Ultimate Vaca...

my DaD took mE, STEve, & my siBlings on a MEexican CRUISE, 5 DayS, NO KiDs

...need I say more???

Okay, so most of you who know me know- my kids are my favorite thing in this world! I love being a mom more than life itself! Now, having said this, over the past little while- with 2 crazy kids & all Steves dang traveling- I have come to the harsh realization that as much as I LOVE being a mom, it is not ALWAYS as fun and easy as i'd like (not quite the same as when I nannied and got to leave them at the end of the day, and the disciplining was NOT a factor, nor was my messy house)...
Well, I have to admit that as heart broken as I was to leave our girls behind for the first time EVER, thinking that no one in this world could possibly take care of them the way that I do, it was AWESOME!!! I'm pretty sure that my mother-in-law is my new hero, and i figure i've built up about another 2 1/2 years of patience, love & tolerance for my sweet little rugrats:)

I have to say, this pretty much sums up my entire week... seriously, does it get more relaxing than this?

Okay, we DID do a little Mexican Adventuring for 2 of the days...
In Cabo San Lucas, we went to LOVERS BEACH... WOW! I have been there before, but I do NOT remember it bein this SWEET! I actually SWAM in the Ocean- which i usually hate 'cuz you can't see what's lurking below you? But this water was clear & warm, I loved it. Then, on the other side of the little island (divorce beach) are these ROCKIN waves that crash down like thunder, & would kill you if you got trapped out there... they were beautiful though, and it was SO nice to lay on that beach in the shade with our books & listen to the crashing waves!

Here is me & My bro Shane chasing these 20 foot swells- the picture doesn't do the height justice, but it was a seriouse adrenaline rush:

Then there is the lovely ENSENADA... where I thought being hassled by the shop owners & being pressured into buying chicklets was the ONLY thing to do there!
Well, aparently there is a tour you can take to one of the few BLOW HOLES in the world? It was BEAUTIFUL there. Such a pretty place, with way yummy food & great shopping!

Here we all are, just shopping & bartering away:

Of course the Days at sea were spent enjoying all the classic luxuries of a CRUISE... the killer ice sculptures, the fancy random sea creatures that are beautifully presented on your dinner plate, and of course the towel animals that grace your room every night:)




And all the while, our girls were having the TIME of their LIVES, getting 100% love and attention from grandma & grandpa Smith!!! Thank heavens for THEM:)
When we got home, Rylee was excited to see us & Milly was weirded out for a few hours. BEST of ALL- not only did they love/appreciate us again, but RYlee learned how to SLEEP IN HER OWN BED (after 2 years of sleeping in OURS) & almost got rid of her BINKI, and Milly learned to drink MILK! So... if you want your childrens habbits to be broken, send them to Grandma's for the Week!

Fall Leaves

HIKE UP THE PAYSON CANYON!
Me, Ry & Milly went on the prettiest hike while we were visiting the Jacobsons. WOW, was it ever beautiful! I had no idea there was so much to learn on a little Fall hike? Ry loved learning about all the colors of the changing leaves- we drug behind the group as we took our sweet time finding all sorts of 'mommy & daddy' sized leaves of all colors!

Rylee made some cute new friends...
Maya stayed behind the group to "help Ry", it was darling. There were 5 places where they helped her cross the river over logs. Ry thought it was the greatest thing- especially when she was "going on a BEAR hunt". She would get all excited and run so fast, laughing her head off till they'd bif it, then she'd cry and i'd carry her (and milly) for a minute till it looked so fun she'd get down and run again!


This was the awesome waterfall at the top of our short little hike- check out Ry's excited face!
This "hike" really was darling. A cute little trail up along side a river, with this reward at the top:)

This was the great group we hiked up with- we made lots of new friends. Rylee got brave and climbed up this muddy hill to sit by Brady. Boy was she ever proud that she did it, with all the big kids!

Goodbye Summer... Hello Fall

Well, I guess today Summer is officially OVER... even though the close of Cherry Hill meant the end of Summer for us:(
I thought i'd reminisce, & post a few of my favorite picts I never posted:

Mills would just chill either in the shallow of the pirates cove, playing with toys, or in her little baby float, just kicking and laughing:) Rylee was a dang fish this summer, and loved to jump off the sides, swim to me, then climb up the stairs & start again- ALL BY HERSELF (with a little help from her wingy's)!




Milly could down an ENTIRE ice cream cone in a matter of MINUTES, and then freak out when it was gone! We loved getting cones on our way out:)


We LOVED our friends to come with us...

Otter Pops! Summer is not summer without these staples...
I just figure, hey, so what we went through a box a week- it's my JOB to keep my girls hydrated, right? And those things have got to have SOME kind of protein in them???

Barbecue's EVERY night were the BEST!!! With Steve behind the grill, grillin up some chicken and our gardens veggies, & downin about 20 'darn fresh' ears of corn a week!
Looks like our hard work gardening paid off... Check out our Rockin Veggie Supply!

Making Raspberry Jam was quite an adventure:


I'm sure there's one thing that won't change, no matter the season...
And that's the Park, and our Swings:)




Even though we LOVED SUMMER, there is just somethin' good ab0ut the leaves changin, & the air getting crisp... (besides the cute new fall line of children's clothes:)

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!
That's what Dad's are so good at- takin us to ball games! And if you want to hear Football DAD of the YEAR: Steve had the girls one night, and he wanted something to do, so he put them in their jammy's and took them to a Weber State Football game!? WOW- He said they sat there great! We love it all- Highschool, College, Pro's- We're IN!




And Rylee Jo's Playschool!
This is Ry with her cute little friends @ her first day of Playschool (mix between our playgroups & preschool). And notice the fun denim bags my mom made:)
And all our babies sit together and learn a thing or two about how to be babies!


And of course DANCE CLASS...
(see next blog)

TU-TU CUTE!!!!!

Week 2 in dance... and this was way TOO cute to not post! All these 2 year olds in TU-TU's...

They were doing "princess tippy toes" across the floor again this week, and when they went around picking princesses, it was Rylee Jo's turn... the teacher asked "Rylee, what Princess do You want to be?" and she sweetly replied "MY MOMMY!"- ha ha ha, atta girl:)

All us mom's are first time dance mom's, and we all stand at the door with our camera's, our babies at our feet, and laugh our stinkin heads off!!! It is so dang adorable... it's the highlight of our week:)

This video is a stinkin crack up- all these darling little girls, and Rylee Jo's slippery TU-TU bum... it's a little long, but SO funny: (turn down the blog music if you can)

FIRST DAY OF DANCE!!!

Today was Rylee's FIRST DAY of DANCE CLASS! I don't know who was more excited? Me or her? We have been talking about her dance for quite some time... We have been reading "Emily's Dance Class", naming her friends who are in her class: Belle, Sophia & Avery! Yesterday we made a stop by the studio to see the 'real balerinas' dancing- the anticipation was killing us:) Then last night, Rylee layed out the dance outfit she wanted to wear to her first Dance class! She chose Hannah's leotard, her new skirt, and the pretty dance shoes Daddy bought her months ago:
Last night Steve asked me what I fed Ry for dinner, and wanted to make sure I gave her a CARB LOAD!!! Ha ha ha:) Well, maybe it was the eggs we ate at breakfast, cuz Rylee was so excited when we got to dance this morning, she ran right in, sat down by her friends, and didn't even care if I was stayin or leavin! (which NEVER happens).
It was honestly about the cutest dang thing I have ever seen! I had to post a little video clip or two for you to get a small taste of how stinkin sweet it was:
TIPPY TOES:


WATCH THEM TWIRL:


Here are our beautiful, graceful, future Ballerina's!!!

Amelia is 10 months?!

Wow- how time FLIES!!! I cannot believe Amelia is already 10 months? I took some cute pictures of her... look at this sweetest little face!
Oh, and don't mind the marks on her poor little noggin- sadly enough, it is a regular occurrence around here. Don't turn me in to DCFS, it's just our adventurous, crazy little Milly who is always bonkin her head on somethin tryin to do everything her big sister does! She's gonna be one tough little cookie! But, as crazy as she is, she is a CUDDLY little love- we recently discovered she loves to hug/pat/cuddle people and babies (even though she's a baby herself). So, we gave her a little teddy bear and baby doll, and she lays her head on it and says "awh..." It's SO SWEET!

BEAR LAKE

For Labor Day weekend, we went up to the Ralphs' grandparents cabin! We spent the weekend relaxing by the beach while the weather was still warm, and Steve helped Greg & Alan build a deck! It's always nice to relax somewhere fun like this!

Sittin on the back porch Swing:













Good Mornin Grandpa Alan:













Milly LOVES Melon! Sittin with Tiff, & cousins Addy & Easton:












BEACH BUMS: