Baptism Bound!

Raygen is so excited to be baptized this month! She is such a cutie. I couldn't resist getting her a little white dress to be baptized in. And nothing is more beautiful this time of year then the fall leaves. So we struck out for an afternoon of amateur photography. It was tons of fun to spend time with my gorgeous, easy going daughter. She just smiled and did what I asked her too. I am glad to have gotten some good pictures to remember her this age. I may be biased, but she is stinkin' cute!!

Raygen turns 8!

Hard as it is for me to believe, Raygen is 8 years old. She counted down her birthday for days and was up before dawn waiting for us to wake up. The second I walked out of my room, she stepped in front of me and smiled. Half asleep I uttered, "Happy Birthday Ray" and she beamed. It was so cute to see her that excited. We went to church and she was thrilled that the primary gave her a pencil. (which she was throwing around and lost on top of some very tall cabinets) Then we headed over to Grandpa Benton's and Grandma Lynda's for dinner, cake, and icecream. I asked Raygen what she wanted for her birthday dinner and she told me frozen pizza. So that is what we had! Lindsey and the kids came up to help us celebrate. (We even got to see Grandma Lynda for about 30 minutes!) I bought her a fairy cake from Stokes and she got to open all her presents. She wasn't feeling very well by then and soon after her last present was opened, she started throwing up. It lasted all night. Gabe too. Not a good way to end a special birthday.
So we loaded up our puking kids and went home to watch a movie. Even with the sickness, any day to celebrate the birth of my little girl is a GREAT day! I am so glad she is a part of our family. I feel blessed each and every day that I have her!

Taking After Grandpa Benton

Raygen has a dry erase board in her room. The other night I noticed some writing on it. I asked her about it and she told me that she is counting down the days until her birthday. Every morning she changes the number so she will know when her birthday gets here. She is very excited for her birthday party and has made some REALLY big plans that I will have to help her edit a little. She is also very excited to turn 8 so she can be baptized. I can't believe how fast she is growing. It makes me so sad to watch the years race by. She is such a special girl and I feel so blessed to be able to raise her. I couldn't ask for a better daughter!

First Trip to the Dentist

So the kids and I all went to the dentist the other day. Tyson refuses to go until after hunting season. I don't know why. (I've decided just to call the things I don't understand about him "Tyson Logic".) Ridge even went for the first time. I know that he is 3 and should probably have already been to the dentist quite a few times, but his mother is a slacker. He did a really good job and was very brave. He was so excited that he got 2 toothbrushes and asked if he could brush his teeth with both of them at the same time.

We all got our teeth cleaned. Gabe is the only one who didn't have a cavity. As you can imagine, he immediately started rubbing it in. "I can't believe I'm the only one in the WHOLE family to never have a cavity! That's got to be like a record or something!" (and on and on and on) Finally I'd had enough and told him that by the time we are done with braces and jaw surgery, we could probably have paid to fix a cavity in every single one of his teeth twice. So to be quiet already!

First Day of School!

The first day of school went off without a hitch. The kids were excited to start a new year. Even Gabe said he was glad to be back to school. They both like their teachers a lot and are looking forward to lots of good times. Gabe started 5th grade with Mrs. Owens and Raygen started 2nd with Mrs. Kunz. It took a few days to get use to waking up early and homework isn't always fun, but it is good to get back to a routine.

Periodic Springs!

Before school started, we decided to take a hike up to Intermittent Springs. It is always so much fun to go back and enjoy the beauty of the Star Valley Mountains. Dad was in Afton getting his 4 wheeler fixed, so we asked him to meet us there for the hike. When we got to the parking lot, his truck was already there. We figured he had headed up without us, so we hiked up the trail ourselves. When we were about there, the kids were amazed to see our name scratched in the dirt with an arrow. "It's this way!" Gabe yelled like he had just stumbled onto a valuable clue. Around the willows sat Grandpa Benton. It was a good time! I just love that area and really enjoyed being there and sharing it with my cute little family. The spring was stopping and starting but it didn't stay stopped for very long. And the stone flies were still everywhere, which the kids thought were gross.
On the way back to the truck, we ran into my good friend Candice and her husband, KC! They had stopped in Star Valley for a few days on their way from Canada back to Texas. Talk about a random reunion! It was good to get to visit with them for a minute. And then on the way home, we ate at the Red Baron. All I can say is YUM!

Montana Madness!!

We had lots of fun visiting family in Montana this month! We went out to eat, did some shopping, went to Carousel Icecream, had a BBQ at Grandma Donna's, watched movies, took a river boat tour, went swimming, and Raygen even hosted a tea party for us!! It was a ton of fun and we are so glad Grandpa and Grandma Murphy let us come play for a couple days!