Good Times

What a week it has been for us. Initially I went up North to attend a Temple Sealing of a long time friend, Dorothy and her husband Lynn. They were sealed for time and eternity in the LDS Temple. It was such a wonderful sealing and I'm so glad we were able to make it. I just love going to Temple sealings because I learn so much and I'm reminded of my own sealing.

Later that day we decided to go to Lagoon. It was a cold, miserable day for Lagoon and it was busier than I thought it would be for being so rainy! We had a good time anyway. We stayed mostly dry, except for our feet and hands, and the kids loved it! By the end of the day most the people left and we didn't have to stand in any lines!!



Instead of going home on Sunday, I decided to stay up for the next week to enjoy some more time at Lagoon. We went to Lagoon A Beach a couple times and also rode some rides. Rayden absolutely loves the Lazy River. He loves to get a life jacket on and just float around and around the river. He also loves the kiddie pool. I wished we lived a little closer to Lagoon, we would spend everyday there.

Randy had to come back up to go to some training for work so he picked me up after training and we headed to American Fork Canyon to do some climbing on the way home! It was a gorgeous day for climbing! His sister's were also able to come and spend some time climbing with us. I hope we can get some more time this summer to climb in AF Canyon because it was beautiful! I also really liked the routes we went up.



OH, and one last thing....if you notice my foot in this last picture...My wonderful husband bought me some new climbing shoes and I LOVE them!!!! So, we better do a ton more climbing this summer so I can get some use out of my shoes! I'll have to take a better picture of them so you can see how sexy my shoes are!

Here we go again...

I forgot to mention a few weeks back that Randy got accepted to his Master's Program! He starts this fall and it's about a 2 1/2 year program. After these last six weeks of his online class, I'm not sure I really want to do the school thing again! As part of his prerequisites for his Master's Program he needed one class that he didn't have. So, he's been trying to knock it out real quick with an eight week online course. If there is one thing Randy is not good at, and this may the one thing because I swear he is practically perfect (compared to me), it is teaching himself in an online course. I guess he just loves tradition school and listening to the teacher. He is doing a pretty good job considering it's summer, but he would just rather be outside in the garden instead of reading a text book!! Anyway, he's on the home stretch with his online class and then we have a nice break of about 1 1/2 months before it's back to school! I guess I'd rather he get it done now while we only have 2 young kids. I'd hate for him to decide to go back to school later down the road when we have like 10 kids. Just Kidding!!! If I ever that many kids I think I would need to be on medication, that is if my body was still holding itself together! Anyway, stay tuned for more pictures from our awesome SUMMER!!!! Did I forget to mention how much I LOVE summer in Utah. I'll have to do a post on that later.....Rayden is bugging me to tell him about all the rides at Disneyland. Yes, we are planning a Disneyland trip in about 1 month and Rayden just thinks that it will NEVER come! I try to get him to stop crying by describing all the rides. Too bad it's been a million years since I went and can't even remember half of them. I've already described all the ones I can think of and he keeps asking for more! Oh, what did I get myself into? Maybe you all could comment about your favorite ride to help jog my memory!

Birthday Boy!

Can you believe this little guy is 1 year old already!!! I can! It has been a long year and he has been such a trial for me. I heard or read something the other day about mother's and how they bond with children and I think I can totally relate. Some mother's can bond immediately with their child but other's it often takes time to bond with them. Sometimes this can be frustrating because it is hard to really love and care for your child when you haven't bonded. Well, I immediately bonded with my first child and everything felt natural. With Ryker, I felt awkward as his mother for the longest time and I felt so much stress everytime I tried to comfort him and couldn't. Eventhough he has been so clingy and needy ever since the day he was born, I have had the hardest time bonding with him. It wasn't until just a few months ago that I finally felt that natural motherly instinct with him. I finally know how to comfort him and I finally feel like I have bonded with him! He is such a sweet little angel and I am so blessed to have him! He brings so much joy to our family! Happy Birthday little Ryke's Bikes!!!!

I slaved for two days to make this lego cake and I think it turned out so cute! It was actually really fun to make and I think I will have more fun in the future expirimenting with marshmallow fondant!!

Ryker got his very own lego cake to eat! He actually didn't get too messy and he ended up eating about 1/4 of it! He's my good little eater and will just keep packing the food in as long as it keeps coming! When we go to summer lunch at the park (free lunch at the park for kids every day) he sometimes eats more than his brother Rayden! I can't believe he stays so little!!

We love you Ryker!!!!!

A lot of pictures!

So much has been happening for the Riddle family these past few weeks! I would like to say that things are slowing down but they aren't really. Randy is almost half way through his school course he is taking right now. We should find out any day now if he got accepted to the Master's program he applied for. He also just finished his last day at his old job and is really enjoying his new one! He has a lot to learn but he is really loving the challenge!


Rayden finished his last day at he District Preschool! They had a cute little program where they sang a few songs and played games outside! I can't believe how much his speech has improved this last year and I'm so glad he was able to have the help he did from the District. We're excited for him to return to the District Preschool again next year. It will be a long year but well worth the extra year!

We've also been spending a lot of time at Lagoon! I'm sure we'll have lots more pictures from Lagoon as the summer goes on but here are a few from the first trip. Rayden has never been to an amusement park before and he was pretty scared the first ride we went on. We rode the Jumping Dragon as the first ride and he said as soon as it started, "mom I don't want to ride this anymore." Of course it was too late to get off so he just held on tight! After the ride, his cousins convinced him it was the best ride and now after we've gone on it about 5 times, I think it's his favorite!
I love Rayden & Caiden's eyes in this picture! They both were being silly and wouldn't look normal at the camera!



Rayden had to have his glasses on practically the whole time! He looked pretty cool and we got a lot of comments!

We also had to take our annual trip to Day out with Thomas! This year we were able to invite some family to go with us and it was pretty fun. Although I have to say, it wasn't as fun this year in Utah as it has been in years past in Kansas. They didn't have as much stuff to do and there were twice as many people. It was soooo crowded and I felt like everywhere I turned I was running into people. We were lucky enough to miss the rain storm. It started raining just as we were leaving.


I love the eyes! Rayden has this thing with looking at the camera - he can't seem to do it!

I also got to see some long time friends that I haven't seen in years at Lariann's funeral. It was a beautiful service and also a beautiful day.

Bald Baby!

Ryker's First Haircut!!! Just like getting his diaper changed and getting dressed, this kid HATES getting his hair cut. He is totally opposite from his brother in every way. Rayden loved getting his hair cut as a baby and never made so much as a peep! I had to give Ryker a sucker while I cut his hair to keep him occupied and that still didn't work very good. You can tell by his face that he was so angry at me!! Now that he is so bald, I can totally see how he looks like Rayden! When I look back at Rayden's baby pictures they look like twins except a different eye color!!

All I want for Mothers Day...

Okay, so I know that Mother's Day is over, but I can still dream can't I? I actually had a pretty yucky Mother's Day and all I wanted by the end of the day was to put the kids to bed and sink down in a big bubble bath with the jets on full blast!!! However, I seemed to have left the most wonderful jacuzzi tub back in Missouri, dang it all!!! If only I could have just one luxurious soak in my tub! Is that too much to ask for? And to think that it is just sitting there a thousand miles away, ALONE!!! Taking a bath in a regular bathtub is just so depressing after having one in my jacuzzi tub. It just isn't worth the time. I guess I will have to find a friend with an amazing tub and BEG them to let me soak in it for an hour or so.

We love you Lariann!

I was shocked to hear that my colorguard friend from high school, Lariann, passed away on Saturday from Brain Cancer. It is so hard to imagine that such a thing should be allowed to happen to someone so young. Never the less, I'm sure she is in a much happier place now! She is such a happy and enthusiastic girl, I'm sure she is on the other side just cheering us all on from there giving us a "double thubs up", just like she was always encouraging us on at every compitition in High School to do our best.

Lariann (on the right) did a duet her senior year. She and Alyssa always placed within the top 3 and I think even took 1st once, if not more. She always worked so hard in colorguard and I don't think I ever heard her complain about anything. What an example to us all!

Lariann (on the right) & Nina with the "Guard Dog"

I think the year this picture was taken was my most favorite year out of all four years I was in colorguard. Lariann is holding our 1st place trophy! We had a great year with lots of fun and many accomplishments! Lariann was always quoting Yoda from Star Wars: "Do or do not, there is no Try" Even to this day, when ever I feel like I can't do something or I get discouraged I always think of this quote and I can hear Lariann saying it! She will always be an inspiration to me! We love you Lariann and we will miss you!