First day of school August 2014

 Asher Nickolas age 9

 

 Matthew Ridge age 7

 

 Jaydan River age 11

 

 

 

 

Here's what the boys really thought of the cutesy signs I made them hold up!

 



First day of school August 2013

Ridge Quick Quote Jan. 29, 2015

After being given a ride home from basketball practice by a neighbor.

Mom: Did you tell them "Thanks for the ride" like we talked about?

Ridge: No, but I did say "Have a nice night!"

A few pictures from Halloween 2013

October is always a crazy busy but also fun month. So many birthdays and activities. There are actually better pictures from our real camera but using pics from my phone is quicker. 

Matt's parents Sam and Wendy came to visit and we had our traditional meal at Jack Stack BBQ followed by frozen custard for dessert. Asher and Ridge were pretending to be girls in this picture.  They said their names were Ashlita and Naddo.

  I won the "Golden Spoon" award for best chili at our yearly church trunk or treat. It's funny b/c I'm not even a chili maker, I just whipped something up real quick.  Also the young women were in charge of a Haunted Hallway for the kids. They worked really hard and did a good job. Sadly the fog machine used in the swamp portion set off the fire alarm and so the whole building had to be evacuated.  So that ended the Haunted Hallway. The fire department came and everything. So, now we know what not to do.

 Matt's birthday is on Halloween so I try to make him feel special that day in addition to all the other trick or treat festivities we have going on. This year his sweet mom Wendy was able to fly in to be with us on his actual birthday. (Sam flew in the next day). We ordered pizza and I made apple crisp, it was simple but yummy. He is 38 this year.  I was telling his mom that I think Matt gets more and more handsome the older he gets. Looking good lover, hubba hubba!

 Pumpkin carving. Slug pumpkin by Asher. Jay did a snail one and Ridge carved a face. Pictures of those are on our real camera.

THis is on the way to the school Trunk or Treat. The boys kept flip flopping what they wanted to be this year, so I never bought any costumes. We told them to go down to the dress up bin and pick something out and they all came upstairs deciding to be BYU athletes.  Good looking team right there.
Happy Halloween

Raking/Sweeping Leaves and a walking stick (the insect)

Lego Army

Matt is currently driving Jay and Asher up to Wisconsin to watch the BYU vs. UW football game. Ridge and I went downstairs to bring up a tub of Legos and I had to take some pictures of the battle scene that was all laid out. I don't know how to make the pictures bigger on this blog (I'm trying to do better about documenting our "good ol' days.") The details on these things made me chuckle but were also quite impressive.

 Every battle needs a pit of decapitated heads. Perhaps this was inspired by our recent Book of Mormon scripture study of Ammon cutting off the arms of those trying to scatter King Lamoni's sheep?

This is Jay's creation of a headless horseman.

Veteran's Day Pack Meeting

We had a neat experience last night. Jay and Asher attended their Cub Scout pack meeting for Veteran's Day.  They had local VFW's come and perform the flag ceremony and a ceremony for POW's and MIA's. It was very meaningful and a good experience.
 I called up my Grandma Nevada Hand to talk to her a bit about Grandpa Theodore William Hand Jr. and the boys put out some pictures and this little write up. It was special for me as a mother to pass some other stories on to my boys and we talked about how our ancestors are all part of our lives, meaning past and present, whether we get to meet them in this life or not families are important. We all have stories and will leave those to our progeny.
 The Spirit was strong as we visited  (in our car of all places) and I could feel the love of my ancestors as I was talking about them. The yearly theme worldwide for the youth this year is "Stand Ye in Holy Places, and be not moved..." I have learned that a Holy Place is anywhere you are that the Spirit can dwell. At this particular moment it was a 2006 Toyota Highlander. :)
 We have several family members who have served in the armed forces. I am thankful for all of them and for this wonderful country we get to live in.

My 5th Half Marathon

Oct. 19, 2013 was my 5th time running the Kansas City half marathon. I didn't train very well this year and had several issues with my feet and legs falling asleep on many runs--not fun as it feels like I am dragging cement blocks which sometimes leads to me rolling an ankle.
 Race day is always a bundle of nerves and adrenaline. My dear friend Carie Skinner (who is a much faster runner than I am) and I ended up finishing at 2 hours 15 minutes.  Last year I had a P.R. year of 2:14, so I was pretty happy with my time this year considering we both stopped and went to the bathroom during the race, so if you subtract that pit stop I might have actually had another Personal Record, but I'm not one to dwell on the "what ifs" for very long.  The course is always so beautiful and I find it satisfying to set a goal for myself every year. I am thankful for a healthy body that can do hard things.
*Pictures courtesy of Mark Skinner.  Matt was on kid duty. We had four soccer games and 1 flag football game that day as well.

Quick Quote- Por Favor

Matt's parents were just in town for a fun visit.  As we were leaving church I was climbing into the back seat of the car and asked Asher to "scoot over to the middle of the seat por favor." He complied, but frankly told me "my name is NOT por favor!"
*The above pictures are from a weekend canoe/fly fishing trip Matt took the older boys on to the Eleven Point River.

Brain Slime

8-10-13

Our entire family was in the Highlander driving home and Ridge had us all cracking up with this gem.
 "Hey guys, my ear is sweating! (pause) Oh never mind it's just slime from my brain."
A certain 6 year old needs a bath and perhaps a q-tip! 

Asher quick quotes

7-30-12
Asher just waking up, coughing: Mom, my coughs smell like snakes!

While watching me bake zucchini bread: Does this mean we get to have BIKINI bread?

While avidly watching the summer Olympics as a family Matt frequently commented that he wanted the U.S. to beat China in the medal counts.
One night we ordered Chinese food and Asher would not partake, after much coaxing he replied, "I'm not going to eat ANY thing Chinese, they are the enemy!"

Easter basket Saturday!

Grandma Muffin comes for a quick visit

Grandparents day is a BIG deal at our elementary school. I had no idea how big until the first year of kindergarten, I sent Jay off to school on the bus. Parents are asked to not bring younger siblings to the school for things like that, so knowing it was only for 2 hours of the day I didn't think anything of it.

Jay came home and innocently and without malice told me that he was the only kid on the bus that morning and the only one in class that did not have a grandparent or special friend at the school with him. When I had driven by that morning I had noticed that there were crazy amounts of cars and streams of people walking into the school to attend a special breakfast with their grand kids.
Okay lesson learned. So for the past few years, on grandparents day I have been keeping the boys home and just letting them go late after the festivities were over.

 LONG way to say that this year we were so excited to have Grandma Muffin (Jo Raye) fly in for the festivities, which also included Jay's 9th birthday!

 Walking into the school for "breakfast". Turns out it wasn't that great of a meal. Next time we know to skip the breakfast.  The boys gave presentations, played games and read books with their Grandma. They loved it!

Last night here, the boys climbed into bed to snuggle with Muffin for a story. We are so glad she could come!



Kansas City Temple open house! Hooray!

Ramblings: A little of what we've been up to.
A new LDS temple in Kansas City has provided us many unique opportunities lately. I am currently serving as our ward's YW President. The Youth in the temple district have been practicing to put on a Cultural Celebration for our Prophet President Monson, on May 5th. There will be dancing, singing, acting, orchestras, choirs, dramatic readings, soloists, sign language and more! 12 stakes are involved and over 3,000 youth have signed up to participate. It is quite the undertaking and wonderful opportunity. Our Young Women and Young Men have been practicing for months Ie: hours and hours, with more to come, but oh what a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am thankful to be a part of it.

Last week marked the official opening of the tours or Open House starting with V.I.P. tours and Press tours. I was able to serve dinner to a group of people for the V.I.P. tour. The governors of Missouri, and Kansas were in attendance, Congressmen, Judges, Members of the Quorum of the 70, and Local LDS area authorities were also there. It was truly an honor to be able to participate in that capacity. I love the temple!

 Today was a very special day. We were able to take our sons and some friends through the new K.C. LDS temple. What a wonderful experience.  The workmanship, and decor are a beautiful sight to behold. Our boys loved it and we think our friends did too.  Next week Matt & I will serve as tour hosts, leading tours through the temple. The open house was extended an extra week b/c of so many requests for tickets, so we get the opportunity to do this several times.  I'm a little nervous!

Here is our little family sealed for time and all eternity. I love these boys so much and am thankful we get to be together forever! (It was also super windy!)

 Asher, Jamey and Lisa Bower. (My brother in law Brent's mom.) We love her! *Asher had just caught a moth and is holding it in his little hands.

"Holiness to the Lord. 

The House of the Lord."

More October!



28 inch brown trout caught in S. Platte River Colorado



22 inch large mouth bass caught in Missouri



Ridge the fireman at our church/ward Trunk or Treat



Asher the ninja, so happy to be in the parade!



BYU Football player



Our family after the Trunk or Treat.  Matt is testing out his new remote for the camera

Matt's 36th birthday, James Bond dvd

Matt and I went out to dinner for his birthday, then came home for presents and apple crisp & Trick or Treating with the boys.Happy Birthday lover!



Does this face look excited?  We have a fun trip coming up next summer and Matt wants to be prepared with some "light reading."  That thing is HUGE!



Can we go yet? They were chomping at the bit to start Trick or Treating.



Jay, Cole W. and Ridge going through their haul after trick or treating.



This picture cracks me up.  So much candy!



I had a meeting on Sunday so Matt had the boys peel potatoes to help with dinner.



Silly faces with the 3-D glasses on.



Donuts with Dad Day at Ridge's Pre-K.  He was so excited to have his dad there at his school.  Matt forgot the camera so ran out to the car to get it and when he came back, Ridge was sitting there with his arms folded in his lap.  Matt asked why he wasn't eating his donut and Ridge explained, "I was waiting for you daddy."  Aw, melted Matt's heart- mine too!



Presenting the penholder he made for Matt.

Date night: Carving pumpkins at Ryan & Kali Ponder's house. Matt did all the work, I was moral support.