Christmas cards

I am thinking about doing Christmas cards and found a place where I can get 50 free and free shipping which fits perfectly into my budget :-) If you want a card email me your address and if I get it done I will send you one-until I run out.

Leaves, leaves, leaves!

Beautiful trees are in abundance here and with that comes leaves. If you think you know about raking leaves, think again. I have never seen so many leaves in my life. We have raked about 4 times and I think we are finally done! The kids had a great time raking, piling, jumping, throwing and riding their bikes through the leaves. It was a great time and when they took a bath there were leaves hidden away in places that leaves should never be :-) At least we did not have to bag them though. Here you just pile them in the gutter and the city comes by and picks them up for you. Ah, I love fall.

Cutie pie

Need I say more?

Let's go fly a kite

15 minutes from hour home is Lake Michigan. There is is huge open park right off the water for kite flying. Due to the air off of the lake there is almost always the perfect kite flying breeze and it is one of the best places in the world for kite flying. A couple months ago we heard about a free kite festival going on there and decided to go. IT WAS AMAZING. We had a picnic lunch and watched pro kite fliers and teams perform (who knew there was such a thing?). The routines were choreographed to music and they did things I did not know were possible with kites (of course, I am the woman who can't get a kite up to save my life).We had a wonderful time and the boys even got a free kite which they were able to get up with only a toss of the kite in the air from mom. Rylan promptly got his stuck in the one tree in the park but we were able to break the string and get it down.

Labor Day

My brother and his family came to see us over labor day and we had a ball. We went to a park and the kids played on the beach until the park worker came and told us the beach was closed. Who knew you could close a beach? We loved having them and are so excited to spend Thanksgiving with them at their place.

A little peace to a troubled heart

One kid in school and the other sleeping, I really should take a nap espcially since Taylie has been a little "spicy" lately and wants me to hold her all day...literally! But I had to post how I have been feeling lately. More for my own release than anything. So bare with me.

Last week Dallen was so busy studying for 4 tests that I hardly saw him. This week will be the same with another 4 tests. He is doing so great and he is working so hard. I think that sometimes it all seems overwhelming to him, most of his classmates are 5-7 years younger than he is and he feels at a disadvantage since he has been out of school for 2 1/2 years, but he is doing well and he loves it. He brings home teeth he has drilled on or full sets that he has cast and he is so proud. I feel blessed to have such a hard working husband.

Due to so many adjustments in such a small amount of time; moving, settling in, Dallen in school and gone most always, sending my sweet Brycen to school, Taylie being extremely needy and trying to make new friends-just to name a few, I have felt a little out of sorts the past couple of weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love it here and am so grateful to be here, but I miss our families and wonderful friends in Idaho (and Utah).

So I went to the Relief Society broadcast on Saturday night feeling a little rough. When I got there we had a wonderful dinner and I thought, huh, they do that here too, that's cool. Then as I was sitting waiting for the meeting to begin the realization came to me that most (not all but most) of the women that I really love are doing this same thing at this same time. Some in Idaho, Utah, Missouri, Wisconsin and many other places. I felt a sense of peace and unity that no matter where I am there are some things that will never change. That the gospel of Jesus Christ can unite hearts and minds no matter the distance that may be seperating me from those I love and deeply miss. How grateful I am for this gospel and the peace that it brings to my soul.

a few favorites

I am compiling pictures of the last year so that I can print them off and do some long needed scrapbooking. So here are a few of my favorites.

Come on, those are some pretty adorable kids if I do say so myself. And I do!

One of my favorite of all time. Brycen was riding his bike in this getup in 90 degree weather.

Rylan all bundled up for some winter fun in Island Park.

Dr. Ricks?????

Dallen had his white coat ceremony last week. It was really cool. They walk across the stage and get presented with their coats and then repeated a dentistry oath (like the hypocratic oath). Dallen thinks that now I have to call him Dr., I told him yeah right ;-) There are 8 LDS guys in his class and we have done a few things with them and their wives (2 are single ). They are a lot of fun. Out of his class of 80 there are only 5 children and we have 3 of them and 2 other students have 1 each.

big boy!

Since we have moved a lot has been going on with the boys. Brycen has had a hard time missing his friends from home and cries for them often. It is so sad to see how this has affected him. On the positive side, he lost his first tooth. He pulled it out himself because he didn't want dad's "dirty hands" in his mouth. (Dallen has been working outside to get the yard in order) He has also started school. I took him into his class, got a "see ya later mom" and he went to sit by some boys. I guess it is comforting to know I have raised a well adjusted child, but I could have used a little emotion from him. He goes all day but is loving it. There are 4 little boys in his class that live on the same street as we do, so that is really great.

The boys got their faces painted at a Dental school party. Brycen was fine but Rylan was totally freaked out by the clown so his is much simpler. He thought he was so cool. I watched him go up to people in line for the food and say, "hey, look at my face". Then he'd go up to the next person and say the same thing. I guess it is time to get serious about the stranger talk.

Go Brewers!

One of the first things we did once we were settled in (kind of) is go to a Brewers baseball game. It was really a lot of fun once we moved away from the drunk college kids :-) The stadium is about 5 min. from our house and is HUGE. The boys loved it, espcially the snacks.

the trip out

We started the 22 hour (straight through) drive at 4 am after a night of sleeping on the floor with no blankets. We had a 18 hour day driving through all of Montana and North Dakota. We stopped at about 10pm in Fargo. It was a beautiful drive and the kids did really great! We traveled with my dad and brother pulling the trailer, me driving with my mom and the kids (although they would switch between cars) and Dallen driving his car with his mom and sister. We left Rexburg with its beautiful temple on a hill for Wisconsin, America's Dairyland where it is only appropriate to find a HUGE cow on the side of a hill! Throughout our journey we kept laughing at the places we would pass such as; Camel Hump Lake, Cracker Box, Home on the Range, Diamond Ring and more. My 2 personal favorites were Woop Up Road and...Bad Route Road, seriously, who takes the exit that says Bad Route Road!

a fond farewell

Wow, this post is a long time commin' but with all of the craziness of packing, saying goodbyes, moving and settling in my blog has been neglected. (Who am I kidding, without all of those things my blog is neglected, this time I just had a good excuse.) We said goodbye to some really great people who we love very much, packed up our house-7 years of marriage, 3 kids and a hobby of thrift shopping makes for lots of stuff- into a 16 ft trailer. Thanks to the tetris-like packing skills of my father it all fit with room to spare! We love and miss you all but we cannot deny that we absolutely are in love with Wisconsin!

Kids!

Here are some recent pictures of of the kids!

Rylan had had a lot of water to drink and I have never heard this louder. Make sure you turn your volume up high so you can hear it well!

More pictures and a video!!

Taylies new trick, the boys never would stand still, but Taylie really likes standing!

Taylie likes to do this almost every night! She was unusually loud tonight.

Update on the Fam

Sorry that it has taken us SO long to get new stuff up. Not to many excuses besides we have been staying busy. Here are some random pictures of the fam in the last few months!