Hawaii...day 2

Jacob flew in today and Ryker was soooo excited to see him

Ryker and I met up with Jacob at his hotel room in Waikiki which is about a 15 minute drive from Andrew and Brandi's house. We got settled in and went to meet up with Andrew and show Jacob their house. While waiting for Brandi to get off work so we could all go to dinner together we decided to take a trip to the beach. This was supposed to be just a little walk on the beach and dip our feet in the water.

Ryker was so excited he ran to towards the water as fast as he could

Jacob and Ryker wading in the water

Ryker really was having fun

Cute little Ryker footprints in the sand

Ryker and Andrew playing in the water

He got a little more than just his feet wet

Fists full of sand he would not let go of

All of us getting a little wetter than we planned on. What a beautiful day and view

Notice how excited Ryker is.?! I love this picture!!!

Our plan of just getting our feet wet didn't turn out so well. Ryker ended up drenched and we were less than prepared. We stripped him down, showered him off and were going to let him air dry a little before putting on some dry clothes, but a nice man saw what was going on and offered us a towel.

After the beach we went back to Andrew and Brandi's to pick up Brandi and go to dinner. We ate at a yummy restaurant (I don't remember the name). Poor Ryker was so exhausted he started falling asleep in his high chair and ended up laying his head on the table and passing out.

The five of us

Apparently there is a beautiful waterfall, pond and landscape behind us, but we got there after dark and weren't able to enjoy it.

Hawaii...day 1

Since Ryker slept on the plane and then was out soon after getting to Andrew and Brandi's he woke up at his normal Utah time which made it 2:30 AM in Hawaii. I wasn't lucky enough to sleep on the plane so I was a bit tired. I didn't want to wake up Andrew and Brandi since they had to get up in a few hours to go to work so I kept Ryker in the room and he did a great job of unpacking the suitcase, but he didn't do a good job of keeping things organized.

I wasn't feeling like doing much today since I was tired and a little nervous to go out on my own. They did leave directions to the Marine Corp base where I could go grocery shopping. I decided to take a risk and try to find my way there. I found my way, but couldn't find the store and while I was driving around Ryker fell asleep so we went home and tried again later. The second time I asked for directions and drove right to it.

Ryker took a few short naps during the day, but was out cold by 5 PM so we all just hung out at the house and tried watching a movie. I made it about 2 minutes and was out.

This is the beautiful view we enjoyed from their back deck. It was gorgeous!!

These pictures really don't do it justice.

Hawaii..night 1

Jacob had one of the best ideas ever. Since he had a day lay over in Hawaii on his way to his next deployment and because Andrew and Brandi live there, he asked if Ryker and I wanted to go visit for a few days. He didn't have to ask me twice.


We left Salt Lake around 3 PM and Ryker was wide awake. I was hoping he would at least take a little nap on the plane, but no such luck. We were on the very last row in a smaller plane so I was able to put him on the floor and he had a few feet to run. The plane was so small that one of the flight attendants jump seats folded down practically right next to us. Ryker was moving around and his hand came in contact with the flight attendant's knee and he froze. She was wearing nylons and he hadn't felt that before. The entire time we were taking off and landing Ryker was rubbing her knee. I was a little embarrassed and pulled Ryker's hand away, but she said she didn't mind and would even make sure her legs were crossed so he could reach her knee. I think she did that so he wasn't rubbing her thigh because he couldn't quite reach her knee. :)


We had a short lay over in Seattle and I let Ryker down to run. He quickly found a friend whose mom had the same idea. Ryker immediately ran up to the boy, whose name is Jacob, and gave him a great big hug. They were buddies after that. Unfortunately Jacob and his mom were about 8 rows ahead of us on the plane so they didn't get to play after we boarded.

We don't let Ryker stand on furniture, but they were having such a good time watching the planes and trucks moving around that I decided just this once wasn't going to hurt. And it gave me a break from chasing after him.

Ryker did great and slept through most of the flight to Hawaii. When we exited the plane I had no idea where to go. I saw the baggage claim sign and headed that way. Needless to say I took the LONG way around, but we were finally able to find Andrew and Brandi and our luggage. It was so great to see them!!! They brought a beautiful real flower lei for me and a masculine "seaweed" one for Ryker. It was awesome looking, but unfortunately it really did smell like seaweed so we didn't put it on him.

It was 10 PM (2 AM Utah time) when we landed so we went to Andrew and Brandi's and went to bed.

Our Summer in a nutshell part I

Happy 4th of July

We celebrate the 4th of July with my family since we are on vacation and celebrate with Jacob's family on the 24th. We got together with my brother Tony's family who also live out here with us and Grandma Roothoff, Grandma and Grandpa Orton and Aunt Trisha joined us. We started out with the Grantsville parade which was larger and better than I expected. What makes it even better is that they still throw candy. Score!!!

Ryker sitting with Trisha waiting for the parade to come by and showing us his patriotism

All of us except me (because I'm taking the picture), Tony (who had to drop off Kayla) and Kayla (who was in the parade)

Angie, Jacob and Grandpa Orton are in the 2nd row of chairs, Grandma Roothoff is in the first and Lydia, Elyse, Grandma Orton, Trisha and Ryker are on the curb

The sirens were so loud we had to protect those little ears somehow


Kayla was on the Drama Club float (she's the one in the white top and brown skirt at the front of the trailer)

After the parade we walked through the carnival/car show before coming back to our house
for lunch and a quick nap

(Grandma Orton and Ryker)

(Grandpa Orton and Aunt Trisha)

We went back to the carnival to get snow cone things that Lydia was selling for her ballroom dance class to help raise money for her costumes and other expenses. We then ate dinner and sat in our backyard and watched two or three firework shows. What a great way to end the day

Thank you to all of you who serve our country and have made and still make this day possible for us to celebrate!!!

Orton Camping Trip

We went up to Current Creek for a few days and had a great time. We enjoyed playing games, going for rides on the 4wheelers, getting rained on and having a miracle take place. Besides having Andrew and Brandi with us, what more could we ask for.?!

You should know by now how good I am at taking the camera and leaving it in its case. I did get a few cute pictures of Adyson and Ryker on Adyson's 4wheeler. When Ryker spotted it he immediately climbed on and took it for a spin

It doesn't have enough power to go through grass or over rough terrain so Ryker crawled behind pushing it whenever Ady got stuck.

With both of them on it it really didn't go very far, but they had a great time

As for the miracle I mentioned, to make is short, but still sweet, my nephew Zane took Grandma's 4wheeler for a ride in an area about 100 yards away from camp where someone had made it into a race track. As he was going through it the 4wheeler flipped over and landed on top of him. Miraculously, it landed in a place where there were two small hills and a little gully in between. Zane landed in the gully which was just big enough to where the 4wheeler's weight was not on him. He was able to crawl out from underneath and walk away. We were afraid of unseen injuries, but after an amazing Priesthood blessing his only injuries were a big bruise on his thigh and some aches and pains. We all know how tragic this camping trip could have turned out to be, but instead it was a great testimony builder and lesson to us all.

The Tumbling Gym


Jacob and I have callings in the Young Men and Young Women programs in our ward. For a combined activity we went to a gym where another member of our ward teaches. All the kids had a great time and raved about it for days afterwards. Ryker wanted to climb on and be a part of everything.

We started out on a small trampoline, but he wanted to go on the big one. We didn't make it there because we ran out of time

He tried so hard to walk across the balance beams, but having just learned to walk and not having very good balance he needed a lot of help

He is such a big boy standing on the big block pad

I took him down the slide once and from then on he did it all by himself

He loved playing in the inflatable jump house. This one was definitely for smaller kids and I quickly discovered I'm not a smaller kid any more.

Our Summer in a nutshell part II

Ok, so these first two pictures belong towards the end of the blog, but I deleted one of the pictures and I thought they were so cute that I had to put them in again and I don't know how to move the pictures around, so here you go

I don't know about you, but I see a bit of a resemblance here

Hahahahahahaha!!!!!

Ward Outing

Ryker and I went to my mom and dad's ward outing. We ate dinner and enjoyed singing while two men in the ward played their guitars. Ryker was dancing and clapping and having a great time. He also loved playing in the rocks and dirt. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of those parts, but what I did get them of was Ryker's new ride

That's right, it's Grandma Roothoff's walker. To heck with the stroller, the walker is much more fun

Days of '47 rodeo

We went to the rodeo with my family. Ryker had a great time watching all the fun and excitement

He would clap after every ride

(If you look closely you can see at least a nose of every family member there except for me, Jacob, Grandma and Grandpa Orton)

Ryker trying to get Adyson's attention to tell her how cute she looks in her cowboy hat

Again I'm not very good at taking pictures. It was just us, Grandma and Grandpa Orton, Tony and family and Justin and family. Grandma Roothoff stayed home, Trisha was still up in Logan at school and Jeromy and his family were on a river rafting trip. This was also Ryker's cousin Zane's birthday. Happy birthday Zane!!

Whetstone family vacation to St. George

While in St George we couldn't pass up seeing a show at Tuacahn. We watched Tarzan and it was awesome. The performers were amazing. There was constant action all around and at times even above your head. Ryker watched the entire first half and fell asleep the second half because it was past his bedtime. .

We went swimming and had a blast. Ryker loved splashing around with Uncle Theron

One of Ryker's few naps. Thanks Jocelyn for putting him to sleep

I took more pictures, but they didn't turn out too well. We had a nice relaxing time just hanging out and shopping.

We were missing Mike, Kaybi, Luke, Kimber, Fenton, Laurie and Will. If everything goes as planned we will all be together in November. We missed you guys!!

Ryker's first visit to the zoo

Some of Jacob's cousins came down from Idaho and invited Ryker and I to go to the zoo with them. Here is Ryker with Jacob's cousin's kids.
(Hannah, Cayden, AJ and Dillan)

A monkey eating lunch

This is Ryker telling me what a monkey says.

Ryker loved watching the giraffes, especially when they would stretch.

Eating his peanut butter sandwich wondering how they get so tall

Lunch time with Sara, Cayden, AJ, Hannah, Brooke and Ryker
(sorry if I spelled some names wrong)

They have a huge metal elephant that plays music and blows snot (water) from its trunk. Ryker wasn't about to get near it without me

We had such a great time and were so glad we were able to go. Thanks again for inviting us!!