April 2012

April was a busy month. The first weekend was Easter. This year for Easter, Gregg and Lisa invited us to go down to Leeds and play in the sun. The weather was super nice and the kids had fun playing in the sand. While Uncle Doug took the kids for a hike the Easter Bunny came and left eggs and treats for the kids to find. We had a picnic and of course ended the day rolling the eggs down the hill - several times. Later in the month, Allie finished up first year of dancing with a ballet dance to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Peppermint Twist. During Twinkle, Twinkle she got a little sad and Dad had to rescue her off the stage but she nailed the Peppermint Twist with her 1,2,3 jump - 1,2,3, Kick. Zach also started his first year of T-Ball. It was a little confusing at first but he got the hang of it and said it was fun. He especially liked that he got treats after each game. He was on the Gray Team with some friends from preschool.

Seattle

In March Dave and I had the opportunity to visit Seattle for 5 days. Dave had a conference and we have always wanted to visit Seattle so it worked out great. We flew up on Wednesday and then he had his conference during the day on Thursday and Friday. While he was in class I walked across the street to the public library and read and each night we would walk down do the pier and Pike's Market. We loved watching them throw the fish and the boats out on the water.We ate at the Crab Pot and Ivars - twice. Dave was in heaven with all of the fresh seafood by day three I just wanted a hamburger. On Saturday we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and drove the entire top corner of the state ending at the La Push beach. It was gorgeous!! It was super cold but worth the drive. We also went to Forks but I have to say that it was kind of lame. We loved the whole trip and can't wait to go back and visit again.

March 2012 Highlights

Happy Birthday Baby Madison!! I can't believe how fast a year can go! Madison has been such a good baby and truly is a joy to have in our family. She turned one this month and so we had a little party with Grandma and Grandpa Guymon. They came over for dinner and brought cousin Addi. She had lots of help opening presents and also lots of help sharing her presents. Allie loved them. At age one, she could walk but chose to crawl instead and didn't really walk fully until about 3 weeks after. She can tell you no and gives the best kisses in the world. She loves to snuggle with her daddy and always has a smile. So greatful to have her in our family.

Opening the Presents -

The Birthday Cake-

February 2012 Highlights

February brought WRESTLING. Dave has waited 5 years for this and he and Zach practiced every night upstairs. Zach loved every minute of it. When big match came we headed to the highschool for the big event. I was a little nervous but Zach had all the confidence in the world. He weighed in at a whopping 35 pounds. He had a great running swinging arm to attack his opponents and at the end of the day won the "Golden Medal" as he put it. I don't know who was more excited Zach or Dad.

The Golden Medal

January 2012 Highlights

Dave bought me a new camera for Christmas so I spent most of January taking random pictures of my kids. Allie loved posing for the camera and every once in awhile I could get Zach to pose as well. We were bored one Saturday so we went down to Circleville to take pictures around Grandmas house. It was fun to just play around.(Madison - 10 months)

It was a really mild winter so the kids didn't get to play in the snow much but they loved it when they did. (Zach- age 5, Allie - age 3)

Zach spent 2 weeks in swimming lessons. He was a little nervous because they got to go into the big pool but he is great at going under water and it was fun to take swimming with his friend Jaxon.

A Whole Year????

Can't believe a whole year has gone by. Where does time go? So much has happened in the last year so here are a few of the highlights: 2011 was a busy year for us. In March baby Madison joined our family and so now we have 3 little Riddle's running around. Life is never dull needless to say. She is a very sweet baby and her dad says that she is the favorite. For mother's day I decided to take some great pictures of her but in the process deleted my entire camera - not one pic saved. We have no pictures of the first 7 weeks of her life - I still am mad about that. As we started summer we were blessed with 10 puppies and we spent most of our summer taking care of them. We also planted our first garden in the new house. It was huge and ended with a lot of weeds by the end but we were very sucessful in growing tomatillos, peppers and red potatoes. I had knee surgery toward the end of July. It's no secret I am a huge wimp but I would definately say it was one of the most painful things I've ever done. In the fall the kids started preschool and Allie took dancing. She loved every minute. However, our fall was mainly spent studying for the PE exam and the week before Christmas we were elated to find that we had FINALLY past. I think it was the best thing we got for Christmas. I also got a Canon Rebel T3i which wasn't such a bad gift either. The beginning of December started off on a sad note. My Aunt Marilyn passed away completely unexpected from complications from the exact surgery I had (even the same doctor) on my knee. She was only 59 but I think that she lived more in this life than anyone else I've ever known. I used to live with her in the summers in Panguitch while working at Red Canyon and have lots of fun memories of my time there. Crazy that she's gone. I hope to catch up on 2012 - I think that will be my new goal....