DustDust, CiCi, RyRy and KenKen

What we did this summer!

2011-09-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

My Mom and Dad spent a lot of time on this slideshow for Eli. This was a song that we all heard when we left Eli the first time at the hospital, and we knew Eli's life was in the hands of someone bigger than us all. The pictures match perfectly with the words of the song, grab a tissue! You can read a little more about our journey at: www.letterstomy3kids.blogspot.com

Kendall Turns 2!

2011-01-21T09:22:00.000-08:00

This already seems like it was forever ago! The Holiday flew by as usual, and in the midst of all the chaos, Kendall turned 2! Our little Kennel is a joy to be around. She keeps us all laughing, loves to talk on the phone and loves to sing “I Am a Child of God” into pretend microphones while she sways back and forth. She is still naughty, and gets a little nervous when her baby cousins come at her…she thinks they are going to claw her eyes out. She sees them coming from a mile a way and yells “AHHHH EYES!” then proceeds to cover her face. Se looks like me and acts like her daddy.

Kendall loves to give “mooches”, and absolutely LOVES Dora!

It snowed a few days after her birthday…right before Thanksgiving. She loved playing in the snow with Rylin, but has hated the snow since this day for some reason.

Baby Ellie

2010-12-23T21:27:00.001-08:00

Weighing in at 6 lbs 2 oz and 17.7 inches long, is the newest member of the Soptich family…Miss Ellie Mae. We heart her and are thankful for her *early* yet, safe arrival. Amanda is doing awesome, recovering from the c-section like a champ. Ellie has Kyle’s lips with Amanda’s eyes and nose. A full head of brown hair, and is mastering the “peek through one eye at the world” stare. She is uh-mazing! We love her and are so excited for Kyle and Amanda to have their bundle of surprise joy just in time for Christmas.

Hallows Eve and the Big 2-8

2010-11-02T13:16:00.001-07:00

Because Halloween was on Sunday night, we went trick or treating on Saturday at our church’s Trunk or Treat/Carnival. Rylin was Jessie, Kendall and I were fairies, and Dustin was Iron Man! It began by not being Kendall’s favorite night, but eventually she started to have fun. She just hated taking pictures!

We Celebrated Dustin’s birthday and had our annual Halloween bash on Sunday. It was a blast, we had a lot of food, treats and crazy things going on like normal.

Ry + preschool = love

2010-10-20T21:23:00.001-07:00

Ry loves preschool. She goes three days a week and wants to go more, she was actually crying earlier (what’s new?!?) because she wants to go more. Sorry for the crazy crop, but I didn’t feel comfortable posting pictures with her name/school name, school phone # and address, can you blame me?

Kennel-boo thought Ry was so cool, she loves to copy her.

Misses Moose is full of sass, for real, she’s nuts! Blythe and Kendall felt a little left out, so we took a pic of them together:

Peace out!

Weenie Roast

2010-10-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot about these! Whilst all the other Soptich's were at none other than a Soptich reunion, we met up with the Weiblings and Uncle Jeremy for our own weenie roast. It was a blast to get out and enjoy our 75 degree weather.

Don't you love these hugemongo marshmallows that Sarah found in Wenatchee?

Summer!

2010-10-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

In August, we camped out at Mike and Crystal's house for a few weeks. Rylin loved waking up to half of her cousins wanting to play, especially the second weekend we were there because the Weibling kiddos were also there. That means, 9 kids all running around playing for 2 days! I think they all had a blast, and it only got a little crazy a few times ;) Anywho, these are the only pictures I took all summer. YAY ME! We have no swimming pictures (although we were at the beach almost everyday), I have no star gazing pictures (Rylin saw her first shooting star!), I have no pictures to prove that we enjoyed our awesome summer, but we did! I promise!

More for the Grandparents

2010-09-29T17:53:00.001-07:00

This girl has attitude! She is such a goofball, and heaven forbid I pull her away from Max and Ruby for a few minutes to take these pics.

For Grammelissa and Poppa

2010-09-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Eyo Bramma, Eyo Brampa.

Yuh Yoo,

Kendall

4th of July

2010-08-26T16:40:00.001-07:00

For the 4th of July weekend, our besty friends (the Torgesens) came up to visit one last time before they moved to California. We had a great few days with them. We got a picture of all the kids before the big parade:

L to R: Camden (4), Ashlyn (3), Rylin (3), Kendall (18 months), Allie (18 months), and Dustin (27 yrs :)).

When I was in Utah, my mom and I picked out this fabric to make festive skirts for the girlios. I think they turned out super cute. Good thing my mom is a such a master seamstress!

Camden is obsessed with fire trucks lately, and it made his day when he got to ride with Grandpa Soptich for the last part of the parade.

You are lucky I finally uploaded all the pictures from my phone. Now you can see Rylin with her first bag of cotton candy:

The happy couple wait in line for a carnival ride:

In the next picture, Rylin was excited. The one after that is when she started screaming and wanted to get off the ride. Good times!

We always get together for cake and fireworks to celebrate Parker’s entrance into the world. AKA his 7th birthday. What’s wrong with 12ish kids running around with sparklers?!?! Nothing, it was completely not stressful and it was full of joy and happiness.

In June we…

2010-08-26T16:15:00.001-07:00

…watched a lot of rainbows in the evening waiting for summer to come. Almost every time you could see the whole entire rainbow off our back deck.

…watched the bald eagles in our trees. When it was windy I counted at least 10 bald eagles at one time flying above our house playing in the wind.

…went camping at City beach. This is our most favorite last minute camping spot. It is right in town and we don’t have to worry about Dustin having work off. We can just pull the trailer down there, enjoy the beach and still be close to his work. It’s awesome!

…went to Utah! We found the sun at Grandma and Poppa’s house. It was wonderful, not too hot but plenty warm. We filled up the pool and the kids played with their cousins in the water. We also went to the park where they played in the creek. Rylin and Anne had a slumber party, where they watched movies and re-enacted all the scenes.

Kendall did a photo shoot in my old swimming suit. I think I was 1 when I wore it. It was a little snug, but worth it for the pictures! She is my tan little baby. See the sandal tan lines? That was with, like, SPF 1000, and she still is super dark.

Hank, Rylin and Anne in the creek. Also, baby William in Krista’s tum tum.

The End!

In April we…

2010-06-05T08:59:00.001-07:00

Went to the Vancouver, BC temple open house with cousins, Aunts/Uncles and Grandma and Grandpa Soptich.

Went to the Zoo with some friends.

Please excuse the naughtiness of Camden holding onto Rylin as they snuggled in the Duo-Glider.

Oh, what a day!

Alaska File #5

2010-05-21T09:19:00.001-07:00

Snorkeling in Ketchikan

Everyone thought we were crazy for going snorkeling in Alaska, and I have to admit I was a little nervous. After getting all dressed up in our gear(squeezing into it), we hit the water. It wasn’t much of a shock waiting for the wetsuits to fill with water as I thought it would be, but putting your face in the water was crazy! The only part that got really cold was your lips around the snorkel.

Below from L to R: Amanda, Kyle, Jeremy, Me, Dustin, and fellow random snorkeling lady

Manda’s face (above) shows how squished you felt in the wetsuit. The tighter they were, the warmer you were! Everyone was doing some free diving to see cool stuff, but I am a scaredy cat and wouldn’t put a weight belt on…I just KNEW it would drown me/I would choke to death on salt water!

Kyle looks like a special agent in his wetsuit, Dustin was trying to pick his nose and Jeremy looks like he is in shock or something!

All in all, I highly recommend snorkeling if you plan on going to Alaska anytime. It was so fun to swim around and see all the cool fish that live in the pacific ocean. I know we had a blast!

Alaska File #4

2010-05-19T19:13:00.001-07:00

Skagway

Skagway was our #3 stop. It was a town built around the Gold Rush and we just walked around for a bit before returning to the ship. It was Amanda’s Birthday so first Mancub and I got massages at the spa and then went to a Restaurant on the boat that had Hibachi (sp) tables. The chef guy was pretty funny, and the dinner wouldn’t be complete without him throwing food into people’s mouths. Luckily, Amanda and I were spared :).

This was BY FAR the craziest night yet. We did some dancing of course and then witnessed the most entertainment of the cruise. They had a Dancing with the Stars game. Grandpa Barrett was the lucky one who got chosen to participate. He has been having a hard time with his knee though, so after much consideration he chose to have Jeremy take his place. The picture of Jeremy half-naked does not do this night justice.

Port #4: Icy Straight (Hoonah)

We were only here for a few hours. The fun part was that the boat anchored down in the bay and we had to take “tender” boats to shore…a.k.a. the life boats from the ship. At least that proved they all work! We only took a few pictures, I think we were all pretty tired at this point.

After being on shore for about an hour, we spent the last few watching two whales swim back and forth across the bay. It was fun to see them swimming around for so long probably chasing little snacks in the water.

Stop #5, Ketchikan

This was such a pretty city. We were only at port for a few hours as well, which we spent snorkeling. It was so much fun, I only wish we had a digital underwater camera because I haven’t picked up the pictures from the disposable one yet. I can’t wait to get them up! I wish we could have stayed here longer because it looked like there was so much to do!

A summary of our trip: at least 5 daily trips to the soft serve ice-cream machine :)

Alaska File #3

2010-05-16T20:53:00.001-07:00

Juneau

At around 7 am Tuesday morning we pulled into Juneau. The first thing I noticed (but forgot to take pictures of) is how all of the houses along the shore had no yard. Well, I am sure they had a yard but they all had trees instead of grass. It was like they only cut down just enough trees to make space for a house and that was it. It was kinda cool. Anyway, the ship Captain guy pulled a 360 and parallel parked the beast of a boat and we were in our first port.

Our friend Jesse lives in Juneau so she gave us a private tour. First we went to the Mendenhall Glacier:

We all took turns holding icebergs, and couldn’t resist the photo-op with the old Christmas tree someone discarded in the bay! Dustin made me hold the bigger one of the two

but I guess his brothers were tougher than him!

Our furry mountain goat friend:

This waterfall was uh-mazing! It was huge and we were able to hike down to it thanks for our tour guide Jesse!

Some (ok, Jeremy) felt like doing a little mountain climbing while we were there too:

Only in Alaska could you find a sign like this below. To translate: if you or something around you catches on fire past this point, you are S.O.L.! ps-yes my eyes are closed

Tour guide Jesse also brought us to this Catholic shrine of sorts. This crazy meditation maze got the best of everyone but Kyle and I. We were the smart ones who just took pictures.

Later, Amanda and I did some tourist shopping while the boys rested…or did they?

(click on the first picture below)

Again…romantic dinner pictures:

and romantic Jeremy (Bro-in-law) licking my face.

And our first towel friend from our awesome steward, Leslie!

Alaska File #2

2010-05-15T16:11:00.001-07:00

Monday

One of the first things I saw that morning was…wait for it…a whale!! I was freaking out, Dustin thought I had lost it completely. I was dropping the lens cap to the camera trying to get to the balcony..and so forth. So, I finally get it together to take a picture and, I left the camera on the wrong setting (manual for you camera freaks). Anywhoo, the lighting was horrible because I didn’t take the time to change the shutter speed, this was the result AFTER I did some stuff in Lightroom and this was the best I could do:

Of course that was the only time the whole trip where I got a tail shot. The next two are after I fixed the camera.

I am getting a little confused now, but I think we did this rock wall thing on Mondee. The same day we were going up to see Sawyer Glacier. There were so many things to do on deck including this rock wall, a sport court, and a huge chess board.

Our balcony turned out to be a good viewing spot for everything so we all joined forces and made one huge balcony!

On the way to the glacier we started to see icebergs everywhere! It was so exciting so we took 1000 pictures of them!

And the famous quote “Iceberg dead ahead” NEVER got old!

At first we thought we saw penguins. These little birds would pop up out of the water and glide away as fast as they could from the boat, but never fly. they were black and white but we were told there are no penguins, so we think maybe they were puffins? The captain noticed three bears along the shore, one of which Dustin made it back to our cabin to get the camera with the mega zoom lens to catch a picture. So, all in one day we saw whales, puffins/penguins and bears. Although it got too icy for the ship to make it up to the glacier, I think this was one of my favorite days. It was so pretty up there!

Of course, we ended the night with dinner, a show and dancing.

Alaska file #1

2010-05-11T08:31:00.001-07:00

Saturday

“Embarkation Day”! We left Oak Harbor at 4 AM and drove to Seattle to catch our train to Vancouver, BC. The train ride was delayed a few hours because of an accident involving a person on the tracks (oops). After being on the train for about 6 or 7 hours we made it to Vancouver, through the major security/check-in lines and boarded the Norwegian Pearl for our 8 day trip to Alaska. We had some pretty sweet matching sweatshirts through our travel agency so they could tell who the whole travel group was, all 150ish people. Out of that group, our smaller group was made up of 16. Dustin and I, Kyle and Amanda, Jeremy, Dustin’s Mom, Aunt Tammie, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Lee, Nellie, Gma and Gpa Barrett, Romy and Pete, and Wanda and Pat. Half of us had rooms next to each other with balconies to boot! Eventually we were able to open the doors in between the balconies so we could all hang out together. We were so excited to finally be on the boat! It was HUGE, I might add!

Day 1-Sunday

This was the only day it was a little rainy/cloudy. So the boys decided it was the best day to try out the sport court on the upper deck. We also went to dance class put on by “Jasond” yep, that’s right…Jason with a d. Anywho, he was awesome and probably the best dancer on the ship in all the shows he was in. This dance was hilarious to watch Dustin and Jeremy do. Grandma Barrett shook her hips and Connie and Aunt Tammie were practicing it all night so they’d remember how it went. We all decided this was a good night to get all dolled up for dinner and a show. It was a nice dinner and come on, how often do you get to dress to the nines for a date with your hubby?!? After dinner and a show we got more comfy, watched some lighthouses and a sunset then went dancing in the Spinnaker lounge (soon to become a nightly past-time). They had a live band and we danced the night away.

In April we drove to California :)

2010-05-10T16:22:00.001-07:00

We decided it had been long enough since we went to visit my grandparents in California. We packed up the trailer for the 12 hour drive and made our way to Grandpa Dan’s house.

It was Easter/General Conference weekend so we attempted to listen to conference and color Easter eggs.

While we were there it rained almost everyday. Not just any rain, but RAIN!!! It poured! The kind that soaks your hair by the time you walk from the parking lot to the storefront! On Saturday there were some clear (ish) skies so we took full advantage and rode bikes, flew kites, and ran around. My brother Danny and his family came over from Utah with my parents so we all had fun catching up and listening to incredibly funny stories about my parents and how they met.

Rylin and Anne had a blast as usual and also enjoyed time with Maddie

It was also my birthday and my Aunt’s (Liz). So we had a birthday bash after Easter dinner.

Dustin made his own version of a Moby wrap to trap the Kendall beast because she wouldn’t stop yelling. It actually worked as soon as she relaxed! Kendall loved running around the property. The last picture is of (L to R) Anne, Lila, Rylin and Hank. We are excited to meet up again soon!

This One

2010-03-27T09:34:00.001-07:00

This one makes me crazy. She is happy one minute and sad the next. This girl wears her emotions on her sleeve and tears are always on the verge. She is also the sweetest thing. She cares for her little sister, and is sad when Kendall is sad, happy when Kendall is happy. The thing is, I am sure there will be times when Kendall will bug her to death, but one thing is for sure…Rylin will always give Kendall what she needs and wants. We couldn’t have asked for a better leader of our children. Rylin was meant to be the oldest.

She loves to gather change around the house and store it is secret places, this day she wanted me to take a picture of it…I just wanted a picture of her post-braided crimpy, fluffy, adorable hair that is “getting long like Anne and Bowena’s (Melina’s).

I guess there is 1 post for February

2010-03-19T11:21:00.001-07:00

I didn’t really take any pictures in February…except these:

Ever since we first put Rylin in the front pack on the John Deere when she was like 6 months old, she has loved riding on tractors with Dad. Set aside her anxiety she has these days (hence the death grip on Dustin’s arm) and she has a blast.

Below are a few drunk pictures of Kendall. You can kind of see her big front teeth she has acquired in these last few months, one is way longer than the other and they can’t seem to match up! She continues to crack us up, especially with her 5/6am wakeup calls where she wants to do nothing but eat 2 packets of oatmeal and go back to bed. YIKES!!! We are hoping she decides to take up walking full time, she is definitely using her will power to make the choice herself!! Rylin was 18+ months, so Kendall is 16 months now and should be a little “ahead” of the walking schedule!

Dustin recently did this job on the south end of the island. I believe they built the top wall taller, built the lower wall, and did ALL the stamped concrete…doesn’t it look fabulous! I want a patio like this someday at our dream house.

There you have it.

The infamous Holiday catch-up post

2010-02-10T14:11:00.001-08:00

We went to the annual OHFD Christmas party and that is where Rylin finally got to see Santa, and Kendall finally got to scream at him! At first (picture 1) she was fine, then I guess I got too far away?!?!

At the Soptich immediate family Christmas Party at Ensign ranch, we had a blast. Crystal and Mike joined us for the first day before they ditched out to go home and have baby Winter.

We did the usual things, played in the snow, slept, went on a hay ride (in the rain, not so usual), and opened up gifts. This is a great tradition and the kids have a blast, it is like a 3 day slumber party for them!

After a brief stint in Seattle with the Torgesen’s to watch the snow fall indoors, we made the trek to Utah for Christmas. The drive (18.5 hrs) went very well and we arrived on the 23rd around 11pm. Just in time for Christmas eve!

Santa has always left special notes for the kids in my family, so Rylin and Kendall were lucky he remembered to leave them one too. Rylin wanted to leave Santa ice cream and egg nog (having no idea those are his absolute faves). He left Rylin her broom she wanted and since we forgot to bring our own stockings he filled up some we borrowed at my mom and dad’s house.

Kendall had a blast opening all of her presents and eating the candy still in the wrapper!

After opening little stuff (underwear etc.), Rylin finally found the present she had been waiting for in the back of the tree! Her princess clothes! What a day for a princess!

My mom had made all the granddaughters tutus and they all sported them on NYE. We had a dance/karaoke party and celebrated 2009 and what a great year it was.

This is what you get when you hand off your camera to your “trustworthy” older brothers. I actually didn’t see them take these so I was dying when I saw them . They just make me laugh, I love my bros! I guess Dustin was too cool for the tutu hat or something ?!?!

The last two times we have been there for NYE, Adam (oldest bro) and Dustin (husband), go for a nearly naked freezing cold four wheeler ride around the property. BRRRR! I think it was like 15 degrees or something!

The day before we left, we went out back to meet the cowboy/girl who live behind my parents. Rylin was a little nervous but the cowgirl scooped her right up and rode her around on the horse. I thought Ry was going to fall asleep, she was so relaxed when she got off I bet she would have stayed there all day!

The End.

Ensign Ranch Party #1

2010-01-22T12:27:00.001-08:00

For the extended family Christmas get-together, we all met up at Ensign Ranch for good times. Rylin loved playing ping-pong and hanging out (following around) the big girls since there were only boys her age. It snowed the last night we were there so Aunt Carrie to some of the kiddos out for a short winter’s walk.

In the pictures above, Grandma Great was showing Rylin her gift, after which all of the Soptich siblings decided to attack hug their mom…it was a sight to see!

As usual, Kendall was full of spice the whole time. She gracefully made it through both nights with hardly any sleep at all, it was a delight. Some how Asher and Rylin got a few of their great Aunts to play ring around the rosie, which was also funny to watch.

Next post: Ensign Ranch Party #2…what???we love that place :)

Check it

2009-11-29T21:10:00.001-08:00

I posted some new things on the photog blog, check them out!

Since I will most likely be on a blog drought this month

2009-11-29T20:53:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays!

Don’t I have THE best looking family in the world? I love them so much and am so grateful to spend my holidays with these people (lots more too!)

Misses Moose turned 1!

2009-11-23T12:53:00.001-08:00

“It seems like yesterday….” It seems like yesterday I was getting my stomach cut open and we met our little monkey and named her Kendall.

She had a hairy back and only weighed 6 lbs! Today she is a whopping 17.5 lbs! She loves life and has the best facial expressions ever. She can make you laugh by just looking at you from across the room and the right side of her head is bald from her cute thumb sucking at night (looks like Donald Trump)

She was sooo lucky to have all of her Soptich cousins here to show her the ropes of opening up presents. Believe me, she had PLENTY of help! Without them she would have just tried to eat all the paper :)

I made pinkalicious cupcakes for everyone and a little flower for Kendall. As soon as the plate got close she threw out her chubby little hand and went straight for the whole thing!

Aside from what was smashed all over the counter, I think she managed to eat almost a whole cupcake.Which then bought her a little bathy-poo in the kitchen sink.

I don’t even know how to put into words how much we love her. She is completely adored by Rylin, Dustin and I. Even Zeke laughs at her crazy antics :)

We love you Kendall, We hope that you keep up the naughty-ness you have in your blood (you know, second daughter, brown hair, brown eyes, and Matching birthmarks with Aunt Sar and Cousin Emilee). Your naughty-ness makes us adore you even more!

Could she BE any cuter?

2009-11-14T22:54:00.001-08:00

Are ya with me on this one? I cannot believe she will be one on Friday

Warning: Watch out for tight tapered pants, spandex, big hair and mullets

2009-11-11T10:07:00.001-08:00

Dustin turned 27 on the 30th of October. Which means….time to Cel-e-brate! We hosted a rockin 80s party and I have to say it was the most fun we have had in a Lonnnnnnngg time!

Kyle was our awesome DJ for the Night. Amanda’s Top Gun type outfit required some glamour shots.

Grandma Barrett looked smashing in an old bridesmaid dress ( I can’t remember from what wedding). Kyle was a molester in a mullet, and Ashley found the best acid wash skirt I have ever seen!

Grandpa Soptich had a totally 80s warm up jacket and Grandma Soptich rocked the leggings

The Torgesens drove up from Seattle to spend the night, thanks guys..it definately WOULD NOT have been the same with out all of Russ’ crazy dance moves/faces!

Let the dancing begin!!! Uncle J started off the night with the belly shake!

The belly shake eventually led the the three brother belly Can Can

Who is bigger? an 8 month pregnant Crystal or Jeremy?

Don’t you love the DARE coat that Grandpa Soptich brought for Cryst?

Thank you sooo much to all of our friends and family that came. I am sure it fulfilled all of Dustin’s hopes and dreams for his birthday!

Holy Cow, I am behind!

2009-11-09T20:24:00.001-08:00

Our computer issues are fixed, cross your fingers, for now. I am finally getting caught up thank goodness! After falling wayyyyy behind in the photo editing department and a minor nervous breakdown(you know, after losing some Christmas card pictures I took of some friends visiting from California…sorry again Karissa :( ) I am regaining ground just in time to throw in some more sessions this week. Needless to say, the whole “holiday picture” time of year is chaos.

We did have a blast on Halloween weekend. On Friday night we had a smashing birthday party for Dustin (blog to come next), followed by trick or treating.

As you can tell, Rylin was a witch and Kendall was the traditional yet charming skunk :) You can compare Kendall to Rylin 2 years ago when she was the skunk:

I love it!

We went trick or treating down on Pioneer for about an hour. Rylin was very scared at the beginning but was better as soon as all her cousins arrived to walk with her :)

We had a great time having Dustin with us this year. I kept forgetting it was the first year he has actually been here to see Rylin and Kendall dressed in their Halloween garb.

Anne and Rylin

2009-10-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

Meet Anne. Anne is one of our most favorite little girls. She is Rylin’s cousin and lives in Utah. One of the most fun parts of going to visit is to have some major cousin time. Last summer when the Anne and Rylin were only 2, they instantly became BFF’s. After a whole year of not seeing each other, they picked up right where they left off. Rylin loves her, and if you can’t tell by the pictures, Anne loves Rylin.

They will have so much fun in the years to come, especially when Rylin can go visit and be crazy with Anne when they are teenagers. It will be a sight to see!

The last night we were with Anne, they kept hugging when it was time to say goodbye, we were in the car and Rylin was all buckled in her carseat. Anne wanted just one more hug so Rylin reached her short little arms as far as they would go out the car window and they hugged on more time. Needless to say, we LOVE Anne, we love her crazy personality, we love her curly locks, and we miss her dearly! They have already chatted on the phone a few times, it is pretty stinkin cute!

Utah Part III

2009-10-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

The final leg of our trip we headed up North to my brother’s house.

After begging and begging me, I finally allowed Kendall to meet her betrothed. My very good friend Julie came over to visit and has a son, Mason. Kendall and Mason’s first date went well. Isn’t he the cutest??? (sorry for cutting your head off Jules)

We went to Thanksgiving Point Farm Town. It was fun, other than Kendall and Ry being a little “touch and go” with some sadness.

Rylin decided she wanted to ride a horse, so she did!!!!

Until she made the first round about, she was crying by then, Aunt Laurie was nice enough to get her off while I carefully documented to moments!

Kendall and Kloe are only 2 weeks apart, they had fun stealing toys from each other. Kendall loved to steal Kloe’s pacifier, in fact some how she ended up with it on the flight home. She stole it on the drive to the airport and got away for good with it!

Part II

2009-10-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

The second part of our trip was a visit with my sister. Rylin, Kendall and I loved every minute. We were finally able to see their new beautiful house and take advantage of all the extra space!!! The best part, letting my new cuddly niece sleep on me, she is so blasted cute! I can’t believe I only took these two pictures, but we had fun even with my crazy emotional girls. Thanks Shastina!

Utah Trip Part I

2009-10-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

The first leg of our trip was in Cedar. We road the four wheelers, swam, took a cousin/grandparent picture, went to a parade with a TON of horses and bright bright sun with Aunt Laurie, Kaden, Kyle, and Kloe.

Rylin re-fell in love with Anne (after a year away from eachother), I will post some super cute pictures of them soon :)

(Grammalissa and Poppa Russ with all TEN grandkids, ages 1 week – 6)

And Rylin cut paper, boy did she cut. It is her new favorite past time, and KK doll was just crazy as always.

Hi Ho Cheerio

2009-10-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

I guess Rylin decided it was time for her to start taking care of Kendall while I was upstairs. She will be a good mommy someday.

Forget about the wind, runny noses, children I can’t make smile on command….

2009-10-05T21:28:00.001-07:00

These are the results when you forget all of that. We will be taking some non-wind pictures soon and I will have to have an assistant!

Rylin and Kendall are absolutely, hands down, each other’s favorite person in the world. Rylin is KK doll’s biggest fan and Kendall thinks that Ry is the finniest girl she knows. It is so amazing to see their relationship grow as Kendall continues to grow and is getting closer and closer to walking. I can already tell that when Kendall takes her first real step, they will be running together off into the sunset. (And if you have seen Ry run, Kendall will keep up w/ no problem). When Kendall wakes up from her nap Rylin is the first to go “talk to her” she climbs in the crib and they play until I break up all the jumping and screaming. She likes to give her food and share her toys…oh wait, maybe not the last one :) but she is always willing to bring KK a new toy after stealing on from her, does that count?

Kendall, oh, sweet crazy Kendall. She is a crazy army crawler (almost a slither) who LOVES to climb stairs, but going down is a problem. She loves her daddy. While we were away on our trip, I would put Dustin on speaker phone and I have never heard Kendall whine like she did when he talked. It was so heart breaking, yet absolutely adorable at the same time. She is our “loud” one, her whale cry is the loudest I have ever heard! She wants something when she wants it, and it better be exactly what she wants or she will let you know. Kendall loves food. She can often be found dabbling of snacks in her high chair almost all day, yet screaming when you walk by with out sharing your food! She likes to nap, she smashes her cute little head into the corner of her bed and falls fast asleep. A few of our most favorite tricks she does are: the face scrunch, the thumb suck, the tongue click, and the Ursula slither across the floor when you chase her. We also love how she has no hair on the sides of her head from sleeping on her stomach and sucking her thumb. We love her short little legs, and her one tooth. We love picking her up and she will lay her head on our shoulder and suck her thumb and cuddle. I love how she chews on her Blabla doll then throws it across the room. We especially love that she doesn’t sleep through the night ;) we recently bought our last can of formula, and she gets to face forward in the car in a month!

Rylin. Big girl princess Rylin. We adore her. Our miracle baby has grown into such a beautiful 3 year old. Ry loves everything princess. Most recently her favorite is Sleeping Beauty, but with the commercials for Snow White on TV all the time I think she will have a new favorite after Christmas time (as long as I can wait). She talks up a storm these days, especially in the car. She is quite the conversation starter as well with token lines such as: “so…” and “did you know that…” or “that would be good”. When daddy comes home from work, her most favorite line is “DADDY, DADDY, DADDY” three times every time. Rylin is such a big helper with Kendall. Maybe this makes me a bad mom but, I can assign her to do things. For example, if I leave Kendall alone-she immediately heads for the stairs- I can ask Rylin to tell me when Kendall get too close. When Kendall gets sad, Ry will get real close and “pet her head” and say, it’s ok, I am here now”. She always gets a laugh out of ol’ KK doll. Rylin loves her “running shoes” and runs with her elbows out, hands in a fist by her tummy, and her hips mover faster than her legs. She loves loves loves to go shopping, it is one of her favorite most exciting things to do, even just to go get groceries and go to Wal-Mart. She loves everything girly. Flowers, dresses, princess books, princess costumes, fairy wings…you name it! Best of all, Rylin loves her family. She loves her Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandmas (especially), Grandpas, and remembers ALL of their names, even everyone in Utah! She is very observant and remembers funny details like who had what princess dress or shoes. Her best day is when she gets to spend time with her daddy, she is the most pleasant little girl after a few hours alone with Dad.

Most of all, They make us smile and our family would not be complete with out them.

Slumber Party, Girl Party

2009-10-05T20:26:00.001-07:00

Before we went to Utah, we FINALLY had cousin Brinlee over for a little sleepover. They had so much fun together, eating, playing princesses, watching princess movies and wearing matching princess night gowns. Brin kept talking about our “girl party” the next day at church, I hope it fulfilled all her hopes and dreams!

Kendall loved every minute of it too, she was constantly in the middle of the “big girls” laughing her head off. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

I added to the cuteness

2009-10-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

on my photo blog. check it out now :)

be sure to

2009-09-29T14:15:00.001-07:00

drink your ovaltine. Just kidding, check out my photog blog to see a sampling of some of my
A-dorable nephews and one of my stinking cute neices. Oh yeah, and my brother and his wife.

Uh- Mazing

2009-09-28T11:56:00.001-07:00

This was an amazing sunset that I caught in August, isn’t it breathtaking? I can’t wait to get these pictures printed off and put on my wall!

Yachting! Does that make me sound rich?

2009-09-28T11:49:00.001-07:00

In August, we spent a whole day out on Sister Gore’s (A family friend from church) 62 foot Yacht. It was so fun. We are so lucky that Kyle is such a skilled boatman to drive us around all day while we pretend we are fancy or something!

After finally getting attached to the boey thing, we ate some lunch and Dustin and Kyle tried their skills at getting the motor to work on the dingy, with no luck :(

I guess Crystal thought it was too cold or something, she brought her winter parka and made good use of it.

It was a nice day and was such a good way to spend one of the last days of summer!

Funny, Random things

2009-08-31T16:19:00.001-07:00

First, meet Allie. Don’t even try to count her rolls. It is INCREDIBLE! Will I ever be so blessed as to have a baby as delicious as this? Her legs are even better, at least 6 rolls on each leg. HOLY COW! I tried to document the leg delicious-ness but they were going to be a little scandalous for the internet :)

Second, Rylin is going through the “owie”stage. You know, the one where even the slightest bumps need a Dora band-aid? Below is some documentation for the insurance to prove all of the “owie’s” she has been getting.

Third, a little frog friend…is he alive? Or dead? Let’s just say when Ry and I tried to make him jump off into the sunset, he turned into a big melted glob. I guess he was too “sleepy” . I through the blow up pool on top of him so Zeke wouldn’t eat him and the next day he was gone. Was he really alive?

Seriously something you want to see

2009-08-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

click here

if you don't, you will be missing out!

Happy Birthday to the prettiest, smartiest, and funniest 3 year old we know!

2009-08-30T15:00:00.001-07:00

Rylin turned 3 YEARS OLD on August 22nd so we celebrated. She got at least 10 books total (most of which are read one time before bed every night), an awesome toy kitchen that she never leaves alone, and some accessories to go along with it. Kendall had been sick all week and was NOT the life of the party but all in all it was a good night with at least one happy happy girl. She was SO excited to have everyone over and still cannot stop talking about it.

In the picture above, Camden (her betrothed) is showing what she will be expected to learn in her new kitchen in order to insure happiness in their future together :)

Thanks to my mom, Rylin had to have a princess Jasmine pink cake. YIKES! I try to stick to basic…one of my favorites being a polka dot cake so I just did that and tried to stick some princess pictures on top. Hey, it may not look like a princess castle but she loved it.

Good times and Great oldies

2009-08-23T15:05:00.001-07:00

While our friends Nick and Amanda were staying with us last week, Amanda turned the big 2-4 so we of course had a smashing dinner/game night. Russ (with Amanda holding a cake as well) turned 92 so we were also celebrating with him, although the boys went to a Mariner’s game earlier in the week :) After rounding up the kiddos-all 8 of them put to bed- it was time to play!

Cranium WOW is one of the most fun games to play with a group of people, I think there were 10 of us and it was a blast. ps- I love our house because it is big enough to have everyone over and room for all the kids to go to bed, who could ask for more?

Usually after 10pm Nick is drunk. Seriously, ok not seriously because we don’t drink…but he may as well be because of the way he is acting. It is one of the best things about these nights…his crazy sense of humor and his old man laugh. Although, I think that on this night it started around 9pm.

Dustin and Russ can’t ever do a normal face in a picture, I think there are like 10 of Russ doing something weird, this is what I get for not being the one taking the pictures! They are weird!

Nick’s final drunk moment of the night, he told a joke that none of us understood, but it was worth it just to watch him dying of laughter :) This was such a great way to have one last sha-bang before our buddies moved away. We are so lucky to have had Nick and Amanda grace us with their friendship…it is truly one that will involve visits to NC next summer and summer’s to come. We miss you guys!

Here are some last few pics from when they were ready to leave. Russ and Aspen are next…if you don’t see or hear from me for a while, I may be in my closet experiencing a minor depression.

Reunion

2009-08-09T19:24:00.001-07:00

The Smith Reunion was held at Lake Easton State Park this year. I busted out my camera only a few times, only in the same day. Here are some of the happenings on that day:

Tanner really enjoyed rotating between Summer’s bike and Rylin’s bike. Uncle Don and Aunt Dar had huge bubble wands for the kids to use…Rylin loves bubbles (even though this picture doesn’t do her “love for bubbles” justice)

The boys all went out for a paintball war so Kaisa, Amanda, and I went on a little Nature walky with the girls ending at the park where Rylin enjoyed the slides for a while and had to fix her static filled hair plenty of times (a trademark)

And who could forget…the cute girl stuck in the backpack sucking her thumb the whole time (pictured above).

We had such a fun time, I have really enjoyed being able to use our camper more this summer and having happy girls who love to go camping!

Hey Hey

2009-08-04T20:11:00.001-07:00

I am really excited about these , really excited.

Beat the Heat

2009-08-02T19:34:00.001-07:00

Last week, it was busting busting hot. Outside it was in the 90’s, and by Tuesday night our house was 88 degrees when I went to bed and 90 when I woke up. That is just on the main level. Our room is upstairs in a loft sort of area and I don’t even know how hot it was up there, I just felt like I couldn’t breathe. So, I packed what I could (forgetting half of what we needed) and we went camping at city beach with Aunt Sar, Uncle Danny and cousins. It was a blast, and the best part was the AC in the trailer. We had so much fun at the park, wading pool, and beach. We came home Saturday afternoon to a house that was only around 70. I can’t wait until we can go there next time…I hope another heat wave is in the works so we have an excuse!

On Friday night Rylin was entertaining us with her musical styling's of Jesus wants me for a SunBEAM and spinning for us, it was pretty funny to watch. She is hilarious.

While on the lake

2009-07-28T08:43:00.001-07:00

How do you survive this hot hot weather? By boating/tubing of course. The boys thought it was so fun to try and knock each other off of the tubes. The final stunt was for Jeremy and Dustin to stand on the tube, let’s just say it happened so fast I didn’t even get a picture.

The boys weren’t the only ones who went on the tubes, but I guess it is all that was documented. Enjoy!

Beach Night

2009-07-22T10:52:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday we took all the kids down to the beach to watch the sail boats come in. We actually stayed until at least 9pm. It was so much fun!

Kendall can’t sit up very well yet, she just loves to be on her tummy all the time so I had to try and help her for a second. I guess it was so tiring she had to suck her thumb.

We ended with the dads playing games in the grass with the kids while us lazy moms watched. It was so fun to watch we just let them play for over an hour ;) Duck Duck goose was a little confusing for Rylin and Brinlee but they still had so much fun!

You will agree

2009-07-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

she looks like me. Look here

You want some of this?

2009-07-15T10:08:00.001-07:00

How can you resist this face.

Cheesy grin, all gums:

Service Please:

mmm, pizza

She ate almost 3 pieces of pizza then went back to her cucumbers in the sac thingy.

Kendall Janer the entertainer….she keeps us laughing with her crazy faces. She loves Ry and thinks that Rylin is the funniest girl in the world. I love it.

No Stories, Just a TON of pictures

2009-07-05T23:10:00.001-07:00

THE PARADE ON PIONEER STREET:

THE BBQ AT AUNT SARAH’S AND UNCLE DANIELA’S HOUSE:

THE FIREWORKS AT MR. DAVE’S HOUSE:

I JUST LOVE THE FOURTH OF JULY, IT IS BY FAR MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY EVER! WE HAD A BLAST!

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO WORK ONE OF THESE?!?!? (you know i love you aspen)

Wicked witch of the west

2009-07-02T22:28:00.001-07:00

While I was packing for the BIG MOVE (post to come sometime or another) Rylin wanted to put on her Halloween costume from last year. This may seem like a little thing to some, but you have to know that she has never worn it before…that’s right, not even last Hallows Eve. Better luck next fall!

Strawberry Pickin

2009-07-02T21:16:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we went to pick some strawberries because it sounded pretty fun

and it was pretty fun, now I have to do some jam-making with all my frozen strawberries!

Summa time

2009-06-14T21:41:00.001-07:00

Brinlee and Rylin are prettymuch besties these days. They love doing things together and play so well now. They even call eachother! It is so much fun to watch their relationship grow! During their little swim date their most fave game was to “hug” eachother but really fall down into the water. I just wish I had it on video because it was halarious!

The next day was some sister sister time in the one pool, Kennel loved it, she just floated around in her bimbo chair and kicked water on Ry. These girls are so funny I am so glad to have them in my life!

Five Years= Viva Las Vegas

2009-06-05T16:00:00.001-07:00

When we first arrived, our room was dirty, so they upgraded us for free to a huge suite…it was dirty too (see pic 1 & 2) So we called the front desk and they gave us a free dinner while they cleaned it. When we returned there were chocolates on the bed :) Nice

There are a ton of pictures on here, but I wanted to sum up our trip and all the things we were able to do with each other

We went to a sweet mall where it rained inside, played games at the arcade at New York, New York (and went on the roller coaster…no pictures though). We saw the Lions at the MGM Grand. It was feeding time shortly after we got there so it was fun to see the little trainer guys in the cage with the lions chucking raw meat into their mouths.

I guess the cool new way to advertise everything is for people to were these little sign things on their backs and walk up and down the strip…at night the signs lit up…I guess if Landscaping or ICOM don’t work out for Dustin then we can both do that for a living

We gambled ;), Went to build a bear to get some goodies for the girlies, went to Hoover Dam (so glad my mom and dad came down for a few days!)

On our actual anniversary, the ‘rents took us to a nice din din and afterwards we went to Fremont Street. I have never been down there before, it is pretty cool because they do shows to music on the HUGE screen above the road. When we were there they did one to the “bye bye miss American pie” song

Sad to go, but happy to see our babies again!

I have to say how much I enjoyed spending time with my Hubbo for 5 days. It was awesome and definitely something that we needed. I can’t believe it has been five years since we were sealed in the temple for time and eternity. I am so grateful to be able to share my life with him, and I am excited for all the years to come.

black bogging (not a racial slur)

2009-06-02T22:54:00.001-07:00

Time to do some back blogging. For my birthday (April 4th-mark your calendars) I received a new camera for my purse from mi familia. I finally uploaded the pictures from this thing and remember now an important trip that never reached my blogging records. Around April 10th or so we went with Dustin on a training extravaganza for ICOM 911. The girlfriends and I stayed at the hotel mostly swimming, but made a few excursions to the mall down the street and to the OMSI center in Portland with our dear friend Gail. These are some pictures that will now document our trip.

One picture of Kendall for Calley…I told you she is always just in the stroller :)

On the trip down there, she passed out like this…too funny

Being a girl

2009-05-21T22:20:00.001-07:00

Ry has already made her way into the world of numerous haircuts, I was able to finally catch one in action because Grandma Sockick did it for her instead of me. I think she listens better to grandma anyway.

Wow

2009-05-20T22:59:00.001-07:00

Since it has been so nice outside these days, we have been taking advantage of the nice lawn that Dusto put in for us.

Kendall has discovered her feet and loves to SUCK her toes. Actually, the other night I put some footy PJ’s on her and she was mad because she couldn’t get to them. I keep telling everyone that she is just “a funny girl” there is no other way to describe her. She loves to make us laugh,and does the craziest facial expressions to get a reaction (see picture #2)

Ry loves these pompom things I got for some crafts with her. Instead of making something out of them she just likes to play with them. We discovered that they stick to hair well. She likes to call them butterflies for some reason. She is full of crazy talk these days. Crystal and Mike brought her a coconut bra/grass skirt home from Hawaii and she officially calls the coconut bra her “boobies” (is that appropriate to say on here?) I am not kidding, she came out from the bathroom the other day and I guess had found it because she told me she “found her boobies”. In case you were wondering, Ariel has “boobies” and she isn’t scared to tell you that little tidbit.

Dustin is working his bottom off. His favorite saying is “gotta make hay while the sun shines”. Between dispatching and landscaping I feel like a single mom most of the time, but it will be worth it in the end to be out of debt. Whenever he is home he makes us his priority even though his phone is ringing off the hook. We love having such great hard working man in our lives and can’t wait for him to be home more. Especially so Kendall can give him more back rubs…eventually without the burp cloth (she is the spit up queen you know).

The End

6th picture thing

2009-05-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

This is it...I still don't know if I did it right ( I was a little confused on our external hard drive ) but here you go. Me, My friend Kara Lynn, and My sis Shastina at Cedar Breaks in Utah 2 years ago. I love surprise visits!

kennel

2009-05-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

to see some cute pictures of Kendall when she was at the Weebling residence click here

There is a disclaimer

2009-05-11T22:54:00.001-07:00

There is a disclaimer somewhere on this stroller mentioning it’s intended use…and it is not for a REAL baby. Don’t you love the jam on Rylin’s face? And yes, she is watching TV, I don’t think that is a problem here

Seriously?

2009-05-09T23:48:00.001-07:00

Allow me to vent for a minute…

I was looking at some random girl’s photos on facebook (you know you do it to) because I love seeing things that have to do with proms/weddings. I came across these:

Do I even need to say what I want to vent about? THIS SCARES ME! I am sorry if this offends anyone, but this is my opinion:

1.What kind of parents let their teenage daughter go to a high school dance dressed like this with some hormonal teenage boy as her date?

2. As a father, wouldn’t you know what is going through that boy’s mind? How could YOU set your daughter up for trouble like that

3. Someone left a comment saying that the blue halter dress is “elegant”…. hmmm

4. A Garter????A Garter???? seriously? A garter??? Isn’t that the thing that your husband takes off at a wedding reception WITH HIS TEETH? And as a parent you are going to send your daughter off wearing one?

5. Are you freaking kidding me? These scare me. It scares me that a beautiful girl can wear a dress to a High School prom that doesn’t even draw attention to her beautiful face.

This is just my opinion, I can only imagine these dresses getting worse by the time my girls have to pick one out. I am just grateful for the companies that offer modest options.

The end

2009-05-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Check out our photog blog for some hip-hop cool deals

Tulips

2009-04-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went with some friends to see the tulips. We had so much fun taking some pictures, although, Rylin is anti looking at the camera these days.

Rylin was looking at these with me and said “look mom, Kennel loves seeing the flowers”. Kennel is so fun and loved when Camden was talking to her as you can tell. To see more pictures of the Tulips look here.

Good times tomorrow

2009-04-28T14:15:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow after play group, some of us moms and kiddos are going to the tulip fields by Burlington. Feel free to join us if you would like! just leave me a comment to let me know if you plan on coming. I am going to bring my camera to hopefully get some good pictures of my girlies so maybe if you come then I would love to take some of your kiddos for you to have...as a special gift from me to you :) Hopefully see all you mommas there and at playgroup at the park!

BAHHHH

2009-04-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Our other computer is still busted. You know, the one that meets all of my picture needs. The one that is a non-laptop. We made some progress so hopefully the AMAZING husband of mine will have it up and running in no time. I do love him very much. A long time ago I did a post about our mad love, tonight I saw this video on a friends blog and I don't care who you are, this song (especially this version) makes being in love and having your own love story amazing with a capital A. I can't wait to date my hubby for 5 whole days in May when we are in Vegas! Without further ado (sp?) please push play for your viewing pleasure below, let this hold you over until the mama computer is all better again.

FOR SALE

2009-04-13T18:44:00.001-07:00

We have decided to sell one of our digital SLR cameras. We will be selling a Nikon D80 in a bundle with some things

Lenses included with bundle:

Nikkor AF 50mm 1.8
Nikkor AF 55-200 mm 4-5.6
Sigma DG 70-300 mm 4-5.6
Sigma DG 28-70 mm 2.8-4

Other Items included:

Battery pack with 2 rechargeable batteries
Battery charger
UV filters on all lenses
Small camera bag
2 2gb memory cards with card reader

We have all the hookups (usb cables and such) and also have the boxes to it all. The camera itself is only 1.5 years old and has no scratches. Everything is in mint condition, the lenses all work very well. The D80 is an awesome camera to explore a new hobby with especially with these great lenses. Please call or email us if you or someone you know is interested. Or leave a comment and I can email you. If you feel so inclined, you can link this to your blog or just spread the word.

We are asking for $1200 for the whole package. Please, please contact us if you have any questions or are even a little interested.

Thanks, Ciera

360-914-1918

pixiedustphotography@gmail.com

to blogger

2009-04-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

Just in case blogger was wondering...no, I don't want to "monetize" my blog. So stop being tricky and move the link to do so somewhere else. I just want to view my blog.

Told you I would post some specials

2009-04-01T17:11:00.001-07:00

This what we have been up to. Please let your friends/random people know about this.

Here are some samplings of other things we have been doing around here.

Jumping.

Looking through “orange colored glasses”…get it? (uhem, excuse the crusty food on her face)

Crying…and more jumping

Cuddling and playing with friends (Ashlyn above)

Wearing Immodest Easter dresses around the house along with matching jammies from Grammalisa

Playing with friends
(baby Allie) and playing with sisters.

To see more aquarium pics look here

The End

PS- Kendall weighs 12 lbs and is loving life, she had her 4 month check and got round 2 of shots…she took it like a champ, she has some new stranger anxiety and loves bottles. She loves dancing, singing, and is only on facebook to look for friends. Her religious view is Christian- Latter-day saints.

The End End.

Aquarium Trip

2009-03-31T22:06:00.001-07:00

For a while now we have wanted to take Rylin to the Aquarium. Today the tickets were only $1 so we made the trip to Seattle and had a ton of fun. Rylin loved seeing all the fishies and playing with her friends. We were hoping to see Brin, Parker, and Kaden too but with all the crazy crowds it was almost impossible to catch up with them except for a few hellos here and there.

It was too much of a hassle to take a lot of pictures (Crying baby) but here are the ones that I did get.

In the picture below you can see our crew of kids (Kendall, Camden, Rylin, Ashlyn, Carter, and Allie)

After the Aquarium we went to the Carousel on the next pier over. I think the was the highlight of Rylin’s day. My friend Amanda took pictures from that and I will post a link to her pictures when she puts them up . You can see a few more pictures here. I love having great friends and Family who are willing to do fun stuff all the time! Thanks for your help ladies…I can imagine that we almost looked like a bunch of Polygamists with our 6 kids and no husbands and all mothering/helping out with each others kids. Thanks for a fun day!

for the record- i am glad i got to come home to my husband and to be his only wife :)

Look at the legs on her!

2009-03-23T22:04:00.001-07:00

I know to some these legs might seem mediocre compared to chunky monkey baby legs, but to me they are heaven on earth! I love that Kendall has these little rolls on her legs. I just want to squish them all the time they are so cute. I had to document that I have a child that has some “chunk” on her. It goes pretty cute with her double chin-chub!

Princess Rylin

2009-03-16T14:44:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time there was a little stinker named Rylin. One day Rylin went to Grandma’s house and had so much fun. When it was time to go home Rylin was so sad. When her chariot arrived at her back door, she climbed out but wouldn’t come inside. I went inside and left the back door open for her to come in when she so pleased. I snuck some pictures of her through the window.

She started to come inside, I guess she was creeped out by creepy neighbor guy or something. So I went to meet her at the back door…

….and scared her away.

Eventually she came in and graced us with her presence. With all her feisty-ness these last couple weeks, I am glad for the times we ARE graced with her presence and she is happy.

What a fun day!

2009-03-07T15:47:00.001-08:00

The other day Asher and Haven came over to play. We did lots of fun things, but the best part was when Asher and Ry came out of her room both wearing princess shoes. Asher’s true personality came out- gotta love having older sisters-

We also made cup hats. I am not a super crafty person so pretty much all I had to decorate them were crayons. They still had fun though!

And yes, in case you were wondering, Ryiln is wearing her pajamas. Admit it, I am not the only one who has let their child stay in jammies all day.

More of a random cute girl :)

2009-03-03T22:00:00.001-08:00

So, we all know that I went to beauty school and like doing hair. Even though I don’t do it a ton right now, I will again someday when I have more time. I was straightening my hair today and Rylin asked me to do hers too. So of course I did. Of course I used a ton of volumizing hairspray as well and of course I had to take pictures. OF course this is why I went to beauty school…because Heavenly father knew that I would be having a house full of girls who like their hair done. I wanted to take pictures of her “mature hair do” and she was totally hammin’ it up for the camera. So OF COURSE I kept clicking away and OF course I had a good time editing them. I couldn’t pick 1 favorite, so here are my favorite{S} (including a sexual predator one)

This week RyRy can be heard saying a few funny things. She is totally into copying Dustin and I. Today she said a funny one,

“shh, I wanna listen to the show”

We love her so much. These days she can be found watching “Hercookies” [translation:Hercules], reading books ALL THE TIME [wanting ME to read books ALL THE TIME], singing the Ariel song, and sitting in Kendall’s bimbo chair, also taking care of numerous “Baby Allie” things…so far I think she has found a cup, a bowl, a bear, a doll, and just a blanket and referred to them all as Baby Allie. Do you also notice her newly acquired dimple on the left cheek?

Happiest place on earth

2009-03-03T21:15:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we were introduced to the Children’s Museum at the mall. I have always wanted to go there and was lucky to be able to go with Aspen and kiddos. This is the coolest place ever and I think I will be buying a annual pass to go all the time, Thanks Aspen!!

Kendall thoroughly enjoyed it too, she is practicing sucking her thumb in other positions besides laying on her tummy. One of the coolest things there was this stage where they could get all dressed up. Ashlynn was a frog/princess and Ry was a butterfly/princess. Camden was the guy in charge of pulling the curtains

For a funny story check this out.

Trust me on this one

2009-02-26T14:11:00.001-08:00

hungry?

(click the above)

V-tines day

2009-02-24T08:48:00.001-08:00

On Valentines day we joined our friends Russ and Aspen at Olive Garden. It was, as always, good good food and of course fun. Kendall kind of had a rough night, I mean, she spit up on me before we even went into the restaurant and then had a little blowout episode. Something about the ‘ol Olive Garden that brings that out in our girls. When Ry was a couple months old she joined the “Olive Garden blow-out” club. I guess she told Kendall about it. To make it even better, the next day at church, K-dog had yet another episode and had to sit through Relief Society in just a diaper and a bow because I had used the extra outfit the previous night, oops! No worries, we have since bought bigger diapers.

Potty Friends

2009-02-15T23:08:00.001-08:00

This is why Rylin thinks she is SOO cool now.

I mean, come on, doesn’t it mean you are cool if you can go potty TOO with one of your cousins?

Big NEWS

2009-02-12T20:39:00.001-08:00

Rylin is officially a big girl in NO DIAPERS! She has been a pro potty-trainee since last Wednesday. She had her first rough day yesterday, but I can’t complain since she had been good for a week. Her present for being such a good girl is this new hot rod. It is pretty much the coolest trike I have ever seen, and since we love pink in these parts I could not resist buying it a few months back to save for a special occasion such as this. I will, however give fair warning…she has MAJOR panic attacks (bloody murder crying and such) whenever any other kid gets too close. I swear, she sees them look at it and full on screaming begins so WATCH OUT!

If you noticed, yes she is indeed wearing two pairs of underwear. First layer, training pants (tight around the skinny stick legs) second layer, princess undies (tight around the waist). Sometimes you have to compromise when your 2.5 year old is the size of the average 1 year old and also when she wants to wear c-lella undies but mom wants the “extra protection” of the trainer pants. Just a little FYI for you all, or maybe TMI???

Miss Kendall has a spiffy new hat, she looked so funny/cute in it we had to take a pic. My mom put her crafty skills to work and made it for her. I love it!

No explanation needed

2009-02-12T12:58:00.001-08:00

It takes a strong man

2009-02-10T22:17:00.001-08:00

It takes a strong man to handle 3 girls :) Dustin is so loved in this household. Last night before going to work he had a little R and R with the chicas. He is such a good dad and will do anything for his family. Sometimes it seems like we never see him, but as soon as he is home (and awake) Rylin instantly wants to be involved in whatever he is doing, she definitely loves him. Tonight as he was playing his XBOX he was holding the crying child, Kendall. Some might think of this as a “good example” of parenting, but me, I see it as “she isn’t crying and I am not the one that is making her happy” and I am just fine with her sitting watching him shoot the bad guys on call of duty while I enjoy a little R and R by myself. We love you Dust! I could never thank you enough for working so hard for us, and I could never explain how good of a dad you are either. Lullu MO!

Fun at Aunt Crickels

2009-02-07T20:23:00.001-08:00

Kendall loves Haven. Haven has a way of getting her to toot a ton and I guess Kendall thinks that she is pretty funny too!

The Bachelor

2009-02-05T22:30:00.000-08:00

Every Monday night, Kendall and Allie get together to join in some goodness of "the Bachelor". If you would like to join them, please let me know, it is the party of all partys with lots of treats, everyone is invited. 8pm sharp at my place. Feel free to come. PS-no boys allowed...unless of course they are a baby and have a permanent attachment to your woman things...those ones can come.

New from the Soptich household

2009-02-01T20:07:00.001-08:00

K-dog loves the one Bimbo chair. She apparently loves to raise one eyebrow while in her bimbo chair.
She is our heavyweight, weighing in at 10lbs 4oz and is in the 20th percentile for weight, 25th for height, and 45th for her head.
Also love to suck her thumb. I am very happy with this because it keeps her asleep longer at night. I am just wondering how we deal with it when she is 10 and still sucking on it.

Rylin officially has swoopy bangs
We <3 Carhartts for girls with pink shirts and polka dot boots. Exactly one year ago I posted about how much we love them HERE.
She is going in for a weight check tomorrow, this whole “not weighing enough” thing is for the birds. Follow-up to come later.

The Ya-Ya

2009-01-29T16:46:00.001-08:00

Rylin loves her cousins, and has a strange obsession with them sometimes. She is so excited when she gets to spend time with “yaya” and “minmee”. Actually, we have a picture of Brinlee on the desktop of our computer because Rylin was FREAKING OUT when I got off Sarah’s blog because she “wants to see MINMEE.” A few weeks ago we had Asher (Yaya) over for a bit and they were messy after dinner and took a bath. I just love how he is only 2.5 months older than her and is twice her size. He better do a good job protecting these girls when they get older, put his muscles to the test.

These girls

2009-01-27T19:03:00.001-08:00

Oh Lady. Kendall keeps us on our toes, she is so sweet but lets you know her feelings about things. As a matter of fact she is feeling pretty neglected as I write this…maybe you can imagine what that emotion sounds like.?!

Rylin likes to sit on her “pink poddy” but will seriously sit there for hours on end with a drink in her hand and not go “poddy” once. Sheesh. I am not too bugged by this YET. I think it is because I myself am not fully committed, it isn’t just her, but she looks pretty cute on the pot…a weird concept I know (someone looking cute on the pot) if anyone can look cute on the pot it HAS to be your own kid. Excuse the nakedness, I think it is blurry enough to be legal :)

Allie the witch

2009-01-26T15:06:00.001-08:00

While taking some pictures of this sweet baby on Saturday, I came across this one, doesn’t she look like she should be on a broom flying through the air? It is just too funny. To see some that are more serious, go ahead and click here. For real this time.