Riding Family 2012

Has it really been a year since our last issue? Well, that’s to be expected when you only publish one issue a year. Speaking of time flying, we have had a year of ups and downs. We enjoyed time as a family in Disneyland and the beach while we visited the California Bush family. As a couple we spent a few more days in southern California during a much needed retreat. While it was a fun year we were sobered with Cassie’s two hospitalizations and are grateful that she has recovered. We hope that you find comfort during this holiday season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. From all of us at Riding Magazine may you be blessed in the New Year.

A recently overheard conversation between Dan and Lydia: “Lydia, please pick your shoes off the kitchen floor. I have asked you three times and now you’re going to lose screen time.” With a twinkle in her eye, “I don’t care, Dad, I would rather read anyway.” This has been the year of enlightenment for our dear Lydia. She is having an amazing experience in her first grade class and loves to come home from school to play with her brother and sister, read, write notes to her friends and family, color and play music. Lydia spends a lot of time in front of the piano and has written some big hits including My Family, My Lemonade, and Make Your Own Song. We love watching her grow up but do so with reluctance as our first baby girl becomes more independent each day.

“I don’t know what it is about him but I really like that kid” is perhaps the best line that someone said this year about Emmett. It sums him up to a tee – everyone loves that kid but when asked to explain it’s hard to put it into words. There is just something about him. Emmett still clings fiercely to his beloved blanket, Bluey, but is growing into our little man who is way more responsible at four years old than his parents ever dreamed of being at that age. Emmett’s highlights include attending Joy School, collecting the eggs from the chicken coop, playing with his best friends, Lydia and Amelia, reading (lots) of books, and wrestling with his dad. Whenever mom or dad leave the house he is the one to gather everyone to the front porch to stand and wave goodbye. Whatever that something is about him we certainly don’t want it to change anytime soon.

If Amelia were old enough to have her own phone rather than her current practice of stealing her parents’ phones her ring tone would be Take My Breath Away. We mean that in the most figurative and literal sense. Is it the big, blue eyes? The fact that she is approaching two years old and is entertaining to watch no matter what she is doing? How about her desire to cuddle with whoever is holding her? Could it be laughing that she has to be wearing the right shoes and carrying the right accessories in her purse all the time? In a more literal sense of the phrase it could be that she can’t catch her breath when she’s really upset and passes out. This happens several times a week and the experts tell us that it’s harmless and she’ll grow out of it soon. What are we to do? If you haven’t met our baby feel free to stop by and introduce yourself - one or both of you will be humming the hit Take My Breath Away.

As we look back and count our blessings somewhere near the top is the blessing of good health. Right next to that would be the blessing of good health insurance. Cassie gave us a scare not once, but twice this year undergoing two emergency surgeries and spending more time in the hospital than she would care to remember. We are blessed that Cassie has recovered and has been feeling well enough to take on teaching a sign language class at the college. Above all else she is the most fantastic mom that these three children could ask for. At church Cassie now leads the primary children in singing every Sunday and, as you can imagine, the kids love to sing with her.

Dan is still working at the VA, tending to the chickens, building furniture in the garage, running in triathlons, and trying to keep up with the happenings of a busy wife and three active children. Additionally, Dan has been serving as a member of the bishopric since April and he loves it. He has managed to keep things balanced so that he isn’t gone from home too much. Considering the highlights of the year the top spot goes to spending 3 days with Cassie in Southern California. What’s coming for 2013 you ask? Honeybees!! That’s right, Dan is going to be a beekeeper.

My Talented Sis!

I've been meaning to post some pictures of the adorable costumes that my oh so talented big sister April gifted to us for Christmas! The kiddos love them and I think they are just darling! Here is Emmett playing Peter Pan and Robin Hood!

 

And here is the very lovely fairy princess Lydia, eyes closed and all! Isn't that wand amazing! Quite possibly the cutest wand I've ever seen!
And my favorite part is the matching baby sis!
My other favorite is this reversible cape. Prince Charming by Day, Super Hero by Night! Can you guess which one he's being here?
The most impressive thing about all of these is that my sister made them all herself! She is a super talented sister; uber-crafty, amazing pianist, skilled dancer, lovely singer, fantastic shopper (meaning she has excellent taste in fashion although speaking of shopper she is also a good saver, frugal & disciplined), patient mother, thoughtful sister, generous friend, natural athlete, super healthy eater . . . these are just a few of the many things I admire about her. April Dawn is a sincere disciple of Christ and I have been so blessed by her example. I look up to you Ape, even if you are one of the few people shorter than me! :)
Thank you for the beautiful gifts they are well loved around our home! As witnessed in this last shot of Millie admiring her pretty bow in the mirror!

Riding Family Christmas Card 2012

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! By the time you get this issue of Riding Magazine, just insert “Belated” between “Merry” and “Christmas”. But, no matter when you get this we hope that you have had a wonderful year. As you can imagine, the highlight of our year came in the form of a healthy baby girl, Amelia. She has made our family complete and is so good that we actually think about having more children (do not read into that statement, it won’t get you anywhere). Some of our other highlights from the year include spending a week in Island Park Idaho for the Bush family reunion, hosting every member of Cassie’s family at our home last summer, and cheering on Cassie’s brother Gabe and his new bride, Ellen, at their wedding. From the staff at Riding Magazine, we wish you the best as we enter the New Year.

The Road to Higher Education, by S. Trey Tayes
Why did Lydia cross the road? To go to kindergarten. Aside from telling jokes that are only understood by a five year old, Lydia enjoys spending her mornings in kindergarten and her afternoons reading, doing artwork, and playing princess. We couldn’t be more pleased when we observe some of Lydia’s more permanent traits – compassion for others, a true friend to everyone, and a hard worker. She is the most amazing big sister that Emmett and Amelia could ever ask for and has still managed to work in dance, music, and soccer into her schedule (thankfully for us not all at once). So, how do life’s most pressing questions for Lydia begin? “How do you spell______?”

Got Dirt?, by Lee Toleman
Hands raised and a look of shock on his face all Emmett can say is “What my heck?!” This year has been the Year of Expressions from the three year old man-o-the house when dad’s at work. Emmett marches around the house pestering his best friend, Lydia, while at the same time managing to forge a relationship with his sisters that is indeed eternal. When they’re not together all they can talk about is how much they miss each other. Emmett makes dad feel good every time he says “You da bes dad in da ho why wold.” While Cassie prepares dinner he loves to stand on the chair next to the counter and help while saying “I’m mommy’s wito chef!” Destined to be an engineer? Emmett’s pressing questions which he asks many times throughout the day begin with “How do you make ______?”

Millie Blue Eyes, by Ma Masgirl
Amelia, or Millie, says it all with her eyes. Amelia joined our family in April and has had eyes wide open ever since. Some of her newly-discovered talents and abilities include saying “mama” on purpose, mobility via a really unique one-arm army crawl, and getting a huge laugh out of splashing Emmett in the tub. Millie is fiercely loyal to her mom and makes it very apparent when Cassie leaves the room without her permission. Let’s pray this phase passes quickly! Even though she can’t communicate it, we know what’s on her mind “Will I get another tooth for Christmas?”

Sleepless in St. George, by Kid S. Oliver
Obviously Cassie’s highlight of the year occurred on April 2nd when Amelia was born. Besides dedicating most of her time at home with the kids, Cassie manages to spend time in Lydia’s classroom helping the teacher and teaching Joyschool for Emmett and some of his friends. Most notably, Cassie was awarded the prestigious Mother of the Year award sponsored by Riding Magazine. She was nominated this award based on her ability to feed a baby, help Lydia learn to read, and keep a rambunctious three year old boy occupied, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. In addition, Cassie continues to serve as the Young Womens President at church and keeps her national sign language interpreter certification updated despite her limited time to interpret this year. Please join me in giving her a round of applause!

Multitasker, by Manny Hats
It’s 5:30 a.m. on any given weekday and Dan can be found anywhere except his cozy bed. Dan has taken on the sport of triathlon and is most likely at the pool, running, riding his bike, or in his garage punishing himself with a Crossfit workout. You’ve got it, he has joined the ranks of the insane and it shows because he thinks he’s pretty tough. Coming in 3rd place in his age group in what is perhaps Utah’s smallest triathlon didn’t help to ease his confidence. When he’s not training he spends time with his other meaningful extra-curricular activities like his service with the Washington County Drug Prevention Coalition, the Boy Scouts, or as Sunday School teacher. Dan has also had the chance to build some amazing furniture for the kids including a bed and dresser for Emmett and two small chairs and desks. I’m not kidding, this furniture is heirloom quality! Dan’s best time is spent with his beautiful wife and incredible children.

When You're This Cute!

When you're this cute you can get away with anything . . . even wearing a ridiculous headband that looks like a satellite on your head!

 

My sister sent us this Adorable outfit and confessed that although we usually follow a rule "that the bow does not exceed the size of the fist of the child wearing it" this was one case where it was hilariously cute!

 

So yes the bow is out of control, but doesn't she make it look adorable! When I showed Dan the pictures after he came home from work, he agreed that she was darling but let out a sigh of relief when I reassured him that I hadn't taken her out in public with the bow on, it was merely for my own entertainment and a fun photo shoot at home!

 

We sure love this little cutie pie and constantly receive compliments on how bright and beautiful her blue eyes are!

 

We also can't get over what a delightful and cheerful baby she is. Then again after hanging out with her older sister and brother all day it's no wonder she is such a delight!

 

I wish I knew what they were whispering in her ears. They were probably telling her all their silly little secrets! No doubt they are a silly pair!

 

Lydia loves being a big sister and is the best I've ever met. One of my favorite things in the world is hearing her cooing and soothing her baby sis when she first wakes up in the morning. Just this morning Millie woke up and started to fuss when she rolled and got her foot in between the crib. Next thing I heard was Lydia singing her the lullaby Grandpa Bush wrote for Amelia. I tiptoed in and just admired the scene for a minute while my heart melted!

 

Lydia especially loves that Amelia has blue eyes just like her. The other day I overheard her telling Emmett, "Daddy has blue eyes, mommy has blue eyes, Me and Amelia have blue eyes but you're the only one with brown eyes in this family!" Leave it to your big sis to make you feel like you really fit in!

 

Not to worry, Emmett's good looks are his saving grace!

 

His pretty eyes have saved his hiney more than once! I really do love his eyes they sometimes look brown but more often than not they look like a golden hue. Beautiful!

 

Then again you've got to be this cute to survive being in the middle of two sisters!

 

What a blessed mother I am to have such darling and sincerely good children!

What I'm Reading!

These are the two books I'm reading right now:
Feedback from this book is saying:"Tackles biggest problem kids and parents face." "Gives direct, workable solutions to entitlement issues." "I devoured it, now I'm implementing." And our favorite, "The recipe for unspoiling kids."

This next book is a repeat favorite of mine:
Feedback from this book is saying: "Tackles the biggest problems kids and parents face." "Gives direct, workable solutions to all of life's issues." "Devoured it, now I'm implementing it and "the recipe for true happiness!"
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, "I some-times think that one of the best-kept secrets of the kingdom is that the scriptures open the door to the receipt of revelation."

Boyd K. Packer said, "The stick or record of Judah- the Old Testament and New Testament - and the stick of Ephraim - the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ - are now woven together in such a way that as you pore over one you are drawn to the other; as you learn from one you are enlightened by the other. They are indeed one in our hands. Ezekiel's prophecy now stands fulfilled. With the passing of years, these scriptures will produce successive generation of faithful Christians who know the Lord Jesus Christ and are disposed to obey His will(Ensign, November 1982, 53.)."

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

1st Day of School!

Last night Lydia was so excited she could hardly get to sleep! Her enthusiasm and anticipation for her first day of school carried right on over into this morning! She woke up on her own at 7:30am and gave me a great big good morning hug along with an enthusiastic, "Hooray, it's finally here, my first day of school!" Now on most days it's a major chore to convince Lydia to let me do her hair, but today she couldn't wait. She requested to have a head band with her hair flipped out. Changed right into her little dress (which she had picked out for today over a month ago), grabbed her backpack and headed to the breakfast table ready to go to school!

Dan, being the super dad that he is, arranged to go in late to work so that he could be with us for Lydia's first day of school. He made her some delicious french toast and scrambled eggs as she'd requested for her big day! The kids were eating breakfast and I went upstairs to get the baby ready when I suddenly heard Lydia screaming with sadness. I ran downstairs and as Murphy's law would have it, with five minutes before we leave the kids were goofing around and she accidentally spilled her entire glass of milk! All over the floor, the table, the wall and even onto her dress, shoes and especially her new back pack! Yikes!! Luckily the dress damage was minimal and cleaned up quickly. The shoes, no problem, but the back pack was a little concerning. I scrubbed it and ran back upstairs to quickly blow dry it with less than five minutes to blast off!

Emmett and Lydia exchanged cute little ladybug beads to pull out when they missed each other. Emmett had his in his pocket all morning and pulled it out 3 or 4 times to rub and look at while missing our little "Lydibug." Tender! He also begged me to "plleeeaaaase let him go to school with her this morning!

For as long as I can remember growing up my parents always took back to school pictures of us on our first day of school. So naturally I continued the tradition. This one cracked me up because Lydia wanted to take a picture of her looking like she was walking to school!

I knew Lydia was going to do just great but the real question was, how was mom going to do? I'm happy to say that I did pretty good! Maybe the fact that I cried the night before and got the initial emotions out of my system really helped. I only got teary eyed and choked up twice which I tried not to let her see but Dan totally noticed both of them! At breakfast she found the note I'd put in her back pack. When I was reading it to her and telling her how great she was going to do I felt the tears well up, then when I was reading about how smart and beautiful she was my voice began to shake but I kept it together reminding her that pretty is as pretty does. What really makes her pretty is her kindness to others because that's the pretty that shines from the inside out!

We went as an entire family to walk her to the Kindergarten play ground and drop her off. She gave me kissing hands and that was the second time I had to hold back the tears as I gave her kissing hands too and a great big Hug! She then gave Emmett a big hug and kiss. She waved good-bye, smiled and lined up with the rest of the kids having heard the bell ring. The poor little girl in front of her was crying and holding on to her mom's leg. Lydia smiled big blew a kiss and headed into her class!
Here's a picture of her with her teacher Mrs. Bryner (the best teacher in her school and we feel so lucky to have her)!

Last week we got to go and meet her teacher one-on-one for her pre-assessment. Lydia did fabulous with all of her letters and sounds. When she was doing the blending her teacher said she must be ready to read and Lydia said, "yeah, I love to read!" Her teacher had her read a page of beginning words. Out of the 43 words they need to read to go to first grade Lydia knew all but one of them. I was surprised but then she wrote her name for her teacher and accidentally wrote her "a" backwards. I smiled and thought, "oh good, she still has plenty to learn in Kindergarten!"

After her assessment she went on a super fun treasure hunt to learn all about her class room and what they'd be doing in Kindergarten. At the end was a treasure in her cubby! Well, if she wasn't excited enough before she sure was now!

I just love to hear her say, "I'm a Coral Cliffs coyote" followed by a lovely coyote howl!
Well. . . we survived the three hours with out Lydia and were waiting anxiously with all the other parents back at the play ground for pick up. Out came Lydia holding hands with a little girl in her class named Jessica and my heart leaped, Hooray she has a friend!

She told me all about how she made new friends, sits at the red table next to Heidi, learned the school rules, sat on the rug and teacher read three stories (the Kissing Hand, Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar and Animal ABC). She had a snack, and recess, went to PE to exercise and play fun games, practiced writing and got to be the first table to put away their boxes because they were the most "reverent!" Their table also got to play with the legos and she waited patiently in line to go down the twisty slide and at the drinking fountain. She even got a stamp on her hand for good behavior!

When we got back home the first thing she did was kick off her shoes and drop her back pack in the middle of the floor. When I asked her what she thought of her day she gave me not one, but two thumbs up! I love that picture because you can see all of the lovely jewelry she chose to wear on her first day! Her bling bling bracelet from Auntie Em, her CTR ring so she would remember to Choose The Right at school and her dream catcher necklace to remember that her family was thinking of her and praying for her! Since then she has told me about five times that she gets to go back to school tomorrow! What a wonderful first day of school. We love you little Lydia!

Beware of the Funky Monkey

Who's idea was it to make a funky monkey in the first place? Then after they made them, why did they think it would be a good idea to mass produce them, stick them in little plastic bubbles and sell them to children in a .25 cent machine?

Maybe the real question I should be asking myself is, what kind of a parent let's their children buy a funky monkey? Oh wait, that would be me!

Over a year ago we were traveling to SLC and when we stopped at a gas station in Beaver the kids begged for a quarter to buy a cute little monkey called a "funky monkey!" Lydia ended up with a red one and Emmett with a yellow one. They came in your typical little plastic bubble with no instructions. Should they have come with instructions I'm sure it would have included "small monkey's can be a choking hazard . . . or not for children under 3!" Ironically, Emmett had never put the thing in his mouth before he was three. Well, now he is three and as I'm learning with three year old boys, anything is possible!

You see Emmett has never been one to put things in his mouth. Even as a baby he never crawled around putting everything in his mouth. Thus when he started putting things in his mouth last week it surprised me. A week ago I asked him what he was sucking on and he pulled out a quarter and a penny. To which I demanded the money and explained the danger of putting small things in his mouth. A few days ago while he was playing I again found him with something in his mouth. This time it was some of his sisters polly pocket toys. He earned himself a time out and sisters little toys became off limits.

Then there was this morning. I had just finished feeding and changing the baby when Emmett runs to me with panic in his eyes and barely able to talk. He was trying to cough and saying "Funky Monkey" as he grabbed at his throat. I instantly realized he was choking on the blasted plastic animal. I quickly lay down Amelia on Lydia's bed and bent Emmett over my knee while repeatedly hitting my palm against his back in hopes that it would come free. He started resisting wondering what on earth I was doing so I told him to open his mouth so I could see if it was in there. It was sitting at the back of his throat and I thought I might be able to fish it out with my finger. As I swiped my finger at it he flipped out again and tried to pull my hand back out which caused the little monkey to go further down his throat and out of sight. At this point I started to panic. My boy was still not breathing and it was clearly lodged in his throat. I flung him over my knee again reassuring him that I had to do this to get it out. After more attempts at hitting it out a sudden fear flew through my mind, "what if my little man doesn't start breathing again, I can't let him die on my lap." It was the most awful feeling in the world, my heart sunk and I knew I needed help, NOW! I yelled for Lydia to call Daddy but she didn't know where my phone was. I remembered it was in the kitchen so I hollered for her to go sit on the bed with Amelia so the baby would be safe and I threw Emmett up onto my shoulder and ran down the stairs. My mind was racing as to which neighbors house I should run for help or if I should call 911. As we hit the last stair I heard Emmett make a swallow noise and then he started screaming. What a wonderful sound, at last he was breathing! I flew to the couch and again had him over my knee thinking that maybe it was making it's way up & I just needed to get it out. He started yelling and said, "stop it, why are you hitting me!" I turned him around on my knee and hugged him, I was so happy he was breathing and talking. I explained that I was trying to dislodge the monkey and that's why I was pounding on his back. I looked in his mouth and couldn't see it. When I asked him if he could feel it in his throat he said it was in his tummy. He was pretty certain he'd swallowed it. With myself shaking and my son pretty shook up I called Dan and asked what I should do. I was so happy he was breathing and he seemed to be fine now. We figured he had screamed because it was painful to swallow, but now what? Would he poop it out or was I supposed to take him to the hospital?

After leaving a message on my pediatricians phone I called my dear brother-in-law, Karl, he's a family practice doctor and he was so helpful. Luckily he knows all about Funky Monkey's as his kiddos have a couple of their own. He felt confident that it being small, plastic and pliable it was likely swallowed and in the stomach. An x-ray may or may not show it and the only concern would be for it to be stuck in the esophagus and not make it into the tummy. He too recommended I check with my pediatrician. Luckily, she called back not long after that and agreed that the best route to take is to "wait and watch." It will most likely come out in his poop any time from a day to two weeks. However, if he has trouble swallowing, starts gagging or choking, or throwing up to come in ASAP for an x-ray. Well, I am happy to report that Emmett is eating, drinking and swallowing just fine. He seems to be back to his normal happy little 3 year old self! Thus we will continue to watch and wait! What a fun job I have as the mother who gets to watch every bowel movement until it comes. As my funny bro-in-law said, "we hope it all comes out well in the end!"

I'm glad we can laugh about it now as I was pretty shook up this morning. I hope it shook Emmett up enough that he will never put anything in his mouth again and learn to listen to his mother! The sad thing is that I don't believe he was trying to be naughty by putting it in his mouth. He was just not even thinking. He was playing with his big sis, picked it up and started chewing on it with out thinking until he suddenly found himself choking. You can guarantee all little choke-ables will be banned from our home!

One sweet note was later that day during lunch when Lydia noted how great it was that Emmett was eating and drinking and acting just normal. She asked me, "Mama do you know why Emmett is doing so well?" "Why," I asked? To which she so sincerely responded, "because I prayed for him when I was upstairs!" One more time today my eyes filled with tears and I felt so thankful for a little girl who understands prayer, has faith, and loves her brother!