While we were in Wyoming little Miss Catherine turned into a sweet, spunky, sassy and stubborn two-year old! (Actually, she was all those things before, just not 2!) It's been quite a wild ride into toddlerhood as my fairly easy baby certainly has quite a few opinions of her own! Here are some of my favorite pics from the past 2 years!
If there was one thing I heard a lot of while we were in Wyoming it was that she was "just like me" but unfortunately in reference to her/my stubbornness and independence. Right now she is determined to completely buckle her seatbelt by herself and her favorite phrase of the day is "No! I do it!" She most often wears a smile (unless she just met you) and has the most devilish of grins. She is developing quite the sense of humor and certainly likes to tease. And while I hope she gets my sense of independence (maybe not so much my stubbornness) I also hope she develops a love and appreciation of family history and willingness to carry on the family traditions and stories, not because she is the only or oldest girl but because we have instilled in her the importance of these things. And of course a love of old photos:
Catherine might be the death of me as she isn't afraid of anything and approaches life full speed ahead. There are no rocks she won't climb, cliffs she won't approach or animals/bugs she won't attempt to pick up. She has an amazing ability to catch bugs, including but not limited to two live flies in the window of the airport, a cricket that she felt she had to give Amma (much to her dismay) and many, many, ladybugs and roly-polys. It was her love of bugs in general that inspired her birthday party, but first we had to make our cupcakes. Catherine was a big help:
I've kinda liked our quiet, Skype birthdays in the past for the kids (especially since Matthew is old enough that this is the year for a "real" party) but with all our family around I figured it was as good an excuse as any to get together. The kids helped make some decorations:
And then Amma and Papa helped take care of the kiddos while I made some treats and finished up the cupcakes:
Complete with 7-Up/Hawaiian Punch which was an Easter staple at grandma Elsie's house. Catherine approved I think:
That face that tells me she is up to something:
Of course the birthday girl needs a ride:
And hugs with Papa:
Lots of great family, visiting and fun with near perfect weather:
Uncle Matt grilled up some great burgers and dogs, but there were some little ones ecstatic about cake. I may have forgotten/lost the candles but matches worked just was well:
And what good is cake without ice cream!
Then it was time for presents. I had suggested that it was special enough to get everyone together that no presents were needed, but my family are terrible listeners and/or stubborn, but Catherine didn't minde and we sure do appreciate all the new fun things!
After seeing the sad state of Boo, Catherine's permanent sidekick, Uncle Matt ordered a New Boo or Boo Two as we call him. It's amazing the difference 6 months of hanging out in Montana made!
And Matthew is ecstatic with hand-me-down Boo so it is a win-win. I had picked up some bug boxes at the dollar store as favors so after presents the kids went hunting for bugs:
Cousin Jerry found a treasure trove under some old railroad ties.
Which Catherine had to bring back to show Uncle John and Don.
One more attempt at a group cousins picture. Soooo close!
And I asked Dad to take one of me and the kiddos:
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