Ryker turns 5!

I cannot believe that my baby is 5!  Having Ryker has been an amazing experience.  When I first got pregnant with him I was so incredibly sick.  I lived on vegetarian pizza and pickles.  Then after 5 months it all the sickness stopped and it turned great.  On more than one occasion I had to go to my docs office because I could not feel him move, he was just so quiet.  He was also so much smaller than Lancer was, but I unfortunately, was still the same size.



The morning I had him.



The quiet stopped the minute he was born.  Since that day he had been on the go non-stop.



The day he came home from the hospital. 

We nicknamed him Goonga. I'm not sure what it means, but it is from the movie Caddy Shack, and it just seems to fit him.

 He reminds me of Fudge in the Judy Blume books. No baby proofing could stop this kid from getting into things that he should not.  You name it and this kid has probably done it.  He keeps us on our toes.  But he is also such a sweet child who fills our days with laughter. When he is at school, or visiting grandparents, our house seems so empty and I miss him instantly

If you are feeling down or sad about anything, he knows just what to do to make you feel better.  On more than one occasion, Ryker has made a grumpy waitress or random stranger smile or laugh with just a look.

 

Ryker did this at the baseball game and even the grumpy guy behind us laughed.

He has been excited for his birthday for a long time.  Like most of our birthdays, it lasted a lot longer than one day.

So right before Ryker's birthday, Lancer came home from school with a nasty tummy bug. Since it was a weekend, he was up at my parents house.  My mom told me not too worry( cuz I do!), he seemed to be OK and she thought it was fine for him to stay.  He seemed better the next day, and so we went on with the birthday plans.
So on the birthday, Ryker told me what he wanted me to make for his dinner. Homemade chicken noodle soup, his favorite rolls, and a SpongeBob birthday cake. Seemed easy enough.  First I made the cake and it was harder than I thought! I think it was too hot in my kitchen because the icing would not set up and my homemade noodles kept sticking together and I had to make a last minute trip to the store to buy frozen ones.  Finally we packed it all up and headed up to my parents.  I had put the cake in a cake box and held it on my lap in the car.  I guess I held it too tight, because by the time we got there, SpongeBob's face was pretty much unrecognizable. Good thing I took a picture of the cake before I ruined it!



SpongeBob before the accident.



Before dinner, Ryker played around and fed the animals.  I made him wait until after dinner to open presents.
While we were eating, my mom commented she did not feel well and thought she was getting Lancer's bug.  I tend to  freak out at the thought of anyone being sick,  and the possibility of anyone else getting sick that I panicked and forgot to take any pictures of my little one opening his presents!



Ryker getting really excited at the thought of cake

 Happy Birthday Goonga!!! I am so blessed to be your Momma!





First day of Preschool this year







Red Rocks, Rivers and Receptions

I know it has been forever since I posted, but it has been a crazy couple of months.

School Started...



Lancer starting the 4th grade



 

Ryker's first day of Preschool

Weddings and Baseball Games...

Our niece Alyssa

 

Bumble and the boys

We have also been prepping for ski season (See ya Snowbasin Alpine Team, The Rouglah's are headed to Snowbird!), Hubby is changing work, yard work, canning,etc. We needed a break.

So last weekend we took a trip to Moab to attend our friend Justin's wedding. We left Ryker at home with my parents and took Lancer, getting some quality time with our (soon to be) 9 year old.

Richie has been in the process of changing companies and so he was pretty stressed out.  He was weighing different options, and I hoped he would be able to "check out" and have a good time.
Friday morning about 36 of us along with the bride and groom, headed out for a day long river rafting trip.

36 people crammed in a old school bus-
Brought me right back to high school

I had never been on one before and it was so much fun. I can't wait to do another one again soon. Lancer loved it, but wished the rapids were higher. He really wanted to fall out of the boat. The guides of our 4 rafts fixed us an amazing lunch, and then guide taught lancer how to row the boat.

Lancer and Jay our guide

After a long but awesome day, we headed back to the hotel. When I called to check on Ryker, I got some horrible news that definitely put a damper on the day. While Ryker and my mom were feeding the horses that morning, they found our old horse moose had suddenly gotten very sick. The vet ended up having to come and put him to sleep. I was so sad that I wasn't there to say goodbye to him. I was even sadder that I had to break the news to Lancer that his best buddy was no longer with us. He took it as I expected. Let's just say he kept his sunglasses on for the rest of the night, and kept asking the waitress at dinner for more napkins. We talked about doing some kind of memorial to Moose, which Lancer liked and made him feel a little better.
Then next day we went to Arches National Park.

Delicate Arch

 We hiked around looking at the amazing scenery, but Lancer was not into hiking around for very long. We just wanted to get back to the hotel pool! I could have stayed there all day, but we gave in and left early so Lancer could swim and I could start getting ready for the wedding.



The wedding was very beautiful but HOT!!! Richie and I wore matching clothes by total accident.

Mr and Mrs Rouglah

Right after the ceremony we went and changed our clothes. Did I mention how hot it was?  After some fish tacos we were much more relaxed and ready to get our groove on.  

 Lancer seemed to be channeling John Travolta  because that boy danced. He was dancing on rocks, dancing on chairs, and dancing with all the ladies. He even did some dancing air guitar!  He seemed to entertain everyone.

The best part of the trip was that that my hubby got to get away from the stress of work and spend some time with his good friends. Since he has moved from SLC, he does not see these guys very often, and his good friend Frank recently moved to Moab to open a new sushi restaurant. Frank was able to come to the wedding and I was so glad to see Richie having such a good time.

Richie, Frank, and Johnny





Our Summer Vacation

It has been a busy summer at our house. We have been to Montana and Yellowstone, baseball
games and zoos. Did I mention how much time we have spent in the water? Between swimming lessons, pool parties, and boating, we all are a dermatologists nightmare.

Lancer found his dream car just outside Big Sky, Montana.
(No really, this IS his dream car!)

We had some awesome buffalo burgers at the Corral in Big Sky, Montana.

Spent some time with our cousins in Billings, Montana.

Did you know Bears in the Billings Zoo like White Cheddar popcorn?

Slip-n-Sliding in our backyard.

An indoor water park in Billings, Montana.

Swimming at a friends house.

Lancer on the high-dive at Dr. Iverson's pool party.
(I won a sweet snow cone machine at this party.)

Tubing on grandpa's boat.

The Summer is only half over. I think more swimming is in our future.

The Ladies Man

Ryker used this trip as a way to meet girls. I know he is only 4, but the boy likes the ladies! He is not picky about their age, however, he does like for them to be able to bring something to the table--IE pool toys.

Girl #1-- She did not have any cool toys to share, so he moved on after a hour or so.

I met some new friends at the pool. When I turned around to check on Ryker, he floated by with this little girl. I don't know if it was the pink floaties or the goggles.

Pretty soon he disappeared again. Richie found him by the water slide, using some other girls Elmo floaties.

This is Olivia. They met during our snorkel cruise.

These are students at Texas A&M. Ryker had no hesitation to ask them to hold his brothers coloring book open. Lancer probably treated the book for Girl Cooties after.

He would jump into the water, swim up to someone and say "Hi...I'm Ryker.. R-Y-K-E-R. .. I'm 4... I live in Salt Lake and in Utah...Where do you live?

I told him it is OK to spell his name to girls while he is 4. When he is 24, the girls might not find it so cute anymore.

Lancer's heaven

Most kids want to go to Disneyland. My son's version of heaven on earth is WWII museums. He couldn't wait to go to Hawaii so that he could go to Pearl Harbor. For MONTHS, it was all he talked about. We waited in line to get tickets and Lancer immediately spotted one of those machines that you put in 50 cents and they give you a pressed penny. He pleaded for 50 cents. After he put the $ in, he cranked the machine and out popped his penny.

"That's it.....all I got was a stupid penny?"

"Not just a stupid penny, honey." I told him. " A stupid penny engraved with the USS Bow fin on it."

First place we went was the USS Missouri. Lancer was in awe. When we met up with our tour guide Reggie, I thought Lancer might try to impress this former Marine with some push ups. But instead he followed right behind him, like he was following his idol.

USS Missouri

Lancer & Reggie

After the Missouri, we headed over to a airplane museum, and then had a quick bite to eat. Then we got in line for the ride out to the USS Arizona.

It is hard to explain the feeling when you are looking at a ship that has been underwater for 60 years. She is still leaking oil, and the smell of diesel fuel is still strong. You can see her underwater and in the distance you can see the Missouri, who they have anchored facing the Arizona, as she is watching over her older sister. It is surreal. The wall of names of those who lost their lives made me choke up, as did the small list next to it, of those who survived and upon their passing, have been cremated and returned to the ship and their shipmates.
The Bow of the Arizona.

I have a lot more pictures, but hate to post them all. After coming from the Arizona, we went to tour the USS Bow fin. This was probably my boys favorite part. They loved playing with the guns and touching all the buttons inside the Submarine.

The Bow fin

After the final submarine and of course a trip to the gift shop, we headed out just as the memorial was closing. It took us 7 hours, and we still did not get to see the USS Utah. It was a long day, but it was worth it watching my boys have such a great time.

A beautiful day!

I am so glad today is almost over. Today, Lancer had a ski race at Brighton. We did not have a sitter for Ryker and because I had some minor surgery a week ago, I decided it was best not to ski and just cheer Lancer on from the finish.
When I woke up this morning @ 5am, I had a feeling it would not be a good idea to take Ryker. So I told Richie that we were going to stay home and I went back to bed feeling like a crummy mom for missing my son's race, but something told me Ryker would not co-operate sitting outside from 7:30am to 1pm. About a hour later, Richie called me and told me that Lancer really wanted me to come, and we should come later around 9:30am. So I get Ryker up and we set out to Salt Lake. This is when the whining started.
"Mommmm.....My muffin doesn't taste good, I don't waaaaaaaaannnnnt it"
"Nooooo....Don't listen to the news. I can't hear my music"
"Whyyyyyy are we not there yet? It's been soooooooooo long!"
"I'm hungry!"
By the time we started up Big Cottonwood Canyon, my patience was starting to wear thin.
We got to Brighton and start over to the finish line to meet Richie. After a trip in the lodge for some cocoa and Doritos (Breakfast of champions!) I try to keep him entertained for a few minutes so I can cheer on the other Snowbasin kids.
"My cocoa's to hoooooooooot!"
"My cocoa's to coooooold!"
"I don't wannnnna stand outside"
"Hold me"
This last one is something I am not supposed to do after having surgery. But I risked pulling my stitches, just to get a few minutes of quiet.
Finally, Lancer's name is announced. He came over the ridge in a tuck, going really fast. Richie and I got really excited, thinking he would definitely place in the top few. Then I saw him skid. He balanced on one leg, with the other out to his side, still going too fast. Then his body went forward and he belly flopped, legs still split on either side. He got right back up and finished the race. Even after falling, he still placed #23.
This is when Ryker threw himself down on the ground and started SCREAMING. He wanted to go home. I tried to calm him down while I chatted with other parents. He continued to scream. I took him into the lodge. He screamed. I took him to the car. He screamed. His fit continued until I entered the I-215 belt route. That's when he fell asleep.
I decided to throw my diet out the window and stop at Pei-Wei in Bountiful. Ryker wanted a drink. I told him no. The guy gave him a sprite anyway. He took about 2 drinks of it and dropped it all over the floor. While I was cleaning it up. He piped up with "Wow, it sure has been a beautiful day today."
Later, Richie and Lancer got home and from 4:00-8:00 they argued about everything from which wii game to play, to who was getting the most Daddy time.
But it WAS a beautiful day.

Super Scary....

Last night, Richie and I put the kids to bed early and sat down to watch Paranormal Activity.

About a 1/3 of the way through the movie, during a really scary part, Lancer came SCREEEAAAMIINNG out of his room. Richie and I jumped about a mile high and we were sure he was going to say a shadow was coming at him or his pillow levitated off his bed or something, but...

........he saw a dog on his TV that looked like ours.