Rylie....she shoots and she scores!

My friend took these awesome pictures of Rylie making a goal at her last game. She got her running towards the ball, kicking the ball and then following the ball as it went into the goal. Seeing how great her camera is makes me realize that we need a new one!

An update on Austin

So this year Austin decided to try a new sport, track. I new he would be a good runner because of all his soccer training. He participated in the 400m, the 800m relay and the 200m. Mt. Baker did a great job this year and won many of the events. I had never been to a track meet before so it was fun to watch and I look forward to it next year. Go Bulldogs!

I think Austin liked the socializing as much or more than the actual running.

It's hard for a 13 year old boy to earn money. They normally don't babysit and where we live the yards are all so small that most people do there own. But we did find something for him to do to earn money and that is refereeing soccer games. They actually earn REALLY good money and they can make there own schedule so it works out great.

Austin refereeing his first soccer game. He looked so official in his yellow shirt and whistle. I'm really proud of him because he had to tell a parent that was standing by the goalie box that he had to move over to the sideline. The parent kind've gave him a hard time but Austin didn't back down and said that those were the rules and the parent moved.

End of year orchestra concert. Austin has been playing the chello for two years now. It is so fun to see the improvement each year of the whole orchestra as well as his individual progress.

The big #10

Wow, it's the big double digit birthday. I know I've said this a million times but I can't believe how fast the years fly by. It was 10 years ago that we moved to Washington and I was 8 months pregnant with Rylie.

The day of Rylie's birthday her choice for lunch was McDonald's. She made sure to remind me though that by no means was I to bring her a kid's meal. She has officialy outgrown the toy and would be so embarrased to have one in class.

A friend of ours had a scavenger/game birthday party for her boys over at the school and Rylie said that it sounded like a lot of fun so we did the same thing. Thanks Stephanie for the awesome scavenger hunt. The girls loved it.

We started off the party with pizza at home.

Then cupcakes and ice cream




playing on the monkey bars

a few relay races

and kickball

Back home for a movie and gifts.




Happy Birthday Rylie!

Surgery 7 & 8

Yes, we are at Children's hospital yet again for another surgery. Sienna and Rylie make # 7 & 8. Austin is the king with 5 and the rest have now had one each. Hopefully this will be the last!

Rylie and Sienna were both born with belly button hernia's. We were not in a hurry to get Rylie's fixed because the doctor said that they usually close by the time they are four years old. Well Rylie's never closed and we just kind've forgot about it until she started telling us that she didn't like her "outie" and was feeling self conscious about it (they can also cause problems as adults and when they get pregnant). By this time Sienna was about 3 years old and her hernia was not closing either. I knew that hers was not going to close either but we waited for the doctor to give us the go ahead when she turned four.

We made an appointment with the surgeon for both girls and decided to do both surgeries on the same day to get them over with at once. Belly button hernia's are a pretty commom surgery and the recovery time is not too long so we felt we could handle both of them being down for a few days.

They let me go back with both girls to the OR while they put them to sleep. I can see how some kids might freak out with all the equipment and dr.'s and nurses in there scrubs. The girls both did great and were out a few seconds after they gased them.

Going home.

Sienna perked up a lot faster after the surgery than Rylie.

Before surgery

Right after surgery

A week after surgery

A month after surgery

We are so grateful for all the wonderful doctor's and nurses who have helped all our kids!

Mulan

For some reason I have been having a really hard time blogging lately. I think partly because life just gets really busy, especially at the end of the school year, but also I just get tired of doing it. I then start to feel guilty because I think what a great way to documnet our life and the kids will love it when they get older. So my goal is to try to get caught up before school ends.

We had another great school play this year. The play was Mulan and Rylie was a maiden. The costumes and set were amazing as usual and I am always so impressed with the amount of effort and time the music teacher and all the volunteers put into the play.

After six long weeks of practice the big night arrived. Rylie did a great job and I was so proud of all her hard work.

Here are the girls and Rylie's good friend Linsey. Rylie was really excited she was able to be a Maiden with Linsey and it made the long practices a lot more fun.

When we bought Rylie's dress we bought one for Sienna as well. They both look so cute in them. Sienna loves to wear hers! We can't get Rylie to wear hers again. Maybe for Halloween?

Rylie was excited to have Nana come visit and see her in the play. Our kids really miss having their Grandparents around so it's a special treat when they are able to come.

Vancouver, B.C

We decided to make a quick weekend trip up to see the new Vancouver, British Columbia temple open house. I am so glad that we did. The temple was beautiful and the kids loved being able to walk around and see the inside.

The hotel that we stayed in had this great pool that the kids loved. I think we spent 3 hours swimming before dinner and another hour after dinner.

The next day even though the kids wanted to swim some more we took off for Lynn Canyon park. We were going to go see the Capilano Extension bridge but when some friends told us about the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge (which was free) we decided to check it out. It turned out to be a lot of fun and we had a great morning hiking around.

Not as big as the Capilano bridge but great for the kids and the price.

We then headed over to Stanley park where we played on the beach and enjoyed the ocean. We could have stayed longer but we had one more stop to make before heading home.

Rylie is performing in her school musical Mulan in a couple of weeks and her costume is a Chinese dress. I've always wanted to get my girls one because I think they would look so cute in them. We stopped off in China Town to see what we could find. We found the dresses in a little shop and enjoyed walking around the area. The kids even got a kick out of giving a homeless man Sienna's leftover sandwich from lunch that she didn't want. The man was asking for money but we gave him the sandwich instead. The kids couldn't believe that he was going to eat someone else's sandwich.

We had a great weekend getaway and can't wait to go back to Vancouver. So many fun things that we still want to do.

Happy Birthday Sienna!

My baby girl has turned 4. What a sad day for mom and an exciting day for Sienna. She has been counting down the days until her birthday.

Sienna chose to have a princess Tiana party and since most stores do not sale a princess Tiana cake I decided to make one. Look how beautiful this cake turned out. I have to give all the credit to my friend Beth for decorating it. She did an amazing job and Sienna loved it.

Sienna was so excited to open her presents but she had to get her pretty dress on first.

Sienna chose to have eggs and bacon for breakfast.

All her friends came dressed up as princesses for her party.

Sienna brought cupcakes to share with her preschool class a few days after her birthday. Here is Sienna and Miss Cindy passing out the cupcakes.

We love having you a part of our family Sienna. Our little butterfly who flits, flutters and skips around the house all day. You bring joy to our home with your sweet personality and beautiful smile. We love you! Happy Birthday!