I gotta pickle... I gotta pickle...

Chase and I both love pickles.

The other day I was eating one, and Ry kept reaching out for it. I honestly did not think she would like it! I gave it to her and she just starting sucking away. If she would get a piece of it off she would just spit it out and keep going. It was hillarious to watch her!

* The SUMMER suns calling my name!*

" I think I'll go for a walk outside, yay, the summer suns calling my name! "

I think I have sung that song a hundred times this past week! Maybe its not summer yet, but the weather has been so nice, and we have enjoyed every single second of it! Like I have mentioned before, Rylee LOVES being outside. I guess LOVES is an understatement.... She adores being outside. She cant get enough of being outside. She SHRIEKS in pure excitement when the front door opens, and cant crawl to it fast enough! She laughs and squeals when you take that first step on to the porch! I dont know a word for all of this, but whatever it is thats how Ry feels about being outside! She loves going to Salem Pond to feed the ducks, swinging at any park, playing in the sand at the SF Resevoir, going for walks, or just eating popcicles in the back of the truck! When people pass by us she waves and blows kisses to them. She is just so happy to be in the sunshine, and so am I!!

Here she is waiting by the door for someone to take her out! she just stands there patiently waiting until she goes out!

Isnt she a crack up?!

She likes wearing her sunglasses, and keeps them on so good. Everyone always comments on how funny it is that she wears them, and doesnt rip them off! We sat like this on the truck for about a half hour. As long as she had 2 Otter Pops she was happy! The kids in the neighborhood were getting home from school at the same time. Everyone that passed she would wave "hi" to them and blow them a kiss. It was hillarious!

SF Resovoir

I love going up to the Resevoir this time of year cause NO ONE is there yet. Its so quiet and calm and the perfect place to play! Last week we picked my mom up for lunch, and headed up. Ry ate some lunch( some meaning 2 bites of whatever I brought), and played in the sand for an hour or so. She loves to pick it up and then have it fall in between her fingers. I got her a shovel and pail too. After a few tries she figured out how to use it. She put would put sand in her bucket, and then reach in with her other hand and pull it out!

Arent baby toes the cutest.... ecspecially Ry's toes?!

My mom and Ry

Taking the sand out

I love that Salem Pond is so close to our house.

We go there a ton!

I couldnt get a good picture cause she couldnt stop looking at the ducks.

She looks so tall in this picture.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my baby girl!!!

The BIG 2-8

Remember when your birthday was coming up and you would get so excited and couldnt wait for the big day to get here?! Sometimes it was hard to sleep the night before your birthday cause the excitement was just too much! it was your special day. You could choose if you wanted to go to school or stay home! You picked what was for dinner. You got phone calls and presents all day! Oh, and who could forget having your birthday party at McDonalds? I loved my birthday WHEN I WAS YOUNG!!!

What happened to those days?

A birthday now is just another day! Another day of laundry, errands, changing diapers, and balancing the check book! This year I kind of forgot it was my birthday until Chasey sent me a HAPPY BIRTHDAY text the morning of! Life isnt as much fun when YOUR OLD!

However; I do have a wonderful husband and family who make birthdays FUN! Even though it was just a normal day it was still my birthday! The thing about my family is that your birthday is more like a birthweek. Im not complaining... who doesnt want a week devoted to them?

The day before my sister in laws, my mom, and step mom took me out to lunch. My step mom took me before and let me pick out the cutest watch, and headwrap! My sister in law Katie made me a very chic apron ( Ill have to post pictures of it- its too cute!). On my actual birthday Me and Ry went about our day just like any other day! I did get some great phone calls from all my family and friends, and some AWESOME renditions of "Happy Birthday!" I was drying my hair and looked up and saw a balloon with flowers and candy tied to it in the living room. Chase had snuck in and left it there for me! How sweet! That night my mom made me a homemade carrot cake with double cream cheese frosting. We all ( My mom, dad, and Karen) went to Mat and Katies and had cake and ice- cream. I got some more GREAT gifts from my mom and my sis in law Summer.... thanks EVERYONE!!! It was such a fun night! Friday day I got a package in the mail from one of my mom in laws. I love getting mail! dina sent me The Big Bang Theory, a Target gift card and some pictures! What a Wonderful package! That night Chase took me out to a movie and a fun dinner! We have been on a tight budget after all our vacations, so it was a low key birthday, but SUPER fun! We had FREE movie tickets, so we went and saw Date Night. Then we got a pizza and ate it on the back of the truck at the Park. I know you are thinking, " What a High School date!" Let me just say that it was one of the funnest nights! I have learned that you can be creative when your money in limited, and have alot more fun!!!

My cute little birthday surprise!

I dont know why this picture is in here, but I dont know how to take it off. You can see my cute new watch though!

Me and my baby!

My nephews helped blow out ALL 28 candles!

YUMMMMMMM! My mom makes a mean carrot cake.

The best family picture we could get!

Ry got in the tub at Aunt Katies. Katie only has boys, which explains the dino jammies!

Our pizza at the park date!!!

Chase has pizza in his mouth, but its the only picture we took.

Chase thought he had a blanket in the car, but all that was in there was Ry's butterfly blanket!

HAPPY 28 TO ME!

Drinks!

I have come to find out that "going to get drinks" is a Utah thing. I was suprised to find this out when I moved to New York, and then again when I met Chasey. I would say, "lets go get a drink and go for a drive." No one knew what I was talking about or thought it sounded fun, except the other girls from Utah!

Just to fill the non -Utahans in on the drink scoop, here it is! Ever since I was little I would go get a drink from the gas station with my mom or sister or whoever, and then go for a drive around town ( So did every other Utahan). My mom would go with her friends at night to get a drink. Then they would sit in the driveway and talk for hours.When I got older I would do the same thing with my friends, but the driving was filled with gossip and music! When I moved to Provo it was the same routine. I dont know why it is such a fun thing, but it was and still is! Like I said no one in New York got the whole concept, but the Utah nannies and I LOVED cruisin' down by the beach with our drinks. When I say drinks I mean Diet Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper... soda drinks. Its something that I grew up doing, and still do today.

So.......

why would it be any different with Rylee?!?! We go for our daily drink fix every afternoon. Dont worry Ry gets apple juice or water, while I get my Diet Dr. Pepper. Every once in awhile Ry gets a few tastes of my drink. She has figured out how to hold the cup and suck from the straw, so she thinks she has to have my drink now. She cracks me up when she drinks mine cause the cup is as big as she is!

She definately has her mamas jeans!

Future Seminole

Grandma Dina sent Rylee some FSU gear! I think Grandma is trying to persuade Rylee at a young age to go to college in Florida. It just might work! She looked so cute in all of it, I had to get pictures ( of course) to show our Florida Fam.

Future Seminole

So cute!

This sweatshirt is a tad bit too big, but that just means we can wear it for a long time!


"GET THIS OFF ME!"
Ry couldnt use her hands cause the sleaves were covering them. She kinda frieked out!

Talking on the phone

Love her

It might fit in a few years!

THANKS GRANDMA!

We Love you!

Moab 2010

I like to blog "my life" as soon as it happens so I dont forget anything!

The pictures on this post might be a little out of control, and the blog itslef might be LONG, but we had a GREAT trip!

My sister in law Katie had the idea to do a family vacation to Moab. It was really one of the funnest trips we have done! My brother Dustin and his family even came up from Colorado! We missed my sister Shani and her family, but they'll be there next time... right, Shani?!

The weather and scenery was beautiful, and all the kids had fun playing with their cousins. It was just kind of a relaxing trip. I mean we did alot, but we all just did it on our own pace. Sometimes I get so annoyed that we cant stay together and do stuff as a big group like most families, but at the same time everyone likes to different things so its kind of nice!

So, here is our

Moab, Utah 2010 Family Vacation!

We started off on our little excursion early Friday morning. We followed Mat and Katie down. Mom drove down with us. Which was nice cause it kept Ry entertained in the back, and we enjoy being with mom. The drive itself was not that bad at all. We only stopped once to stretch and get drinks. Our first stop was to Dead Horse Point. The story behind it is this- In the l800s Indians would capture wild mustangs. Then they would fence them in on a 2000 foot peninsula above the Colorado River. They would brake them, and keep the good ones for themselves or sale them. They had forgotten about a herd of horses and left them. Even though the horses could see the water below them they had no way of getting to it cause of how high up they were. They ended up dying of thirst there. The story isnt that cool, but the scenery at the spot they were at is AMAZING!!! We ate lunch at one spot, and then drove up farther to get an even better view. I liked the farther one up cause it had a barrier. The other didnt have anything, and I hate heights so I was a little nervous the whole time. It was a fun afternoon!

This picture is a little out of order. Its of Chase at the Double Arches.

Eating lunch at Dead Horse Point. Aunt Katie gave Rylee her first Strawberry... mmmmm, she loved it!

My brother Mat and his family and Me and Chasey

My mom and some of the grankids.

Ben, Sam, and Rylee Jean

The sand is so soft there! Its just like Florida beach sand, but red! Since my little bug loves the dirt, she was in heaven. We just had to be careful she didnt eat any of the rocks.

Me and Mom

Dead Horse Point with Ry

This area didnt have any wall or barrier, so one step off those rocks and see ya later!

My sister in law Katie enjoying the warmth and beauty! Hahahaha!

Really no need to keep writing captions I guess. These are all at Dead horse Point!

The peninsula where the horses couldnt get to the water. Do you love my hand? Rylee had just thrown up and I caught it with my hand.

That afternoon my Dad & Karen, and Dustin & Mary got there. We went to Mat and Katie's hotel to swim with everyone. Just a few Chicken Fights. No one ever fell off, so we all won!

Dustin ( my brother), Mat( my other brother), and Chasey in the hot tub.

I love Ry's face in this picture. She liked the hot tub more then pool!

Dustin, Cassie, Me, and Rylee. Cassie always points at Ry and says " BABY!" They are only a year apart.

My brother Mat tries so hard to have Ry like him. She just doesnt like him though! He took her in the pool and she started crying until I took her.

After swimming and some Mexican food for dinner we headed over to this BIG sand hill! It looked easy to just hurry and run up it. Ummm... ya, not the easiet thing at all. My sister in law Summer ran up the whole thing carrying her 16 month old baby. She is wonder women. I had to stop 4 times to catch my breath. Even Chasey stopped once or twice to catch his breath. I didnt realize how high up it was either! The sand was so soft that you just kind of sank in. Coming down was fun though!

At the top! The sand on my face is so becoming!

Little Pookie stayed at the bottom with Grandma Paula. She is my sand baby, so once again she loved it!

At the top

Family Picture at the bottom.

Looking up from the bottom. It doesnt look that steep at all.

The funniest one to watch come down the hill was my niece Sayla. She is only 16 months old. She would scoot on her bum, roll in the sand, try to crawl in it... it was so funny!

We cut Chase out of the picture... sorry. He didnt like his smile, but I liked it of me and Ry

Happy as can be!

Ry Cassie and Sayla. All the "babies" in the family right now.

My mom made it to the rock!

One of my favorites! She gets so excited when people play with her that her body tightens up. You can see her little leg muscles tight and her toes pointed.

2 good look out points

4 kids winning a chicken fight

5 pounds of sand I found in Ry's dipaer

12 people making it to the top

9 happy kids

It was a good first day!

* SATURDAY*

The next day Summer and John ( my brother and sis in law) were smart enough to bring REAL food for breakfast. We brought cereal and yogurt. They brought bacon, pancakes, eggs, the whole nine yards. We bummed breakfast off of them the two days we were there! Thanks guys.. it was delicious!

The place we stayed at had a huge checker board. The kids thought it was pretty fun. Me and Dustin teamed up with the kids and played a game. About half way into it Dustin and I got sick of playing. Dust just started kicking the pieces off the board, which the kids thought was more fun then the actual game.

Spencer would get mad if the pieces got moved to the red squares. The red ones were fire, and you werent suppoed to touch them. Ella would get som upset when I called Dustin Dust. She would say, " hello, Aunt Lyndsay his name is Dustin. NOT Dust. Dont you know?" His kids are funny!

I loved all the red rock behind our campground.

After a great breakfast we all headed up to hike the Delicate Arch. We went early enough that it wasnt that hot. I thought it would be a 30 minute hike- thats what it was when I was 14! I guess 14 years and a baby later that isnt the case. I also had a baby on my back and a little 4 year old by my side the whole time. Round trip I think it was pretty close to 3 hours. There is a "hill" at one point that was pretty steep. I thought I was going to die. I was grateful I had Ella with me cause she wanted to stop and rest a few times. That way I could say, " Ill stay back with Ella, so she can rest!" Once we got to the Arch it was 100% worth it! It was so pretty!

The whole gang!

We barrowed my sister in laws back pack. It was hers when she was little, so its a good 30 years old. It worked perfect though! Ry did so good in it too!

Me and Dustin with our kids on our backs.

Just starting up.

Ella wanted to walk with Chasey. She loves him. She told us this trip, " I want to live at your house." I told her her mom and dad would miss her too much. She said, " No, they wont they have Abby and Spencer and Cassie." She cracks me up! I would take her in a heartbeat!

This is the "hill" I dont really know what to call it.Its just a huge rock like the side of a mountain, but it was hard getting up it.

Chase trying to catch a lizard for the kids. It was a pretty big one too. Well bigger then what we have seen down in St. George. It was an unsuccesful attempt. Afterwards someone told us that some of the lizards are poisinous. I dont know if thats true, but just to be safe we left them alone the rest of the time. This was just about half way up, and also the time we realized we had lost Rylee's jacket. Chasey went bolting down the trail to try and find it. Someone told him it was hanging on the tree at the bottom. He got double the workout... what a great husband.

We turned the last little corner on the trail and saw this!

It really is amazing!

Thats our little family under the arch.

We found a little area where all of us could sit and eat some lunch and relax.

Another one of us under the arch

Me and my neices, MaKenna and Abby

Time to head back down. All of the kids did great! I tried carrying Sam down at the very end cause he said he was tired, but he wouldnt let me. Even though he was tired we wanted to do the whole hike by himself all while carrying a backpack the same size as him!

My brothers and Chasey

All the boys

My dad, Dustin, John, Chasey, Mat

Stopping for yet another picture. We kept trying to get a picture of the background, but you cant capture how really pretty it is in a picture!

Heading down the mountian rock thing! It was a killer on my knees.

Rylee fell asleep about half way down. I had to kind of bend my back so her head wouldnt flop everywhere, or so it didnt fall into the pack and suffocate her. I ended up just carrying her in my arms. She was quite the little trooper!

My dad, my sister in law Mary, my brother Dustin,and my step mom.

At the bottom!

23 people

7 stops

1 lizard

3 sleeping babies

0 accidents

50 pictures

and we made it!

Double Arch

On the way down we decided to do one more hike. This one was more of a stroll. I still opted out. My knees were killing me, and trying to put Ry back in her back pack would have been miserable. Chasey went with Katie, Summer, Afton, and their kids. The rest of us stayed back. You can see it behind me in this picture. I wish I would have gone once they got back. They said it was awesome and you could hike up in between the two arches. Oh well!

Ella and Cassie passed out in the car! They must have been exhausted cause it was only a 5 minute ride to the next hike. What cute girls!

Sam stayed back too. He entertained Ry the whole time with his tree frog Webkins. Rylee loves Sam. He put Rylee in his carseat, and he sat in Bens. Ry loved it!

Waiting for daddy to come back

Gorgeous

Rylee does NOT like sunblock on her. Its a process to get her to hold still and let me rub it in.

After our big hiking day we came back and ate dinner with everyone. Dad and Karen bought us pizza that night.

Say Say and Ry wating for some dinner

I plastered Rylee in sunscreen and she still got burnt. Her little face and arms are now a nice red color. I was hoping she would get Chaseys nice tan skin, but I think she got the Larsen red skin.

After hiking & pizza we all went to the pool

Ry and dad. Ry is blowing kisses... she is so cute!

Grandma Paula, Cassie, MaKenna, and Abby

I wish I could just sit back in a tube, relax and look this cute!

Me and my girl!

Mat and Katie left after the pool. They had only planned on staying one night. We wish they would have stayed longer. We got out of the pool, and headed into town for some ice cream. My mom treated us all- Thanks Mom! Spencer thought it was so cool that the ice cream flavor he got was called superman!

This baby has her mamas jeans... she loves anything sweet!

Some people left after ice cream, but we stayed and checked out all the shops. There was some pretty cool things there to buy. Dont you love the hat Chase found that has hair attached to the top! We didnt buy it, but we considered it... haha!

We did get these very touristy jackets!

*SUNDAY*

Another breakfast from John and Summer!

Ry was loving the swings after breakfast.

Chase was loving the back hoe!

Packing up to go home! Chasey watched Ry and I packed. I love that little girl more then anything, but sometimes you just need a break. Ella kept calling Rylee Little One. So she would say, " Can I take the little one for a walk?" She was so helpful with her! The only way Rylee would stay with Chasey was if he gave her a sucker. She is a mamas girl, but a sucker will get her to go to anyone.

Our cabin.

Driving the truck over to check out.

Since we already paid for a park pass for the week, we all decided to go up one more little trail. It was called Sandy Dunes Arch ( or something like that). It looked like any other hike... until you got behind the big rock. The sand turned super soft, and there was this hidden arch in back of it. It was so fun for the kids to play. There were no cliffs or ledges they could fall off. They had a blast. It was so windy, but once you got back in there the wind stopped, and the sun hit it so it was nice and warm. Im glad we decided to stop there!

Heading up the trail with my neices.

Right before we found the arch

So Fun!

This was our group shot.

More sand for Miss Rylee

My brother Dustin and his son Spencer

Me and Dust

My cute neice Abby. She always hates saying bye to everyone. They live in Colorado, so we dont see them like we do everyone else. We do see them quite often though. They are good to come visit us. We need to be better about going down there to see them. I was so glad that they came on this trip. It made it that much more fun!

Chasey had been wanting to go to the visitor center, so after saying bye to everyone we stopped by to see it. It wasnt as neat as we had thought it be, but fun anyways.

One last stop to eat lunch before heading home!

10 dead deer on the side of the road

2 bathroom stops

3 drinks

1 spilled box of sprees

4 lost calls

1 good country Cd

and we are home!

Thanks everyone for a GREAT weekend!