The Big 3-0!!!!

On July 27th I turned 30 years old! Holy cow! On the 26th, Tiffany & Megan surprised me by coming over to wish me a Happy Birthday-Eve! It was a lot of fun! We had cake and ice cream! Then we played a game while the kids watched a movie and goofed off. Then, David (Tiffany's hubby) let me drive his Mustang GT Convertible! So, Megan, Tiffany, and I loaded up in the car and went for a drive! WHAT A BLAST!!!!! The next day was my birthday. I went to church, where everyone was so kind and remembered my birthday. Then I got home and took a WONDERFUL nap! When we woke up we went to the park with some friends and had a little BBQ and the kids played on the slides, etc. Megan made an AWESOME cake!!!! I gave her a recipe for the frosting that my Mom makes. It is TO DIE FOR!!!!! So, then Megan made a cake with that frosting on it. She did an AMAZING job!!! Everyone made the weekend such a fun weekend!!!! Now I get to go see Wicked tomorrow!!!! It really was a great birthday and wasn't even too bad that I turned the big 3-0!!!!!

Detroit Temple Trip

On Saturday our Branch Primary planned the coolest activity. We went with our families to the Detroit temple. The adults went in and did a session while the kids had a Pioneer Themed activity out on the church lawn. What an awesome experience that was! Mike and I haven't been able to go to the temple together in a very long time! This was truly a rare and awesome opportunity! It was really neat to be down there with so many great friends too! It felt the way I imagine eternity feeling like. It was a special experience and I am so grateful we could go! After we were done with the temple session we all met out on the lawn and had lunch. Then Mark and Kara shared a story from their pioneer ancestry! It was awesome! We had a great time!

4 MONTHS OLD!!!!

4 Months Old
First taste of rice cereal!!!!
Rylie turned 4 months old on July 17th! I can't believe how fast the time goes! We took her to the Dr. and she weighs 14 lbs. 8 oz. and is 25 inches long!!!! She is in the 60% for her weight and 75% for her height! Woo Hoo! She's definitely my child, ha ha! She was a trooper for her shots and only cried for about 30 seconds! Some changes have been that she is either teething or just wants to bite the heck out of everything! Also, she is rolling over a lot and grabbing onto things more. We also started feeding her cereal. Surprisingly, she has been doing really well with it and seems to enjoy it to a certain extent. We love our Rylie!!!!!

Day at the Zoo!

We took advantage of the L&L Foods free Day at the Zoo! Wow! It's amazing how much work it can be going to the zoo with more than 4 kids instead of 2! We either had to stop to feed the babies or stop to help the kids with something else. We managed to have a great time!!!! The highlight of the day, I think, is when we were visiting the llamas. A man was leaning towards a llama when the llama decided to spit on the man! Nasty but HILLARIOUS! It was all over him! I laughed so hard! The man kept saying,"Oh no he didn't!" It was VERY entertaining! Connor was more than impatient as he waited to go to the pony rides. However, we did get him to ride the camel! Only, he wouldn't go unless I went with him. That's not what I had in mind at all! I was scared but didn't want Connor to be so I agreed! Oh gosh! Not my cup of tea but, I we did it and had fun! Even if the camel did try to rip my leg off when he came to the drop off platform! What a great day at the zoo!

Mike's Book Award Night!

Mike accepting his award, with Rylie in hand (puking on him at the same time)!
Mike, after he received his award.

Justin, Zoey, Mike, Rylie

Mike received a Book Award last term for one of his classes. A Book Award is received if you earn the highest grade in your class! I am so dang proud of my hubby! It would kill me if he knew I was posting this but I can't help it! I don't give him the praise he deserves! He works so hard in school! It doesn't come easy for him but, he is dedicated and committed to doing a good job! I know he is doing his very best! I'm so lucky that he's mine! The awards night wasn't too bad because not a ton of people were there. It was fun though because the Call's were there too because Justin had received a couple awards too. Then, they served some refreshments that were pretty yummy!!! It was a great night to honor Mike! GO MIKE GO!!!!

Abby Taylor's Birthday Party

Sundance Riding Stable

Connor loves to ride horses and has since he was little. The first time he ever rode a horse was while we were visiting some friends in Mountain Home, ID. He instantly loved it and has loved horses! We discovered the Sundance Riding Stables last year and have wanted to take Connor riding. This year we finally buckled down and have taken him. The first time we took him he rode a horse named Barney. This horse (shetland pony) was a stubborn little thing, much like Connor. That's why I think Connor loved him so much! Anyway, ever since then, any horse he sees or rides is named "Barney". If it's a black horse then it's "Black Barney". If it's a brown horse then it's "Brown Barney" and so on. It's so funny! Well, as you all know, we've been trying to get rid of his stinkin' binky!!!! We found this to be the perfect motivation for him!!!! We first told him that if he went 3 days without a binky then he could go ride horses! It worked! Then we stretched it out to 5 days! It worked again and is still working! Yay for Sundance Riding Stables! You should all check it out!

YUMMY RECIPES!!!!

Hey Everyone!

Recently I came across a website that has a ton of recipes on it. The link is: http://www.sugardoodle.net/melsrecipes/. So, I tried the Banana Bread, Breakfast Pull-Aparts, and the Macaroni Casserole. They were all DANG GOOD!!!! I totally recommend this website! It's been delicious so far and very easy! I even found a recipe for a crockpot dessert that looks like it will taste like my dutch oven cherry-chocolate cobbler! MMMMM!

I LOVE SURPRISES!!!!!

Today I went to get the mail, like I always do! I LOVE to get the mail and today reaffirmed why! I was going through our mail and came across an enveloped addressed to Mike with the return address being from the Wharton Center! HELLO!!!! Only one main thing is going on at the Wharton Center! I got home as fast as I could and excitedly asked Mike if he got Wicked tickets for my birthday!!!! HE DID!!!!! He was so disappointed though because I guess he had a plan. He was going to make Sunday, the 27th(my b-day) boring so I would think he didn't really care. Then he was gonna' surprise me by taking me to Wicked on Wednesday, the 30th. He had even set up babysitters. Well, the ticket office was supposed to hold the tickets until that night. Instead they mailed them to him. If he had known then he would've got the mail because he knows that's my routine thing to do everyday. I don't care though! I am so dang excited and can't wait to go see Wicked! It's one of my top 3 musicals and have been dying to see it!!! We're going July 30th! My husband is freakin' awesome and is so thoughtful and sweet to get these tickets! Thanks soooooooooooooo much Mike!!!!

4th of July!!!!

Cedar City, Here We Come!

I was talking to a friend today and realized I haven't offically told people where we're going for our externship! Silly me! So, after much decision making, and all that goes with it, we came to a decision on where Mike will do his externship! We'll be heading to Cedar City, UT! We lived there for the 1st year of our marriage and really enjoyed it! In fact, we lived in Ann Overson's home ward! Isn't that funny? Anyway, we're moving from Lansing on August 20th. I can't believe how soon it's coming! AAAAAGH! I HATE PACKING WITH A PASSION!!!!!! Anyway, now everyone is in the know!

Has It Begun?!?!?!?!?!

I think Rylie may be teething ALREADY!!!! Connor didn't get his first tooth until he was 10 months old so, it hasn't even crossed my mind that it might be much more different for Rylie. Well, lately she has been chewing and biting on anything in sight. It's a ferocious type of gnawing and she slobbers like crazy when she does it. She can't go 5 minutes without shoving her fingers, a blanket, or something else into her mouth to bite. Rylie has also been a lot more fussy than normal and doesn't sleep as well as she usually does! I'm thinking she's teething???? Only time will tell!

Delta Township Fireworks

Boooooooooo!

I am so bummed that DeAnna chose Jesse! We all seemed to know that it was going to happen but I was hoping & crossing my fingers that I was wrong. Grrrrr! Jesse is so weird and gives me the willies! Now Jason, he's just awesome! He seems like such a great, sweet, and loving person! GOSH!!!! I hate it when it turns out this way!

VENT MOMENT!

Have you ever seen someone you know and they know you? Then they look right at you and you say "Hey, so and so!" but they just blow you off and walk away? RUDE! RUDE! RUDE! Ok, I'm done. :)

Rylie's First 4th of July!

Rylie experienced her first 4th of July this past weekend! I think she had a good time and didn't even seem bothered by the sound of the fireworks or all the running around we did. It was so fun to have her here with us this year!

She's Got the Touch!

Since Rylie was born she has always been so happy and relaxed the second she sees Tiffany or is held by Tiffany. Tiffany has definitely got the touch with her, for sure! These two are bonded for life!

Goodbye, Graduates!!!!

(Mike, Trevor, Jim, Justin, Janee)
On June 27th, Janee threw a really fun party for the people graduating and leaving next month. I think it was so awesome of Janee to come up with that and for all the time and effort she put into it. She worked really hard, and I'm sure Dan helped out a lot too! We first had a yummy dinner with pasta bake and various salads, rolls, and other yummy treats. My personal favorites were the pasta bake, Alyson's rolls, Megan's salad, and the chocolate-dipped strawberries (bless whoever brought those). Of course, the frosting on the cake was DELICIOUS!!!! Afterwards, a few of us (Mike, myself, Scott Morgan, Sarah Betzold, and Neal Barncard) played a couple games of P-I-G & H-O-R-S-E with the basketball. It was fun to hang out with everyone, including the others who came to show support for all of us. THANKS JANEE!!!!

I can't believe that our time here is almost finished! I'll try not to get too sappy here but I just have a lot of mixed emotions with all of this! I'm very excited to be closer to family again! That will be great!!!! It will be great once we can get a job and be done with the many adventures in school. However, I have really grown to love my life here! I love where we live. I love the things there are to do. I love my routines I have everyday. I enjoy all the many friends I have come to love so much! They've become my family! No other time in our lives will we have so many people going through almost the exact same things and being able to be so supportive and understanding. It has been a GREAT experience being here and I will miss everyone dearly!

The people graduating and leaving are us, Call's, Pousson's, Terry's, Betzold's, and the Misseldine's. The funny thing is that 4 of us are all leaving basically the same day(August 20th)! We are going to UT, somewhere. The Call's are going to SLC, UT. The Pousson's are going to Arizona. The Terry's are going to Washington. The Misseldine's are going to Idaho. The Betzold's are going to Grand Rapids, I believe.