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.

Family Summer Vacation

What a fun weekend we had. It was filled with fun and family. The girls had been asking for months when we could go to Lagoon again. July 25th happened to be SkyWest Days. Dave got the day off and off we went. We were lucky because Grandma JeanAnn, Grandpa Chris, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Becca, Aunt Emily, Rachel, Adam, and Brinton were able to join us. The day was hot but the crowds were not. We were able to have lot's of fun and ride all the rides we wanted. As would luck would have it we ran into my Uncle Ted & Aunt Glenda from Spanish Fork. Their two daughters Lindsey & Amy were there as well.


This was Ryder's first ride. He wasn't so sure he wanted to be there. Rylee wasn't so sure either.

Reganne & Ryder

Rylee & Reganne

Ryder wanted nothing to do with this ride and jumped out as fast as I put him in.

Brinton, Rachel, Reganne, Rylee

Ryder was done riding the kiddie rides. He sat and watched the other kids.

After a fun filled day at Lagoon. You would think the kids should have been worn out. Surprise they still had energy to pull out the toys at grandma's and play together.

Morgan, Rylee, Joshua, Reganne

The other cousins finally arrived and the noise level went up. It was amazing to see them play together. They really enjoyed each other.

Gracie

Monday morning came and the kids were all reved up to play. To bad the hornets, wasps, bees or whatever you call them. Were also ready to play. Grandma's swingset was full of them. The next place we tried was the park. There were at least 4 hives that we found. The kids played for about 1/2 hour before they ran us off.

Grandma & Rachel

Grandma suggested Jumpin Jaxs. The inside playground with blowup toys to jump, bouce, run, and scream. The kids were in heaven.

Reganne & Morgan

Morgan, Reganne, Brinton

It was picture time. We have tried to get these three together for another picture since they were 6 months old. They are now four and full of energy. They loved playing together.

Janelle, Holland, Lori, Ryder, Emily, and Rachel

These are the next three babies born together. It seems we do everything in threes.

Janelle, Holland, Brinton, Rylee, Ryder, Lori, Rachel, Emily, Gracie, Reganne, Morgan, Jaxon, and Joshua

10 grandkids with the oldest being 7 and the youngest 15 months. They loved playing together and didn't want to sit for pictures. But we just had to try.

It was a great weekend and we loved visiting with our Michigan cousins. We hope it will not be another 2 years before we can get together again.

Flat Stanley

This summer our day care decided to do Flat Stanley to see where he could go. So far he has been to Disneyland, Canada, and Mexico. So we decided to take him with us to Santaquin, Utah. Here is out plane ride and all smiles. Rylee made sure he was buckled in and could see out the window.

Rylee, Reganne, and Cousin Brinton letting Stanley play with toys in Spanish Fork, Utah
Rylee, Grandma "Mawca" letting Stanley play at the park in Santaquin, Utah

Ryder, Grandma "Mawca", Reganne, and Stanley. Ryder he looks good enough to eat. Rylee, Uncle Randy, Cousin Holland, and Stanley playing with the baby.
Rylee, Reganne, and Stanley at the airport checking out flights.....Where should they go next???
Rylee, Reganne, and Stanley at the airport on the escalators home is our next stop. What a busy day.

Summer is Winding Down.......

The summer is not officially over, but summer play time is coming to an end for us. This was our final week of play before school starts. We tried to fit a lot in and are worn out now. The great news of the week is gas finally fell below $4.00 and as of Friday some stations were at $3.97. It seems silly to get excited about that, but what a summer to remember our high here in St. George was $4.39. We went to the Biggs Family Reunion in Santaquin yesterday. The kids had so much fun getting to know new cousins and play in a new park with new things to see and do.

Ryder discovered his bottle this week sitting on the table. He quickly pulled himself up and started drinking it. He forgot he still had to sit back down. So this is were I found him standing and drinking as fast as he could. After this picture I sat him back down with the bottle still attached. He looked up and gave me a big smile. I could hear him say "Thanks Mom"
Ryder and Grandma "Mawca" at the Reunion.

Brylee & Bailey blowing bubbles...who could blow the biggest....
Dave, Holland, and Janelle
Krisanne, Ryder, Kassidy
There was a raffle during the reunion and Reganne wanted the bubble gum. She loves it!!!!! Uncle Ernst found a $5 dollar bill I accidentally dropped and quickly bought Reganne all the tickets should could want. She quickly put over half in the bubble gum cup. She told everyone that it was going to be hers. The name they read was Baileys. Bailey guickly gave to Reganne and told her she won. She was so excited and asked everyone if they wanted gum. She loved to share. She also won jewelry and perfume. Needless to say we hoped that the gum would not make it through security at the airport. SURPRISE!!!!! it was individually wrapped so no problem. Now, I have the problem all that bubble gum and what to do with it. I think it is going to day care to be shared with all her friends.
Aunt Joan, Uncle Bob, and Uncle Stanley
Jason & Camielle, newly engaged. The wedding date has been set to October 17th. Could those smiles get any bigger??

Waters Family Weekend

We had a fun weekend with the whole Waters Family. We met everyone at Lagoon on Friday Morning. This turned out to be another hot day. They reported that for Salt Lake City it was the first day of 100 Degrees. We still had a lot of fun. We met Brandon, Kim, Nate, Trevor, Mitchell, and Breeonah. Mike, Christopher, Jennifer, and Kelly. Let the fun begin!!!! Everyone went their own ways with so many different ages. Reganne and Rylee were able to ride everything they wanted to and then double up on their favorites. Dave was able to ride Wicked again and then ride additional ones with his brothers and the older kids.

Here is Ryder's first Carousel Ride and doesn't he look happy. We discovered right before this on the train that his top two teeth where breaking through. So he wasn't his usually cheerful self. He was amazing and just sat and watched and wanted to be held.


Here is our crazy group. The park was shutting down for the night and they all wanted to still party. Trying to get this picture was a miracle let alone getting them all to sit and stay.Saturday everyone gathered for a barbeque at Brandon & Kim's house. Finally, I snagged them again for pictures. This time was even harder because the "Big" boys kept teasing everyone. Reganne refused to get in this picture. That is her shoulder behind the couch.

Here are the boys: Mitchell, Christopher, Ryder, Trevor, and Nathan
Here are the girls: Reganne, Rylee, Breeonah, and Jennifer It was Karate Show and Tell that turned into beat up Uncle Brandon. The kids loved tackling him. It can't be because he is a big kid himself. Everyone had a fun time.

The airplane ride home was an adventure as well. No A/C until we left the ground. On Saturday Night @ 8:00 that can take awhile. All Ryder wanted to do was sleep and he couldn't. Finally we stripped him down to his diaper, fanned him, and he fell asleep. Rylee just wanted to go home and she fell asleep. Reganne wanted to know why it was hot and tormented her Dad the whole way home.

Wow what a long weekend!!!!!!!