Ryan is the big 30 today. Now, I could list 30 sappy, embarrassing, wonderful things about him, but that would probably just bore you. So instead I will just say he is perfect for me, a fabulous father to Eli and Hallie, and I love him very much!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RY!!!!
Today Ryan and I were driving down to Red Robin (to get Ryan's free birthday burger), and I saw the Day Break temple. I told Ryan that they just put the Angel Moroni up. Well, of course my nosy son overheard our conversation and a couple seconds later Eli says, "I see the yellow thing on the temple. I see the princess Moroni". So for all of you out there who thought it was Angel Moroni you are wrong. Just ask Eli, it's Princess Moroni.
This kid cracks me up!!
I decided to put on a little carnival to celebrate my big baby turning 30 and my little baby turning one. So we invited the family over for an afternoon of good old fashion fun. We had a bounce house, hot dogs, popcorn, nachos,shaved ice, cotton candy, games, and family. What more could you ask for?
We played some fun getting know Ryan and Hallie games (at least I thought they were fun), guess the amount of candy in the jar, bean bag toss, hula hoop contests, ring toss, and knock the bottles over.
Hallie loved her cake. (I am sure Ryan loved his too). When all my siblings and I turned one my mom always made us a little bear cake that was our very own to eat. So I have continued the tradition and both my kids have had their very own bear for their first birthday.
It was so fun to watch her with her cake. As soon as I put the cake by her she about flew out of her seat to grab it. She dug in and truly enjoyed every bite. She was dainty at first, but quickly realized what a good thing she had. Pretty soon she had everything that didn't fall to the ground devoured. She loves food and especially loves sweets.
Ryan wasn't quite as thrilled to have his cake. But his cake was kind of a disaster. Oh Well.
It was so fun to celebrate such a fun occasion with all of our parents, siblings and their families(except for my little brother and his cute family. We really did miss you guys!), grandma, and some cousins.
The two party animals
Hula Hoop contests
Ryan's parents. Go Ed!
Bob and Cheri
Ryan's mom, doing the neck thing.
Alicia using her knees
Oakley. Future hula hoop star.
Bouncing in the house
Bean bag toss. (check out that awesome clown. Someone must have talent to be able to paint that.
A first taste of cake.
Ryan's cake. Not quite what I envisioned. I am actually a little embarrassed to post a pic. It was supposed to be a topsy turvy cake. Everything was looking good until I went to put the top on and it kind of slipped out of my hand and I dropped it on the cake, causing the top to smash the rest of the cake. Oh well. At least I tried. Right? Maybe I will try again, maybe not.
Presents. They were both very spoiled!
And on last picture of my pretty princess
Thanks everyone for coming and for all the gifts. We loved having you all here, and hanging out with you. We appreciate all the support.
We are home from our two week vacation. We had so much fun and appreciate everyone who helped us have so much fun. It was long and we did a lot so I will just give a brief picture overview so as not to bore you. (It is two posts long, so make sure you read both).
We stopped in three states: South Dakota- to see Mt. Rushmore, North Dakota to see Ryan's aunt Sharon, and Montana to see my brother Brian, his wife Brittany and thier son Cole.
We started our trip at 3:45 in the morning. We thought leaving in the middle of the night the kids would sleep for a good few hours of the trip. Well, not so much! they were both wide awake when we hopped in the car. Luckily though by about 5:00 they both fell asleep and slept for a couple hours.
First stop: Custer, SD.
We swam in the pool at the hotel. This was Hallie's first time in the pool and I thought she would love it. She really seemed indifferent. (Maybe because it was so cold).
We also went on a really pretty drive and saw lots of wildlife: deer, Elk, Buffalo, wild turkeys, and antelope.
Mount Rushmore- This place was awesome. I knew that they were amazing, but seeing them in person was incredible.
We went to this little park in S.D. called Storybook Island. It had all these cheesy characters from famous stories. It was actually pretty cool. and it was free! They also had this sandbox with little sand diggers. The sand diggers were Eli's favorite part.
Bear Country. These little cubs were so cute and playful. I could have watched them all day long. It was so fun to drive through the park and see bears roaming right next to our car. Some of them were so big.
We finally made it to North Dakota. Sharon and her roomate Renee were such great hosts! We wanted to go swimming, but it was so cold. So Sharon took us to this cool hotel that has a mini indoor water park thing. We had so much fun. It had a little kiddie pool area with shooting water and waterfalls. It also had a bigger pool that had a big water slide that went outside the hotel and then came back to the indoor pool. Eli loved it, and didn't want to leave.
The zoo- We had some interesting experiences at the zoo. Watching a bear scratch and sniff itself. (quite entertaining). To the cougar that would not take its eyes off Eli and followed him wherever he would go around its cage. (Kind a creepy).
Eli also got to feed the goats, pigs, and miniature ponies. He was a little hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up. After he realized that they wouldn't eat his hand, he didn't want to leave.
The Carnival. Even though Eli looks bored and annoyed he really was having fun. He is becoming such a stinker when it comes to picture taking.
The BIG slide. This slide was SO much fun! Eli waned to go on it over and over, and so of course we did. I bet we went down that slide at least thirty times. We took Hallie on it and she was the only one that wasn't too fond. She whimpered the whole way down. It was funny, so of course we took her down it again. The second time she cried. We then decided we better not torture her anymore.
Concert in the park. 
Hanging out
Thanks SO MUCH Sharon and Renee!! We appreciate all your hospitality, and for putting up with our wild and loud kids. We had so much fun, and can't wait to come back again and do all the stuff we missed.
The last few days of our trip we stayed with my brother Brian, his wife Brittany,and their cute little boy Cole. They live in Great Falls, MT where Brian is stationed while he is in the Air Force.
There isn't a whole lot to do there, but we still had so much fun visiting, seeing the two things to see, and just hanging out and letting the kids get to know each other better.
The Hatchery. Feeding fish.
The Great falls
Aren't they cute? Little Cole reminds me of Eli when he was that age. He looks just like him. 
Hallie took her first three steps at the Great Falls park.
She also got her first two bottom teeth on this trip. FINALLY!!
Eli by the big Airplanes on base.
THANKS Brian and Brittany for letting us crash at your house and invade your space. Sorry if Hallie kept you up all night every night. We appreciated the place to stay and had so much fun with you guys.
We miss you already!
All day yesterday Eli was so good. He hardly argued with me, I don't think he whined at all, and he was just so sweet. We went to aerobics and he played with the other kids so nicely, we went to the store and he sat so good in the cart, we went outside and he played by himself so that I could get flowers planted, he ate all his dinner without trying to get down after only eating one bite, he remembered to ask if he could be excused, he even told me I was pretty without asking for a treat afterward.
I thought all my yelling at him for the last three years had finally paid off. I had raised a wonderful perfect child. Oh if dreams were fishes, right?
I guess by about 7:45 he just couldn't take it anymore. He decided being good was just no fun and he was going to make up for it in the last 15 minutes he had left of his day.
First he decided to dump out all of Hallie's little puffs all over the ground. Then Ryan went into the garage for a second and when he came back Eli was dumping water on top of Hallie's head. When Ryan asked him why he did it he said, "because Heavenly Father told me too." (bet you didn't know Heavenly Father told little boys to dunk their sisters). Of course Ryan gets mad at him, not only for dumping the water, but also for lying, and tells him to go inside and get ready for bed.
Ryan meets him in the bathroom to get his teeth brushed and as they are heading to Eli's room Ryan notices that Eli is trying to smuggle a granola bar into his bedroom. (Eli knows he is not supposed to eat in his room). Ryan confiscates the granola bar and because of all the bad choices he also takes Eli's tiger (the worst punishment ever) his zebra, and his bear. All items he loves to sleep with so that he can pick "fuzzies" off them and rub them on his nose. (yes, I am aware my child is weird). anyway, needless to say Eli went to bed screaming.
Well, I was not home when al this occurred, so when I get home Eli comes running out of his room with a big smile to give me a hug like nothing happened. I tell him he needs to go back to bed. He begs me to take him, so of course I do. Well, as I lay him in bed I notice his giraffe is on his bed. (Remember Ryan took all his animals away, except the giraffe). The reason Ryan didn't take his giraffe away was because the giraffe sits on the top shelf in his bedroom. So the only way he could possibly have his giraffe was if he climbed the shelf and got it down (another thing he knows he is not supposed to do).
I just let it to go and left his room. I am a big pushover. Anyway he came out of his room a few more times( another thing he isn't supposed to do). Then we didn't hear from him anymore so we assumed he had finally gone to bed.
Before I went to bed I went to check on the kids. I go in Eli's room and he is not there. I noticed his playroom door is closed and so I try to open it it is locked. (Yes, another thing we have told him a million times not to do-lock doors). Anyway I start laughing find the key and unlock the door. The light was off. I turn it on and there is Eli sound asleep on the floor in his tent with his little giraffe. I couldn't believe it. And it wasn't like he was playing in there and fell asleep. He had grabbed a pillow, his giraffe, turned off the light, climbed in his tent and went to bed.
So much for me thinking I had finally gotten through to him and was finally going to have a well behaved kid. I am sure today we will be back to our normal days of screaming, crying, arguing, and getting into things he is not supposed to.
Being good is just more than little Eli can take.
