Adventures in Cloth Diapering

Several people have asked about our switch to cloth diapers, so I thought I'd just post a blog about it!

I had actually been playing with the idea of cloth diapers for a while. I had heard all of the statistics about how disposable diapers take hundreds of years to decompose and how they are one of the largest problems in landfills. I just started thinking about that every time I threw a diaper away...I'd think, "this diaper will still be around after Aaron is dead!" Now, there are some people that say that the environmental impact of washing cloth diapers and energy and water use is just as bad environmentally, but after researching the issue, I still felt that cloth was the better choice environmentally.

The second reason for the switch was financial. It cost us a little over $300 to buy the diapers we chose to use, but they are adjustable so you can use them on babies from newborn to 35 lbs. So we can use them with Aaron and then use the same ones for our next baby. Also, if we choose to, they resell really well on craigslist and sell for almost the price I bought them for. So, in theory, I could use these for Aaron, use them for our next baby, and then resell them and make a lot of my money back. With diapers at Costco running almost $50 a box, that is a lot of money to save.

The third reason was the health of my baby. There is more and more concern arising over the chemicals that are used in diapers and the long-term consequences to the baby's health after wearing them.

Also, as an added perk, babies who are cloth diapered tend to potty train much earlier. Here's a good article on the cloth/disposable pros and cons:

http://www.mothering.com/articles/new_baby/diapers/joy-of-cloth.html

So I was convinced that cloth was a good idea, but when I thought of cloth diapers, I thought of the large squares of cotton and fastening them with pins. I thought of all the stories of dunking poopy diapers in the toilet to rinse them, and I thought it just sounded gross. Thankfully, a couple of the young moms at church told me about the diapers we ended up buying, and I was convinced to at least try them.

We've been using them for about a month now, and I LOVE it! We have had no leaks (Aaron leaks out of disposable diapers all the time), and it has been so much easier than I thought it would be! As far as poopy diapers goes, they have flushable liners (we like the "Kushies" brand) that you lay inside the diaper. When Aaron poops, the poop stays on the liner. When I change him, I open the diaper up over the toilet and the liner and the poop falls out and I flush it. Then I throw the diaper in a special drawstring laundry bag (made for cloth diapers...waterproof to contain wetness and smell). About every 3 days I do a medium load of diapers. I dump all of the diapers in, throw the bag in, and wash everything together.

So here are some pictures of Aaron in the diapers that we chose to buy:



These first pictures are of Aaron in a BumGenius 3.0. I love these, and they are super easy. They are basically just like a disposable diaper with velcro and elastic at the waist and legs. The outer material is PUL...basically it feels like soft cloth but is waterproof. Inside, there is a "pocket" that runs the length of the diaper where you insert an absorbent cloth pad. The upper liner (against baby's skin) is a soft very material. When this diaper is dirty, you simply pull out the absorbent pad and throw the diaper and pad in the wash. Here's the website with info on this diaper: http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php

And some more pictures of him in this diaper:








The other diapers we chose to try are just your basic cotton pre-folds. These are the diapers most people think of when they think of cloth diapers. However, instead of pins they have new fasteners that are called "snappi's" that make it super easy. They have little plastic grips (kind of like the grips on the fasteners for ace bandages) that grip the diaper on either side and on the bottom. Keeps the diaper really secure, and it is really easy.






Since the cloth diapers are not waterproof, you need a "wrap" to go over it. We chose the "Wonder Wrap" (website: http://nickisdiapers.com/catalog.php?category=231 ) because it is adjustable (you can change the size by adjusting the snaps on the front) so you can use it with babies of all sizes. It is made of soft material that is 100% waterproof. Diapering with these is a little trickier than with the BumGenius diapers, but they are much less expensive, and the nice thing is that you don't change the wrap with every diaper change. I change the wrap about every 3-4 diapers or if the cotton diaper leaks all the way through and soils the wrap. They are a little bulkier than the BumGenius diapers, so these are usually the ones I use around the house. Aaron seems to "feel" the wetness in these more, so I use the BumGenius ones for nap times. Here are some pics of Aaron with a cotton pre-fold and Wonder Wrap on:





So there you have it...our cloth diapering story! We still use disposables at night because he seems to sleep better at night in them, since he can't feel the wetness as much. I'm not saying it is for everyone, but I wish I would have known about the options out there when I had Tori, and I have no regrets with the switch. If you decide you're interested, here's the website we bought everything from (except the Wonder Wrap...go to the website above for those) :

http://www.thanksmama.com/


Feel free to e-mail me with questions!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Jesica and I decided that it would be fun to take the kids on a field trip to a local pumpkin patch to finish off our unit study on plants. It was a lot of fun and the kids even talked about where the seeds of the plant are located, and identified a primary and secondary root on a plant that had been uprooted! It’s nice to know that they’re retaining something!

The pumpkin patch was a perfect place for some fun fall pictures!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!


The kids next to the pumpkin sign


Trying to get a good shot of four kids at the same time is never easy...this was the best we got! I'm not sure where Ryan is looking, but the smile is cute! And hopefully Gavin wasn't quite as worried as he looked!


My beautiful children...it's so rare to get a picture where they're both looking at the camera and smiling!


Gavin and Ryan


Ryan didn't want to take any more pictures and was being grumpy...


He finally graced me with a glare over his shoulder...


And when he did finally pose for me, it was in classic Ryan fashion! I love this picture of him!!


And then there's Gavin...the contrast is amusing!


Aaron just had fun playing in the dirt and pounding on the pumpkins...I'm pretty sure he thought he was in a field of balls...it must have been heaven to him! The kid has a serious ball obsession!


He kept trying to pick the pumpkins up...pretty amusing when most of them outweighed him!


Cute kids!


My pumpkin supermodel!


Gavin and Tori found this group of pumpkins and called it their "pumpkin throne"!


Tori with her baby pumpkin in the pumpkin throne


Aaron throwing bark


Aaron became fascinated with the bark and spent about a half hour trying to eat it. I had about fifty pictures of him doing this, trying to get him to smile at me! But at last I was rewarded...


A perfect pumpkin patch picture!

Soccer Fun

Tori started soccer this year! She has been wanting to do it for a couple of years now, but we wanted to wait until she could understand the concept of the game a little more. This year seemed like the perfect time, especially since I want her to be involved in as many group activities as possible to supplement home schooling. Jesica and I managed to get Gavin and Tori on the same city-league team, and they are really having fun with it! Gavin has been reprimanded for being too rough and aggressive with getting the ball, and both Gavin and Tori have been accused of talking more than playing, but overall, they are having fun! They have not yet won a game, but it has been a good opportunity to run up and down a field in a large group of other 5-yer-olds, aimlessly kicking at a ball! One girl on their team is now notorious for kicking the ball into our goal and scoring points for the other team! Tori seems to love it though, and that’s all that matters!



The team had professional pictures taken. Here's her individual picture...


and here's her team picture. The Land O' Frost Comets... anybody else think it's weird to have a healthy activity, such as soccer, be sponsored by a company that produces lunch meat that only barely qualifies as real meat??


This was after their first game. They formed the traditional "high five line" to congratulate each other. Apparently the concept was lost on Tori, because she was holding out the WRONG HAND! Todd and I got a good laugh over that one!


This is Tori chatting with her friend Kalen from the team. On the left side of the picture you can see the girl who keeps kicking it into the wrong goal...at least I think that's her...she has an identical twin sister on the team, and it's one of them!


Tori with Kalen


Our soccer star!

Home School

We decided this year that it would be best to home school Tori. The school that she would be going to is not a good one, and when I went there to enroll her I just got a very bad feeling about the place. Nobody was friendly, and the school has failed testing now for a couple of years. I asked about enrolling her in another school in the district, but that is not allowed for Kindergarten, only for older grades.

Jesica had the same concerns about Gavin, since he would be attending the same school, and so we both decided that we would give home schooling a try. It was a surprise for me that I was even considering the option, since I have always been opposed to home schooling for reasons of socialization, and for the reason that I want my kids, and Todd and I, to be able to be a good influence on the public school system. After looking at our options, though, and making it a matter of careful consideration and prayer, we decided that this was the best option for her at this time.

It has been a fun couple of months so far! We have gone on field trips to the Puyallup Fair, to the mountains of Utah and to Grand Teton National Park, and to a pumpkin patch just a couple of weeks ago. Tori is learning to read and is doing really well at it! She loves going to the library and cannot seem to get enough of learning! I set a curriculum for phonics, writing, and math, and then we just learn about what she’s interested in. So far that has been the human body, the solar system, and a million different animals! We also have studied maps and various countries of the world. One day she told me she wanted to learn about Mongolia, so we looked it up on a world map, learned some facts and history about it on Wikipedia, listened to Mongolian music on YouTube, and had Mongolian Beef for dinner! It has been a lot of fun and is creating a great love of learning in Tori!

She is also part of a co-op of kids that meets once a week. This year in co-op we are focusing on a new country every quarter, so we are doing Italy right now, then Germany, then Mexico and then China. The kids are learning bits of the language, music, art, and culture from the countries. So far for Italy the kids have made a salt dough map of the country and labeled the mountains, cities, and rivers. They made mosaics one day and learned an Italian dance (the Tarantella) another day. They have learned about Italian composers and have tried Biscotti, homemade pasta, and ravioli soup. They are also working with a company in the area called Opera By Children that teaches school children how to write and perform operas. So far they have developed their plot, and will soon begin writing a script and will then design the set and costumes and will finish the year by performing the opera for friends and families.

Jesica and I try to get the kids together one other day during the week for me to teach them a science experiment and for her to teach them a music lesson. Tori is also in Soccer, which counts as P.E. and has been a good chance for socialization. We are part of a virtual academy for Washington state, so we check in with a teacher once a week, log hours, and she is still considered a public school student. This should make the transition to public school easier and it also provides her with funding for field trips, curricula material, sports, dance, etc. It has been a wonderful program so far!

I never thought I’d be home schooling my children, but so far it has been a fun, if sometimes time-consuming and stressful, adventure!

Ahhh, The Joys of Motherhood!

A few weeks ago I was having a hectic Wednesday. It had been a crazy day with a lot of running around, and the kids had been more demanding than usual. I got dinner ready and we all ate in a hurry so Todd could get to the church for Mutual. He left and I got the kitchen cleaned up and then ran a bath for the kids. I got Aaron in the tub and washed him up, then got him out and told Tori to get in and play for a minute while I got Aaron ready for bed. I closed the bathroom door to keep Aaron out, then I dried him off, got him into a clean diaper and pajamas, and then sat down to quickly send an e-mail I had been trying to get sent all day.

Aaron seemed to be content playing with some toys, and Tori was playing in the tub, so I found myself with a rare moment of peace. It didn’t last long, and after a minute Tori was standing next to me, dripping wet with her swimming goggles on her head, begging me to come watch her “dive” in the tub (this consists of watching her go under water with her goggles on and counting how long she can hold her breath). I told her to go get back in the tub and that I would be in to watch her in a minute.

I turned around to quickly finish the e-mail, and had just got it sent when I heard Tori in the bathroom yell, “Aaron!” followed by giggles, a splash, and then Tori calling, “M-O-M!” I ran into the bathroom and found this:

He then had the nerve to smile and look very proud of himself:

At first I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. It had been a particularly trying day and I was so tired and just wanted to get the kids in bed so that I could have some peace and quiet. Now I had to start all over again! After a moment of deep breathing, I was able to see the humor in the situation long enough to laugh and take a picture. I realized that Tori had not closed the door again after she got out of the bath, and that it was too big of a temptation for Aaron to resist, since splashing in the bath and Tori are two of his very favorite things in the whole world! I realized that I was just very lucky that he had not been hurt and that Tori pulled him out of the water quickly.

There is never a dull moment with young children!

Here’s a picture of Tori with her goggles. She lost her old ones, so I bought her some new ones and she wore them around the house for almost a whole day! She can be so strange! Now the goggles are only used for swimming and for her diving sessions, thankfully!

Will He Hold Me?

Tori surprised me the other day by telling me that she didn’t want to bring any coloring books or stuffed animals or other toys to church. When I asked her why, she replied, “I just want to be reverent, Mom.” To me, this sounded like I was going to have an hour worth of Tori getting bored and wanting to play “I Spy” or something else that would make it even more impossible than usual for me to actually hear any part of sacrament meeting. She was determined, though, and no amount of reasoning on my part succeeded in convincing her to bring even a small pad of paper to draw on. I was pleasantly surprised when she actually sat quietly and contentedly through the whole meeting! And people say that modern day miracles don’t happen! The next week she was back to bringing coloring books and things to draw on, but I was proud of her for showing initiative in trying to be reverent and listen in sacrament meeting.

She also said something really sweet the other day that I wanted to record. Out of the blue she asked, “Mom, will I be with Jesus after the resurrection?” I was surprised, since we weren’t talking about anything related to the Savior or the resurrection at the time, but I told her that yes, she would be with Jesus after the resurrection as long as she follows His commandments. She then asked, “And will He hold me, Mom?” She asked it with such a sweet hopefulness that I got choked up. I told her that yes, of course He will hold her. I love my beautiful little girl and I’m so thankful that she already has such a great love for her Savior!

Crazy Sheep!

Here's a video of a strange sheep we saw at the fair. I'm not sure why it sounded like this, but it was making the kids crack up, and I had to record it! Every time I show it to Tori she cracks up laughing! :)

Puyallup Fair

I took the kids to the Puyallup Fair this year to see the animals. We went with my friend Marnie Hadley and her three kids, Will, Todd, and Sariah. We didn't take the kids on any of the rides, but we had fun looking at exhibits and looking at the animals!


Here's a picture of the kids with some giant pumpkins


There were a million cows there, and Tori really liked this one.


Here's Tori petting another cow.



They also had a petting zoo area where the kids could go in a pen and pet a bunch of different animals. Here's Tori with a sheep...



and a goat...



and her favorite (no doubt because it was the littlest, and therefore the "cutest"), a baby bunny.

The fair was a lot of fun and Tori's already asking to go back again next year! :)

Visit with Lindsey Shumway

Last month we were surprised by a visit from a very close friend, Lindsey Shumway. I went to high school with Lindsey, and after I joined the LDS church she became one of my best friends. She is living in Utah right now, but she was in town for her 10-year high school reunion and she brought her two beautiful daughters with her! I had not met Mia and Terryn yet, so that was wonderful!



Lindsey and I used to pack picnics and go down to Coulon park on Lake Washington and talk for hours, so when she was here, we decided to grab dinner (Wendy's) and take it down to Coulon. It was great catching up with her! Lindsey is one of those friends who I always feel close to even though we may go years at a time without talking. As soon as we get together, the relationship just seems to pick up where it left off.

Here are some pictures of Tori playing on the beach at Coulon...Lake Washington at sunset is beautiful!

My Five-Year-Old Teenager

Anyone who knows Tori knows that the child can be a bit dramatic. A few weeks ago I decided to make a new dish for dinner. It was a beautiful salad topped with roasted pork and a bunch of veggies with a homemade vinaigrette. I worked for a long time on it and presented it on a pretty platter with all the various veggies in rows on top and topped with the pork and drizzled it with dressing. Long story short: I put a lot of work into it to try to do something new and fun.

So I call everyone to dinner, and Tori takes one look at it and says, "I don't like this." Now, our rule in our family is that you have to try everything. You don't have to clean your plate, but you have to try at least one bite of everything, and if you choose not to eat what there is, you don't get anything else. In other words, no trading out the salad for Captain Crunch.

So I told Tori that this was something new, that it was yummy, and that it was what was for dinner. I told her she had to try one bite of everything, and went about eating my own dinner (which was delicious, by the way!). She proceeded to push the food around on her plate, refused to try any of it, and made some sort of negative comment about how she didn't like the dinner, which she refused to even try, about every five seconds. I finally got tired of hearing it, so I explained to her that I had worked hard to make dinner and that it was not nice to say bad things about it. For this I was awarded about a 30 second break before the next "I don't like this food."

Todd does not like to see our kids treat me with disrespect, and I love him for it! He finally told Tori that if she made one more negative remark that she was going to go to bed with no dinner. We have never done this with her before, so we were both foolishly hopeful that the threat would work. The only thing it did was change the negative remarks to grunting noises muttered under her breath. I told her that those noises also were rude and that they counted as negative remarks.

At this point, she put her fork down, looked straight at me and said, very articulately, "I...don't...like...this." Well, that didn't go over so well with Todd, and he told her that she was excused and could go get ready for bed. As she walked away, she looked back over her shoulder and told us, rather smugly, "That's what I wanted anyway."

Todd and I looked at each other in stunned silence for a minute before I asked him, "Shouldn't we have another 10 years or so before she acts like that??!!" So we have agreed that we have our very own five-year-old teenager! :)

Knock Knock!

Lately Tori's been obsessed with knock knock jokes. She's finally learning some new ones, but for a while, the only one she knew was:

knock knock
who's there?
banana
banana who?
knock knock
who's there?
banana
banana who?
knock knock
who's there?
orange
orange who?
orange you glad I didn't say banana?!

I think the point of the joke was lost on her, because she started substituting various words for "orange" that made no sense. So she'd say "apple" and then "apple you glad I didn't say orange". I tried explaining to her that the reason why it works with "orange" is that "orange you glad" sounds like "aren't you glad", but she still didn't really get it. So a few weeks ago she said, "Hey Mom, I figured it out!" and started with the beginning of the same joke. For the last part, she did this:

knock knock
who's there?
grape
grape who?
isn't it grape that I didn't say orange!

It made me laugh that at least she was starting to get the concept of a play on words!

A Trip to Utah and the Tetons

This September the kids and I were lucky to be able to go to Utah and the Grand Tetons in Wyoming with Melenie, Matt, and Grandma and Grandpa Ottosen. Unfortunately, Todd had to stay in Seattle because of his job, and we wish he could have been there since the Grand Teton National Park is one of his favorite places on this earth. I had never been there before, but after our visit, I can definitely see why he loves it so much!

We started our vacation at the Pines Ranch in Kamas, UT. Matt's parents have a cabin there, and they went to a lot of effort to make our stay wonderful! They dragged Matt's old crib out of storage, baby proofed the deck, cut cardboard to cover the windows in our room so Aaron would sleep better, and even bought some children's books and a new high chair! We felt like royalty with all of the effort they went to! They do not have grandchildren of their own yet, but they adopted Tori and Aaron, and Tori and Aaron adopted them right back! Tori had so much fun hiking through the mountains at the Pines and in the Tetons holding "Grandma" or "Grandpa's" hand. In my opinion, a kid can never have too many grandparents!

After a few beautiful days at the Pines, we drove to the Tetons and spent a few days there. We were able to do some amazing hikes and see some of the most beautiful places. I went with Melenie and Matt one morning to see the sunrise at Oxbow Bend, and loved the beauty and tranquility of the place (once I was able to get past the million and one photographers who were there!). After a few days in the tetons we headed back for a couple more days at the Pines, stopping in Jackson Hole for lunch and some tourism on the way home.

Back at the Pines we spent the last couple of days just enjoying Melenie and Matt and Grandma and Grandpa. Matt is adopted, and he has recently met his biological parents and his half-brothers and sisters. Some of them came up to the Pines on our last day there and we all hiked to an amazing Aspen grove above the cabin.

For the last two days in UT, my friend Camella picked us up from the cabin and took us to her house in Salt Lake for a visit. I had not seen her in a few years, so it was great to get the chance to catch up and for our kids to see each other. Dominic and Tori were babies together at Wymount, and it was fun to see them get reacquainted.

Overall, this was an amazing vacation, and a wonderful chance for us to visit with friends and family who we don't see anywhere near enough! We're adding on 50 pictures here...which seems like an obscene amount, but when you go to a place this beautiful, with kids this cute, and with a sister who's a photographer, that's just what happens! I narrowed it down from a few hundred, so this is actually not bad! :)




Tori and Aaron outside the cabin at Pines Ranch


This was a beautiful hike we went on near the cabin. The only downside for me is that when you crest at the top (and this is the beautiful view you get!) you start a descent that is along a pretty narrow trail with a sheer drop off on one side. Not a big deal...unless you are me and you are a klutz to begin with...then you strap a toddler on your back in a hiking backpack who thinks it is fun to violently throw himself left and right...and then you add Melenie's dogs running at breakneck speed back and forth between your legs up and down the trail! Thankfully Grandpa was holding onto Tori's hand for me...not that she was scared at all...she has her Dad's fearless genes!


Tori and Grandpa...she was never more than a few feet away from him. It was really cute.


I loved this tree for some reason...something about the dark bark against the autumn colors...it was so beautiful up here...breathtaking.








Again, not sure why I was so struck by this little tree framed by the aspens...something about the way the sun was hitting the smaller tree just made it almost glow.





Two of Tori's favorite things...Grandpa and an ATV!





Goofing around and making dinner...gotta love the apron from the 70's!


While we were making dinner, Grandpa took Tori outside for some baseball...I seriously could not get over how wonderful Pete and Ellen were with the kids...they are wonderful people.


Tori and Aaron with the Tetons behind them


Same shot without the cute kids


We stayed in a cabin on one of the many lakes in the Tetons...Melenie and Matt took Tori down to the lake for a lesson on rock skipping.


Tori loved to shaddow Uncle Matt too.


On our first night we were in the Tetons, Mel, Matt, Tori, Aaron and I went to this beautiful place along a river for some sunset shots. I think that's Grand Teton in the background. There were a bunch of photographers there trying to get these amazing shots with the mountains and trees with their reflections...it was so quiet...like a museum. My kids became pretty unpopular when Aaron wouldn't stop screaming and Tori threw a rock in the water, which caused ripples in the reflection...serious death glares from the photographers!


Sunrise on Oxbow Bend with Mt. Moran in the distance. I loved how the morning mist hovered over the lake...so serene.


Once the sun came up, the whole scene just lit up with these brilliant gold fall colors. My sister is an amazing photographer, but no pictures can do this justice. It was stunning to witness.


We took a boat ride across a lake that day to take a hike up a trail that passed some beautiful waterfalls and led up to a lookout point. As we were getting off the boat, someone spotted this bald eagle and it was a frantic rush as all of the photographers rushed to get the best shot. Matt got this one, and I love it. Bald eagles are just so majestic.


My beautiful Tori. She had so much fun on this trip. I was worried that she would get tired or have a hard time on some of the steeper climbs, but she was fearless and had more energy than any of us! She literally ran up all of the trails until we told her she had to wait, then she would climb up any rocks nearby that she could find and perch there pretending to be a mountain lion. It was hysterical to watch. At one point she climbed a rock formation about 30 feet up, pretty high for a little kid...like I said...Daddy's fearless genes.


Tori next to one of the countless beautiful spots on the hike





Tori at the big falls


Tori, Aaron and I at the falls


After the falls, the hike got steeper and a little more challenging, but it was completely worth it when this was the view that greeted us at the top.


Mommy and Aaron taking a break once we reached the top of the hike


Tori, Aaron and I at the top


Same spot with Tori, Grandma, and Grandpa


Tori loved this little chipmunk (of course, it is an animal and it's little...two of her favorite things!) I had to include a picture!


I think this is Grand Teton in the background...loved this part of the hike.


Tori playing in the lake waiting for the boat for our return trip


We saw a lot of wildlife while we were in the tetons...mostly elk and moose and a beaver on the river. Matt even saw a bear in the parking lot while the rest of us were inside checking in to our cabin. Melenie was so sad she missed it...she wanted to see a bear so badly! I was okay with missing the bear!


This is a beautiful shot my sister took...I wasn't there for this one, but I love pictures of old barns, so I had to include it.


On our last day on the tetons we did another hike along another lake...Tori was in heaven again! Melenie had to snap some more pictures!


It was another beautiful day, and the reflections in the lake were amazing!


Pictures don't do this portion of the hike justice. It was beautiful in the morning sunlight to see all of the fall colors.


More breathtaking views


Melenie, Aaron and I


Tori wanted to explore these rocks and Grandpa followed her out...those two were almost completely inseparable.


Do I have beautiful children or what?? This rock just seemed to beg for a photo op!


I think this might have been one of the only times I got a picture of the four of us together, but I love this one!


Tori picked a "bouquet" of the beautiful fall leaves.


This was back at the Pines Ranch when we hiked to the Aspen grove. I loved the sunlight streaming through the trees. Aspens are one of my favorite trees. I love the contrast of the white and the dark on their branches, and the fall colors only made them more beautiful!


Love this shot


This was the view at the top of this particular hike...again, the picture just cannot do justice to how gorgeous and how vast it was.


Another shot with my Seester


I think that by this point, Tori was tired of posing for so many pictures! She loves to make funny faces, though, so we were able to wrangle one more out of her!


A river that runs right next to the cabin...it was so peaceful to hear and watch the water run over all of those rocks!


This was just an amazing vacation. I loved the chance to see my sister and her husband and her family. I wish I had the pictures from my computer...I lost all of my pictures with Cammie, and it really was fun to see her again. We took the kids to Temple Square, and even on a tour of Brigham Young's house. I wish I could take this same vacation several times a year...only with my husband with me next time!