We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

After a couple times of trying to get the kids together and it not working out we FINALLY were able to go to Provo so Maddy and Ben could play. Grandma and Grandpa were there too! Playing "this little piggie . . ." Maddy and Ben are so cute together and they only had a couple little squabbles. Usually it is Maddy being territorial over a toy she was playing with and Ben happened to look at it! They shared marbles, and Maddy even let Ben hold her kitty. Ben is very loving and could careless about what Maddy is doing to him or to his things. Well Ben had an apple he was munching on and Madelyn thought ohh that looks good. Pretty soon we caught her leaning in for a bite, and Ben didn't mind. They shared this apple right down to the core! We hope they will be great buddies as they get older!

Rylan started 1st grade at the end of July. He was very excited to go back to school, he had been out since the end of May. His teacher this year is actually our next door neighbor Mrs. Waters, so he was very comfortable going into class already knowing that he knew and liked his teacher. He just finished up his 1st term (geez that went by fast) and he is doing great! His reading skills are above average, and he is at a 2nd grade math level, writing skills could use improvement, but hey he just started writing, so he will naturally improve with time and practice. We are very proud of him. He gets stars everyday (the best on the behavior chart) and his teacher says that he is a responsible kid and helps other kids stay on task, and is always aiming to please. He took his report card into a local doughnut shop and they gave him 6 free doughnuts for his good report card! Rylan was tickled, and we all pigged out on them today after his soccer game. Way to go Rylan, we love you! On Scott...

Madelyn turned 2 on Sept 9th! We went camping with Grammy and Papa and the Brant family during labor day weekend so we celebrated there and at home. Eating Tinkerbell cupcakes with Rylan I thought this was a cute picture of Scott helping Rylan use a knife to carve a stick. For her home celebration we opened some presents, and went to our new favorite ice cream place Menchies: Then the next day we went to the Utah State Fair. We grew up going to the fair, but this fair was HUGE! Maddy really wanted to see the pigs, she thought they were pretty funny. They had a little tikes farm exhibit, where the kids got to pick apples, plant seeds, harvest their crops, drive a tractor, gather eggs from the chicken, feed a cow, milk a cow, and then sell their crops for money that they got to spend at a general store. They both thought this was super fun and wanted to do it over and over! Here is a video of her dancing, isn't she a hoot! I love this girl!

By Rylan I went bowling for my 7 th birthday. It was fun. I liked my presents. I liked my friends there. They were Jesse, Caleb, Rem, and Conner. We had pizza for dinner.The birthday cake was Phineas and Ferb surfing made by my mom. I got a gumball machine. My Grammy helped me make a pinata, it was blue and red striped. I hope you like my birthday pictures I know this is a post about Rylan's birthday, but Maddy was sooo funny that day! She kept saying it was her birthday, and she was teasing me about opening his presents. This gives you an idea of her character, did you see that eye roll when she said, "I don't know mama?" She cracks us up!

While we were in Grangeville for Border Days, Scott's talented cousin Kezia took our family pictures! This gorgeous scenery is right up the road from Scott's mom and dad's property. Kezia had her work cut out for her because our little Madelyn was a wild child! Kezia affectionatly calls her hummingbird, and we think that fits because she will stand still for about 3 seconds then before you can get a picture she is off and running in the opposite direction. These are the treasured photos: These are the funny photos that didn't quite make the cut yet are stinkin hilarious: Thanks Kezia for putting up with us!

I graduated 10 years ago? No way! We drove up to northern Idaho yet again just for my 10-year reunion. It was a really quick trip we drove to Grangeville stayed the night, then took the kids to Lewiston, and played at the river. Scott and I have great memories of playing on "our" river as we call it. We considered renting a boat, but we thought the kids would have more fun in the sand anyway. We were tickled to see that our kids are regular beach bums! They loved playing in the sand. Rylan dug a hole and filled it up with water. Maddy jumped over the waves that were made by the boats going by, and Scott took Rylan out in our little two-man raft Grammy took the kids home with her after her work day in Lewiston, then we met up with my highschool friend Lindsey and her husband Kyle that night. Saturday was a family picnic and Grammy and Papa came down and were kind enough to drop off the kids off so my old friends could see them, then pick them up and take them back home with th...