Summer Fun!!! (really long post)

So, we have been very very very busy this summer. I just feel like I have been going non-stop for the last few months. It felt good to actually sit down for a few hours today and relax and catch up on some blogs. Then I realized how long it has been since I blogged and thought I better get to it! Here is what we have been up to:

We started out the summer with a trip to Zion's! I don't remember ever going to Zion's before so this was really fun for me! We headed down with a bunch of my family and took a nice easy trail for the kids. It was pretty hot, we had to stop quite often to count kids and take water breaks, but we all made it safe and sound! Well, except for a bloody toe at the very end for someone not wearing shoes, but other than that it was great!

The kids loved the little pool of water at the end of the hike! It was nice to cool off!

Here's our cute little family! Don't look too long however, we're a little sweaty and gross!

And of course, all the kids!!! Well, most of them anyway!! What were we thinking taking all those kids hiking????
My two little one's are just so cute!!!

We also went and did a little rock climbing!!! That was even hotter than hiking because we waited a little too late in the day. The itty bitty ones had a hard time with the heat and headed out yearly but the older boys had a blast. They climbed up those rocks so fast and were so brave to go all the way to the top!!! I think we'll have some great climbers in this family!

All my boys have summer birthday's, so we have had a lot of birthday celebrations lately. Ryker's birthday came first. He LOVES trucks!!!! So you can see why his birthday cake just had to be a truck! He turned two this year and he is all over that terrible two business!!! It's lucky he's so cute or else I don't know what I would do. His cake was a little sloppy because I had to make it in a hurry but he loved it! We had a good time celebrating with family!!!

Randy celebrated his birthday second but I forgot the camera. We were actually in Lake Powell on his birthday and didn't do much to celebrate except for ride the wave runners!!!!

This was our first trip to Lake Powell this year. We went with the Riddle family to Antelope point marina and took a houseboat up Navajo canyon. It was beautiful weather, except one day, and we had a blast! The houseboat was really nice and we had a fun slide on the back. We also had some friends next door on a houseboat with a slide that was even higher! It was great!

Ryker is seriously contemplating whether or not to get into the water or finish his gogurt!

We made a waterslide down the hill into the lake. The kids loved it! I tried it once and wasn't a huge fan. It hurt!

I love how you can see Rayden's arrow in this picture! We like to experiment on his hair in the summer and he wanted an arrow like on the last airbender! He felt pretty special to have different hair and all the cousins loved it!!!

Randy liked the water slide....ouch!!!!


Ryker loved the boat. Except he always fell asleep. I could never figure out why kids always fall asleep on the boat. It seems so uncomfortable!!!


Randy was a pro at knee boarding. He had a rough time getting up everything else but he dominated on the knee board!!! Go Babe!!!!

This was the whole crew!!! It was so much fun, thanks mom and dad Riddle!!!!!

This is what the cousins do when they get together. The girls like to dress up the boys. Can you believe Rayden is the one in the hat. He can play a pretty good girl!!! I'm going to have to use this picture as blackmail when the boys grow up!!!

Fourth of July was pretty crazy this year! It was hotter than ever and crazy too! We had fun going to the parade, having a bar-b-que with friends and then watching the fireworks! I love the fireworks!!


This is our second trip to Lake Powell!! We camped at Lone Rock with my family and had a blast! Ryker was totally in his element! Food and treat galore, sun, water, sand!!!! What more could a kid want? We were fortunate enough not to have a fire incident this year with Ryker. Although, cousin Zack wasn't as fortunate, sorry bud :(

The kids loved playing in the island. It was so nice to have, thanks Sarah!!!!!
The boys love to sit on the wave runners and pretend like they are going on an awesome ride! This is actually as fast (or should I say slow) as some of them like to go! Ha Ha! Actually most of the boys love going for rides! Well, at least my boys do!

How many kids do you think it will hold???

I guess I was the only one paying attention in this picture. We had a lot of fun at Lake Powell with my family. Minus the sand in everything it was a pretty fun and relaxing trip! It was hotter than Hades but the water was warm and the skiing was great!!!

Rayden turned six years old today!!! We celebrated by having Sponge Bob birthday party last weekend with some friends and family. He loved his cupcake cake!!! I almost backed out of making it at the last minute because of my medical situation but he was almost in tears because he really wanted his cupcake cake. I thought that sitting down and frosting a cake wasn't too stressful so I decided to go ahead and do it. It turned out really cute and it made him feel pretty special. If it weren't for my amazing sisters who pulled together and helped me with the birthday party it would have been a huge disaster. Thanks girls!!!!
Anyway, Rayden is six now and I just can't believe it! He is getting so big! He has already lost two teeth and just informed me that he has a molar coming in in the back of his mouth! He loves loves loves playing Legos with his friends and he recently has fallen in love with star wars! He is such a big helper and loves having his own room!

This is my little Ryker......he may be little but he has a big personality!!! He's a wild one!!! He really keeps me on my toes. I have to constantly watch him or he gets into everything!!!!

A couple things I have left out that has made our summer even crazier is we finally moved into a new house!!!!!! It was kind of last minute but I am so grateful that we were able to find a fairly new house that was in our price range and that would fit our family. There weren't a whole lot of options available in our small town and I've been watching the market in our area over the past few years. When I first saw this house, Rand and I wanted it so bad but it was a little out of our price range so we kind of just forgot about it. Then, our Realtor found out that the seller's were willing to drop their price! We were so excited and knew we had to jump on it! So far it has been a dream come true having my own house again! But, it has also been a lot of work! Having everything in storage for two years was a nightmare!!! I couldn't remember what boxes everything was packed in. Anyway, we are slowly getting settled. It has been hard since we have been so busy but little by little it is falling into place.

Also, just a week after moving into our home we found out we were pregnant with our third. I was a little shocked (well actually a lot shocked) but excited at the same time! Everything seemed to be going well, no sickness and feeling great, except for being really tired and really hungry all the time. I was even able to keep running and run the fourth of July 5k run. I felt great! Well, last week I started having complications. After having an ultrasound and seeing the babies heartbeat I felt a little better but I still felt like things were not going to end well. A few days later I had a miscarriage. It was difficult to go through but I was very blessed to be able to have my family around to help me get through it all. In a way, I was really grateful that I was only 7 weeks along because it was a lot less complicated then if I had been further. It was also a really good learning experience for Rayden. He has learned so much about prayer and Heavenly Father's plan for our family. In a way, I never really felt like it was time for this little spirit to come to our home. I am so grateful that I have learned early on that life isn't always about what I want, but what Heavenly Father wants for me. So, anyway, our little family is doing great and we are really loving the summer and all of the fun activities we have enjoyed! We have been surrounded with family and friends and we are loving life!!!

Hopefully soon I will post pictures of the new house!!!!!

Finally!

This was Randy's experiment on Rayden's hair! We just left in for one day just for fun. Rayden ended up liking it so much that he cried when we cut it off the next day. I guess this summer we'll have to experiment again!

Rayden lost two teeth this last month! He is getting so big I just can't believe it!

The primary had a box car racing activity. Rayden wanted a jet! His grandpa worked all day long to help him build a pretty cool jet! He said it is the fastest jet in the whole wide world! Thanks grandpa for helping!
The boys have been wanting dad to help them build a tree house for quite some time! They finally got a few minutes to get some steps put on! Maybe in a few more weeks they will have some more additions!

Ryker is so glad that the weather is finally starting to get a little warmer. He LOVES being outside! I can't wait for it to be full on summer. No more snow!!!!

Ryker just loves his new baby cousin, Laytyn! He is such a big helper, always making sure she has her blanket and binki and bottle! However, he is quite jealous when mommy or daddy hold the new baby!!!

He loves holding Laytyn!

Rayden graduated from Preschool! His teacher was so amazing this year and he just loved it! They had a cute little program at the park today and Rayden was in a little skit. He was so cute. He got to wear all of these fabulous hats! He loves hats!!!

Here is my graduate!!!! I am so proud of this little fella! He is the smartest 5 year old I know! I just wish he would stop growing up so fast! I'm going to blink and next thing ya know he'll be graduating from High School and getting ready for a mission!

Such a slacker!!!

I have to admit, I have been really slacking in the blogger world. I realized the other day as we were rushing out the door to a primary activity and Randy asked "where's the camera?" I had no idea when the last time was that I actually snapped a picture of the kids. I didn't have a single clue where the camera was and I was not about to go looking for it! Not that we haven't been on picture worthy adventures, I just haven't even thought about capturing a moment of it on camera! I think sometimes I just like to enjoy the moments without having to worry about if my blogger friends will think I have the cutest and most wonderful kids in the world! Because let's face it, you already know I have the BEST kids in the world, and you don't need pictures to prove it!!!! LOL!!! I actually do have some great pics to post but I really don't know where I left the camera last. So here is what we have been doing, you'll just have to imagine:

House hunting (imagine me singing the hallelujah chorus at the top of my lungs!!!! Feel free to join in!)
Playing outside on the rare days that we have had sun (and I thought Missouri weather was crazy!)
Traveling to G-ma BTW's house to play with cousins!!!
Playing with friends
Building with lego's
A LOT of visit's to the Dentist (with more to go! I think I will have to sell my first born to pay the dentist this year)
Bike riding
All sorts of family/church functions
Rayden just finished his third year of Preschool! I definitely think it's time to move on to Kindergarten!!!

I think that pretty much is the bulk of what we have been doing. Of course I left out the mundane things like laundry, bath time, cleaning, attempting potty training, and so on and so on. The most important thing I left out is how I have completely had a change of perspective on my life and I am trying to re-vamp, start fresh, and just do all those things I keep telling myself that I will eventually do. I went to BYU women's conference a few weeks ago and it was exactly what I needed in my life right now!!! Also, to add to all the wonderful people I heard speak, we recently had General Conference, Bi-stake women's conference, and stake conference. I don't think I have ever been to so many conferences in a two month period in all my life! All of it was so amazing and I swear the speakers must of had me in mind when they prepared their messages because it all was JUST FOR ME!!!! So, as long as I can just remember all the wonderful things I heard and I can remember how I felt, and my determination to succeed, then life will be wonderful no matter what!!! So here is to the rest of 2010......NO MATTER WHAT!!!!

Goals

I'm trying to reach a goal I set for myself this month and I need your help! If anyone is interested in getting some free and discounted pampered chef products by hosting a show or knows someone that would want to, let me know!!! I'm actually looking for someone who would be interested in doing a catalog show this week because my schedule right now is pretty packed! My amazing sister-in-law just a did a catalog show and earned some free stuff and I just know there are others out there who are just dying to get some free-bees!

Some people think that hosting a show is difficult but it is actually pretty easy! It can be as easy as emailing, calling, or texting all your friends my personal website and they can view and order right online!

The month of May is Help Whip Cancer month and there are some special limited-edition pink items available this month! You know you all want a pink tomato knife which is among the special edition items! Also, $1 will be donated to the American Cancer Society for every special edition item purchased!!! If you know anyone in your life who has or is suffering from cancer, this is a great way to help!
Let me know if you are interested in helping me reach my goals! You can send me an email to barbsriddle@yahoo.com and I'll get you set up so you can get those free products!

Foxboro North Boutique

Hey all you gals, this Saturday from 10-4 I will be doing a Pampered Chef display at a Boutique in North Salt Lake! There will tons of other ladies there with some amazing things! They will have purses, jewelry, hair bows, vinyl lettering, scentsy and so many more things!!! If you want to check out a little preview and get specific directions go to http://foxboronorthboutique.blogspot.com/

With Mother's Day coming, it's a great way to get some personalized things for those amazing women in your life! Or just pamper yourself!!! I hope to see you all there!!!

Stuff

I know I have been a major slacker on the blog lately. But I haven't been slacker when it comes to everything else in my life....well okay, not everything! Here is what we have been up to lately....Don't you just love Ryker's hat??? He love's to play with Daddy's hats!

All my adventures for the last few weeks started with the New Moon party at Border's! We won magnets and book marks and had tons of fun!

We then headed over to Walmart and got a picture with Edward's Volvo!

Then we got to see the human's from Twilight: Eric, Mike, and Angela!!!You can kind of see Eric in the back waving! It was CA-RAZY!!!!! We barely made it there in time to see them (from a distance) and they left shortly after we got there.

After the party we were so exhausted we needed to feed our tummies!

Breakfast at Denny's at 2 am! We are crazy Twilight fans!!!!!

Then, we decided to take all the boys on a hike! They loved getting out of the house and running around. Oh how I wish spring would just come and stay! Enough with the snow!!!!!

Aren't they a good looking bunch of boys!!!
Next, we had an Easter egg hunt at my mom's work. Ryker just wanted to play on the toys and eat the chocolate!
The boys really scored with the treats!!! They had huge bags full of eggs and each egg had atleast two pieces of candy if not more! Part of me just wants to throw it all away because I am so sick of candy!

Then, we decided to take a last minute trip to Missouri to check on the house and try to get it rented! It was a long, long trip in the car but it was worth it. I'll spare you the details on all the throw-up and poop accidents. Let's just say I earned my rights to be called a mom after that trip. It was so fun to be in my house again! It brought back lots of memories. I wanted to cry because I miss having my own house. Maybe someday!

Ryker is in his element!

Our favorite place to play....the Kidder park! Ryker cried everyday, all day long while we were in Missouri because he wanted to go to the park. Luckily the weather was really nice when we were there.

Our favorite spot to visit at Adam-ondi-ahman! It was so windy the day we went there, but then again it always seems to be windy up there!




It was so fun to see from friends from Missouri!!! We miss you all so much!!!! I wish we had more time out there to see everyone but our trip was rather quick!

We got back just in time to celebrate the holiday with family. The Easter Bunny left the boys some yummy goodies and toys in their baskets! Rayden doesn't look too thrilled but he just woke up so I guess that is to be expected! I can't believe how quickly time flies, one day it's Christmas, the next day it's Easter, then the next day it's Halloween! These boys are just growing up way too quickly!

Rayden had fun coloring his eggs. Good thing Grandma was on top of things or else it wouldn't have gotten done!

On Easter all the cousins went across the street to Great Grandma's and had a hunt over there. They loved getting all the egss, treats, and toys that the Easter Bunny left over there! Grandma's yard was perfect for a hunt! There were some great hiding places!
I just love my family of boys!!!!! I can't imagine life without them!

It's Finished!

Ya!!! We finally have a kitchen! After five long weeks of eating cereal for breakfast and living without a sink, dishwasher, stove, or oven, we are finally back in the kitchen!!!! I never realized how much I loved cooking until I couldn't cook at all. I was definitely suffering from withdrawal, but I have since made up for it!

I think it turned out pretty nice and really the five weeks weren't too bad.


We also have been enjoying the sunshine!!!! Ryker would live outside if I would let him. He wants to be outside all day long and it just breaks my heart every time I have to bring him inside. He just screams and kicks and throws his fits! This boy was made for the outdoors!

We've also been pretty busy this month with other things. Rayden was involved in pee-wee wrestling again this year and I must say he has improved quite a bit from last year. Of course it helped that we held him back and so he pretty much dominated over the pre-schoolers. One little kid he wrestled just ran around in a circle trying to get away from him after he pinned him the whole first round. It was pretty comical! I'll have to post the video of it if I ever could figure out how!

Randy was able to baptize this cute little girl a few weeks ago. He is friends with her dad and was pretty excited when they asked him to baptize her. It was pretty neat. It was also good for Rayden to see! I don't know if he has ever been to a baptism that he would remember and so it was good for him to be able to see what it is like and to see what he has to look forward to!
Here is all of us after the baptism. It was such a beautiful day too! The sun was shining and most of the snow had melted. But, that didn't last too long.


We also got to get together with some family to celebrate my grandfather's life and birthday! He was such a great person and the way he lived his life was so amazing! He was so fun and passionate about the things he loved! It was fun to get together with some of the cousins and have a party! Great people, great food, and a great time!
Speaking of food, only a couple days left to get your requests in for Pampered Chef! I'm ordering on friday so don't miss out on 10% off and free shipping! I also still have a few free gifts left for anyone who wants to book a show!
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Do you have your green on? We do! We also celebrated with green chocolate chip cookies and so far we've had green eyes for breakfast!