2 weeks in TX

While Cole partied in China, the rest of us partied in TX. It was soooo nice to be home and distracted from the fact that Cole was half way across the world and in a country! Here are tid bits of what we did.
Dad and Cade went to a Rangers game. He came home with a shirt, and a baseball and bat. Almost everyday he wanted to wear his Rangers shirt and play baseball.

Lots of playing outside. It was so nice to have a backyard for the kids to play in.  Almost every morning we were playing on the trampoline, exploring, playing baseball, swinging, or getting wagon rides.

 

 He is serious about his baseball :) This is his stance.

 Dad was finally able to take his first "son" on a father and son's camp out! He took Cade camping which is the first time for Cade to actually sleep over, in a tent, and pee in the grass! Needless to say they both had a blast!

While the boys were camping we had a girls night!! I guess it is always a girls night if my dad is not around but this night it was official! We had dinner, got our toes done and the got Jamba Juice. It was really fun. Since Rylee was with us she got to have her first pedicure! She sat on my lap and my moms lap and watched. She then started pointing to her toes.  She didn't even mind that a guy was doing them. Normally she would have shied away. She was so proud of her pink toes when she was done.

 Cade and Rylee would run away from me sometimes and then I would find them together on this chair "hiding" together.

 We celebrated Rylee's 2nd birthday and made duck cupcakes! She never actually got one. They were just took cute to eat. And such a pain to make we hated to see them destroyed!

 Upstairs in my parents house my mom has kept the playroom intact as a play room. Years of girl toys have accumulated and been kept. There are thinks in there that I remember loving to play with.  It is essentially a little girls dream room. Cade has always had fun in there but it was really fun to watch Rylee be old enough to thoroughly appreciate it as any girly girl would.

We were there over Memorial Day. My family has the best memorial tradition! They started it after I left so I have never gotten to do it. Mom and Dad write out a handful of random things. Then we draw one out, read it, go do it, and get a picture of it. Then from there you pick another one and do it until they are gone or everyone is exhaused! Some things included in ours this year were: take a picture with something yellow, kiss someone, buy something the color of your shirt, fly a kite, throw a rock in a lake, buy an Asian treat and in honor of Cole, and sandals for everyone!

A very wonderful trip! Thanks to mom and dad for taking care of us while Cole was gone!

Rylee turns 2!

We celebrated both Rylee and Cole's birthdays while he was in China. It was nice to be able to be around family for her birthday (we were in TX). We had our traditional pancake breakfast with pancakes shaped in the letter of your first name with a candle in it.

Rylee loves animals so I knew we wanted to do something with animals. We found a small animal park that we went too. (so small in fact that the GPS had a hard time finding it!) But it was perfect for Rylee. Here she is all already to go.

The zorse. They also had a zonkey

We got our picture taken with a baby kangaroo. (Everybody's got a baby kangaroo.....Name that movie!!) It had a Binky and everything. Rylee loved it.

We came home and had cake.

 

Here are a few things about Rylee right now:

-She is learning tons! She is always surprising us at new things she can understand, say, or do.

-Favorite colors are orange and purple.

-She is ALL GIRL. Loves babies, wearing jewelery, and carrying purses.

-She loves books. Looking at them herself or being read too.

-Continues to love Cade and want to copy everything he does.

-Has finally come to like nursery. No more tears!

-She is a really good eater. Loves to dip everything in ketchup and sour cream. 

-Takes 1 nap in the afternoon and sleeps very well through the night. Still needs her little blue blanket and a baby to sleep with.

-She is starting to sing to herself and we love it! She generally likes songs too.

-Is very tolerant of letting me do her hair. Just simple ponytails and pigtails right now.  

-Very stubborn and has a mind of her own. But we still love her tons!

Garden Update

Just thought I would give a little update on our garden. Randomly enough I have loved gardening! Who would of thought? But I really have enjoyed it. We have no idea what we are doing and the learning curve has been large but we are learning.  It has been fun to make it a family effort. Cade can now recognize what growing onions, lettuce, and cilantro looks like, how to use a hoe, importance of watering, and that you can't walk on the growing plants. Usually it is the kids and I that go during the week to weed and water. So that means the kids play in the dirt while I work. They love the dirt. It has taken lots of self control to just let go and let them get filthy.

 

 Her shorts were originally white. I know. Bad choice of shorts. But it was the end of the day and I didn't think we would be there that long. And in case you noticed Cade did get a haircut very similar to his dad's. :)

 It is kind of a pain to have to drive most days out to the garden. But worth it to have the experience and all the supplies available. It will be so nice someday when we can have a garden right outside our door. But at least when we do we will have a little experience to go off of.

For now...

The blogs on China are coming! But just to hold you over, here are some signs Cole saw. Some are funny. Some are not. Some are just random. Enjoy.

Thanks Kayla!!

During the temple dedication weekend, plans were getting so crazy I finally called my mom and asked if Kayla could come up for the weekend to help. She is home from her first year at BYU and working for my dad so we figured she could get away for a bit. So this post is all the pictures from Kayla's camera and how she experienced the weekend.

Cole and the kids picking up Kayla. She loved how tiny our Manhattan airport is!

Waiting in line outside to be let into the building to watch the cultural celebration.

All the youth in place for the opening number and the place packed!

In the car after the show. She literally was squeezed in the back seat. (It was a rental. Ours was in the shop-that is a whole other story!)

At dinner after the show.  Not a great picture but the only one of all of us!

The next day while Cole and I were at the dedication, Kayla watched the kids in the hotel room. She needed to entertain them for like 4 hours. What do you do for 4 hours in a hotel room?!

 Those are french braids in Rylee's hair! I don't know how she got her to hold still that long!

Then after the  dedication we picked them up and headed home (about 2.5 hours). We dropped everyone off at home and then Cole and I headed to our stake center (about and 1.5 hours away) for something he needed to be at for his branch. So, again, Kayla spent quality time with the kids. Cade was pretty excited.

Then on Monday we finally had some relaxing time. We took Kayla to get a K-State shirt.

Kayla is pretty much known for her awesome cookies so we had to fit that in!

Tried to take a matchy picture but Cade snuck in. :)

Thanks again Kayla! It was a huge help and so much fun!