1st Haircut

We're back! We had a wonderful, fun-filled vacation. Now it's time to get back to reality. I have a huge post in the works about our Canadian adventure. In the meantime, here is a post I meant to do before we left - but of course I got too busy packing, doing laundry, and running errands to get to it...

We loved Corby's little curls in the back, but they were getting to the point where they were too long. Sometimes they would straighten out and look just awful. So I decided it was time for Corby's 1st haircut. Our friend Amera does hair, so I asked her if she could come give him a quick cut before we left for Canada. Thanks Amera!! For the first few days, we missed his little curls, but we knew it was time for them to go. He looks so grown up and handsome now!

Oh Canada

On Friday we are off to this lovely place.

We're going to spend a few hours in Magrath (where my Grandpa Ririe was born and raised) and then we are going to Waterton where Corbyn is going to fill this lake with rocks.

Not sure what kind of internet access we'll have while we're gone, so peace out dudes! (I might do another post or two between now and when we leave, but I thought I would give everyone a heads up while I had a few minutes.)

Children's Discovery Garden

Yesterday Corby and I met up with Amber and Tyce to enjoy an afternoon at the Children's Discovery Garden at Thanksgiving Point. It was hot hot hot which we thought would be a good thing because they have a fun Noah's Ark with pools and fountains for little ones to cool off in. But unfortunately that was closed for the day because they were regulating the chemical levels. They played in the fountains a little, but those aren't as cool as our fountains in Spanish Fork (and those are free). Tyce was scared of the bear in the bear cave, so we couldn't hang out there. And they were a little young for some of the other stuff. But they both loved the sand box. It was Corbyn's first experience with sand and he is definitely a fan! He was like, "Mom, you know this is dirty, right? And you're letting me play in it? AWESOME!"

I took off his shirt and let him go with just his onesie because I was worried he was getting too hot.

When it was about time to leave, a huge thunderstorm hit. We got soaked!

It was a fun afternoon. I'm not sure it was worth the $6 admission fee... But it was definitely good to sit and talk with Amber while we watched our little boys play. Next time we'll make sure Noah's Ark is open!

Corby the Corbs missed his afternoon nap, so he was TIRED when bedtime came around. When I checked on him I found him like this and felt so bad. But I had to grab my camera and snap a picture before I saved him. I pulled his legs free (one of them was stuck good) and he didn't even wake up.

July Decorations

I had some more projects I was going to do this month, but I didn't get to them, so they will have to wait until next year. I added the cupcake and lights this year (both purchased at Kohl's), but the rest of my table I did last year.

Here is my shadow box for July.

Yay for the Red, White, and Blue!

13 Months

I'm not going to be taking monthly pictures now that our Corbs is over a year old, but I am going to continue doing monthly updates. I'll throw in a few pictures from the last month to keep things interesting.

The Corb at 13 months:

*LOVES yogurt! I haven't found a flavor he doesn't like. He cries when I stop feeding it to him if he can see that there is some left.

*Likes to take handfuls of food (Goldfish, Cheerios, Puffs, etc...) and stuff as many as he can fit in his mouth.

*Has 6 teeth. 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. He doubled his teeth this month.

*Says MMMmmm when he is eating something he likes.

*Loves watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I don't let him watch it all day, but it's great for when I need to get something done.

*Likes to bring us our shoes. Sometimes he even brings them to me when I'm in the shower.

*Points to things that he wants.

*Is a huge fan of his pillow pet. I had to get it for him because of his love for pillows (and my love for frogs).

*Will climb up stairs, but is still terrified of going down them.

*Will bring me food that he wants or goes over to his high chair and reaches up if he is hungry.

*Likes to climb up anything he can. Our bed, the couch, the printer in the closet...

*Moonwalks backwards.

*Throws mini temper tantrums where he takes lots of little steps in place and screams. They only last a few seconds, but I'm sure they'll get longer as he gets older.

*Goes to the front door and tries to open it when he wants to go outside.

Harry Potter

I wish I could say I read Harry Potter from the beginning, but I was kind of late joining the party. The first I remember hearing about Harry Potter was when I was in high school and back then, I had little time for anything but dance. The 3rd movie came out the day I gradated from high school. At our all-night grad party, we had the option of watching the movie. At that time I was dating Reed Holmberg. He was anti-Harry Potter and because I had no opinion of my own, I went along with him.

Then he left on his mission and I started dating one of his best friends, Kyle Hanson. Kyle is a Harry Potter fan and with the 6th book coming out that summer, he convinced me to start reading Harry Potter. And that was when my love for Harry began. I read the first 5 books in about 3 weeks. That summer I was living in St. George and other than working at the dance store down there, I didn't have much else going on.

I came back to BYU and started reading the 6th book with Bridger Field. We would read a chapter a night, but we broke up before finishing. When I finished reading it on my own, I called him and told him, "Dumbledore dies!" Oh I was so mature...

Then after dating Jeff Brown, I met Rog who shared my love for Harry. The 7th book came out about 2 months after we got married. I remember taking turns reading our copy of the book in our tiny, one-bedroom apartment. And Harry has been a part of our marriage ever since. Harry has been our entertainment for many a road trip. And we've watched all the movies multiple times.

On a whim, I Netflixed Harry Potter 7.1. I didn't know when it would come because I figured it would be very popular right now. Surprisingly it arrived in our mailbox Friday afternoon. We watched it Friday night and then yesterday after going to Seven Peaks, we put Corby down for a nap and Aunt KD watched him while we went to see Harry Potter 7.2. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful series. We both agree that they should have stuck closer to the book, especially for the final duel between Harry and Voldemort. But we thought it captured the essence of the book well.

So although I wasn't a fan from the beginning, I definitely am one now. I can't wait to fall in love with Harry over and over again as I introduce our little Corbyn (and his brothers and sisters who will join our family in the future) to our friend, Harry Potter.

Water Fun

The past few days we have been having lots of fun in the sun.

On Friday Corby and I went to the North Park in Spanish Fork where they have a fun Splash Pad. He was a little tentative at first, but got braver the longer we were there. I knew he wouldn't play in the fountains alone, so I dressed in my swimsuit too. I was worried that I'd be the only adult playing, but as you can see from this picture, I wasn't alone. There was a cute grandpa there with his grandkids and lots of moms in the same situation I was.

On Saturday KD came down from Salt Lake and went to Seven Peaks with us. We took turns playing with Corby and going on the big kid slides. We went on the new Aqua Racer for the first time and loved it. It is definitely my new favorite slide!

Family photo in the kiddie pool.

Seeing the back side of water in the Mushroom Top.

We took Corby down the kid slides with us for the first time.

Going down with dad and mom.

And going down with Aunt KD.

We had a great time! Thanks KD for joining us!

*You might notice that I have a new swimsuit. I got my last one in 2008, so it was high time I got a new one. I ordered it from Lime Ricki. And I learned an important lesson. Don't order swimsuits online. Or if you do, and it doesn't fit perfectly when you get it, send it back. When I got it, the top was too big. But I didn't want to pay to return it and wait for a new one to come. So I thought, it'll be ok. After going to Seven Peaks on Thursday and wearing it for the first time, I knew it wasn't going to work. But it was too late to return it because I'd taken off the tags and worn it. So I spent Friday night sewing up the sides and hemming it and now it fits great. And I really love the design. I just wish I would have saved myself all that effort and just exchanged it. At least I know how to sew and was able to fix it!

Relief Society Crafting

In April our Relief Society made temple blocks at an activity. I was actually at Disneyland when they had the activity, but I ordered one of the blocks to make later. I wasn't in love with the picture they used, so I made my own with a picture Jared took. I added the words and had it printed out at Costco. I love how it turned out!

Then in May we made FHE jars at an activity. I wasn't in love with the lettering they used for FHE, so I made my own. (See a pattern here? I guess I'm picky.)

They have slips inside that have your FHE all planned out - the song, scriptures, and topic. You just have to pull one out and FHE is ready to go!

I was thinking it was time for some new decorations on our entertainment center and these are perfect!

Destructo Baby

Yesterday afternoon was kind of rough at our home.

First Corby decided to pull all the pins out of my pin cushion one by one. I know I should have made him stop, but I was too much in awe at his fine motor skills required to be able to do such a thing. So instead I just picked up each pin after he pulled it out. And took this video.

Then he pulled out an entire roll of floss.

And while I was making dinner he emptied an almost full bag of tortilla chips all over the floor.

I thought (and hoped) the destructo baby would disappear after a good night of sleep. But when I got out of the shower this morning I found this.

Oh dear! Whoever took my sweet baby and replaced him with destructo baby, please bring him back!

Picnic at a Park with the Pughs

On Friday night we had a picnic at a park with the Pughs. (Say that 5 times fast!) Because they are in Sandy and we are in Spanish Fork, we thought we'd meet in the middle. I found a park pretty close to Thanksgiving Point and we met there. We were worried that it would rain, but it turned out to be perfect weather for a picnic.

Corby had fun going down the slides. He went with me...

And with Rog...

And even all by himself! Such a big boy. When he got to the bottom he would start to climb back up and he was actually pretty successful. But of course when I tried to get it on video, he stopped.

He also had fun swinging. Elise is a little young for the swings, but we had to get a picture of the two of them swinging together. You know, for their wedding video. :)

And we thought we'd get a picture of the six of us. I'm pretty sure this is the first picture we've taken of the six of us. (How sad is that?!) The babies aren't really smiling, but they're both looking, so we'll take it!

I made oreo cupcakes for dessert.

You follow the directions on a box of white cake mix. You just add about a cup of crushed oreos into the batter after you've got it all mixed up. I frosted them with some buttercream frosting I had left over from Corby's birthday party and sprinkled some crushed oreos on top. Easy and very yummy!

The rest of our weekend was not very eventful. We worked on some projects around the house during the day on Saturday. After dinner we tried to go to Trafalga, but the traffic on the freeway was horrible, so we ended up turning around and coming home.

I made some Jello Popcorn to take to a sister in our ward who always helps me out when I'm trying to find people to take dinner to someone. The first batch I made was a total disaster because I used a big box of Jello when the recipe actually calls for a small box. Oops! But then I tried again with the correct amount of Jello and it was amazing! I made it with lemon Jello because that's what I had in my pantry. It looked like caramel popcorn although you definitely knew it was lemon when you tasted it! I'm excited to try out some other fun colors!

I also made some Fresh-Squeezed Strawberry Lemonade because I had some lemons and a batch of Strawberry Sauce that needed to be used. It was the best lemonade I've ever had, but I decided that if I'm going to start making it on a regular basis, I need at least a hand juicer. Although their tips about juicing limes and lemons did make it a lot easier!