Monday, October 24, 2011

Spontaneous...


Deano is such a nut!
I am probably one of the least spontaneous people alive! I am a planner! Especially when it comes to travel...we're talking, make lists of every outfit & item of clothing 2 weeks before leaving town kind of planner! So when my mom decided one day in August that we should take the kids & go to California for the weekend...I nearly had a heart attack! I can't believe I went (it took some begging from my mom and sister, as well as Chris urging me to go), but I'm so glad we did!
Best buddies!
Nolan is VERY popular with his cousins!
Brielle & Claire - Newport Beach
My cousins from Las Vegas were there too!
I love this picture of Noli eating the sand...classic kid at the beach! Maybe
this is why I don't really like the beach...there is just too much sand!
Are you wondering if I'm OCD?


SEA WORLD
was a HUGE hit! It was our first time & the kids LOVED it!



American Girl Place at The Grove in LA
If you've never been here...DON'T b/c they suck the mom's in just as much as the kids!  They have a million outfits & accessories.  They pretty much have anything a little girl & her doll could possibly want/need! Even Deano was begging for a doll by the time we left! This was our 2nd trip to trip to American Girl Place...we "needed" to get Kit's ears pierced too...b/c Kiersten got hers last time (see what I mean...piercing your dolls ears? What will they think of next)!

Riding the Trolley at The Grove

When I was younger my family used to jokingly say my middle name was "Grace" because I was SO NOT graceful! Tripping, falling down stairs etc. are all a part of my everyday life.  A few weeks before our trip I decided to go running outside (which I rarely do), the previous time I went 'running' (in July) I tripped on an uneven sidewalk and fell, scraping up my arm & leg (no wonder I don't go running)...so the last thing Chris said to me before I left was "BE CAREFUL!"  The famous last words! I was planning to pick my bike up at my parents house, as I approached their driveway I started to slow down a bit and 'grace' struck again...I rolled my ankle & fell to the ground.  Of course they live on a busy street and some stranger pulled over to see if I was OK...I was humiliated, but acted like I was fine (even though I could not stand up and had to call my dad to come outside and help me inside)....I sprained my ankle.  Typical.  Fast forward 2 weeks to our trip to California. My ankle was starting to heal, I was limping less but still had to keep it wrapped up.  We went to the park (because my kids were driving us crazy in Nat's 2 bedroom condo) and Nat was being a SUPER FUN aunt chasing them all over the park (playing zoo animals), and rolled her ankle! The ironic thing is that she said that when I told her I'd sprained my ankle running she thought "what a klutz"....huh, I guess that will teach her!
Nat's always wanted to do everything I do! :)
She'll probably kill me or posting this pic. but I had to! When we wereat The Grove some girls were pointingat Nat and laughing because she looked so cute pushing the stroller while using hercrutch. We aren't wimpy when it comes to shopping & theme parks...we went to Sea World & The Grove with our sprained ankles (Nat was in a wheelchair at sea World)...we must have looked ridiculous with our matching wrapped ankles! 



Favorite Summer Visitors!

One of our FAVORITE things during the summer is our annual visit from Grandpa & Grandma Rueckert & Aunt Amanda!  The kids look forward to it all year because they are so much fun!
Dean & Inger...I couldn't have asked for better in-laws and
they are the best grandparents...they LOVE to read, play, sing
and pretty much give Brielle & Dean their undivided attention!
Amanda, Chris & Brielle
 I have very few pictures of Chris & Amanda, so I thought I'd
throw this one in from our friends garage/car collection.
It's interesting because their parents say that Amanda reminds
them SO much of Chris...mannerisms, things she says etc..
It blows them away, especially considering he went to college
before she was 2!
Dean Christopher, Christopher Dean & Grandpa Dean
(I know, Deano's name is SO original!)

 Liberty Park
Deano LOVES LOVES LOVES his Grandpa!

Brielle adores Amanda!



Sharing a little treat...who would not want
cotton candy when it's 99 degree's outside!?!
These are probably 3 of grandma's biggest fans! I hope Deano
grows up to feel the same way Chris feels about his mom!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Trophy Husband

I'm so proud of Chris for winning the "Olympia Muscle & Fitness SuperPump Max Athlete Challenge" in Las Vegas! He's never done anything like this, but he stole the show (not that I'm biased)!


They had to "model" on stage for the finals but the day
before they had an athelte challenge to see how many
times they could bench press their body weight...



curl 35% of your body weight... 85lbs for a 245lb Chris


 

and how far they could run/sprint at a 6% incline
in 90 seconds.




Chris & his cousin Mike Symkoviak (who conviced
him to do this with him in the 1st place...I think he
might be regretting that now)

It was so much fun to see Chris "working it" on stage...I've never seen him "show off" like this in public...I was cracking up, but I was so proud of him!

Chris won a photo spread in "Muscle & Fitness Magazine" and a chance to be on the cover (if they like the pictures).  I'm so excited for him, Muscle & Fitness is a MAJOR national magazine...he is such a trophy husband!

 Here are a couple of interviews that he did after winning...





Saturday, August 13, 2011

Seven

It's hard to believe it has already been 7 years since this
sweet & beautiful girlie came along!
Brielle LOVES art!
We had her birthday party at Creativity (a pottery painting place), she invited all her buddies and they had such a great time!
Baylee, Brielle & Molly
Ashlynn, Grace & Starli

Golden, Kastle, Cash & Deano
It was SO fun to have Aunt Amanda in town, too!

Happy Birthday to our favorite girl in the world!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Gledhill Grandkids



My parents will never have a bunch of grandkids (considering they only had 2 children and we don't seem to be producing a plethera of offspring) but the Gledhill Grandkids are ADORABLE...if I do
say so myself!


Deano adores baby Noli! He just can't seem
to get enough of him!
Noli adores Brielle! He lights up everytime
she gets near him, its adorable!
 I love these pictures of Nolan because he is smiling in both! Such a little doll!

Everybody adores Bobpa! I love this picture because the kids
are all having such a great time, which is exactly how it
always is with Bobpa!


We love this adorable little guy and we miss him SO much!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Oakley Rodeo

We always go to the Oakley Rodeo (Oakley is near Kamas) 4th of July weekend.  This year we invited our family friends the Losee's to come and now they want to join the tradition too because it was so much fun! I wish I'd have taken more pictures with everybody in our group (there were 20 of us), but here are a couple I snapped with my phone. 
Gracie & Deano doing a little boot scoot boogie!
I can't believe I did not get
a better picture of this cute
little cowgirl

 
This girl LOVES her bobpa!
Bob & Di


I love this picture of Grace & her grandpa...you can see so much
excitement in both their profiles!