Havin' a Ball (No Pun Intended)

Warning: Do not try this at home. Serious accidents could occur. Our actor, Rylan, is a trained professional ball flipper.

*Note-No, he did not get hurt on the cement as the camera stopped rolling but it was a close call.

Weekend Trip

We recently drove to Seattle to visit Bryon's family and some of our friends. It was a quick weekend trip, but we managed to squeeze in a lot of fun during our short time there.

We took Rylan to a park near Bryon's parents house. He loves the swings and asks almost daily if I'll take him to the park to swing. He's also started playing on what I call the "big boy" equipment (the big slides, etc.). He's climbing up the equipment by himself and sliding down the big swirly slides all by himself too. He's getting so big!

Another favorite activity at the park is picking dandelions which he calls "monos" (his word for flowers). Don't ask me where he came up with "monos". Most of his words sound pretty close to the real word, if not exactly like it, but for some reason he prefers "monos" over "flowers". Silly little boy! Another silly Rylanism is that after picking the "monos" he finds the closest drain and drops them in one by one. He constantly makes me laugh.

Bryon's parents took us to their favorite nursery where we enjoyed looking at all the beautiful flowers and even enjoyed a delicious breakfast in their cafe. Rylan loves playing "Hide and Seek" and these giant pots were the perfect spot to do so.

"Bet you can't find me!!!"

"Boo! Here I am! Didn't I pick a great hiding spot?"

Rylan liked these flowers the best because they were so big.

There was a big pond at the nursery filled with huge Koi fish. Rylan watched them for quite a long time. He even got to feed them and touch them. They would come right up to his fingers when he'd put them in the water.

Rylan enjoyed lots of snuggle time with Grandma on the couch. He certainly gets spoiled when he visits his grandparents. They had new books and all kinds of yummy snacks for Rylan.

We also got to visit our friends Nick and Stephanie and their two kids, Elyssa and Nathan. We had a fun filled evening with them and enjoyed a delicious meal at their house. They live on acreage so there's tons of room to run and play. Rylan enjoyed chasing their chickens around the yard.

Elyssa liked pushing Rylan around on the tractor.

Rylan was even lucky enough to go on a real tractor ride with Daddy! Rylan loves tractors (vehicles of any kind for that matter) so this was a real treat.

After playing outside all evening, the kids were filthy. So, we decided to give them a bath. Here's Rylan and Nathan hanging out in the tub.

What a fun trip! Can't wait to see you all again soon!

Trailblazing

I met my mom, sister, niece and nephew on the Columbia Plateau Trial for a day of fresh air and exercise in the great outdoors. I rollerbladed while pushing Rylan in his stroller and my sister Jenna did the same while pushing Ava. Jada and Ty enjoyed the trail on their scooters and my mom biked. We had so much fun that we plan to make this a once a week event, visiting different trails each week.

Rylan liked to go fast. He helped me brush up on my skills since it had been a while since the last time I went rollerblading.

"Faster, mom, faster. Weeeeee!"

Here's the trailblazing gang (minus Jenna) with Fish Lake in the background.

Another picture of the gang (minus Mom this time). We had to take turns taking the pictures.

After a couple of hours on the trail, we headed to the park for a picnic and play time. I love this photo of Ava, Rylan, and Ty walking together. Rylan's cousins sure do take good care of him! He is one lucky boy!

Rylan spotted this giant tree and thought that the hole in the side of it was pretty fascinating. He tried to hide inside of it, but it wasn't quite big enough.

What a beautiful day! We can't wait to do it again!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun-filled 4th of July at the lake. We played in the water all day and enjoyed fireworks, a bonfire, and s'mores at night. Can life get any better?
We began the holiday by watching the annual boat parade go by. It is fun to see all the decorated boats and people waving American flags. Every year the fire boat leads the parade and sprays people with it's big water hose. Next year, we plan on decorating our boat and participating in the fun event.

Rylan enjoyed pushing this big beach ball around the yard and rolling on it with Daddy's help.

We relaxed in the sun and worked on our tans.

Rylan loves the water and playing with all the rocks on the beach. He looks for rocks that stand out and look different from all the rest. He shows me the rocks he finds and says "pretty rock".

Rylan is all set for a hot summer day in his cool new swim gear that Grandma bought him. Thanks Grandma! He sure looks cute!

This airplane floaty was the highlight of the weekend. Rylan loved to float around on this thing. In fact, every time we thought he was done swimming and we got him all changed into dry clothes, he'd want to get back into the airplane for more fun in the water.

There is a big fireworks display just across the lake from us every year. They put on a fabulous show that lasts over an hour. As Rylan watched the fireworks, he'd say the colors he saw in the sky. He seemed to enjoy them but liked watching them from inside better. He didn't seem to like all the loud noises this year. We're not sure if it had something to do with the fact that he's been teething or not. I guess we'll see what he does next year.

Hope you all had a fun, safe 4th of July!

Love You

Last night as I was putting Rylan to bed, he looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said "Love you Mama" for the first time!!! What a sweet moment! Do you ever feel like your heart is going to burst because it is overflowing with love? Well, that's how I felt at that moment! How sweet it is to be loved, especially by a child!

As Bryon walked into the room to kiss Rylan goodnight, he heard a little voice say "Love you Dada." I could tell Bryon was just as touched as I was.

We love you too dear boy...more than life itself!

Big Storm

We recently had a huge lightning and thunderstorm. It was a spectacular sight! Bryon and I sat out on our covered deck and watched the storm. We stayed outside as long as we could and headed inside when the storm got close. It went right over our house. The rain and thunder were so loud that I thought for sure Rylan would wake up, but he slept through it all. Check out these amazing photos our neighbor took of the lightning directly above our house.

A beautiful rainbow after the storm. I love this symbol of God's promise.

Father's Day

My sisters and I spoiled all the fathers in my family (my dad, Bryon, and Jerimiah) by making a delicious meal for them. They returned home from a round of golf to a warm meal of shrimp skewers, pot stickers, rice, edamame, General Tso's chicken, and lettuce wraps (we even used the recipe from PF Chang's). I'd say they are pretty lucky guys! We're pretty lucky gals too to have them in our lives!!!

The chefs

I sure had a fun time cooking with my sisters!

Yum, yum! Dish up while it's hot.

I thought I'd include a few of my favorite pictures of Rylan with the men in his life. Here is one from last summer with Papa. My dad was feeding Rylan icecream, and they were obviously both having a pretty good time. Apparently Rylan decided to save some on his chin for later. Rylan sure loves you Papa!

One of Rylan's favorite things to do when we visit Bryon's parents is to feed the fish with Grandpa. Grandpa waits for Rylan to wake up every morning and then he'll take him outside and let him throw the fish food into the pond. It is the highlight of Rylan's day. Rylan loves visiting you Grandpa! We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!

Like father, like son. These two are peas in a pod. This is one of my favorite candid shots of my boys. They are always so happy when they're around each other. Rylan is so blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

I love you because...

• you make me laugh
• you tickle me when I ask you to
• you read me stories and teach me about diggers
• you take me to the park
• you take me to the store and sometimes even let me get icecream
• you tell me you love me everyday
• you make things for me like my cool new sandbox
• you take me on walks every day
• you give me kisses
• you love my Mom
• you cheer me up when I'm sad
• you play with me

You're the best dad in the world! I love you tons!

Love,
Rylan