The Pattons

McKenna update

2011-04-12T10:59:00.004-06:00

When we moved to California, McKenna was pretty nervous about starting at a new school in the middle of the year. She is attending my old elementary school and is fortunate enough to have my fifth grade teacher as her second grade teacher. Every time I talk to McKenna's teacher she tells me that she loves McKenna and her enthusiasm for learning. McKenna has made a lot of new friends at school and recently went to a birthday party for quadruplets in her class. She has a set of quadruplets, triplets, and twins in her class. I think that is pretty out of the ordinary. I have been able to help out a lot at Kenna's school recently. The entire second grade makes stuffed animal bunnies for Easter and decorates them. It was fun to see how creative the kids are. They are having a bunny parade on Friday to show off their creations. McKenna received awards for outstanding citizenship and outstanding work habits for the second trimester. They give small tags that you can put on a chain. She is excited to start collecting them like her cousin.

McKenna is getting ready to be baptized in July. She loves going to Primary and learning about the gospel. When we read scriptures at night she always stops us to find out what is going on. I think part of that is because she wants to postpone going to bed, but I am glad that she is interested.

McKenna is very responsible and feeds her dog Thumper every morning and evening. McKenna is saving up for an annual pass to Disneyland this summer. She won't even buy a popsicle after school (fundraiser) because she says she is saving up to go to Disneyland. I am excited to be able to take her and show her all the fun and magical things about Disneyland. She is also going to be swimming with the neighborhood swim team this summer. She is very nervous about this but I hope she will learn some new skills and have fun. I gave McKenna her haircut and she wanted bangs because all the other girls in her family have bangs. She looks pretty darn cute!

Violet walking

2010-12-12T22:12:00.002-07:00

Thanksgiving, Birthday, and Christmas fun!

2010-12-08T10:50:00.012-07:00

We were really excited to have Ray, Catherine, and Mia come visit us for Thanksgiving! The weather was not in their favor and they made it here in two days safe and sound, thank goodness. We mostly relaxed on Thanksgiving day. We went to IHOP for breakfast, watched football, and made dinner. My first turkey turned out really moist and tasty. We enjoyed having family come and visit us and showing them a little bit of Boise. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera out once, but Ray and Cath took lots of pictures so maybe they can send me some.

We celebrated my birthday last week with a no school snow day! McKenna and Ryleigh had a lot of fun with the 8 inches of snow we received. Dan made me a cake, which didn't turn out the way he wanted, because Ryleigh took a few bites out of each layer while the cakes were cooling and no one was looking! :) Dan and the girls took me to Chilis and then we went home and had cake. It was a nice low key day.

We put up the Christmas tree last weekend and the girls helped me put up the ornaments. I should have taken a picture before I moved all the ornaments from the bottom half of the tree. Ryleigh had stacked two to three ornaments on each branch. She and McKenna had a blast and Violet was just enjoying the sparkling ornaments. We will be heading to Salt Lake for a Patton reunion this Christmas. Hopefully Violet will show off her new skill. That's right! She is finally walking! She took her time just like Ryleigh did and waited until she was almost 16 months to walk. No reason to rush because she has two older sisters to do everything for her. We are excited for Christmas and McKenna is really excited for two weeks off of school. I think she is feeling a little burnt out already. She is doing very well in school and received high marks in reading, language, and math for her first trimester.

I am having trouble loading the video of Violet walking so I will have to try again later.

Halloween!

2010-11-10T10:30:00.003-07:00

I am a few months behind on blogging. Things have been a little crazy with Dan getting laid off and looking for a new job. I have been working a lot of extra hours this last month and haven't really had time for blogging. We have been doing ok and the girls really like having their daddy home more. Dan has been applying and interviewing in SLC and CA. We hope to have something happen soon.

We took a quick trip to SLC for Halloween weekend. Our neighbors were really bummed that we wouldn't be here to make doughnuts on Halloween. We took the girls trick-or-treating Saturday night in Bountiful. It was raining pretty hard so we just went up and down one street. They still got plenty of candy and had a blast. Ryleigh wouldn't stay under the umbrella so she was soaked! They had fun with Grandma and Grandpa and the family.

After getting home Sunday night, we prepared for another trip to CA on Tuesday. We had a blast visiting with family and eating a lot. The weather was a beautiful 80 to 90 degrees the first few days. I was not thrilled when we came home to 40 degree weather. Too cold for me! I will post pictures of the CA trip soon.

Violet's 1st Birthday!

2010-08-26T12:10:00.008-06:00

"My baby Violet" (Ryleigh's name for Violet) turned one yesterday! She REALLY enjoyed the cake and presents! She even licked the plate clean! We had a small party with just us and PoPo. Albertsons gives you a free cake when you baby turns one so that makes things easy for me. She is growing up so fast! Yay... no more formula!

Target Photo Shoot

2010-08-15T11:28:00.002-06:00

Violet Crawling

2010-07-21T14:55:00.003-06:00

Violet has started crawling finally. She is doing a pretty fast army crawl, but hasn't quite figured out how to use her knees. This video is about a month old but she is still doing the same movements just a little faster.

If you want to see pictures of Hawaii, you'll have to check out my facebook profile because there are so many pictures it would take a week to download all of them on my blog.

Summer fun!

2010-06-16T14:57:00.003-06:00

McKenna is out of school for the summer so we have been finding activities to keep us busy and not bored. The girls made binoculars or opera glasses out of toilet paper rolls and chopsticks. A local bowling alley is allowing kids to bowl for free for the summer and give parents a discounted summer pass so we will be bowling this summer. Next week we will drive to CA to visit my mom and the girls will stay with PoPo while Dan and I go to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary, which isn't until August but who cares! We will be gone for one week and the girls will enjoy the week at the pool and with cousins. Violet has been army crawling backwards and in circles so one of these days she will crawl forward, I hope. She has learned to clap and eat. She loves any food we feed her. She may turn into another Ryleigh (a cookie monster!). Ryleigh is doing great potty training. Stays dry all day and only occasionally wets the bed at night. She's a trooper. McKenna had an insect project due at the end of the school year. She chose Katydids. Did you know that Katydids can come in pink, too! Crazy!

Haircuts and other stuff

2010-05-11T13:19:00.003-06:00

Ryleigh got her first haircut last month. She looks so cute with short hair. She even lets me curl it on Sundays for church.
Chocolate covered strawberries for my Activity Days girls and their moms.

Hail in the middle of April! Boo!

So ready for sun and warm weather.

Violet learned to sit up without help and is now army crawling in circles on her tummy.

I think she will be moving forward soon.

Violet's first bubble bath with her big sisters. She loved it.

Our California Adventure!

2010-04-08T14:29:00.012-06:00

Actually we went to Disneyland! Our spring break California trip went really well. We left Friday afternoon and drove to SLC and stayed overnight at Grandpa David and Grandma Wendy's house. The girls love their Grandma and Papa. Saturday morning we left to drive to So. Cal to visit Popo and the Aus and Wongs. The drive was uneventful (which is a good thing) and we arrived in Ontario to visit with cousins and aunts and uncle from the Au side. The girls had a blast getting reacquainted with cousins and it was so much fun seeing how big all the little ones have gotten. Sunday we visited my mom's Chinese branch and listened to three hours of church in Mandarin. McKenna and Ryleigh were able to go to the other ward's primary and nursery so they enjoyed the last two hours of church. It was an interesting experience and everyone was so nice. I was asked to give the closing prayer in Sunday School and I said "but I don't speak Chinese!" They didn't care and I gave it in English, thank goodness! Sunday night we had a Wong gathering and family pictures. Monday was a day of rest and letting the girls catch up on some sleep. They woke up early anyway but it was nice to relax and not have to go anywhere. The weather was in the 80s so we went swimming and Ryleigh loves swimming! She kept getting out to dry off and warm up and then would head back in even if no one else was in the water. She is my water baby. Tuesday Dan and I took McKenna and Ryleigh to Disneyland. We had a blast and ate and ate and ate. Ryleigh had to learn the concept of waiting in lines to go on rides. She wanted instant gratification. One time we reached the front of the line and the worker closed the gate on us before we could get on. Boy was she mad! I thought it was going to be a long few minutes to wait for the next turn, but luckily there ended up being one spaceship left and we were able to go on. Whew! We rode the carousel four times and McKenna and Dan or I rode Thunder Railroad twice and Space Mountain. Thanks goodness for fastpass. Ray and Catherine joined us in the evening to ride the train and Winne the Pooh and have dinner. It was nice of them to take time from their busy schedule to come play with us! Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we ate and ate more! I am pretty sure I gained five pounds on this trip. GongGong came home Friday to see us and then went with my mom to China on Saturday. We drove back to SLC on Saturday and home on Sunday. Dan and I were even able to squeeze in a trip to the Conference Center for the afternoon session of Sunday Conference. Seeing the prophet is amazing! What a trip! I need a vacation from my vacation!

Since we have been home, it has been back to normal. I am working lots of extra hours in April so it will be crazy, but thank goodness I have Dan to help me out.

February

2010-03-02T12:46:00.003-07:00

Thought I would let you all know how we are doing over here. The girls are doing great!

McKenna started dance class once a week and is having a great time learning ballet, tap, and jazz. She is doing excellent in school, reading at a fifth grade level and loves recess and lunch. She has learned to jump rope and is a great help at home. McKenna loves to play with friends after school.

Ryleigh is learning so many new phrases and songs. She hides under the table and says "be right back." She likes things done just the right way and is my tough girl. She tries to do everything McKenna does. We had one incident at her two year appointment. She had an abscess on her stomach and had to have it cut open to drain the infection and she did really well. After it was all over we put her shirt and coat on and she was out the door. She is doing much better and on two antibiotics. We have put potty training on hold because the side effects of the antibiotics, but I have found a method to potty train in three days and will try it out as soon as possible. Here she is drinking melted ice cream from her bowl.

Violet has been growing and growing. She had her 6 month appointment last week. How time flies. She weighs about 13 pounds and is short with a big head. Both she and Ryleigh measured in the 97th percentile in head size. She had her first taste of rice cereal this morning and she is still not sure what to think. She is starting to sit up almost on her own and loves to play with toys. She is so happy and content unless she is hungry. She is such a sweet girl!

I loved my Valentine's Day flowers from Dan and the girls. We had a sweet Valentine's Dadinner at home with crab legs. McKenna loves crab legs and learned how crack them herself.

I will leave you on this note of Ryleigh singing part of the wheels on the bus.

Ryleigh's Birthday

2010-02-09T20:31:00.003-07:00

Christmas pictures

2010-01-10T21:45:00.004-07:00

Ryleigh loves Kenna's new rain boots I took up knitting

PJs made by Grandma Wendy

Violet missed all the morning fun cuz she was sleeping in, but she loves her play mat!

Books from Grandma Wendy

Opening gifts from Santa

Gifts from PoPo

Ryleigh wouldn't let go even for breakfast

Christmas Eve PJs!

Cookies for Santa! Dan made the girl in the green dress. It took him FOREVER!

Happy Violet :)

Grandpa David says she is just opening her mouth really big :O

Cookies made for a cookie exchange. I won a prize for Most Creative!

Behind on blogging

2009-12-10T14:05:00.003-07:00

I am so behind. It has been a month since I posted pictures. Violet is getting more fun and smiley. Ryleigh is talking a lot more. Kenna is doing great in school, as always. She hasn't lost any more teeth but she thinks they are all wiggly now. It has been really cold here the past week, getting down to 1 degree F at night. We got a little snow, about one inch, Sunday night. We are just doing holiday shopping and the same old mundane stuff we do at home. I got summoned for jury duty right after Christmas so we will see how that goes. My parents are coming that week also. Hopefully it will be a little warmer than 15 degrees for them. We are planning on spending Christmas at home. It will be fun to start some of our own traditions with our growing family. We will miss everyone, especially my family in sunny California, where it will probably be in the 70s. Here are some fun pictures from the last month. Ryleigh really loves her grandpa David and bowling.

Bed head

Ryleigh stuffing triominos down her shirt...

Kenna and Ryleigh fighting to see who can sit on the Lego box.

Violet crashed on the corner of the couch. She is so sweet!

Turkey Day Countdown!

2009-11-10T19:02:00.007-07:00

We made turkeys to pluck because we can't wait for Thanksgiving. This year we will be going to Reno to visit Dan's sister and her family who are back from Switzerland. We are excited for the little vacation and hope for good weather for the drive there and back. Kenna lost her first tooth today! She may lose another one soon too. The adult teeth are already starting to break through. She was a little nervous but pulled it out herself. My little girl is not so little anymore. Neither is my other little girl. Ryleigh was groovin' to Hannah Montana on McKenna's MP3 player tonight. She loves to dance and shake her hips. It is so cute.

Pirates & Pumpkins!!!

2009-11-04T15:24:00.003-07:00

We went with a pirate theme in our driveway for Halloween night. I had to work until 7pm so Dan did all the work. He made everything with McKenna's help and set it up by the time I got home. He even made our traditional doughnuts for the trick-o-treaters and the parents. It got a little crazy at times but Dan pulled it off. I was given the easy task of taking the girls trick-or-treating. About 1/3 of the way through, Ryleigh started saying "trick-or-treat!" and holding out her pumpkin. I thought for sure she was going to eat all the candy before we were done, but she was really good and waited until the end. She wouldn't let go of her pumpkin though. I tried to get her out of her stroller and reached for the pumpkin to make it easier, and Ryleigh pulled it away from me and swatted my hand. I thought it was so funny. She was not giving it to me at all.
The pumpkin carvings reflect what the girls were for Halloween. Kenna was a witch, Ryleigh was a unicorn, and Violet was a pumpkin. Dan and his artistic talent carved Davy Jones in two hours just by looking at a picture. We love Halloween and hope to be able to carry on the tradition of making doughnuts every year. Our neighbors love us for it! :)

Early Trick-o-Treating Fun

2009-10-21T15:04:00.002-06:00

How could you not vote for this adorable face?

2009-10-14T12:56:00.002-06:00

I entered this cute picture of Ryleigh into the Gap Contest. You can go to my Facebook and vote for her.

Cute pics!!!

2009-10-05T13:27:00.004-06:00

Violet's first toothless grin caught on camera.

Ryleigh drawing (she is growing up so fast!)

Violet's favorite position to sleep in when she has a tummy ache.

Chillin' on the couch

McKenna is such a good big sister. She can pick her up and carry Violet and loves to hold her.

Same sleeping position as above just in a different setting :)

My beautiful baby Violet! She will be 6 weeks old tomorrow!

Juggling

2009-09-23T09:31:00.004-06:00

Kenna started first grade a month ago and has been loving it. She is reading at a third to fourth grade level and is making lots of new friends. One of her friends in her class is moving into our subdivision and our ward so she is very excited about that. She is a great helper at home and loves to play with Ryleigh. Too bad Kenna and Dan both came down with a cold this week so Violet is hands off to them. Ryleigh is doing well considering she took a tumble out of the Sequoia Sunday in the parking lot of the church. She sustained minor injuries and is healing nicely. Luckily it did not turn into an ER visit so it could have been worse. Ryleigh's big head makes her top heavy so she is constantly tripping over her own feet and bonking her head on the floor. She is talking more and more and is starting to say prayers at night. Whenever she gets to the end of the prayer, she skips straight to end and says "Mamen." It is really cute. Violet is growing heavier every day. I don't know how much she weighs but I can tell she is getting heavier. She doesn't do anything interesting yet, just the normal newborn stuff... eating, sleeping, crying, pooping, and more eating. We have gotten a few smiles out of her but haven't been able to catch any on camera. She is a good baby just like my other two. I have been truly blessed with my girls. Some days are harder than others but I think I am doing ok with three kids. The hardest part is fitting everyone into a shopping cart along with groceries and unloading everyone from the car. If that is the hardest part, I really shouldn't be complaining :) Here are a couple of pics of Ryleigh. Right now she is my most interesting kid to take pictures of.

My girls

2009-09-08T09:14:00.005-06:00

We had Violet's baby blessing over Labor Day weekend. She was wearing Ryleigh's baby blessing dress which was a 3-6 month size. It was huge on her, but the dress is so foofy that you couldn't tell too much. Dan's parents, brother and sister-in-law, sister, and grandfather came from SLC. McKenna and Ryleigh love it when they come to visit. It took Ryleigh a little while to warm up cuz she had just woken up from a nap. She kept giving her classic glares, but in the end she was playing with everyone. Saturday night we went to dinner at Sa-wa-dee (Thai food). Sunday morning was the blessing and then we had lunch and everyone went home by 4pm. It was a short trip but it was nice to see everyone. I am happy to report that Ryleigh is starting to warm up to Violet. She kisses her and tries to hug her. It is a step up from hitting her and trying to pull her out of my arms. Violet had her 10 day appointment last Friday. She is back up to her birth weight and doing very well. We have had our fair share of blowouts already. It is a pain to have to change two kids' diapers. My mom goes home tomorrow. I am not sure how I am going to handle three girls by myself but I will manage. McKenna is a great helper, but will be in school most of the day. Ryleigh's new thing is to sit inside the new cabinets Dan has made and shut the door. She is so funny sometimes.

Violet has arrived!

2009-08-26T19:14:00.003-06:00

Went in for my scheduled induction Tuesday at 7am. Had my epidural at 10am and pushed Violet out in less than 10 minutes (3 contractions). She was born at 2:42pm, weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and is 20 inches long. She looks very similar to Ryleigh when she was born. I am proud to announce that Violet is the biggest baby that the Wongs have had. Even between my brothers and I. She pooped in the womb, so the doctor, to keep her from inhaling meconium into her lungs, held her by her ankles upside down for the first minute of her life. We didn't get a picture, but she looked similar to a chicken being held by its feet. After the meconium was sucked out of her, she has been a perfectly healthy baby. We returned home today and are doing great! Here are some pics of the birth day of Violet Ching-Mei (Peaceful Beauty) Patton.

Tomorrow!

2009-08-24T15:04:00.002-06:00

Since this baby doesn't want to come out on her own, we are going to force her out. I have had several false alarms, where I am up from 2am to 5am timing contractions and then they stop. My scheduled induction date is tomorrow (Tuesday) so wish us luck! McKenna is so excited, but I don't think Ryleigh has a clue yet.

Summer fun!

2009-08-20T13:16:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, Dan, his brother and sister in law made up some water balloons for YM/YW night. The activity was postponed due to another activity going on this week, so fortunately for us, we got to throw them at each other. That was fun and the kids had a blast. Then, coincidentally, the sprinklers in the park behind our house turned on. Since we were already soaking wet, we sent the kids out to run through the sprinklers. Ryleigh was a little shocked when she first got hit by a big sprinkler. After a little while, she was running through them just like the rest of them.

Here's your pregnant belly shot of the week. Soon it will be gone :)

As you can see, they were soaking wet by the end of it. But they had fun!

This is the toad that Dan found on our front porch the other night. He captured it in a tupperware and brought it upstairs to show the girls. They had just gone down for the night but hadn't fallen asleep yet. I just start hearing screaming and crying in their room and go in to find Dan showing them the toad. He almost made it onto Ryleigh's bed, but luckily Dan caught him. We put him in the fish tank (Tiger our beta fish died only a few minutes before Dan found the toad). The toad did not seem too happy. Ryleigh kept saying "toad, a toad" over and over. I think she was a little traumatized. When Dan started taking off the lid of the fish tank, McKenna ran far away and started bawling. The girls in this family are just not that into toads. Dan released our toad friend later that night. Since the girls were all riled up, we decided to pick up my mom from the airport as a family. The girls weren't going back to bed anytime soon.

Ryleigh, after eating a pudding cup.

The girls dancing around after popping the lenses out of some kiddie sunglasses. They looked pretty cute in those glasses.

We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby girl #3. She doesn't seem all that in a hurry like my other girls were. I am getting impatient. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (Friday) and am hoping for some progress since last time. It has been really nice to have my mom in town for a few weeks to occupy the girls. They love playing with their PoPo. I love not having to cook.

Waiting...

2009-08-12T19:20:00.002-06:00

Went to the doctor's today for my 37 week appointment. Dilated to 1 1/2 to 2 cm and 50% effaced. Other than that, not much going on . We are anxiously awaiting our little bundle of joy. Hopefully she comes to see us soon.

Overnight McCall trip

2009-07-20T08:33:00.004-06:00

The girls and I drove to McCall with my sister in law Laurel last Monday. We visited with my other sister in law Penny and her four kids at their cabin. We stayed overnight and had loads of fun. Monday, the weather was not cooperating (hail and rain in July) so we went ice skating. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so no pictures :( It was McKenna's first time and Aunt Laurel was a great teacher. By the end of the day McKenna could skate to and from the wall to a bucket a few yards away. The bucket was for pushing so the kids didn't fall. She did really great and loved it. Ryleigh even got a chance to go out on the ice with Aunt Laurel. I think Laurel's arm was about to fall off at the end of the third time. Ryleigh kept leaning back and yelling for joy. She loved it too. Aunt Penny was nice enough to make cupcakes for a belated birthday party for McKenna.

Tuesday the weather was much better for boating and tubing. Laurel even tried wake boarding. She even got up for a few seconds. McKenna went tubing with her cousin Matthew. They kept wanting to go faster and faster. Luckily they were not thrown out of the tube. I don't know what Mckenna would have done if she landed in the water. I, unfortunately, could not go in the boat or ice skating. BooHoo! :( Ryleigh kept me company both times and played on the beach. She loves getting her hands in the sand. She is going to be my messy kid. Yesterday, I caught her playing in Thumper's water bowl and adding dirt to it. Poor dog! Ryleigh was soaked and muddy. She yelled when I finally pulled her away to clean out the dog's bowl.

We went home after lunch on Tuesday and went black light mini golfing with some friends for a surprise birthday party. Thanks Penny for a fun trip. Wish we could have stayed longer!

Laurel and cousin AllyKenna and Matthew and Audrey chillin in the boatRyleigh playing on the beachKenna looking cute in her life jacketMore beachLaurel on the wake board

Hail and rain in July!

More pictures

2009-07-18T15:14:00.003-06:00

Ryleigh and her aunts and cousins.

Kangaroo Zoo

Yummy ketchup!

I was mopping the kitchen floor and had to block Ryleigh from walking on the wet floor because she kept slipping on it. She did not like being kept out.

New phone number

2009-07-14T21:28:00.002-06:00

Dan and I recently changed our cell phone service to AT&T. Also, we no longer have a land line so our cell phones are it. I have emailed some of you our new numbers. If you didn't get it or would like it, email me at rachelwpatton@gmail.com

July 4th weekend

2009-07-12T14:00:00.004-06:00

Tristan and Ryleigh tried out a merry-go-round outside Tin Tin restaurant (yummy lobster!). Kaitlin, McKenna, and Ryleigh at the park.

Ryleigh loves swings!

McKenna's birthday party celebrated July 3rd.

Mama, the girls, and I relaxing in the backyard during the party.

If you watch Tristan, his head is stuck in a funny position.:)

More pictures to come...

Dan in Real Life - The just about, almost done, still needs cleaning, and landscaping McCall Cabin.

2009-06-25T09:48:00.004-06:00

Well, after all the rave reviews of the previously posted McCall Cabin Photos, I have posted some more information of the long awaited McCall Cabin, with multiple angles included at no extra charge. The interior photos will have to come at a later date, because the interior is still being completed, and cleaned, and furnished. Basically the inside was not quite ready yet.

So, after all the long nights of design and coordination with the contractor and the client the McCall project is coming to a close, which will be just in time for the Summer Waterskiing season. It has been really cool to see something go from some scratches on paper to a real life building. I guess that this is why I want to be an Architect. To create something in my mind and then see it larger than life right in front of you. It is also fun to finally explain and show the owners your final vision, and they see it for real, especially the great view from the balcony. Someday, I hope to be able to afford my own little getaway house, or cabin. I already have some great ideas floating around up there in my head as to what I will do, maybe a fireman’s pole from the loft to the game room? Who knows the possibilities are endless.

Well what is important is that the client is happy. I am sure that the family will really enjoy this new cabin, and will be able to create many long lasting memories for a long time to come.

Over the hill and through the woods...

2009-06-23T09:40:00.002-06:00

Saturday we drove to McCall to see Dan's handiwork. He designed a cabin for his sister's in-laws. They went from a 800-900 square foot cabin to a 25oo square foot house. Their property is right on the lake so they have a fantastic view from each room. This is the lake side view. Pretty great, huh? We took our friends the Meldrums and enjoyed the tour of the new cabin. It was a little chilly and the water was pretty high so the kids didn't get to play on the beach, but they had a great time on the dock. Dallyn almost fell in the water! It was a close call. He saved himself just in time. After dinner (we went to a Mexican restaurant in town) we roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. Yum! It was a fun day trip. Hopefully we will get to visit again when it is hotter to enjoy the beach and sand and water. Baby #3 may not allow that.

Hotel Patton

2009-06-15T11:12:00.003-06:00

We have unofficially become the pitt stop from SLC to the Oregon Coast. Dan's brother and his wife stopped by two weekends ago and then last weekend on their way to and from the Oregon Coast. Then Dan's little sister and her 5 friends stopped by last weekend on their way to the coast. They are on their senior trip. Saturday night we all played "Bang." Miraculously, 9 girls in one house made it to 9am church with 5 minutes to spare. So all of you who can't make it to church on time... stop making excuses! Dan, luckily, had a meeting at 6:30am Sunday morning so he missed the chaos. This weekend coming up, Laurel and her friends will come back and Dan's mom and grandma will come to visit on their way to the coast. Well, at least the beach house is getting lots of use. So we have had lots of visitors. I realize that I need to buy more bath towels to accomodate our visitors.

Sacrament meeting has been nice because the girls are now preoccupied with our visitors so I have been able to relax a little the past two Sundays. Last Sunday Ryleigh decided to throw a tantrum so I had to take her out for the first time. She cried for 20 minutes in the foyer and I couldn't figure out why. She finally calmed down just as the meeting was over. I pass her off to Dan and what does she do? Falls asleep on the floor of Sunday school. Ryleigh will be going to nursery next month. She should transition well. Then the baby will come and we will have our hands full again. But talk about good timing.

Sorry no pictures this time. You are just going to have to imagine 6 -18 year olds in sleeping bags on our living room floor.

Frankenstein only sweeter...

2009-06-03T09:46:00.003-06:00

Oregon Coast- Lincoln City

2009-05-29T10:31:00.006-06:00

The girls did really well on the drive over to the Oregon Coast. We stayed at my in laws' new beach house which is a block from the beach. Saturday morning, McKenna woke up at the crack of dawn so we went to the beach to look at the tide pools. It was really windy and really cold. Ryleigh was almost frozen, poor girl. But we braved it and saw some gigantic star fish and anemones. We had lunch at Jay's which was really good. Too bad I may have had an allergic reaction to the clams or fish. My face broke out in a rash Saturday night. Benadryl and Zyrtec fixed it by Sunday morning. Sunday was a relaxing day. Dan and I took a nice walk on the beach. Walking on dry sand can kill your back when you are pregnant. I didn't last too long. Kenna and I took a nap in the afternoon while Dan and Ryleigh went for a hike. Kenna wasn't feeling really great, she has a cough, and couldn't stop coughing. I took her to the doctor's when we got back to Meridian and got her drugs. McKenna learned how to play Battleship in Oregon. She loved it. She wanted to take it home but we left it at the beach house for others to play. Sunday evening we played Canasta (even my father in law played). Monday consisted of cleaning and getting ready to go home. We left after lunch at Izzy's (all you can eat buffet) and got home a little before midnight. I kept Kenna home from Kindergarten the next morning because of the doctor's appointment and she was tired. She is getting better. Here are some pics from the tide pools and one of me showing my pooching belly (for you Tracie).

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-05-21T13:10:00.002-06:00

Fire Safety

2009-05-18T15:37:00.002-06:00

Ryleigh and I went with McKenna's kindergarten class to a nearby fire station for a field trip today. It was in the 90s outside and we had to walk. The walk was about a mile each way. Boy, were those kids hot. I made it thankfully. I remembered to bring water for myself, Ryleigh, and McKenna so we were set. When we made it to the fire station, the kids watched a short movie about fire safety. Then went outside to see the truck. They rolled on the ground pretending to be on fire and saw all the gear firefighters wear. It is important not to be scared of a firefighter when they come looking for you because the mask and clothing could really freak a child out. McKenna had fun and Ryleigh was really good. She even got to participate when the kids crawled down the hallway pretending smoke was in the air. She is fast. Here are a few photos of McKenna and her class. The last one of Ryleigh is blurry, but I had to include it because she looks so cute!

Ryleigh is "jumping."

Caught on camera!

2009-05-13T18:49:00.002-06:00

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T10:52:00.003-06:00

Mother's Day was great! Dan had his Sunday morning meetings cancelled so he could make me breakfast. We had blueberry muffins, eggs, and hash browns (on my new Bobby Flay cast iron griddle). Ryleigh and McKenna made me gifts at daycare and at school. Dan made me a DVD slideshow of the girls and bought me flowers and a card that plays music (Ryleigh chose it and wouldn't let it go so he had to buy that one). We invited the Meldrums over for. The roast was really tender and delicious and we had rolls, carrots, potatoes, and jello. What a feast! The weather was awesome so we went for a quick walk to the park and had a really relaxing day. Unfortunately, there was no time for a nap for Dan and myself. I guess you can't have everything. Ryleigh is getting really steady at standing up, but she just won't take the risk of walking. We have gotten a couple more steps out of her but she is really cautious. Soon I will be wishing she just stayed put so I won't have to chase her. McKenna is learning how to catch with a softball/baseball mitt. She is doing great, but the ball has hit her in the face and head a couple of times. She cries but gets back into it. I am glad she doesn't give up really easily. I will have to get a picture of her and Dan playing. Thumper tries to steal the ball every now and then too. The pregnancy is moving right along. Baby girl #3 is a mover and a shaker. I am not really huge yet but starting to get there. My next appointment is the fun glucose test at the beginning of June. It is not that bad but does give me a nice buzz for a while.

Gifts from Ryleigh

Gifts from McKenna

Finally...

2009-04-28T10:19:00.003-06:00

Ryleigh is finally standing on her own. She can't stand up without holding on to something, but once she is up she is pretty steady. Last night she took three steps on her own before grabbing Dan's hand. She is making progress.

The girls love it when Daddy comes home from work. They are all over him. They must be Daddy's little girls. What is he going to do with a third girl?

Ryleigh Quarks

2009-04-17T10:26:00.006-06:00

Loves peanut butter on bread, crackers, and alone.

Loves ducks

Hates getting dressed and undressed cuz shirts get stuck

Likes when Elmo dances, Doesn't like when Elmo takes his foot off the floor

Blows Raspberries

Can fold her arms

Easter!!!

2009-04-14T09:23:00.004-06:00

Ryleigh has a duck fetish. She loves them whether they are stuffed, plastic, or live. We went into Zamzows (a pet/gardening store) and they had baby ducks in a cage. Ryleigh watched them for a long while and was really excited and happy. She has never seen a live duck so close let alone a baby duck. They were pretty cute, but stinky.

We had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard Saturday night. The girls loved it. Ryleigh was especially excited to see the jelly beans inside. She just kept eating them. Sunday morning, the girls were excited to see their baskets filled with treats and gifts. Ryleigh wasn't too interested in the toys, but when she saw the eggs at the bottom, she jumped in. If you talked to McKenna you learned that she got quite a few things for Easter. Tights, a necklace, paints, a puzzle, bandaids, 4 chocolate bunnies (they were small), and a turtle shaped watering can. She is also really into the hair accessories that Ryleigh received. She has worn more of them than Ryleigh has.

McKenna spent Sunday night retelling the story of Jesus and his crucifixion and resurrection to us. I told it to her and her class in Primary and she wanted to tell us. She did a great job. It is great to know that she is learning so much about the gospel.

Popo came to visit the week before Easter. They girls love when their grandma comes. She plays games with them. It is nice to have a break from cooking when she comes.

McKenna's friend Julienne came from Salt Lake to visit her grandparents in Boise. We were able to bring them to our house and the girls became reacquainted very quickly. They played dressup and detectives. We were sad to see them go. The two girls did a pinky swear to be BFFs . They are funny. We have had a full two weeks of fun.

The Blessing/Curse Lives On...

2009-04-09T08:19:00.004-06:00

The ultrasound was yesterday. We are having another girl. She looks healthy and is a little spunky. She wouldn't cooperate with the ultrasound tech. Kept rolling over or sticking her hand in the wrong place. Sounds like one of my kids. In the videos, she is sucking her thumb and opening her mouth. We are excited for a new little girl.

Sickos

2009-04-02T09:28:00.002-06:00

Not much to report besides the girls and I are sick. Ryleigh was and is still teething. She is getting some whopper front teeth. We are recovering slowly. Lucky for us, my mom arrived yesterday to visit for a week so it will be nice to have some help.

Oh there is something we did yesterday. The beehives asked me to come to mutual and talk about Chinese culture. I took the whole family, my mom included. We talked about Chinese New Year and wedding tea ceremonies. My mom did a lot of the talking. I brought my chicken and broccoli dish but the girls are more Americanized and like the sweet and sour chicken they brought. Before they asked me to come, they were going to go to Panda Express and call that Chinese culture. Dan found out about that in BYC and said, "You know my wife is Chinese?" They hadn't even thought about that. Panda Express is NOT Chinese culture. What were they thinking?

A St. Patty's Day Story by McKenna

2009-03-17T10:09:00.003-06:00

Flowers don't lie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-17T09:45:00.004-06:00

Spring is coming! Spring is coming! Spring is coming!

As you can see, I am sick of the cold weather. My daffodils and tulips are a sure sign that winter is almost over. Thank goodness!

Some random pictures of our week...

Ryleigh and her shoe fettish.

Dan enjoying his new Cutco sandwich spreader and knife (since that is the only thing we can afford from Cutco).
McKenna playing electronic Uno and losing.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!
(Kiss us, we're Irish...well at least my husband and girls are:)

Denver

2009-03-06T10:44:00.003-07:00

Ryleigh borrowed a lighter jacket from Brooke because the weather in Denver was 60 to 70s the whole week. It was fabulous. Ryleigh and Brooke are the same height, but Ryleigh is 6 months older. We have a shortie on our hands. Did you expect anything more?

The Denver Zoo was really fun. We saw tons of animals and McKenna was able to get some energy out by running around.

The Children's Museum was ok. It was mainly entertaining to McKenna only. If you have kids over the age of 5 or 6 or under 2, I wouldn't recommend it.

Ryleigh did like the magnetic letters. They reminded her of home and the dishwasher and fridge. She loves to take off the letters and have mom put them back on.

The Kids' Expo was interesting. They had a petting zoo, bounce houses, and lots of games. Ryleigh had her first dumdum lollipop. She enjoyed it. McKenna had trouble deciding what to do next. They have this huge blue bear standing on the outside of the building looking in.

On our last full day in Denver, we drove to Colorado Springs and visiting the Garden of the Gods. The rock formations were huge. We had a picnic lunch and strolled through the park. At one point, I was pushing McKenna in a stroller uphill. She is getting heavy or I am out of shape. Most likely the latter.

Our trip to Denver was great. We really appreciate Tracie and Troy for letting us crash at their place and introducing Dan to Ticket to Ride. He loved the game. Also, thanks to Tracie for being our chauffeur the whole week. McKenna was really sad coming home. She kept telling me she missed her Aunt Tracie. Ryleigh misses you too or at least Brooke's toys. What a little thief Ryleigh was. She kept stealing all Brooke's toys in the car. Now I have a little clue as to what she may be like as a big sister.

Mark your calendars... the big ultrasound is scheduled for April 8th in the morning.

Wahooz! (formerly known as Boondocks)

2009-02-20T09:53:00.003-07:00

Dan and McKenna went out for a daddy daughter date last night. McKenna dressed up in a pretty dress and Dan took her to Wahooz and they had a blast. McKenna even won big on a game called Catapult. It is where you put the coin in and try to launch it into the moving cup. Dan was showing her how to play it and was about ready to launch it when Kenna says "Like this?" And she launched it right into the bonus cup, winning 52 tickets. McKenna especially liked playing in the jungle gym area (hard to play in a dress). She came home with toys and treats for all of us. After they came home, Dan had a quick church-related home visit and then he took us all to Iceberg for icecream. The Iceberg just opened up a month or so ago. We were really excited to see it here. We really like the Black Raspberry shake. Yum!

Ryleigh is really into books right now.

My Valentine's Day flowers from Dan

Dan In Real Life - Dear Red Rover

2009-02-07T18:51:00.006-07:00

Times change. Sometimes you wait many years for something to happen, and then somehow it just falls in your lap. That was the story of Red Rover. Red Rover pretty much by chance just fell into our laps.

Since I was a young boy of 15, with a license in my pocket burrning to drive, I have always wanted a 4Runner. It had to have 4 wheel drive to be able to take all over the mountains and to my favorite fishing holes and campgrounds. Of course it had to be UTE Red too.

One day as I was driving my Ute Red Corrolla to my Mother's house, with sweet little 2 year old McKenna in the back seat, a semi truck decided to bring Red Rover into our lives. Well not directly, but the semi started a chain recation, that led us to get a great deal on the 4x4 - 4runner of my dreams, Red Rover.

Red Rover has taken us many miles accross this country, from Oregon to California, and back. He never gave me a worry in the world, and would always get me out of a jam. Red Rover was there to take Rachel and McKenna up the trechorus hill to my parents house in the winter, and there to take us to the beautiful mountains and lakes of McCall.

But now a greater cause has entered our family, the fact that Red Rover could not fit 2 car seats and a booster seat all in the back row. Red Rover was the best car or truck that I have ever had, but, a new child is worth the loss of a good friend. So in honor of Red Rover, I wrote a little poem.

A Farewell to Red Rover

With all my will, with all my heart,

We two friends now must part.

The memories I will hold so dear,

my only comfort, the roads that lie behind us.

With your four wheel drive we had no fear,

over peak and mount we have climbed through the muss.

Many tears will now be shed,

yet the remembrance of you shall never be dead.

No dew’s drop shall blur my eyes,

because of our differing paths, the past moments I’ll save.

Countless ventures, mist twilights shaded skies,

and your 4 liters’ 266 pounds of torque I will forever crave.

Go thou to East, and I to the West.

Without you I will forever endeavor my best.

At the great journey’s end of two friends so sweet,

I will bid you farewell and luck to another guy.

When someday, amazed on some back trail we’ll meet,

you will see, the tears of remembrance will never dry.

I’ll miss you Red Rover.

Big Silver

2009-02-06T10:12:00.007-07:00

This is Big Silver. He is our newest addition to the family. At the beginning of January we had to make a car decision. The end of lease date on the 4runner was coming up and we needed to decide whether or not to keep her. McKenna nicknamed her Red Rover. New Year's Day we took a drive to the car dealership to check out new and used cars. Unfortunately, all the car dealers were closed New Years Day. We thought that was weird. We were about to give up when we drove passed Big Silver. He is a 2005 Toyota Sequoia with leather interior, sunroof, and holds 8 passengers. The price was right (the same if we purchased the 4runner) so we went back the next day to trade up. McKenna loves Big Silver (Heigh ho Silver!) and loves sitting in the third row all by herself. Ryleigh is now sitting facing forward and loves to be able to see everything. I am still getting used to driving a larger vehicle, but he drives similar to Red Rover. I never thought I would see the day when I, a 5 ft tall girl, would be driving such a beast. Don't worry, I can see over the steering wheel just fine. We really like our new addition. He will come in handy when we have more kids.

Which brings me to my next little bit of news...

That's right everyone! We are expecting child #3! I am almost 11 weeks pregnant (on Sunday)and feeling it this time. I have to constantly eat or I feel nausea. And I am always tired. Lots of napping for me. We visited the doctor Wednesday and the baby is right on schedule. I am little more nervous having three kids than having two, but McKenna is a great helper. Maybe too good of a helper, but I can't complain. Ryleigh loves her big sister and now gets to be a big sister herself. It will be an adjustment but we are ready. That's all of our good news for the last month. 2009 is off to a good start. Just have to get taxes done...

Oh, thanks to Mandi for all the box tops. McKenna was one of the box top winners for the month of January because she turned so many in. She got a pencil and a game.

HaHaHaHaHaHa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope this makes you smile too!

2009-01-31T15:27:00.003-07:00

Dan In Real Life – The Power of Music and a Mix Tape

2009-01-30T15:00:00.001-07:00

I was out home teaching the other night, and while sharing a very nice message about sharing our testimonies with others, I was inspired to share my testimony about music to the family that I was visiting. Now this was OK, because I was Home Teaching the ward Choir Director, and it really sparked a great conversation about sharing the gospel through music.

Now I am definitely not a vocalist or a musician by any means, but even I know the power that a song has on the heart of a person in the right situation. I shared with this family an experience that I had in the Missionary Training Center, getting ready to go to Japan for 2 years.

I was fortunate enough to spend my 2 months in the MTC during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. So music was very plentiful about that time of year. My MTC president had encouraged all the missionaries in the MTC at the time to really enjoy the special season. One-way that I figured that I could enjoy my time in the MTC and really take part in the music of the season was to take part in the MTC Choir.

Now, this was not a normal thing for me to do, since the only things that I had ever done musically was to “Milli Vanilli” to the primary music presentation songs when I was a kid; and also learned how to play ‘chopsticks’ on the piano, so that my mother would have a hope of me being able to read notes and maybe play the piano or some sort of musical instrument in my future. Don’t get me wrong, I love my music, I just loved it in the only way that I knew how at the time. I joined the MTC Choir, because I loved to listen to music.

I used to have a pretty sweet setup in my room before I left on the Mission. I had cleaned up an old lounge chair and modified my Dad’s old Hi-Fi system to be able to play CDs, and wired up the speakers so that I could rock out whenever I wanted to. It was a pretty cool system; it even had an old 8-track player on it. It was totally awesome to have a friend over and have them say what the heck is that huge box for on your stereo? I would then whip out the only 8-track tape that I could find from the DI and play it for them. Retro was sooo cool back then too. It is much easier to do this today… a lot smaller too, because all you need now is a little I-pod and some ear buds, and you are off.

So back then, because I had a bunch of brothers and sisters, I usually just sat back in my old lounge chair and put on some headphones and would listen to the deep intricacies of the many different songs that I liked to listen to. I would often find myself relaxing to the point of falling asleep to the sounds of the vibration of the violin strings quivering behind the voices singing the lyrics of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”, or even the many delicate layers of the opening theme to Disney’s “The Lion King”. Music was so intense and moving to me that it was one of the hardest things to leave behind when I left on my mission.

Now I had been listening to music this way for a long time as my mother can testify to, since I was at least 6 years old as I can remember. Back then my Grandma Mi (Joan) gave my brother and me little transistor radios. Mine was orange, and his was light blue. They were the coolest. I modified an old cushion so that I could listen to the sound piece while lying down in bed. My Dad inspired me to do this when he put speakers in his office wall and then covered it with a wall fabric to conceal where the speakers were. I thought that it was pretty cool to be able to listen to your favorite jams coming from some hidden place while crashing in bed.

Anyway, back to the MTC Choir. I was so excited to find out what songs that we would be listening to or “singing” the first time that I went to choir practice. I was sooo disappointed when I heard that we would be singing “Come Thou Fount”. All I could think of was some old pilgrims in big black hats with shiny buckles on their boots, singing what seemed to me to just be an old Thanksgiving day song, about cornucopias and Turkeys. Well I hung in there, besides I could not just walk out of a whole gymnasium full of Missionaries wanting to sing. I was kind of stuck between a very large Hawaiian companion and the rest of the base section, also I had promised myself to really get involved while I was in the MTC.

It was a good thing I did hang in there. Because the director started that choir practice by playing a version of the song over the load speakers so that we could all hear it, and then he went through and read each word from the lyrics, and explained the great meaning behind the fount of blessings. I had never looked at music that way before. Then, when we sang that beautiful song, the spirit welled up inside me like a great fountain that I could not control my emotions. It spoke to my soul, and testified to me of the great love that our Heavenly Father has for each and every one of his children. Then being able to hear what seemed like a thousand voices sing the intricate parts to that beautiful song, has caused that moment to echo in my heart still today.

I was reading a good friend’s blog today, where she talked about Mix Tapes. She talked about how she used to sit and listen to the radio waiting for the perfect songs to record to her special mix tapes. It made me think back to those days when I too would listen to the top 5 hit songs at 9 every night, hoping that my favorite songs would be there so that I could record them for a football mix tape to excite me and inspire me to hit as hard as I could in the next football game, or just rock out in my bedroom playing the air guitar. It made me think back to some of those great “Walkman Moments”, before a wrestling match, or feeling the power of the spirit flow through my heart during a choir presentation or just reclining in my lounge chair back in my old room.

Reading her blog also made me look back on some of the mixed tapes or CD’s that I was given, or even made myself. Like the first Christmas gift that Rachel ever gave me. If you can believe it, one of the songs on that mix tape had the power to get ME to marry her and later in our relationship, to take lessons and learn how to play some simple chords on the guitar, and Me, Mr. Milli Vanilli, to sing the lyrics to the tune of a special song for Rachel on our anniversary. It must not have been that bad, because she is still my wife today.

It is amazing… the power of Music and a Mix tape.

What a Noggin!

2009-01-26T15:00:00.002-07:00

Ryleigh had her one year old doctor's appointment today. She weighs 18 lbs 5 oz (10th%), measures 27 inches long (4th%) and her head circumference is in the 97th%. What a huge brain she must have! She definitely inherited the Patton head from her daddy. The doctor is not worried though. She is developing great and can now eat almost anything she wants. The shots only made her cry for a couple of seconds. She had her blankie and calmed down pretty quick. She did great.

Happy Chinese New Year!!! We wish we could be with my family in California enjoying the nice weather. It is in the upper 20s here. Too cold, if you ask me.

Happy Birthday, Ryleigh!

2009-01-23T10:04:00.003-07:00

We celebrated Ryleigh's birthday one day early because I have to work late on her birthday. I picked up her free 1 year old birthday cake from Albertson's. It was actually pretty big. 8 inch round one layer. We just had a small party, just us and the Meldrum boys. Ryleigh loved the cake. I didn't give her the entire cake to attack because she probably would have eaten most of it. I did give her a pretty decent slice of cake. She devoured it. If you don't believe me, see for yourself.

Tasting the frosting (the piece of cake I gave her is pretty big).

Digging in!
She finished the whole thing. And then tried to dump the plate on the floor. She loved it.Our beautiful baby girl is not so much a baby anymore. She is fun and happy and loves to laugh and smile. She is pretty mobile now, crawling and scaling the couches. She loves to play with shoes and snuggle with her blankie (sometimes at the same time). We love her so much. Happy Birthday, Ryleigh!

Dan In Real Life - Life as a soon to be Architect

2009-01-20T12:35:00.006-07:00

I decided to be an Architect back when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I narrowed my long list of careers down to 4 choices: a Doctor, a Jet Pilot, a car designer, and an Architect. I decided to go with the Architect role, because I thought that I could learn a lot of cool things, help a lot of people and make a difference in the world around me. Now that my goal of becoming an Architect is almost complete, (cross your fingers on the upcoming last test) I look back and sometimes think that maybe I just should have been a Doctor if I really wanted to help people, or a Jet Pilot would have been a really exciting and fun career. Then I remember something that my Father told me. He said, Dan what ever career you choose, choose one that will take care of your family and one that you love doing.

So today on my way to work and wile stuck in morning traffic I started thinking about my career choice. I thought that I may never make a difference in the world of Architecture by building a huge skyscraper with my name on it, and that someday I hope that I can get a client that says, "Money is no object, just give me the best design in the world." Until then I will wait for that client and do my best to design on a budget. A very small budget.

Then there are those days when you actually get to see something that you designed get built. The reason why I love being an Architect. Wow... that is really a great feeling, the feeling of having a thought or an idea in your mind get turned into a drawing and then suddenly a hole in the ground appears on a piece of empty land and that idea, like a set of Legos, starts coming together piece by piece just as I saw it in my head a few months ago. Well today I had that feeling, and a little bit more.

I just found out that a business article was written about one of my building designs that was recently completed. It is called System Tech.

See the following link to the article: http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2009/01/19/System-Tech-opens-new-Boise-HQ-training-center

The writer of the article did not give the ascetics or design of the building much justice and it only mentioned my firm at the very end of the article, so I am posting a couple of good pictures. The newspapers used to post an article on all new buildings... But they stopped doing that because it became free advertising for architects.

It is really just a big warehouse, but the owner gave me a little freedom to add a little high tech flare to the building. I think that it turned out pretty nice.

Well thanks to the owner for reminding me of the reason why I love Architecture so much.

Primary

2009-01-06T10:37:00.002-07:00

I am now teaching half of the 5-6 year olds (CTR 6). Kenna is in my class along with two other girls and two boys. I think this year is going to be a piece of cake. Chocolate cake! Last Sunday was a breeze compared to my CTR7 class last year. Don't get me wrong... I love those kids but they were a handful. And my new kids like to color which is a blessing. My last class did not like coloring or participating. I started a new thing with my class. They earn stickers each week for doing specific things and at the end of the month we have a treasure box they can pick something out of if they earn enough stickers. The first week went well. They had to walk quietly to class, raise their hands to speak (worked most of the time), and listen to the teacher. Nothing too complicated. We shall see if it works.

Dan is still plugging away in the bishopric. We start church at 9am this year so i get to see him more on Sunday. It was really nice last week.

New Year's Day

2009-01-05T09:52:00.004-07:00

We had a pretty mellow New Year's Eve. Dan had to work and came home with an upset stomach. We put the girls to bed around 10pm and went to bed ourselves shortly after. We were going to open up a bottle of martinelli's to celebrate, but decided to wait until New Year's Day. So we were bummers, but it was nice to have Dan home New Year's Day to relax a little. I have a little video of Ryleigh walking pushing a walker but I turned it sideways to get a better view of her so the video is sideways. Duh! I will take another with her walking. She is no where near walking on her own. McKenna is getting really good at putting together puzzles. This one is 100 pieces and she did it all by herself.

Kenna put a funny bow on Ryleigh's hair and wanted a picture of it. The video was taken at Kangaroo Zoo. Ryleigh didn't know what to think of the slide. Thanks to Laurel for getting us in for free! The tiger was part of the glow in the dark mini golf at Kangaroo Zoo. Ryleigh liked sitting on him. Kenna was off somewhere playing golf with her cousin Spencer.

Christmas

2008-12-30T08:56:00.005-07:00

We spent Christmas week with Dan's family. We arrived Monday night. The girls did really well on the flight but after we landed in SLC we were stuck on the plane for about half an hour. The flight over was only 45 minutes so it was a bummer. Ryleigh had had enough by then and was complaining pretty badly. We made it though and were very excited to see Dan's family. We had dinner with my parents Tuesday night. It was very nice to see my dad. The girls hadn't seen him for a while. Wednesday night consisted of the tradition of soup and scones for dinner, the reenactment of the nativity, and making gingerbread houses. Kenna was Mary and she was "pregnant" for some of it. It was so funny! Kenna and I made a triangular gingerbread house. It was the only shape that would fit on the plate. It was very easy to construct and we were done the fastest. Dan's sister's gingerbread house collapsed a couple of times. Christmas morning was crazy with Kenna running around passing around presents. I think she ended up with the most stuff. She is spoiled by everyone. Ryleigh loved these little rubber duckies in her stocking. She also loved the stuffed animals. Thanks to all for gave us gifts. After presents, we spent a relaxing Christmas day doing a puzzle and playing games. Christmas dinner was delicious! Ryleigh got one last Christmas present Thursday afternoon... Her first tooth! She had had a runny nose for a couple of days. I didn't think anything of it, but Dan discovered her tooth that afternoon. Friday, our flight was supposed to leave at 3:40pm. It was delayed four hours, but we checked it early so didn't leave Dan's parent's house until 5:00pm. We left at 7:30pm and made it home. Thanks again to Michael for picking us up last second. We really appreciate it.

Monday night football

2008-12-30T08:46:00.003-07:00

We spent a Monday night a couple weeks ago having our own football party. Dan and I wore his old football jersies and Dan bought some cool green nerf footballs and pompoms. He even made a poster of Desean Jackson so we could throw footballs to him. Kenna loved it and we had a blast at halftime trying to get the footballs into the hole. We are not diehard Phili fans but they were playing that night. Ryleigh loved chasing after the footballs.

Santa

2008-12-15T22:01:00.003-07:00

Kenna asked Santa for a pony (a toy one). Ryleigh just asked for the candy cane.

Christmas

2008-12-09T12:56:00.005-07:00

Ryleigh and McKenna had fun helping decorate the Christmas tree. Ryleigh has already broken one ornament. It was her favorite one too. A ceramic boat. There was bound to be a fatality. She hasn't really been all that interested in the ornaments on the tree so I think we are safe for this year.

Ryleigh likes her veggies. Yummy broccoli!

She likes pretzels too. The best thing is that it takes her about 5 minutes to eat one. So I can actually get something else done instead of constantly giving her little Gerber stars.

Studio portraits... NOT CHEAP!

2008-12-03T10:23:00.004-07:00

To quote my brother... How is it that you go to the studio expecting to pay only a small amount, because you have coupon, and you leave having spent way more than you expected? Anyway, these turned out great. Ryleigh didn't want to smile all that much in the family shots, but gave it her best when she was alone. Don't worry, I have plenty of prints to share, seeing as I spent a small fortune.

Who can resist these two beautiful faces?

Dan-made cabinets

2008-12-03T09:54:00.005-07:00

Dan's recent home project has been building some built-in cabinets on both sides of the fireplace. To save money, he is doing one side at a time. One side is about 7 feet wide and 10 feet tall. Initially, we had two 3 feet tall bookshelves in the space. Pretty wimpy. So here is the step by step walk through of how he did it. It took about 3 full Saturdays over the span of a month and a half. He did a great job and didn't even make that big of a mess. He is awesome!

Pulling the carpet back

Fitting in premade, not painted, oak cabinetsAdding spacers in between each cabinet
The bottom half is done!

Squeezing in the shelving (made from scratch by Dan).
He did manage to gouge out some of the wall in the process.

Painted a "coffee" color from Ralph Lauren paint.
The shelves are removable and adjustable.

The finished look with Christmas decor.

Isn't it beautiful?

GO UTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-11-24T09:24:00.002-07:00

Just had to rub it in a little for all you Y fans out there!

Kung Fu Panda

2008-11-24T09:18:00.002-07:00

You know in the movie where Po is training with his master and his motivation is food? Well, Ryleigh's motivation to move forward on her stomach is food too. She is finally making forward motion in the form of a lunging push up. But only for snacks. I place little Gerber snacks out and she goes for them. Maybe by Christmas she be crawling for real. We are excited to see everyone in Salt Lake this week. McKenna is counting down the days. See you soon!

How in the world?

2008-11-05T10:16:00.002-07:00

So we took a trip to the urgent care yesterday afternoon. Let me tell you the whole story. We had just returned from a friend's house and Kenna said she was thirsty. She got a plastic cup out of the cabinet and put a restaurant lid on it after filling it with water. Then she stuck a Halloween straw in it from last year I think. She drank and then gagged and spit the water out. She yells "It's stuck, it's stuck!!!" She starts gagging and spitting up spit. I race her to the bathroom where she proceeds to lose her lunch (literally). I, thinking she just choked really bad on the water, don't really believe her when she keeps yelling "It's stuck in my throat!!" She is hysterical at this point. Still gagging too.

Me- "What is stuck?"
Kenna- "A piece of plastic is stuck in my throat!"
Me- "What???!!"

I grab a flashlight and look down her throat. Low and behold... something is stuck in her tonsil! I thought it might be a plastic shard. At least that is what it looked like. Dan thought I should try to take it out myself. Nothing doing. Kenna is screaming and freaking out and making me stress out. I tried to get down there but could barely see it myself. So I grab Ryleigh out her crib and off we go to the urgent care. Once there, I tell the receptionist, "my daughter has a piece of plastic stuck in her throat." A nurse comes rushing out and he shines a light down her throat. We rush into a room and four other people (doctor and nurses) come rushing in. The nurse grabs an instrument for the doctor that look like really long needlenose pliers. Now the doctor thinks it is plastic too so she says if she can't get it out, it means a trip to the ER because they don't want it to go further down her throat. Luckily, the doctor got it out on the first try. Kenna did beautifully when the doctor when in after it. It only took a second. And this is the culprit...

A piece of grass seed, the kind that sticks in your socks. How the heck it got into her straw we do not know. The pointy end was stuck in her tonsil. McKenna was totally fine after it was removed. But the drama! Sheesh! Dan's theory on how it got in her straw was that she was playing with it outside one day a long time ago and even though it was washed in the dishwasher, the seed stayed put in the straw. And when Kenna went to drink, it shot out like a dart and into her throat.

Talk about stress, but I have to say that that was the fastest I have ever been in and out of an urgent care facility. GO TEAM!

The clapper

2008-11-04T10:49:00.002-07:00

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-04T10:38:00.002-07:00

We had a fun Halloween. The weather was really nice. A little cold but not freezing. We set up our cooking station and Dan fried up the doughnut holes that I made that afternoon. We rolled them in sugar and they were delicious. Kenna and I hit the houses in our neighborhood. We only have three streets in our neighborhood so it was pretty easy. Since we live on the corner, we kept going back to visit Dan to see how he was holding up. We had to break for a bathroom emergency. Then I got Ryleigh dressed and she finished trick or treating with us. She was really mellow and just enjoyed the stroll. By 8:30pm we were out of doughnuts and candy. I say we did pretty good, but next year I think I have to buy more candy.

My studly hubby getting ready to cook.

Sizzling away!

My cute girls!

Ryleigh caught with her hand in the "cookie jar."

She even tried to eat some still in the wrapper. She is my chunky monkey or cow in this instance.

Pumpkin pics

2008-10-30T14:43:00.004-06:00

Dan and McKenna's painted masterpiece. The lips are supposed to look like mine, that is what Kenna keeps telling me. I guess I have a big mouth.

Kenna's sketch of the carved pumpkin.

I was the lucky one who got to clean out the pumpkin. Dan had the easy job of carving the face.

Ryleigh was supervising.

The finished product!

SPOOKY!!!

Poor Baby!

2008-10-30T10:17:00.002-06:00

Ryleigh has been sick this week with a stomach bug. Poor girl! She doesn't really want to eat all that much, which is a huge change from when she is healthy. She threw up a couple of times, once in the bucket of toys. That was fun cleaning up. She is gradually getting better, but not as quickly as I'd hope. This week has been a challenge, what with cleaning up vomit, poopy diapers, and forcing her to eat something. She is also really grumpy and whiney.

Ok...on to the happy news. We have been having fun with pumpkins this week. Friday night, we went to the pumpkin patch and corn maze with some friends. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home so I didn't get any pics of Ryleigh in a pink snowsuit shoved into the snuggly. She looked like a pink marshmallow and couldn't move a muscle (like in "The Christmas Story.")

Kenna had a blast looking through the leftover pumpkins and picking out a small baby one. The kids went down slides and jumped in a sandbox filled with corn (cornbox?) The maze was shaped like Obama and McCain (birdseye view.) We went through Obama because it was shorter. Saturday, Dan and McKenna painted a funny face on her baby pumpkin. We were going to carve our big pumpkin Monday night for FHE but found that it had gotten squishy on top. It sat in the garage for too long. We ended up buying a new one and carved it Wednesday night. We are getting ready for a funfilled Halloween. We have a parade at Jodi's in the morning and doughnut holes to prepare for the trick or treaters' parents. We stole a Halloween tradition from Dan's aunt Connie. We made scones for the parents last year. This year we are going to try doughnut holes. We had a pretty good turn out last year and this year our neighborhood has had a lot of new families move in. Dan is our frier and I take Mckenna out trick or treating. I hope Ryleigh just goes to bed early tomorrow.

I would have pictures of our adventures from this week, but Dan took the camera to work. I will post them once I get the camera back. TTFN!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

2008-10-19T21:54:00.004-06:00

This month has flown by and I realized that I have been slacking a little in the blogging department. McKenna started track break earlier this month so it has been a nice change to have her around all day. She has been constantly asking to play games like Clue Jr. and Monopoly Jr. She is actually pretty good at both and beats me at Monopoly Jr. all the time. I usually wait until she has the answer for Clue Jr. so she feels triumphant. She is fun to watch get excited about games. Even if she finds out she is losing, she says "it's just for fun." She used to cry and throw a tantrum when she lost. She is really growing up. She can't wait for Halloween, too. We have a countdown of the days left on our whiteboard. I think she will be Mulan again.

Ryleigh is still not crawling but getting very good at going backwards. She would rather just sit and play with her toys or the remote control than try to go anywhere. That is fine with me. Less chasing around and yelling "NO!" She did say "mum mum" today distinctly for the first time and repeated it when she wanted a cracker. And she has started waving goodbye. She won't perform either for the camera yet. She knows when she is being watched. I thought she was cutting a tooth earlier this week because she was drooling and her nose was running like crazy, but still nothing. Guess she is not really interested in doing anything quickly. Again, fine by me because getting bitten hurts.

Dan started one of our home projects this weekend. He is putting together built in shelving to go on both sides of our fireplace. It will give us lots of storage and places to decorate. I am excited for the finished results. It may take a few weeks seeing he is doing it on his spare time. Dan is taking pictures as he goes along, but won't let me post them until it is finished. Stay tuned. We are still awaiting results on his last test. Maybe two more weeks?

I have been busy with work (flu shot season), kids, and church. My calling at church is CTR 7 teacher. Sometimes my kids are great and sometimes they can be monsters. With the primary program coming up in three weeks, I am extremely happy to get a break from preparing lessons for a few weeks. This week is crazy for me. I picked up an extra day of work on Monday and have a flu shot clinic on Wednesday not to mention my usually work days on Friday and Saturday. I feel bad cuz the girls go to daycare but they love it at Jodi's. Ryleigh always comes home so tired out from the day. She sleeps from 7pm to 8am the next morning. They tucker her out there. I am also watching my friend's boys for half a day on Tuesday. This may not seem like a lot for some, but it is more than I usually do during the week.

Last week, my friend Adrianne and I made these cute journal boxes. You use dividers for each month and put index cards (one for each day of the year) in the box. If something fun happens that day, you pull out the index card for that day and write the year on it and one sentence about that event (ie. Ryleigh said "mum mum" today when she wanted to something to eat or McKenna helped me make biscuits for dinner, she loves to help in the kitchen). You can fit probably 10-20 years on one index card (front and back). It is a quick and easy way to keep a journal or keep track of your kids milestones. When your kids are older, you can pull out a card and see the fun things they did or said that day.

Tomatoes!

2008-09-30T14:01:00.002-06:00

Tracie and Troy have zuchini, we have roma tomatoes. Dan and McKenna picked a few on Saturday. It was my job to wash them and prepare them for... something. I think I am going to make spaghetti sauce out of my 30 pounds of tomatoes and freeze it. Dan loves spaghetti. Can you believe that this came from one tomato plant? It is now a huge bush! And there are still green ones on the plant. Maybe it is time to invest in a water bath canning machine. Salsa would be good. Yum!

If you pick and leave the stem on green tomatoes, they will turn red in a few days. Like I need anymore red ones right now. Dan heard somewhere that tomatoes will do that on their own. We didn't believe it until we tried it and it does work. Hope you learned something new today. Also, if you stick them in a paper bag, they will turn red faster. I will post the color change in a few days.

Update

2008-09-29T17:18:00.003-06:00

Kenna getting her certificate for patience at an assembly.

Dan's birthday was on the 26th. McKenna and Ryleigh got him a couple of Star Wars Legos to put together. I got him a book about Flipping Houses. I made scallops for dinner and we had apple pie and ice cream. We went to Boondocks to play arcade games. We had a blast!

Ryleigh trying on her cow costume for Halloween!

2.8

2008-09-13T11:13:00.002-06:00

No, we didn't have an earthquake... Dan and I went to our first parent-teacher conference as parents. I was nice to hear that McKenna is doing well in school. Mrs. Atkinson tested McKenna's reading level. 2.8 grade level. She is awesome! She is going to go to a first grade class starting this week for reading group. She is going to start a reading program that the 1st through 5th graders participate in, where they read books and pass tests and receive recognition for so many books completed. It is nice to see that she will be challenged in school and won't be sitting bored in Kindergarten (Dan was worried about that).

McKenna teaching Ryleigh all she knows.

She's a great big sister!

I came downstairs and this is what I found...

Personally, I think it would give me a headache.

Ryry loves her big sis! Loves climbing on her, that is!

Patience

2008-09-08T11:09:00.003-06:00

We received a letter Saturday informing us that McKenna has been chosen from her class to receive an award for patience. I guess the school has a virtue they work on each month and select some students who portray that virtue and recognize them in an assembly. We are so proud of her. Anyone who knows me, knows that Kenna must have inherited her patience from her father. Sometimes at home I think she is the total opposite of patient (probably just me being impatient), but she must do better at school. Funny thing is, just yesterday Dan and I were watching a movie and she must have interrupted three or four times to say she wanted a snack. We kept telling her after the movie we would have dinner. She is an awesome girl and we love her.

Ryleigh is going to be our little musician someday!

Hooray for Dan!!!

2008-09-02T08:48:00.003-06:00

We found out this morning that Dan passed the last two tests he just took! Wahoo!!! He has one left that he is taking in a couple of weeks. I know he will do great. We are both so excited for him to finally be done with getting his architecture license. Dan, I am so proud of you!

This weekend, I had to work Saturday so we missed Brooke's baby blessing :( Sorry, Tracie. We were there in spirit. We spent Sunday doing the usual stuff. Dan had a couple of meetings in the morning, then church (my CTR 7 class had to do sharing time in junior primary), Dan did tithing after church, then came home. We had dinner with some friends which was delicious. It is amazing what two families can put together at the last second for dinner. We bbq'd steak, salmon, and chicken. Adrianne made rolls and cantalope melon balls. I picked some corn on the cob from the garden and made brownies for dessert. It was a feast. We have some sad news about our pumpkin plant. It died. It became infested with squash bugs. It was gross. The trick we found out is to rotate the spot where you plant any type of squash every year or buy some special bug killer before they do too much damage. We were too late.

Monday we spent the morning sleeping in until 9 then went to breakfast. We went shopping at the mall then relaxed in the evening at home. It was nice to have everyone home and nothing really to do.

This morning we all went back to our daily routine. Dan went to work (that is when he found out about the tests), Kenna went to school, and Ryleigh ate breakfast. Lots of breakfast. She had 6 ounces of formula and rice cereal mixed with baby food apples and oatmeal. She will eat just about anything.

You would think milk in your eye would hurt. She just lets it sit there.

This is the aftermath of pigtails taken out last night. Nice do.

Picture Day

2008-08-26T10:14:00.005-06:00

McKenna's first picture day! She wanted her hair "curled on the bottom, but straight on top." She asked for that specifically. How'd I do? She even picked out her own outfit. She wanted to wear some purple lip gloss she got at a birthday party, but I had to intervene. Purple lips wouldn't look great in a class picture. I took these at home before school. She looked pretty darn cute I have to say.

This head shot turned out so cute that if her school ones come back horrible, I think I will just print this one to give out.

Toilets!!!

2008-08-22T10:04:00.006-06:00

Last Friday, after work, we took the girls to a day camp area not far from where we live. We had a camp fire, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and had s'mores. There was a playground close by and Kenna loved it. We were close to the river, but didn't go swimming. The best part was we went home and slept in our own beds. We should camp like that more often.

Kenna with marshmallow in her mouth

Ryleigh always smiley!

She is exploring the feel of pine needles.

Please pick me up and get me out of this stroller!

Kenna helping to put out the fire.

Saturday we drove to Twin Falls to see the new temple open house. It was very pretty inside. It was a good experience for McKenna to see what is inside a temple. She liked the pictures, the murals, and the baptismal font. That is probably the most interesting stuff anyway, for a little kid.

Dan and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary on Monday! It is crazy to think that we have been married for 8 years already. It flew by. They have been 8 wonderful years and we have two beautiful girls to show from it. We went out to lunch and dinner as a family and went shopping. Not real exciting but I did preorder the Sleeping Beauty DVD that is coming out in October. We were going to to ice skating and show McKenna how, but she got in trouble that afternoon so we couldn't go. Here is the story of how McKenna lost her priviledge to go ice skating (which means we all lost the chance to go)...

I had planned to go to the mall that afternoon after lunch with the girls. I wanted to buy some books, church shoes for Kenna (her feet just don't stop growing), and some other things I can't remember. We arrived and went into the book store Borders. I checked the computer to find the books I wanted then McKenna said "I have to go to the bathroom." Nothing new, she always has to go when we go somewhere. We went into the bathroom (Ryleigh was in her stroller), and made it into the handicap stall. Kenna looked at the toilet and panicked. She absolutely HATES automatic flushing toilets. She is pretty much scared to death of them. We have tried to teach her tricks like flushing it before hand to reset the sensor and putting a finger over the sensor to not make the toilet flush while she is sitting on it. I think she thinks she will be flushed down the drain. So the first thing she does is remember to push the button to flush it before she gets on. Then she starts crying. I show her that nothing is wrong, by going myself. She is still crying. I know she has to go or she will pee her pants, so I try to tell her I will cover up the sensor. She won't have anything to do with it. I grab her arm to pull her closer to the toilet (wrong move by the way) and she starts screaming like a banshee. High pitched and everything! Like I was going to kill her. I am sure the lady next to me thought I had hit her. She was hysterical for about one minute but it always seems longer. I think the threat of leaving the store altogether made her wise up and jump on the toilet and go. All the while, Ryleigh is just watching us in her stroller, calm as can be thank goodness. This is the funny part... As we were leaving the bathroom, an older lady who saw us when she first entered the store when I was on the computer, was coming into the bathroom. Mckenna is sniffling by now. The lady says, "Your girls are so beautiful!" I mutter thanks with a half smile and we left the mall altogether. Later I thought, I should have said "Wanna keep this one?" I was pretty mad at Kenna. We talked all the way home about not screaming in the store and about toilets. So her consequence was not going ice skating. We were at the mall for 5 minutes and left. We went home and the girls had a nap. So Dan decided to take us to the mall that night so I could buy the things I wanted. He is so nice to me. I love my girls, but sometimes...

Looking at these pictures always makes me remember how blessed I am to have these two wonderful girls, even if they drive me insane sometimes.

Ryleigh's 6 month appointment

2008-08-13T10:46:00.003-06:00

Quick update on Ryleigh's growth. She turned 6 months on July 23rd. We went to the doctor's on Monday. She weighs 15 pounds and is 25 inches long. Her head is in the 80th percentile. She has inherited the Patton head. She is right on track developmentally and physically. She still hates shots and turns beet red when she gets them. I remember when Kenna would get shots. She would stop crying once I picked her up and comforted her a couple of minutes. Ryleigh will not be consoled. She cries while I am redressing her, walking out of the office, and putting her in the car. She finally calms down when I am about half way home. She yells at me like it is my fault. In a way she is right. I am the one holding her arms and legs down. What a mean mom!

Oregon Coast

2008-08-13T09:57:00.006-06:00

Last week we drove to the Oregon Coast for a Patton family vacation. There were 18 of us in 1 house plus a carriage house above the separate garage. It was pretty crazy sometimes with the kids running around. We didn't stay in the house too much. The girls did fairly well on the drive over. I, on the other hand, had a meltdown, but we won't go there. I did have to crawl into the back seat on more than one occasion to calm down Ryleigh. By the end of the drive she had had enough of her car seat. I don't blame her. I am happy to announce that, although she had a couple of poopy diapers, no blow outs occurred. That is the worst when you are traveling. McKenna watched movies and talked the whole trip. She did not sleep at all. She was too excited. As long as she is happy that is all that matters. When we arrived at the rental house, the kids jumped in the hot tub right away. Dan, Ryleigh and I took a quick stroll on the beach. Our nephew decided he was going to play in the water and was soaked by the time we left. The water is so COLD! We expected that but it is harder to play in.

Wednesday consisted of looking for star fish and sea anemonies in tide pools, walking to a lighthouse, and running around the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We saw a sea lion on the rocks at the tide pools. My brother and sister-in-law wanted to get close for a good picture and scared him off. Way to go... McKenna loved the aquarium. She even communicated with a sea otter. I missed it but she had a nice crowd of people around her watching. She was looking through a window which was partially under water. The sea otter came right up to her face and McKenna pressed her hand to the window. The otter pressed his flipper on the window where her hand was. Pretty cool! She also had a Puffin perform a show in the water for her. She must have a way with animals I guess. We had lunch at Izzy's Pizza buffet. It was really good. Mckenna ate a ton. Dan and I were in charge of dinner that night. We made clam chowder and tuscan soup. They must have liked it because it was all gone at the end. Most of the evenings were spent playing games, talking, and digesting dinner.

Thursday was beach day. The weather was fairly nice. Cloudy, but warmer than Wednesday with no cold breeze. We had a sand castle contest where everyone was a winner! Thanks Penny for bringing prizes! Dan and a couple of his siblings went in the water. Some had wet suits, some didn't. McKenna went in about knee high. She was freezing by the end of the day. Ryleigh and I watched from the beach. I did get my feet wet. We were able to get a few kites in the air. It was fun watching McKenna run and run to get her Barbie kite up.

Dan's Japanese pagoda

He won the prize for the best Japanese castle!

Best sports logo!

Best animated or Disney character (Lightning McQueen)!

Best traditional castle!

Best Egyptian theme!

Friday we went to the outlet mall. I bought some clothes for the girls. Dan found a sweater that he liked. We brought it home and came to find out it is a women's sweater. So I guess I have a new sweater. We ate at Mo's for lunch. And stopped at Coldstone for ice cream. There was an ice cream shop across the street from Mo's, but they took cash or check only! Who does that anymore. Sheesh! Especially in a tourist town (my gripe for the day). Dan and I had wanted to go to Tillamook to see the cheese factory and a lookout point, but we ran out of time. We will just have to go the next time we are in Oregon. I did get a nap in with Ryleigh before dinner. That was nice. That girl can sleep anywhere. As long as she has her blankie. We watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics that night.

Saturday consisted of packing and cleaning and driving. We got home at 8 pm and started laundry. A vacation is supposed to be restful and relaxing. How come I don't feel well rested? Oh well. We are back in the swing of normal life. Kenna went back to school and Dan started work, where they piled more jobs on him. Wahoo...

McKenna's portfolio

2008-07-28T08:46:00.002-06:00

McKenna went to a friend's birthday party Saturday. It was at a place called Monkey Doos. We thought it was a jungle gym type place. Were we wrong. She came home like this. It is a place where they do little girls' hair and makeup. They have a separate room for parties. I was at work so I missed it, but Dan took pictures before she played and messed it up. I'm pretty sure I know where we are spending McKenna's next birthday!

Drool bomb!

2008-07-25T11:12:00.003-06:00

If you look closely at the second picture, Ryleigh has a drop of drool hanging off her chin. This is a common occurrence now that she may have started teething. Her two bottom front teeth are pushing their way up but have not broken through. This results in excessive drooling (which Dan is constantly trying to bomb on me and McKenna), grumpiness, and whinning. I need to record her whinny voice. It is hard to bare sometimes. Ryleigh is sitting up all by herself now. Sometimes she loses her balance and falls backward which stuns her, but she can basically sit independently. I've been feeding her rice cereal and she loves it. I also mix in baby food fruit and she loves it. She tried sweet potatoes yesterday and loved it. I don't think there is anything she won't eat. I should enjoy it while I can. Oh wait... there is one thing. I, being such a good mom, was trying to get her to stop whinning at a restaurant so I was letting her taste salad dressing and other sauces off of a chop stick. I gave her some bbq sauce. She did not like that. She waved her hands in front of her face and pursed her lips until the taste went away. Then she gave me a look like I had tried to kill her. I guess it was too strong. I told my mom and we couldn't stop laughing. I won't be trying that for a while.

Now that the excitement of kindergarten has worn off, I find myself with quite a bit of time on my hands in the morning. It's not like McKenna bogged me down a whole lot, but she kept me company and busy (always asking questions). Ryleigh takes her nap at 10am so from 10 to noon I am looking for things to do. I cleaned out (vacuumed, washed the windows, and 409'd the interior) the Honda yesterday and the Toyota this morning. I also made chocolate zuchini bread. I realized after I stuck it in the oven that I forgot the salt. I hope it turns out. Yesterday I spent some of the morning looking for Thumper in the neighborhood. It's a long story, so here goes nothing...

Our neighbor has a great dane and she (the great dane) likes to play with Thumper. Her owner gets Thumper out of his kennel and takes them to the park which is basically in our backyard. He does not keep them on leashes because they like to run and chase each other. Dan and I appreciate it because Thumper gets some exercise. However, Thumper does not listen to our neighbor very well. Thumper listens to Dan and that is about it. So Thumper likes to wander off in the neighborhood. It is hard to catch him because he runs when you get close enough. He still has lots of puppy in him. I have noticed that he is running off more often so I keep a look out for my neighbor when he comes. Yesterday Thumper ran away from him. Ryleigh was napping and Kenna was at school so I searched the neighborhood with my neighbor for about 15 minutes. Thumper was no where in site. I had to wake up Ryleigh and get her loaded up in the car to drive around to look for him. Just as I was pulling out of the driveway my neighbor comes walking up with Thumper on his leash. It turns out that my neighbor had left the back gate unlocked of another neighbor's backyard to let their dog out and Thumper ran in their backyard. He got stuck in there when we lock the dog up. So he was just chilling out while we were searching frantically for him. Luckily my neighbor thought about it and checked. For the record, Thumper will probably not be going to play for a while.

So what to do with my couple of hours of silence in the house? Maybe I should go back to sleep. I always think that but it never happens. Maybe I will blog more since my blogs and my life are soooo exciting. I guess I will figure things out. After Kindergarten Kenna will be gone all day long instead of just in the morning. What'll I do then? Gotta go pick Kenna up from school. TTFN!

Kindergarten!!!

2008-07-23T16:00:00.001-06:00

Well, Kenna's first day of school has officially come and gone. She made it like a pro. Dan and I dropped her off and she almost forgot to give me a hug! Can you believe it! Her teacher was waiting at the drop off and took her into the playground area. I didn't even cry. When I went to pick her up, she had a cute visor on that they had made in class. She said at recess when the bell rang she couldn't find her classroom door so she asked a mom helping out on the playground where room 8 was. How grown up. She did say that she almost cried. Poor girl. She'll get the hang of it soon. They had graham crackers and milk, learned about letters and colors, read stories, and colored. What a hard life she has! Sounds like a lot of fun for the first day.

Isn't she beautiful?

Her name tag says she is a car rider. It helps the teacher know who goes on the bus and who gets picked up by mom or daycare. Pretty good system. She has to wear it to school for the rest of the week.

I love her backpack. It is not too huge, but fits folders in it. The character ones don't fit folders in them. I wanted one that she could use for a few years without getting sick of looking at Dora or Princesses.

Kenna has gotten to be a pretty decent colorer.

One day to go!

2008-07-22T11:51:00.002-06:00

Kenna first day of school is tomorrow! My little girl is all grown up. I think I am more nervous than she is. She is very excited. I bought her a new outfit including shoes for her first day. I will post pictures tomorrow. Dan is fortunate to go to Girl's Camp tomorrow too. He will see McKenna off and head over to Cascade Lake. So much fun for him. I hope he comes back alive.

BBQ Chicken Wings

2008-07-17T11:11:00.003-06:00

For all those out there who have tried my mom's bbq chicken wings but don't know how to reproduce them, here's the secret recipe. It's not really secret and they are really easy to make.

Janet Wong's BBQ Chicken Wings (gotta give her all the credit)

15-20 Chicken wings (depending on how many you can eat)-thawed, washed, & drained
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 tsp pepper- I just sprinkle some on

Mix all ingredients together and allow to marinate for a few hours. About 1/2 hour before cooking, add 1/2 cup Kraft original bbq sauce("has to be Kraft"-my mother always says) to the wings and mix.
Line a cookie sheet with foil and arrange chicken wings in a single layer skin side up.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Brush additional bbq sauce on wings about half way through cooking.

*You can use Honey bbq sauce for variety or add hot sauce for spicyness

So if you were wondering what to make for dinner this week, I hope I gave you an idea.

Ha Ha Ha Happy Birthday! (Gus from Cinderella)

2008-07-13T09:55:00.011-06:00

We had a blast at Kenna's birthday party! Well she did at least. With 10 girls (8 girls ages 4-5 & 2 girls ages 8-9), 2 boys (ages 1 & 5), 5 extra parents, and about 15 balloons, it was a mad house. On a side note... I don't understand why parents stay at birthday parties. I figured they would drop the girls off and run! My sister-in-law and brother-in-law stayed because they are family, but some of the other parents stayed. Strange to want to be in a house with that many kids running around. I am positively sure I don't want more than 4 of my own now.

Back to the party... It was too windy to have the party outside as planned so it was moved indoors. Talk about crazy! At least we blocked off the stairway so the party was confined to downstairs. Dan was my decorator. He did a great job!

We split the kids up into two groups. The kids traded off playing games -BINGO and Disney Princess DVD game (thank you Ray and Catherine).

Then Kenna opened her presents...

And more presents...

Sheesh, she is not spoiled.

There were even more pictures, but I thought these were plenty. McKenna posed like that after each present was opened. She is such a ham.

Then we sang Happy Birthday and had cake!

Thank goodness for all the guests. They ate the whole cake!

We had a butterfly pinata. My brother-in-law acted like the tree you tie the pinata too.

He is 6'4"ish.

We sent all the kids outside after the pinata to color with sidewalk chalk. Then it was over! Whew! What a party!

Kenna couldn't wait to start coloring after the party.

She is the best 5 year old anyone could ask for.

A little wobbly!

2008-07-12T07:57:00.005-06:00

Ryleigh is starting to sit up! She sits in her boppy still but she can stay upright. It is really funny to watch because she wobbles back and forth to keep herself up. She also really wanted McKenna bobcat "Cindy" so she had incentive to stay sitting. Two weeks ago she was still falling forward and face planting it in the carpet. Her legs would come flying out from underneath her. That was fun to watch too.

Taken on July 1st

Doesn't she have the sweetest face on?
Ten days later- July 10th

I have also had a request from Tracie for a picture of my kitchen. Well, here it is finally. I love my island. It is HUGE!

COMING SOON!

Pictures from McKenna's 5th birthday party!

It was exciting, crazy, loud, and exhausting all rolled into one!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

2008-07-07T09:31:00.002-06:00

We started the morning by going to Sunrise Cafe for breakfast. It was fantastic.
Dan set up our two man tent in the backyard so Kenna could play in it. Ryleigh liked it too. I did get kinda stuffy in it. Thumper sat in the shade right outside the door. Either he was protecting the girls or just wanted shade. I think it was the latter.

Dan cooling off in the pool. He had just finished putting up new exterior lights by our back doors. He was tired of the mason jar looking lights that were already on the house.

We had a neighborhood party that evening since so many of our neighbors were staying in town because gas prices are so high. There was a bounce house and small pool for the kids. They had water balloons and a volleyball net set up. We had a bbq and a bike parade. Kenna decorated that hat all by herself. It turned out to be a really nice day. And we were able to get to know our neighbors a little better.

We were watching fireworks and Ryleigh woke up from the sounds of the screamers. She liked watching the lights and didn't cry once. There was too much to see to cry. We were out until 11pm. I gave the girls baths before bed and boy were they tired.

Everyone brought a small amount of fireworks so combined we had plenty. And there were illegal ones going off all around us. So we had our small show and every once in a while would see big ones up in the sky. It was lots of fun. Thumper didn't like the sound of the big fireworks. He kept barking at them.

Eagle Island

2008-07-07T09:21:00.002-06:00

We spent Thursday evening at Eagle Island enjoying the sun and beach. We had a picnic dinner and then hit the water.

Here's Ryleigh in her Dora suit. She wasn't too happy that I put her down after I changed her. She sat in shallow water with me for a while.

Kenna in her speedo suit (a hand me down from KayKay or Kaitlin, I can't remember). I like the speedo suits because they cover more up on top. Kenna loved the water and playing in the sand.

RyRy was tired after a bit. She didn't really sleep at all though.

Dan practicing his sand castle building technique for our family sand castle contest in Oregon in August. It turned out pretty nice considering the sand had huge rocks in it. I was not allowed to post pictures of the finished product because Dan did not want to reveal his secrets.

Gardening

2008-06-29T08:55:00.003-06:00

I found this old baby picture of me. Hmmmm... I wonder where Ryleigh gets her looks from. She is way chubbier than I ever was, but you can see who my girls get their chubby cheeks from.

Our garden is coming along nicely. Thank goodness it has been getting hotter so my vegetables didn't die.

The big bush in the front is our one roma tomato plant that we inherited from our neighbor. She said they didn't have room to plant it and it was the saddest looking one out of the bunch. I think it is doing fine. We may even have to prune it. The flowers sticking out behind it are from the mustard we planted. Next to the tomato plant are lettuce and carrots.

Here we have our green onions and yellow onions. The green are in front and doing better than the yellow. Then we have two rows of corn.
I love planting corn. It is easy and grows tall really fast.

This is our pumpkin plant. McKenna started it from one of those kid's kits that you get at Lowe's or Home Depot. It came with a peat moss pot and 3 pumpkin seeds and the expanding dirt pellet. I recommend this for kids because it grows so fast and she loves watching it grow. When we started it indoors, McKenna was always saying "Mine's bigger than your plants." When it got too big for its pot, Dan planted it outside. It wasn't doing so well, but once the sun and heat decided to stay it is growing like crazy. Can't wait for Halloween!

Bountiful Trip

2008-06-23T10:39:00.003-06:00

Friday after work, we packed up and drove to Salt Lake to visit Dan's parents and family. We stayed until Sunday so it was a really quick trip. We managed to cram in quite a bit in the two days. Saturday morning we went to Matt's Elders Quorum activity and Dan played softball. The turnout was kinda small with about 1/3 of the players being Pattons. McKenna had fun playing at the park with her Aunt Cami. They played on the swings and planted sticks in the ground. They found a stick that looked like a chicken foot. I should have taken a picture of it. Then we went over to Laurel's work, Kangaroo Zoo. It is a playground/mini golf place. The playground has about 6 inflatable playgrounds in the shape of dragons and snakes and other things I can't remember. I forgot the camera so had to take pictures with my cell phone. Now if only I could figure out how to convert them to the computer. Maybe I will have Dan do it sometime. For dinner, we went to John and Mandi's for an early birthday celebration for Spencer, McKenna and John. They set up a small pool and Spencer and McKenna had a blast. Ryleigh didn't know what to think of the cold water at first. Once I got in with her she was fine. Again, those pictures are on the cell phone. It was Ryleigh's first time in a pool. She wore McKenna's old bathing suit which McKenna fit in when she was almost 1 year old. Ryleigh is almost 5 months old. Just shows you the difference in size between my two babies. We had hotdogs and hamburgers then opened presents. McKenna received some pretty cool things. She got a Bratz doll from her great grandma Joan. She has been wanting one for a while but I have been putting it off. Why do companies make packaging for dolls so hard to open??? I have just spent 10 minutes trying to open a small cabbage patch doll. Sheesh! The Bratz package claimed it was easy open. It wasn't. That is my grip for today. McKenna specially requested a cake with purple frosting and pink flowers. Her Aunt Mandi is so nice. She made it for her. The party was really fun. Sunday, we met up with my dad for dim sum. We met his clients. They were nice and the women loved Ryleigh. They even took pictures with her. We went to church and then had Sunday dinner with Dan's family. Kenna slept for half the trip home and Ryleigh slept for almost all of it. She was tired. We got home about 11pm. I thought the girls would sleep in today. Fat chance. They were both up at 8am which is normal for them.

"Tracie with 6 kids"

2008-06-18T10:10:00.004-06:00

I don't know where McKenna got this idea. Really... She drew a picture of a mom with 6 kids. Then she told me that it is Aunt Tracie with 6 kids. If you look closely there are 5 girls and 1 boy. Sorry Tracie... I hope this doesn't freak you out too much. Mckenna even wrote on picture "Tracie with 6 kids." I had nothing to do with this. Honest.

I tried to feed Ryleigh a little rice cereal the other day. She got the idea of the spoon in her mouth pretty quick but she is still figuring out how to swallow the cereal. I have only tried it a couple of times. She did seem interested which is a good sign. I am tempted to add some baby food to it to give it some taste but I guess I will try it bland first.

Freezer jam

2008-06-10T17:11:00.003-06:00

Today, Adrianne and I made strawberry freezer jam. We made 4 batches in under 2 hours. Last year it took us double the amount of time to make the same amount. We sped up the process by using an egg slicer to slice the strawberries and a hand blender to mash them up. It was really nice not having to hand mash the strawberries like last year. McKenna really likes the jam and will eat it out of the jar with a spoon.

I have a new calling at church. I am the CTR 7 teacher. I was released as the Enrichment leader last week. They were just waiting for me to stop working Sundays. I think I will forever be put in the primary. I was almost the Sunbeam teacher. I think I have taught Sunbeams three times already. This is a change for me. I have two boys in the class and 4 girls. The boys are a little hard to handle in Sunday School, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve for next week. The girls are angels.

Dan's calling is going well...I think. He is busy on Sundays and has to go to mutual on Wednesday nights. Sundays can be a little overwhelming for me, but we manage. Dan is taking care of Ryleigh during Sunday school and Primary so that helps. I think she pooped twice during church last Sunday just for her daddy.

McKenna finished gymnastics last week. She does a pretty good handstand now. She is taking a break for summer. We may look into getting her ready for competitive gymnastics instead of the Little Gym. McKenna is really excited for Kindergarten next month. She starts on the 23rd of July. She is going to year-round school.

Ryleigh rolled over for the babysitter last Friday... twice! Too bad Jodi didn't see it either time. She went from her stomach to her back. I can't get her to do it at home yet. She must only do it when no one is looking. Ryleigh really likes balloons. Mckenna was throwing one in the air and Ryleigh just laughed and laughed. Too bad she didn't laugh again when I was trying to show Dan.

Dan and I are trying to get into shape before our trip to the Oregon Coast in August. Yesterday, I did one hour of pilates, weeded in the backyard for 2 hours, and lifted weights at night. I am sore today. Dan is running every morning before work and lifting weights too. We will see how it goes. Sometimes it is hard to work out with everything else I have to do. Our garden is coming along. Hopefully the weather starts to cooperate and get warm so my plants can grow.

"Dan in Real Life" - The first post.

2008-06-03T22:03:00.006-06:00

Well, here it is... Dan's first post on the blog. I have had many requests to post something so that Rachel was not the only one to talk about our lives here on the blog. So here goes....

Indy and the classic brown hat are back. Rachel and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie the other night. I was very excited to see the next movie in one of my favorite movie series. The movie was good, but very different from the first three. It was almost like Spielberg forgot why he made the first movies in the last 14 years. It was almost like he did it so that he could make some more money. (like he needs it) The movie actually reminded me of Star Wars... Well it was almost filmed in the same style as the new episodes were. Also not as historically fact oriented as the other movies either. He depended on computer animation too much. It was enjoyable and very entertaining though. Definitely better than that other movie that came out this weekend about some girls that live in New York City and that worry too much about how they look and can't commit to a relationship unless the men are OK with them seeing other men. I would much rather see Indy three or four times before I had to be dragged to see that one... I guess that it was a smash hit among extremely fashionable women, that can relate to these New Yorker girls. It is too bad that that is the way are culture is going these days. Sometimes I wish that we could all go back to the 1940's like Indiana and fight the Fascists instead of fighting the Fashion-ists of today.

It was nice to go out to the movies with Rachel though. Rachel's Mom is visiting, so she was able to watch the girls while we went out. We did take her to a pretty good Chinese restaurant before the movie, so she was very happy to have a full stomach and happy to be with her grand kids.

Laughing girls!

2008-05-30T12:15:00.002-06:00

4 months

2008-05-28T20:17:00.002-06:00

Ryleigh also had her four month appointment today. She weighs 13 pounds 9 ounces and is 23.5 inches long. That makes her in the 45th percentile in weight and 13th percentile in height. She will be a shortie, but we don't expect to ever have tall kids. She is doing great. She still hates shots. She turned beet red and cried the whole way out of the doctor's office. I think part of it was that she missed her morning nap. I put her in the car and gave her her blankie and she was out. She slept in her carseat until noon. Her appointment ended at about 10:30am. I found some hair ties that I could do her hair with. She reminds me of a little sumo. I also think she has the Patton head.

California Pics

2008-05-28T20:12:00.004-06:00

California trip

2008-05-28T19:31:00.002-06:00

We left for our semi annual trip to California last Wednesday and returned home yesterday. It was a pretty nice trip. My mom house is almost done with the remodel and looks pretty good. The floors and bathrooms are really nice. Her kitchen looks great with a huge island in the center. Our friends Dave and Adrianne and their two boys came with us. We flew in on Express Jet which was fairly nice. The nonstop flight was great especially since Ryleigh was in my lap for most of the trip. Dan did rescue me about half way through because I was having trouble juggling McKenna, Ryleigh, and all the food they gave us. We landed in one piece (the descent was very bumpy). We went out to dinner at Soup Plantation which is the best when you just want a simple salad and soup. I miss that here in Idaho.

Friday, we went to Disneyland which was a blast! My mom watched Ryleigh back in Irvine. She is a life saver. The kids were great and it was nice having another family there so the adults could trade off and get some roller coaster time in. Thank goodness for fast pass. McKenna was tall enough to ride the roller coasters. She rode Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. She came off of Space Mountain saying "That was the best ride ever!" She did not like Splash Mountain as much because she got a little wet. Adrianne and I were in the front half of the log and got the wettest. It did rain while we were there, but it was a good excuse to get souvenir sweaters.

Saturday was family day for us. We went to Tracie's baby shower. She is totally cute pregnant. Dan and I were able to slip away after and see Iron Man. It was pretty good. We came back to Auntie Joanna's house to find tons of family there. It was nice to see everyone with all the cute babies. We even got to play Wii for the first time. I was all over the place in Mario Kart, but I got the hang of it towards the end.

Sunday was church and lunch at Ryan's house. Dan showed Ryan how to put blinds in his windows. Ryan knew what he was doing. He just needed a little encouragement. His house is very nice. The kids enjoyed playing with Kaitlin's toys. we then went to Ray's new house that he and Catherine just bought. It is perfect for them. Dan did a walk through and it is in good condition. The backyard is really nice. i think they will enjoy it once they move in. We went to Haakido for dinner. It is a Japanese buffet with sushi and other asian cuisine. Dave even tried sushi for the first time.

Monday was Legoland which was kinda disappointing. Let's just say it is for kids between the ages of 3-8ish. Do not bring a kid under the height of 36 inches. They cannot ride on anything even with a parent. Maybe three rides. McKenna had fun, but it is nothing like Disneyland. The "roller coasters" are so slow and the lines take forever because there is only one car for the whole roller coaster. We probably won't go there again. We did make a house out of Legos.

Tuesday we flew home. It was the only sunny day on our trip. The flight home was much smoother than the flight to California. Ryleigh did decide to poop about 10 minutes into the flight. The changing tables in the small bathrooms weren't bad. I forgot to mention that during the whole trip, Dan and Dave were replacing all of my mom's light switches and outlets so they would look new and not 30 years old. They finished the downstairs but were only able to replace her switches upstairs because they ran out of time. They did run into a couple of glitches, but everything is working now. At least we haven't received a phone call yet saying differently. It is hard to get back into our daily life, but it's back to work and real life. Bummer.

Tummy time!

2008-05-06T08:58:00.002-06:00

She is doing pretty good now...

She doesn't even yell anymore. Kenna is such a ham!

Thought you might want to see her rolls!
She also loves sucking on her hands.

Too cool.

Yesterday I was actually able to accomplish quite a bit. Kenna starts Kindergarten the end of July (year round) so I checked into a daycare that could take her to and from school once a week. I returned a movie to Red Box. I vacuumed downstairs and upstairs. I cleaned McKenna's bathroom toilet and shower. I hate cleaning showers. It hurts my back and legs and I always end up getting wet. I did three loads of laundry (washed and folded). I took out Ryleigh's 3-6 months old clothes and put away the 0-3 months stuff. I disinfected some toys. I managed to feed Mckenna and myself some lunch and dinner and we even stopped off at the park for a few minutes. I have to say it was a crazy day! Sometimes working at home is more tiring than working at work.

We have been slowly planting bushes and plants in our backyard. Last week we planted two rhododendrons under my kitchen window. When they bloom I will post a picture. Dan's been getting my garden ready for planting. I started some started indoors about a month ago. We already had to plant the pumpkin outside because it was getting so huge.

Dan took me out on a date to a restaurant called the Mona Lisa. It is a fondue type restaurant. It was pretty good and romantic. We were celebrating our real first date without the girls since Ryleigh was born. We hired a babysitter and everything. The funny thing is that the next morning (because both girls were sleeping when we came home that night) I found Ryleigh had her diaper on backwards! I don't know how she managed to strap the diaper on with the straps in the back, but I had to laugh.

We are excitedly anticipating our trip to California in a couple of weeks. My mom's house should be finished so we can stay there with our friends the Meldrums. We have a trip to Disneyland and Legoland planned and Tracie's baby shower and the big baby party (as my mom calls it) on Saturday. It should be a crazy weekend, but lots of fun.

Laughing...

2008-04-22T16:45:00.003-06:00

We finally caught Ryleigh laughing on camera. She has been doing it for about a week.

A Call from the Stake President...

2008-04-15T10:52:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday Dan came home to find a message from the Stake President's secretary to meet with the Stake President that night if possible. I came home from work at Target Pharmacy at 7:30 and we raced over to the church. As always, when you are in a hurry, the kids don't cooperate. At least Ryleigh wasn't. She was crying from gas and upset. So we were a little frazzled when we showed up at the church. Well, Dan has a new calling as of last Sunday...is the suspense killing you yet? He is now the second counselor in the bishopric! We were both blown away and Dan just sat there shocked. I said "WOW!" We were not expecting something like this. So to sum up our weekend...Dan's parents and grandpa drove from Salt Lake on Saturday to be with us on Sunday. Dan's father ordained Dan as a High Priest and he is now the second counselor. We are still trying to adjust to the change in schedule. He will be gone more now and I am still scheduled to work one Sunday a month at Savon. I am trying to work that out to stop working that Sunday, but haven't heard anything back from work yet. So this Sunday coming up we have our neighbor watching the girls while Dan has his meetings. I hope everything works out in the end. I am sure it will somehow.

A little bit about what's going on with me at work. I work on an as needed basis at Target Pharmacy and just pick up shifts when i want some extra work. Well, the pharmacy manager quit and his last day was last Sunday. So now the pharmacy is without a regular pharmacist. They are still trying to find a replacement. So I have been working a lot of extra shifts. I am not the only as needed pharmacist working for Target, but we all have other jobs too. It has been a crazy week that is for sure. And I think Ryleigh is coming down with a cold (McKenna gave it to her) to top things off.

One good thing was that it was in the 70s last weekend. Our daffodils bloomed and the girls and I spent Saturday at a festival for a new urban development. McKenna had her face painted. Dan was busy taking test #5 out of 9. It was a 5-6 hour test. What a fun way to spend a Saturday.