Back to School!?

So Riley started 2nd grade this past week and LOVED it! Can you believe it!? He was excited to go, went for 3 days and not ONE problem! It's a miracle!!! He got a letter from his teacher, Ms. Wilson, before school started that said they would be doing gummy bear math (btw, math is favorite subject!) and so all he'd talk about was being excited to go and do that. Ryan took him in the morning and walked him in and Riley was on cloud 9. Ms. Wilson greeted him and asked him why Ms. Caldwell (the principal) and Ms. Fredericks (the asst principal) said that she would love having Riley in class and he was just beaming! So glad that we got off to a good start and that he couldn't wait for school the next day! He said that Ms. Wilson said they aren't allowed to have any fun in the 2nd grade but they all are! He's excited about pencil points and earning AR points. We read a lot, so he should get a lot of points!This is definitely a change from last year and one that we hope keeps happening. I am sure that there will be bumps in the school year, but for now we are enjoying the good days! Here are some fun pictures from his first day.


p.s. Ryan was excited to take him and said that he did a good job taking pictures of Riley that day too and couldn't wait for me to see and of course I approve! :)

6 months!!!!

I cannot believe that Brock is 6 months! He had his 6-month check-up on Friday and weighs in at 18 pounds 1 ounce and is 28 inches long. He is still in the 75th percentile for weight and 95th for height, so he is following in Riley's footsteps! It's crazy how the whole pregnancy and first 6 months has mirrored how things were wiht Riley and how similar these 2 boys look. I just hope that Brock doesn't have the same behavior, anxiety and sensory issues that Riley has had...only time will tell. Here is todays picture of Brock taken with the cat. Brock was laying on the floor and the cat just came up right next to him and laid down...guess he is super desperate for attention if he's trying to get it from Brock!

Brock is also really enjoying eating baby food. So far we have tried pears, carrots, bananas and squash. He eats them all really well and won't even touch a bottle during the day with the babysitter but will eat a lot of food. He is also rolling around a lot, both ways and getting all over the place. I am sure that he will be crawling before we know it!
Things at our house have been good....we went to Richfield for the 4th of July and hung out with Grandma April, Darren, Marci, Carsen and Cassidi. We've been going to Cherry Hill quite a bit and have enjoyed that. Sheree has 2 more weeks of teaching summer school and is looking forward to a 2 week break before next school year starts. Riley starts 2nd grade on Tuesday, but believe it or not he says he's ready to go! We hear he's got the best teacher and are praying we have a smooth start, or at least a better start than last year where he was in the principal's office on the 3rd day! Tyler is doing well with the potty training. He'll pee just fine if he can pee on froot loops in the toilet but won't poop in the potty. Ryan goes in for his GI scope Wednesday afternoon. He's been taking prescription acid reflux medicine for the past month to get rid of that problem and now they'll go in and see what else, if anything, is happening. Summer is definitely going by way too fast!

Fun pictures

So when we were in Washington, my sister-in-law took our family pictures and I am stealing them off her blog to post here! :) We love the ones of the kids, but aren't fond of the ones of Ryan and I...isn't that usually the case though! The first 2 are of Brock and his cousin who was born in September. It was pretty cute watching them cause Bennett just wanted to give Brock "loves" but Brock didn't really care for it. However, Brock loved watching Bennett crawl around and now all he wants to do is be more mobile...he is now rolling all over the floor, both from his back to belly and belly to back! Enjoy the pictures! :)

The Zoo

Last Friday we went to the zoo with Grandma April and cousin Sloan. It has been a long time since Riley has been and I think that it was Tylers first time to the Utah Hogle Zoo and of course it was Brocks first time going. Our favorite activity was the bird show. Seriously, it was amazing and so entertaining! Several times birds flew over our heads or right in front of us. Tylers attention was captivated the whole time which is amazing for an almost 3 year old who wants to run away and cause whatever problems he can! It was a lot of fun to see the baby elephant too. I think that the monkeys were a favorite too. Below are some pictures of our fun outing!

Our Vacation

We were able to go back to Sheree's hometown, Vancouver, WA, for our vacation this summer. The last time we went was for Amber's wedding which was in November 2008, so this trip was long overdue! We left Friday at 2:30 and drove to Kennewick, WA to stay with Sheree's sister Alisa and finally meet her 16-month old son for the first time! He is such a cutie and it was so fun to finally meet him! Then we visited Sheree's grandparents and had a good time, despite Riley and Tyler fighting way too much and embarrassing us, but I guess that is going to be the story of our lives for a long time! It was weird saying good-bye wondering if this is the last time to see them here on Earth. Grandma has had some health issues recently and we were glad that she was doing really good the day we visited and it is harder for Grandpa to get around. Here is a picture of us with them that day.

That same day we visited Sheree's brother's family and met their new baby boy Maddox who was born in September. Riley and Tyler loved playing with their cousin Cole that day while Sheree enjoyed visiting with Lacey. We left about 4 to drive on to Vancouver. It was fun to visit with family that we don't get to see much at all, usually only during our annual visit!
It was fun to go back to Sheree's ward that her dad is now Bishop of, but since the boundaries just changed, there weren't many people left that Sheree knows, so it doesn't seem like her "ward" anymore. That's what happens when you've been away for 10 years! On Monday we had a picnic with Sheree's parents and Sheree's older brother's family and their 4 boys. Tara took family pictures for us that we anxiously waiting to see (hint-hint Tara!) It was a nice day with little rain. Then we had rain most of the rest of the week, so the next 2 days we pretty much stuck in the grandparents house. We did venture out to visit Grandpa's hobby stores and bought each of the boys a fun lego and we ran into tara at Toys R Us in Portland...what are the chances of that happening!? Here a few pictures of the boys haning at and Grandma and Grandpas! Brock was my parents 10th grandson...they have 11 grandsons and now granddaughters...that is so crazy!



Thursday June 10th, we headed over to Seaside. It was Ryan's and my 10th anniversary! We celebrated by going over to our time share for 2 nights, but we took the boys as well for our annual beach trip. We stayed in a 3 bedroom penthouse unit overlooking the beach...definitely the nicest condo we have ever stayed in! Unfortunately the weather outside was rainy on Thursday and Friday but super nice on Saturday when we had to leave! My parents stayed with us Friday night so Ryan and I got up and walked on the beach Saturday morning and then Ryan and Tyler went out just before we left, so here is a picture of those two, taken from the balcony of our condo! I also included our first date picture, engagement picture and favorite wedding picture from 10 years ago! Sure wished that I looked that cute now!







Finally, Brock is now 5 months old! He is getting so big and so fun! So glad he is part of our family, even though he was another boy!

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memeorial Day weekend, we made a quick trip down to Salina and Richfield to visit my (Ryan) Dad's grave. He passed away in Aug of 2003 after a battle with Melanoma. It had been a while since I had been to the grave. There are always mixed emotions going there. Riley understands it all but Tyler just thought it was a different place to play. My Dad and I were always pretty close but the older I got the more I appreciated him and all that he did. Even the Sunday drive with no radio was great and for a teenager I think that is something. When he was sick, it was a unique opportunity to try and help and serve him. Sheree and i would go see him when he would come up to Provo for dialysis and then later through different stays in the hospital. He said he would be here until Riley was born, and he was but not long after. He was doing great at the time Riley was born and was able to stand in the circle at Riley's blessing, but it was all downhill from that point. In fact Riley's middle name is Bruce, named after my dad. We were going to go down and see him the next weekend when mom called. I miss him. He would love my boys. I like to think that he met Tyler and Brock before I did. In fact we joke that he was the one cursing us with boys. When Sheree was pregnant with Riley she really wanted a girl and was somewhat disappointed that she was having a boy and my dad told her that there was nothing wrong with having boys, especially since he came from a family of 4 boys!

Thomas the Train

On Saturday we drove to Heber to ride Thomas. Tyler has been waiting for this for a long time. Riley went twice when he was little and loved it too. This was Tyler's and Brock's first ride. The weather was okay, had little bits of rain off and on, but the activities were all under tents so that was nice. It was fun to be able to take the boys up there.