Ty Tears It Up

Grandpa bought a special kid's boogie board for Ty and Ryan this year and he couldn't wait to take the boys out to give it a try. Ty was the bravest (or maybe just the closest in proximity to Grandpa) and got to go first. He did REALLY well- in fact, I think that we got him out on the board every day but Friday. Here's a few pictures for him to brag about during Show and Tell this fall...

Ryan Gets a Turn Too

Ryan was only a little hesitant about going out in the waves with Grandpa. I remember Ty absolutely screaming when we took him out when he was 3. I know that they aren't the same kid- but a lot of their reactions are the same on these kind of things. I expect it. The ocean is BIG. Especially when you are 3. I expected some kind of freak out. But Ryan was so cute to hold Grandpa's hand and walk out into the waves. He looked like such a big boy in his rash guard and board. I have to keep shaking my head at how fast he's growing.

Grandpa got Ryan onto his board and got him ready...
Woohoo! He caught one! You HAVE to zoom in on his face here- it is priceless! His face is full of grit and determination! Or maybe he's thinking how he can get off quick without drowning...
Riding the wave all the way in... Way to go Ry!!

Kate's Turn on the Boogie Board

Now see- you thought that I would stop with making the boys go out in the water didn't you? You thought to yourself 'there is no way she would be so cruel as to make her 1 year old go out into the water'. You would be wrong.

Kate was up next- she was so confused as to what we wanted her to do. She did NOT want to lay down on the board- she wanted to kneel on her hands and knees- I think she feels more in control that way. But we made her lay down anyway- because you can't boogie board on your hands and knees.

Off she and grandpa went into the water (and I think Melissa was more concerned about this whole thing than anyone else was- look at the look on her face here in this picture).

Unlike the boys though- she didn't think that riding the waves was fun at all. But it did make for a cute picture...
But one wave was enough...
Thanks for being such a good sport grandpa and helping me get ALL my kids out into the water this trip!

The Many (Sandy) Faces of Kate on the Beach

Kate is 1. And is a really gross age to take to the beach. She isn't old enough to care that most of her diet for the week is made up of sand. She isn't old enough to care that she has sand in her butt. She isn't old enough to care that sand is covering most of her face. She isn't old enough to care that I don't really want to hold all of that in my lap. And yet... She shared "her" sand with all of us. But- I will say- behind and through all that sand is one beautiful little girl who kept us all laughing all week long.

Grandma Janet and Grandpa JB

My parents are the reason this whole trip happened. They used to take us as kids every year and stay in a beach house and play for a week. As we got older- sometimes we skipped a year and then as we got even older- it got easier to stay in a hotel- but we kept coming. It was important to my parents that we take time away from everything else and spend some time together as a family playing. And I love that they are continuing to try and do that. My dad puts in a lot of overtime to pay for us all to go, and my mom puts in a lot of hours planning and on the phone to make this happen for us. I for one, am so incredibly grateful for the efforts on their parts to do this for us. I have such incredible memories from my childhood of us as a family in California and I love that my kids are getting a chance to share in those same memories. Thanks grandma and grandpa! We love you!

DISNEYLAND

Okay people... what's your favorite place EVER? Some of you may say the mountains, or the lake, or the beach or your couch in front of the TV.... We're all different in that respect- but I will tell you now... Disneyland is my Utopia. If I could pitch a tent next to Space Mountain and live as a bum there for the rest of my life I would. And I haven't been in years. I think I was in high school the last time I went. I've been waiting not so patiently for this day ever since we had Ty 6 years ago. I know that Shaun and I could have come- but I have waited for the time that I could take my kids to the happiest place on earth. We walked through the gates and I totally cried. I was so happy to be able to share this with them. A little stupid? Maybe. Do I care? No. Because I cried again when we got on the Peter Pan ride- nostalgia sometimes just takes over.

Now- I have more pictures to share, but they will have to wait- they are on my other camera that is packed up in a box at the moment. For now- you get to see us standing in line... Something that you KNOW we did for the majority of the day.

And you get to see us on Dumbo. Ty and I are in the back elephant, Shaun and Ryan are in front of us and right in the very front is Melissa with Kate. Kate fell asleep while we were waiting in line and slept through the whole ride. Ironic isn't it? I wait years to share this with them and she falls asleep- Maybe she was just so excited she couldn't handle it and the only way she could cope with it was to fall asleep. Yeah. That's it. It's gotta be...
Anyway- more pictures and commentary to come!

Last Day

I'll admit it. We were exhausted come Friday. And while I am usually a crazy beach go-er, I could have probably been super happy staying at the hotel on Friday. But... dammit- we were on vacation! So we packed up the cooler and our towels and headed out again.

It was a really low key day though- I don't even think I got out into the water. Ty was pretty content to dig for sand crabs (this in fact was his favorite part about the beach when he was questioned later).

Ty and Kate also dug a hole...
And Ryan was super tired still from his crazy night out at Disneyland- so he curled up in a towel for the majority of the day. He only ventured out to go to the bathroom.
Saturday morning we packed the car and headed back to St. George. The kids were more than ready to get out when we finally arrived. We ordered pizza to go and totally vegged out on the couch the whole evening. When we put the boys to bed- they started on their own sides, but when we checked on them- they were snuggled right up next to each other. It was so cute!
I think they are literally sharing a pillow at this point...
And 8 loads of laundry later... we survived another year at the beach. The Kidds had a lot of fun- thanks mom and dad for taking all of us- the memories that we build during these vacations will last us a lifetime- I would know... :)

Ty Turns 6

My baby boy turned 6. How ridiculous is that!? There is no way it's been 6 years since we brought that big bundle of joy home with us (he weighed 10 pounds- I had the dr. check him to see if he was part moose)! It's amazing really. I remember that last week of being pregnant- Ty was breach and the dr couldn't get him turned- I had to go into the hospital when I was 37 weeks to see if they could turn him externally before my labor started. It was so painful- and I remember them telling me that we would have to schedule a C-Section for the following week. I remember being relieved. I couldn't tell anybody at the time because everyone I talked to told me how awful c-sections were and that it was just the worst possible thing. But I remember being relieved. I wouldn't have to go through labor. Whew.

After Ty was delivered- they rested him up on my shoulder and I remember thinking to myself that there is NO way that that baby just came out of me. And now they were going to send him home with me. It just seemed like such a stupid decision on the part of the hospital. I was only 24- what did I know about raising babies?!

I think things have turned out okay though- I love my little man more than I did when I had him (which was impossible to imagine at the time). I won't lie- there are times when we seriously disagree on certain things- but every night when I go in to check on him, I am amazed (yes every night) at what a beautiful little boy that Heavenly Father gave me.

Ty has some very special gifts too- he is such an incredible example to his younger brother and sister (I always hated hearing that when I was growing up- but it's just true sometimes!). He watches out for them (sometimes too much- but his heart is in the right place) and takes care of them to the best of his ability. He always knows how to make them laugh and he always knows when they need a friend. Ty also loves. I know that is a strange sentence- but if you know him, you know what I mean. He is so sincere in all that he does, and most of it is because of how he loves. He only knows how to be 100% in everything and his heart is huge- it's amazing.

Let's see... what else do I want to add here... Let's do a few favorites.

Favorite Food: Meatloaf

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Animal: Dog

Favorite Show: Phineas and Ferb

Favorite Movie: Star Wars- Return of the Jedi

Favorite Thing to Do: Play Video Games

Best Friends: Brigham Ruud and Ryan

Engaged To: Alyssa Robison (although- he and Ryan had a fight tonight about who gets to marry her- I don't blame them- she is a sweet girl)

Anyway- we had a little party for him and had Star Wars birthday cake. It was really good!

Melissa and Jeremiah Get Married!

Melissa and Jeremiah's big day finally got here! Congratulations to both of them- we are so excited about their marriage and the fact that we get to add someone else to our growing family! My boys LOVE Jer and were so excited when we told them that he and Miss were getting married.

It was a beautiful little ceremony at the Salt Lake Temple. I love going to sealings and listening to the promises that are given- it's always such a good reminder to me and it was such an awesome thing to hear about my sister and new brother-in-law.

Here are a few pictures from the Temple grounds that afternoon...

Handsome boys...

This is kind of a dopey picture of Shaun and I- but we don't have very many- so I'm making a point from here on out to take more of them. *Get used to the idea Shaun and start working on a REAL smile!*

I love Kate's crazy hair... She probably won't- but I think it's kind of cute. It's all curly and crazy in the back and super straight on top. She kept trying to run around the temple grounds like a wild banshee- she couldn't figure out why she had to stay close and pose for pictures. I think she was grateful when we finally loaded her up in the car to go to lunch. At least lunch is something familiar to her!
And a quick picture of the kids with the great-grandma's while we were waiting at the temple... Kate REALLY wanted to sit still- can you tell?

Whoa.... the family's getting BIG! Melissa had her dinner at Heritage Gardens- it was beautiful! They did such a good job with everything!

We, as siblings, have almost always posed this way for pictures in the past- it's funny looking at us now- we're kind of grown up... married, kids, real jobs, mortgages... But when I look at this picture- we're still the same group of goofballs that danced around the living room to Jethro Tull...

I love the look on Kate's face here- she LOVES her dad! And you can almost hear the squeal that you know went along with this picture.

I rarely get a chance to have a picture taken with my dad- it's not like we don't have the opportunity- but we don't often think about it.

Days at the Lake

I live near little piece of paradise. It's true. Are you jealous yet? Bear Lake is gorgeous for those of you that have never been there- you should go. A big part of not committing suicide during the winter months here is because you would then miss out on lake days during the summer. I have found that going out in the evening is one of my favorite things. I'll leave around 4:30 and pack dinner for the kids. We'll eat out at the lake and spend the evening in the sand and in the water. All of the kids love this and we spend hours with our butts planted in the sand.

Ryan's 3!!

Ryan turned 3 on the 11th! How crazy is that!? He is getting so big!! He has been anticipating this birthday for months now. In fact- he keeps asking me if I'm sure that he's really turning 3 and not 6 like Ty is. He always lets out the biggest sigh when I tell him that he really is going to turn 3 this year. Ryan loves his older brother. Loves him. And wants to do anything that will help him to be just like Ty.

He awoke to a stack of presents on his birthday and immediately tore into them while still in his jammies. He was super excited about his new baseball bat (watch out Kate), some new dinosaurs and his Star Wars shirt, which he insisted on wearing (knowing him like I do though- I had already washed the shirt before I wrapped it).

Ryan was also really excited about his cake- I know I use that word a lot when I describe Ryan- but there is no other word that really fits him. He's excited about everything! He'll unwrap his presents or look at his cake and he starts jumping around saying "coooool!!" Anyway- he had a Star Wars cake this year. I ordered the cake topper off of a website that delivered everything as promised and quickly- which was awesome! But- while it said the topper was "edible"... it wasn't awesome by any means. Ty and Ryan ate it because they got to eat Yoda and Darth Vadar- but the rest of us picked it off and just had cake with buttercream icing.

I love my little boy so much and I can't believe how grown up he is. He is officially potty trained- which really only took him a few days to figure it out, and he rarely has accidents at night anymore. He can count to 12 by himself and knows most of his alphabet song- for some reason he leaves out a few in the middle. Ryan is also beside himself with excitement over the fact that we are letting him go to preschool in the fall. He has been so jealous of Ty this year and keeps asking me when it's his turn to go to school too. His wish is going to be granted and we have him all signed up.

Ryan also has the cutest little tongue on him. I know that sounds strange and those of you that don't know him probably won't understand. The rest of you know exactly what I'm talking about. He uses adult expressions and the way he talks just leaves you smiling. He is such a special little boy and I am so grateful that I have him for a son. When I think of how close we were to losing him last year- it makes my heart stop. I didn't know I could love him so much.

I remember when I was pregnant with him- I was worried that I wouldn't love him as much as I loved Ty- because I really loved Ty. But the second the Dr showed him to me over the little blue C-section curtain in the Operating Room- my heart instantly grew and I loved him just as much as I did my older son. I can remember how that heart stopped when the Dr came in at 2:30 in the morning the next day to tell me that little Ryan had been taken into the NICU because the air sacs in his lungs wouldn't stay inflated and he had caught pneumonia from the fluid he inhaled. I was all alone in that dark little hospital room and I remember praying to Heavenly Father that my baby would be alright. It was so scary to see Ryan hooked up to all these machines- he even had his own nurse- around the clock he had his own nurse. I guess that's how you judge how bad off these little ones are- the scary cases always have their own nurses. Little did I know that he would again have his own nurse in less than two years.

Little Ryan has scared a few years off my lifespan- but the time that I do get to spend with him is a little piece of heaven. I love him. And he loves me. He tells me at random times- it's always out of the blue- I'll be folding laundry and he'll come up to me and hug my leg and tell me that he loves me.

Love you too big boy.

Melissa's Bridals

My cute sister, Melissa is getting married on the 21st and she let me tag along to her bridals. Like I've said before- I am NOT a photographer- but I am trying to learn how to take better pictures of my own kids, so I got to shadow her "real" photographer. While we were waiting for them, I got to play around with my camera and Miss let me take a few pictures of her all dressed up. Thanks Miss!

These are in no particular order... just the way I took them.

Here's a closeup of her gorgeous ring... Way to go Jeremiah!

I am in love with her shoes and want to steal them after the wedding... do you think she'll notice?

I love this picture- she just looks so happy!

She's freakin' gorgeous too...