Rusty's Reptile

We went to visit Rusty and Suzzie Trepanier. It was great catching up with them and Bekah and Kyle loved playing with the lizard, Tanner enjoyed watching

Mt Whitney C-3 YM High Adventure

Monday July 21, 2008 I set out with the Carlsbad 3rd Ward Teachers and Priests on their High Adventure.

Here is a link from another group outlining the exact route we took.

http://infolab.stanford.edu/~crespo/Pictures/Langley03/

I am about 1/2 mile from Trial Crest. We began walking @ 3:00 AM on Friday morning. My pack was WAY TOO HEAVY, & mitral valve too leaky!!

We arrived at the summit at about 10:00 AM on Friday July 25, 2008. Getting this high in any other state except Alaska is illegal. Dave Pyatt (my good brother-in-law/personal trainer/motivator) with me on Mt. Whitney. Couldn't have done it with out him! Now the hard part started, getting down to Whitney Portal! It was down 99 switchbacks (they weren't kidding) then the granite staircases and more switchbacks. We were off the mountain about 6:00PM. Talk about a long day!

I found the following description of the type of pack I used going up Mt. Whitney.

I wish I felt the same way the reviewers did as I slogged up the east side of Whitney

their comments

(My comments)

Osprey Argon 110 Camping

With a 6,700-cubic-inch capacity and an 80-pound haul rating(THEY ARE NOT KIDDING), the Osprey Argon 110 seemed as if it would never stop swallowing gear (or bear canisters). And when it finally did, we feared a scamper in the Oakland hills would feel like scaling Everest (YES IT DID). Wrong. A clever shock-absorbing rod (extruded from aerospace-quality 7075-T6 aluminum) stabilized the massive load side to side and channeled it down into the custom-moldable hip belt. There were times when we almost forgot we were wearing it. (I NEVER GOT TO THAT POINT!) :)

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland last week with Grandma and Grandpa Baker. I know what you all are thinking, why would you go to Disneyland in the summer along with everyone else on their vacations? Well we had free park hopper tickets that had to be used (thanks Dave and Michelle). We went on a Monday and we were so pleasantly surprised. I could not believe how much fun we had. The longest line we waited in was a half hour at California Screaming. Everything else was about 10 or 15 minutes. It was so great.




I can't handle how cute this little guy is. He was so fun and good to sit in his stroller all day.

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This picture is taken in front of the tower of terror, Tanner was terrified to go on this ride. I knew once he went on it he would really like it, so after a lot of convincing and bribing he went on it. The next picture is of us in line and he kept trying to make get aways but he finally went on and when it was over he loved it. I told him moms always know best:)

Bekah's first piano recital

Rebekah had her first piano recital last week. She has been taking for about five months and she is doing so great. We had some confusion on the place of the recital but once we got there she was terrific, a little nervous but she played awesome. She had such a big crowd there to cheer her on. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. The worst part of that night is that only one picture I took turned out the rest came out really blurry. So here is a picture of Bekah and her teacher Jodi Larson.

Introducing Luke

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As you can see by our title we are the Bakers 1/2 dozen and I am sure some of you looked at our family picture and thought maybe my IU degree is not serving me well because there are only 5 of us in the picture. This picture was taken when I was 5 months pregnant so I would like to introduce you all to our little Luke. The sad thing is that he is now 4 months old and we still have not sent out any pictures of him so I will post some.



Luke Donald Baker was born on Feb.23 2008 at about 6:00 pm. The Donald is for my grandpa on my moms side. He weighed in at 10 lb and 4 oz yep you read that right he was my 10 pounder. He was 21 1/4 inches long. I was induced with him which I was dreading it but 6 hours, 2 pushes and my beautiful epidural (which took 4 tries but that is a different story) later he was out. He was my easiest by far, I guess by number four they just walk out. The doctor said I was born to have babies, well duh I knew that with hips like mine they had to be a blessing in some way right? The funniest part of the day was when Robert started getting light headed and getting a little green in the face. He had to sit down and while I am pushing the nurse is asking if he needs juice. So Robert witnessed the birth from a chair across the room. My sister was awesome though and was right there the whole time. She even cut the cord. Robert wasn't feeling it. He was there and that is all that matters right;) Thanks Jamie for being so great that day.


















Tanner and Bekah loved holding their new little brother. Kyle on the other hand was having none of that. He did not care for the hospital experience and kept asking when they could go home. He did not like seeing tubes come out of me.









This is about as close as Kyle got to the baby until we came home. If you notice the placement of his finger maybe that is not a bad thing:).
Anyone who knows Robert at all knows that this scene is all too common. The children awake while daddy sleeps.



I took Luke in today for his 4 month check up and he is a bruiser. He is 19 1/2 lbs and almost 28 inches long. He is in the 95 percentile for height and weight and his head is in the 80th. I know this is shocking to have a Baker with a small head but don't worry he will catch up quickly I'm sure. Here are some updated pictures of him.





Sorry these pictures kind of suck but you get the idea.

Bekah & Tanner Surfing

Bekah and Tanner are learning to surf. Bekah was the first to stand up, but Tanner can paddle out through the waves and hang out with the surfers.

Tanner has been surfing for about a year, Bekah went surfing for her second time on July 5, 2008 and STOOD UP!!!

Food, Family, and Fun and more food

This year everyone came to our house and we put our water slide. The kids had a blast and we had soooo much food. It was a great day and I love seeing all the cousins playing together.
Nicholas, Benjamin, and Tanner
Luke and Grandpa Roy
Mackenzie in Luke's bouncing chair. She loved laying in that thing and almost fell asleep. She had a huge smile on her face the whole time after all it is a vibrating chair, need I say more?:)
Allie, Bekah, and Rachel

Nicholas, Kyle and Sammie
Jason, and Jaidynne, isn't she so cute?
Mackenzie and Kyle, she sure loves her cousin Kyle and he loves her because she laughs at everything he does they sure are cute together.

My trip to Indiana

I had the chance to go and visit friends in Indianapolis last week. We lived there for almost 6 years and have been gone for almost five years. We miss our friends there a lot. I always tell Robert if we had to leave California then Indianapolis is the only place i would move to willingly. Hey Rance and LaDawn thanks for letting me invade your house for a week. You guys are the best. I love your family.
Me, Luke and Jessica, she just had a baby a month ago and the loser I am I don't have one picture of little Garrison. Love ya Jess, it's your turn to come and see me.
LaDawn, Joanna, and me the morning I left. I hate saying goodbye. We were trying to come up with a good location for a girls weekend next year that was maybe half way for all of us. I think we figured that half way is Cheyenne hmmmm well maybe we can come up with somewhere a little more exciting. Anyway I had a blast and it is nice to escape everyday life for a while. Thanks to all my family for helping with my kids.
Luke, 4 months old. He is such a good baby. He saw his first fireworks this night and he like them. No crying at all.
This is LaDawns little girl Olivia and I had to post this picture. LaDawn lives on a golf course and every night when it gets dark these huge frogs come out to play. Her kids love to go and catch them. They were disgusting. The better part it that this night there was a big thunder and lightening storm and Rance took all the kids out to catch frogs. LaDawn and I opted to stay home and not go on a golf course in a lightening storm. Hey Olivia after kissing those frogs I sure hope your prince Charming has it all.
Huge frogs they look like fish.

A Day at Grandma and Grandpa's

Last month we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and they put up the water slide and we had cousins over and we had so much fun. It is so nice to be back by family.
Sammie and Mackenzie having fun together.

Del Mar Fair 2008

Last month we went to the Del Mar Fair with some good friends from our ward the Orlandos. We had a lot of fun. I don't know who is more excited about the fair every year me or the kids. Definitely not Robert, I think all he sees is dollar signs. He is a good sport and every year we eat way too much food for way too much money and then I complain about way too many pounds that I put on after:) It's a good thing it is only once a year right Kim?

Bekah and Malia on one of many of the haunted houses that they rode on. Notice that her big brother was not on that ride with her. He was having none of that.
This is the only picture of Luke the whole day. Sad huh?
The good ole carousel. Kyle still loves riding on this ride. It kills me that the merry go round is 4 tickets. I kept saying are you sure you want to ride this, he was sure. He had fun that is all that matters right?


Tanner, Kayla, Malia, and Bekah at the fun house. Let's hope that's the last time they are ever behind bars:)
This is at the end of the day. Kyle needed a little R&R for the walk back to the car.