Father's Day Weekend 2016

Father's Day weekend was fun, but it left me feeling exhausted. I was sound asleep last night by 9:30 and didn't really wake up until 8:00. (I did get up around 2:45am because Fynn was crying  and found that he had a messy diaper that left his bum so raw. He was so sad and I eventually fed him). It's unusual for me to be so tired to the point that I slept in and missed out on my personal scripture study and going to the gym. I feel like I needed it. 

Anyway lets get to the point of this post. Saturday night after I got home from work we went on a family bike ride down on Legacy Bike Trail. It's kind of a production so it took us longer to get out of the house and it was around dinner time that we were leaving. We decided to pick up Taco Time on the way down, haul it in the trailer and stop at the Bountiful Pond to eat, then ride back. Actually I can't take the credit for that part, it was all Jesse's idea. I did plan the bike ride because he was on duty for Father's Day so I thought we should have some family time together to celebrate him. 

It was so great to get out together as a family. Cy was kinda slow, but Jesse was really patient with him and stayed with him. Before we left the house Cy was whining that he didn't want to go. But while we were riding he was saying "This is so much fun" haha.

This was the first time that I had been on my bike since I rode in the Little Red Bike Race. And that was a year ago and I was 29 weeks pregnant. My bike shorts didn't feel nearly as tight. Haha. It felt so great to ride again. With the boys we only rode about 5 miles. But it was still good to be on my bike. I need to get riding some more because my friend , Candice and I are riding in Goldilocks come late Sept and we wanna do the full 100. Eek.

I had to get a picture of Jesse and his boys in honor of Father's Day!!!! If only these boys truly knew how blessed they are to have this man as their Father. He's a shinig example for them and I love him for it.

Once we rode back to the truck we packed the bikes back up and headed over to YogurtLand for a little FroYo time. Then we called it a night because be the time we made it back home it was 10pm and we were all exhausted. Especially Jesse because he was coming off of a rough night from work the night before.

Sunday came and Jesse had to go to work. Which is fine. We missed him at church but we are used to it. But we still couldn't resist going up and visiting him while he was on duty.

These boys always enjoy seeing their daddy at work. I

After hanging with Jesse and the other firemen and their families the boys and I needed to take off. Our next stop was to visit Grandpa Roland.  We were only there for a short visit because we were slow leaving the fire station. But it was still nice to stop in and give Dad some love.

After that we headed to the Smith's for dinner. I forgot to get pictures by that point, but we enjoyed our evening together and our yummy Father's Day dinner Heidi cooked for us.

9 months

We are nearly to the point of "He's been out as long as he was in", but not for a few more weeks (since he was 11 days late and 40 weeks pregnant doesn't add up to 9 months of being pregnant). It'll be Jun 20 when that day comes (yes, I counted it out).

 

Anyway, it's unreal to think of how much time and how much he's grown the past 9 months. This bundle of rolls and smiles brings us more joy than we could have ever imagined. That elephant is getting smaller by the month.

 

Fynn had his 9 month check up this morning. He was all smiles at the doctor. Dr. Sabey commented several times how he's so happy and smiley. Which is just who he is. The Happiest Smiley Baby around.

 

His growth stats are;

Weight: 21 lbs --- 57%

Length: 29 in --- 74%

Head Circ: 18.5 in --- 90%

I've been surprised since day one how much love Cy has for Fynn. Lately Cy wants to carry him around. I get so nervous when he's doing it, but they both just love it. There are times that Cy is rough with him (like the time he drug Fynn across the floor by the hood of his sweatshirt. Sheesh Cy)

I like to say that Cy loves Fynn SO HARD!!!

Fynn finally started crawling. Or should I say scooting? I really don't even know what to call it. He has one leg stretched out in front and the other behind him. It reminds me of a caterpillar or and inchworm the way he stretches his legs back and forth to get where he wants to go. Honestly, words don't even give the justice of how comical it truly is. Especially now that he getting faster at it.

Few things about him at this stage:
-Obviously "crawling"
-Says sounds like "mamamamama" and "dadadadada", this morning at the Dr.'s he said the sound "HI". But the Dr. says we can't count it because at this stage it's just saying consonant sounds.
-Still breastfeeding 4 times a day
-Hasn't had any formula yet (this has been the most successful breastfeeding experience, 3rd times the charm right?)
-We all love his chunky rolls on his legs
-His hair is filling in nicely
-Cruises around the house in his walker (we all have to watch our ankles/toes because he runs into us)
-Started getting into the garbage can if it's left out.
-Same with the bottom kitchen drawers/cabinets
-Loves food, eats just about whatever we give him.
-Nothing tops his oatmeal though
-The last week or so when I come home from work he gets SO EXCITED to see me. Then he won't want me to leave him the rest of the night. We've never had a baby ever be partial to one parent or the other.
-Sleeps 10-11 hours a night.
-Loves his small grey blanket (that we call his Softy) and his binki when he gets sleepy and ready for bed.
-With all my efforts to teach him "more" in sign language, he refuses to do it. He just gets mad or grunts instead.
-Started doing patty cake though.
-Mimics us with nodding and shaking our heads.
-Everything goes into his mouth.
-Can pick up the tiniest thing on the floor.

Happy 9 months Fynn! We love you!

Memorial Weekend w/ Garden Befores & Afters

Crazy to think that we have been in our new home for a year now. We have put so much work and effort into this house/yard, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. When we first moved in our focus was getting unpacked, remodeling the master bedroom (which I still need to show updated pictures of that) and getting the nursery ready. So the yard didn't really get any care last summer. I was in no condition to really help out being pregnant and all.

We are 85% done with the master bedroom/bathroom. What's left is the vanity, baseboards in the bathroom and I need to had the décor. Anyway, once it started to warm up Jesse started focusing on the yard. I think he was feeling the need to switch focus. Even though now he's aching to get the vanity done so that we can get the house re-appraised.

Anyway, before we moved in Jesse took pictures of the entire house and yard so we could have good before pictures. Which I'm so glad that we thought about doing that.

So here is the garden in May 2015. I kinda wish we got another before picture of it before we started cleaning it out. Just picture a years worth of growth on that grass. It was nearly 3 Ft tall and so thick with grass.  

Here it is today with the garden all planted. Can't wait for the veggie plants to fill in the entire space. Which is another thing that I just love. We have so much space to plant whatever we want. Our garden boxes in our precious yard were wonderful, but we were limited on how much we could plant. This year I was able to plant 3 cucumber plants and I'm wishing I would have done 4. Haha.

Memorial Day was spent getting the garden planted.  We spent hours doing it, but we had a good time doing it together as a family.  These boys have enjoyed picking out the plants from the nursery and planting them.  

Flag Football Tournament

This past Tuesday was the start of the Flag Football Tournament. Ryker's game was the most intense game this whole season. At the half the score was 0-0. Then the other team scored a touch town without their conversion point. Then we scored with a conversion point. And another. It was 14-6. With only seconds left they scored again. 14-12. As the teams were lining up to go for the conversion point, I was an anxious mess. If they got the conversion point then they'd obviously go into OT. The game had been so close the whole time that I just wanted them to win and it be over. So when the play begins the other team throws the ball into the end zone and one of our teammates caught the ball. I jumped up screaming (yup I'm that mom) and continued to yell as Sema runs the ball all the way to the other end zone and scores right as the time runs out. YAY!!!! 16-12 was the final score.

 

Ryker was so anxious during the whole game too. I kept catching him biting his nails. So when the game ended in a huge win Ryker was so pumped up. He came running over to me and we hugged me. While we were hugging his exciting yell turned into a sob. All the emotions of nervousness and excitements mixed with the adrenaline of the game got the best of him. All he could do was just cry because he was so happy.

 

I loved it. I was feeling the same way actually. Just so excited that they won their first tournament game.

 

As he was crying from happiness I started to notice a few of the players from the other team crying from devastation. I was feeling sad for them. Matter of fact on the ride home Ryker said to me "Mom, I feel bad for the other team," What a sweet kid. In his moment of victory he was so concerned for the losing team. I love his tender heart. I also loved watching him over the season help other teammates (no matter if it was his team or not) get up after they had fallen down. It was neat to see him go after a flag and accidentally knock the kid over he'd help him up. It was cool.

 

So yesterday at 9am was the 2nd game of the tournament for Ryker's team and the first tournament game for Cy's team. They both were playing at the same time so it was tricky to watch them. And of course it happened to be down pouring.

 

As a side note because Ryker's team was the 2nd seed in his age division and Cy's team was the 1st seed, both teams got to skip the first round of the tournament and start out in the second round. 

These boys were such troopers to tough out this wet, cold and windy morning,

About halfway through Cy's game the other team forfeit. The other team had played a game before us and had won, so they played again against us. Well because it was raining so hard all of the boys were miserably wet and cold that they just wanted to be done. We were winning anyway so it worked out.  So Cy will play again on Tuesday for the championship in his division. His team in undefeated so I won't surprise me if they take the whole thing.

I was kinda happy that I didn't have to jump back and forth between the 2 games and just focus on Ryker's. When he wasn't playing we were trying to kept him warm and warm up his hands.

The game was another close one, but we won 30-28. So proud of them for playing so well in such crappy weather conditions. They had made it into the Championship Game which was later at noon.

We all made it home. While the boys were taking a hot shower to warm up I had Fynn chilling on my bed. Thought he was so cute just sitting there all smiles.

We ate an early lunch and then headed back to the field.

And the game began. The team we were playing we didn't play in the regular season. They were 1st seed and we were 2nd seed. What a matchup.

Of course I was a complete wreck worrying about every play. I wanted them to take the whole thing.

But in the end we didn't get to taste that championship win. Ya know what? Oh well. They played their hearts out and had such a fun season. These coaches were nothing but encouraging to these boys the whole time. We watched the team grow together and become more confident in themselves and in their teammates. Ryker has grown better as a player and so have the rest of the boys. They were SO MUCH FUN to watch his season. I'm kind bummed that it's all over.

Day 4

Our decision to still leave was really quite tough considering how beautiful the day was turning out to be. But as we were cleaning up camp and we are losing our patience with the boys we decided we needed to get home that day)k us. N)o Bueno.

,

But we made it thgough ok and got everything all packed up. But before we had to leave we wanted to go on a hike. Matter of fact it wa s the hike that went through our campground. We walked up through it and loved it. We all needed to blow off some steam though.

 At the end-ish of the hike there was an arch. I couldn't get a good shot of it all the way thought. But you can tell if you look closely.

 Self Timer photos sometimes turn out to be the best ones, haha.

 The scenery along the trail was just incredible.

 Theses 3 boys are so great. As much as I get after them I really hope they know that I really do love them very much.

 Mom's turn with the boys....

 Then Jesse's. I can't help but look at this photo of all the dear males in my life. How did I ever get so lucky

The stream by our campsite was actually filled with tons of tadpoles. So once we made it back to our campsite we actually collected 5 of them to bring home for our pond. Hoping they survive. Haha. We'll see.

Day 3 (Mother's Day)

Sunday. Mother's Day. Family Day. We were really excited because my parents and Chantel were coming down to spend the day with us. My dad and Chan had never been to Moab so Jesse and I were looking forward to showing them around. With only having a half day to do some good hiking we had a tough time deciding what would be the best thing to do so they could get a great feel of how cool Moab is. Our original thought was to take them through the Fiery Furnace, but we found out that they no longer allow kids under 5 in there. BOOO!!!!

 

I know Chan and Dad mentioned they wanted to see Delicate Arch, but it wouldn't be enough to take up the whole day, and not enough time to do that and another hike. So we highly suggested to them to hike though Devils Garden because they would get ALOT of hiking in and see several arches along the way. They were up for whatever so it was perfect.

 

When they arrived Sunday morning we ate breakfast together and then packed our snacks and lunches. Then we were off.

 

The line to get into Arches this day was RE-DONK-YOU-LESS!!!!! Like I said earlier we hate how popular Moab is now. After waiting in line and driving to the trail head it was a good hour. Ugh. We were so eager to get going because we only had so much time before they needed to drive back home. Plus we didn't want them to have to drive when it too late.

 

Here's a map of Devils Garden to get an idea of what we did. We did everything except Tunnel, Pine Tree and Dark Angel Arch. And we hiked it clockwise.

 

 

Right off the bat Cy was asking for a shoulder ride. Haha. He's funny because he an be a really good hiker... when he chooses to be. When the trail turned into rock that's when he got into it. And he was great the rest of the time. He really only had 3 or 4 short rides and he walked the rest. And Ryker didn't complain until the end of the 6.5 miles that his feet kinda hurt.

 



 First stop was Landscape Arch.

 We were trying to recreate a picture that we had taken there back in 2012.

Flashback to Sept 2012. Holy cow. It kinda makes me emotional looking at this. When did they grow up? But also I love looking at us now and how much we have accomplished as a family. As much as it makes me sad to see these boys grow up, I also really love to watch them grow up.

So fun to have these guys with us on this day. Moab has such a special place in our hearts that it was such a treat to share it with them and live the excitement through them.

 These cute little hikers. That little cave they crawled in kinda looks like a heart huh? Which is perfect because I just love them so much.

 Our whole gang under Partition Arch. It was overcast and windy so we were chilly, but it wasn't too bad while we were hiking. Jesse and I were so wanting everything to be perfect for Mom, Dad and Chan so they would have a good time, which I know they still did. But sometimes the weather can make things ALOT less fun.

What a fun Mother's Day for the both of us to be hiking together through Moab. I loved that they wanted to come spend the day with us. They were willing to drive 8 hours round trip to send this day with us. SO FUN!!!

 Poor little man fell asleep and his head was just bobbing away. I know if I fell asleep like that I'd be broken for a few days.

 Double O Arch doesn't disappoint either.

 Jesse wanted to get a shot of Fynn in the middle of the upper O.  It took us a couple of shots to get the right angle. But we got it. And Fynn loved  every ride.

 Standing in the lower O. Love this family of mine SOOOO much.

After we left Double O arch I took over the kid carrier to give Jesse a break. And I was grateful for the exercise. Made the biggest difference lugging him around.

After our long hike we were all STARVING!!! We rushed back to camp to start dinner. There is something about camp food after a long hike that it tastes AMAZING!!!

Then of course we had to roast marshmallows by the fire and eat S'mores. Camping classic that can't be passed up. Especially with good chocolate. Haha.

Oh this cute babe and his little camp chair just kills me. Haha.

Before it got too late my parents and sister had to hit the road. The day went by like a flash. Which goes to show how much fun we had. It's too bad we didn't have them for another day. But we'll have to plan another trip for them to see more of Moab.

After they left we cleaned up dinner and it started to rain. It rained throughout the whole night. But it was quite cozy. I slept the best that night. The sound of the rain was quite soothing. It was calm. And I loved it.

Of course the next morning it was clear skies and hot. And it was the day we had to head home. Sad. We talked about staying another day, but we knew we should get home because we still had ALOT of work ahead of us putting everything away at home.

Day 2 (05/07)

 After breakfast Jesse drove down to Hunter and talked with a couple that was packing up their stuff and he was able to take their spot. HOORAY!!! He paid, left our ticket there and put our popup canopy there so we could reserve it while we were packing up our other campsite.

Of course it took way longer than we thought it would to pack everything back up and unpack it again and set up camp. Phew. So much work.

 The boys were helpful most of the time, but they would get tired and /or hungry and start to melt down. Which thinned our patience.

 And they were so excited to explore the new area. Which I don't blame them. It was SOO much better.

 Setting up the tent... AGAIN.

 While the boys were exploring they found this really cool caterpillar. And they were in heaven. He really was a cute little fuzzy thing.

 Haha, Cy doesn't look very happy but he really was. He was so focused on the caterpillar that he only gave me a half smile.

After setting everything up and having lunch we needed to go into town to get some gas and actually do something fun for the day. And guess what? It was the day of our 11th anniversary. YAY!!! Can't believe I've been so lucky to be with him for this long. He's so good to me and couldn't ask for a better match.

We wanted to go on a hike, but the day was soon over, so we picked the shortest one we could find in Arches. Haha. We picked Double O Arch because it was 0.5 miles... round trip. Haha. But we needed something easy for the kiddos and so we could get back before dark to cook dinner.

Of course Cy fell asleep on the ride there so he wasn't acting quite sleepy when we first got out. So Jesse gave him a shoulder ride. If anyone could do double duty it's Jesse. Sheesh, he backpack with Fynn in it is heavy enough foe me let alone adding a 40lb kid on top of that. Wowzer!

Such a cool Arch.

 

The boys and I climbed up into the little arch to get a picture and they both were super nervous. Which made me nervous, but they would never know. One part of the other side was a sheer drop off  and I happened to sitting on it at one point and didn't even know.

That whole evening as we were driving to and from Arches we were reminiscing about our first visit to Moab as a young couple and just basking in the joy of how we have grown as a couple and as a family. Moab still is and forever will be one of our favorite places to go. Only thing is we are bummed that it's far more popular than it was even 5 years ago.