Merry Christmas....a little late. :)

Happy Thanksgiving....a little late.

Home from the Hospital!

Nothing like being home with the ones you love! :)

Finally! Maryn Elise Riley makes her entrance!

Okay, so for those who may still read my blog, here are those pictures of Maryn you have all been patiently waiting for.

Maryn Elise Riley was born on 11/9/11 at 3:42pm. We were hoping for an 11/11/11 baby, but she just couldn't wait I guess. :) She came much quicker than I expected. I started going into labor the night before, but wasn't convinced I was having the baby since my contractions were not consistent. However, I should have been tipped off by the fact that they were hurting terribly! By the time we got to the hospital I was dilated to 9cm which meant no time for drugs. So, she came amidst my yelling to "get her out." It was definitely painful going natural, but afterwards the award was worth it. She is beautiful.

Maryn Elise Riley, 7lbs. 4oz. (my smallest baby). She arrived 8 days early. :)

Terrible Halloween pictures

For some reason, I took all pictures related to Halloween on my phone and they did not come out that great. Still trying to get used to it.
This year, Kamryn was Ariel (which I loved since she has the red hair for it) and Logan was Superman. His costume was a little white trash, but the curl on his head is awesome. :)
The night before Halloween, Aaron and Whitney came over for some chili and cornbread. We also decorated sugar cookies and Jason carved an awesome vampire pumpkin. Can't believe another Halloween has come and gone.

Annual trek to Riley's Farm

I know you are all expecting to see pictures of Maryn, but I have to get caught up here so bear with me. Maryn's dramatic arrival will be posted about soon.

Back in October, we took our annual trek up to Riley's Farm to pick our pumpkins. Our friends, Karissa and Ron and their boys, joined us as they do pretty much every year. We love having them come with us and we always have a great time.

Random Happenings around the house

They are growing up! Good thing another baby is on the way. I'm going through withdrawals. :)

First Day of Kindergarten!

So, here it is. The traditional "first day of school" photo. Kamryn started Kindergarten this year and she was all smiles about it.

We're on our way to school! I was only getting a little emotional here.
Here is her teacher, Mrs. Jensen, giving her her name tag.
Here she is, ready to go into class. She had no fear, just went right in and waved goodbye like it was no big deal. I only teared up a bit, but mostly kept it together. She was ready and so was I. Here's to a fun year at school. (And yes, I am bummed that I didn't think of taking a picture with her. )

The Beach and The Park

We tend to make it to the beach only once during the summer (mostly because of Jason's dislike of the place) and this summer was no different. This year we went to Corona Del Mar. Myself and the rest of primary presidency planned a primary beach day for the kids. *Sidenote: we will never do it again.* Anyhow, it turned into more than just primary, which made it all the more fun! :) The pictures below are the Young Men setting up our food tent....

This is their Young Men leader, while they are setting up the tent. Isn't leadership grand? :)
Sadly, I was so busy with the activity itself I didn't get many pictures of the kids. Just these few of them playing in the sand together. They did go down to the water and they really had a great time. It ended up being a great day and evening and I think all who went had a great time.

We also try to make it to the Concert in the Park each year and I am happy we made it one. We went with our friends, the Taylors and enjoyed hanging out and listening to the Classic Rock Band.
Here is Kamryn with a little air guitar. :)

She's 5 years old!

This was the first year Kamryn was able to have a "friend" party. Her wish was a "Little Mermaid" party and I think it came together nicely. Kamryn was thrilled with the decorations. :)
We invited the girls from her primary class and a couple other girl friends she had (so yes, an all girl party). We had bubbles going, a slip n' slide, a water hopscotch game, and a pool and overall I think the kids had a great time in the backyard getting wet!
We even let Logan get in on the fun!

The kids had hot dogs on the patio and there were smiling faces all around! :)
Kamryn was most anxious for present time! She got lots of fun stuff, mainly My Little Ponies, and she was so excited to show her presents to everyone.

All the girls were pretty excited about her presents!
For some reason, I only got a picture of Logan eating his cupcake but he was the messiest so of course, we had to take a picture of it.
Here is a video of the birthday singing. Overall, it was a success but I think I'm taking a break from the friend party next year. It's a lot of work! :)