Happy Halloween

I think the kids had a pretty good Halloween this year. When we woke up Thursday morning to a blanket of snow outside Ethan and Ally were so excited. They love to play in the snow. But as we were pulling out of the garage to take Ethan to school he noticed that his pumpkin was covered in snow, and all the yards, and sidewalks and roads. And he said "Oh great, we're going to have to cancel Halloween!" While that would have been nice, I assured him that we could still have Halloween even if there was snow. And by the time Halloween finally rolled around most of the snow had melted and it was actually a really nice day.

On the Sunday before Halloween (and before Javan left for Moab for the week) we carved pumpkins. We had purchased them several days before and were waiting to carve them so they would last until Halloween and it was about more than Ethan and Ally could handle. They were so excited.


Ryan wanted to get in on the action too and help clean out the pumpkins. At one point his head was almost inside the pumpkin, and he also tried eating the inside of the pumpkin too.


We had some little stencils that came with some pumpkins carving knives I had gotten, so we tried to use them this year. Ethan was working hard on his alien face.


Ally thought carving pumpkins was too hard and so I helped her with her pumpkin, she wanted a scary face.


The kids with the finished pumpkins. Javan and Ethan ended up ruining their faces, on accident, and we had giant holes where the faces were supposed to be. So we had to improvise.


Our family after the pumpkin carving.


Giving the pumpkins a home on the porch. Ryan wasn't up for sitting still for another picture.


At the elementary school the K-2nd grades do a costume parade for Halloween where they walk through the classrooms and halls to show everyone their costume. Here's Ethan during the parade.


On the afternoon of Halloween I took the kids down to the college for a Halloween carnival. Then we suited up to get ready for a night of trick-or-treating. Ethan and Ally wore their same costumes from last year. Ethan was Luke Skywalker, Ally was an Angel Princess, and Ryan was a cute little lion.



This is Javan's Grandma Patsy trying to scare the kids with this scary mask.


Halloween is hard work. We headed over to Monticello to see Javan's parents and the kids all fell asleep on the way over.


Grandma Lucinda has 2 new pet bunnies. Ryan loves to watch them and point and touch them. Grandma was trying to give him a turn holding one.


Ethan holding a bunny.


After we had hit all the grandparents and a few friends the kids were complaining that their baskets were too heavy and they couldn't carry them anymore. I guess that's a good sign that it's time to go home. I think Ethan and Ally liked answering the door and handing out the candy almost as much as trick-or-treating itself. Ethan was keeping a tally of how many kids came to our door and giving Ally jobs of what she could or could not do upon opening the door. After about 9:00 I finally convinced them that no more kids were coming and it was time to go to bed.

We had this face paint left over from Halloween and Ethan and Ally thought it would be fun to paint their own faces. Don't they look lovely? This wasn't messy at all. :)

Love is in the Air (N&T x2)

I have been such a slacker on the blogging lately. It saddens me. Anyway, it's time I get caught up and document what we've been up to for the past few months. The posts I'll do hopefully over the next few days/weeks may not be in order, but I do want to get them on here because I am hopefully going to print this blog to a book so my kids have some kind of a scrapbook. So if anyone knows how do to that let me know. Thanks!

Anyway, on September 26th two wonderful people in my life were married, not to each other, although their spouses are wonderful too and I love them all dearly. One of my greatest and dearest "life-long" friends Nicole was married and Javan's beautiful younger sister Natalee was married. And they just happened to fall on the same day. They also both have the initials N & T. Needless to say, Javan and I had a very long, but very joyous and happy day seeing these awesome people be married and starting their lives together.

Nicole and Trent Holliday were married in the Monticello Temple in the morning. This bunch of girls are the greatest! I love them so much. We have all been friends since we were little girls and are still close friends today.


We decided to let Trent be in one of the pictures with us, since it was his big day and all.


Nicole and Trent Holliday! Yay!


After wedding #1 we went to Nicole and Trent's luncheon and then headed to Moab for wedding #2. And spent the next few hours busily running around helping to get everything ready to go for the wedding.

Natalee and Trace were married at the Aarchway Inn in Moab. It was such a gorgeous day, and the ceremony turned out beautifully. I'll have to say that my kids were a very cute part of the wedding.


Ally and Ryan in his little nickers.


Ally along with her other little girl cousins was a flower girl. She loved her little basket and carried it around all night filling it up with this and that. The headband on the other hand came off right after the wedding.


Ethan was the ring bearer. I told him he had to be very careful because he was carrying very expensive rings and he couldn't lose them. You can see the concentration on his face. He was taking his job very seriously.


He looked so cute and little standing there in front of all those big guys. He did a great job. After the ceremony he came to find me and his little pillow still had rings tied onto it. I guess they didn't trust him very much and planted fake rings with the ring bearer.


I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't get a good picture of Natalee and Trace. Just after the ceremony while they went to get their pictures done we were trying to set up for the reception so this is the best I got. Natalee looked so pretty.


Our little family at the reception and ready for bed.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

We had a cookout at our house with all the grandparents and a few of Ryan's cousins for his birthday. Of course he didn't know what was going on, but we had a good time.

I made him a rubber ducky cake. He couldn't wait to taste it, he got a little sneak preview before the party.


Some of the party guests. I should have got a picture with everyone, oops!
Food + Family = Good times!


Ryan had lots of help from his siblings and cousins in opening his presents. I think they all opened one and he didn't open any. He got lots of really cute and fun toys. Thank you everyone for the gifts!


Even with all his new, cool toys, he was most fascinated with this red bow.


Riding on his new bike.


The birthday boy and the kids, getting ready for the cake.


And here it is. "Do I get to touch it now?"


"Mmmm, that tastes pretty good."


"I think I'll dig in a little more and see what's inside."


"I like yours too Cruise"


"Man that is good!"


We had a fun little party. Ryan was pretty ticked about his hat a first but he couldn't figure out how to get it off and then when the cake came he forgot all about it. Thanks everyone for coming and celebrating with us.

Happy Birthday Ry Guy! We love you!

One Year Old

Well, it happened. Ryan turned 1 year old yesterday. I can't believe it, this is the fastest year of my life. All day yesterday while at work I kept thinking, one year ago I was in the hospital giving birth to Ryan, it just doesn't seem real. Anyway, I am so happy that Ryan is a happy and healthy little boy and is learning and growing and is such a fun little guy. His brother and sister just adore him, as do his parents. We are so happy and thankful to have him as part of our family.

I haven't taken him in yet for his one year check up so I don't know his height and weight yet, I'll have to add that later. Ryan is such a busy kid. Like any one year old, he won't sit still for 2 seconds. He loves to stand up and walk around furniture, and will stand unassisted for quite awhile, until I want to get a picture of it anyway.


He has taken a few steps a couple of times but will only try once. After he falls down you can't get him to stand up again, he just goes limp and doesn't want to try again. I hope this isn't any indication of how he'll handle other challenging things throughout his life. :) Ryan jabbers all the time but can say a few things like mama, dada, and uh-oh, he nods yes and no, and will count 1, 2, 3. He doesn't say the actual words but if we say it he'll copy the sounds and inflection we do, then throw the ball or do whatever we were counting for.


Ryan loves to eat, and likes most things. If anyone is eating he is right there wanting to share. He has loved eating watermelon this summer and thought it was pretty cool that he got to hold his own piece. He didn't care if he was eating the red juicy part or the hard green part.


Ethan and Ally both have little chairs in their rooms and Ryan loves to climb and play on them. He climbs up and down, over and over, and it keeps him entertained for quite sometime. He thinks he's pretty big when gets up in there and is pretty proud of himself.


We went on a little cookout the other night when Dale and her kids and Michael and Payton were home. Ryan loves being outside, exploring and tasting things. He thought this bucket was pretty fun too. I think he was trying to hide it behind it head but the handle kept getting stuck.


The other day I was trying to get several things done before we had to be somewhere and feeding Ryan dinner was one of them. I just didn't have time to do it all myself so I asked the kids to help me feed Ryan. Ethan and Ally thought this was the greatest thing, and I was pretty surprised that Ryan actually let them feed him. As you can see he was getting his bites in double time.


What a cute boy. This is Ryan at one of Ethan's soccer games. I love that smile. Love you, little buddy!

1st Day of School

On August 20 Ethan and Ally had their first day of school. I'm just a little behind.

Ethan started kindergarten and goes in the morning. He was very excited to start and has done very well so far. He has been really good to get up in the morning and get ready, and usually doesn't put up too much of a fight. After school he is always really excited to show me what he did in class or tell about something they have done. I'm so happy that he has had such a good attitude about school and has enjoyed it so far. Now, if we can only get it to last for 12 more years.


Ally started preschool at Tiny Tots Preschool, where Ethan went last year. She was also very excited to go and especially since it was Ethan's first day too. She loves school and is only sad because she doesn't get to go everyday like Ethan. She is so proud to show me the little things she makes and learns. She can already write her name and knows many of her letters. I'll give the credit to Ethan for teaching her them.

Javan Went Fishing

A few weeks ago (Aug. 5-8) Javan, Mike and Pratt went on a Fly Fishing trip up to Island Park, Idaho. It is near West Yellowstone, on the Snake River. Javan has never been fly fishing before and wasn't really sure he would like it. But his is always up for a new adventure and had a great time.

The same company that took us to Jamaica, Contractor's Heating and Cooling Supply, sponsored this trip. So on Wednesday morning they met up with the rest of the group and headed up to Island park. They did some sight-seeing on the way up. This is Brian Gillman from Contractor's, he and Javan have become pretty good friends since they have been working together on different projects. They visited a natural spring called Big Springs, it is one of the largest freshwater springs in North America. Approximately 120,000,000 gallons of water at 52 degrees Fahrenheit flow from the spring daily. Crazy.


This is Mesa Falls, it is fed by the Big Springs natural spring.


I guess Contractor's takes this trip every year and there is one guide, Rod, that they call "the fish Nazi" because he is serious about his fishing. When they were assigning people to the guides everyone laughed when Javan got Rod as his guide. He and Brian were going on the same boat, but since Javan has never been fly fishing before Rod wouldn't let Javan even get in the boat until he had mastered the correct fly fishing technique. Looks like he's doing pretty good, and concentrating hard.


A view of the Snake River. The floated about 20 miles down river the first day while fishing then camped on the river's edge and fished again the next day.


Pelicans, doing a little fishing of their own.


Mike, with some nice fly fishing action.


Pratt and his guide, on a trek through the river. I don't know what they were doing.


Javan with one of the fish he caught. He said he caught about 30-40 fish throughout the trip, of all different varieties. They are all catch and release so he didn't bring any home to eat, not that I would have participated. :)


Javan and Rod getting ready for lunch. Rod puts out a pretty nice spread.

Patty Cakes

I finally got this video to work. It's mostly a recording of me singing but Ryan is cute in it too. He was clapping and playing a lot better until I got the camera out. Of course. Still so cute.

11 Months Old

11 months. I am seriously crying inside. I have taken so long to do this post that it's almost time to post about his 1st birthday. I just can't believe it, it pure craziness. Doesn't anyone else think that Ryan isn't old enough to be one yet?

Although I am sad about Ryan growing up too quickly it has been fun to watch his personality grow and develop. He is such a fun kid. He has been acting kind of shy recently. He'll tuck his head into his shoulder when someone talks to him or when I cheer for something he has done. It's pretty cute. Look at him. He's like a little boy in this picture, not a baby.


He loves to clap and cheer and play pat-a-cake. I have a cute little video but I can't get it to upload (stupid blogger). He jabbers all day long, I love hearing his little baby talk.


I thought I would include this picture because it's a rare one of Ryan acting nice while wearing a life jacket. He absolutely hates them. He loves going on the boat as long as he can crawl around on the floor and play, without his life jacket. Safe, I know.


Ryan has become really good at pulling himself up to standing and walking along the couch or whatever it is. He is the fastest crawler I have ever seen, it's so funny. People are always commenting on how quick he cruises along. He has let go of things and stood by himself a couple of times, but only for a few seconds. Once he realizes what he is doing he hurries to sit down.


Ryan absolutely loves to help with the driving. He makes it pretty impossible to drive when he's helping, but he loves to climb all over the steering wheel and push any buttons or pull any levers he can reach.


We were camping with Bayley's family over the 24th of July up at Foy Lake where the dirt is black. I hesitated putting Ryan down for the first hour because I knew how dirty he would get. But I couldn't hold him, and he didn't want to be held so I finally relented and put him down. This is what he looked like for 3 days. I pretty much looked the same from holding him. It was so funny to look at him because his face solid black with two bright shining eyes peering out.


I am amazed every time I see this. How do boys know how to do this already? Ethan finally let Ryan play with one of his 4-wheelers and the first time he grabbed it and started pushing it around and making little driving noises. It's so fun to see them play together.


One day Ryan was crawling around and playing and he got really quiet. You know what that means. So I went looking for him to see what he was up to. I found him hiding in Ally's room with her bag of parade candy. This was his greatest day, he was so happy with himself. We let him get good and sticky and really enjoy himself before we put him in the bath.