Kelsie's New Hobby

Since it was such a beautiful day today (Yes that is a little jab for all you cold weather dwellers...I got a little sweaty just sitting at the park), we spent the whole day enjoying ourselves outside. Anyway, Kelsie decided that she likes skate boarding. Wouldn't you know it? Notice she already has the low-riding down to a tee with the oversized onesie!



She got some good rides in...if only that grass didn't slow her down. Maybe next week she'll graduate to some patio riding.

She had a little down time between sweet rides, but made sure she was still looking good!

Here's a snap shot of her number one fan. (Ty felt left out and wanted his picture taken too!) What cute kids I have!

These are the days that I love being the Mom. I get to play outside all day, soak in the sun and laugh at the funny things Tyson and Kelsie do. What more could I ask for?

Reason For Concern?!

Tyson prides himself on the fact that he gets to get himself dressed every day. He can't do anything too terrible because what doesn't match a pair of jeans or tan pants? (That is the best part about boy clothes!) The only input I have in the process is to tell him whether it is hot or cold weather so he can decide between shorts and pants. I have to bite my tongue every once in a while, but for the most part, he does a great job. This is how he presented himself for the day last week. He thought he was pretty funny so we had to take a picture. What a cute little man!

Super Something

Tyson has decided that his favorite toy (of the roomful he has) is KELSIE! There is nothing better than controling another human being, right?! He likes to tell her what to do, chase her around, body slam her, pick her up and put her where he wants her and best of all, dress her up like his favorite super heros!



She makes a great construction worker and fireman, but this has to be my favorite so far. You have to admit she makes a pretty cute Super Baby!

A Rigby Christmas

I just thought I would post some pictures of our Christmas adventures. I love Christmas! We had a great time this year in Ojai!

A friend of mine came over and we went to town making chocolates. We determined that you can dip pretty much anything in chocolate and it becomes a great treat! This is a peak at some of the finished products:



This is Kelsie's new favorite look. She is constantly making an "O" face whenever she gets excited. There was some serious excitement Christmas morning!



Our cutie patootie with Grandma. She really was an angel all morning.:



Tyson, the Tool Man, Rigby! There's just something about a boy and his tools!


This year was the first year that Ty really got into the whole Santa thing. I loved it. He was practically in tears when the doughnut store was closed...what would we leave out for Santa? He couldn't wait to go to sleep Christmas Eve so that Santa could come. He woke up Christmas morning singing, "It's morning. It's morning." We were amazed, though, with all that excitement, he waited very patiently for everyone to get ready to see what Santa had brought and was on his best behavior the entire day. I'm sad it is all over, but relieved that the rush of the preparations are finally over! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

The Perfect Christmas Card...Attempted

What a nice Christmas Card picture, right? Yeah right! Here's the story of how it came to be...

We had a TERRIBLE time getting a good picture for our Christmas card this year. Don't think I procrastinated and I deserve this...I didn't. Our first attempt was over Thanksgiving weekend. We went to the beach in Ventura to get a "Rub it in Your Face, We're at the Beach and You're in Snow" picture. I guess I was punished for my cruel intentions. This is the best we got...the sun was not cooperating:

So...we tried again a couple of days later. We figured, we're already dressed up for church, let's just snap a cute picture outside. Yeah right?! Tyson was in a foul mood and wouldn't smile no matter what we threatend. Go figure?! Here's our best shot from that episode:

Okay... so fast forward a couple of weeks. Yes, we are getting close to Christmas, we need a picture. One more attempt at the beach picture. Little did we know we were going to have some of the coldest weather I have experienced since moving to California. That didn't stop us though. We all bundled up and headed to Pismo. We tried several locations, ending on the Pier since we could at least get the wind blowing our hair out of our faces there. As much as the birds were cooperating, we couldn't get something worth sending out to everyone we know. This is as close as we got:

The next morning was Sunday so we tried the before-church-picture again. We couldn't get anybody to take the picture for us though, so we attempted the timed picture. It would have worked too, but I didn't get the camera high enough so the angle makes us look like giants. No dice!

I decide I will give it one more try and that is it. We only had a week before Christmas by this time. We had a ward Christmas party Saturday night, so we got all dolled up once again (notice I didn't make the effort to choose new outfits each time) and recruited a friend from the ward to snap a few pictures by the Christmas tree. I'm not saying it's is the perfect picture (Kelsie has the cutest smile that we couldn't get her to share with us in any of the pictures that night), but as you can see, it is the best choice. It didn't really matter what the pictures looked like after the 5th attempt...I was using them no matter what. So, I hope you all appreciate the effort that went into the cards you received in the mail...even though they may have been a little late! If there are no pictures in next year's cards, you now know why!

A Better Way to Waste Your Time

For those of you who spend WAY too much time on the computer (I know you do it...don't try to deny it!), I have some good news for you. Now, you can help a good cause with all those mindless searches you do on the internet! Feel a little better about all that time you are wasting. I read about this in Oprah's magazine (No, I do not subscribe...Mama Rigby always has them lying around the house, and I need something to help pass the time while ESPN reigns supreme!)

Anyway, it is called Good Search. Basically, you choose what organization you want to support, enter it in one time, then each time you search from this website, your organization earns money. What could be better? You can add churches, schools or whatever non-profit you want. A lot of them are already set up in their system, but you can add new ones too. Just add it to your favorites and use it instead of Google. It is powered by Yahoo! so you get the same search results. Happy Searching!

Just a story...

We were riding in the car today and I thought it would be good to practice opposites. I would say a word and then Tyson would tell me what the opposite of that word was. When we got to "In" he got really excited and said, "That one's a restaurant...In-N-Out." What a clever little boy. I thought it was pretty funny so I thought I would share. Sometimes that boy has a one track mind!

Wobbly Steps

Just like her big brother, Kelsie started taking her first steps right around her first birthday. I tried over and over again to get a good clip of her walking and this is the best I could do. Sorry its a little dark. She's cute whether she is walking or not! (I apologize for Tyson's crying in the background.)

Birthday Cakes

I know you have all been waiting for this. My friend, Becky, just sent me pictures of the cakes she did for Ty and Kelsie's birthdays. Aren't they cute? She does a great job. Thanks Becky!

I FINALLY Did It!

All right. For all of you who have been losing sleep over this whole anaphylactic reaction thing...you can rest easier now. The EpiPen has been purchased and now resides in my purse. You can thank our friend, Jeff, for helping me see the light. He pointed out that I would be held accountable if I were to die from this and I could have prevented it. He also pointed out how dumb it sounded to say I wouldn't stick myself no matter what. He said, "So you're going to be sitting there, unable to breath and thinking, "I would rather leave my children motherless than stick a needle into my leg." He made a good point. There were also some threats involved but I won't go into that. Anyway, I bought it. I have it. I will live!

Parent's Prom

Okay...so it wasn't quite prom, but we did have a great time. Our Stake had a formal dance last night for the adults. It was a blast. We dusted off our dancing shoes and cut a rug all night long (okay...until 10!) I was a little nervous that I might rip something on my dress (it has been ten years and two kids since I wore it) but it held on for me. It took a few minutes for Dal to get his groove on, but once he did, there was no stopping him. He wowed everyone with his signature moves and grace on the dance floor. Really, it was fun. And on top of it all, I get to go back tonight to chaperone the youth dance. Fun times!

Birthday Bash

Tyson really wanted to have a Halloween Birthday Party. However, we weren't able to find a good day for it until after Halloween. That didn't stop us! In fact, it was great because I got to do all my shopping for it the day after Halloween. Besides, 4-year-olds don't understand the concept of a holiday ending.

Kelsie got a few good hits on the ghost pinata, but just couldn't break it

Tyson was not happy that he didn't break the pinata himself. We tried to explain that everybody needed a turn and then he could try it again, but it didn't make him feel any better. Actually, none of the kids were able to even put a dent in the thing...we had to help them out with a few strategically placed cuts. I think we needed a harder bat...that just didn't seem like a good idea though.

My friend, Becky did an amazing job decorating the cakes. I was supposed to help, but she did such good work that I left it pretty much up to her. I did, however, bake the cakes and make the fillings. They were yummy! Tyson had a spooky skeleton cake...he put the eyes on himself. Becky took better pictures of the cakes, so I will get those from her and post them later so you can all be impressed.

Kelsie had a cute pumpkin patch cake. She thought it was pretty funny to grab for the candle while we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Tyson was pretty excited to help her blow out her candle too. Taking after her brother, she didn't make a mess or even eat much of the cake, so there are no great pictures from that.

What cute kids we have! It was fun to have a few friends over to celebrate with us. Sorry everyone couldn't make it. Maybe next year!

Halloween Preparations

Dal and Ty took care of the pumpkin carving this year. Unfortunately, I was on the phone with Verizon the entire time, so I didn't get to participate. They did a great job though!

Tyson and I decided to make sugar cookies for the Trunk-or-Treat. Candy is so boring! Tyson was great at cutting out cookie shapes and putting the frosting on the pumpkins. His favorite part was making eyes out of M&Ms on the ghost cookies!

We had the cutest little fireman and fairy at the party. Tyson had a great time playing all the games at the church and hanging out with his friends. Kelsie couldn't have cared less about that part. She was in second heaven, though, when some of my friends gave her lollipops for each hand. One even unwrapped it so she could eat it (Thanks Tara!). It didn't take her long before she ate through the other wrapper and was going back and forth, licking one and then the other. It was the classic, sugar-filled Halloween!

We're Back!!!!!

For those of you who have tried to contact us in the last little while...I apologize. As Dallan likes to say, we have been off grid. We had some troubles (the biggest understatement I have ever made) with our DSL. It did not work for almost 10 days. Because we have Vonage now, that means that our phone could not work as well. The greatest lesson we learned from this whole experience is...NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH VERIZON!!! They were awful terrible. I cannot say enough bad things about our experience with them. I won't bore you all with the details, though. We are back now and it feels great. A lot has happened in those 10 days, so I have some blogging to get caught up with. I apologize for the mass posts about to happen. Oh yeah...since I had no internet and no phone...I had a lot more time to work out...watch out Jen and Staci, I'm bacl in the UE contest!

Avila Barn

We took a trip to the Avila Barn the other day for Tyson's "Preschool." We got to go for a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, play in a hay maze and see lots of animals and vegetables. We went with Tyson's best friend, Blake. They had a blast. My favorite part of this all is that it was a gorgeous day...we wore shorts at the end of October. I love it here!