*Lagoon*

We decided since we were here, we'd better go to Lagoon! It just seemed right. For me and the kid, not Ryan. He doesn't so much care for Lagoon, and I have to say in my old age, once a year is all I can handle. We got there early, and waiting was so hard fo the kids. They were so excited! We went with Wade(Ryan's brother) and Cherish and there kids who all just happen to be the same age as my kids. We also got to take Greyson and Chloe my nephew and niece. It was tons of fun. We have a rule in our family that every year you have to try a new ride. The kids get to pick individually which ride will be there new one. I only do this because I know that they will like them once they try them, they are just scared to

try them. This year they did great! They tried lots of new rides! Music Express, Spider, White Roller Coaster, Scrambler, and their favorite...Cliff Hanger which I went on and hated, but the kids road 5 times. Sam has had a quesy stomach in the past so I died when I saw that he was getting on music express. I thought his ride riding would be over, but he didn't get sick... a first.

Mara loved the rides and had a nice scrape on her face from falling off the little plastic horse at YiaYia and Papou's(which she pronounces poo-poo) Just a nice lovely scrape all over her cheek for family pictures. She loved bulgy the whale the most. Emma just hung out in the stroller and was an angle baby as usual, and besides being completely hot and tired and worn out, I think we all give it a two thumbs up. Max was my little dare devil, and was totally upset that he couldn't go on the Wild Mouse and Spider. I hate to break it to that kid, but he's got a good loing while to go

before he is tall enough for those rides. Thank you YiaYia and Papou for the tickets to Lagoon. We had a great time, and are so thankful to you for the fun memories!

Utah Means...Family!

We left Friday June 20th to come down to Utah. The kids were so so good in the car. I love road trips it was 8 uninterupted hours in the car with my kids and my husband. It doesn't get that much better. Ryan did have to pull over once, Caleb and Max started hitting each other, and Ryan and I were watching them in the mirror thinking that eventually they would work it out or stop, but they didn't. It was the first time that Ryan actually had to stop the car and end it. It was so funny though, because there was no yelling , screaming, or crying, just fists flying. So Ryan just casually stopped the car got in the back and split them up. Poor Noah had to be the mediator the rest of the way and sit between them. Sam gets that duty on the way home! (he will not appreciate that at all) Caleb was pretending to be asleep in the car, he even got the drool hanging out of his mouth. It was so funny that I laughed and took a picture. He just kept pretending the whole time, he never once cracked a smile. What a goofy kid.
Ryan's parents have been married for 40 years, and we had a surprise party for them at Ryan's sister Tami's house, and we didn't get one picture, but we were so glad that we got to be there for it. One of the hardest things about living so far away is that we miss out on a lot of family functions that we would love to be apart of.

We went to see Ryan's grandparents! They live in Kaysville, and we think the world of them. They are always so kind to us and our kids. We know that we are overwhelming as a whole, but we are so grateful to them for giving the kids popscicles and letting them play with the toys that Ryan played with there when he was a kid. Ryan love his grandfather very much and is alway saying that he hopes to be more like him. We love you Grandma and Grandpa Passey! Thanks for being such good examples to us and for helping us so much!

While we were at the Passey's, Ryan's uncle

Brett and aunt Nadine came with Emily their little girl. She is so sweet and she and Mara took turns playing with the shopping cart. We are so grateful that Brett and Nadine let us play with Emily. She is such a great addition to the family.

We loved hanging out at my mom and dad's house. There was definitely a house full. I went outside because I thought Ryan was out there taking a nap, but unless your definition of a nap includes four kids crawling on you, he wasn't. Tuesday before the wedding reception, there were 9 adults and 11 kids all trying to get ready and take baths and showers. It was like an assembly line. Put 3 kids in the tub, wash one, dry one, put another in... I have decided I do well with chaos. I think it makes me more efficient. Ryan on the other hand enjoyed a day of golf with his dad and brother, and that was great with me. He does better without chaos. He is so great to help though, and is amazing to put up with me.

Camping... Arkoudas Style!

So, It's not that easy to go camping with a baby, but we still have always done it, but this year, with the kids getting bigger and the quantity of them multiplying, we out grew our tent. We now no longer fit in it! It was a sad realization, but the kids still wanted to camp out. They actually wanted to sleep on the trampoline, but the mosquitos are awful! It is not do to a slacking husband(since that is his job to anialate them) He has worked so much it's pathetic. The flooding rivers just created pockets of nice mosquito breeding grounds that can't all possibly be treated by one crew. So they set up the tent. Sam and Noah started all by themselves. I was actually quite impressed at how far they got before they asked for help.

They got it all set up and everyone wanted to sleep out there. Even Mara!

I tucked them all into bed, and told them some ghost stories, and sang some songs, and then went inside with Emma. Mara was determined not to come inside with me. But a few minutes after I got inside...I heard a pounding on the sliding door and a little voice saying "Let me inside... I want inside..." It was quite a sweet little voice, and I couldn't resist letting her in.

Now tell me you wouldn't let that little face inside your house!

Meredith's big day!

Garrett and Meredith Dutcher's Big day is today!

June 17, 2008

Congratulations Meredith and Garrett! We are so happy for you. We wish that we could be there for your big day and wish you lots of luck. Have fun in Nauvoo, and know that we will be there in spirit, even though we can't be there in person.

Father's Day 2008

We are so grateful to have such a wonderful dad! There is no one who is as great as you Ryan! The kids just wanted to say how great you are, and that you are so fun to tease and wrestle with. Thanks for being such a wonderful father! You always make each of the kids feel like they are important, and your influnce with them amazes me. They are always trying to be like you, and they always want to do what you are doing. I am so grateful to you for your calming influence and for enduring the madness that we have created!
You are the best dad ever! We love you long time!!

Visitors Are Always Nice!

Ryan' parents, John and LaVone came up to go to Red Lodge, MT and "stopped by" to see us.(even though it's a 5 hour drive out of their way.) We had such a great weekend ! We went to the farmers market, and the boys bought marshmellow shooter guns. They had so much fun with them. We watched Indiana Jones, and...
went to Ryan Dam. We actually got to get on the island with our visitors this time instead of just eating on the trail leading to the island like we did when the Bouck's came. The falls were so beautiful it was unreal how much water was coming over the top. We were so glad that we got to see it. It is always so fun there. After we got home we went to work mending fences, pulling weeds,building a strawberry box, and shoveling dirt to fill the strawberry box. Thank you John and LaVone for coming up and helping us to weed and mow the lawn. We seem to be in the habit of putting people to work when they come for visits. I promise, all you who read this, you can come up and visit without being put to work.

One Year Ago Today.....

We said good-bye to...

Sam's best friend...

Noah's best friends...

Caleb's best friends...

A neighborhood full of kids...

Max's best friends...

The best friends I could ever ask for...

Baby girl cousins, wonderful aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas lots of best friend cousins...

The best family in the world...

Our dream house... and the best neighborhood mom's in existance!...

Great friends and family who were such an example to us of how true service is performed. THANK YOU! We will always consider you the bestest of friends, and will always be truly grateful that our paths crossed yours in this life! We love you all and miss you all terribly.

wHAt DoEs JuNE 11th LoOk LikE?

This might be what you are thinking of! Birds chirping and sitting on their nest to hatch their young. Sunshine, and kids laughing outside because school is finally out! Sprinklers going, watergun fights... Yeah, not here. Snow is what we woke up to. The house only 60 degrees because we turned off the heater long ago. Power out, trucks off the road because of the 7 inches of slushy snow that fell. (Ryan took the picture after the snow had mostly melted) Tree branches broken, and flooding everywhere. Us curled up next to the fireplace freezing our bahooky off.

I sure hope that one day the sun will shine again. I hope, I hope. I do not want to run our fireplace all summer long.

OUCH!!!

I was planting raspberry starts, when Mara decided to join me. The problem came when she tripped over the railroad tie and bit through her lip. Not fun...not fun at all! I am afraid that she has entered that accident prone age that all my kids have gone through. Let's just hope she's not as bad as Noah was!

Free Fish Day at Wadsworth Pond

What would you do to get a free fishing pole? You can see that Emma didn't appreciate what we did do! It was free fish day at Wadsworth Pond today. They were giving away free fishing poles to all the kids and teaching them how to fish. It seemed like a sunny day, so we thought we'd give it a whirl. We knew there would be a lot of people, so we got there early, and weren't too nervous about the amount of people that we saw, so we started off to our stations to learn to fish...

They taught the kids how to tie their hooks onto the fishing line, and how to cast the pole. No one could get their free fishing poles until they stood in line to do all the stations. There were four stations and four dots that you had to get on your paper indicating that you had completed all the stations. Pretty simple... Until we got to the last station, and the line was so long. It was so windy, not cold, just windy, and I was trying to keep Emma out of the wind. The kids were whiny, and so to pass the time we played the "I spy game" much to the annoyment of others waiting in line.

The pond was beautiful and we were glad that we found it, we will definately go fishing there when there aren't so many people.

Do you see the line? Yeah...people in Utah stand in line to ride rides at Lagoon. People in Montana stand in line, in the wind, with their six children, waiting to get a free fishing pole. Madness, but in a good way.

I finally gave up and took the girls to the car to wait. They were much happier, and Ryan stayed with the boys to get their fishing poles. They did go and cast them into the lake a few times, but the wind was so strong that they couldn't cast them past the moss, and eventually gave up and came back to the shelter of the car. All in all I am glad we went, they were really nice fishing poles, but it would have been nicer if we could have actually caught something.

Emma was much happier in the car... after all, she didn't get a fishing pole.