The Living Planet Aquarium

This is the weekend for our family trek to Hogel Zoo. This year however the weather did not cooperate. It was predicted to rain/snow and be only 53 degrees. We were left with two choices cancel the trip or find something else to do. Dave started his new job this week and had requested Saturday off. We are not sure when he will have another one off. So we didn't want to cancel. We had heard so much about the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. We thought we would give it a try. We could stay warm, dry, and still see some animals. Grandma JeanAnn, Grandpa Chris, Randy, Janelle, Brinton, and Holland were able to join us.

Ryder & Daddy on a boat waiting their turns to drive.

Reganne, Rylee, Ryder, and Mom at the Tidal Pool trying to get up the nerve to touch a stingray.

Rylee & a stingray

Reganne at the Tidal Pool getting ready to pounce on a poor stingray.

The girls were excited to be able to touch a few of the animals. Rylee touched a garden snake and the stingray. Reganne wasn't having anything to do with the snakes. She loved touching the stingray with only two fingers. They were a little short to reach them in the pool. Dave worked with them until they both were able to touch them. They were scared but the smiles were so big when the succeeded.

Rylee & Reganne at the coral playground.

Ryder trying to destroy or drive at the coral playground. I still am not sure which he as doing.

Reganne, Holland, Brinton, Rylee, and Ryder

By looking at this picture you would think nobody was having fun. The frowns were for me making them stop to have their picture taken. As soon as I finished they were off laughing and playing.

Grandpa Chris, Grandma JeanAnn, Rylee, Dave, and Janelle

The adults were worn out from chasing the kids. We found a bench and watched the kids play in the coral playground.

What trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to the gift shop for a souvenir to take home. Dave / Jazz Windbreaker (he left home without a jacket), Rylee / Shark, Ryder / Shark, Reganne / Nemo Necklace.

Favorite Thing:

Rylee: Touching the Stingray & Snake

Reganne: Touching the Stingray twice

Ryder: Playing in the coral playground with the other kids

Lori: The octopus & jelly fish displays

Dave: Watching the kids with the Stingrays

We had a great day and were glad that everyone was able to join us. When we arrived home the weather wasn't much better. It was cloudy, windy, and only about 65 degrees. So what better way to spend the day than with family and looking at sea creatures.

Happy Easter #2

WOW !!!! what a difference a day makes. Easter morning started off warm and sunny. It would be a great day for Easter activities. The kids slept in and when they finally remembered the Easter Bunny they jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen. They were excited to see the squirt guns, yoyos, and swim goggles. The candy was an added bonus.

Wow I got one too, was Ryder's reaction.

Can we open them and see how they work.

Finally, my own goggles that I don't have to share.

Chocolate and Candy!!! my favorite. Hurry before Dad takes it away.

Ryder discovered that candy was in his basket. Not far behind was the discovery that he could open it himself. The chocolate bunny was unwrapped and in his mouth in under 30 seconds.

New Easter Outfits without sweaters.

They are so proud of these dresses. I let them pick them this year. I was surprised they didn't pick the same one. I guess they are growing up.

Our weather can't make up its mind what it wants to do. By Wednesday it snowed again and was really cold.

This Saturday was the 10th Annual Kite Festival @ Sunbrook Golf Course. Each child starting in Kindergarten needed to read so many minutes starting in January to quality for a kite or book. First Grade was 780 minutes. Rylee made this goal easily by reading each night for 30 minutes. She was so excited to get her kite. She picked a pink Barbie kite. Reganne wanted to so bad to have one as well. We had to make a quick trip to Walmart and she picked an Elmo kite. Ryder could have cared less about the kite. The tail was his favorite part. Kites don't fly very well with a 18 pound weight on the bottom.

This year they had a lot of additional activities for the kids to just plain have fun. There was the train ride, bouncy houses, climbing wall, mini ferris wheel, and many others.

The train ride started it off. They were glad they could ride together. Ryder was all smiles until they pulled away. Then he wasn't so sure. He clung to Rylee and was glad when the ride was over. The girls wanted to try everything. Ryder fell asleep to the music blaring across the field.

There were too many kites at the festival that we didn't try flying them there. Instead we went to Rylee's school. The weather was perfect for being outside and playing games. When it came time to fly the kites. There was a small breeze the would blow by for a minute or so.

The kids quickly lost interest with the kites. It was more fun to fight over them, than it was to fly them. Off to the jungle gym for Rylee to show off her latest tricks.

It was a great day to be outside and play as a family.

Happy Easter

We hope everyone has a Happy Easter. Our Easter activities were filled with rain and wind. So there weren't many pictures of the fun stuff to do in St George for Easter. Instead this is a week in review. We had a busy week full of extra activities.

We really enjoyed General Conference last week. We tried really hard to involve the kids, but as you can tell they were really excited about watching church on tv.

This year in school they had a "Meet The Masters" art program. Each month the kids learned about an American Artist and they tried to make their own picture. They were able to pick one picture to display in the schools art show. Rylee was so excited to share her picture. She is really getting to be a good artist.

Her Picture

Last weekend we went to the First Annual SkyWest Easter Egg Hunt. The kids weren't sure exactly what to do. They needed a little prompting. The hunt started at 10:00 and was over by 10:05.

Wow there is candy inside!!!

The neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt was to start at 9:00 yesterday. As we walked down to the starting point. We passed the house for the 0-2 year olds. Ryder saw all the eggs and made a run for it. Dave quickly grabbed him and of course he started to scream. He fussed until they said go. He quickly picked up his 12 eggs and wanted more. Notice the death grip on the basket.

Chloe isn't walking yet. So the bigger kids (haha) brought eggs to her and filled up her basket. Then the bigger kids came and filled up the other kids with the extra eggs. Ryder came home with about 20 eggs. It was time for the neighborhood breakfast. So much food and so little time to eat it. It started to rain and quickly turned to cold to be outside.

We decided to try the Easter Car Show in Hurricane. The ride was nice everyone was toasty warm. The rain hadn't arrived yet, but the wind greated us. Big surprise the car show was really small. We drove right on by.

We had an inside Easter day with our next event the egg toss. Ryder won this one hands down. He has a good arm and my floor was soon covered with plastic eggs. I gave up trying to pick up after him. He was to fast and I was to slow.

Today the weather is supposed to be better so hopefully they can wear their new Easter Outfits without a sweater.

Happy Birthday Rylee #7

The day finally arrived that Rylee has been waiting for since Christmas. Her Birthday!!!! She is finally 7 years old. Her special day was full of wonderful plans. It was Reading Day Mom for me so I got to share the morning with her and have lunch with her and her friends. The treat she decided on what glazed doughnuts and an Alpha Pets story to share with her class. The class all made birthday cards for her. She was in heaven. Next came our family tradition of picking dinner. She chose to go to Olive Garden for spagetti and bread sticks. She promply told everyone that it was her birthday. Of course they came over to sing to her. She was all smiles.

Present Time...

The Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday to Rylee!!!

We had a family party with Grandma JeanAnn & Grandpa Chris, our friends the Wheelers and DeMacedos. Hamburgers and hot dogs where on the menu. As we were singing happy birthday and she took a breath to blow out the candles and a breeze blew and went the candles. Her face was priceless. We tried lighting them again and this time only three stayed long enough for her to blow. The wind picked up and the sun went behind the clouds. So we went inside for presents and games.

She had a wonderful birthday. 4 days full of celebration with family and friends. What more could one little girl ask for. More presents of course.

The count day has begun for Reganne's birthday.

Bryan & Becca's Wedding

What a wonderful day for a wedding. The weather was warm and the sun was shining. We were lucky enough to be able to fly up that morning to share the day with Bryan & Becca.

Larry & Bryan

Which one is more nervous?

Bryan, Becca, and Larry

The tears are starting to flow mixed with alot of smiles.

Randy, Lisa, Darryl, Emily, Bryan, Lori, Larry, and Sharon

All eight of us together.

The cousins first meeting. Rachel & Ryder were finally able to meet and play together. They played together as much as 18 month olds to. They actually followed each other around and did whatever the other was doing.

Ryder & Rachel

The Mircle Babies

We had such a fun day. It was great to get together and enjoy each others company. What better event that at a wedding. We are so excited for Bryan and Becca to start their adventure into married life.

Ryder is 18 Months

Our little boy hit another mile stone on March 18, 2009. He is 18 months old!!!!! It is hard to believe how much is has grown and changed. His official stats are:

18 pounds 14 ounces (with wet diaper)

29 1/2 inches long

46 cm Head Size

His doctors appointment was full of giggles and screaming. The giggles were for Rylee in keeping him entertained as we waited for the doctor to finish his rounds. The screams were courtesy of the intern physician's assistant. He wanted to check for seperation anxiety. Ryder showed him exactly how he felt about being separated and being touched by a stranger. He promptly fell asleep on my lap waiting for the doctor. He was happy until the shots. Again the screaming started until they gave him a sucker.

The first official day of nursery.

We went a couple weeks before to get him used to going. The leaders are so good that I was sure we would not have a problem. Surprise!!! He screamed for the first 1/2 hour with Dave in there with him. He then found the toys to play. Dave left. He came back to check on him. Not much surprise there he was screaming by the door trying to get out. I came to check with Dave and found them both on the floor outside of nursery. Ryder was still crying and holding a cookie. So much for staying today. He went to Relief Society with him and smiled at all the ladies as he lead the music with me.

We will try again after General Conference. Hopefully, he will start to have fun and want to go.