Fair Days Kids 1 Mile Run

The Ritchie Boys, the Heywood kids and the Malmrose's all ran (along with their parents) the Kids 1 mile run (which followed the 10K). This annual run is one of the activities that "kick off" the Wasatch County Fair Days activities. Is there a winner in there?

The butterflies always kick in just before the race begins, but the many months of training give mental strength for the grueling task ahead. Because they are prepared, the mental pain is minimal compared to the mental anguish that their competitors feel knowing that they have to fight the Ritchie/Heywood running crew."Now the race is on and here comes pride on the backstretch ... " Isn't there a song about that?

Those who were less well trained sprinted off of the blocks believing that they could maintain an early lead on the Ritchie/Heywood crew.

But, as you can clearly see above, the Ritchie / Heywood crew had nerves of steel, and in their faces you saw no fear ... because there was none. It was as if Winston Churchill was their cheerleader "...let it be said of us that this is our finest hour."

Savannah Heywood, newly named, appropriately so, the "Gazelle" set a new course record, and in doing so, she instilled fear in the hearts of the many children that know they must face her in the years to come. Good job Bananna Brains!

Garrett and Tanner had such a great time on the run that they decided to continue practicing with their fast shoes and newly acquired race shirts. Is it possible for Aunt Kristen's prowess to have some genetic tie to these boys? I'll have to take that genetics class over again to try to figure that one out.

Ry Ry's 22nd Birthday!

Ryan is one year closer to becoming, in Brigham Young's words, a "menace to society". We had a great time celebrating his near-menace stature (Angela wishes to clarify that this is a joke - in case anyone thought we were serious) with a bunch of his friends with a barbecue and cake here in Heber. This year's candy-bar poster is an all-time classic (humbly spoken by the author of course).

Seven Peaks Outing

With such a crazy schedule, we finally had our first family outing (with the Chappell family) to Seven Peaks at the end of July.

McKay has no fear of the water and loves being right in the thick of it with his parents and brothers.

Pioneer Day Diaper Derby

For the 24th of July, the whole "Ritchie clan" (at least those who were close) got together for a last hurrah at our home before Tyler and Emily headed out to Las Vegas. McKay (blue) and his cousin Heath Clyde (red) "found" the outdoor landscaping stairs and started the first annual Pioneer Day Diaper Derby.

The only problem with having an annual event is that that keeps Angela in the baby production mode, which of course is fine with me, but which she assures me will not happen on an annual basis.

BYU Football Is About Here

I think it only appropriate that my first "blogger" post be a BYU Football post. I took the boys to the BYU Spring game, the debut of our new head football coach, Bronco Mendenhall, with my brother Ryan and his two little kids.

Bryson, Garrett, Tanner and I waited for several hours after the game to meet the players, the past players and the coaches and then to get pictures with many of them and their autographs (on Bryson's new BYU Football).

We got autographs from Chad Lewis, Bronco Mendenhall, Brandon Doman, Jason Buck, Steve Kafusi, Curtis Brown, Luke Staley, etc. We also got individual pictures, like the one shown here, with the HC, OC, QBC, DLC. I'm not sure whether the boys or I had more fun, but as the Wave used to say "fun was had by all."

Garrett loses a tooth!

Garrett is now ready to start 1st grade with his front tooth missing. His tooth was dangling for weeks, and his Daddy couldn't stand it any longer! So, we put some floss around it and pulled it out. Garrett wanted to make sure he was getting the most he could from the tooth fairy, so he (along with his Daddy's help) wrote a letter to the tooth fairy. And it worked! Garrett was able to get enough money to buy a pack of pokemon cards! The tooth fairy is a sucker for little boys that can't eat their corn on the cob very well anymore.

Sunsets in Heber City

You can't beat this sunset(this picture was taken from our back porch).

4th of July BBQ

We weren't quite sure what to do on the 4th without any Grandparents around. But, luckily Ryan and my cousin Erica came to hang out with us! We had a yummy BBQ, then did our fireworks. Erica was the firework organizer and Ryan and Paul helped the kids light them, while I was in charge of keeping McKay out of the way. The boys had a blast dancing around in the light of the fireworks. After, we had a campfire and made S'mores while watching the fireworks in Midway.

Hiking Stewart Falls

I know we are not the most dedicated bloggers, unlike some of you out there...but, wait till you have four kids! However, I am excited to really figure this thing out and someday be as good as Cory and Kristen or Brady and Karen!
We hiked the Edwards family way to Stewart Falls on the the fourth of July with our friends, the Chappells. When I say the Edwards family way, I mean our secret little short cut. Everything is so green up in the Sundance area this year! There was lots of water from all the rain and snow we've had this year. Infact, the boys had a blast jumping (then just walking through all the streams). The waterfall was in full force and we had fun getting sprayed at the bottom of the falls and cooling off!
I know some of you maybe looking at this saying, I thought Paul and Angela had 4 boys, not 5... we brought our cousin Caden Clyde along with us! And if you can't see McKay, he is sitting up in his backpack on Paul's back, loving the ride!