Flying High!

Yes, this is us in the ER. Not were we'd want to spend our evening.It all started back at our house around 5pm. Jon was in the laundry room and I was in Rylee's room cleaning up. All of the sudden we heard a thud. Not the kind of thud you hear when your son is banging his cars on the wall or the kind of thud you hear when your kids jump up and down on the second floor. You know how when you're a parent you know what your kids are doing even when you're not in the room, well, I knew that Brody was on the top bunk of the bunk beds and he was throwing down Rylee's stuffed animals to donate. Then it comes, the thud you DON'T want to hear. Here it is, the result of that thud.Wait a minute, it's not supposed to bend there?! Jon constructed a quick splint out of cardboard and kerlex. I'm glad his training comes in handy at home. Once we got to the hospital Brody took off the splint and said, "All better, go home". It's hard knowing what's in store for him when he doesn't have a clue. It made Jon and I so sad. Thank you Wilkins for watching Rylee! And the X-ray results are a broken right radius. Poor baby.Ouch, you can see the soft tissue bend where it is broken. Not so happy after the IV and thanks Dee for getting it on the first try!Watching Jungle Book and The Land Before Time while waiting for procedural sedation and the tug.Here is Brody sedated with twitching eyes wide open (weird to say the least) and MD McInturf putting his wrist back into place.Usually it takes a while for kids to wake up and when they do they are hysterical and disoriented. Not our brave little man. He came to quick and was pleasant. Love our little flyer!! Let's please not repeat this!!Two days after he got his cast and he couldn't be happier because he picked the color orange...his favorite! We love you so much!!

Family Home Evening

Since it is back to school time, I thought I'd get organized (FHE, preschool, sports class, dance, gymnastics, park days etc.) I finally finished my FHE board and tags. I have tons of different tags for the kids to choose from right now to make it fun. It's exciting for them to walk by it and say, "That's mine, I get to do the TREAT!! or I picked that one, isn't it cute!". It has made FHE a little more fun and organized. The kids pick a slip out of the hat that says one of the things on the FHE board that they will do for the following week.Jon has already taught about fire safety, the evacuation plan and the meeting spot. It was so fun for the kids to act it out crawling under the imaginary smoke, yelling for help if the door was hot and calling 911 if they were able to get to a phone. Jon even set off the fire alarm so they would know what to do. Great job! As you can see, Brody made the treat and had a great time doing it!!
This has nothing to do with FHE, but she wanted this put in. Cute hair!...just what she wanted!!

Cutie Pies!

Testing out the new hat from Jennie McKernan! What a doll!Silly Man!! HA! HA! HA!Growing up fast!

Babysitting

This is how Jon babysits...it cracks me up.

Here is Rylee frustrated because she put on a bee costume and can't get it off herself. So instead of helping her, he takes a picture.
Creative lunchtime!...Ham sandwiches - as you know we don't eat bread at home so in it's stead, he made almond cinnamon apple pancakes for the bread substitute. Then he loads them with ham, mustard and mayonnaise on the inside. He then turns his back for 1 second and Brody dumps applesauce on the top of the sandwich. Once again, he takes a picture. They both ate the lunch happily....and in our house, that's all that matters!

Center Stage Dance

Rylee had her first official dance class. She is in a tap and ballet combo class for 4 and 5 year olds. I think it is the cutest thing to see the little girls in their uniform of pink tights, black leotard and black tap shoes with hair slicked back.Here is her teacher Mrs. Georgina, who sounds so astute with her english accent.She had such a great time and I had a great time watching you on the TV! (Parents are not allowed in the room. We watch them on a camera outside the room, to promote full attention to the teacher)

Family Camping

We decided last minute that we needed a family camping trip, just the 5 of us. We were able to borrow a friends tent trailer which was so wonderful to stay in. Thank you Ellis'! We headed up to Sly Park by Jenkinson Lake. What a beautiful place to camp, surrounded by wonderful smelling green pine trees and cool blue water. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not to cold. When we first got their we popped the tent, organized our things and got our toes wet. Actually, the kids and Jon got wet while I just got muddy.I slipped and fell in the mud...as did the kids. Thank goodness there isn't a picture of my muddy bum. As you can see, Taylee loves every minute of life as long as she is like this every other minute of her life.
Of course we took the stand up paddle board which was hit with a family we met up there.The Barton family was visiting Folsom for their son's marriage and sealing in the Sacramento Temple. What a wonderful nice family. Jon even let Rusty take a paddle on the board and he loved it. He did such a great job!After cleaning off the mud, Jon made dinner and built a fire. We roasted marshmellows and the kids had s'mores for the first time in their lives and they liked them. But what they mostly liked was the graham crackers. I have to include this cute picture of Brody on the "pink potty". What a silly guy...metabolism like daddy!

A moment we want to remember

One night when Jon was home after doing stars, stickers and prayers, you asked if you could read to Jon. He said sure and you pulled out this book. Jon immediately gestured for me to find the camera while you were reading.

To watch our little one read and to read from the best book made my heart leap and eyes water. She is amazing. Sometimes it is hard to feel the Spirit when we are raising our children and getting our tasks done. But the strongest I feel it is through little moments with our children. The child-like innocence is something we all need to strive for. I'm starting to catch a glimpse of how Heavenly Father feels when we make good choices. Rylee, we love you so much and your love for this gospel.

Growing up

Ok, well you are officially 3 months old and you don't look the same as you did when you were born. Nor do you act like you did when you were born. When you were born you didn't want to wake up for anything. Hungry? Want to play? Can I change your diaper? Nope, nope, nope not interested in anything but sleep. This was a little weird and easy to say the least. But then you turned. You couldn't fall asleep to save your life and you were a mess! Not to mention the fact that anytime Brody is close, you hear his name or his voice you start to get anxious and start to cry. He loves getting in your face and you HATE it. Remember, he just loves you and is showing you in the only way he knows how by being CRAZY! We are working on his gentleness. Thank goodness for Rylee because you can hear her voice or her name and you calm down. You coo and want to talk all the time and can't stand it if I turn my back on you. You are a people person and we love you so much!!

BYU Gymnastics!!

Marisa "No Deeper Meaning" Cosgrave! I miss you tons and had such a blast from the past with you! Thanks for the visit!

Happy Birthday Grammy

For Grammy's birthday we all met up in Tahoe for a little fun in the water and just some go old hanging out time. Maybe she will be a cheerleader? Love the stunting! Herkie!This is classic Brody activity and classic Brody facial expression. I laugh every time I look at this picture.Luckily they had a hot tub because it was COLD!It was fun hearing all about the Alaskan Cruise and thanks for the little gifts for the kids.Happy Birthday to you! Thanks to Jon to find a way to light the candles without a flame. Now that's a true firefighter.

Rylee just got moved up to the next older class and she is thrilled! We couldn't be more proud of her! A couple of weeks ago she was starting to get comfortable with the other girls and the class wasn't challenging enough for her and she started to screw around. Well, I told her that if she listened and did everything Miss Amanda told her to do then I would get her a treat. So she started being the fabulous listener and doer again, but now she thinks she needs a treat every time.

Rylee here are the things you have been working on. Forward roll on the beam.Backbend kick overs.Pull overs, just about by yourself.And of course, jumping on the trampoline: straddle jumps, straight jumps, tuck jumps, seat drops and doggie drops.I can not wait until Brody gets out there and either can he. When you're 3!! Holy cow, look at the thighs on that baby!!!

Taylee Baby!

You are smiling and we love it! You are just the cutest thing! We love you so much!

Boating

Kevin was kind enough to take us out on Lake Folsom. We had a wonderful time, thank you!I started off wake boarding and got in a couple runs until my thumb was throbbing. Then it was Jon and Rylee's turn on the tube!! She did great and wasn't afraid one bit. After she got off, she wanted to go again "all by myself". What a brave soul. Unfortunately her courage was shattered when the assistant captain had her do a nose dive and drag her a little bit. Until next time.Then there's Brody who needed a lot of coaxing to get out there. But after Jon showed him how fun it was he didn't want to stop!I love the boat for babies because it always puts them right to sleep. Sweet baby cakes.