Destination: California, Day 1

As most of you know, I have NEVER, EVER in my life, been to California. So this was the kids first time going also. You can imagine how excited we were to go!!! Thanks to our wonderful friends who live in Atascadero, CA, we decided to head out and give them a visit and see the beautiful ocean and beaches. The day that we left I took this picture of our Apricot tree in bloom. I had to capture it because I knew I wouldn't get to enjoy it while we were gone for an entire week. Anyways, we decided to split the long drive up into 2 days and make a couple of stops to see some friends on the way.
First stop...St. George to say Hello and Goodbye to one of Ryan's first scouts that he had when we first moved into our neighborhood. Adam "Buddy" Bishop was leaving for his mission to Russia that week, so we definitely had to go and see him. We visited with him and his family for a couple of hours and then took him out to dinner to Poncho and Lefty's. It's always a good laugh to hang out with this awesome kid! They don't come much better than him...we will miss his visits for the next couple of years!

After our visit with the Bishop's, it was off to Las Vegas to visit and spend the night with our good friends the Munson's. They recently moved from our street here in Bountiful to there, so we were way excited to catch up and spend some time with them. They had arranged for a babysitter to watch our kids and they took us out for some REAL soul food at a place called Ellie Em's..which was DELICIOUS! And then we went to the strip to see the conservatory in the Belagio Hotel and the fountains. We stayed out way too late...but had a blast! Paul woke up at 6:30 the next morning to bake Ryan a chocolate cake AND breakfast for all of us! What a guy, huh?! It was so good to see them and their wonderful family!

This is what we came back to. It's kind of a dark picture, but it was cute to see the kids all curled up together. They fell asleep watching a movie.

Check out my next post under this one for March.

Quick "Picture" Update for March

Above: Ryan and the kids playing a game on Ry's phone. I thought that this was a perfect picture moment!

Bronson and his Great-Grandpa Dee are playing a serious game of checkers together! I love that my kids are so close to all of their grandparents. I feel like we are so blessed to have so many!

We had a great St. Patrick's Day. Bronson had a ton of fun at school....the Leprechaun's came and left their footprints everywhere and they left magic pudding to eat. Mazzy was just excited to wear her St. Patrick's Day headband.

The 2 pictures below are of the the kids outside of the Church History Museum. We had a great time going through the museum and learning all about the pioneers and how far the church has come since Joseph Smith. The kids LOVED the covered wagon and also seeing what the bunks looked like in the immigrant ships. It was a fun family day.

Stopping at the fountain at Temple Square.

During March we took advantage of any days that were nice to be outside and play. Here's Maz and Brons working on their skateboarding skillz!!!

I took a moment to try out riding Bronson's bike with training wheels.....I know, I'm pretty amazing.

Ryan decided he wanted to not miss out on the fun and rode Mazzy's skateboard down the hill. I told him he had to sit so he didn't break a hip.

Bronson tearin' it up on his bike....we've got to get this kid riding without training wheels. Every time we try he tips to the side....not sure why, but we are working on it. It'll come!

So that's pretty much it for the month of March.

Garden Time!

Planting our lives away!!!

Mazzy showing off her row.

Bronson doing a great job planting his peas.

Covering up the peas.

Helping Dad put the tiller away.

Having a little play break from gardening.

About a week and a half ago, Ryan could NOT stand it anymore, so we planted our peas, spinach and white icicle radishes. Ryan was as happy as a kid in a candy store, and Maz was a close 2nd. Ry got out the tiller and tilled up the garden and got it ready for the plantin'. The kids got their own rows of peas to plant, like usual, and they did a great job! Mazzy is a pro at spacing them out, but Bronson needed a little help, so I had to show him where to place each pea. Every year we plant white icicle radishes for my grandpa, who LOVES them. The kids were excited to plant them and care for them for their great Grandpa Dee. And we are proud to say that those are already up and sprouted! Now the long wait for our peas.....mmmm can't wait!

Baseball Smackin'

Mazzy took her turn at batting and dropping the balls into the machine.

Bronson takin' a swing!

Bronson's turn to drop the balls in the machine.

I discovered I'm pretty good at hitting a baseball! Who knew?

Ryan's turn.

Maz and me getting ready to go home. The sun was BRIGHT in my eyes!

We've been deciding whether or not to put Bronson back in t-ball or bump him up to machine pitch for baseball this year. He technically should be in t-ball for one more year, but he's just so darn good at sluggin' a baseball! So we put him to the test. A couple of weeks ago, we took him to an indoor sportsplex just to see what he could do. Well lets just say, after dropping the balls in the machine and Bronson sluggin' 7 balls in a row, we came to the conclusion that it would be alright to bump him up to machine pitch. We slugged balls for about an hour and a half, and Bronson was up to bat the majority of that time! I LOVED watching him just bat one right after another! He's so excited to start playing again. I'm not sure about the rest of his game....we'll be working on it, but he definitely has the batting down! The rest of us each took our turn at smackin' some balls....it was a very fun family day!!!

Holy Behind!

Me with my gift card....weird picture I know...

My wonderful Birthday Day!

I helped out with Bronson's Valentine's party, I made cookies for the kids to decorate. They had so much fun!

These are pictures from our fun day at the park.

Ok, let's just start out with this.....I'm sure from the title of this post you were all probably thinking "YES!!! There is going to be a picture of Ryan or Hailey's awesomely holy "behind" or as you may call it...bum".....well that was just part of my ploy to get you to come to my blog and read posts about my family. Sorry to disappoint my MANY readers!

Ok now back to some serious catching up! January and February have been busy months....mainly just due to sick kids ALL the time! The times that they haven't been sick we have tried to cram as much stuff in as possible to actually live a little! Back at the end of January I celebrated my 32nd birthday.....I know....I'm so young! I had such a great 3 days being able to celebrate with family and friends! My mom and sister took me out for a day of shopping for much needed clothes! Then we went to dinner together. Thanks Mom and Mist for such a fun day! The day before my birthday my parents came down and took me out to dinner 'cause my dad had to work on my actual birthday. Then on "the" day of the MOMENTOUS occasion of my birth some 32 years ago, Ryan planned and cooked a most EXCELLENT meal! He and the kids banished me to the basement and I was instructed to stay on the couch and relax! He cooked me all of my favorite things....shrimp, steak, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, green beans (from our garden), a coke and then a yummy ice cream cake! I felt so loved and spoiled! The Vincent's showed up also to wish me a Happy Birthday and that was a fun visit! Ryan and the kids also got me a gift certificate to Rue21 for more much needed clothes....let's just say I haven't bought clothes for myself for about 5 years.....I was really grateful for that gift! Also my wonderful in laws...yup, not outlaws....Ray and Renee also got me a gift card to Ross...more clothes YAY!!!! So a big THANKS to them as well for making me feel loved and appreciated!

Enough about me, so the kids have been battling with sickness this winter...not fun! We had a wonderfully scary visit to the ER with Mazzy as she decided to turn blue from croup! I was in need of some extra gray hairs.....so I was excited that that helped me out in that department. So recap....we've had croup, strep throat, sinus infections, colds, and more recently bronchitis, and did I mention sinus infections??? Pretty eventful around here! Last month in February we actually had a day or two that was warm, and luckily no one was sick so we spent 3 and half hours at the park! It was wonderful to get out!

Mazzy's teacher and school has recommended that she should apply for the Full Time Spectrum program for gifted and talented students. School has just been way too easy for her this year and her teacher, Ryan and I feel this would be much better for her to learn things at a deeper level. So February brought Mazzy's testing to get into the program. She tested from 9 to 11:30...there were 9 parts to the test, but she did it! That's the hardest part of the whole process, so it is nice to have it done and over with for her. We are so proud of her for giving this a shot! If she gets in that means she will go to a different school. She made the choice and is pretty excited about it! We won't know anything until the end of April.

Bronson is doing so well in Kindergarten! He is reading wonderfully and just really enjoys going and doing "school work"! I'm amazed with my little Bug! He is really determined to learn and I LOVE that he has this quality! He lost his front tooth in February (sometime) he was pretty excited about it! Now to see if there is room for these teeth coming in....one of them is already coming in, but it is going to knock out another tooth for it to fit. Don't know about that. He's also just getting over bronchitis, which will be nice when that is completely cleared up.

And now I think that about sums us up for the past couple of months! I'm sure there is more, but I can't think of anything else at the moment...so that's it and that's all! For now anyways.

Bronson's tooth finally came out!!!

Visiting cousins...Mazzy holding Josh.

Luci, Mazzy and Bronson playing a game on the phone together.

Sledding Fun on New Year's Day!

On New Year's Day we went up to Morgan to go sledding with the kiddos and my sister's family. We went up on my Grandpa and Grandma's dry farm and sledded for about 4 1/2 hours straight...with no breaks. We had a BLAST!!! It was darn cold, but we bundled up good! Walking up and down the hills kept us very busy and warm too. My Aunt's kids also came up with us. All the kids were so happy to be hanging out with all of their cousins! This was the ONLY picture I took of the day, the rest we just videoed. Too much fun to not capture it live! I love going sledding up there, brings back so many childhood memories of sledding down the lane, broken toes, frozen fingers, giggles, playing with cousins, aunts and uncles, LOVE IT!!!! So check out these videos of our day. They aren't very long. One is of Mazzy learning to snowboard. Another is of Mazzy and Ryan sledding together...starting at the top of the hill and continuing all the way down the lane down to my Grandparents house (look closely and you can see them through the trees). And then one of Bronson going so carefully down the hill!

As soon as I get Ryan's pictures off of his camera I will post about New Year's Eve!

Merry Christmas to All!!!!

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year! It was so nice and not at all rushed! Christmas Eve my parent's came to spend the night with the kids so they could be here Christmas morning (they switch off every year with my sister and I, which all the kids love). Maz and Brons woke up at around 8:30 and so we rushed in the front room to see if Santa came.....and he did!!! Mazzy got some of the things she had asked Santa for and so did Bronson...they were ecstatic! We had a great morning with my parents. After my parents left, Ryan's parents came to exchange gifts and to see what all the kids had got. While they were here Ryan brought me and envelope and sent me on a scavenger hunt for a gift for me, which ended up being in the trunk of Ryan's parents car. Well I was very, very surprised because we haven't bought for each other for a good 5 years or more, we've just spent the extra on the kids and family...he broke our pact....but I was thrilled! He got me a copy of The Living Christ, which I had previously memorized this year and the painting that I have wanted for FOREVER! It actually made me cry! Then after the Ry's parents left we headed to Morgan so that we could go to my Grandparent's and then meet up with Scott and Mist (my sis) to give our combined gift to my parents. Also Santa leaves a toy for the kids at my parents....one that stays at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so the kids are always anxious to get up there and see what else they are getting from Santa. It's a fun tradition. We had an awesome day filled with lots of love and family!! I hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas!!!

Above: Me with my gifts from the kids and Ryan. Below: Ray and Renee (Ryan's parents) with their gift from us.

Below: Another picture of Morgan Valley as we were driving to my parent's house. I was just really excited about the snow...it always makes me feel like I'm home!

Below: My Grandpa and Grandma opening their present from us...LOVE them so much!

Below: I don't know how well you can see this (click on the picture and it will make it somewhat bigger) but there was a pretty little 3 point buck outside my Grandparent's window up the lane. There has been a ton of buck's and elk I guess come down into their backyard. While we were their we saw 4 elk up on the dry farm.

Below: My parent's with their new digital picture frame from My sister's family and us.

Below: I have titled this picture "If Ryan were a doll....."

Below: Sadly....this is the best picture we got of us at the end of Christmas day. Not very good....but it'll do.

Below: Scott (my brother in law) Wearing Fazoodles on his ears and being a total NERD!!!! Love ya Scotty!

Below: Mist (my sis) and Me laughing at the horribleness of our husbands!!! Don't ask!