Spoiled

Dear Ryan,

Since I haven't seen you much this week, and you are on call again today, I have decided it is best to talk to you through my blog.  

Do you remember that I was in St George without you for a week and that I really wanted to post pictures for you then, but my parents don't have an Internet connection at their house?

Well, here are a few pictures of our first day there. 

After I had been upstairs for a little while unpacking with Rue glued to my hip, I heard Christopher Robin's excited voice down in the kitchen.  I knew Uncle Jabe was on the premises.

Sure enough he was there.  He gave Jace an amazing constrution vehicle, and Rue got a darling pink dog.

Rue walking her dog was the cutest thing I think I have ever seen.

Unfortunately, I only got this picture of Jace opening his truck. 

Because every time I put your daughter down, she would panic and cry, "Mommy hold you."

Even when I tried taking her outside away from all her relatives, she still cried for me to hold her.

But Christopher Robin found his favorite place at the back of the lot

and was happy there for hours.

He was such a great helper.  He helped Grampy find every last pile of dog poop on the lawn. 

He also gave Rue a swing in the swing for me.

He let Uncle Jabe push him around in the wheelbarrow for about an hour.

And he was able to finally coax Rue into giving it a try.

My Dad said to tell you that "you are an amazing man, and I married a really great guy."

I AGREE with him completely.

Oh, and I love this picture of your children with Coniger (the Collie) in the background.

You get off on Saturday morning at 8:00AM right?  Do you remember that I teach a violin lesson at 11:00AM?  What are the chances of you coming home tonight?  Slim to none?? I know you will call me when you get a break.

Have a fabulous day. Only two years left!!

Christopher Robin says to tell you "I miss him, and I also want you to come back to our house so we can have a family again, then we can play fun games with our Dad and Bromlyn, Oh and we saw a neck-goose trailer truck carring a monster truck- blue- and I was driving my semi- the X05 red truck and I was carring 2 gasoline tank trailors for the gas station, but it was about to tip over on a police car, but I lifted it back up and it started moving.  It was a close one, but it was me, in my X05 red truck."    The end

Working on it

I am just dropping in to let you know I am working on getting more  pictures of my Utah trip posted soon. This week I seem to be short on time, energy, and a husband, and overstocked with dirty clothes, bored children, and a stinky fridge.

The Sunday we got home Ryan was back at it all day. He was in the OR for several hours helping fix a mandible fracture.  And that's where he is again right now.  Lucky guy. He is not planning on sleep anytime soon.  He is in the ER treating a complex laceration.  Someone hit a deer while riding their bike without a helmet. -Smart!

I was hoping to blog and wait up for him, but I am  giving up.  I am TIRED. So I am going to bed.  My goal is to be a fun and happy mother of 3 tomorrow.

Good night everyone!

St George

In case you didn't know, or if you have never been there, there is a beautiful place in Southern Utah called "Utah's Dixie" or St. George.  It is my hometown, where I grew up.  It is nestled in a valley between the Red Hills and the Black Hill.  They say that once you have lived in Dixie it is hard to get the red sand out of your shoes.  I find that to be true. I can never get enough of that red sand and soul filling sun.

On Easter Sunday I flew there with Robin and Rue,-- well to Las Vegas, which is 100 miles to the SW.  I was greeted at the McCarrean airport by my sister Randolyn and her husband Paul. They loaded us up and we headed home- to St George.

While Ryan was in Iowa with his nose to the grind, we were having a wonderful time basking in that warm, beautiful sun with a big blue sky overhead. My parents now live in my grandparent's home which was built in 1948.  Every 5 days irrigation water runs through their yard. Christopher Robin calls it the "river."

Here is some foootage of this trip's water turn:

It looks as fun as it was!

Don't you just want to take your shoes off and walk through the warm, wet, red sand with Christopher Robin?

My mother and my daughter wearing their hats!

Let me be honest--the water turn was way more exciting once Rue took her clothes off!

But more on that tomorrow!

We're home

After two WONDERFUL weeks in Utah, we are home.  We arrived in Iowa on Saturday night.  It feels good to be home, but part of my heart stays in Utah each time I leave.

Robin and Rue were angels the entire 110 mile drive from the Des Moines airport to home.  The trick: warm cookies from McDonalds put them right to sleep.

I will be spending the entire week, and maybe next, posting about our trip.  In the meantime, I am off to unpack  99 lbs of luggage.

Have a wonderful day!

Countdown

It is officially 24 hours until the Easter Bunny visits our house and 48 hours until I leave for the Cedar Rapid's airport!!

In the next 48 hours I want/need to:

clean my house

do laundry

pack

go to the grocery store

paint my back porch chairs and put up my water fountain

host an Easter Egg hunt and luncheon at my house

get Ryan through another 24 hours of call

tend Raegann

find one more sub for church

call Randolyn

finish filling 305 plastic eggs with candy and money

help my children dye 2 dozen eggs

hide 305 Easter Eggs

We will see what I really get done!

In the meantime, Christopher Robin has been playing Easter Bunny with Rue.

First, he hides the eggs where she can see them.

When she gets them,

he shows her how to put them in the basket.

Then he makes it trickier.

He hides eggs where she can't see them.

But she finds them anyway--with a  little help from him!

Jackpot

On our long drive home from South Dakota, we decided to take a pit stop in Des Moines at the Pro Bass Shop- and we hit the jackpot!

When we walked through the doors, a nice lady asked us, "are you here for the Easter egg hunt?"  "Yes" we said!  She equipped Robin and Rue with some plastic bags and told them where the eggs were hidden.

Oh it was fun--racing through the isles gathering eggs!  It was Grace's first egg hunt-last year she wasn't walking yet.

Jace was an old pro,

but Gracie was having problems

getting those eggs to cooperate!

So her Dad helped her out, and soon her

bag was full too.  We went back to the nice lady and turned in our eggs for some cookies.

Then we went to the back of the store to see the fish, and waterfall, and this Pro Shop had a bear too!  Just like the one in VA!

I went off to order lunch while Christopher Robin kept himself busy winning some Nascar races.

I don't think he ever knew I was gone.

And Ryan practiced target shooting. 

And he finally hit something!

Gracie rode the fawn, we ate lunch, went to the bathroom, changed a diaper, and

had our picture taken with the Easter Bunny!

It was a perfect stop!

South Dakota - Part 2

Good morning South Dakota!  Here are my sweethearts eating breakfast on their first day at the Stoney Creek  Inn.  (We went to South Dakota to see the Norby's and look at their Oral Surgery practice.  Ryan is considering joining their practice when he finishes his residency.)

After breakfast we went outside to see the beautiful patio.

Jace and Ryan enjoyed the indoor/outdoor pool.  Gracie would not get near it.  She is scared of water.  She takes after her Grammy Blake.

The hot tub in our room was a hit.

The kids took a bath each morning.

Can you see Ryan watching conference in the background?

Don't worry, Gracie entertained herself, which

got Daddy up off the bed!

Jace got invited to attend the elementary school's carnival with the Norby's children.

He had such a fun time.

He really enjoyed tee ball.  I had no idea that he could hit a ball so well.  Either his Dad has taught him, or he is a natural.

Here is breakfast on our last morning.  It was lovely. Jace was in tears because he "was going to miss it."   Grace spilled a whole container of syrup down Ryan's bare legs. Syrup, hairy legs, and paper napkins are  not a fun combination! When it happened, Ryan said dag-nabit-which means Ryan is at his breaking point. 

While Ryan went upstairs to clean himself and Gracie, Jace went outside to see the waterfall one last time.

He cheered right up when I reminded him that we had to go home to get ready to go to Utah to see Grammy and Poppy, and that the Easter Bunny was coming to our house this week, and we didn't want to  miss him.

So all was well.