Cole Jess & Emry Rikli

The Living Planet Aquarium

2012-01-30T14:04:00.001-07:00

Emry (almost 3 years old)

FLASH BACK (Emry 1 year old)

Grandma Jackie took us to the Living Planet Aquarium over the weekend. It has been almost two years since we have been to the Aquarium. The last time we went, was on Emry's 1st birthday. She has developed a little bit of fear and wouldn't touch the stingrays like she did the 1st time we went. But she really enjoyed looking at all of the fish & has been talking about the turtle we saw ever since we left. I thought the turtle was really cool too, but personally love the Penguins. They are so playful & are great swimmers!

Zac Brown Band!!

2012-01-23T07:38:00.005-07:00

http://niccowanmuisc.com/

http://www.sonialeigh.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjydI4k0NkM

http://youtu.be/HqCuKk3nAzQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjE6U3tpmY&feature=youtu.be

Cole came home late on Friday night. When he walked in the door he told me he had stayed late doing a side job in trade for Zac Brown Band tickets!! I was so excited! The show was Saturday night & it was the best show ever! I love, love loved it!! Thanks Babe, for taking me to see Zac Brown! Nic Cowan & Sonia Leigh were the openers for ZBB & they too were awesome. I'm excited for Sonia's new song coming out.

Define Vacation

2012-01-10T12:15:00.004-07:00

I hear the phrase “I NEED a vacation” all the time. Does one really require a vacation? Who requires a vacation? People that work? People that stay home? People that work 40hrs or even those who only put in 20hrs a week, need a vacation? What is considered a vacation? Is a two week trip to Europe the only thing that can be considered a REAL vacation or a week long getaway to a secluded resort, or can a weekend out camping be considered a vacation? Where do people get their definitions of vacations, I wonder? Is it the way they were raised, or what makes them feel relaxed? I know for many families, it’s stressful to be together on vacation and they come back feeling like they need a vacation. I remember my parents taking only one vacation with out us kids growing up. It must have been their 20th wedding anniversary, because I was about 16 or 17. They went to Hawaii, just the two of them. I remember they came home so tan and happy. I also remember calling them up one night chewing their asses out that I was “way too young to have to clean up a 9 year Old’s vomit in the middle of the night.” (my little brother had gotten sick one night) If I could go back, I would take back those words. My parents deserved a stress free week on a beach. Since then (13 years ago) I can recall my parents really only having one other vacation which was last summer when they went to Nauvoo touring all of the LDS church sights. I don’t know that I would find that as amusing as they did, but they came back with lots of stories to tell and wanting to go back for more! I am not trying to say I never got a vacation as a kid. We did go places. We camped all over the place (in my parents Lance camper). We went to Mexico to our “Hut” often. We traveled to Utah on Ski trips, and to Texas and Louisiana to visit family, Four corners, Oregon, Idaho, We’ve been to The California Redwoods, and to Yellowstone. Now that I have a little one of my own, I see where traveling is important for teaching our kids about history, science, geography & humanities. I have a long list of “Places to see” and the list seems to be growing faster than I can check them off. I have always had a desire for travel, which spurred my short “Flight attending” career. I wished I would have been able to do that job longer, and see more of the world at a discounted rate. Thus brings up another point about traveling, and vacationing… Affording it, is a ball game in and of itself. I guess the point I am trying to make is… I’m ready for a vacation. I work full time, and go to school part time, I’m a Mom, and a wife and I want to go on a vacation- whatever that means.

Museum of ancient life

2012-01-08T15:35:00.001-07:00

Saturday afternoon, we decided to visit the museum of ancient life. We had never been over there before, but we enjoyed our experiance. It was really educational and interesting and they even had lots of activities for the little ones to participate in, so Emry enjoyed it as well.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T16:32:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve we enjoyed the Christmas Carol service at the Cathedral. Afterwards we went to my parents to enjoy our traditional Tamales on Christmas eve. This year my Mom & I had made home-made ones. They turned out pretty well. I think we will totally nail in next year. We went home and put the finishing touches on our wrapping, bathed Emry and read her a Christmas book before putting her to bed.

Grandma Jackie & Wiggins stayed the night & it was wonderful having them there on Christmas morning to watch Emry see what she got from Santa.

Justin Called at Noon & we were able to Skype with him for about an hour. It was awesome seeing him and hearing him talk about his progress the past year. Mom prepared a wonderful Christmas lunch for all of us & we exchanged gifts.

Holiday Lights

2011-12-24T11:48:00.001-07:00

Grandma Jackie, Grandpa Wiggins, Cole, Emry and I went to Thanksgiving point to see the lights on Christmas eve, eve (Friday the 23rd). The line was long, but seemed to go fast. We popped in the Grinch for Emry to enjoy while we waited in line. They added a few more things since last year and for $8 a car, it's a nice way to see lights & stay warm. They even have a radio station to tune into with holdiay music playing.

Candy Making

2011-12-24T11:30:00.001-07:00

Holiday Festivities

2011-12-12T20:41:00.001-07:00

Every year around the holidays, we try and keep the holiday spirit alive by doing holiday projects and outings and such. This year we have already done a few holiday activities. Such as... Decorating Ginger Bread men at Grandma Donna's house.

E eating his gum drop filled ginger bread man. mmmm!

The gang.

Ryan admiring his work.

Emry catching onto what this is all about.

Don't look at me Mom... I'm participating and that's all your getting out of me!

We also decorated our house for the Holidays. I put up a tree and decorated my new fireplace mantle. Put up a nativity scene and a couple wreaths around the house. The place will look bare when we take it all down.

Emry is in LOVE with Christmas lights this year! She gets super excited every time she sees lights lit up.

We had some family in town for our Great Aunts 90th birthday party. Aunt Jean and Jen decided we should go downtown to see the lights at Temple square while Jean was here. The kids wanted to go, but the guys opted to stay home (poor sports). So the "Girls" took the kids and we had a great time. Froze our bunz off, but still had a good time.

Emry, Jen, Ryan, Evan & Aunt Jean in the background.

Jen & her Boys.

Ryan & Evan.

Ryan, Evan, Emry and Jean.

Emry decided to get out of her stroller for a little bit.

Floating nativity scene. This was the coolest part, in my opinion.

Our babies. E-man & Emry.

She was tired & cranky, can you tell!?!?

If Emry won't ride in the stroller, than Ryan will...

More Festivities to come... This week were going to make Tamales, I'm so excited!

Santa sends Emry a message!

2011-12-06T08:41:00.001-07:00

Santa's message to Emry

Holiday Photo's.

2011-12-05T09:13:00.001-07:00

My Father in law, Dan was willing to take us out for a photo shoot for our Christmas cards this year. It was nice of him to drive out to American Fork where I have seen this really cool gas station that has a bunch of antique cars and gas pumps and stuff ( on our way up to where we hike). We had to call the property owner and get special permission to walk onto the property, but they guy was really very nice and didn't mind if we took some pictures. Inside the building (which was locked) had a huge collection of Harley's and other motorcycles and accessories. The parking lot had about 7 or 8 vintage trucks and cars. These are not resorted vehicles, but they sure are a blast from the past & made for great pictures. I love the collection this guy has put together, and have told several people about the hidden little jewel in AF. Every time I watch Antique Archeology, I totally think of this guy as a buyer.
(Attn: Grand parents: Don't be stealin' these pictures, They may or may not be a part of your holiday gift)

Black Friday or Black Thursday?

2011-11-23T22:42:00.001-07:00

I am in the final section of my humanities class. We have touched a bit on Henry David Thoreau & also about the ecological footprint we make on the earth. Here is the quiz if you wanted to see where you come in at. http://www.myfootprint.org. It was eye opening to find out that if everyone in the world lived the life style that I live, We would need three earths to compensate for the path of distruction that people like me leave on the earth.

“...The Gap between our wants and expectations and reality. Between our desire for more of everything and the lack of resources to obtain it. Between what others have and what we don’t have leads inevitable and inexorably to despair...”

America is among the unhappiest countries in the world. We are also the wealthiest. It sickens me to hear of stores opening earlier and earlier every year and now I hear they are opening ON Thanks Giving... Because of "demand" of the consumer. That's you and me! We should be demanding a day off work to spend with our families, instead we are demanding stores open on one of the few holidays we used to shut down to allow time off for families. Where are our priorities? Running out to get more "Stuff" so we can work hard to pay for it all? Considering America is in debt up to our eye balls, and teetering on the edge of economic turmoil... you would think that this would be a good time to take a few steps back and prioritize. We should be Thankful for what we have. Simplify our lives. Shut down for a day or two, spend some time with our family and friends. Eat together. Slow down and enjoy what is truly important.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T15:35:00.002-06:00

This Halloween we went to my sister Jen's house for a yummy mummy meatloaf dinner. Then we took off for the trick or treating festivities. Emry had a ball! She would run up to the door and say "Trick or treat - which really sounds like "Sick or Sweet". She commented on everyones pumpkins and their lights. She would say.."Ohh, look at the pumpkin's Mom!", "look at the Lights Mom!" "That guy was sooo Nice, he gave me candy!" She would squeal with delight running from house to house. My nephiews had a blast too and were a little faster at trick or treating them Emry was. She wanted to stay up all night and finish eating her loot. Halloween with a 2 and a half year old is the greatest!

She Slept Where?

2011-10-29T09:48:00.001-06:00

So, Parenting isn't easy. Emry has proven to be quite the challenge for Cole and I at times. Just like any kid, when she gets super Hungry or tired, things get worse. On Thursday night, we had a late start getting to bed, because we were carving pumpkins, and then by the time we got Emry bathed and all of her many creams and what not on, it was around 8:30 (which is late for her early morning schedule). So, she was fussy and I told her it was time for bed. She got so mad that she smacked me across the face. I don't put up with that kind of behavior, so I marched her to her room & told her she was going to bed. I put her in her room where she proceeded to knock on the door calling for me. I thought she wouldn't last long and go to sleep. The noise of her calling my name eventually got really muffled, and I figured she was under her blankets and in her bed. A couple min later it was silent. I gave her a few min to get settled down, before I went into check on her. When I opened the door, it was dark in her room & I had taken out my contacts and couldn't see very well. I felt around her bed, but couldn't see Emry anywhere! I looked around her room and she was gone! I could hear her breathing, so I knew she was in there somewhere, I just couldn't find her in the dark. So, I went in and got Cole, a flashlight and the camera (figuring it would be comical where she was) turns out, she decided to sleep in her closet. Cole reached in and moved her to her bed for the night and she said "Daddy, I'm Freezing!" Silly girl! The next night, she asked if she could sleep in the closet. Lol.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-28T13:00:00.005-06:00

Grandma Jackie came over Thursday 10-27-11 for Pumpkin carving. Emry was really into it this year, which made it all the more fun for us. Some nice lady's that Jackie works with made Emry her cute Halloween apron & the hat she is sporting. Emry was a pretty good sport for Mom & Grandma and she wore the apron most of the night. I think once we light the pumpkins on the front porch she will really start to understand the whole purpose of carving pumpkins. (and yes...that's a bruise on her left cheek. She fell while playing on our trailer last weekend. I think were lucky she didn't loose teeth or cut her face open)

Rock Wall

2011-10-27T20:57:00.002-06:00

Our yard is starting to come along. I think it will always be a work in progress, but we do a little each month to make it that much better. Cole has wanted to put up this rock wall since we designed how to shape the front yard. Emry was such a big help in digging out the hillside and helping to install the rocks. We still have a little more work to do, but it's coming along as Cole invisioned. Now we have 13 trees, a rock wall mostly finished in the front yard. We want to out gravel on the park strip & some sort of wall on the North side as well, a garden, a fence, trim the trees way back in the backyard, raise the flower beds, plant more shrubs in the front. Like I said... It's a work in progress & I'm sure it will be a while before I'm satisfied.

Gardner Village Fall 2011

2011-10-16T15:41:00.001-06:00

Emry, The cabbage patch baby & I decided to go on a little outing today. We drove over to Gardner Village to check out the witches and all the pumpkins. Emry pushed the baby in her "Wagon" aka- stroller around the village. She loved looking at the ducks in the little pond and I enjoyed trying to capture my little girl on camera, which is proving to be more & more difficult. When the (cabbage patch) baby cried and needed Emry to hold her, I pushed the wagon around, it was a lot of work, but I'm happy to do it! Afterwards we went to McDonald's and ate a burger and payed in the play place (I baby sat the baby while Emry played). We came home in time for a nap, however Emry is on a total nap strike and is just playing in her room (probably with the baby). I hope she enjoyed our day together as much as I did.

Emry's 1st Dentist App

2011-10-08T17:31:00.001-06:00

Emry went to her first dentist appointment on September 23rd. The dental hygenist took a look in her mount and said that she has very healthy looking teeth. Emry was a little bit freaked out, but over all she did a really good job at the dentist & she got a new toothbrush!

Dirty Dash

2011-09-25T17:23:00.002-06:00

Camping at Scofield/ Labor Day

2011-09-06T16:46:00.003-06:00

Over Labor Day we went camping up at Scofield for the weekend with Cole's Dad & his Girlfriend Sheralyn. We had a nice long weekend, so we were able to stay two nights. We arrived late Saturday Afternoon & came home Monday afternoon. We Fished and played Lasso Golf. Cole did a little bit of Bow hunting & we rode the quads a little bit. Emry really enjoyed camping & was absolutely exhausted & filthy by the time we got home.

Cole's 28th Birthday

2011-08-18T18:56:00.001-06:00

For Cole's Birthday we enjoyed a nice dinner out at La Puente (his resturant of choice). Happy 28th Birthday, Cole!

Busy Summer Weekend

2011-08-18T18:39:00.001-06:00

Our Friends Joe & Brittany Walker had a birthday party for their little girl Brenna who turned one! We went to the west Jordan park for a BBQ, and played at the park. Emry enjoyed playing around with Matix Walker & of course we enjoyed everyone's company. Then we went to Grandpa Dan's house for a two hour nap before we left to go to the Monster Truck show at RMR.

This was Emry's 1st Monster Truck show & the first one Cole and I have been to in a really long time. It was nice that it was outside, but it was still really loud & it was extremely hot that night. Nothing says red neck like the smell of cigarettes, beer and stale hot dogs in 100 degree weather while enjoying enormous trucks drive in a figure eight jumping stacks of crushed cars. We embraced the inner white trash & actually enjoyed ourselves. Emry loved it & was reluctant to leave the raceway. We were all exhausted by the time we got to bed that night.

Parade of Homes SLC 2011

2011-08-16T20:54:00.004-06:00

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For Jen's 31st Birthday she really wanted to go to the Parade of Homes. Since we were just little, she and I have always enjoyed and apreciated the art of Decorating as well as checking out homes (new & old), walking through Model homes and even looking at houses online. Needless to say, when She brought up the Parade of homes as her outing of choice, I was happy to go along with her to look at all the model homes. We got somewhat of a late start & weren't able to see as many homes as I would have liked to but Thanks to Utah Dave at Utah realestate we got free tickets to the Parade. The highlight for me was going into the UP house that Bangerter homes made a replica of. I loved the movie UP and I think they did a fantastic job making every detail of the house just like the way it was in the movie. I wished I would have brought my good camera with me, but at least I had one with me to capture what I did. I hope you enjoyed your birthday Jen, I know I did.

Emry & Kael

2011-08-13T22:07:00.002-06:00

Cole's Cousin Kevin & his wife Megan have a little boy - Kael & he is just 7 months. Emry really enjoys babying Kael when he comes over & is at times a little too helpful. It's really cute to see the way she interacts with other babies. She get's a little jealous when I hold Kael, but she is getting better. These are some cute pictures of her "holding" Kael.

More Hiking/ Pioneer Day Weekend

2011-08-13T20:39:00.009-06:00

Over Pioneer Day weekend -Cole, Emry & I went for a Hike with Jackie, Wiggins, Sydney & Weston. It was fun to take them up to our favorite Hiking spot. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the hike. I hope it becomes a usual outing for us to do together.

Carlsbad... A few more pics

2011-07-13T14:55:00.001-06:00

Bowcast 2011

2011-07-11T22:00:00.007-06:00

Carlsbad California - Fun with Cousins

2011-07-11T21:37:00.006-06:00

Carlsbad California Day 1

2011-07-11T21:21:00.001-06:00

Antsy to see the ocean the day we arrived in Carlsbad, we decided to set up camp & then head down to the water for a few min to see the ocean up close. Emry was really excited about seeing the water & it was all we could do to keep her from running strait for the water. Even though none of us were wearing our swimming suits, this didn't stop us from getting totally wet.

Carlsbad California

2011-07-11T20:52:00.006-06:00

The Pea Smugglers

2011-07-07T21:08:00.002-06:00

Funny story... On our way down to California we carrivaned with my Grandma Veva & Grandpa Ed & my Mom. We were driving and right before the California state line, there is an agricultural stop. This is to make sure no one is bringing in fruits & vegetables into the state. I think it has something to do with bugs. This stop usually creates a bit of traffic, but moves fairly quickly. My Mom was driving my grandparents truck right in front of us & I see my mom peel off the side of the road onto the exit right before this stop. She rings my cell phone to tell us to follow her & that we didn't have time for the traffic stop. So, we go through this little town in the middle of no where to totally avoid the agricultural stop. Then I hear from the passenger seat Grandma Veva cracking up, so I ask what is so funny. Grandma can barley get out the words but manages to say... Grandpa is smuggling peas! Oh my, It's probably one of those you had to be there moments, but it was so funny to hear grandma cracking up in the passenger seat. I was thinking grandpa probably had a bag of peas he was munching on, but it turns out he had brought half an icechest full of utah peas. So, from now on when I want to give my Grandpa Ed a little trouble... I am going to call him the Pea Smuggler. Lol, Love you Grandpa Ed!

Grandma had a birthday while we were in California. Her Birthday is on the 4th of July. Didn't you know, they do those fire works just for her? :) It was really nice to be able to spend a little bit of time with her on her Birthday this year. Happy Birthday Granda Veva. I love you!

New Trees!

2011-06-12T17:24:00.001-06:00

Cole brought home two Japanese Maple trees for our yard on Thursday. Emry was too cute in helping Cole get these trees in the ground, that I had to grab the camera & document. She helped dig the holes & fill in the tree with dirt. She was so proud of the finished product & so was Cole. :)

Three Day Challenge

2011-06-10T09:21:00.003-06:00

After watching co workers take their children into the insta-care with broken bones because their toddlers jumping out of cribs, I decided the first time Emry climbed out of her crib, I wasn’t going to take the risk of her hurting herself & we would make the change into the toddler bed. It was January when Cole and I heard the thud of Emry’s body hitting the floor. I have never seen Cole book it so fast across the house to make sure his little girl was okay. Thankfully she was, however I wasn’t going to put her back into the crib ever again. That night we stayed up and took the sides off the crib & put the rails on the sides that make up the toddler bed. Emry hated it! She hated this new bed & wasn’t willing to sleep in it at all. We tried everything to get back the normalcy we had when we were able to put her down in the crib and walk away. Nothing worked! We ended up getting her a twin sized bed, so that we were able to lay down with her in the bed to put her to sleep. Even this was not a guarantee that she wouldn’t end up in our bed before the end of the night. I read articles & tried several different ways to get Emry to stay in her bed and sleep through the night in her own bed. I talked to my sister about the issue I was having & she explained to me about her Three Day Challenge.

She told me to lock Emry in her room for three nights in a row. She said, to let her cry it out and throw a fit – whatever it takes. She told me that after doing this for three nights Emry would sleep in her room through the night. It seemed harsh, but I was willing at this point.

Day 1- I bathed, Brushed Emry’s teeth, Read her a book and kissed her good night and closed her door. She was ticked! She pounded on the door- crying, kicking and screaming for 45-50 min! It was awful! She ended up sleeping on the floor next to the door all night. I could see her little fingers gripping the underside of the door.

Day 2- Did the regular bath,brush,book,bed routine and Emry cried for 30 min, and then eventually crawled into her bed and slept through the night.

Day 3- Bath, Brush, Book, Bed- Emry kissed me good night. She cried for about 5 min and then gave up and fell asleep.

Day 4- Bath, Brush, Book, Bed- Emry kissed me good night and rolled over to go to sleep!! It WORKED!

It’s been about a month now & we have all adjusted to the new routine. Emry occasionally will ask to stay awake, or sleep in my bed, but we don’t give in and she sleeps through the night in her own bed, without fail. She looks forward to going to bed most nights and picks out the book she wishes to be read to her. Three days… It was hard, but totally worth it! Thanks Jen! IOU Big time!

Afternoon with Ryan & Evan

2011-06-04T17:34:00.001-06:00

Ryan & Evan hung out with us for a few hours Saturday Afternoon while Jen & Colin did a 5K. We took the wagon & Ryan rode his bike over to a park in my neighborhood. We took the scenic route & stopped by the ponds to throw some rocks. Evan was so cute & told me that was his favorite part of coming over to my house (throwing the rocks in the ponds). It was great to have my nephew's over!

Memorial Day weekend

2011-05-31T17:16:00.003-06:00

Cole and I both had Monday off work for Memorial Day weekend. It was nice to have a three day weekend where both of us had work off. We kept ourselves busy all weekend doing various things. We did some much needed shopping for Emry some new clothes with Grandma Jackie & Grandpa Wiggins & Weston. We went shooting with my Dad on the west side of Utah lake, we went out to dinner with Kevin, Megan & Kael, we had dinner at my Moms with Grandma and Grandpa Clegg. On Monday we decided we didn't care if the weather was going to cooperate for the long weekend or not, we weren't going to let that stop us from getting out and going for a hike. We decided to explore a little further on the Grove Creek Canyon close to our house. It was fun & good practice for me to get used to hiking with a pack on my back. On our way up the Trail we passed a couple Rams or big horned sheep, I'm not sure what you call them. This was the highlight of the trip. We found a cool spot to spend the night, maybe this summer we will be adventurous enough to try that out overnight with out 2 year old. We will see. I also did lots of cooking on Monday. I made Alfredo for dinner, Pasoli for Tuesday and two loafs of pumpkin bread, Cole took a couple pics of us cooking.

Easter 2011 (part II)

2011-05-18T07:16:00.000-06:00

Megan, Kael, Emry & Kevin

The Kael-ster

Cute cousins

Dad & Emry on Easter Sunday

Come on Dad... I need your help here!

Jack!

Sarah

Jess with the camera.

Taylor

Emmy

No one would have found that one!

Jessica Higbee

Swingin'

Jessica, Kaylee, Sarah & Taylor

Emry & Jack

Jack & Emry (enjoying chocolate)

Putting her $ in the bank & Candy in the jar

Except this one, She needed to eat this one.

Grandma Jackie pushing Emmy on the swing.

We can't forget part II to our Easter Celebrations. Saturday night Kevin, Megan & Kael came over for dinner & to show off Kael of course. He is getting a little older now & is developing more and more personality every time we see him. It was cute to see the two Rikli babies interacting together.

Sunday Afternoon we were invited up to Tom & Linda Day's house for a Brunch & Egg hunt for the younger grand kids. Though Cole is getting too big for the egg hunt himself, The other Grand kids & Emry (The only Great granddaughter) enjoyed searching for eggs. At the Day's house, they fill their Eggs with Money! This was something Emry was especially fond of... Well, that and the Chocolate.

When we got home, I made sure all of Emry's riches went into her piggy bank. Emry is now starting to get the hang of finding loose change, and putting it into her Piggy bank. She will even tell you, Money- Piggy! Hopefully this will leave a lasting impression on Emry and she is able to become a good saver & only reward herself occasionally with a piece of Chocolate.

Sunday Hike @ Grove Creek

2011-05-15T14:07:00.004-06:00

There is this trail head in American Fork, just about 15 min or so from our house called Grove Creek. I have been eyeing this trail for a couple months now, just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit to where we could get out and go for a short day hike. Today seemed like the perfect day to get out and go for a hike, and it was! We didn't know what exactly to expect, so we packed a backpack with essentials and went for it. Emry really enjoyed picking up rocks and throwing them into the creek. She also enjoyed gocking at every dog we passed. It's a beautiful day about 75 degrees and slightly breezy. It was the perfect Spring outing!!

Motherhood

2011-05-13T15:03:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine recently asked me what some of my dreams and goals in life are. As I began to think through all of the wonderful places in the world I would love to visit and adventurous things to do, like scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef, and take a helicopter ride over a scenic part of the world, and ride in a jeep on an African safari. I have thought a lot about this question lately. Not only because I am jones-ing for a nice vacation, but I was thinking about the goals that I have accomplished and new ones I would like to achieve in life. I would have to say that the one thing so far in my life that I am most proud of, is being a MOM. With a little help from her Dad my little Emry sent me an unexpected bouquet of flowers this Mothers day. I also had the pleasure of spending time with four of the Mom’s who I look up to and model my parenting after. My Grandma Veva, My Mother, My Sister Jen & My Mother in law. These four women have taught me so much about how to be the best Mom that I can be. Although there will probably always be room for improvement, I feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to experience motherhood.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T17:51:00.003-06:00

The Easter Festivities started on Saturday. Emry & I went over to my parents house for an Easter Egg hunt with Ryan & Evan. Stuart & Brooke Dean were also in town & Brought their two kids Ocean & Maple along, so it was a nice little crowd for the egg hunt. My mom bought Pizza for everyone & it was a nice afternoon. Emry really got the hang of finding the Easter eggs, despite the fact she desperately needed an n.a.p. After the egg hunt was all said and done Emry realized she enjoyed the chocolate the most. She would shake each egg to see if it had anything in it before opening it & only eating the chocolate & discarding the other candy. She knows what the good stuff is!

Ocean, Ryan, Emry, Evan & Maple.

Emry's Birthday Celebration

2011-04-17T17:48:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it was 2 years ago this little squirt was born at just 5lb 3oz. Now she is a whopping 22lbs and stands at about 2 1/2 feet tall! She is smart as a whip! She is starting to say more and more phrases & her vocabulary is growing every day! For Emry's 2nd Birthday we decided to keep it low-key this year. We had a small get together just our immidate family & it turned out to be a really nice party.

Emry's latest phrases:

I want you! (which means pick me up)

Don't

I love you.

Bye, have a good day

Play, please!

Look!

Watch this! (which usually follows by a cool new trick)

I want a snack.

Emry's favorite meals are:

Toast (daily)

Cheerio's

Fruit Snacks

Oranges

Yogurt

French Fries

Coke

Juice

She is still working on getting potty trained (two steps fwd, one step back).

She is gaining a sence of fashion & loves to be girly!She loves to put on makeup with mom & jewlery. She loves shoes (even trying on Mom's high heels)

Emry has very sensitive skin, which seems almost high matenence if you saw all the creams and special soaps we have for our girl.

She is the joy in the house hold (and sometimes the challenge).

She loves the new bike she got for her birthday & wants to ride it every time we pass it in the garage.

Emry's Two Cute by 2G photography

2011-04-06T19:09:00.002-06:00

Missy Segura took Emry's 2nd birthday pics. She just did a fabulous job, especially considering Emry's mood that day. These pictures turned out so freakin' cute! I hope you all enjoy them as much as I will.

Emry's 2 today!

2011-04-03T08:28:00.001-06:00

St. Patricks Day

2011-03-18T17:58:00.002-06:00

Cole's work Tim Dahle Nissan Sponsors the Utah Blaze. They hooked him up with 4 tickets to the opening game. I had never been to an arena football game before, and I'm not so sure it's my favorite way to watch football, not that I'm complaining about a night out by any means tho. So we invited a couple of friends to come with us. Justin Tran & Matt Cody came along. It was St. Patrick's Day, so after the game ended, I had a few friends out at clubs wanting to meet up. We ended up going to the Jackalope downtown. It was loads of fun. Justin is always a riot to take around in public.

Shooting out west 3-13-11

2011-03-13T19:47:00.002-06:00

We went shooting out on the west side of Utah lake today. We just went out there on somewhat of a whim. We didn't stay long & didn't shoot that many different guns, just mostly Cole's 22's. It was a really nice day. Emry had just woke up from a nap, so in a couple of these pics she is fussy, but as a whole she liked being out there. She especially took an interest in the bugs crawling around. Cole has a Walther P22 he got for Christmas, I had not yet had a chance to shoot, but it is really simple to load and shoot, it was fun.

Spring Fever!

2011-02-05T17:34:00.004-07:00

I was driving on the west side of Utah lake to get Emry to fall asleep today. Utah lake is frozen over & some snow has fallen as well. Looking at these pictures, it almost looks as though their are waves in the water. I just pulled over at a little park & took a couple of pics- they turned out ok, but it really makes me wish my surroundings were a little more green!

Keeping busy!

2011-02-05T15:25:00.001-07:00

Emry keeps busy around the house. She helps me do all of my chores. She really likes to help me "fold" laundry & even put the dirty clothes into the washer. She is also a big help when it comes to swiffering the kitchen & bathroom floors. We finally got her off the bottle (I was a little late in doing this). I don't know why, I was just dreading this stage. She got teeth really late, and I didn't see why at a year, she needed to be weaned, but now that she has more teeth, especially the ones up front, I decided to stand firm & take it away. Its been about a month and a half now, and we are going good, she forgot all about it. We went cold turkey, I came home one day & just trashed all of them. The potty training is still going well. We mostly have her in pull ups, but she does wear panties when we are home for a stretch of time. Her newest favorite activity to do, is color. She will sit down for minutes (I would say hours, but that would be exaggerating) and just color on a blank sheet of paper. She likes it when I color with her on the same piece of paper. She is such a smart girl & is speaking in sentences now. She is not always clear to understand, but is doing very well. She loves spending time with her Grandpa Dan. I think because he spoils her with French fries. I can't believe she will be turning 2 in a couple of months!

Emry's Potty Training Progress!!

2011-01-12T16:55:00.002-07:00

On December 23rd I was doing some last min shopping. I went down the baby isle at Walmart where I noticed some potty seats that you put on top of your regular toilet seat. I thought it was a good idea, so I picked one up for little miss. I wasn't going to wrap it up for Christmas or anything, I was just going to see if she would use it during the short break I had off work for the holidays. The morning of Christmas eve I unwrapped the Dora seat from it's package and showed Emry. She was really excited about it! I told her what it was and showed her how it goes on top of the toilet. About an hour or so later, Emry Grabbed my hand and told me Potty, Butt Momma. So I took it as she needed to poop. I quickly helped her get onto the pink thrown where we went poo poo in the potty for the first time! It was such a momentous occasion for us! We worked with her for a few days more while we were off for Christmas for a few days. She did really well, but we were not home a lot to really focus on the task. Now that we are back into our daily routine I took some advise from my friend Marty who works with kids daily. Every day when we get home from work and the sitters, we put Emry in big girl panties & she tells me when she needs to go. It's been working out wonderfully. She is on a pooping schedule where she goes about min after we get home. Emry is really good about telling me when she needs to go poop, & she is getting better at telling me when she needs to pee. She love flushing the toilet & putting lots of TP in there. She even tells me when she has to go when we are out in public! She went poop in the toilet at the Spaghetti factory when we were there for Grandma Jackie's birthday despite all of the distractions, I was so proud of her! The other thing I have noticed since we have been working on this is, she tells me to change her diaper(when she is wearing one) even when she has only wet herself once, she no longer likes to be wet. She is catching on really fast! I can't help but get my hopes up that she will be fully trained by the time she is 2!!

My Little Snow Bunny!

2011-01-02T15:17:00.001-07:00

Happy 2011!

2011-01-02T15:09:00.002-07:00

We had a couple of Friends over for New Years. We did a fondue party. Our friends Josh & Emily brought over broth & had a variety of meat selections to Fondue. We did the Cheese fondue with a bunch of stuff to dip cheese in. Our other friends Doug & Heather brought Chocolate & some yummy things to dip! It was a fun way to eat a yummy meal!

We have been in a deep freeze & the streets and everything have been totally frozen. Josh brought over his Terrax and some tire tubes. We tied the tubes up to some rope & Josh drove us around the empty lots by our house. It was alot of fun, but really, really cold. I think it was in the negatives that night. Burr!

Josh & Emily Worthington.

Doug & Heather Lowe.

Cole & Jessica Rikli

& Steven. He is young & Single, if anyone is interested :)

Christmas 2010!

2011-01-02T14:37:00.002-07:00

Christmas eve we went to the cathedral of the Madeline downtown SLC for their Christmas Carol service. It was not a usual Christmas Mass that we usually attend at Midnight on Christmas eve, but it was really cool to hear the Choir sing some beautiful Christmas songs.

https://saltlakecathedral.org/

Afterwards we went to My mom & Dads house where we enjoyed our traditional Christmas eve Tamales. Then Cole & I had to scoot on home to start some "assembling"

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicolas soon would be there....

Christmas Morning, we spent some time with just the three of us. Emry was alot of fun to watch this year. She really got into opening her gifts & Playing with each one of them.

Cole enjoyed putting it all together :)

Emry's 1st Radio Flyer red wagon!

This is her Dumping all of the contents of her stocking out.

We weren't sure what time my little brother Justin would call, but he was able to text my parents in the morning to let them know he would be calling in about an hour. We cruised over to their house around noon to talk with Justin. This is Mom talking with him.

Emry showing Grandma & Grandpa McNew her opening skills.

Cole was stoked he got a Red Ryder BB gun! This is his first BB gun!

This is Emry enjoying all of her toys the day after Christmas.

Thank you to everyone who gave us a Christmas card this year! We recived I think about 25 cards, which is just about the most we have ever gotten. We moved a year ago, and some of our cards still went to our Riverton UT address, if you don't have our Lehi address & need it, e-mail me & I'll send it to ya! Merry Christmas everyone!

The Holidays

2010-12-15T19:22:00.003-07:00

Just one afternoon in December... I decided to play with the camera. I thought Emry was looking cute.

BLACK Friday!!

2010-11-28T20:31:00.001-07:00

After a lazy afternoon on Thanksgiving, Cole, Emry & I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Tom & Linda Days. Emry had a blast chasing their cat around the house & playing with her cousins. We ended the night around 8:00. My sister & I decided we would hit up Toys R US because they opened at 10pm on Thanksgiving. I was thinking I'll be home by 1am & I won't have to be one of those kooky people up at 4am shopping. So we got to Toys R us & it was PACKED! I mean, the building is huge and the line started around the front of the building, over to the side & Wrapped around the back. Jen & I walked all the way around & Got it line. It was 16 degrees outside, BURRR!! We stood outside for an hour and a half. Then we got inside to find there was another line that went from one side of the store and weaved in and out of every isle just to check out! So, thinking quick, jen said OK- You go get in line & I'll shop, then You can shop & I'll stand in line! It was a good thing we did get in line, because we didn't get to check out until about 1am or so. Then, we were hungry & Tired, so we stopped by Jen's house to get a snack and a coke. Next we decided to go ahead and stop over at JC Penny's because it opened at 3:30. We left her house about 30min later and headed over to South Towne mall. We parked & walked strait inside (Thank goodness, because I don't think I could handle standing outside any longer). When we walked through the doors, there were some guys at the door handing out little gifts to the first few hundred shoppers & we were so excited to receive a little ornament! So, we shopped getting clothing for our families & spending only "Penny's"! Jen saved like over $300. We were both able to use Jackie's discount card which also helped! We didn't have to stand in any lines to check out at all! We were stoked! So, I dropped off Jen & Was home around 4:45am! I crashed! Emry woke up at about 8am & I was Soooo tired! So I called Dan to come pick up Emry so I could get some sleep. He came and picked up Emry. I laid my head down again at about 10:45 & woke up at 3 in the afternoon! I was so tired! Anyway, I was excited to get some good deals shopping - even if it was in the middle of the night. I was also able to get my Christmas deco up this weekend, with a little help from Cole.

Family photo Shoot

2010-11-23T20:02:00.002-07:00

http://2gphotography.blogspot.com/

Here are a few of the pictures that were taken at a photo shoot my family did right before my little brother left on his mission. Jen & I felt like it was a good mile stone for the whole family. Cole & I have Emry in our lives, Jen & Colin have Ryan & Evan. Justin was leaving on a Mission. Mom just graduated College. We are so happy with the photo's Missy was able to capture for us. The kids were not the easiest subjects, but she was still able to get some priceless pictures. We have never had our pictures taken professionally (Besides when Jen & I got married) so It was really nice to get the whole family together for this photo shoot.

I am so Thankful to have such a beautiful & loving family!

Let the Potty training begin!

2010-11-10T08:13:00.001-07:00

I have always thought that I wouldn't really push this issue until Emry was 2. I knew Emry would have to be able to communicate with me well enough to tell me she needed to go potty. The last couple of months, Emry has been wanting to take off her diaper and just sit on the potty. She doesn't do anything but play with the T.P. while she sits there, and then she says OK and hops off the toilet. Last night we were in the bath tub, and she got out of the tub twice to sit on the potty. She didn't do anything but sit there for a couple min & Then hop off. This morning when she woke up, I gave her some milk & left her and Cole to get ready for work & Day care. I got a call at about 7:00. It was Cole calling to tell me Emry got down from our bed & went to the bathroom. She ran back and said "Dad..." Took his and and led him to the potty where he could help her get on. Then... SHE ACTUALLY WENT!! She peed in the potty. So, I am off work for a few days in a row around Christmas time. I am thinking we really need to work hard during that time to get her trained! I'm excited!

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:58:00.003-06:00

Sorry... This post is not in Chronological order...

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Painting.

1st we went to the store & Picked out a few pumpkins for painting & Carving.

Then we went home & Ryan & Evan came over to paint pumpkins with us.

The Beautiful creative finished product...

(Evan's, Ryan's & Emry's)

Ryan had to pain Jen's pumpkin BYU- Jen's, Ryan's, Evan's & Emry's finished product.

The Bee keeper, Queen Bee & Lil busy Bee

Evan & Ryan trick or treating

Dad & Emry playing with her glow sticks.

Jess & Emry @ the Scary house.

Our house.

Cole's Pumpkin

Jess's pumpkin.

Emry came to visit me @ Work. This is her with Jes Jones

Emry showing off to all my co workers.

Luxury Limo Lunch

2010-10-31T20:37:00.002-06:00

Through K-Bull 93- I wond a Luxury Limo Lunch contest. Me & a few of my co-workers got to go on a limo ride to Texas Road House for a late lunch. I wrote an e-mail to the radio DJ & on Wednesday the 6th of October they called me on my work line (Live) to annouce that we had won the contest. It was a nice way for the girls in my department to reward ourselves for all the hard work we put in week after week.

Me & Jennifer Whimpey

Sarah, Jen, Jes, Sue & Me.

Jen, Me & Sarah

Sarah, Jes, Sue, Me & Jen

Sue, Me & Jes

Sarah, Jen, Sue, Me & Jes

Sarah, Jes & Sue

Dear Shotgun Jackson,

On behalf of the ladies in the accounting department here at OGIO International we would like to apply to receive a Luxury Limo Lunch! We all work so hard week after week! We do our best to balance out work and our family lives- we never get time to ourselves. There are five girls in the accounting department.

Jessica Rikli- My birthday is this week on Thursday 10-7. I'll be 28 years young! I work 40 hours a week and usually eat lunch at my desk. I go to school two nights a week trying to finish college. My husband and I both work very hard to provide a good life for our family!

Jessica Jones - she is a single mom of three kids. She is the credit manager here at OGIO and is wonder woman! She keeps the company running. Her house is always spotless, and she is always the first one to volunteer at her kids school. Whenever someone has a birthday here at work, she is the first one to remember to bring in a yummy homemade treat!

Jennifer Whimpey- Is our Flower child. Always reminding us to recycle. She keeps us in the know about what is organic & healthy. She is a cancer survivor & Is always willing to educate us & support others in the work place going through similar experiences. Our receivables department has really shaped up ever since she started working with us, I don't know what we would do without Jen!

Sarah Alvarez- She is a single Mom as well & Busts her tail to keep afloat. She is the kindest, sweetest lady you will ever meet! Her birthday is coming up too, on the 12th of October. When you least expect it, Sarah comes up with something hilarious to say & has us all rolling. She stays late at work to make sure her job get's done! She is even known to come in on weekends to help out in other departments!

Sue Wimmer- Sue is the General Accountant here at OGIO. She is very knowledgeable in the accounting field & has been extremely flexible in her work- helping out in every way she can. She is everyone's go-to person. Sue is so soft spoken, but always up for a good laugh. She gets up early to make sure she gets her morning workout in! She has done several marathons and is almost 50! Shhh, don't tell her I told you guys that :)
The guys in the office treat themselves to a round of golf every so often. They are always telling the ladies we can treat ourselves too. I think this would actually give us the push we need to make it happen! We all love working together & make the best of our time we have away from our families. I know we deserve this Limo lunch. I hope you will choose us!

Jessica Rikli
Accounts Receivable/ Golf east coast
OGIO International Inc.
14926 South Pony Express Road / Bluffdale, UT 84065 / U.S.A.

......................................................................

Jessica,

Congratulations on winning the Luxury Limo Lunch. You need to contact our Promotions Director (Tandy Baker) at tandy.baker@citcomm.com or (801) 485-6700. He'll set everything up for you. Great job!

Shotgun Jackson
Moooooooo!

Emry 18 months!

2010-10-03T10:30:00.001-06:00

Today Emry turns 18 months old! I can't believe my baby is already a year and a half! She is really smart & I'm realizing more and more every day she is not so much a baby, but more a little person. She definitely has her own opinions & Expresses herself well.
She can say quite a number of words now:

Dad (her first word da-da, she now says Dad)
Mom (no so much ma-ma any more, just mom)
No!
Dont!
Uh-huh.
Dog
Cat
E-e-e (Monkey)
poop (it's just a fact of life)
Wa-Wa (Water, but I have herd her say "water")
Up
Shoes (One of her favorite things)
Out side (her other favorite thing)
Baby
Stinky (for some funny reason, She likes us to smell her feet & Tell her they are stinky, Emry!)
Strawberry (Sounds like Aubry)
Bath
Hot
ummm(Yummy)

I know she is trying to put words together,she is at the stage when she get's really mad when we don't understand her or know what she is trying to say to us. She loves to laugh and play, especially with Dad. She loves stuffed animals, she calls all of them baby's. She enjoys tickling Mom & Dad and sneaking up on Mom to scare her. I Believe she is right handed. She loves rocks. She likes to throw, gather and drop rocks into the storm drains. She likes to ride on Mom's bike (I have a baby seat on the back of my bike). She is a terrible shopper, she runs around all the stores and reeks havoc every time I take her out.
She sleeps in her own bed at night. We weighed her today and according to our at home scale, she is 23lbs. We go to her well-child check up tomorrow so I will know more of her measurements then.
Emry can be a challenge for both Cole and I at times, but at the end of every day I am so Thankful for my little girl.

Fishing with Grandpa Ed.

2010-09-28T21:52:00.001-06:00

Grandma Veva & Grandpa Ed were in town the last couple of weeks. It's always nice when they come to visit. Cole & I decided to take Grandpa Ed fishing up at Scofield reservoir one Saturday afternoon. Cole and I have done lots of camping close to Scofield, but neither of us had actually been to the reservoir before. It's such a cute little area on the lake. It was really nice to get out of town & see the changing fall leaves. Cole caught 4 fish. I only had a couple of bites & Grandpa caught a couple crawdads. Emry had fun running around in the sand. Cole and I have been together for almost 10 yrs & I have been asking him to take me fishing... This was our first Fishing trip. Can't wait to try it out again!

California Beach trip

2010-09-12T12:52:00.002-06:00

At the end of August we drove down to California to go camping with some of my cousins at Carlsbad state beach. We left on a Wednesday after work & stayed in Mesquite Nevada. Then we drove the rest of the way to Carlsbad on Thursday. We drove through Riverside, which is the route our GPS took us, I don't think it was necessarily the quickest way to get there, but eventually we made it. We stayed only a couple of nights before we had to get back to Utah for work, school, and yard work, but we enjoyed our long weekend in the sand!

My cousin Marsh & her son Landyn

Cole & Spencer Sabin

Chris, Justin, Uncle Frank & Pat

Emry

Emry & Cole

Emry playin' in the tent

Kali Playin' with Emry in the tent

Look what I can do!

Emry @ the beach

Jess & Emry

Cole & Emry

Aunt Jean Boogie boarding

Kali Sabin

Kali & Landyn

Emry & Jess- ready for a nap on the beach!

Cole's 27th Birthday!

2010-08-23T22:16:00.001-06:00

While Cole's mom's side of the family was all together in Lava hot Springs, we decided to Celebrate Cole's birthday that was coming up.

Cole is known for his 3 or 4 day Birthday Celebrations. The Monday before Cole's birthday we had taco night at our house. Jen & The boys didn't show up because we thought Emry had the chicken pox, it ended up to just be a severe allergy rash from switching laundry detergent but anyway, here are the pics from that night:

(Emry's rash)

On Cole's actual birthday, August 17th we went out to La Luna to eat. That's one of Cole's favorite Mexican restaurants!

The most exciting thing about Cole's Birthday this year, is that he got himself a Hoyt Bow. It came in a few days ago, and now we are just waiting on the accessories to come in. He worked many over time hours to get himself this bow & is really excited to go hunting with it in a couple of weeks.

LAVA HOT SPRINGS!

2010-08-23T21:54:00.001-06:00

One weekend in August we were invited by Jackie to go up to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho with her,Wiggins & Crew. We stayed in a hotel in Pocatello & Drove out to Lava Hot Springs for the day on Saturday & Then again on Sunday. This was my 1st time to Lava Hot Springs, and Emry's 1st Trip out of the state. For those of you who have never been to Lava before, it was a cute, sleepy little dot on the map. Everything is dated, but it was not a bad little get-a-way. There are the hot Springs(which we didn't get a change to dip in) and there is a public swimming pool & Some little gift shops all along main street & Several little restaurants. There is a little river called the Portneuf River- this was the highlight of our vacation. You can rent any size tube you wish and float down this river. You can hitch a ride back up to the top or you can choose to walk what ever suits you best. Cole's step- siblings Paige, Sydney & weston (Blair was too good to come with us) had a blast all day long floating the Portneuf. To book your next vacation go to:

http://www.lavahotsprings.org/

Camping Pioneer Day!

2010-07-28T17:33:00.001-06:00

Over Pioneer weekend, Cole, Emry, Kevin, Megan, Justin Tran and I went up to one of our favorite camping spots up Spanish fork canyon to camp for the weekend. We didn't exactly get the ideal spot- all the good ones were taken by Friday night I think because so many people had Friday off and probably headed out Thursday night. Anyhow. It was our first time out camping this year. Emry is older now and can participate in more camping activities. We roasted marsh mellows, drove down to the creek and played in the water, got dirty, and the boys did a little target practicing. All in all, it was good to get out of town and enjoy some fresh air.