Riley's baptism

On Saturday June 4, Riley got baptized! (Look at how tall our 8 year old is! We sure hope he majorly surpasses both Ryan and I, and that he ends up being super tall!) It was major stressful getting the house ready, making sure that Ryan had white pants that fit, (he's been renting pants at the temple cause his legs are too big with muscle from riding his bike :)) and knowing which church he was getting baptized at. Yep, we told family the wrong church and didn't find out until 10pm the night before the actual church! I really shouldn't have stressed as much as I did because it was the actual ordinance of Riley getting baptized that was important. It was a beautiful program for Riley and Lexie (the other girl getting baptized) and Ryan only had to dunk him once! (But we forgot towels! Not my fault, cause Ryan got everything ready, but thank goodness Grandma April had a clean towel in her car!) Riley was really nervous about the whole thing and tried to run away after getting baptized and before getting confirmed. Ryan gave a great confirmation blessing that really focused on Riley's behavior needs, so I really hope that Riley understands how important it is to have the Holy Ghost and how he really can overcome his behavior challenges and try to be calm before he escalates. Grandma April gave him money for new scriptures and he has loved reading out of the Bible ever since. Before, he only had a copy of the Book of Mormon and now he is elated that he has his own Bible and scripture set like his dad! We are so proud of Riley!

This is Ryan's mom April and her husband Brent who came up from Hurricane. Ryan's dad was there in Spirit. Both Ryan and his mom felt his presence, so that was super exciting!

This is my parents, Dave and Sharla who flew in from Washington State, and my sister Amber and her husband Jake and their baby Gregor, who drove up from Pleasant Grove.

We loved having the family that came and for the friends in the neighborhood as well!

Riley's Birthday

Since it's been a month, it's time for another blogpost! On May 12, Riley turned 8. He got just one present, a new bike! And since his dad is a cyclist, Riley got a pretty cool bike! We all went to a couple bike shops and rode a few. We were hoping for a Trek, so he could be just like mom and dad, but he really like a Giant, so that is what he got. He can't wait to be able to go ride in the mountains with dad. He sure looks good with his new bike!

(Look at the beautiful dirt behind Riley...it goes well with the neighbors grass, don't you think!? Hopefully soon that beautiful dirt will be cement!)

Since Riley got his beautiful bike, we didn't let him have a birthday party, so we took the family to Boondocks for the day. It was supposed to rain and it was very windy, so not many people went there that day. We got there just after 10 and didn't leave until 6! The first thing we did was ride the go-karts and Riley was the only one on the little track for the first few runs! At first, he was very hesitant, and didn't go very fast, but like most drivers, that didn't last long! Brock couldn't go on the go-karts, but Tyler could ride with either mom or dad. We wished we had had a helper for Brock so we could all go ride at the same time, but it was still lots of fun! Brock's favorite part was the miniature golf and video games. Tyler and Riley loved it all and Tyler keeps saying that he wants his birthday party at Boondocks as well! It was a great day spent with our family!

Stressed!!!!

The end of a school year is always stressful! My classroom is a disaster and I'm trying to find papers that students swore they turned in, collect books, get grades done, clean and organize so I can leave on June 3 and be done with school!

The house is a disaster, but it was actually looking pretty good over the weekend and now it's a disaster again! We've been busy all week with karate, end of school carnival, and a faculty dinner.

AND the big news is Riley is getting baptized on June 4 at 10am, the day after school gets out! (You are welcome to come and join us!) So that adds even more stress to the pile! Trying to get my house spring cleaned is not easy! We don't have much family coming in town, but it still stresses me out and having a gathering for lunch, stresses me out even more! I am not a caterer or party planner. In fact, both boys who have had birthdays so far this year did not get a cake! How mean am I?! I just can't do it! So I need to remember what is most important...the ordinance of Riley getting baptized! Who cares if the house isn't clean enough for my family and Ryan's family! They already know I suck at cleaning, so what's another day of a messy house! (I'm blogging during my lunch break at school, so I'm not actually neglecting my house cleaning duties at the moment!)

We have seen numerous blessings come about lately as well...Ryan was supposed to go to Boise for work on June 1 and 2, but his boss didn't buy his plane ticket in time, so he's not going until June 6 and 7, so at least I'm done with school! Riley has had a great time off track. Brock has been sleeping really well at night which has been a huge blessing! I'll get a small raise next year for work, but insurance costs did go up, but at least I'll have money to pay for it! We have lots of fun pictures to post of Riley's birthday celebration at Boondocks and the daycare carnival for Tyler and Brock, but I don't think I'll be able to post those until my house is spic and span! I'm sure the next 2 weeks will go by fast and I hope that I can enjoy it!

Captain Jack Sparrow!

One of the hi-lights from our Disneyland trip was meeting Captain Jack Sparrow! We had just gotten off the pirates of the caribbean ride and were trying to find our stroller, when we were shocked to see Jack Sparrow! And the line was way short! So we got in line to meet him and man, he looks just like him! He never talked, but he would look at you funny and do some random things. The boys thought he was hilarious and the adults couldn't believe that it wasn't the real Johnny Depp!

DISNEYLAND!!!

For Spring Break week, we had the privilege of going to Disneyland. It wasn't as crowded as it was for UEA, but it was more crowded than we thought. We left Saturday and stayed in Vegas to let the kids swim. The drive from Vegas to Anaheim on Sunday afternoon was the worst....6-7 hours, stop and go! But we made it and it was definitely worth it!

My parents flew in Monday morning so we spent Mon-Thursday at both parks. It actually got hot on Monday and Tuesday, high 70's and we were hot enough to go on the river rafting ride so that was fun. The first group hardly got wet, but the second group (Ryan and Riley) got soaked!!! We were able to do everything that the boys wanted. Brock loved it and did really well in his stroller. He had a hard time standing in the 50 minute Toy Story wait (which we did everyday cause that is our favorite ride!). In the afternoon we would let him walk and he would only go one direction, so when you would get him and take him back, he would venture off in the exact same direction dodging in and out of crowds! He loved to see all the characters and loved PlayHouse Disney even though he wouldn't sit still! Got a great picture of Riley holding him!

Riley was such a big help which made things easy. In fact, all the boys behaved and it was a ton of fun and not as stressful as it was over UEA. (Lesson learned: don't go to Disneyland over UEA! The joke is it stands for Utah enters Anaheim, and yep, I think that's true!) We just love Disneyland so much! In June 3 new rides are opening up: the Little Mermaid, Goofy's Sky School and the redone Star Tours. Then somtime next year, the new cars land opens up so I guess we will have to wait until all this is open before we go back again, which will be hard for us to do!
Below are some fun pictures!







Jedi Training was anothe hilight of the trip. 2 years ago when we went and Riley found out about it, we had to wait through 3 or 4 shows and finally on the last show, he was one of the kids picked! Well this time around Tyler wanted to be picked, but guess who got picked for the first show...Riley! So thank goodness Tyler didn't want to wait through another show, so we only had to do this once! But we would have gladly tried for Tyler. Even Riley was a big helper trying to get Tyler picked!


The boys loved every ride and the rider switch is the way to go with a baby so we could do everything in 2 groups. Riley especially loved this cause he usually got to ride both times! World of Color was fun to watch again as well. It's just so much fun to go and you definitely feel like a kid again!
We took the boys to Downtown Disney and they each got a Lego and a Build-a-Bear. Even Sheree got one! It's the downtown Disney bear and has mickey ears...so cute! Sheree's parents were a big help as well and hopefully they still had fun! We are definitely looking forward to going to Orlando with them in October!! We sure feel lucky to be able to do all this and love our family vacations!

I Wish...

I wish I could have a baby girl!
I wish our basement was finished so we could move Riley downstairs and let Tyler have Riley's room so he wasn't sleeping on the couch anymore (or in our bed!)
I wish I could stay home and not work anymore.
I wish I had perfect kids!
I wish I was a better mom (so I guess this is why I don't have perfect kids!)
I wish all my kids slept through the night...there hasn't been one night in the last month, and probably year, where both Ryan and I got a full night of sleep without one of the boys waking us up! Guess I should be thankful that I have kids though.
I wish I wasn't so negative, but I know that I am the one who can change this.
I wish it was spring break and we were on our way to Disneyland (9 days to go!)
I wish I had a clean, organized, decorated house! Well clean and organized would suffice! I wish I had the motivation to clean and organize and cook and do laundry!
I wish it was Spring outside with 70 degree weather where we could all go outside and play.
I wish I could do my hair as cute as Shari does it when she cuts it!
I wish...there will always be something to wish for!

Service Opportunity

So an old neighbor is in need of some help to collect recipes to create a cookbook for a fundraiser for her disabled daughter. The recipes need to be submitted by March 17. Please go to her blog, www.theselittlemiracles.blogspot.com to click on the link to submit a recipe! It will just take you 5 minutes! Also, if you'd like to pass the info on to others, she would greatly appreciate it!