Sleepy Daddy

Chris fell asleep on the couch today... So Ava had some fun putting her princess blankets on him and "making Daddy pretty".... haha! 

My Girls

Just wanted to post a couple cute pics I took today of my girls while we were out playing in the yard... Wow, I can't believe my little Miley is almost 6 months old!  And a few more months and my little Ava will be 4!  They just grow too fast... Anyone know how to stop this from happening?  I just wish I could freeze time and keep them little forever!  haha...

Happy Halloween!

Ok, so Ava had the hardest time deciding what she wanted to be this Halloween.  It it so funny being in the "mom" position now and trying to reason with my little girl by picking something that she wants to be, but also something that is not going to cost me too much!  It makes me think back to when I was a young and indecisive kid myself and would battle with my own mom on choosing the "perfect" Halloween costume...  And I've gotta tell ya, I don't know how that woman ever kept sane during these times of the year!  Everyday Ava would change her mind about what she wanted to be!  So finally, I just went out and bought her a little witch costume.  Nothing fancy, typical hat and broom.  Well, the only way that Ava agreed to wear this costume is because I told her that she could paint her whole face green!  And she was stoked!  It was all she'd talked about for the whole month of October!  So finally, it's Halloween night, and we are getting her costume on, and that crazy little girl just absolutely REFUSES to paint her face green!  haha... It's so funny how fast their minds can change.  Silly girl.  Oh well...  Can't wait to do it all over again next year!  I'm sure it just gets better as they get older!  :)
Anyways, as for our festivities, this Halloween we were invited to a party at my cousin, Michelle Speaker's house.  So we bbq'd hot dogs and hamburgers and enjoyed spending time with some family that we don't get to see often enough, and then we all went trick-or-treating around their neighborhood as a big group!  I've never been trick-or-treating in a big group like that before, and it was SO much more fun!  I think we will try and do that for all of our many Halloweens to come... It just makes the whole experience a lot more fun when you've got friends to have fun with!  The kids loved it because... well, I guess it's a given why the kids loved it... haha.  Cuz it's trick-or-treating!  But best of all, it was much more enjoyable for us adults because we got to talk and play and have fun trick-or-treating too!  Anyways, it was a great time!

Thanks Speaker family for throwin' a fabulous Halloween party!

 Carving pumpkins at the beginning of the week...

 

 

 

Sadly, after the first night of glowing out on the front porch, they we already rotten by the next morning... haha!  Guess that's good ol' AZ for ya!

~~Baby's First Halloween!!~~

Miley, the witch, and her cousin, Karter, the monkey!

Disneyland

I just wanted to post a GINORMOUS THANK YOU to Chris's parents and family for including us in their trip to Disneyland last week!  We had such a blast!  Lots of great memories were made!  We have such a fun family!  I am so lucky to be a part of it!  So Thanks Again Rice's for everything!!!  We love you!  Here are some pics from our trip!

Ready for the Happiest Place On Earth!

Day 1

 Waiting in line to see the Princesses!!

Day 2 

Ava being silly while we wait... and wait... and wait some more... haha!

It was all worth it though!  Ava loved meeting the Princesses!  I think it was the highlight of her trip!  We even got to have lunch with Ariel and some of the other Princesses at Ariel's Grotto over in California Adventure on Day 3!  I have to admit, it was pretty awesome!  Probably MY favorite part of the trip!

Even Miley was always worn out by the end of every day!

My two awesome baby-helpers for the trip!  haha...   Aren't they beautiful!?  Thanks girls!  ;)  Love ya!

I Cannot Believe It!

Wow, where has this year gone?  Is it really the end of October already?  In the words of the great Quincy from Disney's Little Einsteins, "I CANNOT BE-LIEVE IT!"  It's just crazy how fast this year has come and gone... I can't help but feel somewhat cheated as I look back and try to remember exactly what events this year consisted of.  It's as if time just blew past me like a giant freak gust of wind that just came up out of the blue, tossing my hair up and throwing dust in my eyes.  And before I even have the chance to catch my breath... it's gone.  Leaving me with nothing but watering, stinging eyes, and a very unattractive wind blown hair-do.  Now, don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic year!  SO much to be grateful for!  I'm just having trouble accepting it's almost over...  Man, not too many more of these and pretty soon at this time of year I'll be standing on my front porch, waving good-bye to my little Ava, as her and her date drive away on their way to her first homecoming dance...  ugh... just the thought of it sends a chill down my spine...

Hm, well enough of that... now where was I?... Oh, so here we are!  The end of October!  This has always been my favorite time of year.  When the weather gets nice and cozy, and fall colors are everywhere, and the holidays are just around the corner...  Seems like this year has just been somewhat chaotic with lots of ups and downs for our family.  In fact I feel like my head is still kind of spinning... But I guess all I can do is live for the now, right?  So here is an official update of what is going on as of now for our family! 

Well, as some of you already know we are kind of set back to square one.  Unfortunately after a whole year of waiting for Chris's new job with the LVMPD to work out, we are once again playing the same waiting game...  Ok, now I'm not very good at summarizing, but I will try and make a long story short.  But unfortunately Chris had to withdraw himself after his first week at the academy due to a back injury that we thought was healed.  See, back in April our family was involved in a minor car accident, in which case we were rear-ended by an elderly woman.  Anyways, luckily no one was seriously injured, or so we thought.  In fact, aside from being a little shook up, we all felt we were fine and didn't see any need to go to the hospital to be checked out.  (This was our first mistake, but neither of us had experienced anything like this before, so we had no idea of the after effects...)  Needless to say, after the adrenaline wore off, like any accident would do, we began to feel the soreness and achyness pretty intense.  So we decided to see a chiropractor, who did an evaluation and set us up for some appointments to get us feeling good again.  During all of this Chris was still in the process of applying and testing for the Vegas PD, so we never thought twice about it, because we figured we had plenty of time to recover before any thing happened.  So after six months of bi-weekly chiropractor visits, Chris is still not 100% better, but he finally gets accepted in Vegas and he decides to discontinue his visits so he can head off to start the academy.  Well, that was our second mistake I guess.  He had been training previously trying to get in shape for the academy and never had any unbearable back pain, so we assumed he was all healed.  Its not until he starts the academy and is pushed to his limits that his back pain comes back with full force.  So he saw a doctor in Vegas to see if there was anything he could do to lessen the pain, but he just put him on light duty, which meant that Chris couldn't participate in most of the physical tests.  Therefore, unfortunately his only option was to resign.  (Wow, I didn't really make that a short story did I... oops!)  Anyways, they pretty much just told him to get better and re-apply when his back is healed.  Needless to say it has been a very frustrating time for the both of us.  But it is no ones fault and there is nothing else we can do but work on getting Chris healthy again!   So for the time being we are here to stay.  Well, in AZ at least...  We will still be moving some time in the next month.  But no decisions have been made... we are still looking at our options and trying to decide the best path for us right now.  I'm sure we will let everyone know when we get things figured out!  We are just trying to stay positive and remember that although it was a very frustrating set back, everything happens for a reason!  I heard a quote once that said, " If you ever want to make Heavenly Father laugh, just tell him your plans!"  haha.... So I'm sure even though this was something we wanted, he has a plan for us somewhere!

First Day at the Academy

Well, yesterday Chris had his first official day at the LVMPD academy! I talked to him last night and he was pretty exhausted! He said all in all he has never been yelled at so much in his life. But I guess that was to be expected! He said it was pretty crazy because they make it seem like you just can't do anything right. They had to be lined up by 6:00am and they didn't get off until 6:00pm and in that time period they changed clothes about 5 times because they would be told to go change into their uniforms, but then right when they got their uniforms on, they would come out and get yelled at because they took too long, so he'd make them go back and change into their PT uniforms so they could do more push-ups to make up for taking so long to get their uniforms on! haha... So he says it was a long day of getting told they weren't good enough and they were never going to make it through this academy. He also told me that out of the 30 recruits, 2 already quit! After just one day! I guess that is why they make it so tough, so they weed out the weak ones. As for Chris though, he says the physical work is difficult, but do-able. He has always liked a physical challenge, so that doesn't surprise me. He's also made a few friends already, which is good... he says surprisingly there are a handful from his class that are also LDS too! He says the hardest part of all of this is being away from the girls and me. (awww... so sweet!) He doesn't think he can make it until the beginning of December without us up there. He says he wants us to move up as soon as possible. So I think we will try to bump it up a month and move up the beginning of November instead. I thought it would make things easier on him if we stayed here while he adjusts to the academy for the first couple months, but he says it is more stressful on him not being able to come home to his family every night... poor guy... We miss him too! So we'll see how it all works out... I guess I need to start looking for a house up there... Anyways, I just thought I'd let you all know how he is doing and how his first day went!

We are so proud of you Chris! We love you SO Much! Can't wait til we can all be together again! Keep up the hard work! We'll see you soon!

September Update and Rice Family Pics!

Hello! Wow, I can't believe I've gone this long without a post! I am such a slacker, I know! Well, there isn't much going on right now, but I'll post a quick update on what's happening with our small little family for those of you that I don't get to talk to on a regular basis.
Right now I am up in Vegas with Chris. I came up for a short visit and to attend the Family Orientation night for Chris's job, which was last night. But I am headed home today... :( It has been nice to see Chris and hang out with him! He starts the academy next Monday, the 21st, so I know his life is going to drastically change pretty quick and he will be busy all the time with that. I'm glad I got to come up for a visit before he started, so we could just relax together for a couple days. It has been a nice trip! I am going to miss him when I go home, but I know it is all worth it in the end.
For now, the girls and I are at home, while Chris is living in Vegas. He is temporarily renting a room that he found in an online ad on Craigslist. He says everyone up here is really nice and he likes the ward that he is in, so that is good! The house he is staying in is also occupied by a few other roommates, but they are rarely home, so the house is always quiet. So that will make it easier for him to get all the studying done that he will have to do when the academy starts, which is also nice for him. He says he is very nervous but excited at the same time to start at the academy. I think I am more scared for him than he is! But then again he has always had the desire to join the military, (not that I would EVER let him!), so now he will get a good taste of what that would be like I guess! haha. The girls and I will move up with him the 1st of December, which will give us some time to save up a couple paychecks for the big move! Hopefully that will give me enough time to get the house packed and ready to go! So it should be an interesting next couple months for all of us! I'm sure I will be in Cottonwood spending a lot of time with my mom to pass the time! Plus while I'm in school, its easier to get homework done with someone to help with the kids! Love you MOM!
Well, I think that is about it... We sure love and appreciate all of your love and support that you all show to our family in this time of change! We've got the best friends and family ever! Thanks to you all!

Now here are just a few family pics I wanted to post from our Family Reunion a couple months ago... I just got them from Jolin so I wanted to show them off! hehe! Enjoy!

The WHOLE Fam-Dam-ily!

Our Own Little Family

Chris and I

Grandma & Grandpa! Cute Pic!

Utah Trip

Since Chris is gone, and the girls and I have nothing better to do, I decided this was the perfect time to head up to Provo to visit my sister and her family for a few days!  Luckily, my other sister, Kati, was nice enough to take the trip up with me last week to keep me company on the long drive!  It was a great trip!  We always have fun when us sisters get together!  And believe it or not, there is never a dull moment!  Especially when you're carting around five kids under the age of 5 everywhere you go... That's for sure!  Our trip consisted of lots of fun activities, including a walk down memory lane while watching some old and entertaining family home videos from our childhood, a very interesting trip to the mall, (in which Ava just happened to decide to throw THE BIGGEST TANTRUM I have ever seen her throw in her whole three years of life, which is always embarrassing...  UGH!  But that's a story in itself for another day), and a fun trip to Cornbelly's Cornmaze!  (Which is an awesome fall festival type of thing at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi... Probably the best ever!)  All-in-all, it was a trip to remember!  Here are a few pics!  

Thanks for letting us come visit Wendi!  We all had a blast!  Ava is already missing Jill and Ty everyday!  Love you!

Diaper Changing Time before we walk into the Corn Maze!

 

 

Ava loved dressing up in the Princess Corner.... I hardly recognized her with the wig on!

 

 

Ava's pretty face paint!

 

Ava and I about to walk through the Monster's belly.

 

All the 5 of the Kinkade Grandkids!

 

 

Good News! FINALLY!

We finally got the news! Chris was accepted into the Las Vegas Metro Police Department! Yay! He will be reporting to the September academy! We've waited for so long and now it's finally happening! Although, our plan right now is that Chris will probably move out there by himself and rent a cheap room from someone, while the girls and I stay home and work on getting our house rented and save up a little for the big move! Then come Thanksgiving time, we will all move out there together! We are all very excited for the big change! Although, like any move it will be bittersweet because we will miss all our friends and family here! Thanks to you all for the love and support that you give us! We love you all! :)

11 Weeks Old!

Yay! I can't hardly believe it! These have been the fastest 11 weeks of my life! Miley is already getting so big! At her last appointment she weighed 10 lbs 11 oz. But that was a couple weeks ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if she is almost 12 lbs by now! :) And she is so good at holding up her head and she is always so alert and observant! She loves sitting in her bumbo seat like a big girl so she can see everything that is going on! She is just such a good baby! I am so lucky to have such beautiful little girls to hug and kiss and play with all day long! I love it!