The Likes' Clan

Christmas & New Year's

2012-01-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and NewYear's! How about you? We spent both of the Holiday's with Dustin's Family. We had some fun and crazy times! Well al got together on Christmas Eve and met at the Temple visitor center and watched a fun video and then looked at the display of the sculptures of Christ. After that we all gathered on the Temple grounds to get some family pictures( to see those visit my Photography blog @ lindseylikesphotography.blogspot.com) It was a little cold outside but we got some good pictures. After the Temple we went to visit Grandpa Jack and drop off a beautiful quit that Ceri made for him out of his old work clothes from Farr's Ice Cream and also a red wool skirt that was Grandma Lola's! It was nice to visit with Grandpa Jack! He told us some stories and of coarse we sang some Christmas carols with him! Next it was on to the Church house. We reserved Dustin & I's Church house for the evening and we played kick ball, chatted and ate a lot of amazing food! After all of that we headed over to Ceri's house so that the kids could get their Grammy Jammies! We also exchanges our Ornaments and watched a power point that Dustin did of the Nativity Story! It was a wonderful Christmas Eve. When we got back to our house we opened our Jammies and other Christmas eve gifts. Dustin's sister Heather got to stay at our house and spend Christmas eve and Christmas morning with us!

Christmas Morning was so nice and relaxing. Rylee didn't even wake up until 8 which was nice! We got up and saw what Santa had brought us and then enjoyed taking our time opening gifts! After all the gifts we had Breakfast. I had made this Crock Pot casserole. It had hash browns, bacon, cheese & a egg mixture that you pour over it and cook it on low for like 8 hours! It worked out so well. i put it in the crock pot before I went to bed and it was all ready to eat that next morning! I love stuff like that! After that we got ready for Church and we all attend Jack and Al's ward. Jack and the kids had parts in their program so we all went and watched. After church we all went back to our houses and I got all the food that I was in charge of ready and we met at Jack & Alison's house to have dinner, play games and do our family gift exchange. We had a wonderful dinner and had a lot of just hanging out and enjoying each others company!

So I guess I'll jump over to New Year's Eve. Dustin, Rylee & I went down to Utah that weekend to help him sister Heather move into her new apartment. It was really fun to help her pack up her stuff and then help her put it in her new apartment. I love to help other organize their stuff. Maybe it's because I know that i will have someone it talk to and it makes it go by faster. (maybe I need someone to come over and talk to me so I can organize my stuff!) We decided to have a new quiet night for New Year's Eve. We were all kinda tired for moving so we just made some fun food and just relaxed and watched some movies and such! We stayed in Utah until Monday afternoon so we got to go to Dustin's sister's ward and then we had another fun night of playing some games with the kids and then Heather, Lindsay & I watched The Help!! I love that movie! It made me laugh & and cry. I am reading the book now! All in all we had a wonderful holiday season! It has been hard to get back into the swing of things!

(Be prepared for a lot of pictures!!)

Christmas Eve

Ceri & Grandpa Jack

Grandpa Jack & The Great Grandkids

Grandpa Jack & Grandkids

Playing Kickball @ the Church

Rylee & Addi being silly!

Grandkids in their Grammy Jammies

Heather opening her Jammies on Christmas eve

Dustin & his Christmas Eve Jammie's

Rylee opening her Christmas Eve gift from Mom & Dad

Lindsey opening her Christmas Eve Jammies

Christmas Morning

Rylee seeing what she got in her stocking

Rylee with her American Girl Doll that she got from Santa! (Just what she wanted)

Heather looking at the stuff from her stocking

Rylee got Just Dance 3! I love capturing that look of excitement!

Lindsey got Glee Karaoke! I don't know what kind of face I'm making! (by the way.. Rylee took all the pictures of me! she does a really good job don't you think!)

Dustin with his new Boise State Blanket! An amazing lady in my mom's ward made it! she makes them and gives them away at there potlucks. I won this one! The lady said that in 2011 she had made 83 of these blankets & gave them away for free!! WOW!

This present is a date a month gift that Dustin and I gave her! She gets to open one envelope at the first of each month and then there is a date in each one for her to go on with Dad or Mom! She also got 6 bonus dates that have gift cards to her favorite places to eat! She wasn't quite sure if she was excited about but she got to open her first one and it is a bowling date with Dad! Now that she really gets it she is super excited to open a new one every month!

This is me after opening the cutting mat for my new Cricut Mini!!!!! Dustin got it for me and I was completely surprised and excited! I am so excited to be able to get creative with it! If you don't know what it is ( it's okay if you don't! It just came out) then you should go to cricut.com and check it out! it is pretty awesome!

New Year's Eve

Heather lounging and watching a movie on New Year's Eve

Dustin & Rylee just hanging out and watching a movie on New Year's Eve

Dustin & I kissing @ Midnight ( I have no clue why Dustin is just staring at me. He thinks he is so funny!)

Trying to take a nice picture of Dustin & I (Yeah right!)

Decided to just get silly

All of us. Rylee didn't want to take a picture & she was super tired! It is midnight after all. Right after this picture She went upstairs and crashed. Her head couldn't even hit the pillow before she was out!

I'm Back!!

2011-07-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

So I know it has been a year since I have posted anything. (A WHOLE YEAR!!! WHAT!!!) I am back now! there is too much that has gone on to try to catch up so I am going to just start from now. So first things first, I will give you a little update about what we have been up to. Rylee has finished the first grade and is excited to start the second grade! She is super smart! She ended the school year reading at just over a second grade reading level! She is an amazing speller! I am so thankful that she got that from her Dad because I myself am not the best speller! We took rylee to Disneyland for her first time over Spring break! It was an amazing trip and we had such a blast! Dustin turned 30 thisyear! I turned 29 and Rylee turned 7. For Rylee's birthday we took her to Las Vegas. We had a great time. We went to the tournament of King's (of course) and we also when to see the Lion King again! It was just as amazing as the first time we saw it! We got to sit front and center, right behind the Music Conductor! It was really fun to sit so close and see everything that went on. The Conductor even turned around at intermission and talked to Rylee! She told all of the orchestra that it was Rylee's birthday and they all wished her a happy birthday!

Rylee receiving an award for Reading!

Last day of school. Rylee with her friends Ashley & Kaython!

Dustin's 30th Birthday

My 29th Birthday!(Dustin Got me the YUDU for my birthday!!)

At the Lion King for Rylee's 7th birthday!

There are just a few pictures. I will be posting more in the next few days so stay tuned!

What the heck!

2010-07-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

I just wanted everyone to know that we didn't fall off the face of the earth! I promise that I will get everyone caught up on what we are up to! Please stay tuned!

Welcome to the Family!!

2009-12-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

My SIL Heather got a new sweet little puppy! His name is Sakoda!! Rylee is so in love with him. Heather brought him over to our house the other day so that we could meet him. Rylee is so sweet with him she holds him so gently and takes really good care of him. I think that Sakoda kinda like Rylee too. Rylee sat him down on Dustin's lap and then walked away and Sakoda started whining for her! It was so cute. Vegas wasn't really sure what Sakoda was. I think that he thought he was a new toy. We are so excited that we get to have Sakoda all to ourselves the week before Christmas. Rylee is so excited to puppy sit. She is taking the job very seriously. I think that she is even planning some activities to keep the dogs busy! Once again we want to give a big welcome to the newest member of our family!! We love you Sakoda!!

Everythings Funnier with a Moustache!!

2009-12-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

I have to say that Rylee is pretty dang funny all on her own, but if you throw a moustache in the mix it is even more hilarious!!!! I let her pick out a treat in the quarter machines at the dollar store today and the only thing that she wanted was a Moustache!! Crazy little nut! I told her that she had to wait until it was time for Dustin to come home from work to put the moustache on. So we put it on and she asked if we could take some pictures and I happily obliged. Like I said before, Rylee is a pretty funny kid all on her own but you have to admit that with a moustache it is even funnier!!

Here's some proof!!!

Pro Bowler!!

2009-12-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

Every year (if we are in town) we go bowling with Dustin's family on Thanksgiving! We look forward to it every year! This year Dustin released the Pro Bowler within. The first game that he bowl he kept getting strike after strike! It was crazy to watch.
Hold on the your seats for this next part..... he scored a 264!!! I could not believe it! It was amazing. I think that someone needs a leauge pass for Christmas!!

My Pro Bowler!!
Here is a picture of the screen with the score on it. It is not the best picture but look close and you can see the score and all the strikes!!

The Garden

2009-11-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

We had a very bountiful and beautiful garden this year. Thanks again to my Mom & Dad for being so kind and patient with me and helping to teach me to plant and take care of the garden! It is always so amazing to me to see the tiny little plant come from the ground and turn into huge plants that produce so much!! Rylee was the biggest helper this year. She loved to go out and get her hands dirty. She got really good and telling the difference between weeds and plants. I don't think very many of our peas made it into the house. Once Rylee learned that you could brake them open and eat them and that they taste soooo good that is all she wanted to do.

Front of Garden

Back of Garden

Sunflower

Corn

Tomatoes

Squash

So we built a new house......

2009-09-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here it is!!

Here is the proud owner!

We got this for Rylee for her birthday in June and we finally got around to putting it up. The box said that it would take 2 people 2 hours to put it together. Were they wrong or what. Dustin and I worked at a pretty fast rate and it took us 2 hours a day for 3 days. It was worth all the time and effort when we saw the look on Rylee's face when it was complete. It has been really hard to get her to come into the "Big House" (as she calls it) all she wants to do is stay in her little house. She has even enjoyed her lunch out there a couple of times. It is going to be so nice when we get the fence up because I will be able to let her go out there when she wants and I won't be so worried!
We have done a little decorating and have a little more planned. Here are some pictures of the before and after of the flower box.

Before

After

We got the flowers at Porter's on clearance. They were 10 for $1!! We were going to get her some real plants but I was sure that I would kill them through the winter and then we would have to buy new ones. This way I won't kill them and they will be beautiful all year long!

A Boy and his Toy!!

2009-08-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Dustin is a "biker" at heart and thought that his scooter was just not cutting it! Luckily Kelly (our brother-in-law) knew of the perfect bike for Dustin. Kelly's brother Eric was selling a Honda Rebel that was just the right size for Dustin! I was a little worried about him ridding a Motorcycle because he has never rode a bike that he had to shift, but he was a natural! I have to admit that he looks pretty hot on the bike too!!

Fun times in West Yellowstone

2009-08-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

While my family was here visiting we went to the cabin for a few days. It is always so relaxing to go up there and just hang out. We went into West Yellowstone one of the days and did a little eating, a little shopping and a lot of goofin' around!

Rylee & Ashley BFF!

Rylee, Ashley & Mason with the buffalo. Rylee & Ashley are picking it's nose.

Playing at the toy store. Rylee & Mason playing with the pop guns.

I am a scary Buffalo (or something like that!)

Mason, Rylee & Ashley wearing crazy eye glasses!

Britton & Quincy just hangin' out and being brothers!!

4th of July

2009-08-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome 4th of July. We had Family, Food & Fun! Who could ask for anything more? We did so many things. I ran a 5k in the morning with my sisters, Brother-in-law and my nephews! It was awesome. I never thought that I would ever be able to do anything like that! My family was so supportive! We all went to the parade and then a BBQ at my parents house (of coarse!!) After that we all hung around and then headed down to the river to snag our spot for the fireworks! We got an awesome spot (thanks to the boys for finding it for us!) We were right in front of where they light the fireworks so we got to see them all! Even the really low ones that are awesome. We ended the evening with some of our own fireworks at mom and dad's house. There is nothing like the 4th of July in Idaho Falls! Dustin and I have had a couple 4th of July's away from IF and it just wasn't the same. I am so grateful to be able to share with my sisters. It made it feel like old times having both of my sisters and my brother there!

6:30 am getting ready to head over to the 5k!
(from left to right: Me, Heather, Katie, Britton, Quincy & Kelly)

The whole gang @ the Parade ( Minis Byron, He had a bum foot and wasn't able to participate in all the festivities. I'm sorry buddy, but I am glad that your foot is better!!)

Quincy, Rylee, Dustin & Mason waiting for the parade to begin

The IFHS float! Tiger Pride!!!

Our friend Whittney with Rylee. She is a Senior @ IFHS this year!

Dustin & Rylee taking a much needed nap after the BBQ

The whole gang at our awesome Fireworks spot!

The Girl's! I made matching shirts for the girls this year. I started with just the star shirts for the little girls, but then I found this cute Independence Day image on the Cricut and I had so make some shirts for Me & my sisters!

Here are all the fireworks that we did at Mom & Dad's after the big fireworks show!

Happy Birthday Rylee!!

2009-06-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday that my tiny, sweet little monkey had just come into this world & now she is 5!! Here are just a few of the many things that I love about my little peanut...

She is so sweet and caring. She always wants to make sure that everything and everyone is okay!

She will just come up to me randomly through the day and give me a hug and a big kiss and tell me how much she loves me!! I don't even have to ask.

She is always making us laugh!!! the things she says and just some of her little looks will have us rolling on the floor!!

She loves princesses and girl stuff and loves to create things with her mommy but she is always down for a baseball or basketball game and to wrestle with her daddy!

She can name the players on the Utah Jazz and she can recognize them even when they are running up and down the court!!

She loves her family and friends soooo much! She gets so excited to see them and is always sad to see them go!

She loves to vacation in Las Vegas!! She loves it so much that she even named her dog after the place!!

I could go on all day! I love you sweet girl!! I love that I get to be your mom and truly consider it the greatest privilege! I love you so much my sweet girl!

New Moon Baby!!!

2009-06-08T22:33:00.001-07:00

Las Vegas (again!!)

2009-06-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

We tried a few different things that we hadn't done before in Las Vegas. One of things that we did was we went to a place there in Las Vegas called Mini Gran Prix! They had go carts and other fun rides. They had a little track that Rylee got to drive a go cart all by herself!! It was kind of hard at first to just sit and watch. She had kind of a hard time getting started. There was a little old man named Ed that was so sweet, kind and very patient! She had sooo much fun. She was so proud of herself too. The other thing that we tryed that we hadn't done before was we went on a Gondola ride. It was a good expereance! Our Gondola driver had an amazing voice! Rylee really enjoyed the ride and listening to the beautiful songs that were sung to us! Here are some of the pictures of our most recent trip to Vegas!

Here are the tickets for the Gondola ride!

Here we are in the Gondola! That is our driver in the picture with me and Rylee

This was awesome! There were a ton of these umbrellas and they also had optic lights running down that looked like Rain coming down!

The 51's game!

Tournament of Kings! Some of the actors came out and took pictures & signed autographs! Rylee was so excited to get her picture with the princess.

Batman & Joker just hanging out on the Strip!

Swimming! We went early in the morning and it was so nice!

This was one of the rides at the Mini Gran Prix. It spins you around while you go in circles and up and down! Rylee had so much fun! She loves it!

This was a little Dragon roller coaster. I wasn't sure if she would be scared or if she would like it. Luckily she loved it.

Rylee riding the bigger Go-cart with Dustin.

Here she is driving all by herself!!

This is Ed! He was such a sweet man and was such a big help to Rylee!

This was just before we left the Mini Gran Prix

These are pictures from the Secret Garden at the Mirage.

"Je fuh fuh DUN HAM"

2009-04-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

For part of my birthday present Dustin got me tickets to Jeff Dunham in Pocatello. The show was last night and it was awesome!! Dustin took me to eat at Johny B. Goods in Pocatello. It was so good. Then it was off to the Holt Arena. We ordered our tickets back in December,and when we got them in the mail they didn't have a section # and that kind of stuff on them. I went to the ticket window while we were waiting to get in to find out where our seats were exactly. So they printed us some new tickets and off we went to see where our new seats were. Well they ended up being FRONT ROW and DEAD CENTER!!! It was so awesome!! The show was so good, and sooo funny! It is so much better to see comedians live! Here are some of the pictures that I got!!

Pictures of my huge yummy shake @ Johnny B. Goods!

This is a picture of Dustin and I by the stage from our seats!

This one is of Dustin in our seats from the stage!

Jeff and Walter!

Jeff and Achmed!

Jeff and Peanut!

Jeff, Peanut & Jalapeno on a stick!

Bubba Jay & Jeff!

Aubrey Mae

2009-04-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Jack & Alison (my bro-in-law & sis-in-law) welcomed their fourth little angel into their family on the 13th of April! I had the opportunity to have a little photo shoot with sweet little Audrey Mae!! Here is a little preview of some of the pictures!! Enjoy!

Easter

2009-04-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

We has a pretty good Easter this year. Dustin was away on his "Mustang's Across America" trip, so he missed out. We really missed him but we are glad that he had a good time! The Saturday before Easter Rylee and I went over to my parents home and colored Easter eggs! It was a blast. Everybody got in on it. The egg coloring kit that I got had 12 different colors in it!! Can you believe it, when I was growing up we were lucky to have 6 maybe!! My dad, Rylee and Byron (my bro) all wrote on their eggs , but they wouldn't tell us what they put on them until after they were colored. So in ansewer to your question "What did they write?" my dad wrote "g-pa is cool", Rylee wrote an "H" for Hannah Montana, and Byron wrote a "B" and some lines!!
Sunday Rylee and I went to church and then came home to an Easter surprise!! Dustin was HOME!!! He had gotten home earlier then we expected! He was so tired so he stayed home and slept. Rylee and I went to my parents home for Lunch and to see what the Easter bunny had brought Rylee! It was a very pleasant day and we loved spending time with family!

Waiting to color the eggs!

Rylee and Uncle Byron

Grandpa, Rylee & Grandma

The finished product

Easter Sunday

Rylee's new bike

The only thing that Rylee said that she wanted was Thumbelina, and the Easter bunny didn't disappoint!!

Rylee and Vegas looking for Easter Eggs

Rylee & uncle Byron

Birthday's

2009-04-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post about both mine and Dustin's Birthday's (since I haven't posted in sooo long) together! I'll start with Dustin! He turned 28 this year and we had a little party for him. you know the usual cake ice cream! It was a blast and we had a ton of family there! Dustin's birthday present from me was tickets to a Utah Jazz game, but he had to wait until the 3rd of April to use them (a whole month after his birthday) We had a blast at the game. We had really good seats. We were 10 rows back from the away team bench! I got some amazing pictures and I even got some autographs! The Jazz played Minnesota and unfortunately lost by one point, but it was still fun to be there and watch it up close and personal!
So on to my birthday. I turned 27 this year! I went out to dinner with Dustin and Rylee and it was so fun! We ate at Applebee's. Dustin took a bunch of pictures of Rylee & I as we were eating a hot fudge sundae, and I got some of Dustin and Rylee! Well we wanted some of me and Dustin, so I gave Rylee the camera and she took some very good pictures! She kept telling us to do different things. Dustin and I were laughing so hard that we were crying!! So I got a Ipod touch from Dustin & Rylee for my birthday! I love it. Dustin said that he got part because he know I would like it and part because he wants me to be more organized!! So if that wasn't enough, Dustin also got me tickets to Jeff Dunham for this Thurs.(April 23rd!) I can not wait to go! It is going to be awesome!
Here are some pictures! Enjoy!!

Dustin's Birthday Party

The Jazz Game

My birthday Dinner!!

Tagged.....I'm it!!

2009-04-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

So my sister-in-law Lindsay tagged me so here I go!!

1. I have started walking/running and I actually LOVE doing it!! (who would have guessed?!)
2. I love to help other people organize there stuff (especially Scrapbooking stuff/rooms), but I have a hard time organizing my own stuff.
3. I love being in the Young Woman's Presidency. It makes me feel like a young woman again and helps me keep in touch with what's "in style".
4. Onions are by far the most disgusting food on the planet.
5. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a Mom & a wife!!
6. When I was younger I wanted to be actor on Broadway! (preferably musicals)
7. I love to bake but I don't do it much now because there are only 3 of us and I will end up eating it all!
8. I have always wanted to have curly hair.
9. I love photography & one day I want to be as good as my sister Katie!
10. I could eat Mexican food everyday for the rest of my life and be happy!!

Okay I am now tagging my sisters Heather, Katie, Gloria, Laura, Lindsay & Bonnie!! Have fun and I can't wait to read what you write!!

Giveaway!!

2009-04-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

So since no one besides Laura (thank you Laura) wanted to do my limited time offer deal, I am going to change it. I figured that what was scaring you all out of doing it was that you have to re post it on your blog and do the same thing. Well for the next 5 people how post a comment on this post, I will make you a handmade gift (that you will receive in this 2009 year), and all you will have to do is take a picture of it and post it on your blog when you receive it. How does that sound for a deal. Hopefully I get more takers this time around!
So.... on your mark, get set, Post!!!!!

Quick! Limited Offer!

2009-03-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

Another fun blog game!The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (Though I hope you will!)
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. I don't even have a clue what it's going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did, win a homemade gift! It may not be great, but it will be fun!!* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!* * *

Rascal Flatts!!

2009-03-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Dustin is always surprising me! I am such a lucky girl! This time it was with Rascal Flatts tickets! It was such an awesome concert. Jessica Simpson opened for them and then it was non stop fun from there! They put on the best concert! They are full of lights, confetti, pyrotechnics and of course amazing music! They sang all the songs that I wanted to hear. They sang a ton of new stuff but they didn't forget the old classics! It was such a blast! Thanks babe for all the great memories that we make together! I love ya!
Jessica Simpson

Dustin was sad that Jessica was all done singing. Dustin's Words "I like me some Jessica Simpson"!

Gary singing to the Ladies!

Joe Don singing Movin' on!!

Jay singing Sarah Beth!

Gary singing Feels Like Today!

CONFETTI!! WHOO HOO! This was when they came out for the encore!

My Friend Lynzi Hale was at the concert too! Great minds think alike!

Dustin and I after the concert! Can you tell that our minds were blown by the awesomeness that is Rascal Flatts?!?!

Valentine's Fun!

2009-03-03T10:41:00.000-08:00

We got to participate in a lot of activity's this Valentine's Day. First we went to a valentine's party at church. We have a great mommy group that meets every Thursday. The kids got to decorate bags for valentines, decorate and eat yummy cookies and hear some fun story's. Then they got to pass out there valentines! I think it was as fun for me as it was for Rylee!
Rylee was sick on the Friday before Valentines so she didn't get to go to her school party. She was pretty bummed, so I went over and took her Valentine's and picked the ones up from her class. That made her a little happier!
On Valentine's Day we gave each other Valentine's presents! We got Rylee Balloons! It was the only thing that she said that she wanted! We also threw in some fun High School Musical stuff too! Dustin gave me some Twilight stuff and a few gift cards! One is to The Destinations Inn so that we can use it for our Anniversary! There was also some fun stuff to wear! Dustin got Golf Clubs and some gift cards! We went to eat at Red Robin but we didn't do that until the Monday after so that we didn't have to fight the crowds on Heart Day! It was a great day to celebrate Love!!

Rylee by her Valentine bag

Listening to a story!

Checking out her loot!

AAHHH! The balloons!

Dustin opening his cute undies and gift cards

Me with my special edition copy of Twilight!!!

We've got some sexy lips!! Yeah Baby!

A Couple of Hot Mamas!

Funny Pictures

2009-02-15T22:48:00.000-08:00

So they say that pictures are worth a thousand words, and these ones speak for themselves. We took these at Old Navy. I could not quit laughing!! Enjoy!

Rylee's Surprise!

2009-02-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

While we were gone to Alabama Dustin got a huge surprise for Rylee. A Dog! He thought that she would be going through withdraws from being with her cousins 24/7 and would need a companion to keep her company. So he got her a Chihuahua! Rylee went though many names before she settled on Vegas!! Yes, Vegas. It is her favorite place to visit, so we think it is an awesome name. It really fits him. He is a very good dog (for those of you who know me, you know that I am not really a dog fan so for me to say he is good means a lot!)and he is 4 months old this month. Rylee is very good with him. She likes to call him Sweetie! It is so cute. She says it in a voice like she is talking to a baby!! Here are some pictures of Rylee and her new bundle of joy!

Alabama

2009-02-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post some pictures from Alabama so that you all could see what Rylee and I had been up to! (Get ready for A LOT of pictures!!)

Rylee got to go into the cockpit and meet the pilots on our first flight!! The flight attendants were so nice to her. Our fight was at 6 a.m. so we really didn't get to eat breakfast before we left the house. The Flight attendants asked Rylee if she was hungry and she told them that she was so they brought her a warm roll with jelly and a plate of fresh fruit from first class!

This is my niece Ashley! She is reading to Rylee. Ashley is such a good little reader and Rylee loved that Ashley would read any book that she wanted to her!

Rylee and Mason Dressing up! Rylee pretty much wore nothing but dress up clothes when we were in Alabama!

Rylee in Harry Potter glasses!! I thought that this was a funny picture!

Playing outside. It was pretty nice there and was got kind of spoiled. Rylee really enjoyed being able to play outside and not freeze! She also has an awesome Grandpa that wanted to play outside and would go out with her when ever she wanted!

This is all of us at Britton's Pinewood Derby!

This Britton with his award from the pinewood derby! He won the award for the sportiest car! It was so fun to go and watch Britton race! We are so proud of you Britton!

Here is Quincy. This was not one of his best days but he was such a trooper!

The kids got to play with the hospital gloves! They had a blast with them! They were so happy to see there brother and Mom and Dad!!!

My beautiful Sister Heather! This is just 2 days after she had MAJOR SURGERY! Can you believe it! She is truly awesome!

Driving back to Montgomery from the Hospital in Birmingham. We were all so tired. My mom snapped this picture for me! Thanks Mom!!

Surprise, Surprise, Rylee dressing up again. Rylee and Ashley were designing new outfits!

Quincy brought these clown noses home from the Hospital. The kids had a really fun time with them! (I have to say that we as "adults" had a blast with then also!)

Jumping on the trampoline!! I even got in on the action! I forgot how much fun it is! Rylee loved it. She called it the Big Blue House (because the enclosure was blue I guess!)

In the waiting room at the Children's hospital. We went to Quincy's appointment before we went to the airport! This is the dog that Rylee got at the gift shop. She named it jumpy

Tagged!

2009-02-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

i've been TAGGED...
The Rules:
1. Go to your documents/pictures.

2. Go to your 6th file.

3. Go to your 6th picture.

4. Blog about it.

5. Tag 6 people to do the same.

6. So here we go...

This is my sweet Rylee Jo!! It is not surprising to me that the picture is of her! I took this picture when I got my new Nikon D40! I was trying to figure out how to work everything on the camera and Rylee volunteered to be my model! She was climbing a tree in our front yard and just kept posing and saying "Mommy take my picture". This picture was one I snapped in between poses!! I just love that sweet girl of mine. She is always so funny and happy! I am truly blessed to be her mom!! I love you sweet girl!

I now Tag...
Heather
Katie
Mom
Lindsay Allen
Kristy
Stephanie

Where I've been?!!

2009-01-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

I know that it has been a while since I have posted but I have a good reason! Rylee and I have been in Alabama at my sisters house since the 19th of Jan. For those of you who don't know my Nephew Quincy found out this last summer that he only had one kidney and that it was in failure. Well this last Thursday ( Jan. 22nd 2009) my sweet, loving & caring sister Heather donated her kidney to my amazing & brave nephew Quincy! The transplant was a success and they are both recovering well. My sister was released from the hospital the day after the surgery and has been at the children's hospital since then with Quincy. She is taking it easy and has been there (along with Kelly my awesome bro-in-law) to help Quincy recover. We are so excited to announce that they are all coming home tomorrow (Thurs. Jan 29th) exactly one week after the surgery! Rylee & I along with my parents have been here with the other 3 kids taking care of them. It has been a blast! The kids have all been so good and have enjoyed playing together, but they are all super excited to have there Mom, Dad & brother home!!! I will post again when I get home and add pictures so you can see everyone and everything that we have been doing!

New Year's Eve!

2009-01-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

For New Year's Eve this year we spent it with Dustin's Family in Utah! We also used that weekend to do our Christmas gift exchange! We had a blast. Rylee stayed up to watch the ball drop and we had party poppers and noise makers!! The neighbor even lit off some fireworks! We ate awesome food (Thanks Lindsay!)After we finally got the kids to bed we stayed up until 4:00a.m. playing a bunch of different games on the Wii! We really enjoyed the time that we got to spend with family. We had all of Dustin's Family there for that weekend and it was really fun. It was great to build on our relationships and to just enjoy each others company.

This is when we pulled the string on our party poppers, It kind of scared Rylee at first!

Me and Rylee's New Year's Kiss!!

Me and Dustin's New Year's Kiss!! ( I know, it's a little steamy!)

Dustin, gettin' his party on!

Fun with the party blowers!

Christmas Cheer!!

2008-12-30T01:25:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Rylee was a blast and is really getting the hang of the whole thing! This year was the year that she really got to know who Santa Claus was. She knew that he can "see you when your sleeping, he knows when your awake, he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake". also that she "better watch out, better not cry, better not pout"! Anytime I looked at something at the store and then put it back on the shelf she would say " you want that? You better ask Santa!" She learned a ton of Christmas songs and would walk around all day long singing them. She couldn't go to sleep at night until I sang at least two of them! I love love love it! We had so many fun Christmas party's to go to and Rylee had her first School Christmas Program!! I think that I was more excited for it then her! Her Pre School Class sang Jingle Bells with the Kindergarten. She saw Santa several times. She was finally brave enough to sit on his lap all by her self at the mall on Christmas Eve! She sat just long enough for a sweet picture. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents and then woke up the next morning to find that Santa had come to visit us. Rylee left Chocolate, a tangerine and a Pepsi for Santa (Daddy told her that Santa preferred Pepsi!) and Carrots for the Reindeer! They were all eaten and nibbled on. I do not think that any of us were disappointed by what we received from Santa and from everyone else!!!! We made a haul (to say the least!!) I am so thankful for all the love that I feel from my family! I always know that what ever gift is given to them they will love it and treasure it! The greatest gift is my family. I couldn't have asked for a better family. To our family that was not with us this holiday season, We love you and missed you very much. We love the feeling of togetherness and love. We hope that your holiday season was as Merry as Ours! We love you (family and Friends)!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

!!

Vegas Baby!!

2008-12-29T23:44:00.001-08:00

So Dustin decided that we needed a little get away so he planned a trip for just him and I to Las Vegas!! It started out just being a quick little get a way (Wed - Fri) but quickly changed to a full week!! He figured 'why not!?' I love when Dustin plans a trip for us, he is so organized and always has everything planned out! We are never left wondering what we want to do or where we want to go. The highlights of what we did are as follows... We went to see Phantom of the Opera!!! Dustin told me to not get my hopes up because the seats where not very good, well he was a liar (in a good way) He had gotten me 5th row, center seats! I could see the sweat on the actors brows! The other really big thing that we did and the whole reason that we planned the trip is we got to go see Gary Allan live at the House of Blues. We got to the concert about an hour before it started and it was a good thing because on top of already having a butt load of people there, I forgot my ID (I never go to bars so I forgot that I needed it!) So we had to drive down the whole strip back to the hotel to get it. The concert was scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. and we didn't get back there until 8:30. Well we thought that we had missed several song but happily Gary Allan was late getting on stage and we didn't miss anything. It was an amazing concert. He sang every song that I hoped he would and some brand new ones that we had never heared!! Some of the other fun things that we did were we went to Madam Tussuad's Wax Museum and took a ton of awesome pictures. We also went to the car show at the Imperial Palace, Ethel M's chocolate Factory and store/The cactus garden and last but not least, Dustin took me to dinner at "The Top of the World" restaurant in the Stratosphere. It was so amazing, the food was so so good and the view was amazing. All in All it was an awesome get a way with the wonderful and caring man I love!! (Get ready for a bunch of pictures)

s)

Christmas Party!

2008-12-22T17:54:00.000-08:00

We had Dustin's Company Christmas Party at Mountain River Ranch. It was a blast. We rode on horse drawn wagons (there was no snow or we would have been on sleighs) out to a building in the meadow and had dinner. It was an awesome Prime Rib dinner. They had really good entertainment also. There were these three boys (two of them where brothers) that played the guitar on fiddle. The boy playing the fiddle was awesome. He is only 16 years old. They played "the devil went down to Georgia" which is a pretty hard song and he was amazing! They had all the kids come up and sing a couple of songs too. Rylee really didn't know what to make of it, but she got into it when they had them sing "Once there was a Snowman".

Turkey Bowling!

2008-12-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

Every Thanksgiving we go bowling with Dustin's family! We always look forward to seeing everyone and having fun bowling! This is the first year that Rylee got to bowl. It is one of her favorite things to do and it was really fun to be able to bowl with her cousins!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

We got to spend Thanksgiving at Jack & Alison's (Dustin's brother & sister-in-law) New house! We had a blast. The weekend was filled with food, family, fun & more FOOD!! We spent a lot of time pouring over Black Friday ad's and trying to get our game plan down! I think that we all got everything that we wanted and didn't even have to fight anybody for it!

I am so Thankful for all the many blessing in my life. I am extremely grateful for my Sweet and caring Husband who works so hard to make sure that all our needs our met. Dustin is my Knight in shining armor. He always put mine and Rylee's need before his own! I love you babe! I am so grateful for my sweet, funny and loving little girl! Not a day goes by that I am not surprised by all that she does. Rylee is so smart and so creative! I can't wait to hear what she will say next!! She is so caring and patient with her mommy! I love that she will just come up to me out of the blue and touch my face so softly and tell me that she loves me!! I am grateful for our church and the comfort it bring me. I am grateful for our ward and the love we fill from them. I truly feel like they are part of our family! There are so many other things that I am grateful for, I could go on all day. I just want my family to know how much I love them and that I would not be where I am with out them. They are all such great examples in my life!

Twilight!!!

2008-11-21T02:33:00.000-08:00

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!

I can not even think of any other word right now for how much I enjoyed Twilight the movie!! I was a lucky girl who has a super sweet husband that got us midnight release tickets to the movie! My sweet husband even read the book (and loved it by the way!) I was such a fun night. The only thing that was not so great is that we couldn't find two seats that were together in the seats that our on the upper section of the theater, so we had to sit on the third row from the screen. It wasn't so bad once it got started. I was just so happy to be there and be one of the first people in Idaho Falls to see Twilight. I will defiantly be going to see it again very soon! Here are a few pictures of our evening!

Here is Dustin & I in our Twilight shirts!! If you go to a midnight release you have to have shirts!

This is the lines to get into the theater. You have to wait in line until they called your theater number and then they let you in. Our Theater number was called like right when we got then. I took this picture right as they were calling our number.

Here is Dustin looking up at the screen and then just a quick pic of us in our seats waiting for the movie to start!This is a view of the theater from where we sat. It seems that there are a lot of seats available but don't be deceived. Those are just seats people are saving for there friends. :(

Last but not least, here are our tickets and this is how we made it through the night!! Got to love the Red Bull!!

(Sorry if none of this makes sense. It is 4:00 a.m.)

Where does she come up with this?

2008-11-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

This story is so funny that I just knew I had to blog about it!

So Sunday after church we come home and I am cleaning up some paper scraps from some handouts I made before Church. I had some larger scraps that I had printed on and cut wrong so I was throwing them away. Well, Rylee looks at the paper that I am throwing away and then up at me and says "Mom, you can't throw that away." So I asked "Why" so she replies " Some people could use those!!" I was laughing so hard. I have no clue where that came from. She must be so use to seeing me keep every scrap of paper that she thought that they could have been put to use!!

BYU Cougars!

2008-10-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

Dustin & I had the opportunity to go to a BYU football game with his Grandma & Grandpa Mercer!! It was so awesome. It was the first College football game that I (Lindsey) have ever been to.Before this I had only been to High school football games(Go IF Tigers!!) BYU played UNLV and it was a very close game. Every time was scored they would answer back, but in the end we scored the most points (as my Dad would say)The end score was 42 BYU 35 UNLV if you were wondering. We were surprised at how much Dustin's grandparents got into the game. They were up cheering with the best of us after every score. It was really fun and we really enjoyed the time that we got to spend with Grandma & Grandpa Mercer and got to know them a little better!! GO COUGARS!!

Boo at the Zoo!!

2008-10-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

We went to Boo at the Zoo yesterday!! It was a blast. For those of you who don't know Rylee is Alvin (from the Chipmunks) this year and she informed Dustin and I that we needed to be Simon & Theodore, so we happily obliged!! Dustin, Rylee and I all went and got to see all the animals at the zoo!! They had monkeys, lions & Rylee's favorite TIGERS!! She got a little candy and saw a bunch of people that she knew!We thought our costumes were pretty self explanatory, but I guess we were mistaken! We had so many people ask us "What do you spell?" I would just say Alvin, Simon & Theodore and the The light in there heads would go off! Rylee was so funny. She wouldn't call Dustin & I by Mommy & Daddy but by our character names!! If we were trailing behind we would hear " SIMON, THEODORE, come on" It was hilarious!! Rylee (or should I say Alvin) gets to wear her costume to a party tonight and then to school tomorrow and our ward party!! If she had her way she would wear it all day everyday!! Thanks Mom for all the time you put into our costumes!! They are awesome and we couldn't have done it without you!! By the way, I had no luck in finding Chipmunk ears and I ran out of time so I got creative and made them out of out hair!! Poor Dustin doesn't have enough hair for ears so he went without (I think he was okay with that!) We all got a Chipmunk nose painted on and we found Simon glasses for Dustin ( they are actually Harry Potter glasses but they were prefect!) We will always use them again!!I would of had more pictures but my camera stopped working :(.

New Hair Cut!

2008-10-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Rylee needed a little trim and so I got brave a did it myself!! She was such a good girl and sat very still while I cut it. She helped me by holding the scissors when I wasn't using them. She was being so cute, When I would turn her around to face me she would give me this big cheesy grin and ask "Is it cute mommy?" I am pretty proud of the end result!! Rylee loved it, so that made me feel like it was a success!! She looks like such a big girl with her hair cut short! I LOVE it that way but sometimes it makes me sad because it is reminding me that she is not my little baby anymore but a big girl now.

Helpin' Grandpa

2008-10-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

My dad has been taking all the lath and plaster(I don't know if I am spelling that right) out of the rooms in there home and putting up sheet rock. One day while Rylee and I were over at there house my Dad started knocking it all down with a hammer. Rylee thought that was the coolest thing ever, so sweet Grandpa let her have a whack at it!! It has become her most favorite thing to do over at Grandma & Grandpa's house! Every time we go over there she heads strait to the room and gets to work. Today we surprised Grandpa by finishing the wall we had been working on(as far as we could reach). My dad just loves that his little granddaughter isn't afraid to get her hands dirty!!

Sleeping Beauty

2008-10-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

So Rylee had been playing in her room the other day and then in got really quite in there. So, as any mom would know that means that there is trouble a brewin'! Well when I when into investigate this is what I found!!!!

She have taken the drawer out of her dresser and made herself a little bed!! How sweet is that!! I just love the things that this little girl thinks of.

The "Olive" store!!

2008-10-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

So Rylee's favorite restaurant to go to at the moment is the "Olive " store, or as we call it Olive Garden! She always gets the same thing when we go (I should say we all get the same thing) She always wants Soup and Olives. Because Duh, it is the olive store. So she will eat our soup and the the nice waiter or waitress will bring her out her very own bowl of Olives!!

Here she is with the olives on every finger!!

First Snow

2008-10-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

So here it is the middle of October, so of course that means SNOW! Only in Idaho. Rylee was so excited so see the snow. She couldn't wait to get in it. I am glad to see that someone was excited to see the snow! It is all that she could talk about. We were in the car and Rylee says, " Mommy, I just want to pick that snow up and throw it!!" Right when she got out of the car she jumped on the grass and throw a snowball right at Dustin!!! That erupted into a full out snow ball fight!! We are hoping that the snow will be gone by the time Halloween rolls around. (That is just wishfully thinking!! Right Heather { Fat Princess!!})

Our Harvest

2008-10-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to plant a garden and with sooo much help from my dad it happened! I was in awe every time I would look at the back door and it had grown more!! I was giddy like a child, you would think that I had ever seen anything grow out of the ground before!! Rylee enjoyed too. She loved playing out in the dirt and was even more amazed then I was when she saw the plants. Her favorite thing was to help me pick stuff from the garden! I was in shock two days ago when I looked out the door and the evil frost of Idaho had withered all the huge squash leaves. I was in a mad rush to save anything that had not frozen yet. I am sad to say that my tomatoes took the biggest hit. Luckily my Grandpa Cooper left a little tidbit of knowledge about green tomatoes. He use to pick all the green tomatoes that were on the bush when the frost set in and would layer them in a box down in the fruit room and they would continue to ripen and then the would have tomatoes well into December! Here are the pictures of our Harvest. I stood the biggest squash up and had Rylee stand by it so that you can see the actually size!! Of course Rylee is in the pictures. (if there is a camera Rylee is there!)

First Day of Pre-School

2008-10-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

Rylee started her second year of Pre-School this year. They started a Pre-School program at Hawthorne Elementary, and Rylee got to go to this program. I (Lindsey) am so excited, because it is the Elementary that Me and my siblings went to. They added on and remodeled the whole school and it is so beautiful! Rylee loves every minute at school. She gets to go 3 days a week for 2 hours and 40 mins. in the morning!! The first day of school they invited the parents to come and observe.I was really get to see what they do at school and how the teachers interact with the kids. I also took some pictures of her on her second day of school because it was the first day that she rode the bus to school this year!! She loves the bus. There are only 4 other kids in Rylee's class and they don't always come on the same days so sometimes there are 5 kids in class and sometimes there is 1 kid in class. The teacher and aids in this class this year are awesome. Rylee always gets home from school excited and has so many things to tell us about her day! I can't believe how much she has grown up and before I know it she will be in school 5 days a week for the whole day. I don't know what I am going to do with myself. It is such a blessing to see our beautiful, smart & happy little girl enjoy learning so much!

The Cuttest Blog!!

2008-10-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

I am in love with my new layout and design of my blog!! My sweet, smart, creative, and loving sister Katie put it together for me!! She is so awesome! I have the best sisters in the whole world. Katie totally gets me and knows what I love. I gave her free reign to do what every she wanted and she came up with this awesome creation! She also took the pictures of my cute little family that are at the top of the page! (can you say amazing talent!!)I have to say that my sisters are who I strive to be like. I have learned to be the best me by watching them! They are the best examples and teaches a girl can ask for! Thank you for all the wonderful things that you do for me. I love you both (Heather & Katie) Love your little sis!!

Rylee's Favorite Place!!

2008-10-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

There is one place that Rylee always wants to go and is sad when we have to leave. She calls it "The Princess Castle" but we all know it as The Excalibur in Las Vegas!! This trip we picked our favorite things to do. We went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay & the M&M Factory, but by far Rylee's Favorite thing to go see is the Tournament of Kings dinner show!! We have sat in Russia's section the last two time that we have gone. Rylee calls him "Mother Russia" in a very convincing Russian accent!! We were very pleased to learn that Rylee remembered so much from the last time that we were there! She remembered the cheer that you do and the different characters! The people in the show are so sweet to Rylee. All the girls that are the Princesses stop to talk to Rylee and wave at her, and the kings always blow her kisses as they pass. The other thing that Rylee loves to do is play the carnival style games at the midway! She is very good at them and the look on her face when she wins is priceless!!

Holy Crap!!!

2008-10-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have to start by saying sorry that it has been so long. I COULD NOT remember my password. (Thank you Vicki for the help!!) Now that I have reset my password with something I can remember you can all look forward to my many posts to come. Thank you for all the comments that were left (you know who you are!) Keep watching for new post, pictures and hopefully a more exciting background!!

Trying new things!

2008-08-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

So I figured that it was time that we had a family blog!! I feel like I am one of the last people to figure this whole blog thing out, but I guess better late then never! This first post is just to let you all know that we are out here and give any of you an update about our little family. For some of you this will be nothing new but hopefully you will enjoy it anyway. So here goes!
Hi! We are the Likes' Family. Dustin, Lindsey & Rylee Jo. We live in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Rylee is our only child. She is 4 years old. We are so grateful to have such a energetic and lovable little girl! Dustin & I have been married for 5 years now. We just celebrated our 5th anniversary on the 18th of July. Dustin is a Property Manager for a company here in Idaho Falls called Frontier Property Group. Dustin is very good at what he does and loves his job. Lindsey is a stay at home mom and loves every minute of it. Rylee is starting her 2nd year of Pre-School this year and is so excited! That is just a little info about us! I hope that you all will enjoy our blog! I will probably be much more fun to read once I get the hang of it!