Buffalo and moose and puke, oh my!

Last weekend we went to Idaho Falls for a long weekend and on Saturday we went with my parents, Ben, Darcy and Max to Yellowstone Park. I had been looking forward to this trip so much as it had been two years since I had been to Yellowstone. We usually go at least once a year. The park was beautiful, it was a gorgeous day in the mid-sixties. As we were driving up, Darcy, Max and Mylie rode with my parents and Jeff, Ben, Blake and I rode together in our car. Blake slept and it was so fun to just have quiet grown up talk. As we got about a half hour into the park Mylie started to get car sick. (Just two weekends ago we went on a drive to McCall and Mylie puked in the car. Mountainy roads don't always sit well with her.) I switched spots and rode with the kids, hoping to distract her enough and keep her looking out the window. We made it to where we were going (Mammoth) and we all got out of the car for a picnic. Mylie and I walked around a bit, checking out some of the elk lounging around. She appeared to be doing much better so we all sat down to have a picnic.

Apparently, I was wrong. Mylie ate her lunch then started to say she wasn't feeling well. I am trying to get her away from the table. Now please note that we were in probably a 2 acre field sitting at a picnic table. She gets away from the table, turns and MAJOR PUKES right on Blake who is sitting in his stroller. So disgusting. She is freaking out that she puked and was sobbing saying, "I'm so sorry I puked on my brother." Luckily her aim was better the next time, just right into the field. Blake on the other hand was simply like, 'whatever.' He is a pretty mellow little dude. We got everyone cleaned out and luckily made it through the rest of the day without incident. We drove home through Grand Teton National Park and stopped for dinner at Bubba's. When we pulled up at Bubba's, Darcy came running over to our car and said, "Stephanie, look we are at Bubba's and we brought Bubba!"

It was such a fun weekend. We went over on Thursday night and stopped in Pocatello to pick up Max and took him with us. Friday Mom stayed home with Mylie and Max and Jeff and I did a bit of Christmas shopping (with Blakey in tow). Friday night Ben and Holli, Darcy and Eliza got there and Grandpa Hammond and Grandpa Jack and Mary came over for dinner. The kids got rides on Dad's new sidecar motorcycle (pictures to follow) and then later carved pumpkins they got from Les' pumpkin patch. Sunday on our way back we stopped at Ben and Holli's for lunch. Mylie loves her cousins and it so happy when she gets to play with them. We had a great trip!

{Pictures will hopefully follow soon. I'm having an internet issue on my laptop, but it will hopefully be fixed today.}

California .....

My sister Bailey went to California for the weekend and yesterday Mylie asked if she could call her. I told Mylie that she was probably on the plane still coming back from California. Mylie said, "Oh California, they talk about that on 'Mary Poppins.'" I was perplexed and for the life of me could not recall when they mentioned California on 'Mary Poppins' so I asked Mylie to explain. She broke out in song, "California-fragalistic-expealadocious!"

Slightly famous ...

I can't figure out how to get this loaded into my blog (grrrrr). But here is a video clip about the program I run. I will available for autographs later. Ha ha!

http://video.ap.org/v/Legacy.aspx?g=bd8a1f04-9011-4e01-b36c-271440a40090&f=idncp&mk=en-ap&fg=copy

Find joy in the journey.

During General Conference last weekend, President Monson's talk truly amazed me. He talked about how life is always changing, but how we need to find joy in the journey. It is so true. It is so easy to think that we can be happy after some particular event happens, but really, we can be happy now. He also said that at any given point in our life we have both an abundance and a lack of abundance, it is simply which one we chose to focus on. I see this in my own life and it was such a great reminder and something I definitely needed to hear.

So, note to self, even though financial and time constraints stress me out ...

• I have two happy and healthy kids who make me laugh everyday.
• I have a husband who works hard to provide for us (and who is really good looking).
• I have a job I love which is flexible and affords me the opportunity to work part-time.
• We have a nice home with plenty of room.
• We have cars that take us where we need to go.
• We have awesome, loving, supportive extended families.
• I have great girl friends. And even better, I have sisters.

It sounds like Spanish to me ....

Our family spent a good portion of last weekend watching General Conference on TV. It is a time twice a year when the leaders of our church instruct and inspire us. Mylie had a stack of coloring books and was hanging out with Jeff and I. On Saturday afternoon we were listening to Elder Bednar's talk about prayer. Mylie was kind of listening and kept asking me questions about what he was saying and I would repeat and explain to her. After a while of this I finally said, "Mylie, you are listening, what did he say?" And my sweet little Craig Ritchie-ish daughter said, "I don't know Mom, it sounds like Spanish to me."

Holy. Crap. Where does she come up with this stuff?

8 months!

Blake turned 8 months yesterday. He is army crawling all over the place, loving the fact that he can get himself into a sitting position all by himself, he is already getting into everything and I know it is only going to get worse. He loves eating food and gets mad when he has a bottle and Mylie has food. He still sleeps all night, about 13 hours usually and takes 2-3 naps a day. He still likes to be swaddled up like a burrito while he sleeps, but his little toes stick out the end because he is getting so long. He is so ticklish, his thighs and neck especially. He loves to play peek-a-boo and is learning how to clap. He loves Alicia's dogs and snuggles right up to them and pets them ... (Alicia, you have got to get a picture for me!) He is a very happy baby and is only fussy if something is wrong. As long as there is food in his belly, he is a happy boy.
He's also a bit of a flirt.
This is his new favorite game. He army crawls at top speed to the entertainment center, then opens and closes the door 3 times ...
... and then turns around and looks at us to make sure we saw.
Other random Blake at 8 months facts: he is obsessed with my necklace, he loves to pull Mylie and my hair, he wears size 4 diapers, he has been out of his carrier car seat for a few months now, he loves to sit in the cart at the grocery store and look around, he still just has 2 teeth, he has thunder thighs (a Ritchie trait), his face breaks out into a smile everytime he sees me and vice versa! He is such a sweet little dude!

More Big A

A package came yesterday for Mylie from the Big A (Papa). She was pretty excited by what she found inside.

She used to refer to her grandparents as "the Grandma and Papa with Aunt Bailey" and "the Grandma and Papa with Uncle Devin." They are now "the Big A Papa", and "the not-the-Big A Papa." In fact, she was talking to me about Grandma (my mom) today and called her "the Grandma who lives with the Big A." Seriously, I cannot even count how many times a day this kid makes me laugh!