Much ado About Duffin

Ryker's 3!

2011-02-12T12:12:00.003-07:00

Ryker turned 3 on December 28. It's hard to believe that he's already 3 and in primary. Here are a few fun facts about Ryker:

*He love LOVES his little brother, they are the best of friends.
*He plays pirates & Peter Pan daily.
*Changes his clothes at least 3 times a day.....he comes up with some interesting outfits!
*He has sound effects for everything he does, including his own theme music.
*Insists on doing EVERYTHING by himself and I mean EVERYTHING!
*He wears daddy's ties as a tail and sometimes has 2 tail at a time.
*Must sleep with his Snoopy, Cat-in-the-Hat, bear, puppy, whale, Bubble bear, Woody, and Buzz each night.
*Loves to give hugs and kisses, but must give the last kiss.
*He helps me do chores.
I love this little guy!

It's Been Awhile

2010-12-09T19:10:00.011-07:00

Christmas is almost here! This Christmas season has been tons of fun with Ryker. He discovered snow and must step in as much as possible. He loves the Christmas tree and has a hard time not decorating it with his own toys. I'm so excited for Christmas, mainly because Ryker is going to LOVE what we got him. He's such a big boy now. He's been potty trained now for 2 months, one day he decided that he wanted to go in the toilet and hasn't looked back.

Hezeki is now 4 months old and he is so much bigger than Ryker was at the same age. Hezeki is starting into 9 month clothes, soon enough he'll catch up to Ryker. Hezeki is reaching milestones, he rolls from his back to tummy,smiles, reaches and holds things, sits up with little assistance, and almost sleeps through the night. The boys now share a room, Ryker thinks its pretty cool. When Ryker wakes up he'll climb into Hezeki's bed and cuddle him. Its pretty sweet to hear them in the morning talking and laughing.

Chili Cook Off

2010-09-19T13:43:00.002-06:00

On Friday our ward had its annual chili cook off, Ryan has always wanted to enter but hadn't been able to because of work. Ryan entered a chili and won! I also entered in with a cornbread and got runner up. Pretty good for first timers! Here are the recipes, in case anyone wanted to try them out...it is almost chili/cornbread season.

Chili

1. 2 Pounds of Beef Chuck Roast cut into 1 inch cubes. And no do not trim away the fat. It goes in the pot.
2. 1 Pound Ground Chuck or ground beef.
3. 1 Pound of Boneless Pork Chops Cut into 1 inch cubes or 1 pound ground sausage (I prefer sausage because of the stronger flavor).
4. 2 Large Purple Sweet Onions Finely Chopped
5. 2 Large Green Bell Peppers Cleaned and Finely Chopped
6. 6 Jalapenos Diced Very Fine (put less Jalapenos for milder chili but no less than 2 for flavor)
7. 1 Can 4 OZ. Chopped Green Chilies
8. 16 OZ. Red Kidney Beans (That’s 16 oz cooked, two cups if you’re making it yourself or just get a 16 oz can)
9. 16 Oz. White Kidney Beans
10. 32 Oz. Whole Tomatoes
11. 2 16 Oz. Cans Crushed Tomatoes
12. 4 13 Oz. Cans Regular Beef Broth
13. 1 Cup Chili Sauce
14. 3 Tablespoons Oil (vegetable or canola)
15. 3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
16. 3 Tablespoons Ground Cayenne Pepper (less cayenne for milder chili but at least 1T for flavor)
17. 2 Tablespoons Fresh Ground Garlic
18. 1 Tablespoon Cumin Powder
19. Salt to taste (I put about 3 tablespoons)
20. 10 oz apple cider
21. 1 Large Can Tomato Paste
In a large skillet or pot brown and drain your beef and pork. Add your onions, jalapenos, and peppers and Chile's. Cook until your onions and peppers are tender. Place into a large stock pot and add in all your other ingredients but your beans and tomato paste. Cook over low to medium heat keeping just below a boil for 6-8 hours (or you simmer for an hour or so and then chill in the fridge overnight. It’s all about letting the flavors come together). In the last hour add in your beans and your tomato paste.

Mexican Cornbread

1. 1 Cup butter melted
2. 1 Cup White Sugar
3. 4 Large Eggs
4. 1 15 Oz. Can Cream Style Corn
5. 1 4 Oz. Can Green Chile Peppers Very Well Drained
6. 1/2 Cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
7. 1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
8. 1 Cup All Purpose Plain Flour
9. 1 Cup Yellow Corn Meal
10. 4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
11. 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and spray a 9 X 13 baking pan.
In a large bowl mix all ingredients together very well. Pour your mixed ingredients into the baking dish and bake for 1 hour until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean. This cornbread will not dome up like cake…enjoy!

Our New Arrival

2010-08-11T18:52:00.002-06:00

Hezeki Tru joined our family on August 4, 2010. He weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 20 1/2 in. long. The c-section went well, I felt less drugged during and after the surgery so I remember more of what happened. I'm recovering, plenty sore (but I have pain meds for that!) and Hezeki is adjusting to being a little brother. Ryker gives lots of kisses and hugs everyday and wants to hold and help out all that he can.

Baby Drama

2010-07-30T17:20:00.005-06:00

Where has the summer gone! I can't believe its almost August, our little guy is coming on August 4th! I had hoped for a VBAC, but this lil' guy is as stubborn as Ryker (he's transverse breech). Today we scheduled the c-section for this Wednesday. I'm over joyed, it is definitely more uncomfortable to be pregnant during the HOT summer months. Not sure I could go another week being pregnant! But the baby is healthy and that's all that matters.
Ryker and I have been working on getting potty trained before the baby comes....he's half way there. He's done a really good job, so long as he isn't busy playing or doing something more important! Ryker has become Mommy's big helper, he insists on doing the dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, cleaning the toilet, and making the bed. I think he'll be a good helper once his little brother comes along.
Hopefully, it won't take me too long to post pictures of our new addition next week.

Update

2010-05-29T21:25:00.003-06:00

We've been back in Rexburg for about 3 weeks now. Ryker is loving our back yard, if he could he'd stay outside all day long. He's such a little boy now, he explores all over the yard and love loves to play in the dirt or rocks. I'm glad to be back in my house, it still feels like home here.

The baby is growing healthy and strong. He is kicking way harder than I remember Ryker ever kicking! We still haven't settled on a name, Ryan really likes Hezekiah (means my strength is from God) I'm undecided on any names so far. We want a name that has a good meaning, naming a second boy has become a real challenge. I've decided to have a VBAC, I'm hoping all goes well and no breach baby this time around.

Ryan has been working diligently to find a counseling position so he can quit Applebee's. He's had a few offers and has another interview this week. If all goes well he will be able to do just counseling and not have to do any PSR. I'm so proud of him, he's worked so hard to get through school, juggling family life, school, and supporting us financially. He's a wonderful husband and daddy, Ryker and I adore him.

Last week my sister-in-law took some picture of Ryker for her senior project. I had to share, they turned out so well! I love them!

Boy Oh Boy

2010-04-05T11:45:00.002-06:00

First of all, we found out we're having a boy! He's healthy and right on track for an August birthday. I was super excited for a boy, a playmate for Ryker. We have everything we need for a boy already so now I can get some fun baby stuff! Choosing a name is the hard part, we didn't have any other boy names we liked other than Ryker. Any ideas?

Ryan and I decided to move back to our house in Rexburg in May. Since our drama with our tenants and the way the house looked last week, there was no way it would sell the way it is now. We can't move on until we are able to sell the duplex and we want to get a good price out of it. We'll work on the curb appeal and small damages caused by our previous tenants. So after much thought we are going back. I have mixed feelings about moving to Rexburg, it will be so strange to live in Rexburg and not be a student. Hopefully we can sell the house in a couple years and move on with our original plan.

Lost and Found

2010-03-26T10:00:00.003-06:00

We've had some problems with some of our tenants these last few months. A few weeks ago we found out that they had skipped town without paying rent, leaving us high and dry. Anyways we made a trip down to Rexburg so that we could clean and do some work on the house, the house was disgustingly filthy inside and trash was all over the lawn. While cleaning the bathroom we checked behind the vanity and found my wedding ring! I had lost it a year and a half ago, what are the chances of finding it again! Even though our house has been causing us some stress and headaches, we've been greatly blessed. I'm so happy that Ryan found my ring again, it makes up for having to clean the house.

A Baby

2010-02-09T13:05:00.005-07:00

We're expecting! I'm due August 11, the hottest month of the year! We're excited for a new little baby. We told Ryker about the baby and he thinks there's a baby in his tummy too. I'm sure Ryker will be an excellent big brother!

My Big BOY

2009-12-31T17:12:00.004-07:00

Ryker turned 2 on Monday, I can't believe how big he's gotten! We went out to eat for his Birthday and got a dessert, he loved it (as you can tell). I love Ryker more everyday, I have the best job in the world!

Happy

2009-12-11T19:47:00.010-07:00

Every other word is happy and everything is happy at least according to Ryker. Its amazing how quickly he can learn new things. I taught him today that he's 2, at least he'll be two in 3 weeks by then he'll be able to do it on his own.

We're half way done! Today was the end of the semester for Ryan. He has 4 more months of school left. I thought a Master's degree program would be more demanding, but so far Ryan's been managing his time well. I'm so proud of him and all his hard work. This next semester Ryan will be doing an internship at two different agencies. It will be good to gain some different perspectives, but I think this semester will be more time consuming. We'll see how it goes.

Over Thanksgiving we had some family pictures taken. They turned out really good. My mother-in-law took them and I tried my hand at photo editing.

I love this one of Ryker kissing Snoopy!

FHE

2009-11-17T10:53:00.005-07:00

Last night we had so much fun for FHE. I found this blog that has lots of fun ideas and links for family home evening. We made some chocolate chip cookies, Ryker helped roll the cookie dough and put them in the oven. What a good little helper!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-20T19:43:00.002-06:00

On Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends, with the intention of purchasing pumpkins. It turned out that almost all of the pumpkins were rotten. Ryker wasn't too interested and ended up just throwing rocks.

We ended up just getting some cool looking gourds.We'll carve a pumpkin for FHE next week. I'm going to try a new recipe where you cook a custard in a pumpkin! The recipe sounds really yummy, we'll see if its hard to make, wish me luck!

Ryker's Favorites

2009-10-07T00:06:00.007-06:00

It's so exciting to watch Ryker grow, these last few month he's learned so much! He loves to sing Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, motions included; Elmo's song; Book of Mormon Stories; and Ring Around the Rosy, falling down being the best part! Ryker has had a language explosion, some of his favorite words are:

silly
want some
bunny
bananas
popcorn
whale
Elmo
Mama
hi
Daddy
hey
hand
bye
fish
eyes
ball
cool
dog
Amen
Jesus
welcome
nose
love ya
funny
not silly
bear
Uh oh

And he'll repeat almost anything you say! Ryker understands more words than he can say. Ryan and I use a philosophy called Love and Logic to teach him obedience and responsibility; it's really helped us learn how to discipline and teach him! He's so obedient and fun to be with everyday.

Ryker

2009-10-07T00:06:00.001-06:00

End of Summer

2009-09-08T15:50:00.006-06:00

We've had such a fun summer! In August Ryker and I were able to visit my family in Minnesota and Nauvoo. A few weeks later Ryan's family came up to CDA. We've been swimming, hiking, rock climbing, and doing a ton of stuff outside. It's going to be hard to stay inside all winter long! Here are some pictures from throughout the summer that haven't got around to posting.

Ryker and Daddy walking in the sand

Is this for me?!

A Small Milestone

2009-07-30T23:43:00.002-06:00

Ryker stayed in Nursery all by himself this past Sunday! I was so excited for him, he gained a little bit of independence. But I'm also sad that he's growing so fast and doesn't need his mommy all the time.

Summertime Fun

2009-07-12T21:51:00.005-06:00

On Saturday, we went to the park for a picnic and to play. Ryker had such a good time playing in the water, as long as he didn't get a face full of it! He was really careful not to get any water in his face, if he could help it!

Ryker running with glee! He's such a fun little guy, he was screaming and making some funny faces (of course I couldn't capture any on film!).

We also like to go on walks around Lake Coeur 'dAlene. Ryker's favorite thing to do at the lake is throw rocks into the water. Well, anytime there are rocks to throw he will throw them. He can throw rocks for hours on end without getting bored! It must be a boy thing!

Ryker loves to read! He's such a good little reader, he'll sit by himself and read or we'll read together. That's my favorite part of the day! Of course he's all about the Cat and the Hat! (He has a stuffed Cat and the Hat he sleeps with and tries to bring along with him everywhere!)

Ryker's New Toy....

2009-06-29T15:17:00.007-06:00

Ryker has a new favorite toy, our sliding glass door. He opens and closes that door at least 100 times a day. He's also discovered that he can make silly faces if he presses against the glass. I thought that it was pretty funny and had to share!

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-12T23:14:00.006-06:00

We're really starting to feel at home here in Coeur d'Alene. I've finally unpacked all of our boxes and hung the pictures on the walls. Everyone that we've met so far have been really nice and welcoming. We've discovered that there is plenty to do here in Coeur d'Alene. There are lots of hiking/bike trails we are planning on checking out. This weekend there is an Iron Man competition that is a huge deal here, there are over 2,000 athletes competing in it. All of downtown shuts down for the competition. It sounds like it'd be fun to watch.
These are pics of Coeur d'Alene Lake and the longest boardwalk in the world...I'm not sure if I believe that.

Coeur d'Alene

2009-05-28T23:58:00.002-06:00

I know it's been over a month but the move to Coeur d'Alene took longer than expected. BUT, we've made it! Coeur d'Alene is BEAUTIFUL! There will be pictures to come, I've only been here for a day and LOVE it! I think we are going to really like it here!

We're Moving to...

2009-03-28T18:43:00.003-06:00

Ryan and I decided that we are moving to Coeur' dAlene, Idaho. Ryan will be attending Boise State University in Coeur' dAlene for grad school in Social Work, the program is 10 months long. We are excited about the move, everything we've heard about Coeur' dAlene has been great!

Zoned Out

2009-03-19T23:02:00.007-06:00

We don't let Ryker watch tv, but occasionally we watch Baby Einstein movies with him. He's already showing signs of taking after Ryan. Equipped with comfy clothes and goldfishes in hand he sits back and enjoys the show. Once the movie is on the rest of the world doesn't exist to Ryker. Much like his daddy he stares at the screen wide eyed and open mouthed. He gets pretty into the movies though. He really likes when there are animals on the shows. He claps and laughs at their silly actions. We just love him so much!!

Hair Cut

2009-02-27T11:14:00.006-07:00

Ryker got his first hair cut at a salon. We went to the beauty school here and of course I didn't bring my camera, so no shot of him screaming his head off. Well, he did better than I thought so I really can't complain. And the girl that cut his hair was really good with him. Ryker is learning lots everyday, he still isn't too interested in walking yet...which is fine with me he's already getting to be too big! He's mastered the art of eating with a spoon or fork-well for the most part.

Our bathroom is FINALLY finished as of yesterday. It looks really nice, it just stinks that we only get to enjoy it for about a month. It echos now too because of the stone tile, Ryker likes to yell and hear the echo he gets a kick out of it! As far as school goes we're kind of in limbo right now, we haven't yet heard back from any universities yet but we should pretty soon. It's made me a little nervous since there is so much to do before we leave, plus we don't have an apartment to move to since we haven't heard back! I know it will work out but I can't stand the wait!

New Bathroom Tiles

2009-01-28T21:30:00.010-07:00

On Monday night it was extremely cold and our pipes froze, which could have been avoided if we would have dripped the faucet. Anyhow, a pipe burst and it flooded the kitchen in our downstairs apartment! Luckily, we got the water turned off before thousands of dollars of damaged occurred. So the plumber and the cleaning & restoration guys came and did their business, while taking out some of the wall in the basement and some of our tile in the bathroom upstairs. Our house looks a mess and there's a huge whole in our bathroom, which prohibits taking a shower. But I must say we are pretty blessed to have been at home at the time. And here's the best part of the deal, because the leak was in between the floor and the ceiling the plumbers had to take out some tile. Since our style of tile would be hard to match our home owner's insurance is going to pay for our shower to be re-tiled! I am super excited, I've always hated the way it was tiled and now it will look real nice. It's just too bad that we will be moving in a few months.

I'm sure it looks much worse for our tenants downstairs, at least we only have to suffer for a few days!

A quick Ryker update:
Ryker has taken to pulling out drawers lately, his favorite thing to do is to sit in the vanity drawer in the bathroom and play. It's pretty cute!

Ryker has almost mastered the art of feeding himself with a spoon! He does a pretty good job as long as it is applesauce. On a side note, Ryker LOVES his spoons, it's almost impossible to pry a spoon out of his hands!

Ryker got a late Happy Birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Conkle, he looks really handsome! He's learned some new tricks too, Ryker thinks it's hilarious when someone sneezes, so he will fake sneeze all the time and just cracks up at himself! He's a really good kid, but he is in a temper tantrum stage he'll do it over just about anything that doesn't go his way! I can't wait for that stage to be over with or at least limited to one per day! All in all we are doing really good, I just can't wait until winter is over!

Sweet Stroller Giveaway!

2009-01-24T22:14:00.001-07:00

So I happened upon this really awesome double stroller giveaway and had to share, so check it out!! Go here to enter to win it, http://inevergrewup.net/giveaway-25-bumbleride-indie-stroller/.

Happy Birthday Ryker Pants!

2008-12-30T19:35:00.007-07:00

Ryker's turned a year old on the 28th, I just can't believe a whole year has gone by! He's such a sweet little guy! We had a small Birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Duffin's and I made him a Happy Birthday cake. Ryker really liked the icing and had lots of fun making a mess of everything.

Divide and Conquer

2008-12-23T20:22:00.004-07:00

Another Rexburg winter has arrived! We got a whole bunch of snow a few days ago and lots of wind. We couldn't get into our driveway or out. Luckily I have a big strong husband who loves to shovel snow, it took Ryan about 4 hours to dig us out. Ryker loves to look out the window and watch whats going on. Here he was banging on the window trying to get Daddy's attention.

Finally! Ryan did get some help from our neighbors who were kind enough to help.

This innocent little face has learned some new tricks. The other day I was giving him a bath, I looked away for a moment and he's fallen out of the tub! He has learned the art of climbing! He can climb on the couch, the dishwasher, and the bath tub. I just hope he doesn't figure out how to climb out of his crib too soon. He's a fun little guy and keeps me on my toes!

Family Pictures!

2008-12-06T22:57:00.007-07:00

I've been wanting to get family pictures done for a long time, so a couple of weeks ago Ryan's mom came up to Rexburg and took a few shots of us. These are some of the best ones!

We are doing well, I just finished off the semester. Friday was the last day of my internship, so I am basically done with the semester and college for awhile! I'm so glad that I'm finished with school, it has taken awhile but I'm proud to be a college graduate (not offically until April). We are getting ready for Christmas. We put up our Christmas tree last weekend and the few decorations that we have too. I thought Ryker would have a hard time staying away from the tree, but it seems like he hasn't even noticed it yet, I'll cross my fingers. We've started a family tradition last year, each December we read the book of Luke. Since there are 24 chapters its perfect for our count down to Christmas. Last year we made a popcorn string for our 2 foot tree, so this year Ryan was pretty excited to make an extra long popcorn string for a 6 foot size Chirstmas tree. It took him about 2 hours to string it and next year Ryker can help!

All Dressed Up

2008-11-20T21:46:00.004-07:00

Ryker got some new Church clothes from his Grandma Duffin, this was the best picture I could get out of him. He looked SO cute! It was a little bit big on him so he should be able to wear it for at least a month or two. Ryker is getting too BIG too fast! He's gaining weight again, for awhile there he'd lost a few pounds and was stuck at 18 pounds. I weighted him today he's close to 20 pounds. Ryker is learning so much everyday. He's got waving down, but he'll only do it if you say, "bye-bye". Ryan has taught him to bonk heads but you have to watch out or he'll hit ya pretty hard.

The Silly Side of Ryker

2008-11-11T20:52:00.006-07:00

Ryker has recently learned how to use his tongue to his advantage, he has figured out if he doesn't want to eat something he can push food out of his mouth with his tongue. It's really funny to see and he sticks it out just for fun.

Ryker has been having a rough few days, he has been sick on and off since Friday. In the midst of his illness he got a black eye while in the tub. He fell and hit his cheek on the tub, poor little guy is having a hard time.

HALLOWEEN

2008-10-29T21:12:00.003-06:00

You can't really tell all that well in this picture but Ryker is the football!

This was last weekend at our ward's Halloween party, we were able to borrow Ryan and I's costumes and made Ryker's real easy. We bought a brown shirt laced it up with some yarn and used some white tape at the top and bottom. It was a cute idea huh!

Clogged Tear Ducts

2008-10-22T20:40:00.006-06:00

Ryker needed to have surgery on his clogged tear duct today. It was a simple procedure, but he still needed to be sedated. Because malignant hyperthermia runs in Ryan's family, and is triggered by general anesthesia Ryker needed to have an IV. In order to get the IV, we had to hold him down while the nurse poked both of his hands........I think the IV experience was the worst part of the whole thing. The surgery itself was about 30 minutes but we had to stay at the hospital for six extra hours just in case. Ryker was great considering he had to keep his IV in almost the entire day!

It was sort of fun to spend time all together without worrying about anything else going on. And I am so thankful that everything went okay and now Ryker shouldn't have so much eye crust all the time!

My li'l Punkin

2008-10-08T19:07:00.006-06:00

We love that the holliday season is coming around again so soon! Ryan and I both come from families who whole heartedly celebrate Halloween and of course one of our favorite activities (especially Ryan's) is carving pumkins. Life is so busy right now with my internship and Ryan applying to grad schools; it's fun to get out of the house together. We went out to a local pumpkin patch today to pick our own. It turns out the owner of the little farm grew up with Ryan's dad and sort of had a part in introducing his parents. We picked out a little baby pumkin for Ryker; Ryan insisted that we let him sit down and play in the dirt for a while...boys! He was content to say the least. He was obsessed with his little pumpkin. He didn't care about the other ones we picked, just his. He mostly just enjoyed being outside in the dirt...yep, he's a boy!!!

Here's our cute little family of pumkins. We have a daddy pumpkin, a mommy pand a baby pumpkin. Can you tell which one is Ryker's favorite? Bryanne had to jump around and play picaboo with Ryker in order to get him to smile. It's always the little things that remind us how blessed we are.

September

2008-09-11T18:02:00.009-06:00

I can't believe its fall already! Time has gone by so fast. Ryker is pushing 9 months already.
So Ryker has grown up so much these past few months! He's got crawling down and gets quickly to one place to anther in no time at all. He's also standing up on anything and everything he can...even in the bath tub when he's all slippery. I love watching him eat finger foods, it is the cutest thing ever! Especially when he gets cheerios stuck on his chin. So cute!

Ryker loves loves loves these little bath-time duckies, its his most favorite toy, when he wants to travel to one place to the next he shoves the duck in his mouth and goes. It's pretty funny to watch.

This week we went to the park, it was a little cold but Ryker got to wear his super cute winter coat. He liked sitting on the slide but going down he was a little concerned.

Swinging, I thought he would like but he didn't really warm up to it.

This week been pretty crazy, I started my internship last week and this week my final semester has begun. I'm doing my internship at Children Supportive Services in Idaho Falls, its a partial care and PSR center for children with mental illnesses. It's going pretty good, but this week the kids have been out of control! I'm hoping after a little while the kids will start taking me more seriously, I'm too nice. Anyhow, I'm excited that this is my last semester and can't wait for it to be over with.

Yellowstone Camping Trip

2008-08-22T21:54:00.004-06:00

We went camping in Yellowstone last weekend with my sister-in-law and her family. It was so much fun. We camped right off of Yellowstone lake, which was beautiful. It did however, get kind of chilly at night like in the 30's so Ryker and I had to share a sleeping bag. He did pretty good for sleeping on the ground and having to cuddle right next to mommy. We also went to the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone and saw Hello Dolly! and Ryker loved it, he was singing along and clapping during most of the show until he fell asleep. Anyhow, here our some of the pictures we took (we took almost 200 pictures)!

This waterfall is down in a canyon, right by yellowstone's grand canyon. We had to hike down to see the waterfall, there were 328 steps down the falls! I was exhausted after the climb.
We went to see Old Faithful, which isn't so faithful anymore. The geyser used to go off every hour on the hour but its starting to vary a little. Its still pretty neat.

This is Yellowstone lake right by where we camped out.
Before we went to the Playmill, we walked around West Yellowstone.
Ryker and Daddy at Yellowstone lake, we skipped some rocks and my nephew went for a swim. You can see him in the background in the water, he just ran right into the water, he also wanted Uncle Ryan to cover him in sand!
Ryker crawled around in the sand by the lake, he had so much fun putting his hands in the dirt.
We also discovered that Ryker loved to be thrown around. He was laughing so hard in this picture, you probably can't tell though! All in all we had an awesome trip! We hope that Jen and Steve will come out to Yellowstone next year so we can see some more of Yellowstone!

Ryker is on the Move

2008-08-01T12:58:00.004-06:00

Ryker has started crawling! I didn't think he would ever crawl since he's always hated being on his tummy. But after working on it, he's finally taken off. Here are some pictures of his first crawls.

Since Ryker can get almost anywhere he wants to in the house, I had Ryan install some child safety locks on the cupboards. But, I didn't want to lock him out of everything! He had lots of fun banging on the pans and screaming away. Ryker can also say "mamma" and "dada" but its just noises, close enough right. He loves playing peek-a-boo and he's really ticklish. He's just so much fun to have and he's growing too fast for me!

Schools out for Summer!

2008-07-20T19:15:00.002-06:00

Summer semester is finally over! We have a 7 week break till Fall semester. Tyler will be here this coming Fall semester. I'm excited to have Ty-guy around a little, some of my family nearby will be nice for a change. This Fall I am finishing up my classes and internship. I got an internship in Idaho Falls at Children Supportive Services, it's a partial care and it's one of two internships where you get paid. I have kind of already started, I have to do 15 hours of training before I can even start. But I think it will be a good experience.
Our garden is looking pretty good. Just about everything grew, our oinions didn't grow at all and only about half of our peas grew, but everything else is looking healthy. I'm excited about our melon! Melon is the best in the summertime.
Ryker Update: Ryker has a tooth! It hasn't been the most fun with him waking up a couple times each night but it has finally poked through! He is still attemping to crawl, he can get on all fours and rock back and forth and crawl backwards.
Ryker is getting more interested in books now, he reaches out when we read together and he likes to chew on them...well he likes to chew on everything.

Elknoc Reunion

2008-07-08T22:07:00.008-06:00

For the 4th of July we went to Ohio to visit the family. It was pretty exciting to see everyone and for everyone to meet little Ryker. We had a great time, despite the rain!
We went to the zoo in the pouring rain, but there were still lots of animals to see without getting soaked!
We saw the tigers or the Cheetah's, as Alice likes to call them!
Here are all the grand-kids together! They are such cute little kids, I hope we can see them more often!
Ryker's first 4th of July! He really liked the glow stick Grandma Conkle got him and surprisingly he liked the fireworks, okay he only like them for 5 minutes. The he cried the rest of the time, I think he was sleepy though.

We took Ryker swimming, but he didn't like it so much. He lasted maybe 2 minutes and wanted out! The water was a little cold.
Grandma Conkle was super happy to spend time with Ryker and all of the grand-kids.

It was really nice to spend time with my sisters. I'm sad though we didn't get a picture with Erin too. Its cool now that we are older and don't get on each others nerves anymore, now we can be friends.

So almost the entire weekend everyone was playing Corn Hole. It's a fun game, if you've never heard of it, like me, it's pretty similar to horse shoes. Ryan got pretty good at it and I think he kicked some trash!

After all the fun we had in Ohio and the long trip back home, Ryker was pretty exhausted. He slept almost the entire flight and drive home. He was a really good traveler, so hopefully he will do this good next time we go to Ohio!

Ryker's Happy Half Birthday!

2008-06-28T22:40:00.004-06:00

So today my little guy is 6 months old! I can hardly believe it! He is such a good baby that time has just flown by! Ryker now weighs 17.1 pounds and is 27.8 in. long. He is sitting up on his own for awhile now and still loves to play with Chancho. He is threatening to crawl, but I think I still have some time before I have to chase him everywhere. Ryker loves to eat rice and barley cereal but is having a hard time with carrots right now. He just spits it out all over himself.....but its still pretty fun to watch him even if he's making a mess.

Ryker has discovered his feet, it's my new favorite thing! He tries to suck on them but usually ends up rolling all the way over.

Ryker got his 6 month shots on yesterday and he was so good. He cried for maybe 3 or 4 minutes and was great the rest of the day. I'm glad he doesn't need anymore shots until December, I still hate having to watch him be stuck with a needle.

Ryker's first Hair cut

2008-06-24T22:15:00.003-06:00

Ryker's crazy hair has been flying all over the place, so we decided that it was time to give him a hair cut. We thought it would be pretty easy, but we didn't factor in that Ryker may not like the clippers and well he cried the entire time. So the end result is not what I had in mind and I immediately regretted it. He looks totally different to me now, but he's still pretty cute and his hair will eventaully grow back!

Before:

After:

All Dressed Up

2008-06-23T19:48:00.004-06:00

I promised Mom that I would post some pictures of Ryker in his church clothes. I think he is actually getting too big for this outfit but he is still really handsome. Ryker's hair is crazy, one half of his hair is long and wild.

Ryan got released from the Bishopric yesterday and we got a new Bishop. I think Ryan really enjoyed his calling and will miss working so closely with Bishop Hall.

So Ryker got this really cute hat for winter, but it was too big for him until now. I'm afraid that he will be too big for it come next winter so why not wear it a little now? He is so adorable in it!
The classic nose picking picture! I thought it looked pretty funny! Anyhow, we are doing really good now that the weather has been nicer.

Snow!

2008-06-11T21:03:00.005-06:00

It actually snowed today! All morning in fact. In June! We haven't experienced summer weather yet this year. In the forecast, its suppose to get into the 80s next week...I'll believe it when I see it. Hopefully our garden will still bloom.

Anyhow, I thought that the weather was pretty crazy today, we haven't done much outdoors yet this summer. Ryan is a rock climber and so last summer he started teaching me how to climb, it pretty fun. I did realized that I have a slight fear of heights, last time I freaked out a little. Here are some pictures from last summer. It looks really cool, like I climbed super high but I'm probably only 15 feet from the ground.

I think I did good for my first time.

This is the picture where Ryan is trying to talk me into letting go and falling onto the rope...scary!

I just can't wait for summer to arrive!

I applied for Graduation!

2008-06-06T22:00:00.003-06:00

So, I applied for graduation today. I will be officially done with my college education on December 14, 2008. I just have to do an internship of 250 hours this fall. Ryan is going to take the fall off. He's going to work and watch Ryker while I'm at my internship (we didn't want to put Ryker in daycare). I wanted to walk with Ryan, so I won't get my diploma until April 2009. I am so excited to be done with school, I've decided that I just want to be a mommy. I miss Ryker so much while I'm in classes and that's only for 3 hour every other day!

The past couple of weeks I've had some serious lower back pain, so I went to the chiropractor. He took some x-rays and found that my pelvis was all twisted and my neck was all out of place. My back was so twisted that my left leg was significantly shorter and my lumbar spine was not lining up correctly. Sounds serious huh? Well he cracked me back in place and I'm pain free...well for now. I hate the feeling of being cracked into place, its horrible! The sound and the anticipation kills me. I really hope that I don't have to frequent the chiropractor in the future.

Ryker is sitting up now all by himself! I think the real reason he's sitting up is so he can get a better look at Chancho. He laughs so much when Chancho brushes past him, its so hilarious.

Rice Cereal

2008-05-30T19:22:00.003-06:00

Ryker has started eating rice cereal! He seems to really like it now. We tried giving him some a couple of weeks ago, but he was not having it. Now he laughs and smiles a ton while he chows down. He's such a cutie!

We planted our garden over Labor day weekend, hopefully this year something besides corn and onions will grow. We planted beets, carrots, peas, onions, corns, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeños, and melon. And our neighbor gave us some raspberry bushes but those won't be good for a couple of years.

Sign Language

2008-05-20T20:59:00.004-06:00

So I went to an enrichment activity to learn how to teach Ryker to sign. It's really cool! I just have to be consistant in signing to him so he can understand what the signs actually mean. Babies can sign as early 8 months, we'll see how it goes though.

We are getting ready to plant our garden this weekend, I hope that this year we can grow something besides corn and onions! Anyways, here are some pictures from this past weekend. Ryker discovered that the boy in the mirror is him, he thinks its pretty funny! He'll sit there and laugh and coo.

This one is for Grandma Conkle, Ryker looks really handsome in his new clothes....I love the little hat with this outfit!

New Pictures of Ryker

2008-05-13T23:02:00.009-06:00

We finally got our camera back, so now I can post some new pictures of Ryker! We left our camera at my in-laws in American Falls in April, we haven't take any new pictures of him for almost a month! I've gone through picture withdrawls! I took some cute ones of him today and thought I would share them.

Ryker always makes this face, by sucking in his bottom lip. And you can see our Chancho on the couch.

Ryker got some clothes from his cousin Jack and this puppy robe was so adorable!

Ryker loves to fly through the air!

Sometimes I can't believe that I have little boy. He is so much fun and I love to watch him learn and grow! I don't really love that he sucks his thumb but I am hopeful that he'll stop sometime soon.

Update

2008-05-08T21:55:00.002-06:00

There hasn't been too much happening in the Duffin home. Ryker got his shots last week, it was sad but he didn't really cry too much. I started giving Ryker rice cereal, he hated it! So I'm going to hold off for awhile. He's also learning how to drink from a sippy cup, it's pretty cute.

This semester is going so slow, we are only 3 weeks into it and I'm already tried of it. But I'll be glad to be finished with classes. Ryan and I are starting to look into schools to earn our Master's degrees. We are looking at Boise State, it's affordable and they have a really good program that we can complete in a year. But, hopefully we don't end up in Idaho. I wish we were a little closer to some of my family. I am so excited about coming home in July and seeing everyone. I can't wait!

Our First Blog

2008-04-26T17:17:00.004-06:00

Well this is all new to us, but I figured blogging would be a great way to keep in contact with the family so they could watch Ryker grow.

Ryker is now four months old, I can hardly believe how big he is now! He has started wearing 6-9 month clothing, he skipped a size altoghter. We love that little guy!

I'm back in school now, we started last Monday. I only have 14 credits left, but I'm going to take it slow. I only had 9 credits of actual class and 5 of an internship, so I figured I would finsih my classes on campus first. It seems like it won't be so bad juggling a family and finishing college...but we'll see.

Ryan is also in school but he is only taking one class and doing his internship. He is going to be pretty busy though, he's started his new job at Applebee as a server. Ryan and I are also starting to do real estate investing, we are still beginners but we are learning how to be successful. Well that's us, we'll post more later, love you all.