McCall Road Trip

This weekend Rorie and I went on an all girls road trip, first to Boise, ID then to McCall to visit my Grandmother. We left early on Thursday and spent the majority of the day driving. It was a long day with Rorie in the car and I have never been more relieved to arrive somewhere in my entire life! It was great to see both Grandma (or Granny to Rorie) and my Uncle Bill. We spent that evening just hanging out and visiting. My Grandma has two dogs, Tigger and Angus. Angus and Rorie were immediate pals, but Tigger was a lot harder to convince. Rorie's tendency to grab anything within her immediate vicinity, i.e. tails, ears, face, did little to create any goodwill between them.

This is Tigger, hiding on the couch just out of reach of Rorie's grabby hands. The entire time we were there Rorie never gave up on trying to play with Tig. It didnt help much that Tig no longer has a barker...so that all of the natural warning signs she was giving off (barking/snarling) came out as very innefectual coughing sounds.

Friday morning Grandma, Rorie and I headed up towards McCall. It was a nice clear day and the drive was SO BEAUTIFUL! I had forgotten how much I love the area. We arrived at the cabin in the late afternoon. I wasn't feeling well so we kept the rest of the day pretty low key, grocery shopping at the local store and just enjoying the cabin atmosphere. Rories favorite feature of the cabin as well as the most dangerous, were the stairs to the upper floor. The rest of the weekend was mostly spent keeping her away from them or diligently following her up and down them.

Here is a nice little action sequence for you:




Poor Rorie was almost constantly in a state of un-dress. She just cant quite manage to keep her pants on!

We spent the rest of the weekend exploring McCall and enjoying our quality time together. We just had so much fun and I can't wait to go up there again. Here are a few more random pics from the trip:
Rorie and Granny having bath time in the kitchen sink

Prior to her bath Rorie helped Granny unload the dishwasher...naked of course.


In Boise we had to get a little creative when it came to a high chair for Rorie. Necessity IS the mother of invention...
McCall cabin Sunday morning after we got a little fresh snow


Packing up Sunday morning we had to make sure that Lilly got home with us, so Rorie volunteered to let her go piggy back.

Lilly's Bday Party

Today Rorie went to her very first Birthday party! Her friend Lilly from our play group turned one today and all of her little friends from the ward came over to help her celebrate. Her mom Melissa went all out with the decorations. She had streamers, balloons and party hats!(which the babies barely tolerated) All of the kids seemed to be a little confused by the commotion and picture taking but they managed to enjoy themselves in spite of us. After the party each of the kids received a kid friendly party favor: Chinese takeout boxes filled with gold fish and cheerios.


Lilly the Birthday Girl!


Rorie was just obsessed with this balloon. She spent almost the entire party chasing it around the room.


This is a picture of the "Happy Birthday" Banner and streamers that Melissa put up. The room looked great!


This is a pic of Lilly with her birthday balloon boquet... a present from her grandma



Lilly really didn't like her birthday hat


Rorie was so good! She kept her hat on the whole time...so cute!


It was such a fun day for both Rorie and I and I just can't wait for it to be Rorie's turn (just a month and a half to go!).

Dec to Present ( the Readers Digest edition)

Well once again it is time for blogging catch-up. The last few months have just flown by! We got to spend the Holidays in Marquette which meant lots of Rayhorn-style excitment. Rorie and I came about a week before Christmas which meant we were flying solo. While it was well worth it to see my family it is not an experience that I have any desire to repeat (although it seems inevitable) It was so fun to be able to catch up with everybody and to visit all of my favorite Marquette places. Christmas morning was pretty low key with all of us enjoying watching Ben Ben and Rorie opening presents (despite the fact that they could have cared less). We were back in Utah in time for New Years day which we spent down in Levan with Jakes family. His sister Carrie and her husband were in from California and it was a lot of fun to catch up with them and their two boys. We also got to spend some more time with Jakes sister Bethany and her new Fiance Tori. It is so much fun to watch another couple in that "twitterpation" phase and to see how much fun the two are having together.
Our biggest news of the New Year is that Jake has joined the US Navy. It was a decision that took a lot of thought and research but in the end it seemed like the best thing for our family. This will allow Jake to pay for the rest of school (plus they are paying for my schooling too!) and most importantly will provide the health coverage that is such a neccesity for our family. Jake has chosen a job in the Advanced Electrical/Computer Field (AECF) and has an official ship date of December 15th. However Jake is in line for the next available seat as soon as he is done with school so we may be leaving as soon as May! We are just so excited for this next step!
Rorie is an ever changing source of entertainment for both Jake and I. While she is just as small as ever (only 15lbs) her personality is always growing. She has recently started to say both "mama" and "dada" which she mainly uses to whine, but it is still a lot of fun to hear. She is going through a rather trying phase of wanting to be held constantly and has also developed an aversion to strange men (which unfortunantly includes her Grandpa Kenison) but she is still as friendly as ever with everyone else. Just this last week she got her very first tooth (finally!) and her now toothy smile is cuter than ever. While she isnt quite walking yet she is slowly making the transition. She loves to walk around the room (as long as she can hold your hand) and will stand all by herself for a few seconds (as long as she doesn't realize you are no longer holding her up) and she seems fascinated by her friends that are taking their first steps. We are torn between our anticipation for this new phase and our dread knowing that it will be just that much harder to keep tabs on her.

Here are some pics of the last few months, ENJOY!


" Look mom Grandpa gave me chocolate"

Downward Dog

Rorie enjoying some blackberries