It was GRAND!

Well I've finally seen it and now I can add my witness that the Grand Canyon is truly GRAND! The Grand Canyon is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and how pathetic that we only live a couple hours away from it and I had never seen it. When we lived in Albuquerque and would drive to St.George to visit family we would pass the turn off (about an hour drive) every time and still we'd never stopped. Dan had seen it once years ago so we decided it would make a perfect activity for Memorial Day!

We drove to the North Rim and went on a couple small hikes. Isn't it breath-taking!

Lydia really amazed us with her hiker enthusiasm. She insisted on hiking the entire way out on our first hike (only a mile, but a lot for a two year old)! She liked to be in front and sent us laughing when she ran up ahead and said, "Follow Me Guys!"

She was also pretty friendly and while saying hello to some strangers on the trail she held out her two tiny fingers and said, "Hi, I'm Two, Mommy's Twenty Five, Daddy's Thirty!" Thanks Lydia!

The little boy in Dan came out and he played explorer going out on a ledge. It freaked me out and I made him promise he wouldn't go sit on the edge. I threatened him with his life if he went any further and then of course I made him pose for a picture because as long as he was safe it was a cool shot!

We ended our visit at the North Rim Lodge which also had an Amazing View (We've already decided we're going to stay there for next years anniversary)! Lydia especially loved the wooden rocking chairs on the balcony. She cracked us up when she sat on the first one and said, "Nope, it's too hard!" She then sat on the next chair and said, "It's too soft!" Then she sat on the third chair and said, "Baby's bears chair is Just Right . . . wait it doesn't rock!" She clearly likes the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She is like a little sponge and loves to repeat and retell everything she hears or sees!

Here's one last picture of the beautiful canyon and our cute little Lovebug Lydia. After we took this picture she said, "Look I'm sitting on Baby Brother!" Hopefully she realizes that's not ok once he gets here!

Caught Blanket Handed!

Crime Scene: Mom and Dad's Bed
Accused: Lydia the Bedtime Bandit
Mystery: How does she do it?

Two year old Lydia used to be the queen of stalling and delaying the inevitable that comes at 8:00pm, Bedtime! We finally resorted to making a sticker chart in order to motivate her to complete her bedtime rituals and then Go To Sleep! It has been working rather well and we thought we had her all figured out until she added the new stall tactic, "Please leave my door open." I'm sure you're all thinking this is a harmless request, so did we. Until this weekend when we tucked her in, finished our songs and kisses goodnight and left the door cracked open. Mom was downstairs, Dad was outside and we assumed Lydia was in bed. We went about our evening and even ended up closing her door while Mom cut Dad's hair in order to not wake her. Two hours had passed and we decided to retire for the night. Dad went up to our room and turned on the light, he was at his closet changing clothes when he suddenly heard DEEP BREATHING! He turned around to see none other than Lydia the Bedtime Bandit asleep on Mom's pillow completely tucked in under the covers. Holding back his laughter he got Mom right away and we tried to solve the mystery. Clearly she had to have tip toed out of her room when the coast was clear and quietly enough across the wood floor and up the stairs that we didn't hear her. The amazing part is how she managed to step on the wood bed frame and then pull the sheets while mountain climbing into our bed (it is rather high off the ground)!

We were puzzled but put her back in her bed and enjoyed lots of good giggles over this one. The next night after we said goodnight and were both downstairs I thought I heard a little pitter patter on the wood floor above. "Lydia," I called, "Get back in bed." Then I heard the little pitter patter race back into her bedroom. Or so I thought . . . once again we later went to go to bed and found the Bandit tucked beautiful into our bed. How does she do it we wondered?!

Finally last night Mom and Dad put Lydia to bed. A few moments later Mom went to go downstairs to get something and at that exact moment ran into little Lydia with her pink blanket pulled over her head leaving just enough room to peek out from under it. She saw mom's feet turned around and with out a word ran back into her room. It was Hillarious. I came back up and told Dad all about it. 5 minutes later Dad and Mom were both downstairs when suddenly Dad heard a THUD! He went running upstairs saying, "I think Lydia fell out of her bed." Much to his surprise and her dismay he caught her going up the next flight of stairs and put the Bedtime Bandit with Blanket in hand back to bed. No, she had not fallen, but after realizing we were both downstairs she had jumped out of her bed to make her escape! This time she was busted but luckily she is so stinking cute she got off with an easy sentence: Now the door gets closed until after she falls asleep!

A Stirring Exhibit of Sculptures!

The St. George visitors center is hosting an awesome exhibit of sculptures depicting the ministry and healing miracles of Jesus Christ. We went for Family Night when my parents came to visit and then again when Emily and her friends came down for a few days. It is so worth seeing that I thought I'd share it with all of you. If you happen to be in St.George before July 1st go see it, it is there every day from 9am-9pm. After July 1st I believe it is going to the Oakland Temple visitors center.

The Healing Power of Jesus Christ:

"Free to Choose"

This is one of my favorites!

"Lazarus, Come Forth"

This was one of my other favorites! The detail is so incredible you can feel the emotions in each character. It is hard to believe that the artist, Angela Johnson, just started doing it as a hobby (with no training) after having been an opera singer for 20 years. If you won't be in St. George but still want to see these cool sculputres you can go to:

sgvisitorcenter.com

You can click on the picture and then scroll back up to the top and see up close pictures and read the scriptures that go along with each sculpture. It may make a fun Family Night activity if you're in need of one!

Calling All Recipes!

With less than four weeks to go before the baby comes, I think I am finally entering the "Nesting" phase! I have this desire to prepare a bunch of freezer meals and plan out lots of crock pot/easy meals for right after the baby comes. So in preparation I am calling out for all of your HELP! Please email me your favorite(s) crock pot dinners or freezer meal recipes by June 4th (two weeks) to criding@gmail.com.

The best part about this deal is that if you send me a recipe I will compile all of them and then send a copy of all of them to each of you who particpate! If you're anything like me you could always use a new and especially quick and easy recipe. Thanks for helping to satisfy the nesting in me. I am looking forward to some yummy new meals! Bon Appetit!

We Love Grandma & Grandpa!

At the end of April my parents celebrated their 32nd Wedding Anniversary! The two of them finally got a little vacation and headed south to spend some time with us. We felt very blessed. I think they were also excited because it was snowing in Logan when they left and they arrived to our beautiful 75 degree St.George weather! The entire weekend was a blast and we were so sad when they left. We just miss them so much. Lydia especially misses her playmates and she tells me everyday, "Wiwa (Lydia) miss Grandpa Grandma, want come to my house and play with me!" You can't blame her for missing all their love and attention, here are just a few pictures to prove it.

Grandma and Grandpa came and left bearing gifts! Lydia was wild about the bubble blowing lawn mower they brought her and it was all we could do to get her to come back inside. While they were here they also took Dan golfing for the first time and so of course they had to buy Lydia a golf set too, so she can practice with Daddy and be ready for their next visit!

Grandpa Read . . .


. . . and Read to Lydia

He also spent hours playing funny games with her, like Easter Egg Hunt, Doggies, jewelry dress-up, and here they have invented a hillarious game of lining up pine cones on the old water heater (Dan had to replace it this weekend) and then throwing more pinecones like darts to try and knock them all off.

Lydia's not the only one who loved all the attention. Mom and Dad spoiled Dan and I by working in our yard, buying us a great croquet set (if you belong to the Bush Family this is a Sunday afternoon necessity) and rubbing my tired, pregnant feet! My mom and I actually went and got pedicures on Friday but then on Saturday we all went hiking up Kolob Canyon (which by the way is beautiful) so when we got home she pulled out some awesome foot cream and gave me a massage! My parents are the best and I can't wait for them to come visit again!

All Over the World but Close at Heart!

Most of you know I come from a large family and boy do I love it! My family is a lot of fun and very close, well, at heart that is. Proximity wise we are now becoming spread all over the world. It is so fun to see how relationships grow and change as we all get older and have families of our own, I only wish we all lived closer together. I guess on the bright side we have some great vacation destinations!

Some of you have asked about where some of my siblings are so I thought I'd copy my Dad's Christmas letter idea and let you know where we all are:

It is noon in Logan, Utah where Mama and Papa Bush are holding down the home fort.

It is 9:00am on the Big Island where Amy & Karl and their 3 kiddos are probably packing as they prepare to leave their Heavenly Hawaiian Home and move to India for a year.

It is 11:00am in Mountain View, CA where April, Devon and their 2 darling little boys are enjoying lovely weather and the Bay area.

It is 2:00pm in Springfield, VA where Elijah, Marinda and their 2 best buddy brothers are probably training for a triathalon around the DC area or packing for a move this fall to pursue Lig's Phd.

It is noon here in St. George where Lydia and I are preparing to go meet Daddy for lunch and absolutely loving our lovely Spring weather.

It is 3:00am THE NEXT MORNING in Singapore where Dixon and Chelsea are surviving the first year of medical school, work and roller blading around the city.

It is noon in Logan where Gabriel just finished another semester at USU and is on his way to California to sell security systems for the summer.

It is 1:00pm in Tehuacan, Mexico where Emily just left (teaching English) to return to Logan and work for the summer before she heads to India with my oldest sister and her family.

It is still noon at home in Logan for my baby sister Tasha who is almost finished with her Junior year of high school and looking forward to a summer of dancing and working at the mini golf course!

There you have it! If you want contact info for any specific sibling let me know and I'll hook you up with their email addresses. For me, I'm just counting down the days until they all come out to visit this summer!