THE TERRY FAM

Beach Week 2011

2011-08-15T12:05:00.003-06:00

Beach week was another success this year! The kids and I drove down half-way Sunday and made it to Laguna around lunch time on Monday. We had a lot of great beach days and delicious meals every night, usually at the beach or park near-by. Beck turned 2 while we were there so he got to celebrate his birthday with his cousin Mia at their house for a pool party and bbq. Jake flew in on Friday, just long enough for a day at the beach and then to drive home with us on Saturday. This is one of our favorite trips of the summer each year. Can't wait to get back!

b-day cupcake

My surfer boy

Jake teaching Ry to boogie board

Pizza at the beach

Lake Tahoe

2011-07-25T11:13:00.001-06:00

With summer in full swing, Jake and I thought we would sneak away for a quick trip, just the two of us. We decided on Lake Tahoe since we had never been there before. We left the kids at the ranch with Grandma and cousins and Aunts to look after them. Tahoe was a beautiful as the pics we had seen. Our first full day there we went river rafting on the Truckee River. It was so much fun! A first for us both and definately something we will do again. The next day we took a lunch cruise to Emerald bay with a bunch of old timers. The views were great but it definately dragged on too long. On our last full day we drove around the lake and hiked Eagle Falls, then it was back to Reno to catch a flight home the next morning. The trip felt a bit short but it was a great mini-vacay!

4th of July

2011-07-05T13:56:00.000-06:00

We had another great 4th of July at the ranch this year. Parade, races, bbq, fireworks, and fun!

waiting for the parade to start

Lots of kids races

Dirty kids after a big day

The End!

Easter

2011-04-28T13:34:00.010-06:00

This year for Easter I took the kids and headed to Laguna Beach for the long weekend. Jake had a business trip in St. Louis so I wasn't about to spend Easter alone in Provo. We had such a great time! All of my siblings but one were able to be there so it was fun catching up and the cousins had a great time playing all weekend. We had a couple of great beach days, bbq'd, and just hung out. Saturday all the kids went to an Easter Egg hunt at a park near Brett & Christy's. That day was also Crew's 4th Birthday so that evening we had cupcakes and opened presents with everyone. Sunday morning the kids looked high and low for their Easter baskets but couldn't find a one until they stumbled across a note from the Easter bunny telling them to head to the beach to find their loot. Sure enough, they all came back with a basket full of goodies! That afternoon we headed back to spend the night in St. George only I wouldn't make it that far. A few miles outside of Primm I blew a tire! Just me and the kids on the fast lane side of I-15. I won't lie, it sucked! I tried to change the tire myself but didn't get far because I didn't have tools to get the lugnuts off. I called my 24 hr towing and they said they could have someone there in 90 min. Seriously?! I wasn't about to wait in the middle of the desert for an hour and a half with 3 small kids. My next call was to my mom. I explained my predicament and she handed the phone off to my brother who told me to call highway patrol. Who knew?! I hung up and called 311 and they were there in 20 min with a mechanic. He threw on my spare and we were back on our way. We ended up in Vegas at my brothers for the night so I could get a new tire first thing in the morning and the rest of the trip went without a hitch! It was a great weekend and I'm so glad we went!

We watched a sick seal get rescued at Emerald Bay. Pretty cool!

The Easter Egg Hunt

Orange Cupcakes- Crew's favorite color!

Birthday Boy

Easter Morning

Broken down in the desert

Attack of the Leprechaun

2011-03-17T15:16:00.000-06:00

A little leprechaun made it's way into our kitchen this morning and here's a look at what he did to our breakfast. Green eggs, pancakes, and milk. The kids could hardly believe their eyes! They happily ate everything but I had the hardest time convincing them to drink their green milk. I finally just told them to close their eyes and drink it and it worked! Empty glasses all around. After breakfast there was a ring at the doorbell. The kids raced out to find chocolate covered gold coins on the doorstep. After they gathered their loot hey looked all over the yard for that sneaky leprachaun but no luck. Maybe next year!

Happy Birthday Dad

2011-03-17T15:07:00.001-06:00

Oh how I miss my dad! Not a day goes by when he's not in my thoughts. I talked to my mom first thing this morning and she told me to have only happy thoughts today. So that's what I did. No tears, just happy memories. Made the day a lot more bearable. Love you Dad!

Free day at the Zoo

2011-02-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Why not?

Valentines

2011-02-14T14:22:00.001-07:00

Ry got to decorate a box for her Valentines party at school. She was so excited how it turned out. I went to her class the last hour to help with the party. Those kindergartners are quite a bunch. Bless you teachers!

18 Months

2011-02-11T15:44:00.002-07:00

My baby is 18 months. Talk about a sweet boy! He hasn't met a face yet that he won't smile for. Lately he has become an aspiring climber. There isn't a piece of furniture in our house that he hasn't conquered(tables,counter tops,washer/dryer), you name it he's been there. Two weeks ago he fell while attempting to go from the bar stool to the counter and got a beauty of a black eye. Not that it deterred him as he was right back at it 20 min later. Sure love this guy!!!

MUAH!

Look who lost her first tooth!

2011-02-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

Terrible pic from my phone but a missing tooth none-the-less!

Riley turns 6!

2011-01-16T13:42:00.001-07:00

My sweet little Ry turned 6! I'm amazed how fast 6 years have flown by. I barely made it to the hospital with her and within 20 min of checking in I was holding that little sweetie in my arms. She came into this world fast and has not slowed down a bit. She's smart as a whip and my little dare-devil. I love that she'll give any challenge a try. This year was her first "friends" party and she was so excited. We played games, decorated cupcakes and let the girls run wild. Sadly I couldn't find my camera until the night was ending, so these were the only pics I got. Fun times. Love you sis!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T13:14:00.002-07:00

We spent another magical Christmas at the ranch this year. Although it was a much smaller group than last year we still had a fabulous week. Darin's family, ours, and my mom were there for the week then Kurt's gang came Christmas day and stayed the weekend. We had the Griswald of all trees this year which was awesome but a bit tricky decorating the top few branches. The week was spent playing games, making delicious food, and a couple of sledding trips on Boulder. It was so fun to just relax and enjoy the time together. Christmas Eve we had Aunt Camiel and family for dinner followed by a little nativity by the kids. Then it was off to bed for kids while we prepared for Santa's visit. The week flew by and we were sad to see it end. We locked up the ranch until May. The kids are already begging to get back and I am too!

Christmas Eve Jammies

Cousins

Biggest and Best tree ever!

Christmas morning

My beautiful Mama

Time for a second 4-wheeler

Playing in the cottonwoods

Hope he doesn't resent me dressing him in that pink coat all week!

Cruising

2010-11-25T13:04:00.002-07:00

A week before Thanksgiving Jake and I took a 7 night cruise to the Caribbean. It was fabulous. We went to St. Thomas, St. Marteen, and Nassau,Bahamas. Our favorite port was St. Marteen, where we rented lawn chairs on the ocean and just soaked up the sun and swam in the beautiful aqua ocean. When we booked our trip we were upgraded to a balcony for free. Let me just say it's going to be really hard to go on another cruise and stay on an inside cabin. Balcony was THE way the go! The trip was so fun and the kids did great w/o us thanks to their loving grandmas who rotated shifts. So greatly appreciated. We can't wait to sail again!

St. Thomas

St. Marteen

Atlantis

Halloween

2010-11-01T12:00:00.001-06:00

We had a fun Halloween this year. The kids were dressed and ready to go knock doors by 5pm. Unfortunately, they got about 4 houses away and it began to downpour! Everyone on the streets went running for their homes. We figured that was it for the night so the kids undressed and we made dinner. Luckily about an hour later the rain let up and Riley and Crew were able to finish out the neighborhood. Beck stayed behind and helped pass out candy. He was so fun to watch. Everytime he heard the doorbell he'd drop what he was doing and run screaming towards the door. I think he had more fun than anyone. At the end of the night Jake and I inspected the kids bags to secure a few of our favorites and then let the kids dig in. A very fun night, but glad it's behind us so we can look forward to Thanksgiving!

Crew was set to be a ninja but last minute he resorted back to his last years golfer instead

Riley at her school parade

First Day of School

2010-09-07T18:11:00.003-06:00

Riley started Kindergarten this year. She could hardly contain her excitement! She was begging for summer to end just so she could start school. I can't believe how fast she's grown up!

Beach Week

2010-08-18T11:04:00.004-06:00

One of our favorite times of the year is our annual Brian beach week in Laguna. It's a week of pure R&R and fun times with the family. We weren't able to go last year since I was due that week with Beck, so we were glad we could make it this year. Nothing quite like sitting on the beach all week soaking up the sun while the kids run wild with their cousins. Bliss.

This big wave came up right as we were trying to take their pic

All 21 cousins

Noah would make a sweet cheerleader! Look at that form!

Taking the ferry to Balboa Island

Beck LOVES Finn!

Rocky the snake

Beck Turns 1!

2010-08-11T16:04:00.004-06:00

Our sweet little Beck had his first birthday! Where has this last year gone!? He is such a good boy and smiles at everyone he sets his eyes on. I wish he could stay this age forever. Funny, I used to think of Crew this way too...then he turned 3!

Let him eat cake!

Yuba

2010-08-01T15:45:00.001-06:00

This summer we took a quick camping trip to Yuba Lake with Jake's sisters family. None of us had ever been there before so we thought we may as well try it out since it's only an hour away. It's no Lake Powell, but it was still pretty. We pulled the boat down and did a little skiing and fishing. Jake and I don't fish much but his brother-in-law does. Notice his catch of the day is bigger than Beck!

Utah Lake

2010-07-25T15:40:00.000-06:00

We've had so much fun on the Lake this summer. We were lucky enough to store my parents boat at our house and use it as much as we wanted. It's great because we can be on the lake in under 5 min from our driveway! Riley was so determined to get up and ski's this year. Cold weather or water was certainly not deterring her either. After a couple of trys she did it! Then that was all she could talk about was when could we go boating again so she can waterski. Such a little athlete :)

Lake Powell

2010-07-15T13:47:00.003-06:00

This summer my mom, sister,our kids and I took a quick trip to Lake Powell. We pulled the boat down, set up tents, built fires, made delicious meals and held up fort for 2 days. Who needs men right? We only brought 2 small tents for the little kids and the older kids and adults slept under the stars on pads. It was just like the old days before we had the Powellagator. Very primitive, but perfect.
Our second and last night on the lake we awakened around midnight to a huge wind storm. It was so dark but we all scrambled to grab everything we could to throw inside the tents which were being blown sideways. The sand was blasting us, my boys were balling (Riley somehow slept through the chaos). We got everything we could round up secured in the tents or under kids.
We then looked in the water to see the ski boat getting rocked like crazy. Earlier in the day we only pulled it on the beach with a rope tied around a small rock. If it broke free the boat would be long gone out in the channel. Darin and I (still in our pj's) jumped in the water to hold the boat against the waves which were white capping and pushing it towards the rocks in our cove. My mom grabbed the rope to hold the front of the boat from breaking free. We put up a great fight waist deep in water for quite sometime. It was crazy! Thankfully we had Perry to look after my little ones during all of this.
It seemed like an eternity that the wind blew like that, but I think it only lasted an hour or so then died down. Once we felt the boat was safe we dried off and made beds once more on the beach. When morning came we assesed any damage. Not too bad except everything we brought with us was covered about an inch in sand. We 3 women were quite proud of ourselves to get through that crazy storm! The trip was so fun and memorable. So fun that we're planning on a couple more next summer. Hopefully without the wind!

4th of July

2010-07-05T13:13:00.001-06:00

We love spending the 4th of July at the ranch. It's such a fun day with a parade, cousins, food, games, and finished off with an awesome firework show back in Grover.

This year my dad was honered with a float. All the cousins dressed like judges. It was awesome and very touching.

Races

Kids egg toss

Sisters

Summer at the Ranch

2010-07-02T14:59:00.001-06:00

Our favorite place to spend the summer!

Dad

2010-06-28T14:44:00.003-06:00

My eyes are so tear-filled I can barely read see the screen while typing this. On June 28, 2010, we said goodbye to the greatest man I've ever known. The impact he left on everyone he came in contact with was truly amazing! I am so blessed to call him my dad. Love and miss you! Until we meet again!

Utah Lake Festival

2010-06-19T16:20:00.000-06:00

Campfires in the backyard

2010-06-14T16:16:00.000-06:00

Nothing like roasting marshmellows and camping in your own backyard

Landscape!!

2010-06-10T15:56:00.000-06:00

What a difference a yard makes!

Happy Mothers Day to me!

2010-05-14T15:36:00.007-06:00

For Mothers Day my oh so sweet husband got me my long awaited Bengal. For those of you who don't know what Bengals are, they come from breeding domestic shorthairs with Asian Leopards. The cats are only wild in looks, not tempermant. Anyway, after we lost our last cat Colt after having him for 5 yrs Jake swore we'd never have another pet. And we haven't for a couple of years now. Somehow I must have hinted enough and got my wish! Thanks babe, the kids and I are loving him and sure you will too soon enough :)

Check out those markings!

In Loving Memory "COLT" Mar 03'-Aug 08'

California

2010-05-05T19:48:00.016-06:00

The last week of April we cleared the calendars and took off for Laguna Beach. Crew turned 3 the day we left so we celebrated his b-day on the road which he was fine with. Plenty of movies and snacks held the kids over until we reached Primm and called it a day. We got up early the next morning and were on the beach in sunny CA by 1pm. We met up with Brett & Christy and the cousins for a fun day splashing in the waves.
Sunday we went to church in Laguna and then went to Brett & Christy's for a delicious dinner. We also celebrated Crew's birthday. His cousin Maddy made him the cutest "beach" themed birthday cake. Such talent! Monday we spent a fun day at Disneyland. We got to the park at opening and stayed until a half an hour before closing. Huge day for the kids but they had a blast. Tues we packed up early and headed back home. We stopped for the day in Mesquite and let the kids swim, waterslide, and run wild for the next day. We timed it perfect to miss all the snow Utah was getting while we soaked up the sun. Thanks to Derik and April for letting us use the beach house for our stay. We had such a fun trip and the kids did great. We are anxious to get back and do it all again!

Emerald Bay

Crew takes a spill

Boys at the beach house

Crews awesome birthday cake!

Happiest Place on Earth!

All tuckered out

Fun day at the Casa

Best of friends

Happy little Boy

Bees Game

2010-04-17T13:19:00.002-06:00

Friday night we took the Trax downtown to watch the Bees baseball game. We brought blankets and sat on the lawn. I don't think the kids watched a single pitch, but they had fun running on the grass, eating snacks, and riding the train.

Out with the old, in with the new!

2010-02-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

We've moved. Still in Provo, just down by Utah Lake. We love our new house and neighborhood. Now all we need is some serious landscaping!

Pizza Night

2010-02-05T12:03:00.005-07:00

Homemade Pizza for FHE. YUM!

The Big 5

2010-01-19T16:00:00.008-07:00

My first born turned 5 big ones last Saturday. I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown! The first thing out of Riley's mouth when she woke up was "I feel sooo much older!"
We started off the morning with the traditional doughnuts and chocolate milk (per Ry's request). Then we opened a few presents, got into our snow clothes and headed to Mapleton for cake, ice cream, and sledding. Hobble Creek Canyon has a great little snow hill that the kids have the best time racing down. Riley is a little dare-devil and goes by herself headfirst. The faster the better in her eyes!
Overall she had a great birthday and is so excited to be 5. She is sure to tell everyone she meets. We are so happy to have Riley in our family. She is a great big sis to her 2 brothers and such a big help to me with Beck. She's always up for a challenge and not the least bit shy. Can't imagine life w/o her! We love you Ry!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T11:54:00.004-07:00

This Christmas we found ourselves back in our favorite place on earth, The Brian Ranch in Grover, UT. It was quite a magical time being in the newly finished house and having extended family at the neighboring homes. Christmas Eve we all got together for appetizers, soup, and a Christmas Eve program complete with a nativity performance from the kids and a visit from Santa. We had the best time all being together again. We were sad when the week was over but are excited knowing we'll spend many more holidays back at the ranch!

The Nativity

Starring Beck as Baby Jesus

Santa pays a visit

Decked out in Christmas Eve jammies

Christmas morning before the kids awakened. Notice it's light outside, that's a first!

Beck and Grandpa

Kids waiting to come down from the loft and see what Santa brought

Sweet bed head Crew!

The kids had one last gift waiting at home. It was all Riley had asked for this year. She was beyond excited to say the least.

Thanksgiving in Grover

2009-12-04T12:05:00.010-07:00

Thanksgiving was the best this year! We got to spend it with the entire Brian family in our newly built ranch house in Grover. The house turned out better than we could have imagined. The setting is perfect and the house accomadates all 34 of us very comfortably. We had a delicious Thanksgiving feast, finished many a project, road 4-wheelers, and enjoyed everyones company. We will all be back for Christmas in a few weeks. Can't wait!
The Brian Ranch

The kids playing in dress-ups

Riley begged for a haircut "just like Aunt Darin's"

I was a little hesitant but LOVED how it turned out!

Darin and Riley

The bell all the kids presented Mom & Dad with. It says "Brian Family Ranch Est. 2009"

Boulder Mountain Christmas tree hunting

Sunday we blessed Beck in Torrey. It was great to have most of the family there for that.

Beck on his blessing day

All Aboard The Potty Train

2009-11-11T13:37:00.003-07:00

The boy is finally potty-trained! Crew decided himself that he was ready to ditch the diapers in exchange for some cooler Cars undies. He's going on 3 days strong of no accidents. Wahooo!

Halloween

2009-11-03T12:07:00.006-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year. Riley got to dress up for 3 different events and went as something new each time (thank goodness for hand-me-downs). I didn't find Crew an outfit until the day before Halloween, but thought he made the perfect little golfer. Crew really got into it this year. Jake and I would wait on the sidewalk and let the kids run up to each house by themselves. Every time a door opened Crew would yell trick-or-treat and just start grabbing handfuls. Riley had to keep reminding him to just take one! His bag weighed 3 X's more than hers by the time they were done. Of course the night would not have been complete without Marnie's famous homemade doughnuts. DELICIOUS!

Colts & Diamondbacks

2009-10-05T15:17:00.007-06:00

Two weekends ago Jake, myself and Beck hopped a plane to AZ. We are big Colts fans and couldn't think of a better time to see them than when they played in AZ. My sis Darin picked us up Friday night and we grabbed a bite to eat then headed to our favorite store "Last Chance". No trip to AZ is complete w/o a couple of stops there. Saturday we got an invite from Darin & Pete's good friends to use their tickets to the Diamondbacks. We were pretty excited and then much more so when we found out they are the best seats in the ballpark. Literally right behind the dugout! They had 4 tickets so we took my nephew Penn and his buddy. Beck watched his first baseball game at 6wks old. Pretty lucky I'd say. He did great too. The game was so fun and the seats were quite incredible.
Sunday night was the big game. Sabbath breakers you say? Only for the Colts and we did make it to church earlier if that counts. Anyway, we had found a sweet deal on ebay for the tickets and were able to get 3rd row seats. Talk about a weekend of up close action. It was a great game and the Colts won. Not that we had any doubt :) Darin & Pete were so good to house us and let us use their car for the weekend as well as watch Beck while we were at the football game. It was a fun filled weekend of sports. Just the way we like it! Until we meet again Manning!

Back to School

2009-09-01T17:17:00.000-06:00

Riley has started her second year of preschool. I'm not sure who has been looking forward to it more, me or her. At any rate she loves it!

Introducing Beck

2009-08-26T10:56:00.009-06:00

After months of not knowing what I was carrying around in my womb, we finally got to meet our baby boy! Beck Monroe Terry was born Aug 11th, 2009 at 6:13am. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz, was 20 inches long and had a full head of hair. He was delivered at Timpanogos Hospital in Orem.

And here's how it all went down....Monday night around 2am I started having some good contractions so I awakened Jake and told him if he wanted to shower before we left, now was the time. He gave his mom the wake up call and she headed over while we packed a bag. We got out the door around 3am and made it half a mile up the road before we realized we left our bag with camera and all sitting on the front porch. So we flipped around, grabbed the bag and were back on our way. By this point my contractions were pretty strong. I rode in the fetal position most of the way to the hospital. When we arrived it was 3:30am. After checking me out, they admitted us and sent us to our room to wait for an epidural. It took an eternity! I finally got one at 5:40am after I was fully dilated and ready to push.
The Doctor showed up at 6am, put on his gloves and took a seat. Thirteen minutes and 6 pushes later, out came our little boy. It was awesome not knowing the gender up until then. Needless to say we were thrilled! We hadn't fully decided on a name yet so he was Baby Boy Terry until the following day.
We're all home now and doing great. Beck is such a sweetie and the perfect addition to the family! And on a side note, I'm excited that I can actually see my toes again :)

7 Years

2009-08-08T14:35:00.000-06:00

It's been 7 fabulous years since we tied the knot. I'm constantly amazed at what a great partner, father, and friend Jake is. I couldn't have found a better match. Here's to plenty more. Love you babe!

Lagoon

2009-07-30T08:49:00.007-06:00

We took the fam to Lagoon last weekend because "it's what fun is" and it was. The kids lasted a full 8 hours before we headed home. I was only able to go on 2 or 3 rides so I just took pics and ate snowcones. When it got super hot we headed to the water park to cool off for a few hours. It was heaven! We are trying to fit in some last minute activities before the summer runs out and the babe makes an appearance. The countdown is on!

I'm embarrassed to admit this is our first family photo since Riley was 3 months old!

4th Of July

2009-07-15T13:53:00.011-06:00

We were lucky to have our ranch week fall over the 4th of July this year. Usually we do a full week in Grover during the summer, but with everyone's busy schedules it was only about 3-4 days that we were all together. So fun while it lasted though. It's the only place I can let the kids run wild for hours at a time and not worry about them. Such a great break from the city life!
Cousins playing countless hours in the cottonwoods

Crew & Grandpa Brian

Representing Grover in the Torrey parade

Crew & Mia

Riley and Kennedy partnered up for the egg toss at the Clarks

Paintball wars

Watching thunderstorms on the porch swing

Grandpa's ranch buggy

Ry & Avery

No more training wheels

2009-06-22T18:13:00.008-06:00

Riley has conquered her bike! Jake took her training wheels off and told her he'd teach her to ride her bike when he got home from work. She wasn't about to wait that long so I tried running up and down the sidewalk along side her a couple of times but wore out too quickly in my pregnant state. I told her to hold off a few hours until her dad could teach her, but she was way too determined to give up. So I sat on the porch for close to 2 hours watching her while she went it alone fall after fall. Plenty of knee scrapes but no tears. By the time Jake got home she was riding up and down the street all on her own. She was so excited to show him and quite proud of herself!

Camping on Boulder

2009-06-02T09:14:00.009-06:00

Last weekend we took our Maiden Voyage in our newly aquired camper. We packed the truck Thursday afternoon and headed to Boulder Mtn to camp at Single Tree campground. We had the best time hiking, fishing, riding the 4-wheeler, and dutch oven cooking. Grandma and Grandpa Brian joined us Friday night for a tasty dinner. It rained on and off all weekend but was still a great time. We plan on taking a couple more trips this summer before the baby arrives. Nothing like the great outdoors!

G & G Brian
Watching movies in the trailer

Fishing at Lower Bowns

Our 1970's Beast

Terry cousins-Jasmine, Sierra, and Marcus

Cancun

2009-05-18T15:06:00.009-06:00

Last month Jake and I had the chance to sneak off to Cancun for 5 days. It's a use or lose on his time off work, so we didn't want them to go to waste. Luckily we timed it to come home right before the big swine flu outbreak. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort right in the heart of Cancun. It was perfect! We shopped a little, ate a ton, and just beached it mostly. One day we took a tour to Tulum to see the ruins. It was really cool. We also went to Xel-ha which is an ecological park. You could spend all day there and not see it all. We snorkeled, road bikes, ate, floated the bay, and Jake did some cliff jumping. It was an amazing place. Our time in Mexico felt way too short when we had to leave, but it was the perfect get away while it lasted!

My big baby bump!

With five restaurants on site we had plenty of delicious dining options each night

Crew's 2nd Birthday

2009-04-27T11:05:00.006-06:00

Our little man turned the big 2 on the 23rd. With some encouragement from Riley he decided on none other than Chuck E Cheese for his party. We had a great time playing games, eating pizza, and opening presents. He made out better than Christmas with all his gifts from relatives. It was a super fun night. Crew is such a talker these days. He loves jumping off anything he can climb and is happiest when he's tagging along with Riley. Happy birthday buddy, we love you!

Grandma Terry made him the cutest baby Donald cake!

It's a.... surprise!

2009-04-15T15:08:00.004-06:00

I had my ultrasound yesterday at 22 weeks. Jake has been insisting that we don't find out the sex this time around. It's killing me, but I figure since we already have one of each that we're somewhat prepared either way. We brought Ry and Crew with us to the doctors and they were pretty excited to see what was in mom's growing belly. Riley is set on a girl. I guess we'll know come August.

Easter Fun

2009-04-12T14:26:00.001-06:00

Easter weekend wasn't the warmest this year, but the kids still had a blast doing several different Easter egg hunts. Saturday we went to Pioneer Park in Provo for their annual egg hunt. It lasted about 10 min before all the eggs vanished into baskets. Crew brought a sack and had it filled by the time we left. Sunday we had another egg hunt in Mapleton with cousins. The kids changed so quickly after we got home from church that I missed getting a pic of them in their new Easter digs. I guess there's always next year.

Last minute Cruise

2009-03-27T12:10:00.006-06:00

I got a call about 5 days before my sis-in-law Amanda was going on her cruise begging for me to take her cousins spot who could no longer go. The cruise was paid for as well as my flight to LA, so how could I turn down 7 nights to the Mexican Riviera? Jake was great to play Mr. Mom in my absence. I think he has a new-found appreciation for me :). The cruise was one I had done before (only a different cruise line), so it was good to know where to go in each Port and which excursions to do. We went to Cabo, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta with a few days at sea in between. I regret not taking more pics, but it was fun and a great trip for the price!

CIRCUS

2009-02-03T09:07:00.004-07:00

Last night we took the kids to the Circus for family night. It was no Barnum & Bailey's, but still entertaining. The highlight of Riley's night was riding an elephant before the show started. She thought that was pretty awesome. It was a late night, not getting over until after 10pm, but both kids managed to stay awake until the end. Pretty fun night.

Happy Birthday Riley!

2009-01-19T10:49:00.006-07:00

Riley turned the big 4 on Friday. For her party, we talked her out of the usual trip to Chucky Cheese and tried out Jumpin' Jacks instead. Despite being a little under the weather, she had a great time with her cousins. Once the kids were all jumped out, we went to Grandma Terry's for some cake and icecream and presents. It's hard to believe my little girl is 4 years old! We sure love you Riley!

Christmas at the Ranch

2008-12-30T14:47:00.012-07:00

This year we spent Christmas in Grover at our family ranch. My entire family was together which hasn't happened in quite sometime. Mom & Dad, 6 siblings and spouses, and 19 little ones in all. It was such a fun week. We had plenty of snow which made for a lot of fun sledding, riding 4-wheelers, and building snow forts. We had great food every night, played games, watched movies, drank eggnog, and just enjoyed the company. Luckily Santa knows where Grover is, since most do not. The kids were thrilled when they woke up Christmas morning to see what he had delivered. When Sunday came we were sad to leave. It was the best of times. Nothing like a ranch Christmas!

Crew sporting Riley's old snow bibs

Cousins making gingerbread houses

Christmas Eve Nativity performance

Christmas Eve jammies

Sleeping in the loft

Christmas Morning

Riley braving the snow hill

4-wheeler rides

Mom & Dad

White Christmas?

2008-12-18T10:17:00.003-07:00

The last few mornings we have awakened to a blanket of snow. The kids are thrilled and so am I. It doesn't matter how cold it gets, Riley is constantly asking to go play in the snow. This morning the kids got all bundled before preschool and had a ball scooping up the fresh powder. Here's hoping for a White Christmas!

Riding Santa's Train

2008-12-16T14:08:00.002-07:00

Fall Leaves

2008-11-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Halloween

2008-11-04T13:14:00.004-07:00

Another fun holiday has come and gone. This year Riley got to celebrate Halloween more than once. She did a trunk-or-treat at my parents, had her preschool halloween party, got to go trick-or-treating at Jake's work and then of course celebrated the real night of trick-or-treating. Needless to say we have a major stash of candy on hand! Friday night we got the kids dressed and headed over to the Radebaugh's for some delicious chili and great company. Then we went over to Kurt's for a taste of Marnie's famous homemade donuts. YUM! We visited for a bit then took the kids out to hit up some doors. The weather couldn't have been better. We barely needed jackets. Ry made the cutest little cavegirl and Crew was a football player. He didn't quite know what was going on but sure had a good time. What a fun night!

Punta Cana 08

2008-11-04T12:06:00.001-07:00

Punta Cana - Dominican Republic

2008-10-30T14:49:00.012-06:00

Last Sunday we returned from an amazing trip to the Dominican Republic. We stayed 7 nights at an all-inclusive 5 star resort in Punta Cana. It was fabulous! The reason we were able to stay in such a posh place was because we agreed to listen to a 90 min time share presentation while we were there. It was well worth the fortune we saved (and no we didn't buy). Luckily that was day 2 of our trip and we had the rest of the week to relax and play. We did a lot of excursions. The hotel provided horseback riding on the beach, scuba, snorkeling and list of other things included in our stay. Our biggest excursion we took was to the Fun Fun caves. We were told it is the 3rd largest cave in the world. We boarded a shuttle at 6:30am (what were we thinking, we're on vacation!)for a 3 hour drive into the jungle. Once we arrived we hopped on horseback and rode for about 45 min until we reached the cave. From there we repelled 100 feet into a massive cave. The entrance was only big enough for one at a time but once we reached bottom it opened up very large with giant stalagmites/tites throughout the cave. We all wore headlights and the guides had spotlights to point out different things in the cave. A lot of the walking was in ankle deep water which was a bit nippy but felt good. Towards the end we were swimming through several parts of the underground river. It was crystal clear and so pretty. The most exciting was having to dive under a big rock in order to get to the other side. Not recommended if you have a fear of water, but we don't and it was so fun. We spent about an hour and a half in the cave. At the end we hiked out a big opening where our horses were waiting and rode back to the stables. A local woman had prepared a true Domincan feast for us. I don't know if we were just famished or if the food was really that good! Looking back that was still one of our favorite meals of the trip. We made it back to our hotel after dark and crashed in our massive canopy bed. We were only allowed to bring water cameras so sadly I have none on my digital. Such a fun day though. The next day we just relaxed at the resort, played beach volleyball, ate, and ate some more. We really wanted to go parasailing but the hotel was charging a bit much to book it through them, so we walked down the beach and arranged our own deal with the locals. It was a blast and we saved quite a bit by bartering our own deal. Wednesday we rented speedboats. We had our own boat and followed a guide out to a beautiful reef where we did some great snorkeling. The water was so warm and clear so we saw a lot of sealife. After snorkeling we followed our guide to a "natural pool" in the ocean which was really just a sandbar out in the middle of nowhere. We got out and swam for a bit then headed back in. We had an hour or so to change into something dry and hop the shuttle for horseback riding compliments of the hotel. They took us to a beach about an hour away. When they assigned us our horses they asked who liked to go fast and who liked to walk. Jake and I opted for the fast ones. Once we were on the beach they had one guide go to the front of the pack where he just took off. And so did our horses. He wasn't kidding when he said they were fast. It was so fun. When we finally stopped we looked back at the others that were no where in sight. We rode for an hour or so, took some pics and then headed back to rest our legs. It was a pretty full day and we were starving when we returned. Luckily there was no shortage of food at the resort. They have a huge buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 3 on-site restaurants, and our favorite 24 hour room service :). By Thursday we were realizing the trip was coming to an end and we hadn't spent near enough time at the beach and just relaxing by the pool. So, the last 2 days that is all we did. It was a little taste of heaven. The weather was perfect and the ocean water was even warmer than the pool. When Saturday came it was hard to leave, but we were ready to get back to the kids. I think I brushed up a bit on my spanish skills. That's always a plus these days. Overall we had an amazing vacation and would go there again in a heartbeat. And thank you timeshare presentations for making our trip so affordable. We will be back for another soon!

A Little Homemade Fun

2008-10-11T08:33:00.003-06:00

Dinosaur Museum

2008-09-13T21:27:00.007-06:00

We took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point today. It was interesting and the kids had a good time. Kind of pricey for a walk-through. Afterwards we went to Cabela's and walked around (for free) and the kids thought it was the coolest! Guess we should have gone there first. Oh well~

Preschool

2008-09-02T21:05:00.003-06:00

Riley started her first day of Preschool today. She was soooo excited! She wore her backpack all morning and wouldn't stop with the constant "is it time yet?" When I finally did drop her off, she dashed out of sight to the playground with the other kids before I could even give her a hug goodbye. Jake picked her up on his lunch break and she was beaming with her freshly finished artwork. She is in for a fun year.

Discovery Gardens

2008-08-29T12:19:00.005-06:00

We went to the Discovery Gardens at Thanksgiving Point compliments of Grandma & Grandpa Brian. I had no idea this tucked away beauty has been around for 10 years. So pretty! We walked through all the gardens and let the kiddos play in the water and run wild. Thanks for the fun day G & G~

Wayne County Fair

2008-08-25T21:35:00.005-06:00

Last weekend we went to Grover for the Wayne County Fair. My parents and my sister Darin & fam were all there so it was such a fun weekend. We got to the rodeo Friday night just in time for the bull riding (all we wanted to see anyway). Saturday we went to the Loa parade and festivities. Later that night we came back into town for the Demolition Derby. SWEET! We love Wayne County!

Fishing

2008-08-14T20:45:00.002-06:00

Today we went fishing in American Fork Canyon. We went with Jake's sisters family. My kids had never been so they were pretty excited. We didn't get so much as a nibble on anyone's line all afternoon, but the kids had a great time trying.

The Ranch

2008-07-23T12:49:00.001-06:00

Laguna Beach 08'

2008-07-23T12:47:00.001-06:00

All Grown Up

2008-06-25T14:10:00.002-06:00

Crew 14 mos.

Riley 3

Swim Lessons

2008-06-02T11:49:00.003-06:00

Riley started her first day of swimming lessons this morning. She was super excited. She has asked me every day for a month when she can start her class, so she was thrilled that the day finally arrived. Ry did great and loved every minute. We have 2 weeks of it at the Veterans Pool in Provo. We're hoping it will get her ready for a busy summer of Lake Powell trips, beaches and pools!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2008-04-30T08:36:00.005-06:00

Last weekend we took the kids to their first baseball game . We rode trax to the ballpark which Riley loved! For about $6 bucks you can sit in great seats right down by the field. Halfway through the game we went out on the grass to let the kids run around and meet the "Bee." Can't beat the price for family entertainment. Good times were had by all!

Happy Birthday Crew!

2008-04-23T13:59:00.000-06:00

My how time flies! It seems like just a year ago I was bringing this little guy home from the hospital :) Crew was pretty miserable with a fever most of the day due to a new tooth coming in. We celebrated his birthday at Jake's parents in Mapleton. His Grandma made him the cutest Puppy dog cake which was a huge hit with Crew! Once the motrin kicked in he couldn't get enough of it. Crew is such a sweet & mellow boy and such a joy to our family. We sure love you Crew! HAPPY 1st!

Check Me Out!

2008-04-16T08:20:00.005-06:00

Crew has graduated from all 4's to 2 feet. He loves his new found freedom and can keep up with Riley much better now.

Star Springs

2008-04-13T18:52:00.001-06:00

Here are some pics of our camping trip to Star Springs near Lake Powell. Despite the cold weather we had a great time riding 4-wheelers and hunting arrowheads.

Better Late Than Never~

2008-04-12T21:39:00.000-06:00

We finally jumped on the band-wagon and joined the blogging scene. This will be a work in progress for awhile but at least you'll have a small idea of what's going on with our family. Enjoy~