And then there were four...

Callahan Benjamin Ryerse is here! He was born on Black Friday, November 28, 2008 at 10:19 p.m. in room 515 of Ogden Regional Medical Center. He weighed in at 6 lbs. even and was 17 ½ inches long. Contractions began Wednesday, and kept going until Friday. I wasn’t so sure we should be going to the hospital, the contractions were still 5 minutes// apart, and they say you should go to the hospital when they’re 2 to 3 minutes apart. But the contractions were strong and Dave decided it was time to go. We got to the hospital at about 8:10 p.m., and filled out the necessary forms, then the nurse checked me. I was sure they’d send me home, but to my surprise, I was already dilated between a 4 and a 5. So the nurse left to go find out which room I’d go to and call my doctor. Dr. Rosemary Lesser showed up about 20 minutes later, before the nurse, and shocked no one had gotten me in a room yet, grabbed a wheelchair and wheeled me in herself to our room. She’s pretty funny, we really like her as our OB. From that time, things were a whirlwind, moving along very quickly. The nurses and doctors barely had enough time to set everything up. I did a quarter of an epidural, by the time I got it I was already at an 8, which is what the doctor says is about the worst of the pain. So maybe next time we’ll go natural… But I’m glad I got it, I think I can enjoy things better when the pain is not so bad. At 10 p.m., the nurse said she thought I’d be ready any time. I pushed five times, and our little boy made his way into the world! He cried when he came out. His chin quivers anytime he cries, he sounds and looks like a baby goat. Daddy helped clean him up and cut the umbilical cord, and change his first diaper. He peed on the nurses before Daddy made it to the table. He was weighed and measured and given Vit. K. Then they gave him to me to hold. What a precious boy, and what a miracle birth is! I can’t get over it. It’s such an amazing thing! I fed him for the first time, he did really well and latched on like a pro! Dave and I enjoyed some alone time with him, and then a little later that night, family came over. Jerry, Stacy, Tayla and Kaison made it first, then the Ryerse and Stoddard grandparents, Julie, Randy, Brian, and Jeff, and Emma. Everyone took their turns holding him and we told the story. Emma sat next to me and held him and gave him kisses. She seems pretty excited, but a little unsure of things. She was more quiet than normal. We finally went to bed at 2 a.m., and slept for a few hours. I couldn’t sleep much, I guess I was too excited. The next day, we did all of the tests, met with the pediatrician and OBGYN, did his first pictures, took a bubble bath in the jacuzzi, and just kind of sat around and talked and watched movies. Callahan kept getting cold, his temperature was low the whole time he was in the hospital. But besides that, he’s perfectly healthy, which we’re very grateful for. In the afternoon, we had more visitors. Grandma and Grandpa Stoddard and Adam and Meghan came, followed by Amy and Kolby, and Grandma and Grandpa Ryerse with Emma. Emma was cute with him, but again, wasn’t sure about things. She would talk to him and look at him. Then Christie, Rex, & Brooke came, and Jeff and Shirely were the last ones to come see us for the night. Sunday morning, he was circumcised and had some shots, and did pretty well. Then we rounded up our stuff, and filled out all of the paper work and headed out into the real world. Sunday night, my sis-in-law Meghan said “Good luck on your first night with two kids!”, and right after she said that, Emma started laughing this funny, evil laugh I’ve never heard before! It was hilarious, we were dying! Well, the first night went pretty well. Emma was very tired, as she hadn’t had a nap, but was crying and just wanted to hold Mommy and Daddy. She got upset when we changed his diapers or did anything like that. She wanted to sleep with us and told baby brother he needed to sleep in his own bed (hmmm…where have we heard that before?). It was pretty sad though. So we let her sleep with us last night, and Cal did pretty well, waking up only about every 2 hours to eat. Besides that, he was fine. And Emma’s been really sweet to him since then, so I think things are sinking in now. We’re doing great though, and thanks to our wonderful support system – all of you great friends and family who do so much for us! We appreciate the outpouring of love we’ve received. Welcome, little Cal!

Extreme Room Makeover

Move over, butterflies and flowers! As our condo is only a two bedroom, Emma will soon be sharing her room with "baby brother". Her room was decorated in girly colors featuring butterflies and flowers on the walls matching with the Pottery Barn bedding. So it was time to make a change to a more gender-neutral theme. I've always loved Classic Pooh (it was between that and a cowboy/cowgirl theme), and was convinced Pooh would be fun this time around. Emma was given a cute Classic Pooh quilt, made by Grandma Di when she was born, I've always wanted to use it, and now we get to. So we began a few months ago, buying fun decorations (Grandma Sue was excited when she found out how we would decorate it, she loves Classic Pooh also and went hog wild buying fun things). We picked out a fun, light yellow color to paint the room, which Grandma and Grandpa Stoddard did a few months ago (they were worried about me inhaling the paint fumes. He he! Paint is not the same as it used to be). My mom and I have done lots of sewing. Well, she's done more than me, as she just wants to get it done, but I've been getting some great sewing practice in. We made pillows for Emma's bed, the quilt for the crib, and we're almost done with the crib bumpers, and curtain. Last weekend, we painted a large tree mural on the wall that fits the Classic Pooh style, and put some Pooh character 3-D wall hangings on it. I thought it turned out really well! Then we hung the rest of the pictures and Pooh decor. Emma loves her new mural, she loves looking at it, even sings songs about it. I love decorating, it's a lot of fun, and I'm grateful to my Mom who has helped me out so much with this project! See for yourself what you think!

A Blue Halloween!

On Halloween Day, Emma and I went to my parents house to help set up for the dinner. We helped make the Haunted Gingerbread House, which was fun. My mom always goes all out, and this year was no exception. Emma and I carved our pumpkins that afternoon. She had a great time pulling out all of the guts and seeds (which she called ‘pumpkin nuts’)! We made a Sleeping Beauty castle pumpkin, and a polka-dot pumpkin. We helped set the table and put up the rest of the decorations for the party. We picked Dave up from work, where they had a mechanical bull outside for their party. I couldn’t ride though, and Emma didn’t really want to, so we just watched for a while. Then it was time to get in costume. We dressed up as the Blue Man Group this year. If you don’t know who they are, look them up, they’re awesome! The makeup took a while to apply, but it was worth it. The first time Emma saw Dave with his blue face, she looked around for the real Dave and yelled out “I want to hold Daddy!” She wasn’t too sure of me, either at first. We painted her face last, Dave was paranoid about her, and didn’t want to get it too close to her mouth and eyes, so we didn’t put nearly as much on her. I thought she looked so sad with all of the makeup applied, and it took her about an hour before she wanted to talk. It’s funny how dressing up does make you feel differently. We went with Jerry, Stacy, Tayla (Dorothy) and Kaison (the Lion) to Main Street in Bountiful for their Trick-Or-Treating. That was pretty fun, but not as big as last year. All of the adults and older kids were like “Woa! The Blue Man Group!” and would make comments on our costumes. But the little kids just gave us weird looks like we were crazy. Dave played some Blue Man Group music on his iPhone which was in his pocket to add to the mood. We tried to stay in character and keep straight faces and not talk a ton, but that was too hard! Try not smiling for that long, you’d go crazy! Emma liked the trick-or-treating thing, she had been talking about it for weeks as we had tried to explain to her what it is and what you did. She always said “Trick-or-treat!” enthusiastically and then thanked the person who gave her a treat. Then Emma and Tayla had a fun time playing in the leaves by the Bountiful Tabernacle after the trick-or-treating for a while. Then it was off to my parents for our traditional Chili dinner. Grammie, neighbor Bro. Schroeder, Amy & Kolby, and my parents were all there. We the chili, breadstick broomsticks, chips and dip from the chip graveyard, and veggies and dip. Then we had dessert, which the brownies underneath the gingerbread haunted house and ice-cream. We played pin the nose on the pumpkin and the ghost dart board. When the doorbell rang with trick-or-treaters at the door, Emma ran to it, and loved giving the kids candy. After that, we were back to the Ryerse’s, where we were going to go visit a few of their neighbors, but it started raining really hard, so we decided to go crash Uncle Brian’s party at his bachelor pad. They had a pretty good party going with Rock Band, food, games, and pumpkin carving. Then we ate pie and watched “Hocus Pocus”, which I fell asleep during. It was a great Halloween, and we’re already planning our costumes for next year, it is only 359 days away!

Halloween Carnival

On the 30th, we went to a Halloween Carnival, at Tolman Elementary, where my mother-in-law, Sue works. We stood in line for the spook alley for about 45 minutes, but it was well worth the wait! Sue was dressed up as the Spider Lady, Aunt Julie as a zombie, Grandpa Dan as Frankenstein, and Uncle Brian as a mad scientist. There were other people as well, like a lady that popped out of an old coffin, a guy in a mask that popped out of the wall, a dot guy, car headlights coming for you with a loud honk, and more. The props, lighting and sound effects were all very impressive! Half of them were Sue’s, as she is huge into Halloween! I swear half of their storage is Halloween stuff. It’s fun though. Emma was holding onto Dave very tight the whole time. She knew her family members, as she watched them get ready and put the makeup on so was used to the idea, but got very scared especially by the face that came out of the wall, and dug her fingernails into Dave. Poor thing! “I don’t like it!” is what she said after we got out. And whenever we passed the entrance of it the rest of the night, she would say “No, I don’t want to go!” But she enjoyed the rest of the carnival events – the fish pond, bean bag toss, cake walk, carnival food, sucker pull, stick the eyeball on the skull, and the duck pond. They had Halloween ducks in a kiddie pool, and when the lady running it said “Go!” Emma started getting in the pool, sticking one leg in before we could stop her. She knew what pools are for and went for it. We dried her off the best we could, and then the game began. Emma won, and got pretty excited about that. It was fun seeing all of the kids dressed up in their costumes. There were some cute ones! That is probably my favorite part about Halloween!

[Insert best witch cackle here]

Halloween is my favorite holiday (besides Christmas, of course, that is a given) and I love all of the Halloween happenings. Of all of the great Halloween events going on during the month of October, I'd have to say Garnder Village is one of my favorite things to do! My mom, sister Amy, and I go every year. All over, they have fun displays of animated witches. Some of my favorites include a witch flying on a bike and some traffic directors, a "witchy poo" in the outhouse, and a witch in training that landed her broomstick into a tree. This year was especially fun for Emma, who liked to spot all of the witches, and says most of them are "nice witches". Last year, she was pretty scared by them, as she didn't understand what Halloween was all about. Besides enjoying the displays, we love the quaint shops in the Village. They have some cute stuff! My favorite store is the Christmas store. Many of the employees are dressed up as witches, so that also adds to the atmosphere. Some of the Halloween stuff Emma saw she said was "Spooky!" We always go to lunch at the Bakery there, which is always delicious, and then to Afton's Candy for some fudge or goodies at the end of our visit. Here are some pictures of our little outing. "Witching" you and yours some very happy hauntings!

Election Time

Just about two weeks, and we'll have a new president. Let me tell you I'm really looking forward to it. Not that I'm excited over who our president will be, but I can't wait for all of this campaigning to be over. The mudslinging, the debates, the empty promises...I'm just so sick of it, and it seems like its been going on forever. And I'm not really super-impressed with either Barack Obama or John McCain (and of course Ralph Nader doesn't really count). I'm really hoping McCain pulls through for the Republican party, though.


As far as local & state officials go, I think there are some great candidates. I was reading through the Utah Voter Information guide the other day to decide who/what I would vote for, as I'm planning on going in to vote early. I've especially been impressed with our current Governor Jon M. Huntsman. (Dave would rub in that I didn't vote for him in our last election, but I really like him. Why doesn't he run for President?) Anyways, I wanted to post this for Adam, I thought he would enjoy it. This is "Super Dell" Schanze's personal statement he provided for the voter guide. He is running for Governor. I could not believe it!

"SUPERDELL is your only choice because YOU didn't file. Huntsman took away your freedoms and taxed you more than any other Utah governor. Springmeyer has admitted he doesn't care about the Constitution. The definition of the word insane is voting for the same people while expecting change. There is no question that Dell Schanze is different.There are only three people on the ballot and SUPERDELL is the only one that is NOT Socialist. If you are unsure, then fill your heart with love, completely open your mind and pray to God earnestly. You can't afford to get this wrong and will be held accountable for your choice."


Are you kidding me? This guy is absolutely crazy! I knew politicians are bad but this is overboard.

Obviously, I'm not a political analyst, but whoever you decide our best candidates would be, do get out and VOTE!

"Take a Picture of It!"

Emma can be kind of a ham sometimes, and let's just say she's not camera shy! Lately, she'll do something silly that she thinks is cute or funny and then tells us "take a picture of it!". She loves to put food in her mouth (like the large globe grapes she stuffed in each of her cheeks to make them look puffy) or just play with it (she gets a kick out of milk moustaches now and loves chocolate pudding), or do "tricks", or anything else she can think of. Maybe we've trained her that way, as I like to take lots of pictures. It is a good reminder though, as we sometimes forget to catch some of these moments on camera. Emma also really likes to take pictures herself, so we have plenty of pictures on our camera of the floor, daddy feet, and other things. She is becoming quite the photographer however, and can aim better now. A couple of weeks ago, when we were over at Katie & Brandon Bill's house, Emma had a little excursion with Katie's camera she found on the table. Katie and I were bringing some stuff in from the car, right outside of her door, and we left Emma in on the lovesac right inside of the door. Emma came out the door, camera in her hands hand, when she said "Smile!" and proceeded to take some pictures of Katie and I. I started running towards her to get the camera, because it was a new one, and I didn't want it to get broken. She took a few, and our faces in the pics are quite bewildered and funny, as it really caught us off-guard. We got a kick out of those pictures, but luckilly, Katie deleted them right after we had a good laugh. Here are some of our favorite "take a picture of it" pictures!

Wrapping up summer!

It is true this is the last weekend of the summer. Bummer. I'm a big fan of summer and we've had a great time this year. But the fall comes and life keeps on moving. We like fall too, but there is something special about summer.

Here are a few pictures of some things we've been doing lately that I haven't gotten up yet... so here's an update:

Our last camping trip was our ward camp out, held in Porter. We really like camping, and this was a good way to end it. The first night, we set up camp, played games, had the worst sloppy joes I've ever had in my life, and a fireside by the bishopric. Saturday, we had breakfast (gratefully, it wasn't left over sloppy joes), and a speaker who is from the pioneer historical society, and then we went to hike part of the Mormon trail. Unfortunately, the trail was pretty steep and rocky, and we thought that might not be the best idea to do that with Emma in the backpack, so we decided to go shopping at the outlet malls in Park City instead. Yep, we wimped out on that one. Emma had a great time playing with her little nursery buds, Maverick Stratford and Ariana Canro.

Emma and I visited the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park several weeks ago with friends Katrina & Kyler Mortensen and Emily & Gretchen Haurand. We had a great time! Emma loved the dinos, well, most of them! She had a blast playing with her little friends, digging for dino bones, looking at the large-scale dinosaur statues they have, playing at the playground there, and all of the other things they have to offer...except for the giant mechanical dinosaurs that move and roar. Things that make noise like that don't always go over well with her.

Something we've discovered and enjoyed this summer is the South Ogden Nature Park (we call it the Splash Park). The last time we went this summer, was with a bunch of Emma's buddies. Aiden Mead, Tavin Miller, Cole Duckworth, and Maverick came for a while, too. Yep, she likes those boys! We had a fun time. Emma absolutely loves that place. I had a hard time getting her out of there!

We went to the Utah State Fair a week ago. The first date Dave & I went to was to the state fair, so we make it a point to go every year. This year, we saw Veggies Tales Live, which was pretty sweet. Nothing like a giant Bob the Tomato with bling light-up teeth singing silly songs! Walked around and saw the exhibits and booths. We visited the farm animals. Emma was in her stroller, holding a blanket, and sucking her thumb, as she likes to do, when we got too close to the goat fence and a goat decided her blanket looked pretty good. The goat grabbed it with its teeth and started chewing on it. We had to fight back for it. We saw a show featuring endangered tigers from around the world. That was pretty neat. They were big, smart animals. We were impressed. Of course, we had to try the hyped-up fried peanut butter & jelly sandwich that was so much advertised on the Fair commercials and ads this year. Surprisingly, it was pretty good. I was quite skeptical, but really enjoyed it! Being deep fried and makes any food taste really yummy, and powdered sugar and chocolate sauce doesn't hurt either, right?

Emma's Birthday! New & Improved with Pictures!

Happy Birthday to Two-Year-Old Emma!

When Emma and I were talking about birthdays a few weeks ago, I asked her how old she’d be turning when she had her birthday that was coming up. She looked at me for a second, and then said (very confidently and with serious look on her face) “Twenty-seven.” I had to laugh, I don’t know where she came up with that number! I thought we’d only learned numbers through 10. Since then, she’s figured out that with the event of her birthday, she’d turn “two”!

Emma was very excited about the whole birthday thing. In preparation, she learned the entire “Happy Birthday” song, and would sing it to herself quite a bit. She wanted a kitty party, so we based her party and birthday off that theme. She was excited to help make invitations. She helped pick out the stickers and paper, and helped cut and glue everything. She also helped figure out some of the festivities for her party.

Her actual birthday is August 31, but since that fell on a Sunday, we chose to celebrate it on Friday. We had a family party at the North Canyon Park in Bountiful with the Ryerse’s and Stoddards all there. Everything was decorated with purple and kitties. Emma and Tayla started the party out by doing a wooden kitty craft, while the rest of the guests chatted. They also played and ran around the park, they really liked the sand by the volleyball courts. We had a dinner of pizza, salad, watermelon, and pop. Emma helped plan the menu as well, she loves pizza and we had lots of root beer on hand, as that is her favorite! All-American kid, I guess.

Tayla and Emma then played “Pin the Tail on the Kitty”, which we made together. They thought it was pretty funny. Emma got dizzy a few times and really missed, running into things, and Tayla thought it would be okay to lift up her blindfold to see where she was going. But they got the point of the game and had a fun time.

We had cake and ice-cream next. I made a kitty face for the cake, and Emma really liked it! She sang the birthday song to herself with everyone else, and knew exactly when it was time to blow out the candles. It took her a few tries to get them out, but she did it and clapped when they both went out. Emma really liked the cake, and the ice-cream , which was pretty runny by the time we ate it that it was more like ice-cream soup. She had it all over her face, classic!

Present time was next. Emma really got into the present thing this year. Last year, she was less impressed by it. She loved pulling the bows off, ripping the paper and pulling things out of the bags. She got really spoiled! The present opening stopped when she uncovered her mini Kawasaki 4-Wheeler, given by Aunt Amy and Uncle Kolby and Aunt Meghan and Uncle Adam (thanks guys!). She (and Tayla) loved it! They rode it and laughed and had the best time on that thing. You use your legs to push it along, and there are buttons on it that make fun sounds. It was great! That was pretty much the rest of the party, as that was all Emma wanted to do. We had to pry her away from it to have her open the rest of her presents and thank everyone and give hugs goodbye.

Emma’s real birthday was on Sunday. To celebrate, we decorated our house with birthday signs, balloons, confetti, and all that festive stuff. We had a special breakfast, and she got to blow out a candle in her muffin. It was pretty much a normal day. She was excited to go to nursery (as always), and took treats to her class. When we got home, we ate dinner, which was a fancy dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches (it’s what Emma asked for!), carrot sticks and chips. Then we watched Aristocats, which she got for her birthday. We also looked through her baby book and talked about her life and looked at pictures. Then we had ice-cream cones. She seems to love everything about birthdays, and we’re looking forward to fun at her future birthdays!

It is said a lot, but it's true that kids grow fast! I can't believe little Emma is 2! She's getting big so quickly. She's no longer a baby, she's a little girl now! We love her so much and enjoy every day with her. The joy kids bring into life cannot be compared to anything else. It's the best!

I can't download pictures right now for some reason, but I promise to get the birthday pics up soon!

The cutest kitties you've ever seen - any takers?

About a month ago, we made a startling discovery! A cat decided to have kittens under our deck! We had seen this mommy kitty prancing around our condos for several months, and then it was like she dissapeared. Little did we know she was busy having babies - five of them - and they made their home under our deck! Dave thinks it's destiny... but back to the story. Once we figured out they were there, we began feeding the mom cat and taking care of her. She is a calico, Emma chose the name Callie for her. She is a very good cat - very well-tempered, clean and quiet, and loves to be cuddled with (this is starting to sound like a personals ad). She is also very good with kids and doesn't even get upset when Emma tries to pick her up or grabs her tail! She can live outdoors or indoors, and seems to like the combination of both. The five kitties are just as good as the Mom, and they are oh-so-cute! There is an adventurous orange one that likes to play. Two black ones, one long-haired and one short haired. One is also very energetic, and the other one is a little more shy. There is a calico one that looks like the mom. And then there's a black one with white paws that is very small. They are all so cute, and we love them, but just can't keep them. They're now starting to wean and starting to eat kitty food, and we can't afford to keep feeding them all! So, if you or someone you knows wants a kitty, please let us know! We want to find good homes for these sweet kitties. If anyone knows me, knows I'm not the hugest fan of felines, but these cats are changing my mind. They're so fun and good! Up top are some pictures of some of the kitties, not all of them are very good, because the little ones get kind of scared of the camera. But please ask around, we need to find these kitties a place to live before winter comes. Please?! Let us know if you're interested. Thanks!

Happy [Belated] Anniversary!

On August 10, Dave & I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary - hooray! It's been an awesome few years! It was Dave's turn to plan the celebratory activities. Since the actual date was on Sunday, we had the fun on Saturday. We were both a little sick, but didn't let that stop us. We started out at the Clark Planetarium to see the IMAX Movie of "Fly Me To The Moon". One of our first dates was at the Planetarium, so it was fun to go back. The movie was really cute. The other movies I've seen there have been more documentary-style movies. This was kind of like a Pixar one and it was 3D and everything. We then hung out at the Planetarium, where this picture was taken, on the "moon". After the movie, Dave told me it was time to shop. He's not a huge shopper, but said we could go wherever I wanted and take as much time as I wanted and get what I wanted. So we shopped for a while, that was fun. Then we had dinner at Ruby River - delicious (that is the new word Emma learned yesterday)! And then went for a drive. We reminisced a bit about our courtship experiences, our wedding, and the time we've been married. We ended by getting concretes at Nielsen's Frozen custard and went on a drive up to the Bountiful Temple, where we got married. It was a fun night to be together! On Sunday, our actual anniversary, it was pretty much a normal day...we exchanged presents and cards. We did have to speak in church though. Dave had to speak first - ha! So he did the introductions. He started out by saying it's a good day for the Ryerse Family, as it was our 3rd Anniversary. He said it's been the best three years of his life, and he's loved every minute of it. Then he said that it just keeps getting better...but it doesn't just get better, you have to make it better, he said. Then he told me how much he loved me and how kind and forgiving I am to him. He transitioned into his talk than on the topic of forgiveness. It was fun to hear him say that in public, he mostly just tells me these types of things when we're alone. But he's right, it does just keep getting better, but it doesn't just happen. You have to make marriage happy and good. It reminds me of an Ensign article that was featured several months ago about how marriage is like a garden - it needs to be weeded, watered, and tended constantly. That has really stuck with me. I am excited to see where our garden goes and how it grows in the future! My Dave, you are my sunshine! I am grateful for what you bring to my life. It's been a great ride... thanks babe! I love you!

I-Da-Ho!

So we spent last weekend in Idaho, Twin Falls to be exact. Lots of Dave's family is from there, and Sue (mom) grew up there, so we really wanted to go to the temple open house. That was the main purpose of our trip, but we did some other fun things as well. We drove up Saturday afternoon with Dave's siblings, Randy (the chauffer - ahhh! Hold on for your life!) and Julie. I didn't notice many of the surroundings, or don't even remember what movie they watched on the way up. I was too busy indulging myself with Breaking Dawn, the latest in the Twilight series that came out early that morning. Pretty good. I'm more than half way through it now, and can't wait to see what happens. Anyways, back to the story. So we drove the 3 hours it takes to get there, and got to Uncle Mac & Aunt Marsha's home and hung out there for a while. Then we went to a place called Gertie's Brick Oven Cookery. It was a buffet-style pizza place, and it was crazy! Here are just a few of the types of pizza we tried (or turned our noses up at and said "eww!"): Cashew Chicken, Seafood, Pepperoni Ranch, Hawaiian, Double Cheese, Crab, Idahoan (had hash brown potatoes and bacon on it), and Idahoan with Ranch, Classic pepperoni, some weird kind with peppers and what they called "sausage" on it that was really cow heart. Yeah, before you loose your lunch, they had yummy dessert pizzas including Bavarian Cream, Blueberry, Raspberry, Chocolate and Caramel, Cinnamon Swirl, and my favorite, the Reese's Pieces. Yum! We would get a piece, and then cut it up, so we could sample lots of different kinds. If you're ever in the area, it's worth stopping. We met Dave's Uncle Parry and his wife Angela, and their four kids there. One of them is from Parry's first marriage, Frank, and he lives in England with his mom, but he's here for the summer. He's about 15 now, and Dave was shocked because hadn't seen him since he was a little boy. His accent was a crack-up, he was a cool little dude. They had an aviation theme too, so I thought the decor was fun. And it was a hit with Emma. They had a little arcade, and some rides for little kids. Emma liked the "Kiddy Red Baron" she rode on. We went then to Dave's cousin Michael and his wife Melody's home in Twin, where we just talked for a long time with all of Dave's other cousins who were there, and then played American Idol on the Wii. Then we watched the second Singles Ward. I liked it better this time, the first time I saw it, it wasn't as fun. But maybe that's because we ended the movie at about 1 a.m., and we all know how I get when it's late! (: Sunday, we went to church at a retirement center. Mac & Marsha help run their sacrament meetings there. It was sweet! The opening prayer and song, the sacrament (one lady tried to swallow the cup and wouldn't let it out of her mouth...that was interesting), and then two short talks that couldn't have lasted more than 5 minutes, and then the closing song and prayers. Short and sweet. But I missed going to RS and Sunday School. We went back and played at Mac & Marsha's house. We rode their four-wheelers all over their property, that was kind of fun. Dave loved it...that's one of his dreams someday to get a bunch of ATV's for our family to go riding lots together. Emma had a great time, too. We just hung out and played at the house that afternoon, and then all of the cousins and their wives and kids came over for a ham dinner. It was fun to see that family, because we don't see them very much anymore with everyone all grown up and busy and stuff. We talked for a long time with everyone, and chased Emma in the backyard. Which brings up a great blog article for next time...the names we've thought of for our little boy. Don't even ask, everyone was, and you don't wanna know! (Ha ha, some of you know what I'm talking about). Monday, we woke up and had a fun breakfast on the back patio with everyone. Then we went to the Twin Falls temple dedication - the true reason for the trip. There is a large stake center adjacent to the new temple, so that's where we watched the video. Then we went through. It was relatively small, but beautiful! My favorite part was a mural they have in one of the instruction rooms of Twin Falls and the surrounding landscaping. They had deer on it, and even a tiny lizard they had us find. It was neat. All of the volunteers were great, one thing I love about the church is how organized and efficient it is. And the volunteers are so happy. Even a little boy who had a broken arm was in charge of holding the main doors to the temple open, and he had a large grin on his face. I thought that was cool. Emma loved the chandelier in the Celestial Room and was pointing and staring the whole time. She was very reverent though. Most of the time. She also said "I see the temple" throughout our time there. We checked things out from the outside after that, and headed back to the stake center where they had cookies and drinks, and elaborate decorations and displays. It looked more like a ritzy LDS wedding reception in the cultural hall/gym than part of the open house. But it was pretty cool. After that, we said our goodbyes to the fam. It was great too, because Grandma Lilly, who isn't very mobile but Twin Falls is such a part of her, was able to go. I think she enjoyed it. We made a run to Sonic for happy hour (the Ryerse's are crazy about Sonic!), and then drove home, again, I read all the way. Emma sang half of the time to keep her self entertained, which was cute. Her favorite song? "I Love to See the Temple" of course!