Livin' the Dream

Lots has happened in the two years since we last posted.

The biggest event was Macey's birth.  She was born in October of 2013.  She's almost two years old now!  She's beautiful and brilliant and spunky and a cheerful, funny little girl.  Like Lucy and Riley, Macey loves dance parties and tickle fests (what kid doesn't, eh?).  She runs around after her big brother and sister, always trying to keep up.  She and Riley have always had a special relationship; when she was really little, he could make her giggle no matter her mood.  Priceless!

Riley is such a handsome little dude.  He just turned four years old.  CrAzY, eh?!  He's enjoying pre-school swap and he LOVES being a Sunbeam.  He rocked his part in the Primary program this year.  Riley just received a remote control race car for his birthday which he loves; it has totally fueled his passion for cars.  Pretty sure Daddy is almost as excited as Riley is about this new toy.

Lucy started kindergarten.  She works so hard and she's reading now!  She was so excited yesterday--they learned to play kickball (soccer-baseball to anybody who grew up in Raymond) in P.E. and she got a point!  We're so proud of her for adjusting to school so quickly.  She still struggles with being shy, but she's really come a long way.  Lucy adores her two teachers and has made many friends.  

Ryan got a new position within ADOT.  He's now using his degree working in the GIS department.  He LOVES it and enjoys the people he works with.  He's learning and growing; it's really good to have him come home excited about work and the projects he's working on.

Does this all sound boring?  I guess life has just continued marching on.  Just living 'the dream' with the family I love.

Fire Truck Photos from the Public Library



Part of Lucy's World

Lucy's latest talent is singing.  She sings in the car, while we walk, in the splish-splash bath, in her bed, while we rock her before bed--pretty much ALL THE TIME.  I love it!  She's getting pretty good at singing Teach Me to Walk in the Light, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and Ariel's Part of Your World from "The Little Mermaid."  I was finally able to get a video of her singing last week.  I know you can't hear it very well, but she does get a little louder toward the end.  Look out, Taylor Swift!  You've got some competition!!

(NOTE:  Before you watch this video, you'll have to scroll down to the music player and pause it or stop it, otherwise you won't be able to hear Lucy singing.)

Make-uh-Bum Dance Party

Once upon a time, when Riley was a lot younger, I was changing his bum and he got away from me before I could put his new diaper on him.  I said something like, "Hey!  Naked-bum-boy, come back here!"  Lucy must have thought I said, "Make-uh-Bum" because ever since then, she's referred to wearing nothing but a diaper as a "Make-uh-Bum."  Lucy and Riley's absolute favorite activity now is to run around as "Make-uh-Bums"--wearing nothing but their diapers and sometimes their socks.  Sometimes they just run around like crazy; most of the time, they LOVE having make-uh-bum dance parties!  This particular video is of a make-uh-bum dance party they had just before Christmas 2012.

Much Ado About Much...

So much has happened since we posted last... The JDRF Walk, American Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now the Turner's visit.

One of Ryan's sisters has Type 1 Diabetes. There was a JDRF Walk (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) in Tempe at the beginning of November (2011). Ryan, Lucy, Riley (wrapped up in the Baby Bjorn--if you look closely, his toque is barely visible!), Ryan's folks, Ryan's sister with diabetes and her two kids (her husband was deployed in Afghanistan with the USAF), and I were all able to walk. It was only a couple of miles, but it was really neat to see SO MANY PEOPLE walking for a cause! There were probably several thousand (not even kidding!) people who signed up and joined. Ryan's sister raised well over $1000.00 for JDRF. What a great experience! The weather was beautiful! Lucy had a great time in the stroller and walked the last quarter km or so with Grandpa and her cousin. Ryan and Riley even met the Phoenix Suns' Gorilla!

Over General Conference weekend, Reed and Emma Turner (my friend's folks from our growing up years) came to visit. They are wonderful people and over the years have become like second parents to me. They very quickly became grandparents to the kids. You can clearly see they LOVED them and just had a blast playing with them! You can never have too many grandparents, eh?! We didn't really do much, just watched Conference, ate pizza, played games, and went to the park, but it was still so good to have them here, just visiting! Lucy and Riley had a ball flying a kite at the park!

Halloween!

We got to go pick out our pumpkin for Halloween while Grandma Atwood was here! There's a GREAT pumpkin patch on the other side of town--totally worth the drive. Lucy proudly drove the tractor. She even picked out her own pumpkin to paint. The family jack-o-lantern became Minnie Mouse. Ryan gets pretty buckwild when it comes to pumpkin carving!

For our church Trunk-or-Treat, Lucy went as Mickey Mouse, Riley went as a jack-o-lantern, and Daddy went as a hockey player (Shane Doan, of course!). Note the candy bag that Lucy used at the Trunk-or-Treat. My mum painted a few pillowcases when we were kids and she had the insight to save them! Cool, eh? When we went trick-or-treating, Lucy went as the cutest little purple and black witch I've ever seen (no bias here, folks!) and Riley again sported his jack-o-lantern costume. I know Lucy kind of seems like she didn't really like her costumes, but she really did. She especially liked her witch hat. We got to go trick-or-treating with Grandpa Miles, Auntie Lisa, and cousins Peyton (Dora) and Nash (Dora's monkey). Fun was had by all.