Class of 2010

Ok I know that graduation was a couple of weeks ago, but I've been meaning to show off my little sister who graduated almost exactly 10 years after me. (I know, I know I'm getting old.)



She had me do a quick photo shoot so she would have something to send out with her announcements. 



Now I know that there are like thousands (numbers are a rough estimate) of teenage boys that read this blog so I should probably let you know now that she is taken.  Well I mean she's not married or anything so I guess if you want to get technical she's still available.  But not really.  Plus her boyfriend is like 7 feet tall and prone to fits of rage.  Just kidding about the rage, but serious about being freakishly tall.



Where was I going with this?  Oh yeah.  Congratulations Bethany!  I sure am proud of ya.

Xoxo,

Emily

Ryder's Birthday Bash!

Ok, ok I'm a horrible blogger and this is over a month late, but as it turns out I'm a little bit lazy!  Now that we've gotten that out of the way let's get down to business.  Birthday business that is.  My little teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy, newborn bundle of joy went and turned one and I wanted to celebrate in style.  I slaved over a million cupcakes and decorations and invitations.



And guess what? 



Ryder was sick.  Poor thing was teething and she was a snotty, slobbery, feverish mess.  She was a good sport though and faked her way through the party.  Here are some pictures of her pretending to care.







She was even kind enough to humor me and poke at her cake a little.









I felt so bad for her but she is such a trooper and it was worth all the time and effort even though she'll never remember it and didn't want to be there at the time!  Let's hope next year goes a little better.  I love you Ryder!  Oh and if you could stop growing so fast that would be awesome...





Xoxo,

Emily

One Year

I can't believe it's been a whole year since my beautiful baby girl was born.  I can't even put into words the profound change that she has had on my life.  I can honestly say parenthood is the hardest, all encompassing, most rewarding thing I've ever done.  I hope some day she will know how much her father and I love her.


 I put together some of my favorite memories of her first year.  (Turn on your sound) Enjoy!

Happy Easter

This year was Ryder's first Easter and we were very excited about it! (I tried really hard to make last year her first Easter, but she wasn't having it.)  We dyed eggs the night before.  Ryder is still a little too young to appreciate the delicate condition of the egg, but I appreciate her trying to help.


Notice she can't even keep her hands off the eggs long enough for me to get a picture.


The next morning we got up and presented her with her first Easter basket.


Naturally the first thing she went for was the snacks.  But who can blame her?!  Those dissolvable baby treats are just tasty delicious!


Here she notices that there are indeed other things in her basket, but she doesn't dare put down the treats.  Perfectly acceptable behavior in our house.  I can't tell you how many times I've had some delightful morsel ready to eat and I turn around and either Mike or one of the dogs have eaten it...

Along, with her treats she also got sidewalk chalk, sand pail and shovel, big bouncy ball, and my personal favorite, bubbles!  None of which she cared even remotely about.

But guess who did? (Besides me)




Roxy and I are easly amused.  We don't get out much.

So after that we got dressed in our Easter finest (sort-of), and went over to my parents home.


And now if you'd like to take notes I will walk you through the 3 stages of the Easter egg hunt.

1. Alarm with a touch of disgust.


2. Wary curiosity.


3. Begrudging acceptance.


It was a day of good times, good food, and good fun.  It doesn't get any better than that! 

Xoxo,

Emily

Spring!!

Last Sunday Mike and I had the opportunity to take Ryder out to Liberty Park with some friends.  It was a fabulous sunny day and there was fun to be had by all!  Did you know that they have a ferris wheel, carousel, dangerous death trap looking swings and a childrens airplane ride?!  Me either.  It was a delightful discovery.



Ryder was born with a "need for speed" if you will, so she was pretty excited about all the rides.  Mike says she demonstrated really good form on this horse and will probably grow up to be a great horseback or bull rider.  (Mike has this bizzare, only going to happen over my dead body fantasy, of Ryder growing up to be the first female professional bull rider.  Take a minute to get your laughter under control before you continue.)



Ry was too small to ride the planes, but her future husband Carter seemed to enjoy them!



She settled for this old fashion manual push swing.  Some day she hopes to live in a world where no one has to push you on the swings because they magically do it for you.  We can all dream a little can't we?



Here she is loving the slide.  She said it would've been better if Mike would let her go by herself so she could go faster, but you know how dad's can be...



All in all it was a great day and we can't wait to do it again! 


Xoxo,

Emily

Happy Valentines Day

I made Ryder this tutu a while ago and I've been waiting for an occasion to dress her up in it.  Finally Valentines Day rolled around and I felt like I could justify dressing her up like she was a doll!



So I set up a little photo shoot and had these great thoughts of all the spectacular home-made Valentine's I was going to make.  Everyone was going to ooh and ahh and it was going to be fantastic.  Going to be.  However as is often the case in my life I had good intentions that just never came to fruition.  Please  imagine you just received these darling pictures on an ornately designed hand made card...







As you can see the cards would have been down right precious had I actually taken the time to make them.  Don't worry next year I will definitely think about following through!




Xoxo,

Emily

And They Call The Thing A Rodeo

2 weeks ago Mike had a date with destiny.  He rode a bull.  A real live, giant, monstrous, fire-breathing bull.  (oh wait maybe I'm thinking of a dragon...) 

On Monday we headed out to the Spanish Fork fair grounds (or something like that) and met Seth. (Mike's friend and co-worker who gave him the brilliant idea to get on the beast.)  After a good 5 minute lesson they decide that he a 30 year old man was ready to do something that most in this industry start doing at a young age and spend years perfecting and training for.  It all seemed very logical at the time. 
Here is doin' some learnin'

After Mike took the time to educate himself on the art of the bull ride he had the privelage of watching about 15 people before him get thrown and almost trampled to death.  Yay for building confidence!

Finally the big moment arrived and he saddled up El Diablo (that's what the bulls name is in my mind) and held on for dear life.

(sorry it was freezing there and I was shivering, and he was moving really fast, and my lens didn't have an image stabilizer on it.  I think you still get the main idea)

El Diablo shot out of the gate like a bat out of hell and Mike held on for a good solid 2 seconds...more or less.  Which is 2 seconds more than I would ever like to spend on El Diablo!

On the second buck Mike was tossed to the ground like a rag doll.  Luckily he's pretty quick on his feet and he had the good sense to get up and run.

And that is what my friend Garth Brooks likes to call a rodeo.

Here is what it looks like when you spend 2 seconds on El Diablo.  Damn you El Diablo, damn you to hell! 

The moral of this story is riding bulls hurts and you should not try this unless you are a trained professional.  Or you have 5 minutes of "training" from someone who used to be a professional.  The End.

Xoxo,

Emily

P.S.

Yes there is a video of this momentous occassion, but currently my video camera is being a worthless piece of crap and it will not load on the computer.  I will be sure and post it as soon as I get it figured out.