Ride for the Fallen

This last weekend I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Ride for the Fallen. It is a motorcycle ride and fund raiser in honor of LCpl Michael Allred who died while serving in Iraq. He is from Logan and is my good friend's nephew. The money raised goes toward scholarships in his name. There were close to 300 riders there and it was an amazing sight to see. I had the opportunity to work at the registration tent in the morning and the lunch that afternoon. I was very honored and proud to be a part of this event. I'm so thankful for this beautiful country that I live in and and very grateful to those who defend it every day. God bless our troops and their families.
http://www.rideforthefallen.us/

Happy Birthday Landry

Landry turned 6 this year and I can't believe it. What happened to my baby girl? She was so excited for her birthday party. It was an Ariel party - she's on a major Ariel kick right now. We had a blow up water slide and the kids had a great time. She was most excited about her party favors which were goldfish. I'm not sure how many of the mothers were thrilled with this idea but we did provide them with some fish food and the bowl! One of Landry's died a couple of days after but she still has one that is swimming strong. I'm pretty sure the guy at PetSmart wanted to beat me the morning I walked in and asked for fifteen bags of 2 goldfish each! My camera batteries died that day so I only got one picture of the birthday girl. Thank heavens Jeff is around to take care of the photography!

Happy Birthday Landry. We couldn't ask for a sweeter little girl than you! We love you.

Bear Lake

Our summer would not be complete without our family trip to Bear Lake. We missed it last year because of the scabies scare and so we were bound and determined to be there this year. It is always fun to be with my family. Its loud and crazy and we always have too much food and we LOVE it. We all stay at one cabin and spend the days on the lake being lazy. It is a great way to end the summer.

The girls 'surfing' on their kick boards

Lando and Dad and Driving Grandpa's Boat

Sweet Goggles and Sand Castle!

Summer Fun

This summer was filled with lots of different adventures and fun. Landry had her first experience selling Kool-Aid. The highlight of her day was when the city bus stopped and the bus driver bought a cup and gave her a $1 tip. We made several trips to the pool and Bear Lake and had a really fun weekend with Paityn.

I think she picked the hottest day of summer to do this. But she was thrilled with her $4!

Bear Lake with Carson and Jayme - So much fun!

Trying to beat the heat with sprinklers and trips to the pool.

Our weekend with Paityn. Love the Tree house - it's the funnest place.

4th of July

This year my Grandparents were visiting from Texas. We love it when they come to visit! We spent the weekend in Rockland and had a great time with all the fam. We went to a melodrama that was too cute - Landry loved it. They had a candy drop from a plane over the football field, games and booths in the park, chasing the greased pig - yes you read that right - and then fireworks. It was a really fun day. The next day we had a BBQ and shot the potato gun - yes you read that correctly too! There's a good chance we might be rednecks. We hope to either get to Texas soon or that Grandma and Grandpa will be back soon.

Jeff's BDay and Hawaii

Jeff celebrated a 'milestone' birthday this year (I am MUCH younger than him) and so to surprise him I bought us tickets to Hawaii. I had saved on the sly for a year and actually pulled it off. I can never surprise him so it was nice to finally pull one over on him. In June we went to Kauai for a week. It was unbelievable. I used to not understand why people would keep going back there when there are so many other places to visit. Now I know! I loved it. It was so beautiful and so relaxing. We had a great time and can't wait to go back.

Last Day of School

I can't believe that Landry is done with Kindergarten! This year went so fast. I am so proud of her. She learned to read this year and LOVES it. No more spelling out words so she doesn't know what we are talking about! Ms. Purser was such a great teacher. Landry just loved her and I'm so glad that she had such a sweet and kind teacher. It made it much easier to send her everyday knowing that she loved it.

Last Homework Assignment

Last Day Of School

Water Gun Fight

The other night I came home from work and found my two children having a water gun fight. Whenever I worry about Landry not having any siblings to play with I just remember how grateful I am that she has such a great Dad!

That water gun is as big as she is. It was cracking me up watching her trying to hold it up when it was full of water and then chase after her Dad.

Landry's First 'Real' Manicure

A couple of weeks ago one of the local Salons was having a fundraiser and was offering free manicures, pedicures and facials. I knew that Landry would love this so off we went. She got to have a manicure and thought it was the best thing ever! Her favorite part was when they 'rubbed the lotion all over her hands and arms' That kid cracks me up. The girl that did the manicure was so cute and took really good care of her. It was fun to watch her and listen to her visit. She had a great time, plus it was for a good cause! The only bad part is that she thinks we should do this all the time. What have I started? Hopefully our pretend salon time at home will do the trick for a while longer!

Birthdays and Mother's Day

I'm sad to say that we just celebrated my Dad's BDay that was actually several months ago. We always try and get together to celebrate all of our birthdays but sadly it sometimes takes awhile for all of us to get together. So over Mother's Day weekend we celebrated mine and my dad's birthdays and Mother's day. How sad is this - I didn't even get a picture of my dad! We were on the opposite side of the table! However, I just want to say that I am really grateful for my parents. I couldn't have asked for better parents. They have always taken care of and looked out for their kids and grandkids. I always know that they will be in my corner, no matter what, and that they love all of us unconditionally and wholeheartedly. I love you both - thank you for everything. Happy Birthday and Mother's Day.

Landry and Paityn 'dancing' for us

Half of my crazy family

A Beautiful Message

My Dad sent me this link and I wanted to share it with everyone. It is called the Son of Man Project and the video is fabulous. It really touched my heart and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://sonofmanproject.com/

The end of bows

This Saturday was my last Bow Party. Ashley and I had decided that now was a good time to stop. Both of our girls have an obscene amount of bows and we got our fill of craft fairs. I had a lot of fun doing it and have met some really fun people too. I just want to thank all my friends and family who were such great supporters and some even went above and beyond the call and hosted parties. Thank you!

This is really why I had to stop.....bad advertising! Love ya Jayme!

Easter

As most of you know I LOVE Easter. I look forward to the Ralphs family picnic each year. What I really love now is that Landry gets so excited to go. I remember as a kid how much I looked forward to playing with all of my cousins and the big Easter egg hunt and I'm so glad that she gets to be a part of that now.

There is the big family picnic and then my mom does her own little egg hunt for her grandkids. By the time both egg hunts were over and the Easter bunny had come Landry had beyond a ridiculous amount of candy. When we got home I made her go through it and throw out the stuff she didn't like. We still have a tupperware bowl full of candy. Thank heavens the Easter bunny brought her a new toothbrush too!

I have to share this story because one day Landry will get a kick out of it. I'm still laughing at my Dad. On Easter the bunny hides Landry's basket. This year he also left out some eggs for her to find. As she was gathering them up Grandpa said - 'It looks like your mom should have hid those eggs a little better' to which I replied 'Mom?' and then he makes it worse by saying 'Oh, did Jeff hide them?' then I said 'Or how about the EASTER BUNNY!' Ooops! Fortunately Landry was so focused on finding her basket she didn't pay any attention to what he was saying. We got a pretty good laugh out of it.

11 Years of Wedded Bliss

Jeff and I recently celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. I really can't believe it. Since we have a crazy couple of months - we celebrate our anniversary, my birthday, Mothers day, Jeff's birthday and Fathers day all within 3 months - we usually keep our anniversary pretty low key. Usually dinner and a movie. This year however our usual babysitter(s) were unavailable so it was dinner and a movie - Monsters vs. Aliens - with Landry. She thought it was great to celebrate with us!
Jeff bought me a dozen roses that were absolutely gorgeous. They lasted almost three whole weeks. They were a bright spot for me while it was snowing outside when it was supposed to be the beginning of Spring!
When I think back to the day we got married and all the time in between - fights and all - I would absolutely do it all over again. Jeff is such a great husband and father and I am so grateful that he is the man I married.
Happy Anniversary babe - I love you.

Treehouse Fun

Last month Jeff was gone to the Big West basketball tournament and then to the NCAA tournament in Boise. That also happened to coincide with my furlough at work so Landry and I had lots of time on our hands.

After doing all the boring stuff....cleaning out closets and cupboards we went to the Treehouse in Ogden with Jayme and Carson. We had never been there before. What a great, fun place. I can't wait to take Landry back again. There is so much stuff to do, they can dress up, make crafts and there is tons of pretend play. We were there for over 2 hours and by that time the moms had had enough fun but the kids could have stayed for another 2 hours. Of course a trip to Ogden wouldn't be complete without a stop by Target! Even Landry didn't mind since she got her Easter dress and shoes while we were there.

My Funny Girl

This is one of those posts that is for me so I won't forget this moment. I have to preface this story by saying that we watched the movie Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day. Jeff loves this movie, I tolerate it. We watch it almost every year on Groundhog Day. So this year he was excited because Landry actually liked the movie too - I'm afraid the tradition will remain. This brings me to my story. The other day Landry and I were in the car and we were trying to remember the name of another kid we had met. We kept saying all these names and just couldn't figure it out and then Landry says "Ned! Ned Ryerson! You may not remember me but I sure as heck fire remember you!" Then we both busted up laughing! I couldn't believe she remembered that line. If you haven't seen the movie you will not appreciate this as much as I did. When I told Jeff about it he was so proud! Isn't it amazing what kids remember?

The Best Weekend Ever.....For Landry

This weekend we were able to have Paityn come and stay with us. Landry had been waiting, what seemed like to her, FOREVER! On Thursday morning she ran into my bedroom saying "Mom, guess what today is? Paityn is coming!" She could hardly stand waiting until that evening when she finally got to our house. The girls had a great time together and it was really fun to play with them. It was nice enough to ride bikes - for a few minutes anyway. They went to the Fun Park and had a great time, it was also great for getting them nice and tired! We HAD TO got to Taco Bell, their favorite! Ughhh!!! The best was their matching PJ's. They came with the eye masks - that was hilarious. We love Paityn and hope she will come and stay with us again soon.

Having fun at the Fun Park

Fancy sleeping masks!

Fine dining at Taco Bell - ICCKK. I'm not sure where the Peace Out pose came from but it cracked me up!

All ready for church. If you didn't know better you would think they were innocent little angels!

Happy Birthday Grandpa

A couple weeks ago we celebrated Grandpa Hunter's 75th Birthday. It was so fun to be able to spend the weekend with them and to celebrate this milestone with Grandpa. We love him so much and are so grateful for all he has done for our family. I am personally thankful to him for raising a wonderful son who turned out to be such a great husband and dad. I also think he is the kindest, most generous person I have ever met. When I tell people you will never meet a nicer man than Dave - I mean it! I hope that someday, if I'm lucky, I'll be that kind of a person. Thank you for being such a great example to our family, for being a great father-in-law and a wonderful Grandpa. We Love You!

Landry with Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa teaching Landry to play the piano

Happy Birthday Grandpa!