September Smarts

(September 6, 2010)
Ry: "Mom, I keep going back and forth."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Ry: "Like this...(while taking a few steps back and a few steps forward) back, and forth, and back, and forth. See, now you know what that means!"

(September 7, 2010)
Kevin: "Ry, show mom how you can wink."
Rylan winks and says "mom you do it"
I've never been able to wink but I give it a go
Ry: "No mom, you're only supposed to close one eye"
Like I said, I've never been able to wink!

(September 13, 2010)
Ry: "This'll do the trick"
Funny to hear a 4 year old use this kind of phrase :)

(September 15, 2010)
While reading in the scriptures when Nephi touches Laman and Lemuel and they are shocked because of the power of God, Rylan taunts: "Nah nah nah nah nah"! Who taught him that?

(September 24, 2010)
While saying a prayer before bed...
Ry: "We're thankful I could play dad's iPod and thankful Angry Birds has lots of levels."

(September 26, 2010)
One of the YW leaders told me that Rylan invited her over to his house so she could play his iPod. Cute! (Even if he may be a bit obsessed with it!)

(September 27, 2010)
Recently Ry has been asking me what words mean (fascinating, boring...) and today he asked what 'embarrassing' means. I tried my best to explain it saying something about being in a situation that makes you shy or something happening that makes you self conscious.
Ry: "Ooookaaayyy...I still don't know what it means"!!!
Sometimes it's so hard to explain words to a 4 year old!

(September 30, 2010)
Ry: "Mom, how old are you?"
Me: "31"
Ry: "So are you almost 100?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rylan recently got a new book 'Llama Llama Misses Momma' (We love these Llama books.) The first time we read it I read as written and it says "Llama Llama hates that book". Rylan looked at me and asked why I said the bad word. So I told him it's just not a very nice word and it should read "Llama Llama dislikes that book." So tonight as we were reading the book I replaced the "bad" word with the nicer word and Rylan stopped me and asked: "Does it not say (whispers) "hate" anymore?"
Me: "It still says that word I just said a different word."
Ry: "No mom, if it says (whispers) "hate" then that's how you have to read it."
Hmmmm, what exactly am I supposed to teach him in this situation?

Apple Pizza!

Monday night dinners have been very low key for us over the past several months. Kevin plays soccer on Monday night and doesn't usually get home until after 9:00 so I don't really feel the need to make a 'real' dinner.
Tonight we had english muffin pizzas and Rylan was my little helper. On his own pizza he spread the pizza sauce, topped it with pepperoni and cheese and then said he also wanted apples. "I'll slice up some apples for us to eat along with our pizza" I said. I thought I'd get the pizzas cookin' in the oven and then slice up the apples but Ry was quick to stop me. "NO! I want apples on my pizza." Not wanting to discourage his creativity I let him have a go at it and this is what he created:

Look at that piece of art! And he liked it!

Then he asked for some more apple slices and a spoonful of pizza sauce. Okay...

FHE and Gifts!!

Our second Sunday Doyle dinner was at Andy's house this month...the first family dinner since the folks have been back! We feasted on Taco Salads and talked and played and then we all received fabulous gifts--FUN!
Dennis and Mary Kaye had brought back something for each person from Switzerland or a surrounding area they visited while on their mission. Asher's age group got a cute Pinocchio ornament puppet from Rome. Rylan and Asher both had fun pulling his string and I was so nervous it was going to get broken. I tried to let them have fun, though!
Rylan's age group got some fun twirly toys, also from Rome. They even light up! Lots of time has been spent playing with this toy. They took them out in dark backyard and flew them up in the sky. They really are pretty fun! I'm pretty sure Lauren was wearing this cowboy hat and Rylan took it from her. He wore it the rest of the night and had fun running from Lauren and trying to tease her...little stinker! But he sure makes a cute cowboy :)


The boys of the family were presented with aprons and a bar of swiss chocolate! They each got to pick out their apron...Kevin chose my favorite--Formaggio--YUM! The boys each put on their aprons and walked the catwalk showing their stuff. I think I was laughing too hard to get a picture of Kev--darn!

The girls were given scarves which I LOVE! I can't wait to wear mine out on the town :)

It was a really fun night and we're excited to have the parents at ALL our family dinners! Thanks for the souvenirs :)

Embracing Summer

The weather has been perfect and we've been enjoying every minute we get outside.

It's been quite awhile since we've been to the library for story time and we needed something to do. So away we went. Both of the boys stayed by me rather than sitting on the rug with the rest of the kids. But that's okay. I got to join in the fun that way, too!

Afterwards we played at the library park and had some fun there as well! Asher loves the slides where Ry is more of a lover of the swings.

This is where I usually get to buy fruits and vegetables made of wood chips. Yummmmm.

Have you ever tried the one eyed smile? Ry does it pretty well :)

Asher

This little boy sure has a tight grasp on my heart.
I just cannot get over him.
Do little boys get tired of kisses from their momma?

Welcome Home!

Kevin's parents (my fantastic in-laws!) returned home from their mission in Geneva, Switzerland. They left in October of 2008 (just weeks before Asher was born) and after an invited extension they are now back home in Utah! We've missed them the last 23 months but we know the work they did in Switzerland was important...and they had a wonderful time! We were able to read their daily doings through a Doyle family blog and they were able to keep up with all of us through the blog as well. Technology really can bridge the gap across the world! Something cool...while Kevin and I were on vacation, I mean, living in Belgium, we had a family in our ward, the Kimballs. Sister Kimball was the Young Women's President and I was the secretary and they had a daughter (Kristin) in YW. We loved them dearly but lost contact over the years. Who would have thought they ended up moving to Switzerland where they would meet my in-laws? Crazy and fun! Anyways, they had a great time serving their mission in Geneva. Quite possibly the dream mission for them!

So, for the welcoming home...Elder and Sister Doyle's flight was scheduled to arrive just before 8:00pm on Labor Day. It was also Andy's birthday. So we all met up at Andy's house. I stopped at Little Caesar's on the way so we could all dine on pizza. Angie brought a salad (with some fresh garden veggies--yum!) and Steph brought a birthday cake so we could sing to Andy. It was a fun pre-party before the real party! Some of the kiddos and siblings made 'Welcome Home' signs while we all anticipated the time to leave for the airport.

The folks were told (by someone other than me...I wouldn't lie like this :)!!) that Matt would pick them up and the rest of us would welcome them at their house. We all were there at the airport waiting and appreciated the info from other passengers--"They're coming!" "They'll be here soon!". We were glad to know they were off the plane and on their way. As they rounded the corner Kevin rolled out a small red carpet and some grandkids ran right up to greet them. They were surprised! When they got some space they walked down the red carpet and started giving and receiving lots and lots of hugs and smiles. There was a first meeting with Asher and Nixon, but really, I'm sure all the grandkids had grown a lot. After we had a few minutes to take pictures and get resituated, we all headed off to their home for more chatting.

Ha Ha! I just love the look on Dennis' face--surprised? shocked? overwhelmed? longing to be back in the peace and quiet of the Geneva, Switzerland mission office?!!!

At home the kids ran crazy and the chatter was constant throughout the entire house. It was a late night but it was a fun night. We're happy to have them back!

Camping!

Camping around here is crazy! Of course, both times we went camping this year it was a holiday weekend. This is our Labor Day weekend camping trip. My mom went up the canyon early in the week and luckily found us a spot and it was perfect!
I sent our tent and sleeping bags up with Tami and her fam since our car gets real full real quick. I didn't think about that until we got up to the campsite and the Holman's weren't there yet! We knew they wouldn't be too long though. So we explored the sites and a bit of the area and took some silly pictures to pass the time.

While sitting around the campfire someone noticed a little wooly worm creeping along a chair. These unfortunate little things were caught and collected the entire weekend...the kids were so entertained with them!
We had planned on going to walk Cascade Springs Saturday morning. Well the morning turned into afternoon and we made it to the springs in the heat of the day. Good think it's late summer and not too hot. We all had a good time :) And Asher got a miniature nap...





Tami and Kacy planned some super fun and funny Minute to Win It games.




And even Asher joined in the fun!!
My grandma brought her trailer up and camped with us for the weekend. It's always fun having grandparents around.
And my grandma brought these monstrous marshmallows to roast. I've seen them in the store but this was the first time I'd had them. Holy Moly they are big! We also had an angel food cake dessert which is what is on Kev's roaster stick beside the monstrous 'mallow! I look at Asher's face in this picture and think he's thinking "Look at the size of this thing. Pure ridiculousness."
Yummy!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Since the beginning of summer we'd been saying we needed to go to the zoo. Then it got too hot. Then school started. But we still wanted to go to the zoo. So we went!

Tami and the twins picked us up after her 3 older kids were off to school for the day. They were sad to miss out. But since preschool hadn't started yet we knew this might be our last chance.

Just as we arrived at the zoo Kade's flip flop broke. Oh no! The gift shop didn't have flip flops or tape so he was a trooper and wore a broken shoe. Tami rented a wagon since Ry refused to give up his stroller spot. And then my boys ended up in the wagon with the twins--of course!

We all liked the monkeys of every kind. It was fun watching the baby orangutan swing around. We got to see the baby elephant, Zuri. North America's oldest African elephant put on a little show for us. They were fun to watch. I was surprised to see how big porcupines get. I always thought of them as smaller animals, but no. We saw an endangered Siamese crocodile eat some crickets for lunch and that was cool. The tigers were mostly hiding but when they did come out it was kinda exciting! We saw the giraffes, too...I love their skin! I should start wearing more giraffe prints :) I avoided looking at the snakes and creepy crawlies which is what the twins were most excited about! Rylan enjoyed the train ride even though he kept his hands over his ears for most of the ride. And really, it was the perfect day weather-wise to be at the zoo. Tami and I agreed that we enjoyed the zoo more than our kids but they just have fun being together so it was all good. We couldn't have asked for anything better (except maybe an not broken flip flop!)

These boys were not in picture mode this day!

I'm pretty sure they said this is the oldest African elephant in the United States. She's 50 years old and puts on a cute show!

Train ride!

I had to take a picture of the sloth for Kevin. But we thought this guy was so interesting to watch. I never knew their super long fingernails were used as hooks to help them get through trees. And I also never knew that they hang upside down most the time. Truth be told I really don't know much about sloths!

I enjoyed the zoo so much we might have to go back for Zoo Lights come Christmas time!

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!

This last weekend (August 28) Kevin and I ran our first half marathon!! (Kevin ran a full marathon about 5 years ago so technically he has ran a half marathon. But this was his first official half marathon.) We ran the "Top of Utah half marathon" in Logan and it was beautiful! The first seven miles are in the mountains and it really was lots of fun to run that slight downhill :) The remainder of the race was pretty flat through neighborhoods. Bless the hearts of those home owners who sat outside in lawn chairs cheering us on. I loved every cheer of encouragement! I admit I got teary eyed nearly every time I saw a group holding signs cheering on their mom or dad. I just love to see people supporting each other. And I had the greatest support right by my side. I told Kev repeatedly he could go on and run ahead of me but he stayed with me the whole race and made sure we crossed the finish line at the same time. What a great hubby I have :)
So, we started the day with a wake up call at 4:45am. Eeks! If I wasn't so excited I would have been crying that early in the morning! I had a horrible headache the day before and still felt a faint throbbing buy I tried my best to ignore it. And luckily it was gone for the entire race and didn't come back till later that afternoon! Most definitely a blessing. We took a sleepy eyed picture before heading downstairs for some fuel (bananas and oatmeal and toast with peanut butter). We caught a bus from the hotel that took us to another bus. While waiting in line for our second bus we noticed that Andy's number was just before ours. Kevin #593, Janell #592, Andy #591. "Hey, you must have registered just before us!" says Kevin. "Yeah, I guess so" says Andy. "The numbers are alphabetical" says the lady in front of us! Ha ha ha, it was very funny at the time :)

I felt great through the first 11 miles. In fact I was having so much fun I was secretly planning when I could run my next half marathon! Just after the 11 mile mark there was an aid station where they hand you water and gatorade. I stopped to get a drink and immediately felt my quads tighten up. From then on it was a struggle to run. In fact, that 12th mile was our slowest. I keep thinking had I not stopped for the drink it would have been better. But you know what? We finished and that's what I'm gonna celebrate!! When we had the finish line in sight Kevin kept asking when we were gonna speed up and sprint to the end. It just looked sooooo far away! So we trudged on. He kept cheering me on, keeping me going, and finally I said "Let's GO!" And off we went, crossing the finish line in 2 hours 7 minutes. Whew!
So my favorite part? Running with my husband in the mountains. Loved it :) When do we get to do it again?

We made the boys just hang out and relax with us the rest of the night!

I was very anxious to get home to my boys. My mom stayed the night with them and was the perfect grandma! Asher wouldn't sleep for her but they all survived. Rylan loved that grandma slept in his room and had a sleepover!