Our Family Faces in Florida

We decided to get family pictures at the resort. But McKay and Tanner both had accidents the night before. McKay fell out of his stroller and Tanner fell out of his bed and hit the nightstand. I asked the photographer if we could angle the kids so you wouldn't see the wounds. She said not to worry that she would "photoshop" it out. I guess she forgot! Oh well, I guess our picture has character.

Grandma and Grandpa with all their boys. The picture with all their girls is much smaller!
What handsome boys we have!

Here is all the family. There is one person missing, any guesses?

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Disney World. Look at all the different smiles you get when you are the in the "happiest place on earth!" (The ride behind us is the newest ride in Disney World, its called Mt. Everest. It is a wild and crazy rollercoaster that goes backwards in and out of the mountain doing 2 loops. All the boys loved it (including Paul) they couldn't get enough of it. I went once and then was happy to sit and watch McKay while the boys went again and again.

Autographs with Disney Characters

Garrett bought an Autograph book while we were at Disney World and he was determined to get every character's autograph possible. We all worked very hard at this and stood in many lines to get the coveted autographs.
After spending a few days at Disney World we want to give all of you future Disney travelers a tip: Book a meal with Disney character dining in advance! Luckily someone gave us this tip and we were able to dine with Mickey and friends and have these characters all to ourselves. Trust me, it is well worth the extra few dollars a plate to eat a nice meal in a laid back enviroment with the Disney characters all to ourselves (at least that's how it felt). The kids had a blast and we racked up autographs and pictures.
The first few pictures were taken at our dinner, the rest were taken at different parks. See if you can name all the different Disney characters. . .(better yet, all the Ritchie cousins).

Fighting over girls

Bryson won't even talk to anyone about girls. But Garrett and Tanner are a different story. The problem is they both like the same girl, Summer Chappell. We were invited to go have a BBQ with our friends, the Chappell's, in their new home in Salt Lake. Our kids get along great, they have 3 girls and we have 4 boys. Garrett and Summer are the same age, but Tanner is now trying to hit on Garrett's girl. Tanner always wants to have Summer come and play house with him. They both say their girlfriend is Summer Chappell. I'm a little nervous if this is just a taste of whats to come. The Chappell girls are all cute, I wish they would each like one. . . but not for another 15 years!

Tanner rides "a two wheeler"

Tanner has been telling us that now that he is 5, he should be riding a two wheeler (a bike w/o training wheels). He said, "Mom, I just keep watching my brothers and it looks so easy." So, after watching his brothers ride so effortlessly, Tanner enlisted Bryson's help. After a few pointers, Tanner was ready and just took off. As you can see, Tanner is very proud of his accomplishment. His feet have hardly touched the ground since then. He loves to ride his bike and will get up early to go outside and practice.

Go Donald!

Bryson (and his cousin Spencer above) just finished performing the annual 3rd grade Disney program. This is big stuff in our town! The kids have watched this program since Kindergarten, and every year it gets bigger and better than ever. Bryson has said for years he wanted to be Donald Duck. He was happy to find out after tryouts that he had landed the part!
Bryson was the star of the show, going in and out of many songs and dances. He was the "comic relief" , his job was to make everyone laugh. This picture is taken at the end of the show when the rest of the third graders yell, "Duck, Donald, duck!" And then out of the sky falls a bunch of balls that land right on Bryson and makes him fall to the ground.
Here is Bryson dancing with his class, his partner is a cute little girl in our ward (she was Simba). I've decided that when you are in 3rd grade, you must not smile while you are dancing with a girl. You don't want to look as if you are having fun, dancing is strictly business!
Dancing to . . . can you guess? "It's A Small World"
Here is Bryson trying to steal the show away from Mickey! Go Bryson! I was so proud of him. I must have some of my Mom in me. I sat there watching His program with tears in my eyes because this use to be my baby just yesterday. What happened?

Happy Birthday McKay!

I can't believe my baby just turned two! McKay had a
fun birthday: going to soccer games and helping us work in the yard. The highlight of the day was when Brady and Karen came up for dinner.
The weather was so warm and nice! Paul decided to make tinfoil dinners for us all, and we had a picnic in the backyard.
McKay discovered STRAWBERRIES while I was making his birthday dessert (brownies with pudding and strawberries - very tasty - if anyone wants the recipe). Anyways, McKay went and found his own little step (our cooler) and stood on top forever eating strawberry after strawberry. He would spit out the green top on the floor in a nice little pile for Mommy to clean up, but because it was his birthday and I was busy with dinner, I let him enjoy his new discovery. What a tasty birthday treat!


McKay had fun opening his presents. He got a new sandbox to play in (his Daddy is so excited about cleaning up all the sand). But McKay's favorite gift was the dum-dum sucker that Garrett gave him. I don't think McKay really understood what all the fuss was about, but we all had a fun time pampering our little two year old. He is still our little baby and we all love him to pieces! Now, I guess its time to take away that bottle. . .