OK.... HELP!!!!

So, my son is almost 3 years old and still has a pacifier!!! I know.... that's awful!!! And being a dental assistant in an office where we do braces, I am fully aware of the orthodontic consequences it's going to have. I have tried everything to get him to stop. It's pretty sad when you threaten to take his escalade power wheels back to the store if he doesn't give it up and that doesn't even work!!! I've tried to just take it away, but it's like he has a little stash somewhere because he always comes up with one in his mouth. My entire family, including Ryan, is on my case about it and it's starting to stress me out. So if anyone has any good suggestions as to what I could try, that would be GREAT!!!! I'm willing to try anything.

Half Marathon and Spiderman 5K

So.... anyone that knows me very well knows that I've pretty much always hated to run, and did it for aerobic purposes only. Well, my sister-in-law, the very convincing person that she is, talked me into running a half marathon with her in January. For some reason, I agreed. I have really been trying to run to build up my endurance a little (since I could barely run to the end of my driveway) in preparation for the official 12 wk. training. I have to say, there are A LOT of times where I really curse at myself for being so easily convinced, but all-in-all I'm starting to enjoy it a little by little. Ryan even bought me a double jogging stroller for my b-day to help encourage me. The boys are so good to go, too. They don't make a peep the whole time we're out and most of the time, Maddux falls asleep. (Which I will take any day!!)
Anyway, I put a ticker on my blog so that I have more motivation to train hard, for I don't want to make a completely fool out of myself for chickening out.

I also want to add that there is a 5K run or walk on Nov. 8 for the CUTEST little boy who has leukemia and the parents are in need of a little help. This just tugged at my heart strings because he is the same age as Ryder and I just couldn't imagine what it would be like for him to get sick like that. So if anyone wants to check it out the website is www.spidermanfightscancer.com. Please do. They need as much support from as many people as possible. Thanks!!!

St. George part deux

The main part of our vacation was spent on Ryan's brother's boat down on Sand Hollow. It was so much fun and so crazy at the same time. Pretty much the adults were outnumbered by the kids so that always make for an exciting day. But thankfully they were all really good and we all had a great time. We even got to do some wakeboarding. I had never done it before so I was pretty nervous that I was going to drink up half the lake from eating it so many times. (Mind you, I have only attempted water skiing once in my LIFE and that was about 10 yrs. ago.) Miraculously, I got up my first time and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was. Ryan, at no surprise considering he's such a natural athlete, was so good at it and made it look so easy. Not so much in reality!!! But even he took quite a few hard falls.
Ryder absolutely LOVED the boat. He was the best I have ever seen him be for that long. He just sat at the front of the boat and observed everything. He and Zach kept each other pretty entertained just by talking to one another. He even got to get in the water and jump off the back of the boat. Maddux didn't quite love the boat as much as his brother. Considering his life jacket was as big as he was, he just couldn't get comfortable. Lucky for me, my amazing mother-in-law took him home for the second half of the day so I could somewhat enjoy the rest of the day.

Florence Family Vaca

Ryan's whole family went down to St. George for the week for a little getaway. It was so fun to just chill and hang out with entire fam. We got to do a lot of fun things, one of which was going to Zions. Well, lets clarify, Ryan and Ryder got to go to Zions while Maddux and I got to hang out at the house and relax for the day. I just couldn't get myself to drag a six month old on a 4 hour excursion, but Ryan got some great pictures of everybody and of the scenery. When I look at some of these it makes me so proud to be living in Utah.

This is Ryder and his cousin Zach. They are the best of friends and just love to talk and hang out with one another.


Ryan and his big (but littler) brother, Tyson. Definitely a family resemblance there.




Ryder with nana and papa.