Rhino Ridin'

Andy and Tyson went with a group on Saturday to the Peria (spelling?) River for an all day ride.
This is a cave with a whole lot of bat poop underneath!
Tyson had to get out and explore at every stop.
Supposedly this is REALLY high and I would not be happy if I saw this in person. Mr. No-Fear was having fun though!

Cheese!

Grandma Lori was over visiting one night, so we snapped a cute picture of Shelby and Grandma. What cuties!!

Reading A Book Is Fun To Do

Tyson is doing so well in reading, but enjoys it some times more than others. One time he loves to read is to Ellie. I will ask him to read to Ellie and he runs right in for a stack of books. Ellie enjoys it too. She sits on his lap and looks at the pictures, lately she also tries to eat the books. Thank you Tyson for being such a good big brother! It is so nice to have "big" kids to help out with the baby.

New Highchair

Ellie wants to sit by us at dinnertime, she is mad if we put her in the swing in the living room and not right by us. So, we decided it was time for a high chair. After much research, we decided to get this "space saver" high chair. It has been really nice, because it already matches the table and we don't have to move one of the chairs to make room. Ellie loves to now sit with us at dinner and even sits and watches me make dinner. The only one not so happy about this new arrangement is Andy because we used the end chair that used to be his. Sorry daddy!

Now That's a Sandbox

Tyson went to Andy's work to dig in the dirt!
He is being "instructed" on how to move the bucket 101.
This is the smaller of the excavators that he was in.

He really wanted to pop a wheelie in this skid steer! (but he didn't) Thanks Daddy and Wheeler's for letting Tyson come and have some fun! Ellie and I had fun watching too.

Visitors

We are so glad that Aunt Lacy (not pictured) and Kortlen and Tristen came to visit for a few weeks. We always have fun hanging out and visiting. We miss you already and can't wait for your new addition!
We don't have a whole lot of "little kid" toys at our house anymore, so Shelby pulled out the Petshops to entertain the kids of all ages. They had fun with all of her animals, I think she has over 100 of these now....

Well, it has been a month since I have updated this blog and I am getting some "comments" that I need to update. So, while Ellie is sleeping I am updating instead of cleaning my house, exercising, working, doing homework, doing laundry.....you get the picture! Hopefully I can get caught up!

Yummy!

Ellie's first cereal! At first she did not like it, but it was really runny. We have thickened it up and purchased new bowls and spoons (which I think made the difference, HA HA) and now Ellie loves to eat her rice cereal. This picture was taken the day she was four months old. Wow! Time flies when you are having fun!

Tyson had stitches! He had a mole removed and had blue stitches for two weeks. This is a picture of the day they were taken out. Now he will have a "battle"scar. We will post another picture when it is healed...

Shelby at the park in Cedar City. I had to get out of the house, so on Labor Day we went for a drive. We ended up in Cedar and went to Sizzler for lunch and then drove to the park.
Tyson in action!!
I had to join in to see who could swing the highest. (It was a tie).We continued our drive up the canyon and stopped for a scenic view. Andy is taking all of the pictures and Ellie is asleep in the car.
We made a stop at the camping spot we went to last year with the Savage's and Brinkerhoff's. This is the tree where the kids made their "fort". We had a fun day and are ready to go camping again.

Shelby is taking piano lessons and learning very quickly. She has been playing on a keyboard, but we recently received Mom's old piano (thank you Aunt Kerri for letting us have it). She loves to play the real piano and use the pedal. Next time you are over, she will play for you!

(School had been in for six weeks...but,) this is the first day of school for Shelby at Fossil Ridge Intermediate School. She is getting too old!!! Sixth grade is no longer in elementary. Shelby has six classes this year. She is taking all of the usual (math, history, etc) and she also has art, which she really enjoys. She is enjoying school so far, and doing very well.
First day of third grade!! Tyson attends Riverside Elementary and has Mr. Warden for his teacher this year. His favorite subject is PE and recess (big surprise!). They have been doing alot of writing so far and will start to learn cursive soon. Tyson is doing very well in school and he is an awesome reader!

Big Girl

Our Big Girl! Ellie has a new pink Bumbo. She loves to sit up in it. She is already three months old and growing everyday. I don't know where the summer went...

24th of July

We went to G&G Short's for a barbeque. It was very HOT, so we took our slip 'n slide for the kids to play.
Aunt Lacy, Kortlen and Tristen came down for the weekend. They came to see Ellie! (and the rest of us)

Grandpa and Grandma VanOrden came for the fun. We always love when we get to visit with them!
Let's Eat!!

Jump 'n Jacks

We went to Jump 'n Jacks with Grandma and Grandpa and Bailey, Tayler, Madison and Leslie for Bailey's birthday party.
These are some "action" shots.
The kids enjoy playing here and it gets us out of the heat. We went a few times this summer.

I even went on a few of the slides! Woo hoo!!

It's Raining It's Pouring...

Wow! We do have different weather besides just HOT and dry here! It was pouring this night, so the kids went out to play in the rain. They had a lot of fun running around. Andy had them racing back and forth. They were soaked!!

Snow!

As I was looking through my pictures to update the blog, I ran across these. How often do we have snow in St George? This was late one night in February and there was actually snow on the ground!! The kids had a blast making a snowman and getting Andy with a snowball fight! The snow was gone by morning! (Notice Andy is playing in the snow in SHORTS!!)

Baby Blessing

Ellie's blessing dress...She was blessed by her Dad on Sunday, July 6, 2008.

Grandma and Grandpa McNeil and Aunt Korbie came from SLC.
Grandma and Grandpa Short were also there.
Great Grandma and Grandpa VanOrden.

Happy 4th!

Our family on the Fourth of July. We had a super yummy barbeque with some friends (thanks for cooking Misty) and tons of fireworks. It was a "blast"! Let's do it again.

Nap time

Ellie and Andy taking a nap...how cute!! Ellie loves to cuddle with Daddy.