Ryan's Birthday

Does anyone else feel like lately, all I ever do is post about my children's birthdays? Don't worry, Ryan's is the last Wiberg birthday for a few months. He turned two this week. He is definitely two. The other day I wouldn't let him do something and he put his head down and muttered under his breath "Tupid Mama." Isn't it great to have older siblings to teach you to say mean words, when you can barely talk? I tried not to laugh as I took him to a time-out. I'm not totally sure that he even knew why he was in time out. He hears it so much, maybe he thinks it is a term of endearment. Anyway, he is in a fun stage of trying out his language, rough housing, driving trucks into walls, throwing balls, reading his "horse books" (farming magazines from my dad) and all the other great things that come with a two year old boy. He gives cute kisses and loves to sing E-I-E-I-O, I Am A Child Of God and the Sunbeam song. He yells "Help Me!" every time he sees I am going to cook or clean (no, not because he is afraid of my delicious cooking, but because he actually wants to help me). He has to hold Grant about 20 times a day, but it only lasts for about 3 seconds and then he is done. He absolutely loves his Daddy. We love our little Ry Guy!

The Loot

Brand New

1 Year

2 Years

Family Time

A couple of weeks ago we had Dustin's family in town for a fun visit. Danielle and Tyler and their family and Dustin's mom all stayed with us for a little over a week. And if you can believe it, nobody threw up (that is a first for our yearly get togethers) (although there was some funky cold virus passed around... swine flu?).

We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House (beautiful!) and played at fun parks.

We also went to the SaltAire (?) and stepped our feet in the nasty, stinky, filled with dead ducks Great Salt Lake, just to say we have done it.

By the way, there was a techno concert there that night and we saw a girl wearing a HUGE clown wig. Ummm, can anyone explain this to me? Am I really that old and out of style that I just don't get the clown wig as being cool?

We played games, talked until the wee hours of the morning, chased kids at the park and had a great time. Saturday night Dustin's parents and siblings and families all came over for a big family birthday party.

Dustin's entire family lives in the Denver area and so we don't have as many opportunities to be a part of their big family parties, so it is always lots of fun for us to have these get-togethers.

The next day Dustin blessed Grant in our ward. I didn't hear much of it, thanks to Ryan yelling "Daddy" and trying desperately to get up to where Dustin was standing, until I took him out. But I hear it was nice. We also had to speak in Sacrament Meeting that day. Afterward we had another big gathering and ate dinner. It was great to see family that we don't see often enough. By that evening around 5 pm I had physically and mentally shut down and I don't think I had any energy for about a week after. But, as always, it was a wonderful time with family and we were so glad everyone came to support us.

Avery's Big Day

Avery is now officially 6! She is getting so big. She was really hoping to lose some teeth by her sixth birthday, but no luck. She rides a bike without training wheels, is a kindergarten graduate, loves to do art projects and is still a couple of inches taller than Maren. Avery is very good at finding snails to keep as pets, reading and is very helpful with her siblings. She is always making sure everyone is safe and doing what they should. For her birthday cake this year she requested a flower cake and even helped me decorate it. I can't believe my baby is 6!

5 months

1 year

Two

Three

Four

Five (notice the same dress)

Six

Mimi

Happy 4th Birthday to our Maren! This is actually a week late, but such is my life right now. This whole month will be spent playing catch up. Maren wanted a treasure chest cake. I got the idea from my friend Rachel. I was a little tired of princess cakes and so I spent a few weeks trying to convince one of the girls to have this cool pirate cake. In the end the necklaces and candy did most of the convincing.

Maren always seems older to me than she is. She has always played with older kids and kept up just fine. She loves to laugh and make other people laugh. We regularly find toy spiders and snakes under our pillows at night. She is very helpful to me and likes to do secret service for people in the family. She loves to hold and help take care of Grant, build castles with Ryan, play "mom" with Avery, wrestle with Dad and read books with Mom. Maren is such a fun part of our family.

5 months

One

Two

Three

Four

We're Winners In My Book

Yesterday was mine and Dustin's 8th Anniversary. The gift for eight years is Bronze. I couldn't help feeling like we were in third place for something and that just didn't seem right (you're all gold to me, Babe). I gave Dustin a bronze frame to hold a picture of Belize. He gave me bronze colored chocolates and bronze tanning lotion. For any of you who have had to put on sunglasses to keep from being blinded by the glare of the sun off of my pearly white legs, you will know that this was a much appreciated gift. Here is a photo of us back in the day:

We were just babies then. Although, I don't know that my looks have changed much. When you are completely out of style, it is easy to look the same after eight years. Dustin has lost something since we were married, which ages him a little. Luckily for both of us, I have always found balding men highly attractive (um, just one now though). So, Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!

Million Dollar Smiles

Here is Maren's new and improved million dollar smile: 3 root canals, 1 filling, 5 sealants, a sleeping princess potion and a lot of money later. It is our fault because we don't have dental insurance, but even with insurance I think this would have cost a pretty penny. I think those silver teeth must be diamond plated.

Grant is working on his million dollar smile, too.

Milestones Reached

This weekend Dustin took Ryan on a Father-Son Campout. Does that make anyone else feel like we're old? I have to admit I was a little nervous. Dustin will openly confess that he is afraid of camping by himself (just in case he has to defend himself against wild animals or aliens) (I'm really not joking). I was more worried that little busy Ryan would wander while Daddy was putting up the tent and he'd be lost in the mountains forever. Or he would find a creek to jump in. I still remember a Daddy-Daughter Campout when I was probably 4 or 5 and I fell in a deep, fast moving creek and my dad had to jump in and save my life (thanks, Dad). But, Ryan and Dustin both survived the campout. No aliens attacked and no creeks were jumped in and they made it back in one piece.

Last week Avery was the VIP for her Kindergarten class. She got to be the leader when they lined up for things, take show and tell every day, have dad come to class and tell about her and bring her favorite treat to share. Also, all the Kindergarteners got to eat school lunch on Wednesday, which may have been the highlight of her year. Luckily they served pepperoni pizza and jello, otherwise she would have starved. I can't believe she will be in school all day next year!

I just wanted to throw in a picture of Grant so you can see what a little man he is becoming.