Merry Christmas: Week 2 / Favorites

As you can see this blog is over 2 days late. This is due to the snow storm we were privileged to enjoy on Saturday in Cedar City. We decided to try something new or hopefully start a new tradition by going to the Cedar City Light Parade. The weather was great during the day. Actually Dave was a little miffed because there wasn't any snow to play in. As the day wore on the clouds started rolling in and by 5:00 it started to lightly snow. By 6:00 there was at least 3 inches on the ground and more coming. Dave and the girls got out of the car to play until the parade arrived. Ryder was ticked off because he had to stay inside with Mom. The parade finally arrived and was over within 15 minutes. Sure glad stayed for that.... Lucky for us we weren't planning on going back to St George, but instead staying the night at the Abby Inn. There was now at least 5 inches on the ground and still coming down. We watched movies and played around the room. Finally, bed time all was quiet.

Ryder woke up screaming at 1:30. He was not going to go back to sleep. His tummy hurt and he wanted everyone to know it. So after an hour of this Dave decided we should go home now and maybe he would fall asleep. So at 2:35 we were packed and loaded into the car and on our way home. Now there are at least 8 inches of snow on the car. We made in home by 3:30 and everyone was in bed before 4:00. Ryder didn't even stir when we put him to bed and slept until 8:00. Reganne woke up as soon as I put her to bed and said she had a nightmare. She wouldn't sleep in her bed.

One thing we did in the hotel room in between movies was ask the girls about their favorite things. Then we all quessed about what Ryder's would be.

Rylee:
Color - Pink & Purple
Dinner - Pizza
Treat - Ice Cream
Movie - Kung Fu Panda
Stories - The Alphapets
Primary Song - Families Can be Together Forever
Family Trip - Lagoon

Reganne:
Color - Pink & Purple
Dinner - Noodles (Any Type)
Treat - Bubble Gum
Movie - Polar Express, Barbies Diamond Castle
Stories - Alphapets
Primary Song - I am A Child of God
Family Trip - Lagoon

Ryder:
Color - Blue & Green
Dinner - Noodles
Treat - Chocolate
Movie - None he doesn't sit still long enough or does he care.
Stories - Any thing that anyone will read to him.
Primary Song - I am A Child of God
Family Trip - Lagoon

I was amazed at some of their answers and at how similar they were. They are each so different and special. I am so lucky to be their Mom. Even though Reganne's new phrase is "You are not the boss of me" I quickly tell her that I am the boss of everyone in our house. Then she replies Not Dad!!! Then I have to admit she is right, but that we are both the boss of her. Then she will smile and walk off.

Merry Christmas Week 1 Traditions

Christmas our families favorite time of year. There are so many things to see and do. We have our family traditions and the kids really enjoy each one that we do. Last week was the Jubilee of Trees.

This week started the Dickens Festival. The girls know that this is where we see Father Christmas and have their picture taken. They colored a picture to enter the coloring contest. Then it was off to see Santa. Ryder wasn't to sure about him. I was surprised he didn't scream since this is his normal reaction to being set down. Instead he just looked around with a stone face. He did like the candy stick he gave me afterwards. The girls asked for digital cameras, Wall-e, and Tinkerbell Movies.

The Kids w/ Father Christmas

Rylee's class made Advent Chains with a different activity for each night until Christmas. Tuesday's activity was take your families picture by the Christmas Tree. As you can tell there aren't many smiles. Nobody wanted to pose and they couldn't agree on which tree to stand by. So we took pictures by both.

Saturday we were off to Cedar City to the Children's Storybook Parade. We had heard the weather was cold so we bundled everyone up. Much to our surprise it was in the high 40's and so the coats quickly came off. Ryder was top heavy and every time he stood up with this coat on he would fall over and hit his head. Reganne refused to wear her coat it was too much bother. Rylee was cold and she wore hers most of the time.

Then the parade started...

The joys of having a walking toddler. He didn't want to stay. He wanted to walk.

All of the kids around us discovered if they creeped out into the road they could give the characters high fives. So here they are out almost in the middle of main street. Touching and playing with the characters as they walked by.

Everyone was starving so we ate dinner in Cedar City and then drove home. They all fell asleep which made for a nice ride home.

Our final tradition of the week was family movie night. One girl picks the movie and the other picks the treat. Reganne picked Polar Express and Rylee picked Smores.

I am loving the eagerness and excitement that each child has for Christmas. We are always on the look out for new things to see and try. Hopefully start new traditions.

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving Holiday. Ours was filled with food, family, friends, and rain. It rained all day. The drizzly cold and miserable rain. Lucky for us we have plenty of toys, games, and movies to entertain everyone while dinner was being cooked. We had our friends the Wheelers over for a combined dinner and it was delicious. The men deep fried the turkey and didn't burn the house down. As we had been warned over and over again.

For family night this week I asked everyone what they were thankful for. Here are their answers:

• Rylee: My Family
• Reganne: Juice
• Ryder: My bottle
• Dave: Country, house, family
• Lori: Healthy kids

Rylee & Reganne setting the Thanksgiving Table

The Kids
Jayce, Dakota, Ryder, Reganne, Rylee

The Food / Treats

Playing Inside / Busted for jumping on the bed.

The Jubilee of Trees 2008

I love the holiday season in St. George. Each week there is another holiday activity. Last Sunday kicked it off with the Jubilee of Trees. All of the pretty Christmas Trees all decorated and wonderful music from the choirs. It really starts the season out with a bang.

Decorating the Tree

The girls were so excited to put the Christmas Tree up and the lights on the outside. They have been helping Dave with each task. Dave soon tired out, but they talked him into putting the second tree up with all of the fun ornaments. He surprised them with turning it upside down and putting Grandpa Roy's train underneath.

The task now for the next month is keeping all of them out of the tree. The girls are just as bad as Ryder.

Gas update Costco yesterday $1.63.

We Are Walking....Sort Of.

Ryder is finally walking... sort of. He walks like Frankenstein with his arms in the air and not bending his legs. He will stand up and take off walking between the furniture or to chase after me. He goes about 15 to 20 steps then stops and claps for himself. He can stop and change directions. If he starts to fall he will bend over to catch himself. However, this is not fast enough for him. So he will drop and off he goes crawling. He also as figured out how to climb into boxes, baskets, and anything big enough to fit him. He emptied out his diapers and wipes and climbed in for a ride courtesy of Reganne. These two play really well together for short periods of time. Reganne loves to pick him and take him where she wants to play. Or in reverse to get him out of her stuff. She loves to push him around in the baskets or on his little fire truck.

This has been a really quiet week. There were the only 3 pictures I took. It was rather nice not be running around with our heads cut off.

Reganne finally had her speech evaluation with the school district. Her speach is in the average range and slightly below. They told me that this is nothing to be worried about and for us to continue to work with her by reading, singing, and talking. However, she will not qualify for the preschool program. She loved going to this preschool and was not happy when I told her that she wouldn't be coming back.

Gas here is finally under a 2 dollars. $1.77 to be exact. I felt like celebrating no more loans to fill up the gas tank each week.

We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

Another Great Fall Day

This has been another busy week. Rylee had SEP Testing with Parent Teachers Conference. She is doing really well in school. Her teacher is really happy with her progress in reading and how well she interacts with the others in her class.

Little Valley Elementary planned a Walk-A-Thon / Fall Carnival for one of their teachers Mrs. Ivey. She was diagnosed earlier this year with a rare form of Blood Cancer. She is undergoing treatments right now and doing as well as can be expected. The kids were able to raise money for her by walking around the track. So Saturday morning at 10:00 am the walking started.

Rylee was so excited to participate. That on her lunch break instead of playing with the other kids she told us she walked around the track 3 times. So she knew she could go that far at least.

After lap one. Look at that smile.

Lap eight and Ryder decided he wanted to join her. He walked half way around until Dave finally picked him up.

She walked 8 laps. We thank all of our family who sponsored her. We are so proud of her and her eagerness to serve others.

After the walking came the carnival. The girls were so excited to play the games. When we asked them what they really wanted to do. They quickly replied ride the horse.

Big mistake in teaching Ryder how to drink from a straw. He loves to drink from our drinks and throws a fit if you take it away.

Next came soccer and it was the last game of the season. Reganne kicked off and she is pretty good with that part. She kicked the ball one other time, but it came right to her.

The game is over and high fives for everyone. The Heartbreakers were undefeated. They really had alot of fun together. Who knows about next year. Reganne says NO!! She wants to have a play date instead.

"The Heartbreakers"

Kavere, Kaylee, Reese, Madison, Reganne

The Familys

Reganne & her trophy

She was so excited to get the trophy, certificate, and goodie bag. She might just change her mind about soccer.

Just Another Week

We have survived just another busy week. The weather started out cold and wintery. It ended on a great fall day with the sun shinning and no wind. The best news gas is down to $2.37 @ Costco as of Friday.

Dave & I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary. This year there was no big celebration this year. I don't think we are old enough to be married this long. Time has really flown bye.

Rylee was trying to see how many different color outfits she could wear at one time. It looks like 5 or she ran out of colors. She was dying for me to take her picture.



I never seem to have enough time to mop my kitchen floor. Ryder threw his sippy cup when he was finished and kool aid flew everywhere. Now I had to make time. So I left him in his chair with a sucker. When he was finished and I was cleaning under him. I set the mop beside him. He decided to help and was pushing the mop around his chair. I tried taking it back and he let out a loud scream. Then he would start again with the mop and give me this cute grin. We both finally finished mopping and I forgot how messy his chair gets. So after getting him down I had another mess to clean. I don't think I will ever have a totally clean floor anymore.


Reganne and soccer are not a match made in heaven. She keeps asking how much longer does she have to play in front of all the people. She does her own thing until asked to kick the ball. She loves to kick the ball. She took her ball behind the crowd and started kicking the ball around. She didn't want to go back to the game. She loves the snacks and the other girls. One more week and the season is over.

The day was so beautiful. We were in shirt sleeves enjoying the sun. Ryder wanted Daddy to hold him. He was not happy with the sippy cup, but finally gave in and drank it. He wanted a bottle and to go to bed. We are down to one maybe two bottles a day.

Here are the twin tornedos. Between these two and the messes they make. I think I am going crazy picking up after them. I am learning to wait until they are asleep and then clean up. Then it stays clean for awhile.

Dave was watching an 80's music count down on VH1. These two started to dance. The danced and walked around my kitchen for over a half hour. They both were giggling and having a great time. If Reganne stopped Ryder would let out a scream. She would start all over again. She was being so patient with him. Dave called this a Kodiak Moment and I agreed. I love it when they play together without the fighting.

Happy Halloween

When did Halloween become a weeklong holiday? We had alot of Halloween activities this week. The kids loved getting dressed up for each one and sharing their costumes with others.

Tuesday started the festivities. We had our annual Halloween Carnival and Chili Dinner. The young men and women set up booths with different games and face painting for all the kids in the ward.

Here is Rylee getting ready for bowling with the teachers quorum and Dad.

Ryder was the lucky one who stayed and played with Dad and the Teachers.

Reganne "Ariel" doing a little dance. She didn't want to do any games. The she discovered that there was candy after you played. So then we had to go and do everything again.

Halloween started early on Friday. Rylee was able to dress up for school. Reganne and Ryder dressed up for Pajama Day at daycare. I was able to find Halloween Pajamas for Reganne. She was so excited and had to add the Princess Tiara to make the outfit complete. Ryder didn't want to pose or stand up for the picture.Next came the Halloween Parade at Little Valley Elemantary. I was suprised everyone dressed up from the teachers, students, janitors, and even the spectators. There were costumes every where.
I then took the kids to SkyWest for some trick or treating. We came away with full buckets and tired kids. But not too tired to do more trick or treating in the neighborhood. The loved it and the weather was perfect. NO coats or jackets required this year. We have so much candy that I think we will go into sugar shock if we don't watch it.

Here are Snow White, Ariel, and our little alligator.

We hope everyone else enjoyed a safe and happy Halloween!!!!!