...MoNKeY BuSinEsS...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN (almost 2 weeks late)!





I completely forgot I had to dress up for work and so my SIL Jess put blue extensions in my hair-she had all her stuff out because she gave her husband an extension mullet for Halloween. Some people thought I was serious and others asked if I was Barbie or Hannah Montana -who knew blue extensions could actually be a costume.






Taking pictures of Ryan was a lot more difficult this year since he just kept running away. He was so funny because he would get his candy and then immediately open it up and eat it, but he only lasted about five houses. Hope you all had a great holiday.

...Another. Year. Older...

27. Yesterday. Wow. Starting to feel a little old...



Aside from having issues about getting older, my birthday was a great day. Ryan and I went to a pumpkin patch with our ward, I got to have lunch with my mom and sisters and received calls from the sister in NC and the sister in Jerusalem, got a surprise sewing machine from my parents (which was actually supposed to be for my graduation three years ago), went to dinner and a haunted house with my hubby, ate paradise bakery coconut-chocolate-chip cookies and see's chocolates, and filled my car up with gas for 2.99/gallon-Life doesn't get much better!

Picking out a pumpkin


Lunch with sisters


You can't really tell, but we are at The Dreaded Grove-I gave few honest screams to them

HaPPy 2nD BiRThDAy RyAN!!!

We decided after last year's extravaganza that we wanted to keep his second birthday a little more low key. We made breakfast, opened presents, went to church, and had cake with family and the birthday boy seemed pretty happy about it all.

Excited about his new buzz lightyear jammies


Eating his favorite breakfast-french toast made by his dad


Enjoying birthday cake and playing with his new Thomas trains from Grandma


Partying with cousin Grace


Relaxing after a long day of celebrating.


We LoVE you Ry and couldn't imagine life without you!

Sometimes being a mom is rough...

Don't get me wrong I love my child, and being a mom and blah, blah, blah, but some days are just rough-and today was such a day. It is never a good omen when Ryan goes to bed super late the night before and then wakes up really early-and I mean hours earlier than normal. He started the day grumpy. He napped really early and not very long and then woke up with a fever (I am pretty sure his 2-year-old molars are breaking thru). I desperately needed to go to the grocery store so after the motrin and tylenol kicked in we got into the car.

He was already upset because blankie was in the washer and couldn't come on the outing with us. Ryan has been having issues riding in the cart lately but I made sure we got a "special" cart that has a little car to ride in in the front. The novelty wore off after about 5 min of being in the store and he climbed out and started screaming when I even suggested getting back in. I let him help me push the cart, but every time I would stop to put something in the cart he would start putting his own stuff in the cart and eventually just started running away from me. I decided I had had enough of that nonsense so decided it was time to force him back into the cart. Then the screaming came back and the stares started up again. I tried to laugh about the fact that everyone was looking at me and watching me struggle with my child, but in reality I was having to take deep breaths to keep myself from crying. He was hysterical and wouldn't even take an ice cream cone (which for him is HUGE). All these old ladies kept trying to offer advice over the screaming and I know they were trying to help, but in reality they were just making it worse.

I only had a few things left to get at this point so I just pushed him around while he was screaming and made sure I only looked forward to ignore the stares. He settled down right as we were checking out and we managed to survive the trip. Needless to say, I was relieved when I sat behind the steering wheel of my car but not before thoughts of selling Ryan on ebay started to cross my mind...

...Rainy Day...

Just enjoying a rainy Saturday afternoon

Half-Way Across the World

My little sister (and one of my best friends) is half-way across the world doing the BYU semester abroad in Jerusalem, well actually Egypt at the moment. I try not to be too jealous considering I got accepted to the program and then they cancelled it on me not only once but twice because conditions were unsafe. She is having amazing opportunities and trying to take in every moment that she has in that sacred land, but sometimes it is still hard to be so far away. So this post is for you little sis-to cheer you up and let you know that we are thinking, praying for, and missing you back here in Provo, Utah-esp my crazy little son who tells me "Sissy go ba-bye":) Love you sis!





I thought I would share the most "special" pictures I had of Ryan:)

Congrats Jess and the Spanish Fork Kite Festival

My sister-in-law Jess got married on September 4th in the Mt. Timpanogos temple. The weather was great and it was a beautiful reception. Congratulations Jess!

Me and Katie (my other SIL-everyone is convinced we are sisters) waiting for Jess to come out of the temple


The beautiful bride


At the reception


Ryan wouldn't get out of the picture when they asked for just flower girls-so here he is being a flower girl!


Getting out some of his endless energy


We went with my SIL Sam and her girls to the Spanish Fork Kite Festival-too bad for us it ended literally minutes before we got up to it.


There were only a few kites flying when we got there, but luckily for us the sunset made up for it all-it was INCREDIBLE!

Vaccines for the Philippines Humanitarian Trip 2008

First of all, I have to say a HUGE thank you to my husband for the hundreds of hours he spent preparing for this trip-it was, in my opinion, the best trip so far-and I also want to thank the amazing volunteers we had this year. We had around 30 volunteers come over with the organization. We ran into some cultural glitches along the way, but those things that could have been a big problem made the trip more memorable and seemed to give us some incredible opportunities that we never could have planned. The work was more difficult and labor intensive than we have done in previous years, but everyone worked so hard and didn't complain about the difficult conditions. We started work on 5 houses and provided 3 free medical clinics in different towns on the island of Bohol. We also made sure that we did a lot of fun things-going to the beach, jumping off waterfalls, playing with monkeys and island hopping to name a few- to balance out the work. It was the first year that I wasn't ready to leave when it was time to go home.

The whole group right before we headed into the jungle to haul our wood out for the houses


In the middle of the jungle getting the wood for the houses-this was the COOLEST day! Later we found out their was a huge cobra nest right next to where we were getting our wood.


My friend Katie and I throwing candy out to the kids


Showing off the chocolate chip starfish


Hanging with the darling filipino kids
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Mixing the cement for the foundations


At the beautiful Bohol Beach Club


My cousin Nate and I with the famous transvestite at the giant python cage-yes that is a man-it did two lip syncing performances shortly after this picture


Pete helping the dentists at one of the medical clinics


The special forces army invited us to their camp and let us shoot their huge guns. I was horrible and they told me I needed a lot more practice.


In front of one of the houses we started


This was our beautiful backdrop for where we built the majority of the houses-the town was called "Behind the Clouds"

Aaahhhh....It's so nice (and a little sad) to be home!

It is so great to finally be home! Ryan remembered who we were and seemed to learn TONS of new words while we were gone-but he won't let us leave him for a second-he even comes with us into the bathroom. We got back last Thursday from the Philippines and then a couple days later headed to Lake Powell for a Reichman family reunion. This summer has been so crazy and has flown by-literally going from trip to trip with just enough time in between to get caught up on laundry and pack for the next trip...

And while I am not complaining in anyway about being gone-it is still great to be back in my own house and in my own bed! I have so much to get caught up on and can't wait to read what everyone else has been up to.

Reality check-I go back to work tomorrow which is always a little sad but I am more sad to realize that summer is ending and Pete will be going back to school to start his Master's program in a week and a half-oh well life has to go on right?. I am going to post pictures from our trip to the Philippines so check back-it was amazing! With the last of our trips over for the summer, I keep trying to think up little weekend outings to have something to look forward to so if anyone is up for anything fun just let me know...