The Olympics

We've enjoyed watching the Olympics the last few days. Natalie liked the opening ceremonies, especially a scene where a young girl in a pink dress was flying around the stadium.

After watching this for a few moments, Natalie ran off and came back with a dress, a pink tutu and some butterfly wings. She got all dressed up, and then turned to Laura and I and said: "Okay, now make me fly!"

Carina also had a funny comment on Saturday afternoon. We were watching a rowing event for a few minutes and she commented: "Ehh, we were faster in our canoe at the lake yesterday."

Camping and Horseback riding at Ensign Ranch

We went camping yesterday at Ensign Ranch in eastern Washington. Ensign Ranch is owned by the church. Carina and Natalie enjoyed sleeping in a tent with us in the woods, though we couldn't get them to go to sleep until we laid down in the tent with them. They are too used to playing in tents to think of them as a place to sleep. We started the next morning by the side of a river watching people fish.

Natalie and I sitting on a log enjoying the scenery.


Once it warmed up, Carina and I spent an hour sliding down a giant, 50 foot wide slip 'n slide at the ranch (Natalie tried it too but protested that it was "too cold"). After that we rented a canoe and paddled around the lake, and then finished off the day with some horseback riding. Both girls got to ride horses, which Laura and I led around a field for about 20 minutes.



I've never seen Natalie so delighted and thrilled as she was on the back of the horse. Her legs were about a foot too short to reach the stirrups, even on the smallest saddle they had. When I mention the ride to her today, she gets a dreamy look on her face and talks about Micah (the horse she rode).



Natalie ended up with sun kissed cheeks from the day in the sun; I think this picture is pretty cute.

Getting bigger

Carina has never been a big eater. She will gorge on the occasional meal, but she rarely eats much at dinner. From time to time I'll tell her that Natalie is going to out grow her, and Carina will end up being the little sister. It turns out both of them are still growing like bean stalks. In the last five months, Carina grew 0.75 inches and Natalie grew a startling 1.75 inches. Carina seemed pleased with her accomplishment and announced: "And that was without eating!"