Fourth of July

As usual we had a lot fun hanging out celebrating our Nation's Independance. Concert and fireworks at the park, parade, and carnival. It was a lot of fun. I'm still trying to figure out the whole letting both kids get the naps they need and being able to go to the activities we want to enjoy. Luckily we have Grandma and Grandpa Hare who always want to kids to come play or take naps with them. :) Thanks for helping us enjoy the Fourth.

Raiyah was pretty excited to get a fireman hat and see the fire truck.

Not quite sure how anyone gets a normal picture with kids. We haven't found a way with two kids yet. :) Oh well you can still see their cute faces.

Hanging out with Grandpa Flanders and his old man ear plugs. Pretty good lookin Dad.

Fireworks were a lot fun fun with both sets of Grandparents. Even Malakai liked them.

The lady had to crawl into the bounce house and pull Raiyah out at the carnival. Didn't know my kid would be that kid, but she sure had fun.

Ryan's Triathlon

Ryan came home a couple of weeks ago and said he was going to do a triathalon with my cousin Sean. He was so excited to do this, and as he said, "as excited as a little kid in a candy store." He did a great job and never stopped. I am so proud of you, thanks for your great example.

Ryan and my cousin, Sean Martin before the race.

Raiyah and Jack doing their usual thing when they hang out: sizing each other up to see if they want to tease or play together that day. :) It's always fun when Jack is around.

Ryan riding his bike in, getting ready to run. Raiyah was so excited, she kept telling me that "we are supporting Papa." She kept looking for him. When he finished with the bike she figured he would come hang out with her. As you can see she was not a happy girl when he gave her a five, and ran on by. She cried for a good five minutes wondering why her papa left her. You cannot tell she is a Daddy's girl. :)

Our Lil family after Ryan's Triathalon.

And the big finish: I'm not sure who had more fun Ryan or Raiyah on the big slide after all the other activities.

Rugby vs. Football

If you know my husband, you know he is obsessed with Rugby. Any true rugby fan is likely to bash on American Football players, and what whimps they are. They take breaks, the whistle is blown every few seconds, they have pads, etc. Whereas rugby you have no padding (excpet the smart ones who where a scrum cap), there are no times outs you just play straight through resetting your own game. I've come to love rugby and get bored watching football these days. So, if Ryan has it his way his little man will be playing rugby his whole life, but I'm sure he will be just fine with football too. We wouldn't want to force any of our children to do anything :). So here is Malakai posing with his American Eagles ball for Rugby, and Philadelphia Eagles ball for football. I think he's a tough, handsome man just like his Papa either way. :)

Raiyah's first fight (hopefully only)! I'm not sure how well you can see Raiyah's face but she has teeth marks with a bruise by her right eye, and scratches along her upper lip. When I went to pick her up from nursery last week I found her cuddled on the teachers lap with huge tears rolling down her face. It broke my heart to see my little girl crying over something that had really hurt her. I guess she was holding one of her friends shoe when they were getting ready to leave, and when her friend tried to take it from her, Raiyah held on. Obviously her little friend wasn't very happy because she bit, and scratched Raiyah. It's funny becuase although I was so sad for Raiyah and really upset at the situation I immediately thought of the little girls Mom, who has recently become my friend. I knew she was going to feel horrible, and that made me feel really bad. Anyway, this was a pretty traumatic thing for little Raiyah but she is just fine now. :) I think I wanted to write about it because it's the first time Raiyah has really been hurt. I don't even want to think of the future when she gets hurt and there is nothing I will be able to do for her, but hold her and tell her how much her Mom loves her. I'm not excited for those times. Malakai and Papa sleeping after a day of hard work. :)

My Parents bought the girls in the family tickets to Wicked! I was so excited. I have never seen it before. It was totally different than I had anticipated. I loved every minute of it, and was so thankful to my parents for letting us go. Aren't my sister-in-laws so cute. I really couldn't have asked for better girls to marry my brothers. I love getting to know each of them more and more. In case you are wondering starting on the left is Gina- married to Matt, Allsion- married to Mike, and Chantel- married to Bryan.

My sweet Mom and I before the show. Thanks for the tickets, ride, gum, phone, and purse space. You took great care of me as always.

Hanging out during maternity leave and after graduation

February was a life changing month for our family. Ryan graduated nursing school (yahoo!), and Malakai was born letting me be on Maternity Leave. What did we do during these days of nothing to do but hang out with our wonderful family. We flew kites, made forts, went to the park, and just enjoyed being our lil family. Life really couldn't get better. :)Raiyah and her valentine the nurse gave her at the hospital. I think she's adorable even with peanut butter on her face, and broken glasses she always wears. It's pretty funny to try and get a picture of Malakai without his eyes being huge. He's trying to take everything in.

Raiyah was so excited to go fly kites. Her favorite book is about Elmo flying a kite; so when Daddy brought a kite home with Elmo on it she was in Heaven. I love seeing her have incredible joy over simple things of life. On most of our outings Malakai had fun hanging out in his "polar bear" outfit, and car seat.

One day we spent the entire day making and hanging out in our fort. We had picnics, played with flash lights, took naps, read books. It was so much fun. I recommend a fort for any day you are looking for something to do.

Raiyah loves to jump on my bed. I don't mind because she has so much fun. The other day I walked out to get a basket of laundry and she got really quiet. When I came back in she was laying down in Malakai's crib, cuddled in his blankets. After taking a quick picture I held her in my arms and rocked her like a baby (her favorite thing) to reassure her that she will always be my little girl no matter how many brothers and sisters she ever gets.

If you haven't been to Castle Park in Fruit Heights I recommend it. It's one of Raiyah's favorite things to do. On a really cold day in February we packed up and spent the afternoon at the park. There are so many things to do you could spend hours there.

Malakai Jamieson Babinsky

Say Hello to our little angel. We named him Malakai Jamieson Babinsky. He arrived on February 11, at 1:00pm via C-Section. Weight 6pnds, 14oz. Height 19.75inches.He is absolutely perfect. He is eating and sleeping great. His sweet little spirit is very relaxing, and soothing. We've already found his tickle spot (his thighs) and he hates having his hands wrapped. It's so incredible to already love this little man with all of my heart. We are having a lot of fun. We will be heading home on Sunday, just loving recovering at the hospital. Well, if you hadn't gathered by now Malakai looks exactly like his Daddy. It's pretty cute seeing Ryan hold him, they are just the large, and small image of each other.

Raiyah loves being a big sister. She just sits and holds Malakai and talks about "little brother Malakai." She doesn't like when he is sad and loves to run her fingers through his hair. She is going to be a wonderful big sister.

Trip that changed our family

So this trip took place a couple of months ago; actually at the beginning of the summer. But we barely were able to get them on the computer since we used a disposable camera. Anyway, I had to post this trip because I think it really changed our family forever. We were hiking up past Trial Lake which shouldn't have been a big deal but maybe we shouldn't have been doing it with Raiyah. One of our favorite things to do is hike in the snow. So when all the roads were closed to cars, and you could tell no one had hiked where we were going we were excited. It was the most beautiful day. To make a long story short we had to cross a huge river but couldn't find a suitable place to cross. We found a "bridge" that really did seem safe. I crossed and turned to wait for Ryan to cross with Raiyah on his back. Next was one of the most horrible moments of my life. As Ryan stepped to the middle of the bridge the entire thing gave out from underneath him. They both crashed straight into the river. All I could think of was my tiny angel drowning or freezing to death in the river and we were several miles away from anywhere. As I raced down the river about to jump in, some how Ryan was able to pull both he and Raiyah out of the water after being submerged and almost bogged down by the bridge that had just fell onto them from above. There were no dry clothes for either of them so I put my wind jacket around Raiyah and prayed for the best. We hiked back down the mountain as fast as possible. I know our little family was being watched over that day. The outcome could have and probably should have been so much worse. I still have nightmares of seeing them crash into the river and still count my blessings every day that my family is safe by my side, and that my husband had the skill and strength to get out of the river. It was one moment in my life I will not forget and reminds me that we need to watch over and make sure our children know how much we love them every moment.

After I knew they were okay I decided I needed a picture to remind us of this day so I quickly took a picture of them and the place where the bridge had been.