January 2009

Where is the time going? 2009 already!! We had a fun time ringing in the new year and then had a great time on New Years day having Jeff and family over for traditional chalupa - yummy!! Then we quickly got back into the crazy routine and the month has flown by!!

All the kids finished their first semester with straight A's (straight Y's and O's for Autumn, but same thing) - Megan is determined to finish her first year of high school with a 4.0 and stays busy doing homework and studying for tests. She's pretty funny because she always comes home on test days sure that she "failed it" and then comes home a few days later reporting that she got 100% or something close. Musical theater has started again and after trying out, she is still waiting to see what part she'll have - she's pretty excited already!

Devin is staying busy with karate (we're sometimes up to 4 days a week now as he is only a few months away from his black belt test), scouts, piano, and has also added guitar lessons this month, which he is really enjoying. His teacher is an 18 year old kid who comes to our house for the lessons, which I love, and Devin really likes him, so it's going well so far. We also recently took Devin to the orthodontist for a consultation and he has to have 8 teeth pulled - the first 4 come out on Monday. I think he's actually enjoying the shock factor of telling all his friends - we'll see how he feels on Monday.

Seth has started basketball this month and seems to like it okay. He also had talent day at school where he got to share a talent (he told about building his Y pinewood derby car and showed it) and also got to invite a parent to share a talent with his class. He chose Bryce to talk about computers (as much as Bryce tried to convince him that I would be a better choice, Seth refused to change his mind) and Bryce was a huge hit showing the kids how to create a computer game - Seth said he was the best one yet!

Autumn did a report on reindeer for her kindergarten class (thanks for doing all the research, Grandma Ririe!!) and did a great job! She still loves dance class, and loves to sing - all the time. It's pretty fun to sit next to her at church and listen to her sing the hymns - she really belts them out!

The highlight of our month was having Grandma Ririe come stay for a week while Bryce and I took a trip with my sister Kim and her husband to Ft. Myers, Florida. We had a great time exploring the area, enjoying the gorgeous beaches(Bryce and Tim are master sandcastle builders), boating through the Everglades (where we saw bottlenose dolphins, alligators and tons of beautiful birds), and even took two days and drove to Orlando and had fun at all the Disneyworld parks (much to our children's dismay). It was the perfect blend of crazy fun and relaxation and so nice to get away from the cold weather for a few days (although it was pretty dang cold in Orlando - in the 30's and 40's most of the time we were there). Thanks for coming and taking such great care of our kids, Grandma - you are the greatest!

December

December was jam packed full of fun and festivities, school programs, dance recitals, and tons and tons of snow!

Bryce and I started out the month volunteering at the festival of trees and then spent the first weekend in December in Midway, only to come home and discover it had "snowed" in our kitchen! The kids had a great time with their cousin Kaite while we were gone and the snowflakes have stayed through the holidays - I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get them down without a major protest!

Autumn had her Christmas dance recital where she got to visit Santa Claus, and performed in her Kindergarten christmas program for her 6th grade buddies - she was singing "Twas the night before Christmas" the entire month!

We hadn't had much snow by the middle of December, but the last two weeks more than made up for it! We had a great time playing, building snowmen, sledding and shoveling (okay not so much the shoveling) in the 18 inches or so that fell in the week before Christmas. Sasha especially loves the snow and bounds through it like a black jackrabbit - happy as can be!

My mom and Bernie were supposed to be here for Christmas, but thanks to all the snow there and the storms here, they weren't able to fly out of Portland for 4 days after they were supposed to. We still got to spend some time with them before they left for California and their 2 week cruise through the Panama Canal - hope they are enjoying all the warm weather!

We had Christmas Eve celebrations here with my side of the family - complete with a great meal, fun games and stories, acting out the nativity with the cousins, opening pixie presents and fun times for all.

Christmas day was even more fun with the kids all getting their Christmas wishes - a doll house for Autumn, a Nintendo DS for Seth, a guitar for Devin (he'll be starting lessons in January - can't wait for those sing-a-longs around the campfire!), and what Megan is calling her Christmas miracle - her own cell phone! We had the worst storm of the year so far that day and ended up snowed in and had a great, relaxing day with just us - it was very fun!
We went tubing at Soldier Hollow over Christmas break and had a great time being towed up the mountain in our tubes and then sliding back down - the best way to go tubing, if you ask any of us!

We celebrated the New Year with lots of confetti and loud fireworks and a sad little dog cowering in Megan's room (she hates those fireworks!) Happy 2009 everyone!

November

November started with YW in Excellence for Megan and me - it was lots of fun! We did an Olympics theme and all the girls got to compete in an event that represented the value they had chosen. Megan chose to highlight her Knowledge value project which is why she is dressed all in green.

Megan has been having a great time in her sewing class this semester. Here she is modeling the sweatshirt she made and showing off her quilt. I love that she loves sewing since she helped me sew a bunch of pillows for Christmas this year!

Devin was busy with scouts and karate, where he tested for and earned his Han Ban Bu belt - his next test will be for his black belt!

Seth did swimming lessons and cub scouts, which he absolutely loves. He earned his wolf badge in October, but because the cubmaster forgot in Nov and they didn't have a December pack meeting, he will get his badge in January. He doesn't really care, he just loves going to den meeting each week!

Autumn has kept us all smiling with her non-stop singing - during November she was singing all the songs she and her kindergarten class performed for their Thanksgiving program, which was a play where they reinacted the Mayflower voyage (even praying on the "ship" - you have to love living in Utah sometimes!) and then told about what happened with the Indians once they got to America. Autumn was a little songbird during the play - she definitely loves being on stage and it's funny to watch!

We loved having Grandma and Grandpa Ririe and Grandpa Finch here for a while at the end of November!! The kids especially had fun making gingerbread houses with Grandma and having a huge Thanksgiving feast at Jeff's house - yummy! It was fun to have guests in our new basement guest room - any of you are welcome to come try it out for yourselves!

We spent the rest of the month finishing little details in the basement and getting it furnished, although our furniture seems to have been cursed - our couch that was supposed to be here November 30 is only 2/3 here, the ottoman we ordered got lost in transit somewhere and still hasn't arrived, the screen we ordered for the projector arrived dented, so we had to send that back and are waiting for a replacement, and I managed to put a HUGE (25" X 15" according to Bryce, who is in the middle of repairing it) hole in the drywall at the bottom of the stairs with our new beanbag chair. I am sure it will all eventually get here - maybe in time to be considered a Christmas present!

October

October was beautiful around here - sunny and warm and we sure enjoyed it!

Autumn celebrated her 6th birthday by taking the family to "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" - very definitely very Autumn, but we all had fun. Here she is showing off the outfit grandma and grandpa Ririe sent for her birthday. She also enjoyed a couple of new barbies and the new barbie movie and enjoyed shopping with the money her Grandpa Finch and Grandma Jan sent. It was a fun day!

Devin had another karate tournament where his SWAT team again took 1st place against 10 other schools - it was pretty exciting and Devin is getting fast with his nunchucks!

Seth played a whole lot of flag football and had a fun time, most of the time playing as a running back (he's a quick little runner and good at finding holes) and playing some on defense as well. Bryce helped out as an assistant coach and as always, loved being involved!

We did the usual fall things like spending a day at Cornbelly's where Megan successfully navigated all of us through the corn maze, decorating pumpkins, driving through the canyon to see the gorgeous fall colors, and raking and jumping in the leaves - I'm not sure if we ever got them raked up or if they just eventually all blew into the neighbor's yard, but the kids had a great time anyway.

We had a great Halloween - the weather was so warm that the kids didn't even need long sleeves when they were out trick or treating and we enjoyed a fun neighborhood party that evening as well. Megan dressed as a BYU fan (probably since most of our month was spent watching BYU football anyway), Devin as a dragon trainer, Seth as a BYU football player, and Autumn as Tinkerbell. It was a fun night!

The big news for the month is that all of the major work is done on our basement and we got carpet installed just in time for Megan to host a Halloween party with a bunch of her friends. We still don't have furniture, although Bryce has his projector up and running and is still hoping the couch we ordered will be here for the BYU - Utah game (it's not looking good - for the couch being here, I mean.) We are also working on digging our way out of the storage room where we have been dumping everything during this project - that will be our next major project! Anyway, I haven't taken any pictures yet, so I guess you will just have to come out and see it for yourself - Bryce is quite the builder -who knew?!

September 2008

Is it really October already? September went by in a whirlwind - we were so busy, I couldn't even stop to take pictures, so I don't really have any this month. We have been enjoying gorgeous fall weather and it still feels like summer here, but I'm sure the snow will come all too quickly!!

The kids are all doing well in school and we have settled back into that routine. Devin, Seth and Autumn all participated in their school's "Hawk Walk" to raise money for the school while getting a little exercise in the process - they all did great!

Megan is loving 9th grade, especially seminary, honors English (never thought I'd say that - Megan has always preferred math to english), and Spanish. She still likes math (she's in Algebra II this year), but she misses her amazing teacher from the past 2 years. She is also keeping busy with young women's, piano lessons and helping out a ton at home - don't know what I'd do without her!

Devin is still busy in karate and this month tried out for and made his school's SWAT team for another year, which he is excited about. He is also really enjoying 11 year old scouts and got to go on his first campout with Bryce early in the month - they had a great time and Devin came home with some fun experiences and great songs to share with the rest of us! Devin also went on an overnight fieldtrip to Clear Creek and had a lot of fun doing science experiments, learning more about the outdoors and staying overnight in a cabin full of 6th grade boys!

Seth has been working hard in the third grade and doing great! He started swimming lessons this month with Autumn and they both like that. He also started flag football in the middle of the month and has been doing great! His coach is awesome and very disciplined and Seth is learning a ton. He is a great little running back - very quick on his feet and has already scored 2 touchdowns, and we've only had 2 games. He has been lots of fun to watch!

Autumn has struggled a little adjusting to kindergarten, much to my surprise! I'm actually a little flattered that she misses being at home with me, but she is definitely doing better. She loves school and has lots of friends already. She is still loving dance and loves, loves to play with her friends. There are 2 girls that are daughters of the ladies in the YW presidency with me that are a year younger than her, and Autumn loves to "play" with them during presidency meeting(mostly tell them what to do and have them hang on her every word) - it's pretty funny. She also continues to play soccer, though she's not loving it as much this year as she did last year. She's still a great little cheerleader for the team, though.

Bryce celebrated his birthday this month, and he and I took an overnight trip to Midway and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors in the mountains - it was great! We have also enjoyed a whole lot of really great BYU football so far this season - it's our favorite time of year! Bryce also took two days and went to Zion's with a group of friends to hike The Subway - a grueling 14 mile hike through some gorgeous scenery. Bryce can brag that he was the only guy not sore on Sunday that week - what a stud!

I have been busy trying to get my feet under me in young women's -it's a lot of fun! I also got to participate in the RS General Broadcast choir which was such a life -changing experience, really. It was time consuming with 3 hour practices every Sunday and 2 rehearsals at the conference center on Saturdays, but so worth it. I actually missed going to rehearsal last Sunday and seeing all my choir friends - a little withdrawl, I guess!

I forgot to post it on our last month's blog, but there is a website where you can watch the project Devin's class did last year that included our family if you want. There are 3 different versions you can watch - one is just a brief overview, one is medium length (about 25 minutes, I think) and then the last one is the full length version, which is about 45 minutes. Just thought I'd let you know. Here's the website - http://amenat.com/clients/legacyfoundation/

July and August

I am just going to give up on doing a separate blog for July and just cram the rest of our summer together.

July was crazy fun around here! Devin went to Sparring camp at his karate school and learned all kinds of new skills - his favorite is the volcano kick, which he is still working on perfecting. He also went to Space Camp with his cousin Trevor, a three day overnight camp with all sorts of space missions in simulators and fun activities. He had a great time!

Megan went to her first EFY with her cousin, Bethani, down at BYU and had an amazing time! She already can't wait for EFY next year. I don't think she got much sleep, but she had a great time making new friends and going to all sorts of classes and activities. We missed her, but I don't think she missed us much - too busy and too much fun!

We also did our annual hike through Timp Caves and had a great time, as always. The kids all love this annual tradition and all have their favorite parts of the cave - it's fun to go each year.

Of course, by far the highlight of the month (and August, too) was our Ririe family cruise to Alaska - it was amazing! The kids all had a great time on the ship with plenty of food and ice cream and hanging out with cousins or playing at Club HAL, and our time spent in Alaska was so much fun! Some of our highlights are:

• Visiting the sled dog training camp in Juneau (on Devin's 11th birthday - Happy Birthday, Devin!), getting pulled by sled dogs, learning about the Ididerod, and playing with the husky puppies (Seth said that if he could rank the days of his life, this would be #1!)

• Going to the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan - Autumn loved being part of the show!


• All the totem poles in Sitka - I think we have a picture of every single one


• Cruising through Glacier Bay - too amazing and beautiful for words


• Of course, spending time with family - it made the trip so much more fun to be together!

We will never forget our fun, fun time in Alaska - thanks again Grandma and Grandpa Ririe!

After our cruise, we spent a few days in Seattle with Michelle's dad and had a great time at the air and space museum. Seth and Devin especially loved the flight simulator, especially going upside down, Megan wasn't so sure, and Autumn was absolutely positive she never wanted to do it again!

For the rest of August, Megan went to Girls Camp and had an amazing time, Michelle did her second (and final) pack meeting as Cubmaster and then found out 4 days later that she is the new YW president in the ward, much to her absolute shock and Megan's absolute delight. It will be a fun adventure, I am sure - the 42 young women in our ward are sure to keep our whole family busy for the next few years!

The kids all started back to school on August 18 and we have settled back into a school schedule much sooner than we wanted to. Megan is loving 9th grade, Devin loves his 6th grade teacher and being big man on campus, Seth is tolerating being back in school and is enjoying 3rd grade and Autumn says that being in kindergarten is the "most fun ever!" Hard to believe that another school year has started already - where does the time go?

Summer Fun in June

June was a wild ride at our house, but we've been having a great time! Devin has been busy with swim team and having a great time - his freestyle has improved tons since last summer. He loves going to the pool every day and it's a great way to keep him busy.

Seth and Devin also took a Fishing class through the AF recreation department and had a great time with that, too. Seth caught a rainbow trout at the first class, came home and insisted that we cook it right then and then ate the entire thing almost completely on his own! He also caught a catfish, which he also loved. Devin wasn't as lucky, but did catch a small fish on the last class day, and then had to throw it back. As you can tell from the picture, Devin doesn't like fish much anyway, so wasn't too disappointed when he didn't catch some.

We took a fun camping trip to Bryce Canyon with Grandma and Grandpa joining us for the last couple of days. It was beautiful scenery and we ate lots of good food and had a good time hiking, too. Bryce was just happy to have the kids finally see his namesake up close!

Michelle and the boys kept busy with Cub scouts - Michelle pulled off her first pack meeting and then the three of them all went to Day camp together, which was fun. This is Devin's last year of day camp as he is about to graduate to 11 year old scouts at the end of July.

Megan and Seth both took a week long tennis camp and both loved it - they want to take tennis lessons now and we are having a hard time finding lessons that don't require taking out a mortgage to join a tennis club. We'll see what we come up with.

Autumn shined on stage at her dance recital! She performed in two dances - "Surfin' USA" and "Rainbow Connection". Autumn loved being on the stage with all the lights and especially loved the make-up she got to wear for the performance. She now thinks she needs to wear it every day, but she'll have to make do with chapstick for the next few years - I swear that child was born a teenager!

We flew out of Salt Lake on Megan's 14th birthday for a 10 day trip to Chicago to visit Michelle's sister and family. Megan was so excited to fly on her birthday, and Michelle made sure to have the entire plane sing "Happy Birthday" to her, with Megan grinning the entire time. Our trip was awesome and over way too quick - some of our favorite things we did are going to a Cubs game (would have been way more fun if the Cubs hadn't lost 11-2), going on a nighttime fireworks speedboat cruise on Lake Michigan (sooooo fun!), going to Six Flags (Bryce and Michelle only lasted through 2 roller coasters before joining Seth and Autumn on the more mild rides), going to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, going to the Jelly Belly warehouse in Wisconsin (Megan then ate an entire 2 pound bag of Belly Flops by herself before we came home), going to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Taste of Chicago without the kids, eating Chicago style stuffed pizza, and seeing fireflies.

We have also been busy in the basement in our spare time. The drywall and mudding and taping got done (and we are still covered in a thin layer of dust), and we have finished painting (after doing 5 coats of paint in the huge main room - just a testament to how much Bryce loves his wife!) We are now busy installing doors, cabinets, shelves and trim, and can't wait for this project to be done!!!