Riddle Family

Mom

2011-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

...Perhaps strength doesn't reside in having never been broken..but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places...

Mom, you da best. I love you. xoxoxo

November 1st 2006....

2011-11-03T08:30:00.004-07:00

Sometimes in the craziness of life I forget the anniversary of the best day ever. In fact every year Stu and I have to look at the pictures to remember the exact date, but we will NEVER forget what happened on that day and how we felt as we were sealed as a family for time and all eternity. So thankful for those blessings we received then, and continue to receive from the choices that we have made. Thankful for a husband who was worthy and willing to take me to the temple, and for my children who remind me everyday of the true meaning and purpose of this life...love you my little grape slushies xoxo...that is all:)

~Spoooky Fun~

2011-11-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

So Stuart and I started doing INSANITY the workout. And true to its name it is. We both came severely close to puking after our first workout, but decided to continue on doing the workouts daily. After the third day we were walking like zombies we were so sore. A great start to our halloween festivities. Saturday night there was a big Halloween party at the Hacienda(lodge on post). Stu and I decided to go as the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. The party was pretty fun, Stu and I sang karioke "Jackson" by Johnny Cash and June Carter. Stu was so good, I just couldn't channel the perfect June Carter voice I normally do, I was too nervous...next time..then we won first prize for best couple costume!!WOOOO! 100 bucks! It was a Halloween miracle! On Halloween we dressed the kiddos up and went down to the PX parking lot in a hay wagon to trunk or treat. Afterwards we went to the theater on post and watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. The kids liked it, I thought it was boooring. Then we went back home and Trick or treated. Afterwards Ava came in and dumped her loot out and said, "Me and Ella are gonna divorce our candy" I was like???? "do you mean separate?" She was like "ya". haha!

Pandamania!!!

2011-09-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

Our little Beaner turned six years old yesterday...I can't believe she is that big. For her birthday we went up to the Oakland zoo with some friends over the weekend then on her actual birthday we had a little party down at the splash park. She loves panda's lately so of course it was panda themed. We barbequed, played in the water, drank minty lemonade, and watched Ava's newly found hula hooping skills. She is awesome! I just love that little girl so much. She is so sweet(most of the time) and smart, and such a good big sister and helper to me. While lying in bed last night I thought about what I was doing exactly six years ago, and recalled holding my new precious little Ava alongside my sweet husband. She was and is such a blessing in our lives and we are so grateful she is part of our family!!!

Berry-licious Day!

2011-06-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

We decided that on our way to pick Auntie Trisha up from the airport in San Jose, we would stop and do some berry pickin! It was so much fun. We went to Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville. While driving to the ranch there were berry fields everywhere. The air smelled like strawberries! We got to the ranch and there was a cute red farm house, an antique shop, a berry store, a barn/eatery and a lovely little picnic area in the midst of an apple orchard. There was a broke down tractor for the kids to climb on and a haystack tunnel for them to run through and fall off of. Also a sand box wherein Ava and Ella played for an extended amount of time. After playing for a while we went to the Olallie and Boysenberry fields to harvest some goodness(the strawberries and raspberries were closed:(). We got some little buckets and a pull wheelbarrow and started to pick/secretly devour(just a few)boysenberries. They were huge and juicy the kids loved 'um. We picked until our bucket was full. Then we crossed the little dirt road to the Olallie berries which are a mix between logan and boysenberries. These where even bigger than the boysenberries, but a bit more tart, so we only got like half a bucketful. After picking we made our way back to the barn and ordered some sandwiches and strawberry shortcake, and apple raspberry pie. The dessert came out first and we couldn't wait so we ate it first. The strawberry shortcake was DIVINE. I hearted it will all my heart. The pie was good also, but my pie crust is better. After we were done we headed to San Jose to pick up Trisha. The kids were sooo excited. They were jumping up and down as soon as they saw her coming out of the gate. She is the best, so grown up and pretty, and already leaving me today to go hang out with boys from my ward. Oh well. I'm going to attempt to make some freezer jam now with all my berries:)

My Little Beaner....

2011-06-06T15:13:00.001-07:00

Graduated Kindergarten!! She is one smart cookie!

The other day I accidentally posted Kayla's post to my blog...ha haaaa.

2011-05-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today we joyously drove 40 minutes to the Dr's to get all the kids caught up on their immunizations...Ava of course has been having a freak out about this upcoming visit ever since I warned her about it three weeks ago, but she assured us after the promise of a "white slushie" she would be brave and wouldn't cry before the shots, only after. Which was fine with us. Truman went first and he was brave and only cried for a little. The girls were in another room having their turn with the doctor(whom we really like so far). Then it was time for the girls. I took Ava into the other room to distract her while Ella had her turn. I had Ava apply lip gloss to my lips and purposely talked and laughed super loud as to muffle the screams of Ella coming from the other room which worked. Ava didn't even noticed, although I could hear Ella and it makes my heart cry always to hear any of my kids cry from pain. After Ella was done I took her and comforted her whilst opening her sugar-free lollipop, while Stu tried to coax Ava into the room. She started out by saying "No, I don't want to yet"..."No, I'm scared!" "no no nonono No no NOOOOO!!!!" I could hear Stu struggling with her to calm down, and I honestly smiled a little because she was being so hysterical and dramatic and the things she said...hope that doesn't make me sound mean..but anyway they finally were able to give the shots to her and she cried for about two seconds afterwards. After we left Ella said to Ava, "and I'm never gonna get shots ever again" Ava responds "next time Ella I will put a force field around us so they can't. Cuz I can do that..really.." ahh..poor kids. Glad thats over with. After wards we drove down to Pismo beach and got out of the car and realized it was cold and windy and we were all dressed for oh, I don't know beach weather. So we went to the local Old Navy and bought the cheapest long sleeved jackets and shirts possible..I got Tru a long sleeve christmas snoopy shirt for 97 cents and fuzzy pants for 3 dollars! go me! We got the girls some leggings and Ava a jacket for 10 bucks,(El already had one)and then they had to get flipflops 2 for 5 so its ok. Then we went to TJ maxx and I got black leggings and a jackety shirt for ten dollars. Then we went to the beach looking super styly. It was fun and everyone came home with sand in our butt cracks.

2011-05-10T07:40:00.001-07:00

Happy late Mother's Day all you Mama's!!

2011-05-09T10:58:00.001-07:00

We had a good week last week. On Friday was Zone conference. We got to drive into Charleston, and it was truly lovely. Everything is sooo incredibly green here. And the Charleston Capital building is so cool! It was good to get "re-motivated" in our missionary efforts. The mission has been struggling with finding and teaching lessons with members present, but I am pumped and ready to work hard this week! On Saturday, we went tracting and it was such a pretty day! Sunny and breezy! We tracted one street, and it took us all morning! We talked to sooo many people and found a few potential investigators. I've found that my fear of talking to people has lessened, and I have really been trying hard to start teaching at the doorstep. Its kind of really fun! Ya meet them, and then start telling them about the restoration of the gospel! Everyone was so nice to us that day. It was a true blessing!

Also, last week, we walked to the library and talked to a lot of people. But on the way, we passed 3 ladies, and didn't talk to them (even though we felt like we needed to). So, I was kind of bummed about that, BUT the Lord blessed us, and ALL THREE were there on the way back, about an hour later!!! And we were able to talk to them and give them a card. How cool is that?

At Church yesterday, we had like 10 people come up and talk to us about their friends they want us to teach. BONUS!!! We have a lesson scheduled tonight with a boy named Tanner who is 11. His parents are both members, but he's never been baptized. Victory!!! We were so happy yesterday!

A member of the ward passed away last week, and we went to her funeral. Her name was Kay Ann. How weird is that. I did not like seeing that name on a funeral program!!! :) It was sad for all of her family, but a nice service. Before my mission, I had never been to a funeral before. Now I've been to 4! Crazy!!

PS next P-day is on TUESDAY the 17the because of transfers on the 18th! I can't believe the transfer is almost over!!!

Oh, also the ward had a party and auctioned of desserts for the YW to earn $ for girls camp, it was the most hilarious thing I have seen in a while!! The prices went so high so fast!! I think the most expensive thing was that a coconut cream pie sold for over $60!!! They raised over $500!! Everyone was laughing so hard the whole time!! I love the ward here, they are totally great.

We saw Matt this week, and all seems to be the same with him. We're working on strengthening his testimony of the gospel.

I love being a missionary. I can't wait to call home next week!!

The Church is True,

I love you!!!!

Love, Sister Kayla Gunnell

Easter

2011-04-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we ventured out to Redwings horse sanctuary, which is only about twenty minutes from our home. They had a fun easter egg hunt for the kids, a yummy breakfast, and we took a lovely tour of the sanctuary. It was awesome. They have over 90 equines, that have either been rescued, or neglected, or relocated. It was beautiful and the girls loved looking at the horses and donkeys and ponies. They were also tiny baby bunnies hopping around everywhere. I have decided that I'm going to volunteer at the sanctuary when I can, I'm pretty excited about it! Ava one the prize for finding the most easter eggs, she was very excited. After that we went into town to get some groceries for our Sunday dinner. I invited the missionaries over so I had to be a little fancy. We had ham, asparagus, rolls, cheesy potatoes and delish jello-ie cheesecake desert. They loved it so it was a success. And can I just say that I love looking at the produce we buy and seeing that it was grown in the next town. Everything tastes so much better here. I'm just sayin..

2011-04-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh...I'm loving our new home. I love the beautiful area we live in. We went and explored the two local lakes the other day, and they were beautiful! We now wish we had brought our kayaks with us. I love how much family time we have been able to spend together. Stu works in cycles, he does nine days and then has four days off, so it's nice. Also his commute is only a five minute bike ride away. Here's a few photo's from our lake adventure...

So far so good!

2011-03-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

After a long 14 hour drive we arrived at our new home in Jolon California Monday the 14th. So far we have really liked the base and all it has to offer! Our house is really nice, 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms. There is a playground outside of our backyard that the kids love and constantly want to go to. There is also a skate park and a splash park down the street, with a soccer field and basketball court. Our neighbors all seem friendly, except most of them have yappy dogs, and everyone else that works on the base seem happy and helpful. Even tho we are really in the middle of nowhere, it is beautiful. The drive up was so pretty...blossoming orchards, vineyards, and rolling bright green hills everywhere you look! There is a lot to do around here if you don't mind driving a bit. It takes twenty five minutes just to get to the freeway. Ava might be able to go to kindergarten next week..we will see. The first four days here were warm and sunny, about 72. Now its raining and cold. I'm so glad my mom was able to come out with us. She has been such a big help and I couldn't have made the drive without her. We're really going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow. Well that's all for now. I will post more pictures of our house when we finish unpacking and decorating and such. So far we are loving our new California home!

California here we come!!

2011-03-09T21:04:00.001-08:00

Yay! Finally we got orders and are leaving this Saturday to California...guess I better hurry up and pack.....

Seriously.....

2011-02-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

I don't even want to blog because I'm so annoyed about our situation right now. But I guess I will because I'm trying to pass the time till I know what to do. We are awaiting orders from the military to move in March. Stu got promoted and we will be going to Ft. Hunter Liggett in southern Monterey county California. He will be training deploying soldiers there. Supposedly they were trying to move his start date from the 24th of March to the 1st, but we still haven't got any orders, so I guess unless we get them tomorrow we won't be going till the end of March. If we do get them tomorrow, we will have to haul butt to get packed and move out there. Anyway hopefully we will know soon.

Fine!!!!

2010-10-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

My mom keeps bugging me to update. Since Truman is now five months I guess its about time. And nothing exciting is happening right now so I will just post pictures. Here 's to you mom.

He's here!!!!!!!

2010-06-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

Truman Stuart Riddle joined our little family on May 25th and we could'nt be happier! He was 8 lbs 11 oz 22 inches long born at 6:15 pm. Everything went fine except he got a little stuck and his face was blue from getting bruised the poor guy. He is such a good baby and I am sleeping better than when I was pregnant. The girls love him and want to hold him all the time. Life has been super busy but were adjusting to having three kids. Everyone says the baby looks like me, we think he may have blue eyes and sometimes his hair looks a little red. We love him!!

OH baby.......

2010-04-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

I try not to complain because I really am thankful to be having a baby, but I am ready to be done! I still have a month and a half to go and I am as big if not bigger than when I had both my girls. I can't sleep, can't breath, had kidney stones, popped a blood vessel in my foot, get wicked heartburn and charlie horses, I don't think my extremely itchy skin can stretch any bigger, and REALLY if I have to bend over and pick one more thing off the floor I'm going to murder!!!...sigh.....I can vent right? Well soon he will be out and life will be great. right? I'm sure I will have a new list of things to complain about by then, but really we are all so excited to meet our little guy. Below I have posted pictures of me in my previous pregnancies so everyone can feel bad for me and my largeness. Also we got some cute spring pictures of the girls. Thanks to my friend Arla for taking them!!

ITS A .........

2009-12-31T08:10:00.000-08:00

BOY!!!I think I saw my husband shed a tear or two in the ultrasound room. Were very excited, and so are the girls

Little stinker!

2009-12-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

So we went to go find out the gender of our baby and it wouldnt show us, so were going to hopefully find out on the 30th, which is also our 6 year anniversary. Hooray for us! I took some pics of my girls in their christmas dresses, but we havent gotten around to taking family photos. Hopefully soon tho. Merry Christmas!

Still nothing

2009-11-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

My husband is now home which is great. We still are waiting to hear on the move, but who knows if it will happen. So we are just sticking with plan B for now which is Stu is starting school at the U in January and I am just doing the same things I always do(work, being a mom, etc.) Also Im pregnant, 13 weeks and we are going to find out this time what we are having on the 4th of December. Were excited! I have been pretty sick with this one, but I thinks its winding down now. My girls are getting so big I want to die. Eleanor is a little chatter box, and the goofiest thing in the world. I dont know where she gets it from but she is always making funny faces and trying to be a jokester. Ava is so smart and such a good sister for Ella. For the longest time she has been begging my mom who works for an eye doctor to get her some glasses. Well my mom brought her home some yesterday and she has not taken them off. They dont have lenses in them but she looks so stinkin cute in them. She wants a gumball machine for christmas which is hilarious I think. And I found one at the DI the other day , a christmas miracle! Hopefully it will work.

What the..

2009-10-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

For the past year or so we have been waiting to see if we will be moving with the military. About 3 months ago, I gave up on the idea because nothing was happening, and I was sick of living like I would be moving soon. Stu left for training at the end of July for about five weeks, came home and just got back from another two week training where they informed him that most likely he would be getting year long orders to move out to California (Ft. Hunter Ligget) in Southern Monterrery county, sometime soon..........so I say I will believe it when I see it. So we might be moving soon? Well either way I'm annoyed, excited and stressed about it. I guess we will just continue to wait to see what happens. In other news I just got back from my trip to Michigan where Eleanor and I spent a whole week with my bfc (best friend cousin) Terra and her little girl Jocelyn. It was a lot of fun and nice to get away for a minute. Ava is in preschool and ballet and loves both of them so much. She is so smart and fun. El has been saying tons of new words such as: princess, thanks, bless you, popsicle, oh my gosh, and oh cute! I just love my babies, and our new edition Molly dolly the pupster. She is so sweet and my girls love her too. Also since I may be moving out of state Im planning on updating my blog more. If we don't it will probably be back to the once every three months or so update:)

It's about time.....

2009-06-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

I'm a blogging slacker. The last couple of months have been a little crazy so I just haven't had time or even wanted to update. Let's see....Stu and I went to Zion's in April it was so much fun. We camped, road our bikes all over and just relaxed. It was our first getaway since before I got pregnant with Eleanor. When we got home Stu built a chicken coop and we got eight chickens from my sister that were already laying eggs. We would get at least six eggs a day until one tragical day the dogs somehow got into the coop, or the chickens got out, we don't know what really happened but Tinkerbell is now dead and Fugly is even more ugly than before and Rosemary got half her neck torn off but is still alive and doing well. After that they all kind of stopped laying for a while. We got 4 more little baby chicks that my girls love to chase around the yard they are so cute. We planted a huge garden and a smallish herb garden. I really love it here. I don't think we will be moving for a while. A couple weeks ago we went to Las Vegas with Heidi and Branden and our kids. It was fun. The girls loved swimming at the condo and we just hung out and relaxed. Poor Heidi broke her arm tho. That sucked. When we got home Eleanor decided to break her arm too! She was trying to be a big girl I guess and walk down the stairs instead of going bum's first, as Ava tells her to do, and she fell. It was a sad day. I took her to the Clinic and they x-rayed her she fractured both bones in her arm. Now she has a purple cast and has to wear it for 3 weeks. Lame. That pretty much sums up the last 2 months.

My Hawaii Trip and more...

2009-03-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ok so as you may know I got to go to Hawaii a couple weeks ago with my sister Shauna. It was kind of a last minute, spur of the moment thing that happened and I was fortunate enough to go with her. She has a friend that lives in Honolulu and we got to stay at her apartment and drive her car (which happened to be a convertible) around while she was at work. It was a lot of fun and a well needed vacation for both of us I think. We went on hikes, camped, and went to a different beach almost every day. We went on a full moon hike one night which was totally awesome because we saw a full rainbow at night(cuz the moon was so bright). We got to the top of the mountain/cliff thingy and the view was amazing. The moon light made the ocean water below just sparkle. Then it started raining so we climbed into an old WW2 bunker sort of deal that was at the top of the mountain, and ate cheese and crackers. It was fun. We saw whale tails splashing out of the water a few times, a bunch of turtles swimming and one resting on the beach, and even heard a wild boar in the jungle that was getting ready to charge us so we ran fast. The weather was mostly lame and cloudy, but there were a few choice sunny hot days that we able to bask in the sun on. It was a really fun trip but the last few days I was missing my girls and my man, and was ready to come home. Since I've been back Eleanor got another fever and had another seizure, so we spent last thursday night in the ER trying to figure out what was going on. All her test came back fine, we just need to figure out why she keeps getting fevers for no apparent reason. She got another fever yesterday(a week exactly after the last one)she hasn't been sick at all in between, and I was paranoid all day/night that she would have another seizure, but she didn't and her fever is finally going away now(I hope) And Stu is out of town, and so is my mom. So I'm doubly stressed of course. But I'm sure everything will be fine.

Yikes!

2009-03-01T22:51:00.001-08:00

We have been so CRAZY busy these past couple months I don't know where to begin. First off we moved, we are still in Kaysville, waiting to hear from the Army and don't know when we will. We have an offer on our house and will be closing on it soon hopefully. But we love our new place! Its a basement apartment with lots of room and a huge yard. And the owners are our very good friends the Rowe's so its doubly great! Our new ward is nice and the neighborhood is awesome. The girls love the Rowe's and their baby boy and two puppies. We had a incident this week that was pretty scary tho..Eleanor had been sick with a fever for two days, I was able to get it down pretty well with Tylenol and Motrin, but on Tuesday it wouldn't go down. Stu had just got home from work and I handed her off to him so I could get something done as I was holding her pretty much all day. She fell asleep on his chest and a while later started jerking around(he thought she was gonna throw up)turns out she was having a seizure from her fever. It was extremely scary. She started loosing color in her face and then turned blue. I called 911 while we tried to keep helping her stay awake and get air. By the time the EM T's got here she was breathing OK, but wouldn't focus on anything and was very lethargic. They checked her out and told us this kind of thing was common with high fevers in small children. They said she looked fine and that we didn't need to take her to the hospital but to make an appointment with her pediatrician to make sure everything was OK. So we did and no damage was done, but she took a few days to get back to her normal crazy self. We are extremely grateful that she is OK and feel very blessed to have a Heavenly Father that is watching over us and loves us, who teaches us things in ways that sometimes we don't understand, but that eventually reveal themselves, and change our perspective for the better. I love my girls, and am truly blessed. In other news Im going to Hawaii on Saturday for a whole week and I couldn't be more excited!! I will post all about it when I get back:)

Ellapalooza!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday was my baby and my babies birthday. She turned one and he turned 26. I think its so precious El decided to be born on her daddy's birthday. It was a lot of fun celebrating both of their birthdays together. We went up to Crystal Hot Springs for the day. It's a pretty long drive but we rented out a party room from ten to four and had lunch and swam in the warm water all day. The kids had a blast and it was nice and relaxing for everyone else. Eleanor was hilarious opening her presents, she would get the crazy leg syndrome every time she was handed a gift. She didn't really dig into her cake very much she just kind of picked at the sprinkles and ate a corner of the frosting. I think she thought the candle tasted better cuz she kept chewing on it when I wasn't looking. I can't believe she is one already. The year flew by. She seems a lot smaller than Ava was at a year, but I probably just can't remember right. Well hope you enjoy the pictures!

Holiday Funness...

2009-01-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

I'm still trying to re-coop. Just to let you know this is how our Christmas day went. We woke up about seven thirty and opened presents at our house. It was precious to watch the girls especially Ava when she would pull something out of her stocking and say "oooohh!!Socks!" or whatever it was. Then we left for my mom's, we had to be there at nine. Well there was a snow storm in Ogden which made my sisters family late so we made breakfast and waited for them to open presents. Then when they got there we had to rush to open presents to be to Stu's mom's by eleven. El had fallen asleep on the way there but then woke up as soon as we walked in. So that was a good what ten minute nap? So we opened presents there and tried to take a family picture the girls were not cooperating. It was pretty funny. Then we left to be at his dad's by two. We had yummy dinner and played a present game. We stayed there till about six and then stopped back at my mom's on the way home. By then I was ready to curl into the fetal position and die of tiredness and holiday cheeriness. But we all survived and it was a fabulous Christmas, even tho it was super busy I don't think we would have changed it if we could.

Busy Busy Busy

2008-12-28T20:54:00.000-08:00

Yay Christmas is over! Now we have our 5 year anniversary on the 30th (then news years), Stu and Eleanor's birthday on the 17th, my moms the 19th, and mine the 29th. So we have been and are going to be pretty busy this month. But its all good. Soon I will post some exciting Christmas photos. I know you cannot even stand the suspense........ there may be a music video included.....no one even reads this..........I dont know who Im talking too......

To the tune of God Bless America..........

2008-11-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

I dropped Stuart off at Camp Williams on Friday for his 2 week leadership training course. I have been super busy every day since running around, working, trying to sew christmas stockings, cleaning and probably not being the most attentive mother( my poor kids). I got to feeling overwhelmed and frustrated trying to do everything myself when I remembered that not too long ago, 2 years about, I was doing everything on my own while Stu was serving in Iraq. I remember the feelings that came with his absence like it was yesterday. And I am reminded of them every time he leaves. It was a long 15 months. I found out I was pregnant with Ava about a week after he left for his deployment. So I'm sure you can imagine the emotional state I was in. I was thankful to be able to talk to him almost everyday, I was grateful to have family close, I was lucky to have chosen a husband that could still make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world even from thousands of miles away. It was hard, and frustrating, and the best thing that could have happened to us. We grew so much. We accomplished so much and we acquired more love for each other and our baby than we would have otherwise. I'm thankful for that time in our life and the lessons it taught us. I'm thankful for my husband and the sacrifices he makes for our family and country. I'm thankful for men and women that selflessly choose to serve and protect our country, and I'm thankful for the families and citizens that support them in their efforts. My brother in law is leaving for Afghanistan in a couple months, Stu also will be starting his active duty training soldiers that are being deployed, and I am truly thankful and proud of both them for the choices they have made. U.S.A! U.S.A!(thats me cheering..I know you love it Stu:})

Update-o-rama

2008-11-02T18:28:00.001-08:00

We finally found out where we are moving...California!! Stuart will be stationed at Ft. Hunter Liggett which is about an hour south of Monterey. Im kind of excited but will be more excited when we sell our house and know for sure when we are going. They said probably February or March. Oh I love the army. They don't tell you anything. But we have had a lot of people come and look at our house since we listed with a realtor. So its going better than I thought . Hopefully someone will buy it this week. I wish. Its been hard trying to keep my house clean, I usually will clean it really good and then leave really fast so my kids dont have time to mess it up. Then we go to my moms house and make a mess.(sorry mom!)We had a good Halloween, us girls were fairy princess' . We went to my mom and dads and had chili in a pumpkin yum, and then we went trick or treating around a few blocks with cousins. After that we went back to the house and the kids ate candy and had a dance party. It was pretty hilarious to watch and I got some awesome footage. Ava loves her cousins ZZ(Kaleb) and Jonas, they have tons of fun together. Kaleb was a kitty and his dance moves consisted of crawling around clawing at the couches and other children while bobbling his head around. I was laughing pretty hard. Then my uncles little girl would bounce around snorting and laughing really loud while smacking herself in the face!It was so cute and funny. And Jonas was the most hilarious. I dont even know how to describe his dance moves.. it was like watching a interpretive dance of slow motion jujitsu fight with a snowman maybe?Im not sure but it was pretty entertaining.

2008-09-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

We just found out we wont be moving till march. So we have 6 good ol months to sell our house. I think thats a good amount of time to sell it and prepare for the move. Our house is up for sale and I have mixed emotions cuz I love it, but its time to move on. We have already had 2 different people interested and hopefully deciding to make an offer, we have only had it up for two weeks so I think thats good. I just hope it sells soon. Well other than our life being extra stressful we have been doing good. We took family pictures a couple weeks ago, notice Ava's short hair? Ya she cut it herself. It was a mullet. Her and her cousin decided to give themselves haircuts. She was so proud of herself and even though it was hideous and I thought I might cry, I couldnt help but laugh. She is still preciously cute and I love her. The other day she came over to me and held up her half eaten cinnamon toast and said "I dont want this anymore." I said how come? And she said,"Well its not that I dont like it, I just dont want it right now." I thought it was so cute and mature of her to say that. I cant believe how big she is getting. She had her third birthday on the fifth. I cant beleive it. And Eleanor is already 8 months old and crawling and pulling herself up to things has 2 teeth and is so cute I want to die of the cuteness(kayla's band name). I love my babies. They keep me sane and happy and are a constant reminder of what my purpose is for coming to this earth. I am so blessed.

Riddle update

2008-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

We are moving!! Its been a crazy last couple of weeks. Stu is getting deployed with his army reserve unit to Wisconsin and we decided that we are going to go with him. We are going to try to sell our house and move to the cheese state for a year. Its kind of scary and exciting all at once. But we know that its the right thing to do for our family. So far they havent told us when we are leaving they just said anytime from september to january. So if anyone is looking for a super cute home in a fabulous neighbor hood under $200,000(I dont know how much we are asking yet)Send them my way. Also we have baby kitties that are ready to find new homes. Our INSIDE cat flash got busy with a neighborhood stray one day when someone forgot to close our back door, we came home and there was a huge gray cat in our house it scared the crap out of me! Then we had baby kitties a while later. HOOray! I love it so much. not really . please come get one if you are a true friend. They are truly cute but we have to get rid of them asap.Well thats all for now i will keep everyone posted on our moving agenda as soon as I know.

EMERGENCY 911!!!!

2008-07-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

GRRRRR!!!We havent had internet access lately so thats why I havent blogged lately. Its kindof frustrating. We have had an exciting week however. We went camping the 24th which was fun, then came home friday and Stu decided to have a heart attack(literally) I took him to the ER cuz his pulse was racing and he had tightening in his chest and throat. I was freaked! I threw the kids in the car and sped to the hospital with no shoes on mind you. Well my mom and sister met me there and my sister took my kids and mom stayed with me. They hooked him all up and his pulse was at 224!!Hello???So they gave him this medicine 2x to shock it back to normal but it didn't work and they almost had to use the defibrulater on him but it worked the third time and went back down to normal. Well it wasn't really a heart attack, just a short circuit in his natural pace maker, and it shouldn't happen again and hopefully it won't cuz it scared me. So that was friday, then saturday I worked then sunday we had to speak in church, which I seriously was wishing I would magically have a heart attack on the stand so I wouldn't have to speak. Stu gave an awesome talk, all his public speaking army training paid off , I however said righteouser at one point and pretty much was an embarassing mess. Hopefully I won't have to do that again either. Well I guess that sums it up for now.........word to your mother

STU-pendous!!

2008-06-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

So Stuart is gone for the week in Georgia for army training and I miss him!! I know its nothing compared to him leaving for 15 months when he was in Iraq, but I just like having him around. Especially when there is poopy diapers and poopy princess panties that need to be changed. Im sure he is glad to be getting a break from us, but rude. Ava was upset last night cuz she had a accident and I was a little upset and she got a sad face and said, "I want daddy!" I said "me too." But really my husband is amazing, he does so much for us and whether it be working long hours, working in the yard and house, serving our country, or just being a fabulous dad and husband, he does them all so amazingly and without a complaint. Don't be haters girls, he even does the dishes and cleans up with out me asking... all while looking pretty dang hot. He is gonna be so embarrassed I wrote all this, but he's not here to stop me so I guess its his own fault. I just wanted to give my cute husband a little shout out to say happy fathers day(almost) and I love you..thanks for being my man, my kids daddy, and my best friend

I guess I got tagged??

2008-05-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

So now I have to write 6 things about me. I guess I dont have to but what the hay..

1. I love love love going kayaking, camping, hiking(as long as it doesnt require hyperventalation to make it all the way...dad)and anything else of the sort.

2.I like to ride bikes. Although, my husband got me a sweet pink bike for christmas I have only tested it out once down our little street and since then I havent had the chance to go anywhere cool with it yet like farmington bay. But I have plans to do that soon. Also I am planning on riding it to work, depending on how sweaty I will end up when I get there....maybe not a good idea.

3.I have allergies so bad in the summer!! I hate it so much. My eyes itch and itch. Also Im allergic to cats. And thats a prob cuz I have a cat but as long as I dont touch her Im good.

4.I really like my job. Im a massage therapist for those that dont already know. I know that its important to be home with my kids, but I also know that its important for me to get out of the house every once in a while. I like helping people relax, and I think in some way my job helps me relax. I love that I can pick my own schedule, not work very much and still get a decent paycheck.

5.I like to paint or write to express myself. Its never anything amazing but its fun and relaxing to me.

6. I like learning about the paranomal, extra terrestrials, angels, ghosts, spirits, mythical creatures, and fairies. While I know that some of these things really do exist, some most likely don't, but I think it makes life more interesting to think what if?Also im a huge nerd.

summertime and the livings easy...kindof

2008-05-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

We love the warm weather. We have been super busy in our yard trying to get it to look decent, so we can actually enjoy hanging out in it and not be embarrassed if other people hang out in it with us. We have made garden boxes in our front yard, and Stu went and got tons of stinky manure last night to put in them and our backyard garden. Im sure our neighbors are hating us. It really stunk so bad last night. Not too bad this morning but still. We hopefully will be planting tonight. Our girls are getting bigger every second. I swear I can actually see Eleanor grow by the second. She had her first sweet potatoes the other day she loved them. She rolled over the other day which is a little crazy since she's only 4 1/2 months. She is fun to play with and is starting to laugh and react to things a lot more. Ava says Eleanor is her best friend. Which I hope will always be true. She really is a good girl and helps me out a lot. She loves bugs lately. She will go outside and turn rocks and logs over looking for worms or rolly polly's. Then she will carry them around and find friends for them. Stuart has been riding his bike to the train station in farmington every morning and takes the frontrunner to work. He likes it a lot better than sitting in traffic. I have been busy with kids and work,and I have been making these things I call bungalow blankets that are a cover for your babies car seat. We also got a new car, which I love. Other than that I dont know what else is new.

2008-03-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

This year has been a little crazy so far! It all started out around Eleanors due date Jan. 10th and there was no sign of baby wanting to come out anytime soon. So I spent the next six days trying to lure her out by telling her it's a lot funner out her then inside of me, but she just was too comfy to care. Finally I started into real labor after a brisk walk around Stuarts favorite store Wal-mart(ha ha). We soon arrived at the birthing center where my water broke and the labor pains intensified so much so that I thought I would probably die, but of course I didn't thanks to Stu and my mid-wife reasuring me that I could do it. So after a few hours Eleanor Rose was born at 4:23, all I could see was that she was so tiny and beautiful, but she wouldnt take a breath of air so after a few minutes of trying to get her to breathe, they transfered her to the hospital. Turns out she had a PDA(a valve in her heart that is supposed to close when she starts to breath outside air didnt shut) giving her respitory distress, and she was in the NICU for three and a half days. But the condition reversed itself and she is perfect in every way now. Ava loves being a big sister and a good helper. Stuarts a better dad than ever and I am about the same just a little crazier and shlumpier now that I have 2 kids to take care of. But we all love eachother and love to learn and grow every day together.
Stuart got a new job at Electrical Wholesale Supply where he runs deliveries, its not his favorite but they have good benefits so thats good. He also is trying to start up his own financial services bussiness with Primerica and he really likes doing that. I am working also at Beyond Spa, its my fifth year there and I still love it!
Ava is two and a half, and can be a handful a lot of the time, but when she's not being a stinker she the sweetest funniest little girl ever so that cancels out the naughty times. We've been trying to potty train, not going so well, but hopefully soon she will catch on. She loves to drag our cat flash around the house and she loves to sing songs and dress up. She loves going to all three of her grandma and grandpa's houses and playing with them. They all love to spoil her too. She loves going to nursery on sunday and playing with her friends. Her favorite things to say lately are "how bout you do it", or "not yet" and "I be really really back" which Im pretty sure means "I will be right back" cuz she always says it as she is leaving a room. She is precious and we love her!
Baby Ella also is perfectly precious. She really is a good baby and loves to be talked to and held. She also likes to eat and poop. She laughs sometimes when she is sleeping, and she usually has lots of snot in her nose. She looks just like Ava did, minus the hair, so that means she will look just like Stu which is fine with me cuz I think he's pretty cute.Well that about sums up our family for now. We're looking forward to spring and summer!!!!