Red Rock and Randy's Leaving! (Oct 08)

Well, my youngest brother Randy is finally the ripe old age of 19 and ready to head out on a mission. It's funny how when people who are close to you (whether they're children or siblings or good friends) do big, grown-up things, it makes you feel older. Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, we wanted to have one last "fun" time with the family before he left. We all met out at Red Rock (in Logandale) and thanks to my sister Tosha and her husband Joe, be had a great time riding dune buggies, climbing rocks, eating (of course) and hanging out. Ryan took out his camera and was able to capture some great shots during the event. These are a few of my favorites...




Ryan also took some "track" pictures of some creepy-crawlers. Here's one of those shots:

I have to admit that one of my favorite parts was rock climbing. We climbed to the top of Easter Egg Hill and took some great shots. I was glad I could still "hang" with the youngsters I was
with! Here we are at the top:


















And here's a few shots on the way down and towards the bottom:


All in all we had a great time and it was also fun seeing family that we hadn't seen for a while. My Aunt Helen and her daughters came down from Logan and we had such a great time with them too. I think their kids were just as dirty as ours after all was said and done. On Sunday we were able to hear Randy speak one last time and spend more time together as a family. Now we'll have to wait another two years for that! Good luck Randy!

Family Pictures and Caleb's 1st Birthday! (October 4th)

On the fourth of October, Caleb turned one! It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since I've had him. Time is flying by. It also happened to be one of the final weekends that we could get together as a family and take some pictures before Randy left on his mission. We ended up having Ryan's family meet us there to, and a great friend and photographer, Chris Ross, took a lot of pictures for us. The day started out like it was going to rain (and did in some places), but where we were was just windy and a little cold (but no rain). I've added some of my favorite shots. Here's one of all of the families together: We had a lot of fun and you can see from some of the next pictures that the wind did not quit blowing, unfortunately. Here's a few of my favorite pictures of the day:

I have such a wonderful family and we had a great time taking pictures (especially when it warmed up). I just have one more picture, that happens to be my one of my favorites taken that day. I have some amazing sisters, a sister-in-law, and a daughter who posed with me on this one. Everyone looks like a model! You guys are awesome! Here it is:

After getting a ton of pictures, we retired to the field below and had a picnic and celebrated Caleb's first birthday. He had a great time making a mess out of his cake. While he had a better time opening his presents than playing with them (like a normal one year old), he also had a great time playing outside. I'm learning he loves to be outside. Here are some highlights:


After Caleb's "fun" we (all three of my brothers, my husband and Jen) decided to play a game of touch football. I realized how "BIG" my little brothers are now and how OLD I am getting! I don't think my knee will ever be the same! All told it was still a very fun time though.

I Got My Bike! (September 08)

In September, Ryan and I decided that we wanted to try to do a triathlon. We decided to order some bikes to help us along in our endeavor.

We were pretty excited to receive them and when they came, Ryan put them together for us. We each rode them down to the bike shop and had them tuned and tightened up, and now we're trying to get out and ride them as much as possible. This was my first experience with bikes (besides my banana seat pink and pretty from elementary) and I have learned a lot about even having gears, when to use what and how, "clipping in" and lots of other bike things. I know I have a ton more to learn, but it's been pretty exciting thus far.

We also went down to the YMCA at the first of October and signed up for a family membership. Now we can work on our swimming too. We have a lot of work to do still, but I'm excited to try!