A Riches Tale

Reflections

2009-01-13T23:50:00.000-08:00

Will and his friend and class mate Abigail Green both entered the reflections art competition at school this year. The theme this year was wow. So basically anything that makes you think or say wow. While there are a lot of categories to choose from they both chose photography. Abigail took a photo of a grasshopper in the grass and Will took one of a cave that he'd been exploring. Will also wrote a little bit about caves and why they make him say, wow. Will ended up taking 1st and Abigail 2nd at their school, so they were able to go to district and receive a little award and certificate along with kids from other schools.
That's them, 5th and 6th from the left.
Good job you two!!

Sunday Candids

2009-01-11T23:43:00.000-08:00

Put a camera in Will's hands and he starts snapping away. We had finished a delicious Sunday dinner at Grammy and Grandads and were sitting around the table talking when Will pulled out the camera. He took the one of us together. ( Hence the nostril shot.) Won't Grammy be happy when she sees her photo on my blog. Oh well, at least the photo's of Grandpa and Grandad look good.

Rock Star

2009-01-10T23:28:00.000-08:00

We have had quite a few rock star parties lately but I always forget to get my camera out. It cracks me up to watch people as they are concentrating or rocking out. Will is getting really good at guitar, every time he's supposed to play a note he does the head bop thing. Very cute!! The Johnson's were watching the Davis kids tonight so they brought the whole crew and came over. They are quite the rockin' family, even Griffyn got in on the singing. Such a fun game, I'm sure we in for many more rock star get togethers.

ROCK ON!!!

Skiing!

2009-01-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

Liv's first time skiing.

She did really well especially considering it was her first time. She for sure was not a fan of the cold though. Liv and Dad. Will and Dad.
McKae and Liv. Matt.

Will and Bri braved the line to head up on the lift and to brave the mountain.

Will on the tow rope and then on his way down the hill.

I am not a skier so this was the first time I had actually gotten to see Will ski. He's been doing it since he was three and he's really quite good. It was fun to see him do something that he loves.

Eldredge Family

Nate, Macie, McKae, Adrianne, Matt.

This was the Eldredge kids first time skiing. They all had a really fun time and can't wait to do it again.

I Love to see the Temple

2009-01-10T22:39:00.000-08:00

We were fortunate to be able to go through the new Draper temple as a family. Before a temple is dedicated they hold a few month long open house so that the public and little children can go inside the temple and see what it's like. As always it was beautiful inside. I enjoyed being able to go through with our children and talk to them about the importance of temples. What a beautiful house of the lord, I'm so glad we had this opportunity.

Nutcracker Party

2009-01-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Andrew, Will, Liv, Gavin.To say thank you to all the children that participated in the Ballet West Nutcracker, Ballet West rented out Discovery Gateway and had a big party. The party was for the kids and their families. (Which it should have been. If you have a child in nutcracker it is a huge time commitment, which obviously involves the entire families time.) I truly am not complaining though Will loved it and wants to do it again. The party was a lot of fun. They fed us and had things for the kids to make. They also had a live D.J. and dancing and door prizes. Quite a shin dig!

A Sunbeam!!

2009-01-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Lauren Fetzer, Olivia Riches, Audrey Carter, Annie Dansie,

Timothy Westenskow, LouAnn Anderson. JESUS WANTS OLIVIA FOR A SUNBEAM!

It's official, my little girl is now a big sunbeam. She was more than excited when she woke up this morning in anticipation of attending primary for the first time. She was beaming as she walked through the door of primary. She found her little seat and grinned as big as a cheshire cat to anyone that would look her way.

10 a.m. and Counting

2009-01-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

Liv, Gavin, Andrew, Will.

When ever the kids have a sleep over, which is not often mind you, I always sleep in the same room with them. This cuts down on the mischief that I'm sure they would get into. (Which I know I sure did as a kid at sleep overs.) But mainly because I love hearing what they talk about once the lights go out. Out of sight out of mind. They forget I'm there and they talk about the craziest things, I love it. I love their developing sense of humors and the tale tales they tell each other. I could do without the farting and burping contests but I guess that's all part of the package.

Go Utes!!

2009-01-02T00:33:00.000-08:00

THEY DID IT!!!

Unless you are a true Ute fan you would have said there was no way it could be done. But they did it baby! They beat number four ranked Alabama 31 to 17 . By winning they also ended their season with a perfect record. No other team can say that this year. This should gain them some much deserved respect in the football world. Way to go Utes, way to represent.

Bounce U

2008-12-30T23:38:00.000-08:00

We were ready for some rough and tumble fun so we invited the Fosters, Henricksons, and the Bentleys to try out a new bounce place with us. It was a blast! The mom's even got in on the fun. (Good job ladies!!) The kids were all tired and sweaty by the time we left. (Even Olivia was sweaty, I have never seen her sweat before.)
No Kirstie is not crying but is does look like that. The kids were playing slam basketball and Will took her down! Take that Kirstie!

They had a circular shaped apparatus that was filled with web like rings inside that were made of elastic. It was quite a challenge getting to the top but we all made it. Julie and I think we should have one installed in our backyards. A few times up that every day and we'd be in shape in no time!

Sheer bliss!

The boys wanted to have a slam dunk competition. Who do you think won?

Such a fun place, we will definitely be back!

Super Brother

2008-12-30T08:36:00.000-08:00

We were getting ready to go and meet some friends and we had all just taken showers. I was the last one in and when I came into the living room I was completely surprised to find Will attempting to do Olivia's hair. So sweet! He actually did a pretty good job to. He'd combed it all back into a pony tail that stayed in. I love what good friends Will and Liv are. It's times like these that melt your heart as a mom.

Little Ballerina

2008-12-30T00:13:00.000-08:00

After a super yummy dinner at the Reynold's, Lauren their oldest daughter got out her toe shoes for ballet. Olivia was mesmerized, just look at her little face. She showed Liv what they do first and then she let her try them on. Livvy LOVED it!! We may have a future ballerina on our hands. Thanks Lauren, she couldn't have been happier.

Bring on the Sledding!!

2008-12-29T23:03:00.000-08:00

Julie Bentley invited us for a day of sledding and yummy lunch. We couldn't pass that up so away we went. We love to go sledding together. Liv is at a great age for sledding, I don't have to carry her, me and the sled up the hill this year she can do it all by herself. (My back thanks her strong little legs!) Bring on the snow! We hope to sled many more times this winter!On your mark, get set, GO!
Two cool snow boarders!

Liv is always glad when Elliot can come and hang out.

This picture is so interesting to me. It looks like the tube is floating. What do you think?

Will is totally getting the hang of the snow boarding thing. Even when the hills are icy from all the sledders he is able to ride it out. Go Will, you rock!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T22:52:00.000-08:00

I am usually the first person up on Christmas morning. I get so excited that I start climbing into bed with everyone asking them if they want to see if Santa's come. No one ever does, perhaps because I start at 5ish. This year though I was up chatting with my sister until 1ish so when Will came running into the room at 6 announcing at the top of his lungs that Santa came I was still fast asleep. We all wiped the sleep from our eyes and headed for the family room because of course none of the kids were up for catching a few more zzzzz's.
I love to watch the kids open their presents and seeing their reactions. Christmas is such a magical time on so many different levels.

Merry Christmas I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we all did.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

We always look forward to our Christmas Eve party with the Riches family. It has changed and evolved over the years as the majority of the grandchildren have grown. But we still love getting together especially with our awesome Papa!

Jenna made a bear and named her Skipper for Liv. Liv gave Audra a tub time baby. The older grand kids do a white elephant exchange and this year Jeff ended up with Joshua's gift. The two legged lamp. Will gave it a thumbs down but Jeff knew it would be a hit with his room mates. It really works to is the amazing thing. When it was unwrapped for the first time the room exploded with laughter. Good idea Josh!

Will, Abigail, Olivia, Mason.

Grammy made everyone their Christmas P.J.'s. So cute.

Grandad always reads The night before Christmas to the grand kids before they go to sleep on Christmas eve. I love that tradition.

We sleep at my parents every Christmas eve. Brian was hoping that because they only live a few streets away now that we'd sleep at home but the kids and I nixed that idea. We sleep in the same bed and anxiously await Santa's arrival. So far every year we have been lucky enough to hear Santa's bells on the roof. This year we even heard Santa ho, ho, ho, and say Prancer get back in line. They were so excited, Olivia's little body was shaking with excitement!!

Moose Hill Sledding Party

2008-12-23T15:20:00.000-08:00

Mr Beck's first grade class.Front row: Devon, C.J., Lenaia, Jason, Will, Jocelyn, Davis, Chance and Nick.

Back row: Selena, Trinity, Mr. Beck, Kaccie, Riley, Cole (Davis brother), and Jason.
These fellas tore up the slopes on Will's snow board.

Mr. Beck (in the red U jacket) challenged our two awesome special ed. teachers to a race down the hill. Go Mr. Beck, go Mr. Beck!!! (As the kids would say.)

Will got his hands on one of those old fashioned sleds and loved it!

Some of Will's classmates had never been sledding before but they all did really well and had a super fun time. I especially loved Selena's squeal of glee every time she would head down the hill. She went down more times than anyone else I think.

The class race!

Olivia's Preschool Christmas Program

2008-12-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Olivia loved singing her Christmas songs to all of us at the program. She has gone around all month singing the song about Santa in Africa. Doesn't she look adorable!
She had a lot of people come to see just her. Grammy, Lexy, Grandpa, Dad, Mom, Will, Krista, Garret, Laif, Tammy and Jessica Ynda.

The program was very well put together with all of the kids having a talking part and lots of songs both old and new. I love to watch kids in a live performance you never know exactly what they're going to do!! (There were three different classes combined for the performances but Olivia has a lot of her friends in all of the classes.)

First Grade Gingerbread Builders

2008-12-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

It's a tradition at Parkside for the first graders to make gingerbread houses. Some parents put the walls together a few days earlier and the kids all brought candy to share. It was interesting watching their little personalities shine through in their decorating. Some put on as much candy as they possibly could. Others were very detail oriented, while others couldn't help but eat most of their candy. We had a lot of mom's come to help and most of them couldn't help but get in on the action too.

Nutcracker

2008-12-16T21:02:00.000-08:00

Will has truly had the best time this Christmas performing with Utah's professional dance company, Ballet West in their production of the Nutcracker. He had the part of the spank boy and absolutely loved it!! Will's good friend Andrew had encouraged him to try out so Will thought he would give it a try. He tried out the beginning of September while Brian and I were in New York, so we were not able to be there with him at his first audition. Luckily Grammy and Grandad took him and waited outside while he auditioned. I anxiously awaited his call and when it finally came his excitement at making it was almost tangible. There are four casts of children and Will was placed in the A cast. Which means they perform first. Practice started almost straight away and Will was excited every time. He loved the choreographer Katie. He often came home mimicking things she would say and do at rehearsal. He made fast friends with all of the other boys, his favorite though was the boy cast as Fritz in his cast. He thought Matthew was hilarious and by far the best of all the Fritz's. Though Matthew was an "old" sixth grader he was always very sweet with Will and really made him feel included. Thanks Matthew! Will's cast did four performances in Ogden and six at Capitol Theater. A lot of our friends and family were able to come and see him but the highlight for Will was when his oh so cool teacher Mr. Beck arranged for the entire first grade to come and attend a performance. It was so fun to see his classmates little faces as he performed. This last week he has been the under study for his part for B cast and he is also the urchin at the very beginning of the ballet. He has missed being the spank boy but is happy to get his face all dirty with the makeup that the urchin wears. Tomorrow night will be his last performance and while it has been very time consuming for Brian and I it has been pure delight watching him achieve and shine. I completely enjoyed watching him perform and seeing how at home he was on the stage. I am so proud of all of his hard work. Well done little Will! You were the perfect spank boy.

Busy Blogger

2008-12-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

I have officially passed the 100 blogs mark. I can't believe it! Thanks for getting me started Angie, it truly is fast and fun. I had a lot of catching up to do so if anyone's interested take a peak at the November entries too.

Surprise, Surprise!

2008-12-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

Will came home this evening to find nutcracker cut outs and starburst candies all over his room. His good friends Macie and McKae Eldrege had come to see him perform in the nutcracker this weekend and to say good job they decorated his room. What fun friends, Will loved it and had a smile from ear to ear. Thanks girls!! ( And thanks to their super cool mom!)

Run Run Rudolph

2008-12-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

Olivia and her buddy Cole.

Olivia takes dance at E-Motion and she loves it. Most mornings she will say to me, "is today dancing day?" When it's not she is always a little sad for a while. Olivia is constantly singing and dancing any chance that she gets. I love her spirit and her personality so much! She is such a happy little soul, so full of love and light. Her little group danced to run run Rudolph at the Christmas concert. We had decided to not have her perform but the night before the concert she was telling her aunties and uncles and grandpa how that she was going to be dancing on the stage. So we had to rearrange our schedules in order to make that possible. I'm glad that we did she had a ball!!

Festival of Trees

2008-12-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

We love to kick off the Christmas season by attending the Festival of Trees. I love the generosity that makes this festival possible and so worth while. So many volunteers donate time in making the goodies that are sold, the trees that are decorated, and the people who are there to run it and who have put it all together. A true act of love and selflessness, it epitomizes the real meaning of Christmas. ( For those that don't know, all the money made at the festival goes to Primary Children's Hospital to pay for medical treatment for those that can't afford it.)
The kid area at the festival is always a hit. Gavin, Liv ans Will all had a lot of fun doing the various crafts. Gavin and Liv even got manicures.

Liv's favorite tree, I'm sure it had a lot to do with all the sparkles.

Will loved this tree and display because of the hundreds of nutcrackers. Will has collected nutcrackers since he was two and now because of his role in the nutcracker ballet he loves them even more.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

We started off our Thanksgiving morning with a big bubble bath for three beautiful girls.

Lexy, Liv and Abers.
At our house my Dad has always prepared the Thanksgiving meal. He always does a mighty delicious job to. Thanks Dad!
Our turkey weighed in at almost 40 pounds this year. ( Michael's friend raised him on his ranch.)

Mason, Liv and Ryker enjoyed their after feast of goldfish crackers.

How do you like Mason's socks? He was very happy to show them off. Grammy had bought matching socks for all the girls but he wanted to get in on the act.

Fabulous Hats

2008-11-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

My awesome friend Julie Bentley is a true giver. Every year for the Festival of Trees she donates many hours making things for them to sell and she also donates a day of her time to help there. This year she made really cute beany hats and because it's so close to my birthday she allowed me to pick one out. We were having a cousin sleep over when she came over so we all tried one on for the photo, don't we all look adorable? Thanks Julie, we all think you are amazing!

Polar Express Party

2008-11-26T09:17:00.000-08:00

We decided to have a Polar Express party this year and because of Will's nutcracker schedule December nights are already full. So we had our little party on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The kids invited some of their friends over and they came in their p.j.'s with a can of food each to donate to the food bank. We watched the polar express, drank hot chocolate, and ate way to much popcorn. At the end of the movie Santa arrived surprising us all. Each child sat on his lap and told him what they'd like for Christmas. Surprisingly there were no rambling lists, all of them only asked for one thing each. Santa gave them each a bell from his sleigh and then we all sang jingle bells to him. I love the magic of Christmas!Macie, Nils, Andrew, Gavin, Abigail, Jennifer, Lenaia
Jennifer, Sidnee, Lenaia, Nils

Alan, Devon, Nick, Will, Jarret,Abigail,Andrew,Nils (again), Gavin

Macie,Alexys, McKae, Abigail, Nils

Elliot, Carlyn, Jake, Isaac, Nils, Finn, Thomas, Mattheson

I loved watching their little faces as they sat on Santa's lap. Mason was the best of all he was so happy and jabbered for quite a while. This was Olivia's first time to sit on Santa's lap, she has always been petrified!

Jingle bells, jingle bells!

Thanksgiving Party

2008-11-24T23:29:00.000-08:00

For Will's 1st grade class Thanksgiving party we made turkeys out of pumpkins. They were quick and easy and the kids really enjoyed it.
Check out Mr. Beck's authentic Indian headdress!

The Indians and pilgrims made their head wear ahead of time. They all made up a Indian name for themselves as well. Will's was Running Fox Tail.

Abigail, Nick, Will, Alan, Riley, Kassie, Chance, Selena, the pilgrims.

Devon, Jason, C.J., John, Cristian, Jocelyn, Jaxon, Trinity, the Indians.

Pumpkin pie and ice-cream....peace!

Pre-school Pajama Party

2008-11-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

Completely adorable!! At school today you could come in your P.J.'s and bring your favorite animal. Liv has a few favorites but she chose to take her ballerina elephant named Ellie. She was so excited about wearing her jammies to school, she could hardly get them on fast enough. She especially liked that she could wear her new pink ones that her daddy had brought home from New York for her.
Sarah-Kate, Liv, Gavin. Timothy, Dallas.

A kiss for Grammies dog Mr. Hinkley.

The Geese Are Back

2008-11-20T00:06:00.000-08:00

Every fall the Canadian Geese make their return to Murray park. We enjoy feeding them and watching them fly in their V formation. Olivia likes chasing them around as well. We took our friend Cole with us to feed them today and he was not sure about it. I suppose it would be intimidating to have a giant bird looking you eye to eye.

Melen Cave

2008-11-16T00:27:00.000-08:00

Will, Abigail, Katelyn, Kassidee, Mason, Uncle Nick, Olivia.
There are 2 caves just outside of Rangely that the kids love to visit when they come to town. They feel so adventurous and brave exploring them.

Happy 6th Birthday Abigail

2008-11-15T23:53:00.000-08:00

Abigail had a magical pony party to celebrate her sixth birthday. Her mom made a beautiful pony cake and wands for all the girls. Everyone got tails and ears and manes. They also got pink riding gloves, while the boys got monogrammed wrist bands. Very fun!!No one including Abigail knew that a real horse was coming to give all of the kids rides. They were so excited and waited patiently for their turn.

One of Will's favorite parts of going to Rangely is wrestling with Uncle Nick and little Mason. He also loves to go on rides on all the different four wheelers that they own. Will would be a very happy country boy.

So many monkey faces

2008-11-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

I love times like this at the zoo, when you're the only ones there and the animals do things that are not typical. Or perhaps because it's not so crowded and you can be nose to nose with an orangutan for half an hour and not feel rushed. The kids laughed so much. They got the orangutan to move and put his hand on the glass. Love their little faces too.Cole Foster and Liv.
Liv, Cole and Laif were all zonked after all the walking at the zoo.

Happy Bday Elliot

2008-11-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

Elliot had a fun P.J. birthday party filled with friends, laughter, lots of games,crafts, good food, a movie, lots of singing, plenty of running, and a very fun time. (Good job Gitte.) Happy, happy 7th birthday Elliot.

Aspiring artists

2008-11-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

I love how well Will and Liv play together. They are such good friends, they always look out for each other and truly enjoy their time together. I hope these days never end for them. I hope they will always enjoy each others company and make time for each other.

Pre-school Halloween

2008-10-31T23:37:00.000-07:00

Cute kids at pre-school including the ninja turtle, Forest as Buzz light year, Olivia the pig, Gavin the bunny, Dallas as batman, and Timmy as Thomas the train.

Trick or Treat

2008-10-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays, a close second to Christmas. I love the creativity that it brings. I love a good corn maze, beautiful fall weather, excited children, parties, the planning and creating of costumes............ to many things to name.Will chose to be a radio active bucket of slime and Olivia was Olivia the pig from the Ian Falconer books.
Sherry and Phil Cox always feed the whole neighborhood on Halloween night. Liv especially loved the dip..... Liv and Lauren loved being able to trick or treat together..... We went trick or treating this year with the Eldredges, Hanceys and Fetzers.

McKae as Hermione, Will as slime, Matt as the hulk, Macie as a witch, Olivia the pig, Jake as Iron Man.

Halloween at School

2008-10-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

Will's teacher Mr. Beck and his cute wife and baby boy.

Snuggly Cousins

2008-10-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

After church almost every Sunday we come Grammy and Grandads for Sunday dinner. It's such a nice tradition and we look forward to the delicious meals and great company all week long. This week after lunch the cousins snuggled up together in Grammies chair and Grandad put sleeping beauty on for them to watch. It was Liv's first time, she loved it other than the scary witch.

Trunk or Treat again!

2008-10-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

Nate Eldrege, Bishop Taylor and

Keith Larson were our

fearless chili contest judges

this year.

Troy and Jen Johnson sporting their fabulous mullets.

We had a great turn out for our trunk or treat about 200 people came. Will won the award for the grossest pumpkin. He had a pumpkin that was throwing up its innards and a bunch of candy wrappers surrounding it. With a sign that read he ate to much candy. The kids enjoyed the part when they came up on the stage to parade across when their names were called.

We love Halloween!

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Will chose to be a bucket of slime and Olivia is Olivia the Pig. ( For those of you that don't know, Olivia the pig is a series of books that are very cute and very much like our little Liv. ) All of Will and Liv's grandparents are in the same ward, pretty nice for them. They went to their trunk or treat and had a fabulous time. Cousins Alexys the witch and Ryker the frog prince we came too. The picture with Olivia with her little friends are Olivia Shelton dressed as Cinderella and Morgan Bushman dressed as a princess.

Cook Club at Lisa's

2008-10-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

We always have such yummy food and a beautiful table setting when ever we eat at Lisa's for cooking club. Tonight was no exception. We had delicious salads with watermelon, goat cheese, greens, and balsamic dressing. A yummy vegetable pasta dish and two scrumptious desserts to choose from. She also had real strawberry lemonade with big chunkers......so good! Michelle and sexy Julie came a little late so they didn't make the photos. We missed our girlies that were sick or to busy putting up their closet organizers, or playing with their kids......... Martina, Adrianne, and Karinne. Thanks Lisa it was amazing as always.

Pigtails!

2008-10-23T13:44:00.000-07:00

This was Olivia's first day to have pigtails, her hair is finally long enough!
This day has been along time coming, both she and I have waited and waited. She has noticed other little girls hair for such a long time but hers was so slow to grow. But it's here now and she was extremely excited this morning. If you ever want to see a big grin on Olivia's face all you have to do is to tell her how long her hair is getting.

South Dakota

2008-10-19T20:57:00.001-07:00

For U.E.A. weekend the Davis family invited us to go to South Dakota with them in their motor home, so we were off. We left Wednesday night and by 6 a.m. we had arrived at Mt. Rushmore. Perfect timing, we were there to see the sun come up on the monument and watch the faces change color. (They went from grey to red.) We were excited to find some mountain goats having an early morning breakfast. Will asked a ranger that was near by if she'd ever seen the goats up on the faces and she said she had. That would be a sight!
Liv and Will sat next to the bust of Gutzon Borglum, he was the man who designed and headed the construction of the monument. He died before the completion of the monument so his son completed his fathers work. There were quite a lot of stairs around the monument, can you see Brian and Liv on their way down?
Our next stop was the Crazy Horse monument. We all agreed that this was more impressive than Mt. Rushmore. It's sheer size is quite amazing. In the evening you can return for music, story and laser light show on the mountain where the monument is being built. It was very well done. The picture below is from the laser show. It was the last image shown and it was how Crazy Horse will look upon completion.

To give some perspective of it's size, the hole that is below the face can hold a 10 story building.

This metal gate was beautiful. It show cases all the animals that live in the Black Hills.

The white cast shows what they hope to accomplish. Truly amazing to think that they are carving this from a mountain. The wooden face that Will is standing by is the only image of Crazy Horse that they had to go off. No photographs or sketches were ever taken of the mighty warrior Crazy Horse. All of these things were housed in a huge museum dedicated to the North American Indian. It was very interesting for the kids and adults. I especially liked learning about the man who dedicated most of his life to the creation of this monument. The pain staking time that he put in and all with out government funding. he carved the smaller model and though he has since passed away several of his children still over see his life's work.

I should have taken more photos of this pedigree chart. It is Sitting Bulls genealogy. Some of the names were quite humorous. I'm glad someone saved this information.

These were 2 of the most dangerous bears kept at Bear Country.

Ryan Davis and Brian Riches.

We drove through this park in the R.V. The animals were so close to us. We saw bears,elk, deer, wolves, big horn sheep, bison, and many other animals. The baby bears on the top left were a big hit, they were so playful and fun to watch.

Our own baby bears were a little more tame.

Top row: Alyssa, Liv, Grace.

Bottom row: Will, MaKenna.

There are a lot of caves to explore in South Dakota. We chose to go to Jewel Cave National Monument. This cave is filled with crystals. While inside you climb about 750 stairs and that's after a long elevator ride down.

Will took quite a liking to our tour guide, Jack Howell. he allowed Will to lead a few times so Will thought that was so cool.

To go on a more adventurous tour of the cave you must be able to fit through this cement slab. Brian really tried to get through the slab but couldn't do it. The space represents some of the openings you must fit through on the tour. Man, my claustrophobia wouldn't allow me to go on that tour. Yikes!

Fun at the camp ground.

The carousel at the camp ground was on a free timer so the kids all thought that was fabulous

Grace and Olivia had so much fun chasing these sleepy ducks.

We stopped at a park in Rapid City called Story Book Island. Such a fun place the kids all loved it.( I did too.)

Santa, Rapunzel, Peter Peter pumpkin eater, Humpty Dumpty, There was a crooked man.

Wizard of Oz, Jack and Jill, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Snow White,Pinocchio, Ride a cock horse.

There were so many others, these were just a few of our favorites.

After passing through Sturgiss and Deadwood we came upon this place in a canyon that was dedicated to all of our nations presidents. All of their busts were about 20 feet high and by each bust was a synopsis of their term as president. It also had a paragraph about each of their wives. Such a fun idea it was very interesting.

George Washington

Bush, Roosevelt, Kennedy.

Will's teacher Mr. Beck always says "Thinkin' like Lincoln" So Will put on his thinking face for a photo with Lincoln.

Finally some photos of the Mom's, I guess that's what happens when you take all the photos.

I love the background of this photo.

Gorgeous!

Gorgeous people too!!

Devil's Tower was our first national monument and it is also one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Our trip was going to smoothly so about three hours from home at about two in the morning this tire went out in the middle of mo where. After several calls for help we found that there was none to be had and that we would have to wait until seven in the morning. Ryan pulled off the road the best that he could and we all waited. Every time a semi would go past it would rock the R.V. and I was scared that a drowsy driver would plow into us from behind. Poor Ryan was sleeping on the floor and MaKenna fell off the top bunk while she was asleep and fell with her knees hitting Ryan in the face. He thought his cheek was broken. What a night! We made it to seven a.m. and someone came and fixed the tire.

Thanks Davis family for a very fun trip. All the kids got along so well, ( the adults too) and we can't wait to see what our next adventure will be with you guys. After Vancouver, Washington, San Diego, and the Caribbean with you guys who knows what will be next?!!

Yum, school lunch

2008-10-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, we all remember having yummy school lunch. This week at school you could bring a grown up to lunch on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. Will was lucky enough to have Grammy and mom on Monday and dad and papa on Tuesday. Papa said school lunch wasn't so bad, but he really enjoyed sharing a meal with Will at school and meeting his friends. Grammy thought it was pretty noisy and crazy in the lunch room, but she to liked eating with Will.

Grammy at Pre-school

2008-10-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

At Olivia's pre-school their theme for two weeks is "Children from around the world". Her teacher called and asked if I would like to talk about Australia so when I told my Mom she wanted to come. The kids loved it! She brought animals for them to hold and taught them about songs that they'd sing in Australia.The kids took turns trying on the kangaroo skins and hopping around the room.

And of course we ate fairy bread. (bread with butter and sprinkles)

Principal Riches

2008-10-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

Principal Riches at the beginning of his busy day.

Principal Riches and Principal Kranz

Our school had a silent auction last week as a fundraiser. Will wanted to bid on being principal of his school for the day. ( Will really likes our principal she's so great with the kids.) He won the bid and got the opportunity to hang out with Mrs. Kranz all day. She put him to work straight away sorting papers for the teachers boxes. He got to do two teacher evaluations, supervise lunch, go to the district office, go to lunch and other principal like duties. Will loved it!! Other kids still call him Principal Riches. ( Doesn't he look adorable in his little suit?!!)

Happy 14th Anniversary!

2008-09-30T16:27:00.001-07:00

Wow 14 years!

Time truly does fly when you're married to your best friend. 14 years ago in the Manti temple I married a man that I was so in love with and so impressed with. Over the years my feelings for him have only grown and expanded into different areas of my life. He is always aware and gentle to my feelings and my heart. I feel so treasured by him. I know that I am the most important person in his life. He is always telling me how beautiful I am and how much he loves me even when I feel undeserving of such unconditional love. He is such an incredible dad! He loves to be with his children and will go out of his way to make sure he is there for them. Though our lives are not perfect I could never imagine sharing it with any other person. I love you Brian and look forward to many more exciting, adventurous, fun filled, loving years with you. You rock!!!
We ate at Biaggi's at the Gateway. My dish was black fettuccine with a cream sauce topped with mushrooms and lobster. The black noodles really made it look like an exotic dish. Brian had raviolis with pesto and parmesan. It was very yummy.

Fun with the Cousins

2008-09-28T15:37:00.000-07:00

Going to see the witches at Gardener Village has become a tradition for us, we love it. Usually we go in our costumes but our cousins were here just for a couple of days so we decided to go anyway. We went on a Sunday afternoon and no one was around because all the stores were closed, it was perfect!Our little family. Mom, Liv, Will, Dad.
They posed themselves for this picture saying they were being chased by the witch in the wagon. Alexys, Will, Abigail.

While looking at the water while on this bridge we noticed a huge frog head poking through the water. It was so large that we were sure it was a toy. Will went to get a closer look and as he approached it, it dove under the water. We were all really surprised!!

Can you see Brian, Will and Liv in the middle of the picture? This playground is located behind West Jordan's city hall, the kids love going here. It's the best place for playing tag and hide and seek. There are so many tunnels and nooks and crannies. Will has always called it the fort playground but Olivia now calls it the castle playground. It's all about perspective I guess.

Little Ryker is so cute! He wants so badly to keep up with all the big cousins.

Olivia's legs in the climbing wall picture look so long!!

Can you spot three girls in the bottom right picture?

Follow the leader.

Handsome William!

Cubby House

2008-09-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Will spent a long time with his grandad today building shelves for grammys storage area. When they were finished grandad gave him some wood to build a little work bench for himself. They worked together on cutting the wood and then Will did all the hammering and put all the screws in all by himself. Will was so excited to show me his good work. Will loves his grandad.
The Brown family cousins were visiting from Colorado so we were all at grandads together. The cousins love to be together! They built this amazing cubby big enough to fit all the cousins.
Liv, Abigail and Alexys at the top. Will on the left and Ryker and Mason on the right.

Go Sharks!!

2008-09-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

This was Will's first time playing soccer with Murray Rec. The fields were a lot bigger and they do not use goalies. Will really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun with the boys that were on the team. Will has always taken a strikers approach to the game and though he did still score some goals this season he really enjoyed and did well playing defense. He is so fast and has a good sense of the field that he was really good at getting the ball away from the opposing team and getting it up the field. It will be interesting to see where he ends up playing as he gets older. Our neighbor Laurel Fetzer was the coach this season, thanks Laurel. Bottom row left to right. Cameron Reed, -----------,Logan, Will Riches,Justin.

Top row. Jarrett Henrickson, Seth, J.J. Hawkins, Laurel Fetzer, Thomas Fetzer, Cannon.

Gymnastics

2008-09-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

Olivia has been taking gymnastics for a month now at Hunt's Gymnastics. She loves it! She's always so excited to go and though she's the youngest in the class there is no stopping her. I love to watch her trying to get her little body to do donkey kicks and back bends and other things. Her teachers name is Paul Hunt, if you do a search for him on youtube you're in for a good laugh.The little guy in the red is Olivia's friend Cole Foster.
Super hand stand Liv!
At the end of every class their teacher has them sit on tha mat and one at a time they come up and he'll blow bubbles and they pop them while Paul says, "clapping, clapping, clapping, now you may take a sucker." After class Liv and Cole are in the back of the car and I hear them saying over and over, "and clapping, clapping, clapping, you may take a sucker." So funny!!

She's Gone A Little Buggy

2008-09-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it's true, every time I turn around lately Olivia has another bug in her hand. She has absolutely no fear when it comes to bugs. She'll pick up ugly grub looking things and huge creepy beetles and she thinks they are all fabulous. She'll ooooo and ahhh over them and talk to them the way she does to her dolls. There is some tom boy in my girly girl after all.

It's a girl hopper, mom.

2008-09-17T17:40:00.000-07:00

On our walk home from preschool Liv spotted a grasshopper. She was so excited!! She was sure it was a girl hopper and wanted to take her home. She would bend over and touch its back legs and then squeal with delight as it would hop or fly through the air. It was hilarious to watch I was laughing so hard!! I love Olivia's laugh, it is pure joy to me to hear her laugh the way she did today. Simple pleasures are always the best!

Olivia's First Soccer Game!!

2008-09-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

Olivia has been watching Will play soccer her whole life. The last few seasons she has been really been wanting to get out there herself and now that she's three she finally can. When we went to pick her uniform we discussed what the color choices were and she was sure that her team would be assigned purple. Well surprise, surprise, they are purple, she was so pleased. (seriously, could she be any cuter?!!!)And yes she has pink on her shoes, pink shinguards, and a pink ball!

Will put on his old uniform to show support for Liv's team. (He's played on so many team's he has almost every color.)

We decided to name our team the Rhinos so Liv practiced putting on her rhino horns for our team cheer.

Another Lazy Sunday

2008-09-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday afternoon Olivia snuggles up with her daddy for a nap. Such a lucky girl. She loves her daddy so much, he is her favorite person and she is always quick to let you know that. Will ate some beets for lunch and liked the way they made him look like he was in a fight. Funny boy!! He didn't like the taste of them but ate them anyway in hopes of turning his urine pink. We'll see if that works.

New York!

2008-09-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

One of my very favorite places to go is New York City. I love the hustle and bustle, the many colored faces and languages you hear, the history, the shopping, the theater, the complexity of the subway, the delicious and varieties of food, and the good times that await you. Brian and Dave had to go for a work trip so Lisa and I tagged along. We went to three musicals, Spamalot, Wicked and Gypsy. Spamalot was funny, Bri especially liked it being a Monty Python fan. Wicked's staging was absolutely incredible, the story really makes you think about judging others. Gypsy was fun, the lead was played by tony award winner Patty Lupone and she was truly amazing. Oh to have theater like that here. That would be a dream!
Lisa and I drove to the very end of Long Island, through the Hamptons. The Hamptons were not really what I expected but it was pretty. at the end of the island was the Montauk Lighthouse. It has quite a story. I'm glad I was able to visit it.

We went down on the beach by the lighthouse and climbed the rocks all the way around it. I'm holding a crab that we found. I love watching the ocean spray as it collides with the retaining wall of rock, so beautiful.

When I visit historic places I love to sit and think about what it would have been like to be the first person to live here, and what were there lives like? What were the african slaves that walked on these shores thinking as they arrived?

Lisa and I visited Sleepy Hollow, where the home of Washinton
Irving lived and wrote his stories, The legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip VanWinkle. It's very densely wooded and mossy where he lived. It was just how I imagined it when I read his stories. Lisa and I also toured the Lyndhurst home. It was like a small castle, very extravagant! It was owned by a man with the last name Gould who lived the same time as Rockefeller and who had the same amount of wealth. The home is right on the Hudson river. We ate at Legal Seafood our last night there with all the Beacon Metals crew that had come for the meeting. On the right top to bottom: Hillary Beck, Jen Rosval, Mike McKay, Dan Mercer. On the left and decidedly better looking side of the table is Dave Riches, Lisa Riches, and Brian Riches.

I am unique!

2008-09-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Olivia did a poster for preschool all about her. It was fun working with her on her first "school" project. There were a lot of various questions that she had to answer all about her self. She said her favorite food was frozen peas and corn, pink pigs are her favorite animal, her favorite activity is to dance and she wants to be a zoo keeper when she grows up. ( Though not for snakes!) If she could wish for anything it would be a pink unicorn with wings. It was great hearing her deliver this to her class and to hear their reactions to her answers. We love Miss Jani's preschool!!

She Couldn't Wait

2008-09-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

The big day finally arrived! Olivia started pre-school today and she couldn't have been more excited or ready. Will started school last week and Olivia kept asking when hers would start and every time we'd drive by she would say ,"there's my school!" She is going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Her teacher is Jani Laga and she has the pre-school in her home in our neighborhood, so convenient. Jani is darling so we are looking forward to a wonderful pre-school experience. Olivia you are growing way to fast!! I love you my little princess.
Olivia and her buddy Gavin Reynolds, ready for their big day.

Lake Mary

2008-08-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

McKae,Mattheson,William,Olivia,Macie We took the Eldredge kids and went on a hike to Lake Mary. All of the kids were great hikers and loved being up in the mountains.
Olivia loves to hike with daddy because when she gets tired he's always good for a ride.

I loved this old tree, how does it grow in such a rocky area?

This fat little chipmunk came right up to us while we were eating lunch by the lake. He was very brave.

Mighty mountain climbers!

Lake Mary

Good friends

one of these things is not like the other

2008-08-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

One of these things is not like the other!

Grandad bought this huge cabbage from the farmers market today, the kids couldn't believe it's size.

Aunty Sharon

2008-08-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

I told Aunty Sharon about ear candles and she bravely decided to give a go. You light the end of a parrifin ear candle and hold the end into your ear canal, it creates a suction that pulls out your wax. It works really well and feels great. On a different subject, Aunty Sharon has been visiting from Australia for a whole month and it's been great getting reacquainted with her. We got to take her on lots of adventures and explorations she was a real trooper. She leaves tomorrow to go home and we will really miss her! We love you Aunty Sharon! ( By the way my mom thought this picture was hilarious because my Aunt is a smoker. She said when they see this at home they'll think she's started smoking with her ear. Ha,ha.)

A lazy friday

2008-08-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

Adrianne invited us over to swim Friday while the big kids were at school. It was such a nice afternoon. Olivia and Laif Larsen get along so well, they laugh lots and really enjoy being together. We had a few of these blow up floaty things, they were calling them boats and loved hopping from boat to boat.

Back to School

2008-08-25T22:32:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can't believe Will is in first grade! He is so excited and I am so sad. It's such a long time to be away from him, 7 hours and 20 minutes to be exact. I teased him saying that he should repeat kindergarten so we could still have half a day together but he wasn't buying that idea. So many people have said just enjoy your time alone but I love to be around Will. He is such a joy in my life but I do know he needs to grow up so I suppose I will have to be brave. We are so excited about Will's teacher. He has a male teacher this year, Mr. Beck. He is so enthusiastic and full of energy, it's going to be a great year for Will.
Will and his friends Alan Rodriguez and Davis Foster.

Zions

2008-08-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Zions for the day and loved exploring it. It is an amazingly beautiful place. The contrasts in color are stunning. I can't wait to go again when we have more time.
It's so strange to play in a river that is warm. Living in Utah all the rivers that we hike next to are always freezing, but this one was perfect. Given the chance the kids could have played there all day.

Will found a place in the river that had a natural rock waterslide.

Beautiful Liv!

Will spotted a mother deer with her two babies, walking through the river. The babies were still so young that they had their spots.

Las Vegas

2008-08-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Aunty Sharon is visiting from Australia so we took her to Las Vegas for a few days. While we were there we decided to go to the Tournament of Kings at Excaliber. (It's a medieval dinner and while you're eating there is a big tournament going on in front of you. Sword fighting, jousting, etc. and all on real horses.) You sit in a big circular arena and each section is assigned a country, we were Austria. When your king comes out you cheer for him and boo at the others. King Arthur is there to referee the tournament. We were on the front row and because the kids were dressed up they got a lot of attention from the actors. Olivia was blown kisses and the kings would bow to Will. King arthur in the middle of the tournament offered will his sword to come down and fight. Will graciously declined. The top middle photo was with our king. It was very interactive and the kids had a ball.
Aunty Sharon and Grammy came with us too.

The kids took Grammy to the Mandalay Bay Aquarium and loved it when she acted as though she were afraid of the sharks.

Anything goes

2008-08-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

Olivia tells Moon Face and Will to stick 'em up!We went to Murray park amphitheater to watch the kids cousin John perform in the musical ANYTHING GOES. John had one of the leads, Moonface Martin public enemy #13. He did a super job. Olivia quite a few times when John would be on stage would shout out "Hi John!". (Good thing we were on the back row.) Will really enjoyed it, laughing out loud at various places, though he was a little embarressed for John when he had to pull his pants down and show everyone his underwear! One of the songs that John sang was about being like a bird and he would flap his arms and say tweet tweet then tra-la-tra-la while dancing. Will thought that was a hoot and has often mimiced that part several times. It was a fun show we're glad we went. Good job John!!

Flying for Dad's birthday

2008-08-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

We suprised Brian for his 41st birthday by picking him up at work early and driving him to Ogden to try indoor sky diving. Both Brian and Will gave it a go and they both loved it. Because it was their first time they were not allowed to do any tricks so they are both itching to get back and give the tricks a go. The guys that worked there were doing demonstrations and it was like watching superman fly around. Their control in there was very impressive. We'll have to build one of these in our backyard. (That would be awesome.) Happy birthday Brian!! We love you.

60, oh my!

2008-08-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Grammy's 60th birthday today by having a yummy family dinner prepared by grandad. Aunty Sharon bought her a cake and Alexys and Olivia helped to cut it. We love our Grammy!!

You're ruining my life!

2008-08-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

While on our way to Costco with Grandad, Olivia said to Will in a very loud and determined voice,"you are ruining my life!" Grandad and I started laughing so hard but she was very serious. When I asked her what was wrong she said that Will took the cards from her that she's holding in the photo. She went on to explain that that's what the princesses say in the movies when they are angry with someone. So there you have it. Don't upset Olivia!

Mom's 60th Birthday Tea

2008-08-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

My mother, Raylene Gail Strathairn Jones, turned SIXTY this weekend. We reserved spots at the Protea Cottage at Gardener Village for a hawaiian tea party. It was delicious and so much fun. We were there for two and a half hours, talking, laughing and enjoying one anothers company, lovely!
Aunty Sharon and I won the awards for best hawaiian attire. Don't we look fabulous?

Susie Bradford, mom's good friend joined us. Mom looked beautiful in her white dress.

Anne Grisham, mom's neighbor and friend. The women in green on the right is mom's friend Iva, all the way from Montana.

Look at those hats!

2008-08-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

Jai-Dee Riches, Michelle Hancey and 3 week old baby Bo, Lisa Walker, baby Stella and Jen Fonnesbeck, Andrea.

Jen hosted cooking club this month and we had a fun tea party. We all had to wear tea party hats and luckily she inherited all of her grandmas so there were plenty to choose from for those that didn't bring one. Martina Davis and Jen Johnson came late and everyone else that usually comes was out of town. Though we short on numbers we all had a great time. I'm glad these classy ladies are my friends!

We love Elliot!

2008-08-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

I have taken care of Elliot Martin Gleich since he was two months old. He turns seven in November, my how time flies!! William was six and a half months old when I started watching Elliot and it was truly like having twins. Elliot quickly became one of the family and now I can't imagine life without him. He is Will's best friend and a fantastic play mate. He is Olivia's protector and big brother, in spirit. He is my super helper! He is funny, smart, athletic, easy going and a true joy to be around. ( I am tearing up writing this entry.) I joked with his mom, Gitte, that we will have to arrange visitation. We love you Elliot! Thanks for all the fun memories!
For our last day with Elliot we decided to take him to the Mayan for lunch. It's decorated like a Mayan temple on the outside and a jungle on the inside. The kids think it's amazing. Every half hour they do a little show and have high divers. If you look in the top right corner you can see one of the divers coming down.

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

2008-08-12T18:42:00.001-07:00

We spent the day at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, they are amazing!! Aunty Sharon came with us and because they are so spacious and hilly she rented a golf cart to get around in. Of course the kids loved that and would wave at people passing by. We'd never been to these gardens before and we were so impressed. atruly beautiful place.
These pictures were taken in the Italian Garden. Elliot said it was his favorite and Olivia had to hop right in.

The door to the secret garden.

I am a Child of God

2008-08-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

Aunty Sharon had never been to temple square so we took her on a quick tour. On the drive there Olivia sang, I'm going to the temple and I am a child of God. I enjoy the feeling that abides there. I am grateful the respect and reverence that Will and Liv show when they visit there.

Olivia had some birthday money
that she hadn't spent and so she deciced to go to build a bear. She already has one bear that Will made for her on the day that she was born. This was the first one that she'd made herself. The ritual of putting the heart in the body and being the one to fill it with fluff is so fun. Liv gave it an air bath and then chose a sparkly, silky dress ( of course) for her bear. Will helped her to fill out the birth certificate. She named her bear Princess.
We ate ice-cream and watched the fountain but of course Will and Elliot couldn't resist the water and had to get in. This fountain was built to remind the community about the Olympics that we hosted in 2002. Every half hour the water is choreographed with some music, it is beautiful to watch.

Rain, rain, come again!

2008-08-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

We haven't had rain in Murray for over a month. While having sunday dinner at grammy and grandads it started to pour and hail. The kids were so excited that they ran out to be a part of it. They took cups to catch the hail. Will balanced his on his head. The girls ( Alexys and Olivia) scooped the rain out of the gutter. Ryker laughed and laughed as he splashed in the puddles with his bare feet. Glorious rain!!

Slow Down!!

2008-08-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

The photos on the left are of us waiting our turn on the Park City roller coaster. The roller coaster takes you to the top of the mountain and then you come flying down at 40 miles per hour. You truly feel as though you're going to fly right off the track. Will rode with Aunty Sharon and she let him be in charge of the brake, big mistake!! He didn't use it once and they were flying. She was screaming at him to use the brake but because she couldn't reach it he kept it going full throttle. She made it off alive though(barely). We went to dinner after our ride and cute Lexy and Liv were given balloons.

Hiking Moab

2008-08-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

Ryan Davis planned a trip with some of their old young men. The guys are all return missionaries and a few are married now but they all still love to get together and act like young men. (As evidenced by a couple of these photos.) They hiked around Arches National Park but mainly just hung out getting reaquainted. Brian had a great time, he loves all those guys, it's nice they can still be close.

Little Fish

2008-08-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

Now that Olivia is 3 she was able to take swimming lessons. The kids take lessons from the fabulous Lori Bergstrom and her sister Kari. This was Will's fourth summer.Olivia has really turned into a little fish. She loved going to swim lessons and would even go off the diving board all by herself. I loved watching her self confidence grow as she felt more comfortable in the water.

Will is such a great swimmer and diver. He was in level 6 this summer. His teacher would often use him to demonstrate how to do different strokes and how to dive properly. Go William!!

Gone Hiking

2008-08-08T14:55:00.001-07:00

My two beautiful babies. I love going hiking with Will and Liv. They love to be up in the mountains exploring nature and just having fun together.

If you look closely above the word chipmunk you will see a real chipmunk that braved coming right up to the kids. (top right) Elliot and his buddy Myles. (bottom left) Olivia took and instant liking to Kyrste Henrickson. She is Will's buddy Jarret's, big sister. Liv kept taking her hand and chatted away with her.

Can't they stay little forever?!!

We had planned on hiking around Lake Mary but when we got out of the car it was drizzling and 59 degrees. So we walked around Silver Lake instead. We saw some men fishing and stopped to talk to them. As we were leaving one of them got a bite and offered to let us reel it in. Liv ran up to him, so excited. She reeled the fish and was so pleased with herself. We spent some time in the visitor center, they had some good hands on exhibits. Will and Jarrett especially liked the animal poop exhibit. Will's holding black bear poop. We were going to abandon the idea of our hike because of the rain but on our way down the canyon the sun came out. So we stopped at Donut Falls and did that hike instead. We love hiking!!!

Pink Corn

2008-08-07T20:35:00.000-07:00

We went to an organic food store and found real pink corn on the cob. Olivia couldn't believe it. Pink is her favorite color and corn is her favorite food. In fact if you tell her she can pick a treat at the grocery store she'll ask for frozen corn and peas. If you say to her "what do we like?" she will chant back "PEAS AND CORN!!!"

Trip to Cabelas

2008-08-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

No trip to Utah would be complete without a trip to Cabelas. Will tried the laser shooting range for the first time. If you hit one of the many targets it causes different things to happen, such as water will spray at you or an animal may dart out, etc. The aquarium is always interesting, such huge fish!!

Dino Museum

2008-08-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

Aunty Sharon is visiting from Australia. We took her to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. Though it was very crowded we all had a really super time. ( The giant turtle is my favorite. )

Living Planet Aquarium

2008-08-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Our aquarium in Utah is a preview aquarium and fundraiser for a bigger and better aquarium. We went with our cousins to visit and though it was really small the kids had a good time. They especially liked the exhibits with the animals that you could actually touch. We cant wait for the new aquarium.

Skating

2008-07-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

For the past few years we have purchased summer passes to Classic Skating and Water slides. We usually just swim, but decided to skate when our cousins came to town. Even Mason got in on the act.

3rd Ward Campout

2008-07-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Camilla Nieto came up on the trip with us, she was so excited to be there. Middle left: Brian,Jeff Carter and Keith Larsen are taking the tails off the crawdads so that they can be cooked and eaten. Such a creepy job I'm glad I didn't have to do it.

Eric Fetzer (top middle) got up early to fish and caught quite a few. Bottom right, Nathan Fetzer,Nils Larsen and Will decided to brave the cold and go for a swim. CRAZY!!

Mckae was so brave! If any of her crawdads escaped while they were being put in the bucket she would just scoop them up. Liv liked sitting next to her and watching as long as they didn't get to close. If they did she would get the shivers. Bottom right is Bishop Taylor helping Matt reel one in.

Jeff Rindlisbacher started taking our ward crawdading at Strawberry Resevoir a few years ago and everyone always loved it. So when it came time for a ward activity I thought why not do a camp out and crawdad combined. Everyone that came had a great time. Crawdading is so fun for the kids because they can catch them almost as quick as they can get their lines in the water.

Happy 24th!!

2008-07-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

To march in this parade we had to be down town and ready to go by 5:30 a.m. My sister in law Melissa Jones came with me and I actually talked Adrianne Eldredge into coming to. Although they weren't very happy woith me about getting up so early we all had fun when we actually got under way. Interacting with the crowd, especially the kids, was a blast. People really get into it. Our float won the daughter of Utah pioneers award. That means they liked ours best. For those that don't know this parade is held to celebrate the Latter day Saint pioneers coming in to the Salt Lake valley to settle it.

Lazy Summer Days

2008-07-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

I love how these photos turned out, they are so fun to look at. I tried some with and with out the flash and I like the darker photos better. The pictures below are of Uncle Vaughn, Kymbal, Will and Liv. Happy 24th of July.
I love watching these two cousins together that are nine days apart in birth. They enjoyed fishing in Grammys water table that was set up in her front yard. Oh to be three again!

Go Rockies

2008-07-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Will played for the Rockies this season and the best part was that Brian was his coach. It was coach pitch baseball so Brian was a bit nervous but he was awesome!! All the kids really loved him and they all had a very fun season.
Go Rockies!!!
Jacob, Amber, Jarret, Taylor, William, Chad.
Quincy, Alex, Christian,Nathan, Fox, Brady.

Float Preview

2008-07-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

Because our stake did a float this year we decided to go to the float preview at the south town expo center. It was great to be able to get up close to the floats and walk the whole way around, in an air conditioned building no less. The kids loved it. Grandad, Elliot Gleich, and our cousins Jaxon and Kymbal came with us. The indian head is a back view of the Murray Utah Stake float.

Olivia's 3rd Birthday

2008-07-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Dancing Princesses

Lauren Fetzer, Annaliese Dansie, Alexys Jones, Olivia Riches, Abigail Brown, Kora Hudson, Jessica Ynda, Kymbal Jones

Olivia loves to dance!! So for her 3rd birthday she had a dancing princess birthday party. It was so much fun. When her little friends arrived they sat down and decorated their own wands. Then they had their nails done. The highlight though was when her dance teacher, Emmalia arrived. All the girls were given their own pink suit case with complete dance outfit inside. After they dressed up Emmalia led them in a dance class. I loved watching all of their little faces. The girls wre absolutely delighted.My good friend Kirsten Crowther decorated Liv's cake.
Jaxon and Will even got in on the dancing. This will be a great picture to show to their friends as they get older.

Emmalia is so great at engaging little girls in dance. She is so fun to watch.

There were so many fun videos from Liv's birthday that I had a hard time deciding so I settled on three. My favorite thing is watching Will and Liv dance together. I think it's so sweet when Liv tries to dance with Will and he scoops her up and dances with her right away. Liv adores him and he is such an awesome big brother.

4 Wheelin'

2008-07-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Will couldn't be happier. During his stay at Aunty Jeryl-Ann's he was able to go 4 wheeling a lot. For his birthday Uncle Nick bought him a moto cross racing jersey, and he was stoked to wear it while 4 wheeling. Will would love to own his own 4wheeler.
Abigail, Will, Katelyn, Kassidee

Nice Outfit

2008-07-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

Brian bought a scooter to get to work and back home to us. Liv loves to run out and meet him so that she can "go zooming" with "her" daddy. Liv was determined that she pick out her outfit today. Shoes that are to small, capris with socks, purple capris and a red and blue shirt, and crazy bed head.

You look marvelous Olivia!

Tubby time

2008-07-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

What could be more fun than tons of cousins in the tub. Kymbal and Olivia think Abigail is the bees knees. I love Jaxons face in the bottom left. He is always so animated.

Here piggy, piggy, piggy!

2008-07-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

Will had his first week away from home all by himself at his cousins, Abigail and Mason Brown. They live in Rangely Colorado.

Abigail's aunty Katelyn (9) is in 4-H and is raising a pig this summer to sell
at the fair.

Will loved visiting the pig. He got to help feed it and to give it a bath. What more could a 7 year old boy ask for.

Grandma Brown, Mason, Will and Abigail.

Rangely Colorado

2008-07-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

While our cousins from Tennesee were in town we decided to take them to Rangely to visit our Brown family cousins. It was a full house but we all had a lot of fun. Mason (top middle) and Kymbal (bottom right) couldn't resist the combo of dirt and water.Rangely just got a new playground. It was super. Cute Berkli in the swing.

Olivia (bottom left) spent a lot of her time at the lake making mud pies.

Olivia
turned three while we were visiting. She got a new cat purse with lots of sparkly chapstick and nailpolish.

Abigail, Liv, Mason.

Kymbal, Jaxon, Will.

Uncle Nick was worried that Will may not be able to knee board but he took off straight away and did really well, and of course he loved it!! Anything that requires a little daring Will has always been up for.

Treehouse Museum

2008-07-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

I love the photo of Will reading to Liv. He is the best big brother ever. He is constantly looking out for her and is so kind and loving. The other photos are Liv and her cousin Kymbal. When they got in the boat Liv saw the costumes and insisted upon dressing herself. Kymbal kept looking at her, sure that she's crazy!

4th of July at Aunty Linda's

2008-07-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Aunty Linda and Uncle Richard invited the whole family over for breakfast at their new home on the 4th of July. Will had a blast playing Wii with his older cousins, and killing them at mario cart. The bottom right is Rhett and Tracy cute little girl Sierra. Aunty Linda had toys and tattoos and lots of fun things for all the kids. Thanks for the great day Aunty Linda and Uncle Richard!

4th of July parade

2008-07-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

Our Stake was assigned to make a float for the 24th of July parade. Cleve and Sherri Bohne won the competition for their float design so they wre put in charge of creating it. I was suprised at how much work it took and I was there only a tiny portion of what the Bohnes put in. Our float depicted nearby Murray Park and a picnic that giant ants were trying to make off with. It was so much time and effort that they decided to enter it in many other parades as well as the 24th. We won best float in the 4th of July parade. Melissa (my sister in-law) and I dressed as giant ants and danced along side the float to interact with the crowd. It was a lot of fun!!

Star Wars Party

2008-06-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Will had a Star Wars party for his 7th birthday. For his invitations we gave his friends C.D.'s that had a photo of him on the front standing with Darth Vader and a storm trooper. The c.d. talked about a boy that was strong with the force and that the sith lord was now looking for him. Other brave younglings were invited for a Jedi training camp disguised as a birthday party. Left to right, front to back: Jaxon, Jarret, Nils, Jake, Finn, Kymbal.

Matt, Alan, Abigail, Alexys, Andrew, Macie.

Davis, Mckae, Jennifer, Barbara, Maklayne.

Elliot, Madison, Thomas, WILLIAM, Seung.

Darth Vader (Dad)Boba Phat (Chad Randall)

Darth Vader didn't show up until the end of the party, when everyone was fully trained and ready to do battle. The kids loved the fight. Brian had made them all light sabers and i had made them all jedi robes.

Wills cake was a giant light saber.

We had pod races, used the force to break a pinata, helped the gungans battle the battle droids, had agility training with our sabers and a balloon. Then they played on the slip and slide we'd set up on the hill and played in the yard. What a fun party.

Will's Birthday Morning

2008-06-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

While Will slept we tied balloons all the way around his bed, so when he awoke in the morning he was suprised by all the balloons. Happy 7th birthday precious William.