Rylynn's first talk

In primary on Sunday Rylynn got to give her first talk! She has been wanting to give a talk ever since she got into primary so she was very excited. Her topic was I can strengthen my family. She colored two pictures for her visual aids, one was a picture of her helping her brother clean his room and the other was a picture of her helping her mama clean the house.

She was a little shy and nervous during the first part which is really uncharacteristic of Rylynn, but then she got brave and finished the talk really well.

She said she could strengthen her family by helping her family, then she showed her two pictures and explained them.

"I can also strengthen my family by making good choices and following the family rules and the commandments. I can set a good example for my little brother by not hitting and by being reverent during church and Family home evening. When I am kind to my family we can have the spirit in our home and that strengthens our family too. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

We were so proud of her! I can't believe that she and Carter are both going to be in primary in January. Rylynn has loved primary from day one so we will see how it goes with Carter. I am a little more worried about his transition since he will have turned 3 the day before the deadline! Also, I don't know how much he will like it when he realizes there are no balls, no cars, and no snacks in primary!

Portland Trip

The day after the 4th, the kids and I packed up the car and headed to Portland for a visit with my sister Marianne and her kids Nathan and Aria. I was very nervous about the drive since I am hugely preggo and I didn't have Garrett along to do the driving. The kids were great though and the drive really wasn't bad. The kids were so excited to see their cousins and we had a great visit!

On Monday, we took the kids blueberry picking at a you-pick farm. Garrett LOVES blueberries and you can't beat Oregon Blueberries so we picked a bunch to bring home to daddy.

Carter started out with his own bucket, but he never seemed to fill it up because he kept eating them all as he picked. So here he is trying to mooch off of Marianne's bucket!


Rylynn and Aria had a great time picking together. Rylynn was actually very good at picking and not just eating them all.

Marianne and her kids Nathan and Aria.

Surprise, surprise, Carter is eating the blueberries.

Check out where his hand is! He takes after his Daddy, this boy loves blueberries.


On Wednesday, we celebrated Aria's 6th birthday which was the reason for our visit. She had a party at the Build-a-Bear store in the mall.


Rylynn had so much fun building her little bear. She named her snuggly and then later the name changed to Lemonade for some reason.
Carter made a little doggie that he loves! He has to "nuggle" his puppy every night.

This picture cracks me up because we were trying to take a group picture of the whole party and Carter decided to squish in the back by all the tall kids instead of standing up front with all the shortys. He is totally in denial that he is little. Unfortunately, my camera battery died right after this picture so I didn't get any of the birthday girl at her party. Oh well, we had such a great visit with cousins. It is so nice to be able to just hop in the car and drive when we want to see family instead of fly for 5 hours on an airplane!

Happy 4th of July!

I know this is way late in coming and I have been the worst blogger lately. I just have no energy at night these days and my giant tummy gets in the way of typing so sorry about the binge blogging. I go for weeks without doing it and then I have to play catch up and do like 5 posts.

For the fourth this year we decided to stay close to home since I left on the 5th with the kids to drive to Portland, so we went back to Liberty Lake for a bbq and swimming. I was majorly craving hamburgers and we don't have a grill but luckily they have bbq's at the lake.

The kids played around on the playground while we got the bbq ready and then we feasted on hamburgers, hot dogs, spinach salad, watermelon, corn on the cob, and root beer. It was really yummy, but it didn't take long for the kids to start begging to go swimming.

It was a really hot day so the water felt great!

Carter and Rylynn are both great in the water, but Carter was getting a little overconfident for my comfort. What a shock that kid has been fearless since birth!

After swimming they found a great sand/mud pit right next to the water to play in.

They totally mooched all the sand toys from other kids, but there were so many people there that no one seemed to mind.

Garrett is great about being the designated swimming parent these days. I did not feel the desire to invest in a maternity swimsuit so I just wade in the water. Thanks honey!

After playing at the Lake for a few hours, we headed home and got cleaned up for the fireworks. We got to drive to the top of the hill above Garrett's cousin's house to watch the fireworks. It was an awesome view looking over the lake where they shoot them from a boat.

We got there a little early to make sure we got a great place so Rylynn stayed busy picking wild flowers for me.

This picture cracks me up! Yes it looks like my 2 year old is flipping me off but actually he is pumping his fist in the air yelling BOOM! He did this every time a firework would go off. He was so excited about the "Booms".

Both of the kids loved the fireworks this year.

After a while Carter got tired and said, "I'm tired of booms, I want to go night night". So Garrett wrapped him up in the blankey for the last few fireworks before we headed home.

Daddy's new wheels!

This is the new family toy. Well actually it is on loan from Garrett's wonderful cousin. When we first moved here we were having quite the time trying to balance our one car between Garrett going to the library to study all day and me running errands and toting around the kids. It was just not working and Garrett was getting worried about the time that it took to get everything coordinated because it was taking away from his study time. So he called his cousin who lives a couple minutes away from us to ask if she had a bike he could borrow for a couple weeks to ride to the library. She instead offered us this awesome scooter to use while he is studying for the Bar! The kids of course were ecstatic when they saw "the Green Motacycle"!

Every evening when he comes home from studying the kids beg to take a ride around our parking lot. Carter never gets enough of it. Thanks cousin Stacey, you're a life saver!

Isn't it Ironic?

I think it is a cruel trick of nature that the last couple weeks that I am able to sleep before I have a newborn waking up all night, I can't sleep for more than 2 hours straight anyway! I am officially uncomfortable and ready for this baby to come out. Last night I got up three times to pee, not to mention I got up once with each of my kids, and then when I was sleeping, I was either too uncomfortable or hot to actually sleep. This baby is having lots of fun kicking me in the ribs all night and rolling all around the second I get into bed. Maybe it is actually nature's way of getting me prepared to have no sleep, but I would prefer to have my last few weeks without a newborn to involve some wonderful much-needed rest! Oh well. The other ironic thing I have been thinking about is that I have been so worried for months that this baby is going to come early because if he does, Garrett may be in Seattle taking the Bar. However, now that I am so done with being pregnant all I ever do now is say how much I want this baby to come early! This of course stresses Garrett out to no end, but at this point I kind of think having him not be there wouldn't be so bad as long as I can get this baby out of me. So those are my ramblings for the day. Is it just me or is pregnancy number three just longer and harder?

In the Words of Carter

We just love the way Carter talks right now and I have been meaning to write down some of his funny little sayings for awhile and finally got around to it the other day.

"What Say?" Translation: What did you say? This one is best if you hear it in person because his voice goes up to a high pitched squeal at the end.

"I neek a nakin" Translation: I need a napkin

"Hup in d'air" Translation: I want Daddy to throw me up in the air

"Baa finky/finky" Translation: Baa blankie which is a little blankie that has sheep on it that he loves. He calls all blankies "finky" He also says, "Swing in Finky" which means I want Daddy to play swing in the blankie.

"I want mine hoop" Translation: He always substitutes the word mine for my. I love it. My favorite is when he says I hurt mine toe or some other body part.

"Where'd mine uh-oh go?" Translation: Where did my binky go? Both of my children at this age have called their binkies uh-ohs. We think that it comes from us saying uh oh when they drop it out of their mouth or crib when they are babies.

"I want to watch Georgie in home" Translation: I want to watch Curious George at home. He always lets us know where he wants to watch a show, "in home" or "in car".

"Bee-nana" Translation: Banana (thanks Jana!)

"Whey-ah" Translation: Where?

"I want to nuggle mine bat" Translation: I want to snuggle with my baseball bat. He usually ends up with about five toys that he "nuggles" each night.

"We going to the water mountain?!" This is another one that is best heard since it too goes up in a high pitched squeal at the end. Translation: Are we going to the park with the water fountain? There is a park here that we go to at least three times a week that has water shooting out of the ground and all different water fountains and he loves it!

"I want throw rocks in the rivey" Translation: I want to go throw rocks in the river. For some reason all of his words that end in "er" sound like they end in "ey" instead. Other examples are "That Tigey?" Meaning: Is that Tiger Woods? Yes he watches the golf channel with his Dad and yes he loves it. Also "Monstey" means monster.

He still calls Rylynn "Yah Yah" even though he can actually say Rylynn (wyleen). He also calls himself "Cah Cah" even though he can say Carter but that one sounds more like "Cahtee". I hope he never learns how to speak correctly, I just love listening to that boy!

Liberty Lake

We finally got to take a little break this Saturday and go explore this new place we live.  Daddy took a few hours off of studying for the Bar to go to the lake a few miles from our house.  It amazes me how we just hop in the car and less than ten minutes later end up at a place that looks like this!!

This lake is right by where we are hoping to buy a house in the near future.  It has a great playground that the kids could play at for hours and then you turn the corner and the beach is right there.  

The kids loved walking out on the dock and looking at the fish in the water.  They were amazed by the boats and jet skis and asked if we could get one of each.  We said maybe in ten years when we pay off our stinkin student loans!

It wasn't even that warm that day but the kids loved splashing around in the water. Luckily the water was warmer than we thought it would be.

Rylynn loved the beach the best.  She went out a little ways with Daddy but then she got a little too cold.

Carter however, went all the way out with Daddy and they even jumped off the dock!  I caught this picture a minute too soon.  Carter's face was a little stunned when they came up as you can see.

The kids were so excited when a little family of ducks floated right by us.  Carter of course tried to chase them.  

Carter kept pretending this stick was his fishing pole and he would get so excited and tell us he caught a fish!

It was so much fun.  Then we came home for naps so Daddy could study and then after dinner we drove up to Coeur d'Alene, ID which is about 20 minutes from where we live.  It was so beautiful!  We're hoping to hit up that lake sometime soon. Also, Garrett's cousin Stacy lives in a beautiful neighborhood in Liberty Lake with her family and they are awesome! We had Sunday dinner at their house last week and then they drove us around and showed us neighborhoods and cool places to go. She has 5 kids and they are all so great with the kids and Rylynn and Carter love them. We are excited to have family members so close to us.

As for the misc. update, I am really excited that we have found Rylynn a great preschool for the fall and I went to my first appt with my midwife group today and I really like them.  They are super supportive of me having a VBAC which is a huge relief to me and as for now this little boy is cooperating and staying head down!  We are getting to know our way around a lot more and the more we discover, the more we love it here.  

We're Here!

We have not had internet for weeks and we are still unpacking and trying to figure everything with the baby out, meanwhile my husband is studying all day everyday for the bar, so that is why our blog has been neglected big time. I just wanted to post and say that we are actually here and I will be blogging again soon when I can find a minute to think. It is beautiful here and the weather is perfect! High 70's and sunny everyday with no humidity. This is my kind of summer weather! I did get a WA state license yesterday so I guess it is finally official, we are Washingtonians!

We love the Cabin!

After a last day of preschool for Rylynn, the kids and I flew to Utah to spend some time at the cabin with my mom and Grandma while Garrett and my dad drove out to WA and got us unpacked. We had such a great time at the cabin and I think it was a great way to get the kids minds off of how much they missed Daddy and their friends and house in OH. I was really worried about flying alone with the kids being so pregnant especially when I realized I had no charger for the portable dvd player so there would be no movies on the plane! But my prayers were answered and my friend Jen ended up being on the same two planes as us and helped me a lot with luggage and keeping track of the kids during bathroom breaks, etc. Then on the long flight both the kids slept for most of the time so it really wasn't bad at all.

I really didn't take many pictures while we were at the cabin but this is basically what we did all day everyday anyway. Carter no matter how hard I try will not stay away from the river. He would throw anything he could find in there all day long!

Occasionally he would take a break to gather sticks in the woods.

Rylynn on the other hand is content with picking wild flowers all the day long.

These kids love to be outside. After a few days at the cabin, Daddy and Papa showed up to make our day. The kids pretty much never left his side from that point on. We got to stay a couple days with my parents and my little sister even came up from Provo for the weekend. It was a great last hurrah before heading to our new home.

Moving and crappy anniversaries

The good news is that Daddy finally came home after a long 3 weeks and a day of working hard in Utah. The bad news is that that means it is time to move!

This is how excited Rylynn and I were about moving day! Garrett got home on Thursday night and we basically stayed up all night and packed all day until Saturday morning when we loaded up the truck.

This is what the family room looked like when the guys came to help load the truck. We were so thankful to have Papa come out to help drive the minivan so Garrett could drive the giant truck. That night I felt like I had pneumonia and thought I was going to die. Ben and Molly were so nice to let us stay at their house until we left so I came home and went to bed early. The next morning I woke up to a card from my cute husband in the bathroom which I thought was a get well card. Imagine how stupid/horrible I felt when I read it and realized it was an anniversary card and that I had forgotten that it was our 7th anniversary!!

So how did we celebrate our seven wonderful years of marriage? By saying goodbye and watching Daddy drive away in our "big yuge lellow truck" as Carter likes to call it. After having him finally come home from the long three weeks and then having to say goodbye three short days later, the kids and I just lost it on the front lawn and bawled.

Our last picture with Ben and Molly and Babo Reagan in Ohio. We have loved living a few streets away from family and are so sad to go!