Lake of the Woods!

Last weekend we went camping at Lake of the Woods! Isabel is the 5th generation on my dad's side of the family to enjoy the pleasant shores and fresh mountain air of this wonderful destination. My great grandpa, Fred Geoller bought a summer cabin in the late 1920's or early 1930's on the east side of the lake when the Lake of the Woods resort was brand new (it was established in 1922). We have photos of my grandma as a teenager snow skiing on the lake in her bathing suit in winter time and sailing with a mysterious male "friend" during the summer. Like my dad, I have been camping at the lake since before I can even remember. Even my mom and the Perez family would camp at the lake in the summer when my mom was a kid. She remembers my Abuelito putting frogs into the girls' tent as a practical joke and was actually quite the expert at water skiing! That boat was one of the only "toys" my Abuelito ever spent his hard earned money on. My own childhood memories consist of riding bikes down to the lodge to buy an ice cream, my Abuelito starting campfires with diesel fuel as he basically would put a whole tree trunk into the fire pit! Making smores every night, swimming in the lake and getting freak out by the slimy rocks (I still don't like them!), and lot of yummy camp food!

The best part of this camping trip was that the WHOLE family was able to come! Even Tia Olivia and Maria were able to come out for a night. Our wonderful Pam was even able to stop by for a little while in the afternoon and chilax on the lake shore! Originally it was just going to be the rendezvous for us taking Tia Rosa home (she spent a week with us in Sonoma), and it turned out that everyone was able to come! David wasn't originally going to make it because he had a songwriting competition Friday night. But I was able to guilt trip him into driving up Saturday morning. We were all super glad that he did, because we had one of the best campfire jam sessions ever!

While we might not be able to head to the lake ever single summer, I'm excited for the memories that my kids will establish at this place that is so near and dear to my heart.

Lake Hayden

After the wedding festivities we got to spend 5 days at wonderful Lake Hayden at Auntie Annie's family lake cabin in Northern Idaho. The Spositos also came, so it was wonderful to get to relax and enjoy lake life with some of our closest friends! While we were there Auntie Annie and Auntie Sam did the long bridge swim! It was 1.76 miles! I was supposed to do it too but wasn't able to get any training in. I was happy to watch from the shore and cheer the super mamas on! Our days consisted of laying out on the docks, napping, boat rides and lots of baby time! Isabel and Rowan had a blast playing with each other! We were so blessed to have the O'Neil family let us come stay at their wonderful lake cabin. We can't wait to go back again!

*Disclaimer* Sorry the photo quality isn't that great. Our camera ran out of battery and of course we forgot to bring the charger with us on the trip, so all these photos are from my phone.

5 Months

Isabel is all of 5 months old now! She is developing so fast! Here are the new things she has added to her arsenal of tricks!

*Sitting up
*Rolling over from tummy to back
*Putting feet in mouth
*Constantly grabbing at anything within reach
*Wiggly like a little worm
*Reached out to mom for the first time!
*Arching her back and going all rigid when she's mad

Right now she is sleeping HORRIBLY!!! Last night she went to bed around 9pm, was up at 11:30, 1ish, 4ish, 5ish, 6ish!!! It was as if she was uncomfortable and couldn't sleep this morning. I think she might be teething? I still can't feel anything poking through, but I'm at a loss as to what else it could be. We are also going to try some rice cereal in the evening and hopefully that will help her sleep longer at night. It is a good thing I'm not going back to work, because there is no way I could function on this little sleep! I feel like I did back when she was 1 month old!

This little girl is showing more and more of her personality. She can be pretty focused and determined and definitely knows what she wants. Yet, she is also a little goof ball! I can see her mischievous sense of humor and it just cracks me up!

Hangin' with the Brinkers

After the big Fraley-Kasmeyer wedding we got to relax and re-charge with the Brinker side of the fam! Isabel always loves to see Grammy, Pop & Uncle Blaker!



Pop keeps asking when he can throw Isabel up in the air and take her out for ice cream. For now we'll stick to playing with Poppa's face :-)



While in Dallas we took a little trip to Corvallis to visit great Uncle Dan and Aunt Kay. Uncle Dan is the only sibling of Grammy so they are especially near and dear to our hearts as they are the only Reynolds relatives we have (and their two boys also). They have three granddaughters, so Uncle Dan & Aunt Kay are experts when it comes to lovin' on little girls!





I have so few pictures with Isabel because I am always behind the camera so Grammy got an adorable one of Isabel and mommy in the swing! The picture is a little dark, but that works for me because I look more tan that way ;-)

Fraley - Kasmeyer Wedding

Wedding weekend! Auntie Nanna & Uncle Justin got hitched last Saturday! The day before the wedding Isabel got to hang out at the venue while we decorated it to the nines! Isabel got to spend time with lots of people while mommy was busy at work!

First Tio watched her...

...then Uncle Justin (good thing this outfit has a double skirt!)

It was an absolutely beautiful wedding. Of course Isabel was the second best dressed girl next to the Bride herself! I made Isabel's dress so that it would match the wedding colors, and it actually turned out super cute! Isabel had a blast hanging out with Grandma Sally for most of the day while mommy was running around doing last minute things and getting pretty.

Isabel did such a great job getting passed to this Tia, then a cousin, then to a close friend, then to an aunt... She was generous with her similes and scarce with the grumpies :-) She had a bladst with Tia Rosa from LA.

Uncle Oliver got to hold Isabel for the first time.

Little Laura Bower had fun playing with Isabel too!

The most precious visit of the evening was with Tia Lupe. Tia is the sister of my Abuelita, and reminds me so much of her that it makes me cry. When she was holding Isabel it was as if Isabel Casillas had her namesake gathered close into her arms. My Tia Lupe has 10 kids, and I don't even know how many grandkids. But it was so incredibly sweet to see the tenderness and love that she had for my little Isabel. I can only imagine how much love and affection my own Abuelita would have for her Isabel.

The wedding was the joining of two families and a wonderful time to reconnect with loved ones that we don't get to see often. We are so excited to officially have Justin be apart of our Fraley clan, even though he really has been for quite some time. We are excited to see Hannah & Justin begin their lives together & really loved how they wove the theme of "Family" into every aspect of the wedding.

***There are so many wonderful pictures on FB that I'm going to try and get. I will also post some official pictures from the wedding photographer once I get my hands on those too!