September 2009

Well, we have finally settled in to school and are enjoying fall in Utah. In September, the kids kept busy mostly with school, homework, piano lessons, guitar lessons, karate, and dance - same old stuff - but we did do a few new things:

On Labor Day, we took a long and steep hike up Alpine Canyon to this waterfall - we're still not quite sure where we ended up and were only able to get to the waterfall after Bryce led us trecking through some pretty rough (and even steeper) terrain - we never did find the actual trail, if there is one. The kids all had a fun time playing in the waterfall and on the very slippery rocks before we trecked our way back home - it was quite the adventure!

My dad came out from Seattle for a few days to watch the kids while Bryce and I took a trip to San Francisco, which was very fun! We did a lot of sightseeing, walking, trolley riding, eating, running, biking, eating delicious food, and even took in "Wicked" again, which was great as always. Bryce had to work 2 of the days, but I had fun sightseeing on my own, so it was a great little trip. Of course we forgot to take the camera, so you'll just have to trust us! Thanks, Dad, for taking such great care of the kids!!

On the 19th of September, Bryce and I ran the Top of Utah Marathon in Logan and have decided we never have to do that again. It was pretty grueling, but we stayed together the entire run and crossed the finish line together with Megan, who had traveled up with us, cheering wildly from the sidelines. We both have new respect for the distance 26.2 miles- and are happy to have crossed that one off of our life lists and to be done with training!!

Devin did another scout campout and another 15+ mile hike up the mountains around here. He came home exhausted and will be glad when the scouts have finished their hiking merit badge so they can go camping without so much work involved!

The entire family walked in the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk for a Cure 5K, including the dog. We had a great time and the kids all loved all the donated free food they got to eat and the games they got to play after we finished the walk. It was a really fun thing to do together - I think we'll do it again next year!

Seth started flag football and is loving it again this year. He is fast on his feet and loves to catch and run the ball and is learning to endure defense - not his favorite. He had his first game on September 30 and it was actually snowing at the start (it was 90 degrees the day before). We are looking forward to lots of games in October, hopefully with warmer weather!!

See you all next month!

August Report

Here's what we did in August:

Devin, Seth and Autumn finished up the summer swim team season. They all did great and improved quite a lot, and we had fun cheering them on at the meets.

Megan went to EFY with her cousin at BYU and had a great time again this year. She is already saving to go to EFY in Nauvoo next summer.

Devin hiked to the top of Mt. Timpanogos with his scout troup and Bryce went along because he has always wanted to do that. They were both pretty exhausted when they got home, but enjoyed an awesome view from the summit!

Autumn started back to dance, and has decided to join her school's company team which means she has 4 hours of practice a week (which she loves, except for her one hour technique class which she thinks is too boring), plus she gets to do extra performances and spring competitions. She loves to dance and is having lots of fun so far - hopefully her enthusiasm will last.

All of the kids started back to school. Megan loves High school and despite all the extra homework, is really enjoying all her honors classes. She is even really enjoying early morning seminary, but has started going to bed earlier to compensate for the getting up early part.

Devin is enjoying Jr. High so far. He likes having lots of different teachers and the added freedoms you get in Jr. High and is making new friends all the time, so that is good, too, since all of his good friends around here are a year behind him in school.

Seth loves his fourth grade teacher, but still wishes we were back in summer. He says the only parts of school that are any fun are recess, PE, and coming home. He is a good student, though, so it can't be all bad.

Autumn has settled into being gone all day in 1st grade, though she still wants to only have to do half day because school is "so boring". She loves the social aspect of it at least.

That's it for August!! Blog you later!

July 2009

What a fun month!! We started July with our long-awaited 2 week road trip that took us through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illiois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and back home to Utah. It was even more fun than we thought it would be, and we saw some really fun things along the way, including 2 presidential libraries (or the outside of them anyway). Here are some of the highlights:

LIBERTY JAIL - we also stopped at Independence and Far West in Western Missouri. Very interesting and spiritually uplifting.

HANNIBAL, MO - we took a boat ride down the Mississippi River and hiked through some caves. We also hiked to a lighthouse and toured Mark Twain's childhood home.


NAUVOO, IL - We had a Finch family reunion and had a great 3 days touring around Nauvoo, going to the Nauvoo pageant and other shows, going to the temple for Alex's endowment before he heads off to Brazil for his mission and also doing baptisms and sealings for some of our ancestors there, and doing a 3 mile handcart trek in the rain - quite an adventure! Most of all, we had a great time being together with family.

WINTER QUARTERS, NEBRASKA - We all learned a lot at the Visitors Center and Pioneer Cemetary here and were very touched and humbled by what we learned. We have it so good. We also got to see the Winters Quarters temple, which was beautiful.RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA - We spent 2 full days here and loved all the fun things we got to do, like Alpine sliding, horseback riding, a cowboy show and driving through Bear Country. The highlight was visiting Mt. Rushmore - it is amazing! - and attending the patriotic lighting ceremony at night.We also stopped at Martin's Cove and saw Independence Rock and Devil's Gate on the way home through Wyoming. Pretty inspiring!!

The other highlight of the month was Devin turning 12 and being ordained to the Aaronic priesthood. He is excited to be a Deacon!

At the end of the month, Seth had a great time building his raingutter regatta boat with Bryce and blowing his way to a 4th place finish - Way to go!!

Ririe Roses in June

I know it's already halfway through July, but I thought I'd finally get to what we did in June. We took a camping trip at the beginning of the month with our friends the Gardiners and had an awesome time hiking, biking, and enjoying the great and beautiful outdoors around Heber. We even got to see what a hail storm sounds like inside a trailer - it's pretty loud and had Sasha cowering in a corner shaking until it was over. It started raining on the last day of our camping trip and pretty much didn't stop until the end of June - it was crazy wet here!

The second weekend in June we drove to Boise, Idaho for my niece Amanda's wedding. It was a great weekend as everyone from my family was able to be there except for Kim's husband and her 3 sons - it was like a short family reunion. It was great to all be in the temple together, too. The kids would definitely say that the most fun was dancing at Amanda's reception - we sure know how to have a crazy fun time together.

Autumn, Seth and Devin have all been going strong with swim team this summer. They have already completed their first 2 swim meets and Autumn is proving to be a strong free style swimmer while Seth and Devin both prefer the breaststroke. They are all getting good exercise with daily workouts and are becoming stronger swimmers all the time. The swim meets are a lot more fun now that we have 3 swimmers to cheer on at the meets!

Megan has picked up 2 more piano students this summer and will add 2 more in the fall. She loves teaching and the fact that she can earn some money doing it - all those lessons are finally starting to pay off for her. She also celebrated her 15th birthday at the end of June with a late night movie party here in the basement with all her girl friends. They had a great time and Megan has grown another year older.

Autumn had her dance recital this month and did a great job dancing to "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend". The dance had tons of attitude, so it was perfect for Autumn - she definitely shines on stage. The dance school director came up to us after the recital and said that she wants Autumn to join the company dancers team, but we're not ready for all the added time commitments, plus Autumn wants to try a different school that combines singing and dancing for a year along with her regular dance class to see which one she likes better. Autumn also started piano lessons this month and loves practicing the piano!

We ended the month with Megan and I going to Girls Camp for 4 days, which was a blast! We both had a great time and Megan learned pretty quickly that if she wanted to get my attention, she had to call me "Sis. Ririe" instead of "mom" - I was definitely out of mom mode!

Well, you will have to tune in next month to hear all about our amazing 2 week and 9 state road trip. Blog you then.

May 2009

We started May with Seth's 9th birthday! He invited some friends to go to Jump on It! (basically a huge warehouse full of trampolines) for his celebration. Everyone had a great time and we only had one injury - Megan sprained her foot where her big toe comes into the foot and it's having a hard time healing - still bruised and painful, but she's getting around okay. Seth's birthday was lots of fun and he is now excited to be a Bear scout in cubs.

Autumn finished the spring season of soccer and had a lot of fun with her team. Megan played on a city rec softball team with a bunch of girls from our ward and they have been having so much fun, even though they haven't won many games. Megan has learned a lot and it's fun to know the entire team so we can cheer them all on at games.

Seth and Devin both tried out for the summer swim team and when Autumn went to try-outs with me, she announced that she wanted to try out, too. I told her she wasn't quite ready, but she insisted, so I let her try out and all three of them made the team! They are now enjoying daily swimming workouts and looking forward to the swim meets throughout the summer. It will be more fun now that three of the kids will be involved!

The rest of the month was filled with plays, graduations and awards ceremonies to celebrate the end of another school year. First of all, Autumn came home thrilled one day early in May and announced that she had, indeed, been chosen to play the Little Red Hen in the kindergarten graduation play. She dreamed of her big moment on stage for the rest of the month, practicing all her solos, speaking parts and talking of little else. The big day finally arrived and she did a great job - she was beaming through the whole thing and was not shy about singing by herself into the microphone. When it was over, I asked her how she was feeling and she sighed and said, "I'm just a little sad that it's all over." Me, too! Her play was followed by a little graduation ceremony and I have to say that I was proud of myself for not crying. Of course, later in the week when I dropped her off for her last day of kindergarten and she jumped out of the car and turned and blew me a kiss before running off to class, I thought of Megan and how it seems like 5 minutes ago that she was in kindergarten, and I completely lost it. Time is going to fast!!

The day after Autumn's graduation, Devin had a "moving on" ceremony with the rest of the 6th graders and he is now officially done with elementary school. He is excited/nervous to start junior high, and I'm sure he'll do a great job!

Megan finished junior high and had a two day party with her best friends - one day playing and then having a sleepover at her friend Alexa's house followed by all day at Lagoon. They had a great time and she is so excited to be done with junior high and moving on to high school. She will be getting her driving permit later this month - scary!

We all celebrated the last day of school in our traditional neighborhood way - silly stringing the kids as they got off the bus and then spending the rest of the day playing water games throughout the neighborhood. Hooray for the end of another school year - we are all so excited for summer!!

April 2009

What a crazy fun month!! Where to start? We had a great visit to Oregon for Spring Break! We had fun helping Grandpa fix his computer problems, and loved going to the beach house, celebrating Easter with the Bakes and Grandma and Grandpa Ririe, going on a couple of hikes, playing lots of games, and relaxing and playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house - it was a great vacation and nice to take a break from the chaos of school and life!

After 3 months of practices, Megan performed all last week in her school's musical "Guys and Dolls" and even though she complained a lot that the production wasn't nearly as much fun as last years's "Seussical", the play was very well done and she ended up having a really fun time performing. It will be nice to have her around a little more often now that rehearsals are over. She also pulled off a really tough arrangement of "Cannon in D" for her piano recital - it was impressive!

Seth spent pretty much the entire month counting down to his 9th birthday, which we will be celebrating tomorrow. He is excited to move on to Bear scouts - he is so into cub scouting!! He has also recently fell in love with science and doing science experiments and asks me nearly every day if he can build a volcano and then watch it erupt.

Autumn stayed busy with school, friends, dance and all the usual things Autumn does. She is my little shadow and helper and my heart breaks at the thought of her being gone all day next year (never thought I'd feel that way!) Her kindergarten class is performing "The Little Red Hen" for their kindergarten graduation and Autumn totally has her heart set on playing the little red hen or one of the chicks, but she's still waiting to see what part she will get. She really doesn't want to be a narrator because "they don't get to be on stage and don't get a costume" - we shall see.

Devin had the most exciting month of any of us! On top of his piano recital (did a great job), he performed as "Drake" in our city's children's theater production of "Annie" and did a great job and had fun performing on stage.

The same week of the play, he started the two week testing process for his black belt in karate, so needless to say, he was pretty busy and stressed out. He had to pass his karate school test, a regional test, and then the all-schools test last weekend in conjunction with his karate tournament. Plus he had to write a 10 page thesis about karate and pass a physical fitness test that I'm pretty sure I couldn't pass. Anyway, the great news is he passed all of his tests and is now officially a black belt in karate - WOW!! It was pretty exciting at the all-schools test to watch a gym full of black belt candidates do kicks, punches, self-defense and forms all in unison - pretty cool. His SWAT team also took first place in the team demo division, and Devin won 2 personal silver medals - one in weapons for his nunchucks form and one in self-defense techniques. Way to go Devin!!

March in Utah

So much for in like a lion and out like a lamb - we did have one gorgeous week in March where we got to break out the short sleeves, but it has snowed every other day for the last two weeks - thankfully it keeps melting in between, but we are all sick of the cold and snow and ready for spring to come and stay!

March was full of fun activities. We took the kids to a BYU basketball game and had a great time cheering on the Cougars as they narrowly beat Air Force to take a part in the MWC title, and then sadly watched them blow it in the tournament, but the game was fun anyway - we love the Cougs! (Especially Seth - he refuses to wear red and even says it is a "bad" color - Bryce's propaganda has sunk in a little too well with him).

Megan kept busy with school projects, playing the piano, babysitting, YW activities, and hanging out with her friends. For one of her English projects this month, she had to make us a three course meal with authentic Greek food. It was all delicious and she only set off the fire alarm once getting it all ready (frying potato balls in oil). I say keep the cooking projects coming!

Devin got the last of his 8 teeth pulled and now has a very gap-toothed smile, but he's still able to eat with all the gaps in his mouth - nothing can stop Devin when it comes to food! He is still busy with karate practices and Annie rehearsals on top of guitar and piano practices - he doesn't have much free time these days. He should test for his black belt at the end of this month if all goes well - we'll keep you posted. He also went on a scout campout with his troop where they got to snowshoe in to their scout leader's cabin and he had a great time!

Seth finished his season of basketball and is now keeping busy with piano practices (Megan is still his teacher and is so patient with him), cub scouts (he earned his religious square knot this month), and swim team practices. He has also become addicted to Calvin and Hobbes and quotes Calvin all the time. Maybe in conjunction with his love for Calvin, Seth carved his name into our piano this month, which ended up being a great lesson in repentance and forgiveness for both of us. I think I'll treasure that carved name forever (I'm not sure Bryce would agree - yet.)

Autumn had a weird little growth under her skin right on her eyebrow that had to be cut out and then stitched back up. She was one brave little cookie and didn't cry or even flinch during the entire procedure and then proudly showed her stitches to anyone who would listen. She also loved telling everyone that mom had to lay down on the floor because "she almost passed out" while Autumn was being so brave. (It's a really embarrasing story!) The funniest part was that the doctor put a hot wheels band-aid on her stitches and she refused to let me take her to school until we had gone home and changed to a pink band-aid. Too funny. She is still keeping busy with school, friends, swim and dance practices.

The kids all had fun trying to catch Lucky the leprechaun again this year! Even with 4 traps, Lucky got away again, but left the kids a mess to clean up and some fun treats and treasures! Happy Spring!! Hope it's warmer where you are!