Orem Splash Pools

If you live somewhere near Orem, you've got to try out the splash pools at Nielson's Grove. We were regulars there this summer because they are so safe and fun for kids. They also have a playground and HUGE swings. My good friend Heather and I always took a little picnic lunch and stayed a couple hours. It's always a great all-around experience.

Adelyn, with her best friend Jaron. Heather and I joke that this will be one of the pictures in their wedding video someday. :)

Preston didn't swim much, but she sure had fun hanging out and playing around. I love this picture of him.

A big cheese for the camera.

Preston attacking Tayson, Heather's baby. He'd better be careful though; Tayson is five months younger than Preston, but I think he may have already passed him up in weight. Fortunately, Tayson is a very mellow kid and is used to being picked on.

Wheeler Farm

I'd imagine that most 3-year old girls' favorite animal is either a cat or a dog, maybe a rabbit. Not my 3-year old! She LOVES farm animals, cows and horses in particular. Yep, they are her absolute favorites. I can't really explain it. "Old MacDonald" is STILL one her very favorite songs. Since she could talk, maybe even before, she's always loved to make all of the animal sounds. Needless to say, Wheeler Farm was quite a treat, both for Adelyn and for her parents because the experience is nearly free.

Adelyn can never pass up a pony ride. I bet it won't be long before she'll be asking for a pony for Christmas.

She also loves to feed the cows. She stood there waiting for 10 minutes or more, holding out some grass and "moo"ing at this cow before it decided to take her up on her offer. (I wish she were that patient with me. :)

FHE: Bowling Night

We had a great time taking the kids bowling for family home evening the other night. They loved it!

Look mom! Bowling balls! Too bad they're too heavy to pick up.

With bumpers and this nifty bowling rack, I'm pretty sure Adelyn bowled better than I did, as usual.

She loved her bowling shoes and was so mad when we had to give them back. She didn't understand that we just rented them for the game. They were sure fun to dance in though.

Preston didn't miss the opportunity to drive. He loves pushing buttons, so this was a real treat!

My Husband: The Master

Ryan graduated with his Master's Degree from BYU this past weekend. His major was in the Linguistics department: Second Language Acquisition and Teaching. He did his thesis on the effectiveness of using video, subtitles, and electronic film review to enhance the learning process of language study. It was such a great feeling to see him finish after so much hard work.

The kids were proud too. But Adelyn was a little upset that he didn't get to sit by us during the graduation. She thought that was a rip off. I'd have to agree with her. :)

The Graduate.

Oh, no! Now I officially have hood-envy!

Six Years

It is crazy to think that Ryan and I have been married six years already! Today is our anniversary. Where has the time gone?! At the same time, it feels like we've been married forever. We've grown a lot in that time and I am so grateful that he is mine for eternity. Here's a little journey back to one of the happiest days of my life...

Our first picture outside the temple after we were sealed.

I love this picture because Ryan looks like a giddy school boy. :)

He always treated me like a princess, and I truly felt like I'd married a prince. Happy Anniversary, Ryan, with many more great years to come!

My Little One-Year Old

Preston turned one on July 31st! We had such a great time celebrating. Adelyn LOVES parties and she was more than willing to help make it a special day for her little brother.

Ryan and Adelyn made Preston's baseball cake. They did such an amazing job! Even though it is hard to see, the middle of the ball says "Preston."

We let Adelyn help Preston blow out his candle before he had the chance to grab it and burn his little hand.

Once he got going with the cake, he made a HUGE mess. (I don't think ANY of it got into his mouth.) I love this picture because it looks like he has a perfect little goatee (the first one-year old ever to have facial hair!)

Can you believe how red his hair is getting!?!

Opening gifts. . .we got him a train set and some shoes; Grandma Rocque gave him some darling clothes. Thanks so much, Grandma!

The big Tonka dump truck Preston got from Grandpa Rocque is also a real hit. He loves to put things in it and push it around. He also used to like to climb inside it, until it dump him right out on his head. He's since decided that pushing it is safer than driving it.

Just one year ago, on his birth-day. He has brought so much joy into our family. What a sweet little boy. Happy Birthday, Preston!

I Ski, You Ski!

So, for those of you who don't know, I LOVE to water ski! I confess that I have been a boating mooch for as long as I can remember. Once I even went boating with a guy I met at a Saltair dance. I was pretty desperate to go, so I made my friend Amber accompany me just in case the guy was a criminal or something (like that would've helped that much anyway :). We obviously survived. But unfortunately, that was the last time I went (SEVEN long years ago!) until. . . our good friends from our Provo ward, Patti and Mitch, invited us to go out with them on their boat as a last outing before they moved to Wyoming for law school. We had the best day!

Ryan has never wake boarded in his life, but he was a total natural. He got up on his first try without any trouble and even tried a few little tricks. He's not as much of a fish as I am though, so he was ready to go home long before I was.

I tried the wake board too, and liked it, but I actually prefer to ski. I skied pretty much until I dropped, and I could barely walk the next day. (And I had to take almost an entire week off of running because I strained my lower back so bad.) But, it was well worth it!!! Thanks so much Mitch and Patti. You guys are the best! We are going to miss you so much!

Mommy Tag!

I was tagged (or I guess Adelyn was), and these are the questions I asked her about me.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Thank you.

2. What makes mom happy? Doing good things.

3. What makes mom sad? When I do bad things.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? Silly songs and jokes.

5. What was your mom like as a child? Like Preston.

6. How old is your mom? 20.

7. How tall is your mom? Like 60.

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Feeding Preston some food.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Play hide and seek from me.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? For emergency, like what we talked abut for Family Home Evening the other day.

11. What is your mom really good at? Cooking.

12. What is your mom not very good at? Swimming, because my slide is too little for you.

13. What does your mom do for her job? You give people water and get blood out.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Soup.

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When you write your letters very good.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Minnie Mouse.

17. What do you and your mom do together? Play with puzzles and games.

18. How are you and your mom the same? We have the same color of hair. Except when it gets wet, your hair is black.

19. How are you and your mom different? We don't have the same color of shirt.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Loving me with your heart.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Doing right things like putting sun block on me and Preston.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Go on the roller coaster.

Kids are so funny! Adelyn tags: Alexis, Kinsley, J.C., Caleb, Jaron, Dayah and Porter, Marcus, Kiley and Savanna, and Kayla and Luke. Enjoy!

While Mom's at Work...

Ryan has made the extra effort lately to take the kids on outings while I'm at work (or sleeping after working the night before). One day, I came home and they'd gone to the park, the Bean Musuem, and then to Costco for lunch. Wow! He really keeps them going.

Our little climber.

Preston loves these little wood chips. We have to keep a close eye on him though because he thinks they are almost as fun to eat as they are to play with.

CHEESE!!

"Here Dad, you try one. They're super tasty!"

The best thing though is that I never have to worry that the kids will starve while I'm at work. Thanks to Chef Ryan, they are always well fed and happy when I come home. What a great husband I have.

Preston is very much into big-people food lately. Ryan made some pizza and he apparently ate an entire piece all by himself, plus shared some of Ryan's. What a big boy!

There's Nothin' Like a Barbecue in July

We had a barbecue with Ryan's family to welcome Brent's wife's family to Utah. Maria had just returned from a road trip with her mom, aunt, and cousins along the Pacific Coast. Apparently, they had a blast.

'Tis the season for watermelon-eating, and Adelyn will be the first to make sure she gets some.

Me with my little buddy, Preston.

Preston felt on top of the world on his Daddy's shoulders holding his big and powerful stick.

Here's the clan. Maria's cousin, her Mom, Maria, her aunt, Brandon, Adelyn, Ryan, me, Preston, and Maria's other cousin.

Timpanogos Cave

We braved the hike up to Timpanogos Cave a couple weeks ago. We weren't sure how fun it was going to be to haul two kids up the mountainside, but it turned out to be a really great experience. Stroller aren't allowed on the trail, so we just packed Preston in the Bjorn. We distracted Adelyn from the fact that she was hiking up a steep incline by having her watch for the numbers on the rocks (1-20). Our strategy worked and she ended up walking the whole way by herself. We were so proud of her.

Ryan and Adelyn are two peas in a pod. They have the greatest time together. Adelyn always loves our outings the most when Dad comes along.

This is one of the only pictures we got of Preston while he was still awake. He's been packing on the pounds lately to ensure that I get a great work-out on occasions such as this one.

"Princess of the Rock" or is it "Princess Rocque"

Ryan's sister, Amber, is one of Adelyn's favorite people in the whole world. We were so glad she came along. She absolutely loved the cave! She knows a lot about rocks and minerals and was teaching me all kinds of new things.

Evidence that we made it--over 6000 feet above sea level! The climb in the hot sun completely exhausted poor Preston. He woke up in the middle of the tour and looked so confused in finding that his surroundings had suddenly become cold and dark.

Adelyn was a little scared while we were in the cave. I'm not sure if it was the dark or the cold or the crazy stories our tour guide kept telling us, but she wanted to be held a lot of the time. But it turns out she enjoyed the experience because she's asked to go hike to the cave every day since. And she tells the "legends of the cave" over and over to anyone who will listen, although I think she combines a few of the stories on accident.

Oh, so big!!

Best freinds.

Independence Day

I thought I'd better start being responsible and post something on my blog again. It will probably take me a couple of days to catch up. We've had a really fun and busy July. When Ryan's not at school and I'm not at work, we've tried to get out and enjoy the summer while we still can.

We woke the kids up early on the 4th of July and took them to the Freedom Festival in Provo. Ryan took the kids to eat breakfast and see the hot air balloons take off while I ran the 10K. They loved the balloons! It is always fun to watch this neat event. There are so many of them! Fortunately, I too got a glance of the balloons during the 3rd mile of the race.

Here's Adelyn, posing as usual.

The 10K was awesome. I started out kind of slow and eased into it, but by the last couple miles I was trying to catch and pass as many girls as possible. It paid off in the end because I ended up the 11th girl overall and 3rd in my age group. I was pleased--it is so nice to actually race again.

The parade was great this year, as always. We met Ryan's family there and watched it with them. This is the Orem City royalty float. The girl to the far left is one of Ryan's former students, Graceann. Ryan has also taught two of her brother and we've become good friends with her family.

This is the American Fork marching band. Rumor has it they take State just about every year and were in the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade this last fall. They are amazing! Needless to say, there are several die-hard band mom's in our ward here in AF. And apparently they practice every morning at 7:00 (even in the summer) and serve as an alarm clock for many other families in the ward.

This was one of the booths at the Freedom Festival. Adelyn walked so easily across this tight rope. She has such amazing balance and she's not afraid of anything! We also visited a few craft booths and a rare reptile demonstration.

After the parade and festivities, we went home and rested awhile before going to my brother Doug's house in Salt Lake for a barbecue. Everyone had a great time. The kids went swimming and played on the swing-set and sandbox. . .

The men passed around the soccer ball and made plans for their next golf outing. And the women chased the kids around and did what we do best: talk and talk and talk. When the sun went down, Ryan and Doug put on a great firework show for us. And the neighbors completed the package with an amazing air show. They were shooting off all kinds of illegal stuff that lit up the whole sky. It was awesome! It was a perfect 4th of July.