I Told Ya!

For those of you in doubt about the fact that Treeing Walker Coonhounds can climb trees, here's the proof. There are 2 dogs in this picture (can you find them both?) and one mountain lion. These dogs are fearless! Mine, however, is a fraidy cat, or rather, afraid of cats. Time will tell if she'll make a good hunter. For now, I'm perfectly happy to have an adorable, trouble-making puppy! Chew, chew, chew. That's all she ever does. But I love having 2 dogs--Jax loves it too. And she really is a good puppy.

A New Job

Well, I don't have any pictures to go along with this news, but it is blog-worthy. I could get a picture though. Later. So for now I'll just say that I have re-entered the work force. It's not much fun to have a job and to miss my family, but I just can't watch Brice go through another semester of trying to keep his grades up and support our family at the same time. So I work at the Brick Oven in Provo as a delivery driver. I work in the evenings after Brice gets home--I'm really not okay with having someone else watch my kids so that I can work. It just doesn't feel like the right thing for our family. And I won't work Saturdays. My boss has been pretty cool about all my requests (demands?). This was my first week and it's not too bad--I have been listening to a book on CD that has been pretty fun. I miss Brice a lot though because we only see each other for about an hour late at night. That makes me sad...

Our new house!

So, Brice said I should put some pictures of our new house on here, so here they are!
I feel like I live in a palace-- especially compared to the little duplex we came from!







This is Brice walking on the wall when they were setting trusses. Now you see why he had such an easy time on our scary Angel's Landing hike in Zion!

He got to build our house and I'm glad he did because he made my bedroom, my laundry room and my pantry bigger (Shhh. Don't tell anyone!). Plus it's just fun to be able to say that he built our house.


I LOVE MY KITCHEN!!! Isn't it pretty?

Jesse and Raelin--Peas in a pod

Look! Maybe they're related...


I love this pair of pictures. Raelin is playing around in our front yard and Jesse is in Thailand. They make quite a pair! Jesse came to Utah for a visit a few weeks ago and the kids had a great time with him! He sure is sweet with them!

Ryker

Some of these Ryker pictures are kind of old, but they're just too cute not to share.














This one is from Christmastime. If you ask Ryker to give you a blink, this is what you get. It is Papa's (Brice's dad's) trademark with the kids. He teaches it to them when they are just babies.



I guess these pictures don't really portray Ryker's personality very accurately; there needs to be one of him throwing a tantrum or something. He's a happy and hilarious little boy most of the time that loves tractors and trucks and tools and cars...














that loves to talk on the phone and pretend...




and eat all sorts of food... (Grandpa Tom was blown away by how much food this little body could pack away! He will eat whatever is put in front of him and still want more!) I LOVE his hair in this picture, by the way. So long and silky. I'm sure that's just what every boy is after: long, silky, luxurious hair.


and play outside, running and climbing...

But then there is also that Ryker that is a holy terror--few people belive that he exists, but I assure you he does!! He wants his way and he wants it NOW. And if he's tired, oh boy, watch out! This cute little innocent cherub-faced boy turns into a kicking, thrashing, hitting, crying demon! His latest thing is when I say, "Oh, Ryker, no thank you, can you please put that down?" He THROWS it at me! GRRR! Usually the reason I'm asking him not to touch something is because it's breakable or spillable. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to take away his food or drink because he's been playing with it (he loves to "dip" all of his food in milk like cookies, including cheese, pancakes, tacos, oatmeal, rice, lettuce, applesauce, coffee cake, etc., etc., etc.) and he smacks it out of my hands and sends it flying across the kitchen.

On the other hand, he is extremely articulate and says such cute things. I love it when he says, "Is that amazing?" His tone of voice when he's being polite, which is most of the time--he's a VERY polite little boy--is the best. "Mommy, can I have some more milk please?" His voice goes up and down with the size of the letters, ending in this high pitched squeaky voice. Then I give him some and he says, "Ooohh, THANK you!!" like I just gave him the biggest cookie in the world. When someone sneezes he says, "Bless you!" and they say, "thank you." and he says, "YOU're WELcome!" with a little happy feet hop. His mood often determines the mood of the household because he's so dynamic and energetic at everything he does. Whether he's happy and excited about finding his shoes or cleaning his room, or mad and fiery because he has to clean his room or stop hitting the fish tank--or his sister, he does it with passion! And yes, I did mean to have cleaning his room as something he can be happy about or angry about! It just depends on the day. Or the hour. Or the minute. Or when he ate last. Or what he ate last. Or... Never mind. You get the idea.

Raelin

So, I figured I'd better put something about our kids on here so you all don't think we hate them or only take pictures of our dogs or something.

Raelin is such a big girl! I've been having a hard time getting good pictures of her lately. She always makes funny faces when the camera comes out. Got her this time though!


Raelin is too smart for her own good! She asks great questions and NEVER, EVER stops asking them! Sometimes I start to go crazy! You would too if you days consisted of "Mommy how come that light is red?" "So that people will stop." "How come people have to stop?" "Because it's not our turn." "How come it isn't our turn?" "Because it's the other people's turn." "How come it's their turn?" "I don't know." "How come you don't know?" "I don't know." "But how come?" IT NEVER ENDS! But because she asks so many questions she knows LOTS of stuff! She was asking me today how jet streams are made. I told her ask Uncle William and to tell him that he should know because he's a rocket scientist.


Sooo...Little miss sneaky pants ate herself to sleep. (Why she always wants to wear feet jamies and sweats and turtlenecks in the SUMMER is beyond me, but hey, you've gotta pick your battles, right?) Starburst jelly beans make a great bedtime snack...apparently.



I love this picture because I have one of me at about the same age that is really similar. Actually there is another one of Raelin from this day that is more similar, but this one is cuter. I'll post the other one of Raelin with the one of me if I ever get around to scanning the one of me on to my computer.














Raelin is loving our new neighborhood and ward and is really turning into a social butterfly. She loves to play with friends and she has a great time with kids of all ages. She adapts well to playing with kids that are older than her, younger than her, and her own age. Just not so much with Ryker... We're working on that. They fight like...er...siblings.

Guess who's here!!!

MY PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!

This is Kira! She's a Treeing Walker Coonhound (the "treeing" part is because they tree animals (duh) and because they can CLIMB TREES! I'm not kidding! Like up there in the tree tops facing off with a mountain lion!)


She is so sweet! She is getting along well with Jax and he loves having a play mate. Kira has already learned to sit and lay down and she's getting pretty good about not peeing in the house. (Raelin took this picture, by the way, and Kira is fast asleep in my lap.)

Isn't she cute!? Look at those ears! I'm clicker training her and you kind of do it backwards. First you get the behavior and when they are "throwing" the behavior at you (doing it frequently and deliberately and looking at you for their click and treat), then you give the behavior a name. So I started clicking and treating when she would sit and in three minutes she was "throwing" sits at me. The next day I had her laying down and responding to her name and I started adding the cue to sit.


Kira stays right with me when we go for walks! I LOVE IT! It's the opposite from Jax whom I can never walk without a leash (unless we're hiking in the middle of nowhere). What a good girl! The kids just love her, especially Raelin. She's a little overbearing but she's learning to let the puppy come to her more. They're taking a nap together as I'm writing this. And Jax and Brice are taking a nap together too. Guess we need two more dogs so Ryker and I can have some company too!!