Riding Family Christmas Card 2009!

If We Didn’t Have You…
From the Editor
As we look back on 2009 we feel immensely grateful for our dedicated families and faithful friends. From the staff at Riding Magazine we send you our love and wish you a Merry Christmas! May we all find peace in our Savior Jesus Christ as we celebrate His birth this year.

Watch Out, Ladies!
GQ Smalls
Guest Columnist
 
Emmett has managed to pull out every pot and pan in the kitchen for the third time today. Prior to this he was in the bathroom where he pulled all the toilet paper off the roll. He’s now standing on the table with a mischievous grin on his face.
“It’s like having a Precious Moments doll looking at you all the time” says Dad. The problem is that by changing his facial expression he is able to say more than if he could talk. “It’s hard to get upset with him when he smiles at you with those great big puppy dog eyes.”
Well girls, there’s no hope. It only takes a moment for him to have you wrapped around his finger. To make him even more charming, he’s not always running around the house tearing things up. Some of Emmett’s favorite things to do are blow kisses, wave bye-bye at any person or object, cuddle in the rocking chair and read books, give slobbery kisses, dance to any beat, make animal sounds and walk around humming!
He can’t get enough of his big sister, Lydia. These two play together so well that Mom and Dad are amazed. If Lydia isn’t giving Emmett the attention he deserves, he’ll get her attention by grabbing one of her favorite toys, waving it in front of her and running away. He giggles and squeals with delight as she chases him. So take a number, line up and get ready to chase after this irresistible little man!

Growing Pains
Daisy Gardner
Outdoor Editor
 

Picture this. There’s not a cloud in the sky, it’s well over 100 degrees outside, and there isn’t the slightest breeze. Most sane people would prefer sitting next to the pool, but Dan prefers putting on his brimmed hat, sunglasses, and work boots. He’s got a yard to landscape!
This year Dan has been on a mission to haul rocks, plant grass, trees and shrubs, and maintain a garden. In January he started with nothing more than a level piece of ground. Over sixty tons of rocks were hauled in, five thousand square feet of lawn planted from seed, and twelve new trees planted. In addition, he produced (excuse the pun) a garden that fed the family for months.
The project hasn’t come without challenges though. After installing the new sprinkler system, there were ten broken pipes to be repaired. Shortly after the grass started doing well it started to die from a fungus. Three of the trees caught a virus and died and to top that off the squash didn’t grow very well. But by the end of the summer everything was fixed and in perfect order. All Dan can say is “It’s not completely done, but right now it doesn’t get much better than pushing the kids in the swings, making s’mores in the firepit, eating corn that came from the back yard, or swinging in the hammock with Cassie and marveling at the stars.”

Excuse Me Mrs. Riding? Professor Riding? Cassie?
Marvin D. Hands
Senior Staff Writer
 
“She’s awesome!” says a student as she walks out of Cassie’s sign language class. “I’m honestly thinking about changing my major because of this class.”
These are just a couple of the comments that Cassie has received from her students at Dixie State College. Last semester her students paid her a tribute in the form of a You Tube video that highlighted her fun attitude towards learning and passion to teach.
How has this impacted her family? “To be honest, it’s been rather hectic. Dan’s been a good sport and the kids have loved spending more time with their daddy, but I think it’s time for me to step down.” While the faculty will miss her on campus, her family is grateful for her dedication to the “university” called Home. She will pick up the reigns sometime down the road, but right now family, church, interpreting and her own well being are more important.
Her preference lies in teaching her children through home preschool and helping them explore their growing world. In addition to raising two beautiful children she dedicates a lot of time as president of the young women organization at church. As she reflects on the past and looks forward to the upcoming year Cassie simply says “Although I may look back and miss teaching I know I would look back and regret not spending these most important years with my young children.”

And The Winner Is . . .
Stella Smiles
A&E Writer
 
Entertainer of the year is a prestigious award. This year it was a landslide win for Little Miss Lydia! She runs a tight schedule between getting herself dressed and ready every day, playing school, ballet class, entertaining her little brother, riding her tricycle, helping Mom cook in the kitchen, various arts and crafts, trips to the library, singing, and playing with friends. Somehow she managed to squeeze us into her busy schedule and we were fortunate enough to sit and chat with her. We’re including a few candid conversations demonstrating the caliber of this year’s winner!

After having watched her father install a new toilet:
“Daddy, our potties ROCK!”

In a home where okie dokie artichokie is a common phrase:
“Yeppy deppy artichokie.”

When noticing a trash can at the store (or any object) that is her same height: “Look, Mom, that trash can is the same age as me!”

After having received a compliment as Tinkerbell for Halloween:
“And I have wings, now I’m a real woman!”

In response to Dan saying, “Lydia, you’re a goof!”
“No, I’m just cute!”

When her baby doll was sick:
“Doctor says she needs lots of rest and 20 inches of Tylenol a day!"

Dan: “What was your favorite part of today?”
Lydia: “Hangin’ out with you!”
Dan: “Aww, you’re so sweet.”
Lydia: “Daddy, what’s hangin’ out?”

And her most sound wisdom came when she said:
“Christmas isn’t about presents. It’s about Jesus!”

Just Say No!

Hi, My name is Cassie, and I am a sucker for kids selling lame things for school! I am here to get help and learn how to Just Say No!

So I think my problem stems from the many years of having to sell wrapping paper and candy for school and for soccer team fundraisers. I remember how I "hated with a passion" going from door to door praying that someone would buy it and feeling utterly rejected when they told me no. Yes there was one year that my entire neighborhood turned me down and I had barely been able to hold back the tears after the last house rejected me. I was about to go home when I decided to walk down The Selly's driveway in hopes that she wouldn't remember that she had just bought from my last soccer fundraiser six months prior!

To my relief sweet Mrs. Selly kindly invited me in and ordered one more thing from me. To this day I still love her for that and the fact that she never, ever, not once rejected me when I was selling things for a good (or lame) cause.

Now here I am ten or more years later and every time the neighborhood girls knock on the door doing a volleyball fundraiser I buy something from them. Now there is nothing wrong with this and there hasn't been a problem in the past two years as they only come every few months. But yesterday it got out of hand.

My doorbell rang shortly after the middle school bus dropped kids off at home. There before me was not one but two middle school children (friends mind you, not from the same family) selling cookie dough so their school could get a new roof and electronic billboard. They both had order forms and both wanted me to buy. I didn't want to pick one over the other so I ended up buying one box of cookie dough from each of them (which is ridiculously over priced for cookie dough and doesn't taste nearly as good as the dough we make ourselves)! Then during dinner our doorbell rings again and Dan answers saying it's for me. This time it is our darling neighbor girl across the street who is rather shy and I've become good friends with. I didn't have the heart to reject her so when she came selling cookie dough for the same middle school I bought one from her as well!

I sat back down at the table and started laughing. Feeling a little embarrassed I told Dan how I had just bought our third box of cookie dough for the day. He was shocked and said, "Why didn't you just tell them you didn't want any?" "Because, I remember how hard it is to go door to door doing that and I didn't want to hurt their feelings" I said. "Well then why don't you just tell them that you already bought it from someone else?" Dan had a very good point and I resolved that if anyone else rings the doorbell selling cookie dough I would say that, but for now we will just have to use the three boxes of cookie dough as visiting and home teaching treats. "Three, don't you mean Four?!" he said. Oh yeah, a few weeks ago the girls volleyball was selling cookie dough and I bought one from one of the Young Women down the street. I guess all of our neighbors will be getting cookies for Christmas this year!

Adventures of Woofy: The Three Amigos minus one . . . let's make that two!

It has been a busy summer and I have been a super slacker at recording it for posterity. After going over a month without an entry you'd think people would ask to see pictures of the kids or ask what we've been up to this summer, but no. . . more people(who follow our blog that is) have asked about the latest happenings of Woofy the fish!

So if it's Woofy you want, it's Woofy you get. A few days after Dog Dog died we just so happened to have Lydia's preschool playgroup at the Pet Store. Naturally, Lydia remembered how lonely Woofy must be and begged for us to buy him some new friends (if only making friends were that easy in real life)! This time I was wiser and bought three of the gold fish in the "six for a dollar" tank. They were each very distinct looking and Lydia named each one. The biggest had an orange strip down the back and she named him Tiger (naturally). The middle sized one had a little orange dot on his tail and she named him Teeny (his name has since changed to Tiny). The smallest one was sort of an ugly grey color and she named him Dubba (that's right, Dubba)!

Woofy seemed to get along fine with his new friends and Lydia giggled as she watched the four of them swim around and kept asking, "Do you like your new friends Woofy?" She would then proceed to introduce him to each one and repeated this three or four times. I guess she wanted to make sure that Woofy wouldn't get his new friends mixed up. So life was uneventful for a few days and Woofy and the Three Amigos seemed to be rather happy in their little bowl. Then it happened.

We went to church the next Sunday and in a mad dash to get out the door on time we somehow forgot to feed them. We came home to the Three Amigos swimming around a dead floating WOOFY! It was a very sad sight and when we very somberly called Lydia into the kitchen and broke the news gently she was sad for a moment and then said, "Can I flush him?" Well, we're glad she understands the way of the fishy world!

A week later we went to church and came home to find Dubba dead in the bowl. Honestly, what is going on here. I looked at Tiger and Tiny and thought "and then there were none!" Good luck guys, may the best fish win! This time Lydia asked to hold Dubba before she flushed him! We actually went out of town quite a bit the following two weeks and even had two different neighbors fish sit for us. They seemed to do a much better job and after we came home the last time Lydia told me, "Wow Mom our neighbors are good at watching the fish. They never die for them. They only die when we have them!" Yes Lydia, I think you are on to something. Either that or the first three were just wimpy. Tiger and Tiny are still swimming away and just might be competing for the title of longest living fish in the Riding home!

Adventures of Woofy: Dog Dog's Demise

Yesterday morning Lydia woke up and after greeting her pet fish went and picked out a book to read to Woofy. It was titled, "You are Special!" I relished in watching her "read" to her fish.

This morning I woke up to Dan saying, "I hope you didn't spend a lot of money on Dog Dog!" After asking why, he told me he had gone down stairs to find Dog Dog dead in the fish bowl with a bloated stomach. I felt awful, maybe the bowl wasn't big enough for him, or maybe he didn't get enough food . . . too much air? It hadn't even been twenty four hours, how could he already be dead? Everyone had joked that they thought Dog Dog would eat Woofy and yet Woofy was happily swimming around while Dog Dog was dead fish. Maybe Woofy isn't such a wimp! I have a feeling Woofy knows something the rest of us don't!

Suddenly I stopped worrying about the fish and started worrying about how Lydia would react. I told Dan we should run to the store and buy a new one before she woke up and he said "No Way!" He thought we should just tell her the truth and she would learn the proper way that fish go. He of course had already flushed it down the toilet and was on his way out the door to work, leaving me with the responsibility of breaking the sad news. Luckily it went better than I had thought.

Mommy: Lydia I have some sad news.
Lydia: Why Mommy?
Mommy: This morning when Daddy came downstairs for breakfast (pause) Dog Dog was dead.
Lydia: How did he get out?
Mommy: Well he didn't actually get out, he was just dead in the bowl this morning.
Lydia: Oh
Mommy: Maybe he just needed his fish tank and the bowl wasn't big enough, or maybe he was just sick but he's gone to fishy heaven now.
Lydia: Oh, Woofy will miss his friend.
Mommy: Yes, he will.
Lydia: Mom, maybe we can go to the store and buy Woofy some new friends?

So Long Dog Dog You'll be Missed!

Adventures of Woofy: Woofy meets Dog Dog!

Hooray! Woofy made it through the weekend alive! So Monday night we went on an outing to buy fish food. Lydia and I dropped Dan and Emmett at Sportsman's Warehouse while we went across the street to buy the fishy food. Lydia also coaxed me into buying a ridiculous little florescent cave so that Woofy would have something to swim around in. When we went to pick up the boys they were outside the store petting the most ADORABLE little puppies. They were cute little hound dogs with big floppy ears and were so sweet and gentle. Lydia and Emmett were petting and poking them (Emmett really loved their little tails) and they didn't seem to mind. Actually I think most of them were sleeping through it but they were sure sweet(or as Lydia would say "so dawhling!"). Dan finally said we had to go because the more we sat there the more he wanted one. We got in the car and he looked at me with the face a little boy makes for his Mommy when begging for a dog!

We started to drive away and suddenly I said, "Honey if you really, really want one of those puppies you can go back and get it!" I said it but after I did I couldn't believe that those words had come out of my mouth. Even weirder was that I wasn't taking them back. I mean I would love to have a pet dog someday but I have always said I wanted to wait until the kids are older so they can take care of it and I'm not the one stuck caring for it all the time. I also insist that it be an outside dog. I have been firm in my stipulations so I was shocked to hear myself actually willing to have a puppy right now. Long story short we drove a little ways and then pulled over and talked about whether or not it was a good idea for at least fifteen minutes. The kids were getting restless in the back seat so we started to drive again and only pulled over once more to discuss before finally heading home without a puppy. We figured this was a big thing to get into and we should probably read up on how to care for and train a puppy before we actually get one. We also thought it would be wise to wait until we build a dog run and not do it during the summer when we'll be on vacations and such. We spent the rest of the night thinking about it and Dan spent most of the next day researching the best kind of dogs etc...

The kids and I thought about it a bit more the next day too and when we went to Sue's Pet Castle to buy a bigger fish bowl(the florescent cave wouldn't fit in the tiny bowl) we decided to surprise Daddy with his own pet! We bought him a fan tailed gold fish that was four times the size of Woofy!

 

When we got home Lydia put the fish in their new home and decided to name Daddy's new fish herself. "Um, I think Dog Dog would be a great name for this fish!" Dog Dog? Really she came up with this all on her own and her Daddy hadn't even prompted her! Do you think they're trying to tell me something? So "Dog Dog" it is!

 

When Dog Dog first entered the bowl Woofy hid inside the cave and we assumed he must be either shy or scared. Luckily Lydia informed me that they were swimming together a few minutes later and she thinks they must be friends now! Woofy meet your new friend Dog Dog!

 

Lydia spent much of her afternoon watching, talking to and feeding her fish. She recognizes size to food ratio and after sprinkling in the fish flakes said,"Now Dog Dog don't eat all the food you have to save some for Woofy!" Lydia isn't the only one who loves her new pets. After Emmett's nap I put him in the chair to look at the fish while I got him a drink. Literally in less than five seconds I hear him jabbering at the top of his lungs and turn around to see this!

 

He was so excited and pointing at the fish. I'm sure he was saying something like, "Here Fishy Fishy!" He just kept pointing and squawking and although he's not allowed on the table I let him sit there enjoying the fish just long enough for me to take a few pictures!

 

The fish were clearly the focus and entertainment of our day. Lydia even asked if we could make some fish cookies. So thanks to my friend Catherine (she's the cookie cutter queen) we were able to borrow a fish cookie cutter and made some very delicious gold fish sugar cookies. We even took some to the funny neighbor girls who gave us Woofy to thank them for providing Lydia with her first pet! Before Lydia went to bed she climbed up on the chair and said good night to Woofy and Dog Dog. She reminded them that it was now bed time and not play time and told them to sleep tight! She is a great pet owner . . . maybe I should start considering a puppy!

Woofy the Fish!

Last night the children were asleep in bed and Dan and I were relaxing in front of a movie when suddenly the door bell rang. We paused the movie and Dan went to answer the door. When he opened it there was no one there, only a crystal light can filled with water and a tiny baby gold fish. We assumed it had been left by the funny group of young neighbor boys who spend their summer nights out playing night games around the neighborhood (we later learned it was actually a group of funny neighborhood girls who were just bored)!

Dan put the poor gold fish into a little bowl and filled the bottom of the bowl with lovely little rocks (so thoughtful)! In the morning Lydia was ecstatic to now be the proud owner of her very own gold fish. I realized this was the first pet she'd ever had (besides the Lady bugs she put in a jar earlier this summer and managed to keep alive for a week)! She tried to feed him some of her cereal at breakfast! After I scooped it out I reassured her that we will go to the pet store first thing tomorrow morning and buy it some fish food. For the meantime, we sprinkled some crushed crackers in the bowl and shredded tiny bits of celery leaves. Hopefully he won't starve or be poisoned by our attempts before morning!

The best part about having a fish for a pet is seeing how much Lydia loves it. We asked her to name it and the name she picked was "Woofy!"

 

The Big Number One!

Every now and then you experience some sort of event that just makes you take a moment and pause in life. You know that silent stare you get where you are so focused no one can distract you and somehow as time freezes before your eyes the last 27 years are recalled in a rapid fire memory slide show of events and times in your life? That is pretty much what I experienced a couple weeks ago when my sweet baby boy turned ONE YEAR OLD! I seriously can't believe that a year has already gone by and now my little baby is not so much baby and so very much Boy!

Emmett celebrated his first birthday on June 25th and it is as if he knew that along with turning one comes all sorts of rights and privileges! He started walking a couple weeks before his birthday and now he's all over the place. Once he decided he could walk he thought he should climb (or attempt to climb on everything)! He now does stairs by himself and he even sits his high chair up to the table, eats off of plates and loves to use utensils. I wanted to do something cute for his birthday but figured I'd have plenty of years ahead for trains, trucks, cars and sports stuff. Right now Emmett isn't really "into" anything or I guess I should say he's into Everything! My dear friend Catherine helped me come up with an "E for Emmett" theme and I had a blast with it!

 

When a baby turns one he is introduced to his first taste of Sugar much to his excitement and his mother's dread! Dan had a great idea to bake a carrot cake from a recipe book he'd been wanting to try. It had plenty of sugar but hey at least it had carrots! Dan did a perfect job baking the three layers of cake and then I compiled them, made the frosting and decorated the cake. It was a group effort and turned out delicious! It was almost all eaten that night.

 

When we first started singing Happy Birthday, Emmett just looked uneasy at the candle and I wondered how it would go. We then recruited Lydia's help in blowing out the candle!

 

I had assumed Emmett would dive in and take handfuls of cake, but no he preferred to poke at the frosting politely and lick his finger. Then he finally pulled off one of the star cookies and sucked on it for a moment. We finally cut him a piece of cake and put it on a plate in front of him but even then he really wanted a plastic fork before he finally dug in and ate it. What a well mannered little man!

 

We were joined by family for his first birthday party. Auntie Em and Uncle Burke were there from my family and only Dan's brother Mike and his family could make it from the Riding side. We were also joined by our good friends and neighbors Matt and Lyndee Rowley (Catherine was at Girl's camp). Emmett loved all the company, especially their singing Happy Birthday to him!

 

Everyone was also very thoughtful in bringing him gifts. He loved the wooden sea horse sent by Grandma and Grandpa Riding in Guam. He thought the sports balls from Lydia were great and was already hiking the ball and running it for a touch down. He was also a riot with the clothes Aunt Kriss and Auntie Em gave him and just walked around carrying them for a good five minutes!

 

The unforgettable gift was naturally given by his Daddy! Dan grew up playing in the dirt with Tonka trucks for most of his young childhood and so naturally he decided that for his son's first birthday he'd have to have a Tonka truck! When he excitedly told me that he was going to buy him one I pictured a small little matchbox tonka or small soft baby sized toy, but no, no, I was wrong! This is what he had in mind and came home with:

 

A Tonka dump truck big enough for our son to not only play with, but to ride in! Turns out he knew his son well and Emmett was beyond excited to see the dump truck. He LOVED it and spent the rest of the night playing with it and "sharing" it with his sister(she was just as excited about it and we kept having to remind her who's birthday present it really was).

 

It was a grand first birthday party for Emmett and although I can't believe he has already completed his first year, I am so grateful he is a part of our family and can't imagine life with out him.

Emmett is the happiest, easy going, loveable, cheerful little one year old. He can say Dada, Mama, Moo and Amen. He also loves to babble and try to imitate you. He signs More, Thank You, Bye-bye, Ball, Eat, Drink, Outside, Please and All Done. He attempts to put keys in the door, toilet paper in the toilet, run with out tripping and he gives the best hugs and snuggles, open mouth kisses and even blows kisses when asked nicely! He loves to wrestle his big sister every night before bed and is his daddy's little shadow! He is a rather obedient little boy and learns quickly. He loves to try and sing along with Mom and Lydia, swing on the swings and empty all of the pots and pans out of the cupboard. Our load seems lighter and our lives are brighter because Emmett is a part of our family! We love you Little Man, Happy Birthday!

Getting to Know Dad

 

For FHE this week we did a fun activity that we found in the Friend magazine. It is called, "Getting to Know Dad." It is to see how much you know about your dad when he was growing up? So first we asked Lydia each of the questions and wrote down her answers. Then we asked them to Dan to see how well she did. It was pretty cute so I thought I'd write this down. Enjoy!

Lydia’s Answers:
1. Did your dad have a pet? What was the pet’s name?
Yes, a Dog. His name was “Plute”
2. What was your dad’s favorite subject in school?
Math
3. What was his favorite hobby?
Playing Ball
4. Who was his best friend?
Michael
5. What were his favorite foods?
Carrots
6. Did he get an allowance? How much?
Yes, Ten
7. Who was his hero?
A Helicopter
8. Did he have a favorite toy? What was it?
Yes, a stuffed animal
9. How was your dad like you when he was your age?
Played & writed & do his homework
10. How was he different?
Um, I think he was little and I think he was a boy
11. What do you have that hadn’t been invented yet when he was your age?
A computer

Dan’s Answers:
1. A dog named Bear
2. Math
3. Playing trucks (and ball when he was older)
4. Nate Terry
5. Vegetables and his Mom’s Enchilada’s
6. No, well for a couple of months yes and it was about $10.00
7. His Dad
8. Yes, his dump truck
9. Shy and loved to draw
10. Didn’t like to play dolls
11. The internet

Dan's Daddy Day!

 

Father's Day 2009 was a week ago and we did our best to make Dan feel really special like the amazing Daddy we think he is! We let him sleep in (which he never does)and were just about to take him breakfast in bed when he came walking down the stairs at 8:00am! Lydia of course was anxious to give him presents and he wore his new tie to church! Of course he wasn't surprised to get a tie because he gets one every year on father's day! But this one was special because Lydia picked it out herself. The rest of the day we tried to give him lots of time to relax and read and feel loved. I went to work on making him a dinner he'd especially love and I even took a picture because it actually turned out really delicious! BBQ ribs, Hasselback Potatoes, Baked Zucchini, Garden Fresh Green Beans & Squash(still on oven & not in the picture) picked that morning from our garden Yum!

 

I love Father's Day and taking time to really celebrate the good father's in our lives but I also think that we should do it more often than once a year. I hope that Dan knows what an incredible husband and father he is not only on Father's Day but EVERY SINGLE DAY! So just to be certain he has no doubts in his mind I want to post an entry all about what a remarkable man and father Daniel really is! This picture is from a family night hike we went on in Snow Canyon a few weeks ago.

 

Dan is such a good and dedicated father. He honors the Priesthood of God which he holds and is humbled by his responsibilities. He makes certain that we all come first and he blesses and cares for our family. Not only does he do a phenomenal job providing physically for our family, but he also provides for our emotional and spiritual needs as well. He makes sure we have Family Home Evening every Monday and keeps reading scriptures and having family prayer a priority in our home.
There is no doubt his children love him!

 

This picture was taken after Lydia's first dance class recital. Dan made sure he had taken time off of work to be there to support, cheer her on and congratulate her with the pretty pink flowers! He always puts his priority of family first and I know my children will never have to question his commitment to family as his actions speak even louder than words. Just this week he took off work to witness Lydia pass off her swimming lessons and take pictures of her. He was also happy to help me with doctor's appointments and caring for the kids whenever I have needed him to!This next picture is Dan playing airplane with the kids. This double decker is a nice demonstration of how he always has time for the two of them and no one is ever left out!

 

The kids love playing with Daddy and even just being with him. Lydia is a total Daddy's girl and Emmett is his little shadow. If Dan is home, Emmett can be heard shouting, "Dada Dada Dada Dada" until he finds his daddy. If Dan is outside then Emmett's favorite place is standing with his hands pressed against the window staring out as he watches Daddy work in the yard or mow the lawn! It is cute that at such a young age he already wants to be like his Daddy!

 

Dan is also these kid's hero! If anything is broken Lydia knows her daddy can fix it!He recently designed, had a friend weld, and then built and cemented in an awesome swing set for the kids! He even etched each of our initials into the cement before covering it up!

 

These swings are now a family hang out spot as we all just sit together and enjoy swinging in the evening after dinner. Dan has a love for work and in addition to the swing set he tirelessly works on home improvements and landscaping the yard so it will be beautiful! When he is all tuckered out from working so hard he comes in and relaxes with us. He loves to read to the children and tell them stories. Sometimes I actually laugh out loud with some of the stories and songs he comes up with but they are so sweet and the kids love them! I'll include just one last picture that illustrates the tender and fun father Daniel really is. He and Lydia love to tease each other and the other day while she was reading and he was stretched out on the floor he started grabbing her toes with his toes and she just started giggling! This continued back and forth for quite some time and she finally said, "Mommy look, we're Toe Hugging!"

 

Yes Daniel, You are a Phenomenal Father and a Wonderful Husband. We feel so blessed to have you and hope that every day is a Happy Father's Day for You!

Pinkalicious!

 

If you have a little girl and you haven't yet read her the story of Pinkalicious, you should! Lydia's Aunt Andrea introduced her to the book and she loved it. So much in fact that she asked me if she could have a pinkalicious party? When I asked her what we would do at her party she said we could read the book and eat pink cup cakes and so. . . We Did!

 

Each of our guests came wearing pink!

 

We read the story of Pinkalicious and then we ate Pink cupcakes and they were most certainly, Pinkalicous (isn't that a fun word to say)!

 

We also played a game of pin the tail on the pink pig!

 

It was a Perfectly Pleasant Positively Pinkalicious Party!

 

DFCU BBQ Reunion

For those of you who don't know what DFCU stands for, it is Deseret First Credit Union. The credit union that gives out yummy fruities at the drive through and the home that kept myself and some friends employed in the year 2001! It seems like just yesterday we were all working together having good times and making some unforgettable friendships! Many of us moved away and somehow eight years later most of us are back in St.George. Last month Heather invited us all over for a little BBQ reunion and it was a blast to see everyone again. Not everyone could make it (we missed you Lisa & Tev) but we'll definitely be doing this again. It was nice to see that our offspring got along just as well as we all do!

 

Lydia(mine), Jessie & Cassie(Heather's)& Hunter(Crystal's).

 

Lydia, Cassie, Kassidy & Kimberly(Kathryn's) & Jessie.

 

Emmett didn't mind all the girls, he was more interested in the trampoline and sure enjoyed experiencing it for the first time! Below is a picture of my dear sweet DFCU girls: Heather, Me, Crystal & Kathryn!

 

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

The weather has been amazingly cool for St.George this time of year and we have enjoyed many lovely days in the sunshine with a cool breeze just perfect for kite flying. Just a few weeks ago we went and flew a kite at the big field behind the elementary school and it was one of those fun times as a family that I wanted to freeze in my mind forever!

A few weeks prior to it we had another kite memory that was a bit more dramatic. Daddy came home from work and the weather was perfectly kite worthy so he suggested the idea to a very excited and eager little three year old and out the door they scurried to fly Lydia's beloved Dora kite in the Cul-de-sac. They were having a great time and Lydia hollered for me to come and see how high her kite was flying. As I watched and showered her with my praise I heard Dan keep telling her to hold on tight to the handles and not let go of the string.

 

No sooner had I turned around to come inside then I heard Lydia gasp and cry out "My Kite!" I spun around just in time to see Dan chase after it and jump to grab the string as it flew just out of reach in the wind's strong pull. I still had my camera in hand from taking pictures of their victorious flight and couldn't help but snap a couple of the sad little girl who'd just lost her kite.

 

To our great excitement it stopped flying away as it got stuck in the neighbors tree. Dan and I were excited thinking there was yet hope at saving it. But poor Lydia didn't notice as her head was in her hands and she was sobbing. We couldn't quite reach it but that didn't stop daddy!

 

He drove his truck into the neighbor's driveway and got high enough to where he could reach the string. He started to pull the string back down but unfortunately by this time the kite itself had become stuck in another tree in our neighbor's front yard.

 

Long story short we had to cut the string and then Dan had to use a broom in the other tree to get the actual kite down. The kite's poor tale was the only casualty and can still be seen way up high in the neighbor's tree (we hope they'll forgive us)! Lydia was thrilled to have her Dora kite back and once again her amazing Daddy had saved the day! Is it any wonder he is her Hero?

 

Our kite adventures don't stop here. Two weeks after the kite drama we spent a delightful afternoon at the annual Kite Festival our community holds.

 

Here are Lydia and Dan flying their kites together.

 

The Dora kite was still a suffering casualty with out a string so the night before I ran to Target to buy a new kite. Apparently everyone else in town had the same idea because when I got there they only had two kites left. One was Spiderman and the other was a set of Princess kites. Well, that was a given, Lydia loves princesses and although I thought it was totally steep to pay $6.99 for a kite, this did come with two so I went ahead and bought it. When we got home and opened it I was ticked off. The second kite was literally two inches by two inches with a tiny picture of snow white. It was ridiculous and even the big kite wasn't very big. When Dan saw them he couldn't believe what a rip off it was. I was a bit embarrassed that I'd bought them but was determined we'd make them fly! On our way to the festival the next morning Dan stopped at Kmart and bought a Disney Cars kite for $2.99 and it ended up flying better than either of the Princess kites! Unbelievable! I'll spare you my soap box about rip off mainstream products. But would advise you not to buy the expensive kites!

 

At least the kids enjoyed them!

 

The weather had been windy all week and even that morning and then we arrived at the kite festival and the wind started dying down on us. We hit a couple good gusts that took the kites in the air but also had many failed attempts. Luckily the Kite Festival had far more going on than just flying kites. We listened to some pretty terrible local high school bands while riding on the tractor train, watching Lydia jump in the castle bounce house (they had about twenty different ones but she decided to use all of her tickets on the castle)and cooling down with some ice cream! It was a fun family outing and we look forward to going again next year. Maybe we'll be real ambitious and try building our own kites next time. We'll be sure to let you know how they fly!

 

Easter in an Egg Shell!

Easter weekend may be past but the memories are still present and Lydia wanted me to "put pictures of it on the computer." This way we'll never forget it! We decided to drive to Logan and spend Easter weekend with my parents. Emily's fiance, Burke, was brave and drove with us sharing the back seat with the kiddos. They were actually little angels on the way up but on the way back they "had their moments!" Poor Burke, at first I felt bad and then I decided that sitting next to them screaming might actually provide some great birth control or I guess in their case, abstinence until marriage!

We drove up Friday night and had to head back home Sunday afternoon. Although it was a quick trip it never had a dull moment and left us with many endearing memories! One of our favorites was coloring Easter Eggs

 

Here's Emmett with his Easter bucket ready for the egg hunt. Shocking as it seems he actually never left his spot and just enjoyed watching Lydia hunt for eggs with the rest of us!

 

Lydia didn't seem to mind, afterall what kid wouldn't love a great Easter egg hunt with lots of eggs in a great big back yard all to themselves!

 

Now I shouldn't call it an Easter Egg Hunt because growing up we never had the Easter Bunny come deliver the eggs for the hunt it was always the "Spring Bunny!" My parents did a great job of separating the Spring Bunny from the true meaning of Easter. We'd always have the Spring Bunny hunt the Saturday before and then on Easter Sunday we could keep the focus on our Savior Jesus Christ and his glorious Resurrection! I love that tradition and enjoy carrying it into our family. So here are some fun pictures of Lydia hunting for eggs left by the Spring Bunny!

 

Another tradition that we had for as long as I can remember is my Mother's annual egging of the trees! Every year I remember my mom would send us kids out with a ladder and we would help her tie plastic easter eggs to the tree in the front yard. Although we now give her a hard time about it, I am sincerely glad that she still does it. It wouldn't be the same to be at her house during the holidays and not see it. In fact when she came to our house to visit (just the week before) she actually tied eggs in our front tree and although Dan and I were reluctant to let her, seeing Lydia's excitement helped me understand why my mother does it! Lydia's eyes widened with excitement when she looked out the window and saw them. Boy did she think that was AWESOME!

 

In addition to holiday festivities, the kids had a great time playing games at Grandma and Grandpas.

 

Here they are playing "Whack-a-mole" with their Uncle Gabe. Which reminds me of a funny thing Lydia said the week we returned from Logan. One night we made some Guacamole and I asked Lydia if she'd like to try it to which she replied,"Hey just like my Grandma in Logan has "WhackamoleA!" Uncle Gabe is really great to play with the kids and Lydia just adores him. This trip however we need to scold him for taking Lydia in the backyard and introducing her to a game called "Throw the baby doll as high as you can in the air!" She was giggling and really going to town with him. However, when she came home and tried it in her bedroom she threw the dolly right into the ceiling fan and we had to have a little talk about how we treat our baby dolls! We assured Lydia that Uncle Gabe must not know how we should treat our dolls and that we would teach him too. The next morning when she said her prayers before breakfast. She prayed for Uncle Gabe to learn to be nice to baby dolls!

 

If the day wasn't fun enough already, Lydia also played at the park with her daddy and grandpa and we took her ice skating for the first time. She loved it and I did too for the first fifteen minutes but the remainder of the hour my arms were burning from holding her up on the ice. I wish I'd convinced Dan to skate with us seeing as how his daughter has now ice skated before he ever has. Next time I'll recruit him as reinforcements so we can share the pain, oops, I mean joy of skating our little one around the rink. It was actually a sincere joy to see how happy she was ice skating. She just couldn't seem to remember to put her weight on her own legs rather than flopping all of her weight into my arms. My muscles grew that day, but then again so would anyones after dragging around thirty beautiful pounds for an entire hour! Thank you Aunt Tasha for giving me little breaks!

 

After ice skating we enjoyed a nice Indian food dinner and for our entertainment afterward we watched Emmett ride his first horse!Ride Em Cowboy!

 

Isn't he a doll! This is one of my new favorite pictures!

Easter morning we enjoyed dressing our best and although Lydia was distressed to realize she had not brought any of her jewelry, she was rescued by Grandma's dress-up closet where she found such lovely pearls, a bracelet and a bling, bling ring to wear with her new dress!

 

Grandma even ended up giving her a really pretty necklace with a pink heart on it. It is now one of her most treasured possessions!

 

While everyone was getting ready for church Lydia and I had some nice quiet time for just the two of us to sit and go through a special Easter basket my mother had out on the table. It is filled with different items that coordinate with the scriptural account of the events leading up to the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was really wonderful to read the scriptures to her and then ask her to find the nail, or the rock, or thorns from the basket. The visuals helped her understand a little bit but The Spirit that was present helped her understand a lot. Now when ever Lydia talks about Easter she always tells me, "Mom, Easter is not about eggs and candy, it's about Jesus and the Resurrection!" She's got it!