Summer Fun

Here are a couple of things that we have been up to this summer. (With our camera on the fritz our pictures are few and far between)

Hanging out with cousins: Luke and Olivia chilling with Ryan

We were lucky to get this one shot of the both of them not moving neither one looks thrilled with the situation but they are getting to be better friends all the time. It is really good practice for Luke to have another baby around. With more cousins on the way (Congrats Roxanne, Deb, Em and Liz) these pictures should be popping up more and more.



Emily and Levi were in town to play and so one of our outings was to the mountains to do some 4-wheeling. Pete, Heidi and Olivia joined us. The first ride was a scenic one down by the river that Moms and babies went on. Then the serious riding began while Heidi, Olivia, Luke and I cooked dinner. This was as close to camping that we have been with Luke. He loved the campsite and loved the dirt even more.

He would push the truck around from rocks to dirt to rocks and so forth. Dirty as ever but happy as could be. We tried out the sunscreen mohawk and both decided we like him better without the rebel look. But... why is it no gel will hold his hair in place for church but sunscreen will stick it straight up for hours on end?

Feeding the Dog

Why is this such a big deal? Luke has finally realized that dog food is for the "goggie" and not for him to eat. All he has to do is ask and I will give him much better tasting stuff. This is a milestone for us. No more juggling Biscuit feedings with Luke on the loose time.

We have been lucky to have lots of friends and family come and pay us a visit this summer and are looking forward to more this weekend and even more in August. We are hoping to juggle the delivery of baby #2 around my dad's graduation, visits from family and a work schedule. But mostly just hoping the little guy comes soon.

Guess who's back..

To steal from the great American poet Eminem,

Guess who's back, back again... Ryan's back...tell a friend..


I have decided to return to the world of blogging. My hiatus can be attributed to a couple things. #1 as much as I love to blog, we all know those little dots in the map are 99.9% Annalyns friends. I like you all very much (accept for whoever visits from Thailand and has me scared they are stealing pictures of Lukey for their diabolical endevors. WHO ARE YOU?!?) But you come to see what Annalyn is up to, not to here me ramble on about how awesome Teen Wolf is. (Awesome x 23 quadrillion) and #2 simply writers block. The only time I sit down to write letters are to travel agencies to complain about these things... They are working on it.

P.S. I typed number 2.

I did get the opportunity to travel to SLC by myself this last week and downloaded Michael Jackson music for the trip. Am I the only one who has gone from thinking that Michael Jackson was awesome, to Michael Jackson is a pervert, to Michael Jackson might not have been a pervert after all? Martin Bashir, I blame you.

Don't read too much in to my waffling opinion, I also think that we never landed on the moon.


And lastly, our iphones have replaced cameras around our house. So the 12 megapixel (not quite a QUADRILLION) camera gathers dust, we have grainy pictures of the cutest boy in the world.

As the french guy who worked at Lowes in the lawn and garden quoted Mark Twain to me when he asked if Luke was mine...

Motherhood is a certainty, Fatherhood is a rumor.

My Arch-nemesis

I heard the word nemesis the other day and while working in my garden I realized that I have an arch-nemesis. THE THISTLE.


While this weed may look harmless it is the prickliest, worst weed ever. The spot where my garden is used to be pasture grass... there is still a lot of grass in the garden, some days I don't know whether to weed or mow the garden... anyhow when I killed(thinned out) the pasture grass to make room for my plants, the thistle decided it was time to move in.

I wear gloves and the stickers poke right through and get you. I have been poked so many times that I am becoming overly bitter and have reached the point of declaring the thistle my arch-nemesis. I even want to kill the random ones on the side of the road so they don't spread to my yard. The only good thistle is a dead one.

(this is the pile of dead weeds out of my garden) Hopefully the rest of the garden will survive the summer. It has all grown a lot more since the heat has come but then Biscuit likes to "mark" my tomato plants. One is dead...
I can't blame it and the other shows signs of wishing it was dead. See the brown leaves at the bottom?


Other than gardening we have had a fun week. We had Grandma Rhonda visit after all the Bensons were here for the 4th and Olivia's blessing. We recruited everyone and had them be in the Idaho Falls Parade with our old car and some residents.

I am not sure how much they enjoyed it but we sure had fun with them. We wish they could come up more often. As they were leaving Ryan's mom pulled in for a little visit. We sure enjoy her company. We went to the zoo with her and Grandma Benson.

I didn't have a picture of Grandma Rhonda and Luke but she was there and helped juggle the diaper bag, stroller, wheelchair and baby. We were sad to see her go.

Summer at Last

We have been enjoying the heat that has finally arrived here after our month of rain. Unfortunately I have been a slacker about taking pictures so I don't have much to document. Here are some pictures of our little outing to Rigby Lake. They have cleaned it up a lot and they let Biscuit join in the family fun.

The Gang

Tasty Rocks

Fun with Dad

Enjoying the Beach

After this adventure my camera is on the fritz and won't turn on. I will work on that and post more later.