Ryley's Rough Day

Ok, I remember once when I was a kid and my brother was climbing a fairly large rock and he started to slip. He yelled to my mom and what did she do? She grabbed her camera and told him to stay put so she could get a picture. I must have channeled that memory today with Ryley. So as we were driving to school today and I remembered that I needed to bring an apple to class for Luca to make applesauce. We made a quick stop at a store to see if it was open. Nope, so we then walked to Starbucks thinking just maybe they would have one. Nope. Ok I now have accepted that I will have to drop off the apple to school later. The bell rings at 7:55 and it was now 7:53. Gotta go. We head to the car and Ryley who was running all of a sudden tripped and fell scraped her knees and hit her head on some crazy copper statue sitting on a bench (not very uncommon for our sweet little Ryno). 7:54. I check her head immediately. Bump but nothing bleeding (not yet anyway). We got in the car and Iplanned to get band aids on the knees when we get to school which is just down the street. Now at school I unloaded Luca, got my first aide kit, and now I could patch up Ryno. Her poor knees were all bloody and so was her hair. I told her to stop touching them and wiping her head (again not uncommon for Ryley). Then I realized that she had a little cut in her hairline. I knew it was small and not stitch worthy but it kind of freaked me out a little. How am I like my mom you ask. Well, when we got home before I fixed her up I had to get a picture. She was so mad at me but I had to capture our crazy little morning. My poor baby got extra special attention all day and by the end of the day was back to dancing around with her sissy. Please forgive me Ryley. :)

Soccer Star

Luca in her ZONE

Luca had her first soccer scrimmage on Saturday. Unfortunately I missed 90% of the game because Ryley had her team pictures. It was really hot and her OCD took over. She told Rick "I think that they are using my ball" so she was very fixated on that. She also takes staying in her zone very seriously. She will not step past the lines for anything. It was fun to watch her and we are very excited for this season. I am especially excited to SIT and watch.

An Engagement!

Last week Lexie and Gabe announced at a family get together that they were getting married! We are so thrilled. Gabe is adored by our family. He is so supportive of Lexie and her dreams. You can tell they love each other. They are a perfect match. They plan to get married in June 2009 in Hawaii! We are so excited to have everyone together for a little family vacation as well. They will be finishing this year at the University of Redlands and then head out for some new adventures, possibly medical school in the Caribbean. We are so proud of you Lex!

Happy 8th Anniversary!!

Happy Anniversary my Love! Eight years ago we said we would love each other forever and not one day since that has it ever been a difficult thing to do. You are my biggest fan and I am yours. I love the babies we have made and where our family is today. We grow together more as we watch our children experience life. We have been through tons!! You are always supportive of all my BIG ideas and you let me be me. I love the father that you are to our children and to Ashley and Lexie. We have a lot more adventure to come so get ready! I love you Rick!

First Day of School

Luca started first grade on September 2nd. She is doing awesome at getting up, getting dressed, making her bed, etc. All before 7 am!! I am thrilled with her amazing attitude. She loves her class and her teacher. On friday Luca recieved the first Principals kid award of the year so of course we had to celeberate. We went to Islands to use her gift certificate that she got with the award. We feel so blessed to be at this amazing school. All the kids are great friends and the parents are too! Somehow I became the room mom. How did that happen! I am still not sure but I am very excited. At Luca's school there are lots of fun activities, parties, and events to plan so I cannot wait to get going on all that fun stuff.

Our sweet little Ryno started Pre K in August. She was so excited and she had a special day with just mom and dad to school shop. She was just beaming from ear to ear as she showed her daddy just excactly what LIBBY LU was. She promised me on her first day that she would tell me everything! She knows that her big sis loves to hold information about school hostage from me. Well she adjusted to her new class just fine and we cannot believe that next time we note about her first day of school she will be in KINDERGARTEN!!

Go USA!!

We were so excited for the Olympics this year! To celebrate we had an Opening Ceremony party with Chinese food, Olympic symbol memory games, Olympic workbooks and cupcakes!
The girls each wore their shirts with the Olympic mascots that LeVonne made for them. Thank you LeVonne! They made it through most of the ceremony but I fell asleep.

We watched nearly every event of the games. Our favorites were

1. swimming


2. gymnastics (of course)


3. diving


4. cycling (well mamas fav anyway)


5. beach volleyball


6. and waterpolo.
   

Pretty much the same favorites as the whole world. What an amazing thing it is to watch the whole world come together for a few weeks and just be inspired together as we watch these elite athletes.

Auntie Luca and Auntie Ryley

More Pictures of baby Hayden at one week old.

Our Little Grandson Hayden

Ashley gave birth to a baby boy on July 23rd. His name is Hayden Laurence Reece Burns. He is so sweet and we thank God for this blessing in our family. I feel like this sweet little spirit has not only brought us closer together but he has changed Ashley's life. Ashley is a wonderful mother and we are so proud of how she is taking care of her little man.

Grandma and Grandpa. We have actually decided to go with Mimi and Pop. That was Ricks parents nicknames with the grandkids and we would like to honor them (plus I can't be granny just yet)



Auntie Lexie and her boyfriend Gabe.

1st Place!!

The girls entered a contest at the library where they had to create a bug of the future using whatever materials they wanted. With the help of cousin Amber they each made the most darling and creative little bugs. Ryley's was a recycle bug and Luca's was a sock bug. Ryley won 1st place in her age group and treated us all to pizza at Pizza Factory.

We Are Rolling Now!

Luca learned how to ride without her training wheels! She is very excited. I already have a Triathlon for her next year.


I am not convinced that Luca's helmet was put on quite right. :)

Ryley Had some chain trouble. Thats my FIX IT girl!!

Our Summer

So this summer was pretty eventful. We did not vacation anywhere so we just made use of all the fun things to do here. We had lots of Library and beach trips, tons of pool parties and swimming in our pool, visits from cousins, Luca did a High School Musical CYT camp, Disneyland, Lego land and of so much more! These pics are just a few of the highlights.
We began our summer with a bang. I had the wise idea to camp in the backyard, so we pitched a tent, ate hot dogs and beans, made smores on the BBQ (worked quite well), told spooky stories of course and had a wonderfully uncomfortable night! The girls loved it and slept like rocks. Rick and I on the other hand were instantly aware of how amazing our select comfort bed is! However it was so much fun that this will be our new summer kick off tradition for sure.
We went to Disneyland with the Beasley's in June. We did Disneyland one day and California Adventure the next. I was so proud of my little darlings. They accepted the $1 bribe to go on space mountain and they loved it! Luca impressed everyone by accepting another $1 bribe to go on the tower of terror ride with me at Cal Adventure. Ryley knew better and went to the bugs life water play area with dad. I was more afraid than Luca but we will see if she will do it again next year!
We love the beach and the girls had a great time going with their cousin Stephanie.
We made our first trip to Legoland with cousin Amber and I have to say I am not impressed. $60 to get in! Maybe if we had boys it would have been more entertaining. The water play area was great and of course we had fun regardless of the crowd, heat and broken rides! All in all our summer was fantastic. I know I did not cover all the events but I don't know how to upload more than 5 pics yet!

Ryley's Dance Recital

Ryley had her first dance recital in July. She was so cute in her outfit!! I could barely take the anxiety of sitting there waiting for her to go on. I cried at every single performance and Rick just laughed at me as I flipped out. This is my baby on stage! She did so great and remebered every move. We were so proud of her. Luca was proud too. She loves her baby sis.