Happy Father's Day!

I feel so blessed to have these wonderful men in my life! Thank you for all that each of you do and for being the great fathers that you are!

Hocking Hills

We were able to start off our summer with a camping trip with friends to Hocking Hills State Park. Our family had been to Hocking Hills three years ago and loved it, so we were so excited to go back! It ended up being a blast! I love to go camping! We even had a huge down pour with lightening and thunder on our second day. We were so thankful for a water resistant tent which we could feel a river of water going underneath the tent and luckily not inside the tent! The camp ground even had a pool for the campers which was so nice after our long but beautiful hikes.

Upper Falls

All of the kids we went camping with except for Olivia. (she was napping)

Maggie, Eve and Lilly, these girls love each other so much!

If you can see the band-aid on Evie's head, it is covering her four stitches she had put in the night before we went camping. She was walking into the garage and wasn't looking and walked right into the edge of the open car door.

Lincoln really wanted to take a bath in Devil's Bathtub, but I wasn't too crazy about the idea.

There were so many caves the kids could climb in.

Everything was so beautiful there. There is so much green everywhere. I could feel the Spirit so strong as we walked around and enjoyed the beauty and peace there.

Old Man's Cave

Reuben and Trey

Fourth Grade Celebration

In our town Elementary School only goes through fourth grade. So, for the fourth graders which are graduating from Elementary School they have a celebration/ceremony. They receive diplomas and get to watch a video that was put together with a skit and lots of pictures from the year.

Kaitlyn and her teacher. Mrs. Dugan was gone for about half the year because she was on bed rest and then gave birth to two beautiful girls.

Kaitlyn and Lauren, one of her best friends from school.

Why do I even try?

Growing up in Utah, I (Ryan) have really enjoyed wildlife. I loved seeing the deer, squirrels, rabbits and other critters scurry around and enjoyed the occasional sightings. Dad taught me to appreciate gardening which in the few years past I have come to love. I have been working on my green thumb a lot this year and have taken great pride in the two gardens that I built and planted. We have lots of delicious herbs, vegetables, and fruits. I have learned, however, that one cannot enjoy the animals of nature and plant a successful garden in the same environment.

You end up with this:

This is our poor little green pepper that just hasn't had a chance.

Our tomatoes were thriving with a multitude of blossoms and small fruits forming but now they are, essentially, twigs.

These were rows of lush beets, spinach and peas, which will not likely recover.

K'nex

My awesome friend told me about an opportunity to try out K'nex and that we could even keep the sets that would be sent to us for free as long as we posted on our blog about how we liked them. I was all for it! Who doesn't love free stuff! But I did not expect to get this much free stuff! We ended up getting 11 sets, with sets that were appropriate for my two year old all the way up to my nine year old!

The first set of sets they dug into was, of course, the Sesame Street sets. They turned out super cute! The kids loved them. I must say from a mom's stand point I love the containers they came in as well as the toy itself, they are cute and there is a place to store all the parts when the kids aren't playing with them.

I can't believe I didn't take any more pictures of the kids playing with the sets. Overall the biggest hit was the motorized k'nex. They have a battery pack/motor part that makes them hop or move. They are super cool! My kids did need help with one or two of the steps when they put the sets together, but it was no big deal. The kids got a kick out of one of the robots that looked like Wall-e!

From the mommy point of view the kids definitely love the k'nex. I loved getting the bin of k'nex as well to put parts in and to let the kids use their imagination. I am so thankful for this opportunity and would definitely recommend these products!

Ode to the Snickerdoodle

Oh Snickerdoodle, Oh Snickerdoodle

Why must you call my name!

You taste so yummy in my tummy.

I just can't get you out of my mind

I know when I try on my bathing suit I will be in a bind.

You are my Kryptonite

But, I still eat you morning, noon and night.

Oh Snickerdoodle, Oh Snickerdoodle

Memorial Day Parade

Every year our small town has a parade on Memorial Day. Kaitlyn and Reuben were able to be in the parade again this year with their baseball teams. Evie and Lincoln have fun picking up the candy that is thrown by everyone in the parade.

Our friend who has a position in the city borrowed Ryan's truck for the parade

Reuben Gets Baptized

I can't believe Reuben is 8 already. It seems just yesterday he was riding his blue scooter at Wymount at full speed down the hills, bouncing of trees and rolling down the grass. While he still loves to do these things he is much bigger, faster and bold about it. He has an infectious smile which we all absolutely love. He is known in school for his playful attitude and wit.

Last week we had an incredibly fun and busy week. With all Grandparents in town and even Uncle Matt, we had Reuben's baptism.
The announcement picture was taken in front of the Kirtland Temple door.

This picture was used in his program. We took this picture in the School of the Prophets, within the Whitney store in Kirtland. Reuben was pretty excited that he sat on a stool that just recently President Monson sat in when visiting Kirtland.

I think these pictures of the baptism speak for themselves:





It was such a neat experience. I'm sure Reuben will always remember his baptism. He is very proud of the fact that he got baptized in roughly the same area, and the same way that some of the old saints were in the beginning of the church. We are so very proud of Reuben and his decision to be baptized.

Doctor Ryan Ellsworth

Class of 2010

Ryan being hooded by Dr. DeMore

Introducing Dr. Ryan Ellsworth

I am so proud of this guy! Ryan has worked so hard for this! It has been a long time coming and feels a little surreal that school is over.

Ryan and his parents

This is Ryan's clinic group, who he spent a great deal of time with in the final years of school. They have each become very good friends.

Kristen, Ryan, Mark, Stacy and Ginger

Ryan and Mark have put in a lot of long hours together over the past four years! We will miss them!

I can't believe this is the only picture we got of Matt, but Ryan's oldest brother flew out for the graduation. I seemed to somehow miss getting any pictures of my parents! I don't know how that happened, I am sorry Mom and Dad!

There was a reception at the school after the graduation. We walked around the school and Ryan showed our parents where he has been living the last four years. The kids were super excited to sit where Ryan usually sat in class.