Baby's First Outing



Since Manda and I were home alone with the boys due to our husbands off hiking Mount St Helens, we decided to take the boys the a park. We had to chuckle a little bit because we were concerned that all three car seats wouldn't fit in the car together. But would luck have it they all did. 

 Manda is still getting to know the Eugene area so trying to find a park was a little tricky. It was a cute little park that we were able to sit on the bench and watch the boys do their thing.

 Ryker once again makes friends right off the bat. He's always right in the middle of a group of kids. What a social little butterfly this kid is. I love it.

 Cy keeps to himself. I think it could be because of his age but I think once he gets older he'll be just as social as Ryker is.

 Just a little humor for our own sake. Gus didn't really like it so much, but we thought it was funny.

 After the park we went back to the house. I needed to get dinner going so it would be done in time for Jon and Jesse's arrival I was so excited to see Jesse. We had been only apart for three nights. So it shouldn't be that big of a deal, but I was missing him so bad.

Jon and Jesse told us all about their adventure (Post to come) while we all ate dinner.  Then Jesse got to meet and hold little Max.

New Cousins



Cyrus and Ryker were thrilled to finally meet their new cousin Max. I was really taken back by how much Cyrus took to him. 

 We do have to keep an eye him though because of how curious Cyrus is of Maxwell. He'd probably poke Max's eye out if we weren't watching.

I giggled at this picture. Cyrus kept tapping Max's nose. It was so cute.

And the big cousin, Ryker. He loves the little ones. At one point while he was holding Max he was bouncing him so gently. So sweet.

 Look at this cute face. He's a keeper. We all love him.

Oregon Bound

Back in June when Manda and Jon were vistiting we made plans with them to visit in September when their baby boy was born. Jon's dad, David had also reserved some permits to hike Mount St. Helens on September 11.

 

Our plan was to drive up with the boys early Sunday, Sept 9. Then Jon, David and Jesse would head out to the Mountain on Monday night and campout on the base  then wake up early and do the hike on Tuesday.

 

As the trip drew closer and Jesse was applying at South Salt Lake Fire Department he found out that the hiring test was on Monday September 10 at 2pm. So our original plans weren't going to work out so good.

 

With my mom's Jet Blue benefits we were hoping that we could fly out after Jesse's test. But it turned out that the flights wouldn't get him to Portland until way late at night. So Jesse decided it would be best to buy a one way ticket on Southwest from SLC to Portland Monday night.

 

That left me with both of the boys and there was no way I was going to drive 14 hours by myself with them. I figured it would be better to fly there. So after talking to my mom, we decided it would be best to take the SLC to Long Beach flight Saturday night, get a hotel, then take the morning flight to Portland, then rent a car and drive to Eugene. PHEW!

 

My mom was really sweet and came with me to Long Beach. It was SO helpful to have her with me. With two boys, two car seats, a huge suitcase and Cy's booster highchair it was so great to have the extra help. Especially through the airport security.

 

We were shuttled to our hotel where we were checked in to a room. Unfortunately it was on the TOP floor and there was NO elevator. Normally I wouldn't care about that, but when I have as much stuff as I had along with the boys...ugh. Again, Thank Heavens I had my mom there to help me out.

 

We went and grabbed some dinner and then went to bed.

 

We made it to the airport the next morning bright and early. The boys were so sleepy. It kills me having to wake them up. Ryker looked outside and flipped out that it was still dark outside.

Mom helped me get our stuff through security and then the boys and I took the Portland flight at 7:30am. Then mom took the SLC flight an hour later.

Luckily the boys and I got the whole row to ourselves. I was feeling grateful for that because I knew Cy would be a handful and I didn't want to bother someone else. It's a funny thing to watch other people with kids. Some are really sweet and just beam at my cute boys. Others are totally annoyed and are bothered by every noise they make (and I have to admit those kind of people really bother me). So I never know what to expect.

During our flight Cy sat down on the floor and was totally content for a good amount of time.

 Oh man. Do I love these boys!

 Making funny faces...

 ...more funny faces.

 Once we arrived in Portland we made our way (slowly) to get all our luggage and the rental car. I got so many stares and comments from people. I was pushing a stroller with Cy in it while dragging the suitcase with both the car seats hooked to it behind me.

I was very grateful to get that car. I didn't want to have to carry that stuff around any longer.

Once we got in the car I got the DVD player set up for Ryker and Cy fell asleep almost instantly. He slept most the way. It made for an easy relaxing drive.

 After a two hour drive we arrived at the Eugene airport around 12:30pm where I returned the rental car. Manda (and little Gus) were there to pick us up. Cute Cy was SO happy to see Gus.... And I was SO happy that we FINALLY made it.

 That night we walked up to the Duke's to see the chickens and the goats.

 The boys were totally thrilled with the goats. Lisa (Jon's mom) actually milked one of the goats while we were there. Ryker watched so closely. He was very intrigued by the whole process.

We chatted with David and Lisa for a minute and then came back to Manda's to get the boys in bed. It had been a very long day.

Preschool Dude

This little Mr. started his second year of Preschool today. Second years go on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for 2 1/2 hours. So he gets to go more often than he did last year and he stays an extra half hour.

 

I bought him a new back pack this year and he was pretty excited about it. When I was taking his picture he wanted to make sure that I got his back pack in the picture.

 

The preschool he goes to is a lady in our ward that lives right around the corner from our house. She too is the teacher the Ryker took swim lessons from all summer. W have become very familiar with her home/yard. So when taking Ryker over there this morning he didn't even look back. He just went right on in like he owned the place. Glad to see that he was excited and comfortable with going.

 



I know all moms say it but.... He's growing up too fast! Thankfully I get one more year out of him before he goes off to the big school.

Coming Home Present



Once we got home Jesse went to check on the Chickens. He opens up the coop where the boxes are for them to lay eggs and there were 5 EGGS in there.

 

We are probably retarded that we are so excited over these eggs. But they are the first of many. And we have raised these chickens for baby chicks so it's very rewarding.

 They start out really small, but they'll get bigger (or so I've read and heard).

 

 



Labor Day in Moab (Day4)

Last the best of all the game was Tyson and Tayler's day.

 

With the fact that life still had to begin again Tuesday morning T&T made a wise decision to do a shorter day so we could all get home at a decent hour. After getting all the condo cleaned up and everything all packed up in the cars we all headed into town to get some souvenirs and then back to Arches to hike The Windows.

 

It's a mile loop that has several Arches all really close together. Perfect!

 At the last Arch we all ate some lunch.

 I don't know why, but this picture makes me laugh. He's just cute.

 These kiddos just love their grandma. They all ventured over just to sit in her lap or just be by her.

 Leaving Windows.

 On the way out (or in if your going) of Moab there is a HUGE sand hill that some of us wanted to play in before we headed home officially. One last hurrah!

 Jesse, Em, Dad, Ty, Ryker and I made our way up the top. And let me just tell you... it's not as easy as it looks. It's quite the workout.

 ...but we made it.

 Running down it was fun. Going full speed and knowing if you fall there's lots of soft sand to catch you. Jesse and Ty Jumped their way down it.

What a perfect way to end our trip. Unfortunately It went by WAY too fast! I'm already looking forward to next year!

Sunday in Moab (Day 3)

Sunday was Mom and Dad's day. We all ate a yummy breakfast and then got ready for Church which was at 11am.

 

Afterwards we all headed back to the condo and let Cyrus and Sterling take a much needed nap. Which gave the rest of us the chance to take a nap as well.

 

Then around 3 we all headed to Mill Creek to go on a little hike. But right as we pulled into the parking area it started to down pour. Granted this hike you are going to get wet, but hiking in the rain is just not fun.

 

We waited it out by going to a nearby park and then went back. And it was like there never was a storm. It cleared out of there so fast that blue skies  were the only thing to be seen. Sp off we went.

 

Ryker was all ready to go. He had his swimsuit, walking stick, sunglasses, and his camelpak. Nothing was getting in his way.

 

 



 This trail crosses over the creek a few times. Jesse likes to just stay in the creek the whole time.

 Some great background to be hiking in...

 ...with a great destination. We hiked this last year and it's still just as cool the second time.

 With endless rocks to throw or climb over and water to splash these boys were just in hog heaven.

 Family Photo (compliments to Tyson who took this one with his camera and many thanks to facebook for letting me save it to my pictures). To think this family started out as 2 and grew to 11.

After getting some pictures down for the waterfall we all went up above. Cyrus just loves Tayler. They were just buds playing in the water together.

 On our hike back out Ryker was getting really tired so in order to get him motivated Jesse and Dad ran with him. That made Cy just giggle the whole time. Just bouncing up and down in the carrier.

Perfect Sunday in Moab.

Saturday in Moab (Day 2)

Saturday was Andrew and Emily's day to plan. So they planned for us to go hike in through Devils Garden which is in Arches National Park.

 

There are several arches throughout Devils Garden. I tried to remember all of them, but I didn't do so well. But I can tell you this one that Ryker is sitting in front of is Landscape Arch.



This little guy LOVES rocks. And he is VERY good at throwing them. We have to watch this kid like a hawk. He loves to climb, throw and do just about anything we don't want him to do.

You might have noticed that we are all kind of coordinating in colors (Minus Andrew in this picture because he forgot to put his orange shirt on). Well Heidi wanted to get a family photo of us. So every opportunity we got we'd take a picture. Tyson had his camera and took some from his and I took a few from mine.

This is one of the arches that I don't remember the name of.

Right before our trip I bought Ryker a kid Camelpak and he just loved that thing. He thought he was so cool and grown up. It's cute to see him be a big boy.

Speaking of big boy. This kid has his own agenda. He got to a point where he just did not want to be carried anymore OR hold any one's hand. He wanted to do it all on his own. It's so cute and funny and frustrating all at the same time.

Double O Arch! We are all standing in the bottom arch of the double O. This one was my favorite.

After the hike we all headed back to the condo. Kind of did the same thing the night before. Showers, swimming and dinner. With three small kids one hike just wipes them right out. But it's nice to also get some relaxation in as well.