Rydon's fairy

This is my facebook status from Wednesday:
It appears Rydon has a special fairy. A wonderful person left a package at my door, exactly like the one I received in the mail yesterday. The label was torn off, but inside I found a bottle nipple. I posted how happy I was about discovering the price drop of these nipples earlier this week and someone decided to surprise us with another one. I almost cried. Thank you, fairy, wherever you are. These nipples last only 3-4 weeks before having to be replaced, so I am very thankful we can go a little longer before ordering more.

7 months old!

Rydon offically has baby fat. Fat thighs, fat calves, chunky toes, chubby fingers, and a definite double chin. He loves it when I squish his cheeks and smother him with kisses. Today I was blowing raspberries on his belly and he laughed at it for the first time. Baby fat and baby laughs are the BEST! I am so happy he is over 14 pounds. I thought it would be forever before he got to this weight. Also today he had his first jar of sweet potatoes. He loved it, but had a hard time swallowing it. It came out his nose...which I felt so bad for but he didn't seem to mind it too much. He would even take his fingers out of his mouth for a bite which he never did for rice cereal. Yeah for baby food!

SCHOOL!

 The boys are starting a new charter school this year, Explore Knowledge Academy...aka EKA. Zenock is in third grade. Ammon is in fifth grade.

 Gideon is staying at Thorpe for his special ed preschool. He loves it there and has done really well. He refused to let me take a good picture of him, so this is what I snuck on the playground when we dropped him off. Ayla cried for a little while because she missed Gideon.

And a cute baby, just because we love him :)

The end of our Idaho vacation

 Learning how to use my "new-to-me" embroidery machine. My mom upgraded her machine so she gave me her old one. For my birthday she gave me a bunch of embroidery thread, stabilizer fabric, and images to use with the machine. I love it so much. I am so excited to learning more and using this machine to enhance Ayla's Attic! Thank you Mom!!

 Just because sleeping babies are cute

 Rexburg Rapids was awesome!!!

Kalina took some family photos for us at Eagle Park in Rexburg. The scenery there was just gorgeous, and right in town!!! 

Yes, Brady's eyes are closed, but everyone else looks great! It's the only good photo we got with Rydon's hand out of his mouth.

 On the drive to Utah the sky was so smoky! Usually mountains would be visible all around.

 Batman and Robin for movie night at Christa and Ronny's new house. We loved visiting with them!! Highland needs to be closer to Henderson :)

 Sunday we finished the drive home. We have always talked about seeing the St. George temple and going to the visitor's center there. We finally decided to do it!! This temple is simply gorgeous!

 After the temple we ate at Cracker Barrel, another place in St. George we have wanted to try for YEARS! The food was amazing. The kids did pretty well, and Rydon likes applesauce.

Please note: Brady was taking a photo of Gideon being funny, not me...as you can tell by the gross look on my face. Great timing, dear ;)

SMORES!

 Because of the local grain harvest dust and the wild fire smoke from the Twin Falls area, the sun was bright pink/orange during sunset. This picture doesn't do it justice.

 Drake, Gideon, and Zenock love playing in the dirt.

 Ammon helped build the fire for smores

We are ready for a sugar high :)

Confession time: I have NEVER roasted a marshmallow to golden brown and eaten it. I prefer them charred all the way around. There is something especially delicious about burned marshmallow crust crunching in my mouth. I love to try new things, so I decided it was a good time to try roasting the way "everyone" says marshmallows should be cooked over a fire. While the flavor was okay, I still love my charred deliciousness. It was a great FHE activity with Grandpa, Grandma, and Kalina.

Demolition derby and sno cones

The crazy 8 derby race in Rexburg on Saturday night. Ayla loved the pink car. Earlier in the day we enjoyed the Madison county fair.

Sword fights and pirates

My dad helped me make noodle swords for the kids. They were a huge hit....haha. We had a family dinner Sunday with my aunt and  uncle, brother, and all my sister's except one. Families are so fun! Monday we went to the museum of Idaho to see their pirate display. More family time!

 

Ayla was chasing after Alayna and trying to get her with a sword. It was so cute to watch! 

 

Ayla LOVED playing with her cousins. She talks about Chloe all the time and just loved playing with her. I think they will have a great time together when they are older! 

 

How many swords does one three year old boy need???? 

 

He discovered grass for the first time. It was so cute watching him try grabbing it and running his hand over it.  

 

Zenock said, "I'M AN OGRE!!!" 

 

I have such a great dad! He volunteered to stay home Friday night and watch Rydon for me so I could go with my family to Minions. I was so thankful to not have him to worry about since I wrestled Ayla almost the whole time. Apparently three years old is not quite old enough to sit through a movie of her favorite characters. Thanks Dad!
On a side note, all you people who complain about paying 75 cents for water at the movies should be more grateful. In Vegas, we are charged full fountain drink price for water at the movies, no matter the cup size or movie venue. Rexburg is awesome! 

Idaho vacation so far

Warning, photo dump ahead. We had a great drive up to my parents house Saturday, played in the slip n slide, water balloons with Abby, Quinn, and cousins, a trip to the zoo with family and my friend Beth, and  yummy lunch at Chuck a Rama. Idaho weather has been great so far.

 

While driving through McCammon, Zenock just discovered that clouds move. He said, "I want to reach out and touch one." Low clouds like this are not common in Vegas. We love Idaho!