"hey kids...big ben, parliament..."

Exactly 10 years ago TODAY, Mom and I jumped the country and made some very fun memories together when I was in high school. She helped chaperone a Europe trip and these are some of my scrapbooking pages that I put together. (I was a beginner, they're kinda primitive!) Let the whirlwind begin!

My ABSOLUTE most favorite part of London was the show we attended. LES MIS at the Queen's Theatre! It was fabulous. I got to see Judy Kuhn as Cosette, she's is from the original Dream Cast of Les Mis. AMAZING!

Changing of the guard and wondering why they kept sneezing. Buckingham Palace, and I'm still awaiting my personal invitation to Tea. We stayed in the Hyde Park Towers Hotel, near Hyde Park. We never actually visited it, but we saw it several times from our tour bus. That doesn't count, does it?
Tower of London and a nice English guy, and then Big Ben! Where my brand new camera broke; but at least I got to hear him BONG!
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cheese nips and chlorine

The other day, Kristin and her boys and me and my brood loaded up and headed to the most fun part of Moscow...the Aquatic Center! It's got fun for all ages, and it's relatively inexpensive to do. It was really fun! If you wonder why I don't have many of Ryanna, that's because she was ALL OVER the place and I could only get a couple pictures of her while she was stationary!


Ryanna followed Cole around like a little puppy, I think she wishes that she had an older brother like him. Here she is with her friend from the ward, Isabella.

Thought that this was sweet; Cole plays with Carter and their feet were just darling together.

Dawson loved it, once he warmed up to the water. It always takes him a minute, but then he went down the froggy slide the entire 2 1/2 hours we were there.


Carter didn't like the water, not one little bit! He cried and squealed when I'd sprinkle water on his little feet, and clung to me or Kristin for dear life. He just sat in his stroller eating Cheese-Nips for most of the time. He was okay with that.



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This is the slide that I tried out, it was actually fun!



(Shhhhhhhh! Don't tell...I don't think they knew I took this picture, but here's my ward lined up along the edge of the pool. My dentist, my friends from Relief Society, a piano-student's mom, etc. ONLY IN MOSCOW!)


This says it all, how our day was!

29, did you say?

With today officially being Ryan's birthday, we honor him with an extra special (and long) post.

Ryanna: "I love Daddy because he taught me songs. I love Daddy because he tells me the stories of Jesus and reads to me before I go to bed at night. Mom, you don't do it like Daddy does, sorry."

Dawson: "I love Daddy because I want to just play with him. I love Daddy because he does Steamroller and Spiderman and Star Wars with me."

Carter: "Gaaaaat. Gooook. Goooook. Llllorrdle." (I don't have an baby-interpreter at the moment, but I think that he adores you also)


He is a hard worker

He honors his priesthood and is a responsible Patriarch of our family

He takes his education VERY seriously


He dances when no one is looking

He helps put the kids to sleep (sometimes they actually put HIM to sleep though...)


He fixes things

He's competitive

He loves his children

He's stuck with me forever!

We have so much fun together and he is such a wonderful father and friend. I can't imagine life being any more fun and perfect as it is with him. Happy Birthday, Ry. Enjoy your very last year in the 20's! I love you!

weekend death-march

My wonderful in-laws came to visit over the weekend! It was fun to pack as much as we possibly could into Friday night through Sunday afternoon. Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, ate at Hawg's Grill (DELICIOUS, EXPENSIVE food), visited the bears out at WSU, went for dilly bars, painted a doggie bowl for Jack at Wild @ Art, went to a movie (Get Smart, it was kinda cute), made a birthday cake, went to a lovely dinner at Casa Lopez, and crashed into bed. Sunday was a whirlwind of parties and fun. It was so nice to have Ryan's brother also come, Garrison rocks! The kids just adore him. It was such a delightful weekend, thank you for coming over!
Carter in his new set of (second-hand) wheels
Walking down to the Farmer's Market
The kids dipping their feet in Friendship Square Fountain


sleepy baby
Us waiting for our delicous food for lunch.

checkup

His checkup went well this morning. He still has some bald spots from his Alopecia Areata, but the doctor said that some of the hair folicles are actually starting to grow a little. That's good news. Where he doesn't have hair, he's making up for it on the top of his head!
weight- 21 1/2 pounds
height- 31 inches (I think. I'll have to measure myself)
He's healthy and happy!

six-year-old worry wart

During at the above mentioned appt, we were waiting for the Dr., I asked Ryanna if she would read a magazine to Dawson. She said "No. I don't to." I asked her why and she said that it was because there was a page in it that told the readers what's poisonous for our bodies and how we should avoid them so we don't get sick. (It was a health magazine geared towards kids) and that scared her. She told me there were "pockets of bad air" when she goes on walks, because people smoke cigarettes and she can smell them sometimes. She asked if her lungs are going to be poisoned now. I told her that she's fine and to stop worrying so much.

I asked her if she would sit down on the ground an read Dawson a BOOK instead. She said, "No. I don't want to." Again, I asked her why and she said, "Mom, I don't want to be by electricity. I might get shocked and die." I told her (through my giggles) that as long as she didn't stick anything into the sockets, she'd be just fine. She didn't even want to be NEAR the socket.

This went on for a while and finally I told her that I appreciated her being cautious and careful about how she took care of her body, but she still is a kid and need not worry and that if she has faith in her parents, we'd keep her safe. That seemed to satisfy for now, until next time.

She also has anxiety issues with the fact that there are drugs in the world. This actually keeps her up at night and she'll cry for a long time about it. She's a funny girl. I just wish she was this concerned about eating her broccoli!

fun pictures

Some fun pictures from the past few days.




Cole and Ryanna play with her new chess set (He's such a good sport!)
Bryce and Dawson playing Star Wars Legos
(how can they play when sitting sideways like that?)


Carter being cute and climbing the furniture



Carter was so sleepy after playing at his friend's house when I put him into his high chair to eat a snack and he fell asleep!


He's always getting stuck in the weirdest places.

high maintenance just for today

**Thank you to my very sweet and caring friends that helped me by watching my munchkins, running all over town buying popcicles and pudding and picking up my prescription. You are wonderful!**





Whew! I only had to have ONE root canal today, instead of two like I originally thought. That was a relief. I was flying in the clouds with the "laughing gas" I was on, and that made the time pass. I'm very tender and a little swollen, but that will pass.

I am so THRILLED because my tooth that has bothered me every single day for the last THREE YEARS is no longer nerve-infested! It's there and doesn't hurt. It's amazing, my dentist is gentle and very caring. He took his time with me, not rushing me and giving me plenty of numbing medicine. I am so grateful that my prayers were answered and I am able to go see him! He rocks!