Happy Fathers Day

Father's Day this year was going to be a little different. Instead of spending the day home relaxing. We traveled North to visit family. We had a mission farewell to attend in Payson. Our nephew Devan Biggs will be serving in the Leone Mexico Mission. We decided to kill two birds with one trip. Instead it turned out to be three birds.

Dave decided there was work that need to be done on his dad's house. So at 11:00 pm on Saturday night he dropped the kids & I off at Grandma's house and traveled to West Valley City to work so more.

He finished his tasks with 2 hours of sleep and then took the Father's Day gifts to his Dad. They had a good visit while enjoying the fresh air on the porch.

Dave our Super Dad trying to stay awake.

Grandpa Chris .... Don't be afraid it won't bite.

Grandma JeanAnn finally getting her Mother's Day. She was out of town for Mother's Day and I was really slow in getting it done.

Next stop was a visit to Grandma & Grandpa Henderson. Luckly for us they were home. They are starting to move slower so they don't get out much.

Grandpa Henderson in his chair.

Reganne was facinated by his teeth. He kept taking them out and showing her. She then asked Grandma to show her hers. Grandma still has all her own teeth.

It was a fun visit. The kids were able to share the projects they had made with them.

Family Garage Sale

Rylee wanted so badly to have a garage and bake sale. Her and Dave started pulling things out to sale. She was so excited that Reganne soon followed. Every day they would ask me when we were going to have our sale. Weekends are my time to catch up and get ready for the week ahead. We finally found a Saturday that worked. I placed the ad in the newspaper and I knew there was no going back. Dave suggested running an ad on Craig's List as well.

Saturday 7:00 am arrived the stuff was out and the treats ready. However, nobody was there. 7:05 am cars started pulling up one after another.

Rylee manned the money box. Reganne watched the treats. Ryder wandered around. Dave stayed in the house away from the craziness. I haggled with people.

By 7:30 the crowd had left and so had alot of our stuff.

10:00 arrived and the sale was over or so we thought. Another group of people arrived. This time however, they looked around and left. We had been picked over pretty good.

We still had most of our furniture and toys. It was a good morning making $410 in three hours. The kids sold all the muddy buddies. Rylee commented that maybe treats weren't such a good idea after all. People are too busy looking to buy treats.

We sold the couch on Craig's List in under three hours for full asking price. Our final total was $510. Not bad for a little hard work and lots of haggling.

Lucky for me it takes us a couple of years to build up enough stuff to sale.

Bountiful Baskets

Everyone at work has been talking about this wonder service Bountiful Baskets. Get tons of fresh fruits and vegetables for only $15. The pickup time is Saturday Mornings. I have tried for a month to place an order. Finally, this week I was successful. Saturday morning I arrived at Desert Hills Middle School with my basket. I was about 5 minutes early and the parking lot was full. There were people everywhere getting their baskets full of food.

This is what I brought home....

The Fruits

The Veggie

At first I thought this isn't very much food. Then I started to wash it and prep it to eat. I quickly changed my mind . What am I going to do with all this food.

What do you do with coconuts???

Were are the baby ducks?

This is the second Saturday of the month and time to visit the Tonaquint Nature Center for Exploration in the water. This time we brought friends along to have fun with. However, someone forgot to remind the city, because the ranger wasn't there. I thought maybe I messed up. Until two other families showed up as well. We decided to do our own exploring.

Ryder kept asking where the baby ducks were. All of a sudden they started swimming towards us. Those are the babies, they are big. Amazing how much they have grown in a month.

We brought lettuce to feed them this time. Much to our surprise they spit it out and wouldn't touch it. Rylee promptly told me that we must bring bread next time.

Ms. Diana, Rylee, Reganne, Ryder, and George.

We went on a nature walk. We saw rabbits, lizzards, birds, and even a nest.

Craft Time... Father's Day is right a round the corner.

We had a great day. Shortly after we got home it started to rain again. I will not complain about the weather anymore. I will enjoy it since I can't change it.

Summer Level Reading Program

This year our school is offering the Level Reading Progam during the summer. The teachers really encouraged the kids to participate. Rylee had to do it. Faithfully on Tuesday mornings we have to pick up the books for the week from the library.

Each night after school is reading time. This is what we found. Rylee reading to Reganne.


They read this way for about 15 minutes. Then it was back to fighting and teasing each other. We should be happy for those 15 minutes and not fret the rest.

Summer Nights

Ryder is the easiest child to put to bed. By 8:30 pm each night he is ready for bed. He wants his blanket, water, rocked, and sing Follow the Prophets. He then climbs in his bed without another sound. The long summer nights are here and this is what I discovered when I checked on him later.

Is that Ryder or Elmo?

All his Elmo's were there and tucked in. Books, trucks, and stuffed animals. I moved most everything out so he could sleep. The next morning he called me to come and get him. He was smiling up at me and said "See my trucks" he had moved all the trucks back into his bed.

I am amazed at how they all manage to sleep with all that stuff in their beds. I know they eventually grow out of this phase. Rylee did. Reganne's is still full.

Summer Is Here

Monday morning dawned full of promise to be a great day. The weather reports said it would be warm. Dave promised the kids he would blow up the swimming pool so they could play. Our weather this year has been really unpredictable. One day you are wearing a jacket and the next day shorts. This day turned out to be the hotest day of the year (so far). As we drove by Dixie High School their Marque read 115 degrees. I know it wasn't that hot. It felt like it in my car with no a/c. While Dad was getting the swimming pool ready. We went to the library for the Summer Reading Program kickoff. They had games, crafts, and great prizes.

The home to play in the water and cool off.

I quickly remembered the one thing I hate about summer. The laundry!!! Rylee had three water days at daycamp each week. Reganne & Ryder each have one. Then add in swimming at the neighbors or running through the sprinklers. Thats a lot of towels and suits.

I am know caught up with the laundry. So I say bring it on!

Movie on the Square

One of our favorite summer activities is back. Movie on the Square with Imagine That playing. We packed up the kids, blankets, chairs, swimsuites, towels, and of course gooey popcorn. We were ready for the night. We staked out our spot for the movie and the kids ran to play in the water.

Two employees of KSGU TV were there as the program directors. They decided there were way to many wiggles. They cranked up the music and had all the kids come up front to dance. They did the bunny hop, macarena, hokie pokie, and freestyle.

Bunny Hop

The Hokey Pokey

I think it worked in reverse. The kids were even more wound up than before.

The movie started at 9:00pm. The witching hour for Ryder. Within 15 minutes he was wanting to go home. He was tired and he wanted his bed. Then it started to sprinkle. Just as we hit the car and pulled out it started to rain. Lucky for us or should I say lucky for Ryder we avoided getting soaked.

A Man On A Mission!

Reganne & Ryder were so excited to be going on vacation and taking a suitcase. Once we were packed and ready to go. Ryder latched onto the small pink carebear suitcase and wouldn't let go. He pulled it through the airport, security, to the car, and then back again. He legs were moving as fast as they could. I am a big boy!

He had an audience wherever he went. People stopped to watch him and comment how cute he was. He loved to watch the airplanes come in and park. He asked me if we were going to ride the baby plane (30 seater) I said yes. Can we take it home with us? Were would we park it? In the garage. Too big. Out in the road mom. Oh, the innocense of youth. He was the entertainment Friday night at the SkyWest counter.

Craft Projects to Share

All the craft projects that we have done over the past couple of months. The kids were really getting tired of making them and then bringing them home. They will play with them for a couple of hours and then be done. Rylee asked if they could please make projects and give them away. Wow! I thought what a wonderful idea. The the arguments began on who they could give them too. Who would pick what to do and who would make it.

The first project that we tried this week was the cards from Michaels. So Monday night they all sat down and began to create.

Reganne coloring her card.

Rylee putting the final touches on her card.

Ryder doing his own thing and making his own creation.

They finally finished and then the arguments began again. Who is getting my card? So by luck and whichever card I pickup to mail at the time. Our first recipent was Aunt Becca. Her birthday was on Friday.

Please now that they were made with love and enjoy.

The Keyboard

Rylee has asked since she was about 4 years old to play the piano. The reply has always been the same. You need to be able to read and then you can take lessons. She could finally read and I haven't been able to find a teacher. A month ago she brought home a flyer from a neighbor girl that was teaching after school. Rylee began to beg. I was so busy that I kept putting her off. I should have been prepared for the sneak attach. I wasn't. The teacher's little sister is a friend of Rylee's. She told her sister to call me. She did and again I put her off since our schedules didn't mesh together. I woke up to the realization that she was begging and the teacher is down the street. I had better act now or forget about it. The teacher was really accomodating with her time. Rylee started lessons two weeks ago.

We don't have a piano or keyboard. How can you take lessons without the one? I thought it would be easy to find an inexpensive keyboard for her to start with. However, there was nothing in town that fit that description. Thank goodness for the internet. We had one within a week.

Rylee is eager to practice and our deal is that once she starts this she can't quit. There was one thing that I forgot to take into account or should I say two things. Reganne & Ryder. They are both fascinated by the keyboard and want to play on there as well. The plan is now after Rylee practices they each get 5 minutes to play whatever they want. They also love to turn it on and dance to the various songs already programmed in.

The looks on their faces the excitement and enjoyment is pricess.

Our Almost Trip...

We have been planning a special trip for Rylee. Her Baptism Trip to Palmyra, NY. First we waited until school was out. Then we waited until Dave had some time off. Finally, we found a time and everything looked great. Reganne and Ryder were going to visit Brinton and Holland. We were really thankful that Randy and Janelle volunteered to take them. The flights looked good. We had our hotel room and car reservations. We were ready to go. We made our first flight and the kids were off with Uncle Randy. The wait began for the next flight. The Redeye to JFK. We waited, we walked, and tried to remain patient.

A family sitting beside us overheard Rylee talked about Palmyra. That was were they were going. The oldest sister had just finished serving her mission there two weeks before. She was taking her family back to share her mission.

The time finally arrived to start boarding the plane. Wow! where did they all come from. The waiting area was cleared down to 12 people. They started calling names to board. Wait A Minute! where did the flight attendants come from? They boarded first. Finally, the called our name. We started walking up to the desk and she said wait I only have one seat left. We looked at each other and slowly said sorry we all have to go. She then called another name. You would have thought the lady had won the lottery. She started to yelling and jumping up and down. I am going home!! As we started to walk away the realization set into Rylee that we weren't going. She started to cry. Plan B quickly fell into place.

We would get a car and hotel room for the night. Then visit Temple Square with her tomorrow. This would be our Almost Trip and spend the day together. Our first stop was the Church History Museum.

Rylee and almost Palmyra....

The log cabin display.

A bunk of a ship.

Our Angel...The new I Am A Child of God Exhibit.

Trying to tie the quilt. The yarn was too short.

Look how tall I am!

Laura Ingles, Not! Rylee trying on hats in the gift shop.

At the Beehive House & Eagle Gate

We took the 20 minute tour of the Beehive House.

Rylee by the reflecting pond. There were so many brides and grooms taking pictures outside. We saw one couple he wore a hot pink tie and the bride wore matching hot pink high top tennis shoes. Rylee asked if she could get married in this temple. Of course was our reply. Hopefully, this is many years down the road.

It was a wonderful day for an Almost Vacation full of sunshine and smiles. We met missionaries from Italy, Arizona, and the Phillapeans.

We are still going to try the actual trip. Just another day.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

March is not kite flying weather in St George. The winds don't really start until May. Then it really starts to blow. We go from no wind whatsoever to gusty winds that would blow you over. Friday looked at if it would be a great night to try. We still had our kits that we never flew after the kite festival. I forgot my camera, but remembered my cell phone camera. Not too bad, but not too good either.

One at a time we go them into the air. For about a 1/2 hour they flew really good. Then the gusty winds started. Reganne let go and hers started to fly away. I watched for a minute to see if it would land. No use running after it if it took flight. It landed across the street at the school and stuck to the trees. I retrieved it and Reganne ran after me crying and screaming to get it.

Reganne & Rylee with their kites

Dad & Ryder putting together the monster kite

The wind really started to gust. We didn't want to have to chase kids and kites so we called it a night.

Week in Review

This has been a wild and crazy week. No pictures to this one since I either forgot the camera or there wasn't anything to take pictures with. We survived the wiggly tooth adventure.

Next came the last week of school. Rylee attended her Math Facts Pajama Party and watch The Princess and the Frog, ate a slice pizza. I think the hype was better than the actual party. Wednesday was the Second Grade Swim Party. Each child had to read 300 minutes to attend. Everyone was able to go. Thursday, was the last day of school. They had to clean their room and get it ready to be painted. She brought home her class assignment for next year. Her expression was priceless. She didn't get the teacher she wanted. She wanted Mrs. Karati, because she takes Karate. Instead she has Mrs. Slack a newer teacher to our school. We are still waiting for Reganne's letter.

Saturday arrived full of plans for making crafts. Our first stop was Lowe's to make a race car. As we were waiting in line. A boy beside us began to throwup. Rylee noticed first and refused to move. I noticed second and looked around for a parent to help him. He continued and nobody came to his rescue. Everyone else was in shock and watched. We got our projects and left.

Next stop was Michael's and make a card project. The teacher had a family emergency in Enterprise (30 minutes away) The manager gave us our project to take home.

So much for having a morning of fun projects. We took them home and here they sit. Maybe today.

Movie night was Disney's Three Muskateers and chocolate rice crispy treats. They were good, but a word of advice don't use old marshmellows. When will I ever learn.