Cousins

My nieces and nephews came over to stay while my sister is in Dallas. Sophie had so much fun playing with her cousins, and it was nice to have someone to keep her entertained. The girls got to put on press on nails that their mom left and we made necklaces too. I took Halee to YW with me and she thought that she was hot stuff! While I was at YW Ryan took the rest of them for a bike ride down to Spring Lake to feed the ducks. They couldn't find Sydnee's shoes, and so she went barefoot and managed to step in duck poop. Yuck! When I got home this is how I found the girls.
What a great husband! He had them ready for bed and was reading to them. They were loving it! No pictures of the boys because it was too hard to get them out of the basement. They were hooked to the X-box.
We had ice cream the next day after lunch and so we gave Sophie a Popsicle because she was feeling left out. It was great until she got brain freeze!



Thanks for coming to stay kids. We love you!

Happy Pioneer Day

We are so glad that we live in Utah and get to celebrate this holiday by taking the day off. I want to pay tribute to my Great Great Great Grandma Rhoda Young who crossed the plains in 1850. I had to talk in church a couple of weeks ago and shared her amazing story. This is the abbreviated version. She left Nauvoo in 1847 with her family and headed to Council Bluffs. They spent the winter at Winter Quarters and then the summer preparing to go west. It was then that her baby died from Black Scurvy. Her husband went back to Tennessee to see if he could get more money from their property and while back there he got sick and wrote for Rhoda to come home. She packed up her kids and headed back east to take care of him. Then she lost one of her daughters that next spring to congestive chills. Finally in 1850 they headed back west. They decided to go up the Mississippi to save time and the same day they boarded the boat, it blew up. They made it to shore but couldn't find Baby Brigham. They searched everywhere and finally she went into the bushes to pray. She could hear someone singing and couldn't believe that they could be so happy when she was so sad. She walked out and saw a negro carry a young boy singing him lullabies. It was Baby Brigham! He had found him crying by the creek. Oh the power of prayer. Finally they made it back to Council Bluffs and started their journey west in May of 1850. In July her husband contracted Cholera and died. Two days later she lost another son. That left Grandma and her oldest daughter to drive the wagon train. They would yoke the oxen in the morning and unyoke them at night. One morning they woke up to find their oxen gone. The wagon train left without them. They searched all day long and could not find them anywhere. They woke up the next morning to find them laying there chewing their cuds. They finally made it to Salt Lake in September, where she was left to fend for her family on her own. She was able to remarry and finally settled in Kanab. I am so grateful for her and the "Legacy of Faith" that she has left to us! The Pioneers are incredible! I know that I could not have done what they did. They sacrificed everything that they had. What a Priceless Heritage!

On a lighter note, we spent the day at Seven Peaks for the Oil-n-Go work party. Sophia loved it! I was kind of worried that she would only last an hour or so because we were there right during nap time, but she had a ball. She loved playing with Grandma Kaye and splashing Mommy! Grandma was a good sport and even went on the Boomerang with Ryan. He tried to get me to go, but I have been on it before and that slide scares me to death! I wish I would have had the camera to document the historic event! She said she was so scared that she couldn't even scream! Go Grandma! At 63 she has more guts than I do.

Little Destructo is Back

Sophia was sick all last week. It is the first time that she has really been under the weather, and we felt so bad for her. She just wanted us to hold her. Her eyes told the story. Ryan was laughing because one night I prayed that she would get back to her normal self. It is pretty sad that you want them to be back in destruction mode. Well let me tell you Monday it was like the switch turned back on. I left her playing while I jumped in the shower. I came out of the bathroom and was looking for her and all I could find were her messes. In a matter of five minutes she has trashed the living room, did her number in the bathroom with the toilet paper, and I finally found her in my craft room, in destruction mode. I guess I need to start shutting doors. Later that afternoon she found the pots and pans, and yesterday the fridge. Ryan finally got some latches on the cabinents that could be dangerous. She is such a little explorer. All we can do is laugh and of course clean up her messes all day long. We are just happy that our Little Destructo is Back! It is a good thing that she is so cute!





Caught in the act!

Boating with the Thueson's

Jenn and Eric invited us out for FHE on the lake with them. I was wondering how Sophie was going to do in her Straight Jacket! She suprised us and actually didn't scream when we put it on. She had the death grip on me for the first 20 minutes or so, and then she decided that it wasn't so bad. This is Ryan, Caden and Griffin on the tube. It was kind of hard to get pictures while Eric was trying to dump them.

The finished product. It took a little while but he managed to throw them off.



As long as someone will feed her cheese balls she is happpy even if she is in a straight jacket!

Thanks Jenn and Eric! We had a good time!

That's Not My Monster

Sophie has this adorable Usborne book called "That's Not My Monster" well let me introduce you to MY MONSTER!
Yep she is inside the the entertainment center.
I was just waiting for her to bonk her head.
I did it Mom! Don't you just love the smiles they give when they are being mischievious! She will get into anything she can. Yesterday she climb inside the stool legs and couldn't quite figure out how to get out. I wish we would have had the camera for that one.
This is one of those moments when she was supposed to be playing with Daddy but according to him she came to find me. I walked into the living room and asked where she was at, well this is where I found her.
Yes that is her splashing in the toilet!!
Hi Mom! This is so much fun! Toilet paper and water, it doesn't get any better than this! She screamed when I took her away! Such a mean Mom!
So this is just a little glimpse into the life of MY PRETTY DANG CUTE MONSTER!