew were going to be inspiring and amazing! As I sat out of the tent and Robert was putting Kenya to sleep in the tent I had an impression that our sacrifice was not going to be physical, but it was going to be that we could not partake of those extra experience while having a young family. Then it was sometime on the morning of the second day that I was getting people telling me how seeing me there with my family made them feel. People were telling me that it made things so much more real for them to see our young family out there walking the trek with them. There were a few families that went who left their smaller children at home because they did not want to deal with their toddlers on the trek. After a short reflection I was told through the Holy Ghost that our part of this journey was not going to be physical, but it was to be adding to the experience for others. I was able to think about this all day and it helped me feel as though I was there doing my part. Robert however was kind of disappointed all day because he was feeling the same way I was before about not being able to really get anything out of the experience. Then when we had a moment to ourselves after square dancing that night I shared my feels and impressions and he said that as he looked back he could see what I was saying was true. He began to feel a little better things. One other thing that I learned was that letting others help you, even if you don't NEED the help it is okay. Letting other help with Kenya and Jasmin was on this trek I think helped other to feel of worth and that they were serving. It was good to see them find join in serving us and have fun with my girls. People were genuinely worried about me just having a baby they wanted to help and that was nice to see! (Maybe without there help things would have been harder.)
We learned a lot, but just not what we were wanting/expecting to learn. Our journey was very different than most. We are just fine with that. We learned what the Lord needed us to learn and hopefully someday we will go back and get a different experience.
Friday, August 05, 2011
The first day of the rest of my life.
Yesterday was the first what will be "normal" day for me for the rest of my life. By this I mean it was me and the girls home alone all day by ourselves. Robert went to work and I got to stay at home. Just getting back from our camping trip there was lots to do and I was scared to start this whole being a mom of 2 without any help. There were plenty who had offered and I knew I could call for a rescue if things went too bad, but none the less I was on my own. Since Jasmin has been born I have had someone right there to help me and if I needed an extra nap I could go take one. But here is how it went....
It was wonderful. I could not have asked for a better day. Jasmin slept wonderfully (and a lot) and Kenya was her amazing self. Yes, it might have been better if Kenya would have slept for more than 20-30 minutes, but I was happy with my day! I now know that I can do this mom thing! (At least on the easy days.) I did not make it out of the house but I was able to get about 10 loads of laundry done, unpack the camping stuff, and get the house clean. I did great!
This was truly a tender mercy from the Lord.
Today is going good so far too! Jasmin is down for a morning nap and Kenya and I are enjoying our morning movie. Here is to another great day. Today we are going to go grocery shopping and I am praying it will go as well as yesterday it.
It was wonderful. I could not have asked for a better day. Jasmin slept wonderfully (and a lot) and Kenya was her amazing self. Yes, it might have been better if Kenya would have slept for more than 20-30 minutes, but I was happy with my day! I now know that I can do this mom thing! (At least on the easy days.) I did not make it out of the house but I was able to get about 10 loads of laundry done, unpack the camping stuff, and get the house clean. I did great!
This was truly a tender mercy from the Lord.
Today is going good so far too! Jasmin is down for a morning nap and Kenya and I are enjoying our morning movie. Here is to another great day. Today we are going to go grocery shopping and I am praying it will go as well as yesterday it.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Blessed, Honored, Pioneers: Trip to Martin's Cove Day 1 of 3
Our trip to Martin's Cove started out on Sunday night. We drove half way while the girls slept. We ended up staying in Dubois, WY and stopped there about midnight. We got up the next morning and had a slow start, had breakfast and drove the rest of the way. This worked out great for our little family of 4. We hit Lander, WY and ran into the Strupps at a gas station. We then followed them to the site. We pulled into the site right behind the ward bus that had most of the people going on the trek. They had left the church at 6am Monday morning. When we got there we were to eat lunch and load our cart. Then we had orientation where we learned a little about the pioneers and were instructed on what to do and what the rules were. Then off we went. It was just before 3:30 that we began out trek to the campsite.
Lois and Jasmin sporting their matching bonnets. Thanks Mom and Sister Lundquist.
Here we are just before we started the trek. Look at those cute bonnets and skirts that were made for the girls in the family. They sure helped in keeping the sun off too! I don't know what I would have done without them!
This is a shot of Jasmin. This is how she spent most of her days. Just hanging in the front pack baby carrier, a sleep! What a great baby!
This is just shortly after we started off down the handcart trail!
Kenya walked at least 1 mile before even being picked up. I think it was more that the other adults thought Kenya walked to slow and offered to carry her rather than she was too tired. Lou Anne a lady in our handcart family is carrying Kenya here. Our family was so great at helping out with our children!
Here is the flag that Lois designed and made for our handcart. We had a wide variety of people in our handcart family and so this is what she came up with. It says, "From all walks of life, we all walk together." Then she put an outline of each of our feet. So, there was Robert's, Lois', Kenya's, and Jasmin's feet all on the flag. It turned out pretty good! Our handcart family was:
The Smiths: an older couple (Jane and Brother Smith) (he is in the bishopric)
The Strupps: middle aged couple (Karl and Kim) and sister Strupp's sister (Mona)
Sister Thompson: middle aged single lady (Lou Anne)
The Drapers: Robert, Lois, Kenya and Jasmin
Setting up the tent was a nightmare. It was by far the hardest part of the whole trek! The wind was SOOO strong that it was blowing all the tents over. It was so windy that a lady's sleeping bag was actually blow away in the wind. Daddy and Kenya put up the tent with a little help from others while Mommy had to feed Jasmin. They did a great job.
Once the tent was up the wind was so strong that it was still blowing the tent so that one side was collapsed. Our tent was only half as big because the wind blew one side into the middle of the tent. Robert had to tie an anchor from the top of the tent to the near by fence to keep it from going completely flat.
Jasmin just chillin' while we set up the tent. She sure had a comfy seat!
Our little one was only 2 weeks and 3 days old, but she is smiling and not just in her sleep. We are amazed that the things she can already do!
Daddy is having a huddle with the girls!
Kenya is gettin' some kisses from Jasmin...
So Kenya decides to reward Jasmin for her kisses by sharing some chocolate pudding with her for the .5 seconds we weren't looking!
Kenya was so tired that night that we missed the fireside about Ephriam Hanks who was a rescuer that saved so many people on the trail. It was nice to have a little quite family time though. We were tired and all asleep by like 10:30 or 11pm that night.
Lois and Jasmin sporting their matching bonnets. Thanks Mom and Sister Lundquist.
Here we are just before we started the trek. Look at those cute bonnets and skirts that were made for the girls in the family. They sure helped in keeping the sun off too! I don't know what I would have done without them!
This is a shot of Jasmin. This is how she spent most of her days. Just hanging in the front pack baby carrier, a sleep! What a great baby!
This is just shortly after we started off down the handcart trail!
Kenya walked at least 1 mile before even being picked up. I think it was more that the other adults thought Kenya walked to slow and offered to carry her rather than she was too tired. Lou Anne a lady in our handcart family is carrying Kenya here. Our family was so great at helping out with our children!
Here is the flag that Lois designed and made for our handcart. We had a wide variety of people in our handcart family and so this is what she came up with. It says, "From all walks of life, we all walk together." Then she put an outline of each of our feet. So, there was Robert's, Lois', Kenya's, and Jasmin's feet all on the flag. It turned out pretty good! Our handcart family was:
The Smiths: an older couple (Jane and Brother Smith) (he is in the bishopric)
The Strupps: middle aged couple (Karl and Kim) and sister Strupp's sister (Mona)
Sister Thompson: middle aged single lady (Lou Anne)
The Drapers: Robert, Lois, Kenya and Jasmin
Setting up the tent was a nightmare. It was by far the hardest part of the whole trek! The wind was SOOO strong that it was blowing all the tents over. It was so windy that a lady's sleeping bag was actually blow away in the wind. Daddy and Kenya put up the tent with a little help from others while Mommy had to feed Jasmin. They did a great job.
Once the tent was up the wind was so strong that it was still blowing the tent so that one side was collapsed. Our tent was only half as big because the wind blew one side into the middle of the tent. Robert had to tie an anchor from the top of the tent to the near by fence to keep it from going completely flat.
Jasmin just chillin' while we set up the tent. She sure had a comfy seat!
Our little one was only 2 weeks and 3 days old, but she is smiling and not just in her sleep. We are amazed that the things she can already do!
Daddy is having a huddle with the girls!
Kenya is gettin' some kisses from Jasmin...
So Kenya decides to reward Jasmin for her kisses by sharing some chocolate pudding with her for the .5 seconds we weren't looking!
Kenya was so tired that night that we missed the fireside about Ephriam Hanks who was a rescuer that saved so many people on the trail. It was nice to have a little quite family time though. We were tired and all asleep by like 10:30 or 11pm that night.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Update through pictures.
These pictures are not in any order. We just wanted to get them up so people can see our wonderful Jasmin and how things are going around the house.
Here she is just being awake. This is not something we saw for the first few days. It is getting more common now though!
Just hanging out around the house. Gotta love Lois's "new mommy" look.
This was one morning when Kenya came into our bedroom and asked to hold the baby. She just sat there and held her for at least 20 minutes as Jasmin slept.
Aunt Amy and our girls! She is such a big help with Kenya. Kenya gets the extra attention she needs because Amy loves to play and dance with her! Thanks Amy!
More just hanging out.
My brother Josh came up from Utah and brought his daughter Aly. It was so fun to have them for a few hours and let the girls play together. Aly was excited to hold the baby and play with Kenya! Thanks for the visit! Kenya is getting so spoiled with all these extra visitors I am a little nervous to see what will happen when it is just boring mom again.
This has already taken the same opportunities as she did when Kenya was born. Always trying to sit on or next to the nursing baby. I think the cat gets more jealous than Kenya does.
This is just as we are getting ready to leave the hospital.
Proud big sister!
Cousin Aly visiting. What a warm sunny summer Sunday.
Jasmin Elena.
Kenya helping the nurse take my vitals. She sure gets spoiled by people. All the nurses fell in love with Kenya and wanted to make her as happy as possible.
What a sweet tender moment.
Here she is just being awake. This is not something we saw for the first few days. It is getting more common now though!
Just hanging out around the house. Gotta love Lois's "new mommy" look.
This was one morning when Kenya came into our bedroom and asked to hold the baby. She just sat there and held her for at least 20 minutes as Jasmin slept. 
Aunt Amy and our girls! She is such a big help with Kenya. Kenya gets the extra attention she needs because Amy loves to play and dance with her! Thanks Amy!
More just hanging out.
My brother Josh came up from Utah and brought his daughter Aly. It was so fun to have them for a few hours and let the girls play together. Aly was excited to hold the baby and play with Kenya! Thanks for the visit! Kenya is getting so spoiled with all these extra visitors I am a little nervous to see what will happen when it is just boring mom again.
This has already taken the same opportunities as she did when Kenya was born. Always trying to sit on or next to the nursing baby. I think the cat gets more jealous than Kenya does. 
This is just as we are getting ready to leave the hospital. 
Proud big sister!
Cousin Aly visiting. What a warm sunny summer Sunday. 
Jasmin Elena.
Kenya helping the nurse take my vitals. She sure gets spoiled by people. All the nurses fell in love with Kenya and wanted to make her as happy as possible.
What a sweet tender moment.
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