A month's worth of catch-up, some blackmail, and a surprise

Our family has been slacking in the blogging department! How embarrassing. We've had a great month but we've been lazy about uploading photos, so here they all are in one whack. Scott's been enjoying his medical rotations and since his current one (family medicine) has great hours, I'm enjoying it too. I know there are a lot of pictures in this post, but if you persevere, there's some good stuff at the end. (I suppose you could just scroll down too.)

One of Kate's favorite games to play with Scott is "zoom with capes." They both tie blankets around their necks and run around the house with their arms extended like superheroes. Daddy is the funnest.

This is Kate's bff, Sophie. They're watching a children's movie on YouTube and you can see that Kate has inherited Scott's "TV face."

Drinking with a straw is a thrill, even if it's only water that comes out.

"Racing" with Uncle Clint.

Kate and I flew to Houston for about four days last weekend. It was her last flight before she turns two and we have to buy her a separate plane ticket. We made it through the flight with the help of a portable DVD player - definitely the best thing to keep a kid happy on an airplane. The trip was a blast and we packed in tons of fun activities, but my camera was on the blink so I didn't capture everything. Kate's birthday is November 1st and my parents celebrated early with us while we were there. Here's the cake, in her favorite color.



Kate got lots of fun presents from her grandparents and really enjoyed the opening process. It didn't hurt that she was hyped up on sugar from the cake and ice cream either.



While in Houston, we went to a gymnastics showcase put on by the US Olympic gymnastics team. Austin was the driving force behind our attending, and Shawn Johnson was the driving force behind HIS attendance. He and his friend Connor displayed this sign from our seats in the fourth row.
We also got together with Heather and Dan Swendsen and their kids. I'm so glad they live in Houston now so we can see them whenever we visit. Here's the group of cousins - Tanner, Kate, Ava, Carter, and Brady.

Now back to Utah. On Saturday we went to Millcreek canyon with our good friends Lisa and Dave for some beautiful fall hiking, tinfoil dinners and s'mores. Here is the trail we were hiking on.

We don't usually dress matching...

Lisa and Dave.

So I ended up taking my family's camera home with me from the Houston trip. Here are a few pictures I extracted from it.

Christine's famous!

These next three pictures are the blackmail ones. I have no clue what the story is behind this picture, but from what I can see, Austin is on the street in the rain, sitting in a folding chair, wearing a swimsuit and his dirtbike helmet, and waving to the neighbors.
*I just found out that he was "experiencing" the tail end of Hurricane Ike in this picture - thus the helmet to protect against flying debris.

I can almost see a bump, Austin...

A Dr. Seuss character? There's no possible way Camille could ever justify this picture.

And finally, the "surprise." Not much of a surprise if you've already heard, but we're expecting a baby at the beginning of May. When I showed this picture to Kate, she said "It's a popsicle, Mommy!" The poor girl has no idea.