A Wonderful Tribute to a Marvelous Man

While I was out of town this past weekend (in Utah for my niece's wedding), I learned of the passing of my beloved prophet, Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley. My initial reaction was sadness, but when I talked to Jason about it, he reminded me of the sweet reunion that Pres. Hinckley was having with his wife at that moment. He had lived an extraordinary life and he has inspired countless people, including me. One of those he has inspired is Glenn Beck....a popular talk show host....and I had to share his tribute with everyone. It is truly touching.

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

I will miss you, Pres. Hinckley!

I got tagged again...

Well, I've been out of town since last Wednesday, and I'm catching up on everyone's blogs. I got my cousin's blog...(weird to say, since first she was my friend in Tustin, and now, through marriage, we are cousins) and well, I've been tagged again. This one looks fun, so here I go.

Four jobs I've had:

1. Drive-Thru Queen at In-n-Out
2. Shift Leader at Rubios in Provo
3. Student Accounts Asst. Manager at Claremont Graduate University
4. Current Profession: MOM!!

Four places I've lived:

1. Tustin, CA (hometown)
2. Rexburg, ID (only for school....never again)
3. Provo, UT (ditto)
4. Upland, CA (current residence)

Four movies that I love:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean (The First one...even though I do like the other ones)
2. Beauty and the Beast (hands down, best Disney flick)
3. Singing in the Rain
4. My Blue Heaven (Steve Martin at his finest)

There are many more, but these are the first few that came to my head...

Four favorite foods:

1. In-n-Out Cheeseburger, Animal Style, with no tomato
2. Fish Tacos (except for the ones at Baja Fresh...those are no good)
3. Popcorn (more salt, less butter)
4. Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil...with the Rosemary bread at Johnny Carinos. Oh my gosh, SOO GOOD!

Four weird things about me:

1. I eat a piece of bread specifically. First, eat the crust. Second, fold the bread over four times. Third, bite off the edges. At this point, I have made four smaller pieces of bread...then I eat them one at a time.
2. I'm terrified of driving by center dividers on the freeway, and semis.
3. I hate wearing socks
4. I'm not a big fan of chocolate..and I HATE fudge. (my husband thinks that is very weird)


Four favorite TV shows

Umm...I guess I will go with current shows. If I added past shows, it would be a different list.

1. The Office
2. Lost
3. Iron Chef America
4. Supernanny
5. I just have to throw in "Runs House." That family has it together and they seriously make me laugh.


Four places I'd love to go

1. New Zealand
2. Italy
3. Visit all the Church Sites
4. Florida....one day I'll get to Walt Disney World

I think I will tag...my sister-in-law, Mary, and Melissa Guthrie (Jarom, you can too if you want)

Slurpy anyone??

I just had to post these pictures. Jason had played football that same Saturday morning, and he and the missionaries had gotten slurpies. So, when Jason picked us up to go to the park, of course Kamryn's interest was peaked when she saw this colorful, slushy surprise in Daddy's hand. She just had to have some. And she loved it. It was too cute...and I had to share.

Baby Luke

Welcome Baby Luke! Congratulations Rob and Tiffany! He's beautiful!!

Family Fun Saturdays!

After taking Kamryn to the zoo last Saturday, we decided to dedicate each Saturday possible to family fun time. So, after Kamryn's success on the swings last week, we decided to go back to the park and let Jason check out his daughter in action. We went to the Redhill Park in Rancho and when we got there, she headed straight for the swing.

































Her face looked quite different when we tried to take her out of the swing. Needless to say, we went to two playgrounds (and yes, they were at the same big park) and she swung three different times. Funny observation...she never sat back in the swing. Just held onto the front of it like she was hanging on for dear life.


Oh, and she loved the ducks too. How cute is that picture?

Jumbo Elephant, Jumbo Elephant, you live in a great big Zoo!

Last Saturday, Jason and I took Kamryn to the zoo for the first time. Which Zoo, you ask? Not the Los Angeles, and we definitely did not take the long drive down to the San Diego zoo. No, we went to a quaint little zoo called the Santa Ana Zoo. I grew up going to that zoo and I just had to bring Kamryn and share that experience with her. It hasn't changed too much since last time I had been there. They still have a bunch of monkeys and about 5 other animals. I remember an ostrich, some cat that was sleeping and we couldn't see, some llamas, snakes, and a wallabee (sp?) Oh, and there was a beaver type animal too. But then, there was the elephant. Oh, we loved the elephant. Kamryn loved the elephant so much, that she even got to ride it with her Daddy. :-) Check these pictures out!











































The animals may not have been all that exotic, but to our little girl they were the most amazing animals she had ever seen. We loved our day at the zoo. (And as soon as Jason gets back from Vegas, we'll have some video footage for ya).

You just never know!

So for the first time in Kamryn's 17 months of life, she finally warmed up to the swings. Time after time, I have put Kamryn in the swings and waited for a shriek of laughter to fill the air, but all I ever got were shrieks of fear and terror as she reached for me, crying to get out. Well, today I heard that blessed laughter I had so desperately wanted. How could a child not love the swings? Today she did...she loved it. She loved it so much that she would not let me take her out of it. I so wish I had a camera to capture the moment of this change, but didn't happen. So you will all just have to take my word for it. And I'm sad that her Daddy had to miss it. We'll have to go this weekend and share in the joy. I'm glad you had fun today Kamryn. Mommy loved every minute of it.

(Next on the list: to get her to go down the slides without Mommy having to coax , and getting her to crawl through tunnels).

Kamryn and Grandma Linda

I thought this was so cute. Kamryn just climbed up the chair and sat herself right next to Grandma Riley. It was a Kodak moment for sure. :-)

Happy New Year.....many days late!

We spent New Years Eve at my sisters house in Mission Viejo and we had a great night! My brother-in-laws parents, Lori and Dave Sr., came over too and we had a great time with them. For dinner, my sister made this tasty Chicken Tortilla Soup and later she made a cheese ball and a five layer dip for us to snack the night away with. So Yummy. Games were played with the kids and we just spent time hanging out in the family room. We rang in the New Year early (New York time) with the kids and Kamryn had a great time. This video is testament to that!



After the kids went to bed, the adults stayed up and played Apples to Apples. Thanks for the gift Mom, we love that game! We had some Martinellis and counted down with poor Dick Clark. But kudos to him for keeping the tradition going. I don't think I'm ready for Ryan Seacrest to totally take over Dick Clarks Rockin' New Years Eve. We didn't stay up much longer after that considering musicians these days (in my opinion) aren't that great. But Jason and I ended up staying up half the night anyway with Kamryn . She woke up at 2am and we couldn't get her back to sleep until 5am. So, needless to say, after we got home the next day we all took a long nap. It was definitely a New Years we won't forget. :-)

Christmas Presents!!

Here is a video of Kamryn opening presents. As you can hear, I have paid tribute to one of my favorite bands, Smashing Pumpkins, and used their Christmas song as background music. Jerry, Will, hope you appreciate the music.

Christmas pictures from the John Riley Fam

Here are some Christmas pics of our family.

Christmas Vids

Well, I did a lot of editing, but it's getting faster and faster as I get used to these video editing programs. Anyway, here are some Christmas videos, hope they are not too long.


These are the Christmas Lights in Alta Loma on Thoroughbred Street. They are pretty extravagant.



This video is from the train park in Arizona. It was very cold and the train park was really crowded, but Kamryn had fun running around.

Cilantro...really??

So, for those who know me, you already know that I am a HUGE Food Network fan. I was watching Barefoot Contessa today and I was shocked when I heard her say that she does not like cilantro. For some reason, I had it in my head that a culinary diverse woman (did that make sense?) like Ina Garten would love all foods and herbs. But I guess everyone has something they dislike. And for Ina, it's cilantro. Oh, and I know that Rachael Ray hates Mayonnaise. I can't relate to either of those but it's nice to know that these food network icons are human too. :-)

Christmas in Arizona, The Final Part.....

Christmas Morning came and went.....but it was fun while it lasted.

After watching her cousins open some of their gifts, Kamryn eventually caught on. She loved ripping off the paper, and she loved even more what she saw inside.
Kamryn is wearing her new pink and orange outfit she got from her Grandma Johnson. (And I'm holding the Winnie the Pooh doll that Grandma also gave her). Thanks Grandma!