Fun days!

The last few days have been very fun at our house! Thursday we went to the zoo with Melissa and the kids.
Helen, Mylie & Blake
Mylie & Daniel

Blakey

Mylie, Helen, Daniel & Blake

Then we bought some cherries and the kids have been loving them. (Notice how mom won't let them eat cherries with their shirts on? We have many cherry stained shirts.)

Then on Sunday, Courtney, Jason and Lila came to visit! They didn't get here until night, but the kids asked me at least 32,280,179 times when they would be here. In fact, they were out in the backyard and I could hear Blake yelling, "Lila! Lila! Lila!" So they were thrilled when they arrived. We watched Lila all day on Monday while Court and Jason explored Boise. It was such fun. I kept Bosco outside a good part of the day because I wasn't sure how Lila would react to him. Monday night she went to bed and I brought the dog in. She woke up a big later and she freaked out with happiness with the dog. She would tenatively pet him and then have a shy face and hide. It was adorable. He is super good with kids and loved the attention.

This morning we went to the park in Eagle, it has a fabulous water area. Mylie wanted so bad to take Lila to it. Of course, there wasn't much Lila could do in it other than wear her cute swim suit. She didn't appreciate it much when I tried to put her in the water.

Extreme close up picture of Lila while I was holding her.

Cute girl Mylie modeling her new swimsuit.

Blake was not going to have anything to do with the water at first. But he changed his mind pretty quick.

This may be my new favorite summer pictures. I really love these two!!

America's Next Top Model

I took a photography class this weekend and Mylie got to come along today as a model. She was super excited and we both had lots of fun. These are a few of my favorites. Goodness she is cute!!

The days of summer.

From a kids perspective, today had the makings of a great summer day. It included:

• skinned knees (means you are playing hard)
• a picnic
• playing outside for hours and hours
• popsicles (2 each)
• a nap (OK, maybe that falls into the Mom's great summer day category)
• a walk/bike ride
• a trip to the park

Can you see how dirty they are? Its a combination of dirt, doritos and popscicles. Blake had orange and apparently Bosco did too and there was an orange streak across his head. Ick! I know everyone is ready for hot summer weather, but I really love the high 60s and 70s weather. Perfect for my summer activities.

Safety First!

Blake is currently obsessed with a few different things. Trains, trucks, bikes, motorcycles and 4-wheelers. Everytime he sees a motorcycle, the conversations is the same. First he has to ask if it is Papa, then he has to point out they are wearing a hat (helmet). Today he was cruising the kitchen on his 4-wheeler and I asked him where his hat was. We went and found it and he didn't take if off til he was done riding.

I think he looks adorable in a hat, but won't wear one normally. Love this boy!

Weekend Update

Its hard to believe the weekend is over already! We had a great one though. On Friday, Alicia and the boys went with us to Cherry Festival. As usual we all had a great time and got our Pronto Pup. Mylie and Drake (and Alicia) all got tatoos - don't worry Mom, they are temporary.
Mylie's

Drake's

Blake and Henry MAD that they didn't get one.

After Cherry Festival, Drake came over to play for the afternoon and the kids had a great time. He and Mylie are so good to make sure and include Blake when they play.

Jeff and I had tenatively planned a couple family camping trips for this summer. We decided we ought to have a trial run in the backyard. Jeff and the kids got the tent set up. We took out some camping snacks, got in our sleeping bags ...

and it lasted 38 minutes. It looks like instead of making KOA reservations, we need to make Hampton Inn reservations.

After the kids got in and settled I looked out the back window. Bosco was outside and he seemed very interested in something on the porch, under the table. I thought it was one of Blake's toys, but I went out to look and jumped ... when I did, this started to hop away!

A big ol' toad right in the backyard. No idea where that came from.

Saturday, Jeff, Mylie and Grandpa Breach went to the movies to see Karate Kid. Mylie loved it and is ready to buy it. We had a kick-back rest of the day and then watched It's Complicated (hilarious) after the kids went to bed.

Today was nice, Mylie was excited to sing in Sacrament Meeting. It is funny, because Jeff often (OK constantly) makes up funny songs about Mylie. Some of them (most of them) are in a teasing manner about stinky feet or toots or something like that. She always replies with an exasperated "Daddy!" Well, Jeff is a teaser all around and he told her that the Bishop called him to see if he would sing a song about Mylie in church today. She was a bit nervous as Daddy was practicing some of his masterpieces in the car on the way to church this morning. When we got to church and looked at the program I told her, "Oh no! They forgot to put Daddy's name on the program!" She sighed a big sigh of relief and then enjoyed the rest of church.

Blake is FINALLY enjoying nursery. Jeff and I used to be the nursery leaders and he loved it then, but since we have been released (January), today was probably only the 3rd day he has stayed in nursery. Hallelujah!

I definitely feel blessed today, knowing what an awesome daddy my kids have. Mylie brought all of his presents to him in bed this morning and has been making cards for him all afternoon. He is a wonderful man and I am glad he is mine. I'm so lucky to have an awesome dad myself. He has helped shape the person I am today and I love him so much. I have two wonderful grandpas and a wonderful father-in-law. I am a lucky lady. At dinner tonight, Jeff thought since it was father's day we should spend the time telling Mylie more about our dads and what they were like when we were kids. It was a lot of fun talking and answering her questions.

Great weekend! It was nice to be home and have no real plans. I wish the weekend were about 4 days longer (well mine is), but we miss Jeff while he is at work!

Summer Lovin'

Monday was just one of those fabulous days at our house. I got up early and got a bunch of grading done before the kids got up and Jeff decided to take the day off. All 4 of us went to lunch, did some shopping, stopped and picked up buy-one-get-one-free milkshakes at Sonic. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine. When we were driving home Mylie asked if they could run through the sprinklers ... why not!

The kids dug their suits out, I got sunscreen on them, Jeff turned the sprinklers on, and I set up our chairs. Blake was not sure what to think about the whole thing. He did not think it was a good idea.
Mylie on the other hand, was loving life!!

Blake got a little brave.

But he had to chill with Daddy for a bit.

Daddy "helped him" be brave.

And then there was no stopping him!!

Even though our summers are still busy, I love having mellow hang out days. I love spending time as a family. I love that my kiddos have a super dad ... one that will run through the sprinklers with them in his clothes (and then throw me in!). I love that of all the things we could do, the thing our family wants to do the most is hang out together. And I love that.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

This past weekend all the Ritchie girls (except Eliza) had a girl's weekend at Bailey's super cute new house in Salt Lake! We had a super time all being together, eating way too much yummy food, doing a little shopping, and playing with THIS baby.

Little Lila *may* have gotten a bit of attention from Aunt Bailey (Aunt Holli and Aunt Stephanie too)
from Gramma

from her cute Momma

and definitely from Mylie and Darcy! Oh how she loved these two girls. They kept her smiling and giggling for hours on end.

We spent part of Saturday at Temple Square and the church museum.

The girls posed for lots of photos for me.

Cute Ritchie girls below!

Bike, bike, bike, bike, bike!

Blake LOVES bikes. Everytime we see one he makes sure we are all aware of it ... bike, bike, bike, bike, bike. I had a meeting tonight and I called Jeff on my way home and he said he was just getting ready to ride the kids over to the park. I stopped on my way home and watched them play. The good thing about riding bikes to the park is that when it is time to go, it is OK because they still get to ride in the bike!

When Jeff told Blake it was time to go, he took off at high speed and ran to the bike, got his helmet out of the trailer. Of course I had a camera in my purse and I just can't resist this little face is his "bike hat."

Memorial Day.

I love Memorial Day. I really do. To some people Memorial Day is a day off of work or a BBQ or a big sale. But for me Memorial Day always has been and always will be remembering my family who has gone before me. When I was a child, each Memorial Day my grandma and her sister, my Aunt Rulu, would load up the trunks of grandpa and Uncle Wayne's cars with huge buckets filled with flowers, with trimmers, rags and brooms. We would head to the cemetery in Parker, Idaho. We didn't just go there and drop off a few flowers, no, I watched Grandma and Aunt Rulu lovingly clean the headstones of their parents, their sister, their brothers. They would trim the grass around and then place flowers there. It isn't just one or two graves there either, nearly all of my grandma and grandpa's family is buried in this cemetery in this small town. This is where I learned my family history. Walking around the cemetery.

Memorial Days in southeastern Idaho aren't often warm, in fact, sometimes they are downright cold. We would always have a picnic afterwards. Sometimes in the back of the car it was so cold. Oftentimes it was at Quail Lake. I remember catching minnows, and once a mouse, with my grandpa. Sometimes we would hunt for asparagus.

Many years have passed since those Memorial Days I celebrated as a child. Grandma and Aunt Rulu have been gone for nearly 4 years. But I felt their presence so strongly this last weekend when we were at the Parker Cemetery. I am sure they were there, watching us carry on their traditions.

Blake, helping to carry flowers.

Bailey and Mylie, putting flowers at Grandma's grave.
Mylie and Darcy, cleaning off the headstones. Blake, taking his turn cleaning. He took that job really serious.
Both of my parents are from Idaho Falls and their parents both grew up and lived in the area as well. Hence, most of my family is buried in and around Idaho Falls. My brother had been doing some research and we visited 6 cemeteries on Saturday. We visited both of my grandma's graves, all of my great-grandparent's graves and many great-great grandparent's graves. This pictures is of Eliza (my niece) at my Grandpa Hammond's grandmother's grave in Ashton. Her name was Eliza Jane, just like our Liza!


We had the traditional picnic. It was cold and rainy, but we found a picnic shelter. The kids didn't care. They had such fun playing on the old playground equipment.

It was a wonderful weekend and a great time to be with family. I got to visit both of my grandpas, two of my aunts, and all of my immediate family except Courtney and her family (10 more days ....). I am really grateful that my parents and my grandparent's instilled in me the importance of remembering our family. I look forward to carrying on their traditions.