The Rylee Saga

You might find it funny (although I was mortified) that Rylee (almost 6) spent last Sunday at church pretty much torturing everyone. He called his teacher an idiot many times, ask to see his "frickin" mother (said loudly in front of the whole primary), and then turned to the cute little girl next to him in sharing time and told her that her mother had just died.Which news caused her to she burst into tears and the primary presidency had to get the girl's mother to come see her in order to assure her that it wasn't true. Aaahh, the joys of parenthood.

But one redeeming thing is the joy of hugs and kisses that smooth a lot of the trials. And Rylee really can give the best hugs. He wraps his arms around me and whispers into my ear "You really are my favorite Mommy." Does he know this melts a mommy's heart?

When Taylor was little and he did these kinds of things, I sometimes took it personally and found it hard not to feel so guilty. Now, I try to realize that although I can teach them right, they have free agency to choose whether to listen. (Sigh) Luckily for me, he loves toys and when given a chance to earn one by using good words, he has only had one bad day in six. I sure hope tomorrow isn't another repeat performance at church. He has a talk in primary. He could do some serious damage while at the microphone in front of the whole group of kids. Heaven help us!

The Power of Prayer

So my dad Ted Watkins had surgery right after Christmas to correct a nerve problem in his back that has had him incapacitated since summer time. We were excited to go be with him and Mom Pam for the days surrounding this event. Although they were convinced that we should not come, we were so happy to be there and they ultimately were grateful we came. This is a picture right before they wheeled Dad in to surgery.

The nurses were convinced that he must be a star or a celebrity because of the entourage that accompanied him to the hospital. Three of the four daughters and most of their children were there. We missed our sister Wendi but the cousins that were there had fun catching up with each other.

Jeannine and I also got a chance to talk with a wonderful cousin Amy who we hadn't seen for ten years. Wow! It was an awesome trip.

We had a prayer and Dad got a blessing from Corey Hokanson before the surgery. There was a great feeling of peace and power in the room. When we pulled back the curtain, Dad's doctor sat waiting for us. He later told Dad, "You started this out right. There is great power in prayer." I believe there is and his surgery was a great success. We got to see Dad walking without pain less than 24 hours later.

Life at the Emerys and Big News: Tay is going to Japan

When it gets cold, the fireplace is the best spot in the house. Apparently if your a dog, you just climb over whoever else got to the warm spot first. Orie and Cameron are so cute together. Orie woke Cameron up this morning by climbing on top of him and putting her head on his chest. She thinks she is a person and I think Cameron thinks so too.
Allison and I were in the car together and she leaned over with her cell phone and said, "Smile!" She is so busy with school. She has AP classes and she also is an editor on the school newspaper. It seems like yesterday that the kids were all so small.
Miss Sarah has the same teeth problems as Allison. The orthodontist said they must get it genetically. He didn't know Sarah was adopted. She told me that she used to be adopted but now she is just an Emery. We laughed and said we always knew Sarah was an Emery. Anyway, this is her after the retainer got put in the bottom of her mouth. Now she gets to have two teeth pulled after Christmas. Happy New Year to her!
For our 22nd Wedding anniversary, Scott and I went to a resort in Washington. This is us at a place called Panorama Point. It was so fun to go exploring together and to enjoy being alone. We sure are lucky to be married and to have such great kids. We love them all so much.
Speaking of kids, Taylor isn't so much of one anymore. He is currently finishing his training at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri. After returning home for a ten day leave and Christmas with the family, he is headed to Okinawa Japan. His leave is only until December 19th so Santa will visit the Emerys early this year. He will be part of the 3rd Recon Battalion stationed in Okinawa Japan. We don't have much more information such as his daily duties or his length of stay. Hopefully he will have more of that when he comes home on Friday. It is the neatest anniversary present ever; our whole family gets to be together on December 10th.

The Beach with Friends

There is almost nothing better for my spirit than going to spend time at the beach. Just hearing the waves crash and feeling the wind through my hair makes me take a big sigh and forget much of the stress of life. A couple weekends ago, we rented a beach house and took some friends of ours with us to go enjoy a respite. Lucky for us, the friends we took owned a camera and Lacressa, my friend, is a photographer. Yeah! Not only did we have a great weekend, but we have pictures to prove it. Thank you Lacressa!
We took Ross, Rylee, and Sarah with us and left the teenagers at home to hold down the fort. Allison had homework and Cameron had a boy scout camp. Our kids are growing up!
Anyway, here are some of the sights we enjoyed while we were away

This is the beach and I can't tell you how beautiful it is and the sounds the waves make. Ah makes me want to go back right now!
See the Sea Lion? We were so close to them They just slept and ignored us. Combined with the fun of the tide pools, having good friends with us, and meeting up with Jeannine and Don and their kids made for a fantastic trip. Even the weather cooperated. Yeah!
This cliff was right on the beach. See how huge it is and I think the picture only captured half of it.
This is my friend Lacressa and me. We have decided she is a triplet to Jeannine and I. She and I took seperate trips to the beach to walk and upon returning, we found we had collected two items. Each of us brought home a grey rock and a white shell. They were identical. Funny huh?

The Beach

Jainey and Sarah play in the sand. They were so happy to be there.
Rylee and Mommy look at different sea animals in the tide pools. I love getting close up views of sea life.
All the kids got to bring home sea shells. Yeah! Ross was extremely happy about that.
We got this present at the end of an amazing day at the beach. What a beautiful sunset!
This is called Devil's Punchbowl. It's a popular destination at the coast.

Disney Summer 2010

Look! Tinkerbell is in our hands! Ah the magic of Disney. Actually, this had meaning to us because Rylee was convinced that he was going to see Tinkerbell so she could give him a magic wand. Then he said we could do "whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted!" Sounds good to me but alas, thanks to Ally's knowledge of "fairy rules" we learned that Tinkerbell cannot make real magic wands for others. Good thing we have Ally for such good information. Thanks, Ally!

Cinderella's Castle was one of the first places the little kids wanted to visit. But then they wanted to do all the cool rides. We have great memories of Splash Mountain, the Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, and all sorts of other great rides. What a fun vacation.
Belle is Ally's favorite princess because she reads books, is very smart, and wants more than the provincial life. Sounds like another 16 year old princess I know. he he

Taylor being in boot camp had us all feeling pretty military, but none more than Rylee. He was so excited to meet the green army guy. Rylee back talked the army guy and the army guy said "Front and center!" Well, Rylee dropped to the group and began push ups right in front of him. The entire line of people gathered began to laugh and Rylee hammed it up. It was probably one of the highlights of the trip. Way to go, Rylee!

Sarah and Cameron were in their element here at Disneyland. They both love fast and fun rides and they couldn't get enough. Sarah's favorite was Tower of Terror and I think Cam's was the California Screamer. Sarah was just barely to short to ride it and one other cool ride. Platform shoes next time, huh Sarah. Ross was a brave guy. He was scared to death on the Tower of Terror but once he'd survived the experience he wanted to do it over and over. We had a wonderful vacation. Even Scott, who dreaded the trip and the long lines, surprised himself and had a great time.

Disneyland Pictures

Ooh Disneyland is sooo fun! We saw so many fun characters and rode great rides! Thanks to Grandma Charlene for being a kid at heart and enjoying the time with us. I just love her smile. Thanks Mom!

I think Tigger was in love! Cute pic Ally!

Mom and I love Winnie the Pooh. We got to see Pooh Bear and Tigger at the same time. And the lines weren't that long. Score for us.

My cute kids. They were so great at Disneyland. All we had to do is step into the park and their faces lit up. Even if they tried not to smile, they couldn't help it.

It was Ross, Rylee, and Sarah's first visit to Disneyland. They all got first time visitor buttons and they were so happy.