Our trip to Utah!

This past week we were able to make a little trip up to Utah with my parents. And we are glad that we were able to do it. Justin has never been to Utah and so he was looking forward to seeing all the sites at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. And I was also looking forward to seeing it all since it had been awhile since I had been there. I think my dad was happy for us to go so that he could talk all about the church history that he knows to someone who hasn't heard it all. That person being Justin of course. :) Our first stop on the way there was in Manti. We got to see the Temple there and it sure is a pretty one. We were just hoping we could do a session there but weren't able to since it was a Monday. Oh well just seeing it was great! Hopefully we will get back up there to see the Manti pageant soon too. My parents were a little worried about how Ryken would do on such a long trip in the car. But he did really good much to all of our surprise. He even got to have his first real tastes of an ice cream cone. And boy did he like it. We of course had lots of books and toys to entertain him but I think he just really enjoyed getting to spend some time with his Grandma and Grandpa Baker.

Our next stop was to meet up with some of my cousins that live in Provo. Stephanie and Darbie were nice enough to make us all dinner that night. On short notice even. ( Thanks again gals it was delicious.) So while we were there we got to see them and their hubbies and even better their adorable little kids. We had lots of fun catching up on stuff and just getting to visit since we don't get to see them all that much. Darbie's little guy Jay was lots of fun to talk to since he had learned all of our names. He is one smart little cookie! I wish he could rub off on Ryken. He was trying to teach Ryken the correct way to crawl but it didn't really work, he is still worming it around.

Here is Jay trying to show Ryken how to work the bubble gum machine. They sure played nice together. :) To bad we didn't all live closer so they could play more often.

On Tuesday we decided to make the short trip to Bountiful to see the Temple there. Of course the day before was such a nice day and then the rest of the days that we were there the days were COLD! On the way up to the Temple it started to snow on us.

We were really only able to get a picture of the Temple and my dad was the only one that wanted to get out in the snow. When we left the Temple the tempeture on my dads truck said 33 degrees. So it was cold and windy.

Later that day we went to the church history muesuem. It was really fun and educational to go thru there. Its always fun to get to learn more about the church and find out things that you never really knew about the church, the pioneers and the late Prophets.

Ryken even got to sit in the replica of the bunk beds that the saints slept in on the ships. He sure thought it was lots of fun. :)

We also were able to meet up with my Aunt Wendy and her daughters to do dinner. It was fun to catch up with all of them too. Since again we don't get to see them much either. Thanks again aunt Wendy for dinner. :)

Wednesday my cousins Stephanie and Darbie were nice enough to come in to Salt Lake City and watch Ryken for us so that we could go to the Salt Lake City Temple and do a session. It was such a great experience to attend that Temple. We hope to get back to do it again. Thanks for helping us out again Steph and Darbie. We owe you. :) We also got to go see the Brigham Young's house that is now called the Beehive house. We really enjoyed getting to be in there and see all the thing in the house that were Brigham Young's and to learn new things about him and his family. It was once again really cold that night but Ryken was such a trooper and stuck it out with us.

See his little red nose? Oh and I swear he has pants on they are not shorts, they just look it with the way he is sitting. :) But hey he is still smiling.

Finally on Thursday we got to go to the Confrence Center and get a tour of it. WOW is is so much bigger in person. I had been there to tour it before but still you forget how big it is. And we got to see the great view of Temple Square there on the roof.

We were also able to see the new movie about Joseph Smith while we were there on Temple Square . It sure was a tear jerker. It is so hard to watch it and see all the persecussion and hard times that the early saints went thru for the Gospel. But especially Joseph. It makes my testiomony of him grow when I remember all that he went thru to restore the gospel for all of us. We were SO glad that we were able to watch that movie while we were there.

We always like to just get away for a little while from all the stuff we have going on here at home. And this was one of the best ways to do it. We got to learn lots of new and interesting facts about the church and its history. So thanks again MOM and DAD for inviting us to take this little trip with you. We just wish mom could have been there with us for most of this stuff. Sorry you had to work and we got to play. :)

Our little family.

Growing up I remember my family getting family pictures. I always loved getting them for some reason. I don't really know why but I did. And looking back at them makes me smile. My mom was also good about getting professional pictures taken of us when we were younger too. And I think I had mentioned it in an earlier blog but I wish I had been better about getting Ryken's pictures taken professionaly every few months. I know I have pleanty of snap shots that I have taken myself. But its nice to look back and see the others too. SO I hope that one day Ryken and even the children that we may have later on can look back and see these family pictures that we have taken and the pictures of themselves and they can just smile too. And yep its still fun for me to go get the pictures taken. Even if I look incredibly hideous in them. :)

Father and son. Two of the guys in my life that I can't live without.

Mother and Son. Being his mom is all I have ever wanted. And I enjoy it so much. :)

My little big boy. I just can't get enough of him. And he makes me smile like no other.

My hubby must love his job!

So there may be a few husbands out there that don't really like their job. But I can say that my husband is not one of them. Me on the other hand.... I don't really like his job much but that's another story. :) This past Friday he volunteered himself to help his SWAT team with some scenario training. He basically was a human target for the SWAT guys. They were doing building searches and he was one of the bad guys in the building. He would hide out in the building and be put in different situations for the guys to practice on. He got shot a few times with what was basically paint balls from the other guys. The only thing was that he didn't really get to fire anything back at them. This is what the out come of his day of being target practice was.

I think you can kind of see the paint on his shirt from the shots that hit him. Its all that red stuff.....

And this is the aftermath of the shots that he took. Yes he could have worn his vest but he decided he wanted to be mister strong man so he didn't needless to say he seemed to enjoy all of it. Can't you tell by the smile on his face. I have one crazy husband. But I still love him. :) And he still loves his job even after all of that.

Two fun filled days...

We had a great Easter and hope that everyone else did too. It was fun since it was Ryken's first Easter and so I really wanted to get him an Easter basket and a few little things for it. Justin thought it was kinda silly but in the end I think he was glad that I did it. I can't wait till he is old enough to actually know what Easter is all about. But until then I had a little fun. :)

Here he is looking so handsome in his little Easter outfit and his Easter basket filled with goodies just for him. :) I got those puff things hoping that he would actually eat them because when I gave him one before he gagged on it. But I am happy to say that he now enjoys them.

After we went to church we went over to Justin's parents house for dinner. And his mom had gotten some things for Ryken for Easter too. One of the things she got was some bubbles for him. And so we decided to go and test them out.

He wasn't to sure about them. And I wasn't to sure bout this picture cause I look REALLY scary but it was the only good one with the bubbles in it. :) But he had fun popping the bubbles when them got to him.

On Monday we went out to Maricopa to visit our friends Gina and Kameron Lee and their little guy Porter. Our hubbies were nice enough to watch our little guys so Gina and I could go out and get a much needed pedicure. We had lots of fun while we were there but were a little afraid to let our hubbies know the damage we had done when it was all paid for. :) And we were surprised by the price too. But we had to get a picture of our pedicures of course.

And if you couldn't tell mine are the WHITE feet! :) With the huge bruise on it. I had a can of tuna fall on my foot last week. Not fun! After we got all that relaxing and fun out of the way we met up with our hubbies and kiddos again and enjoyed lots of pizza and a movie.

Here is what our hubbies do while we are gone to keep the boys in line. They let them watch Baby Einstein videos. Well if it does the job then that's fine with me and it works for our little guys. We always have so much fun hanging out with the Lee's. Oh and sorry Gina bout how fussy Ryken was that night hope we didn't cause Porter to lose to much sleep. And thanks for letting us hangout at your place.

Ryken also turned 9 months on Monday. He is still lots of fun. But has yet to learn how to crawl. Which I keep hearing is okay and that I really don't want him to be mobile. Maybe he will get the hang of it one of these days. Oh and he is actually getting teeth now. His first tooth broke threw about a week and a half ago. And so now I know why he was so fussy and continues to be. :) Can't wait to see his smile when the teeth are actually noticeable. We have his 9 month check up next Monday. So I will post his stats once we get them at the appt. Can't wait to see what they are. Then I will actually have an answer for all those that ask me how much he weighs. :)

Happy Easter!

Well we just wanted to wish everyone a early Happy Easter! Don't really know how the next few days will be so I decided to post this now in case it does get crazy. :) We all hope you have a great one. I got an easter basket for Ryken this year. I know he doesn't even know what it is but it is more for me. :) So we got a few things to put in it this year. So hopefully we will get a few pics and then I can post them later. But until then just enjoy this one of my adorable "Chubby Bunny". HAPPY EASTER FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

A - Attached or single: Attached.. To my love, Justin

B - Best friend: Justin

C - Cake or pie: I would have to say Cake for sure. But if it has frosting then only the whipped cream type. I hate the rich frosting on cakes.

D - Day of choice: Either Monday or Tuesday. Those are days that Justin is usually off.

E - Essential item: Cell phone and Diaper Bag.

F - Favorite color: Purple

G - Gummy bears or worms: worms for sure.. More to enjoy. :)

H - Hometown: Snowflake

I-Indulgence(s): Chocolate. Any kind probably.

J - January or July: January when you live in the hot city of Phoenix

K - Kids: Ryken Holt Buchberger

L - Life is incomplete without: Family, Friends and The Gospel.

M - Marriage date: October 23rd 2004

N - Number of siblings: 4, I am the only girl.

O - Oranges or apples: Apples

P - Phobias or fears: Afraid of heights, and also losing someone in my family.

Q - Quotes: Not sure its a quote but I love.... Live, Laugh and Love. :)

R - Reason to smile: Ryken and all his chubby rolls.

S - Season of choice: Fall

T - Tag three friends: Kiri, Bri and Jennifer

U - Unknown fact about me: I do not like being tall.

V - Very favorite store: Target .....mine too Gina. :)

W - Worst habit: Not wanting to fix dinner. :)

X - X-ray or ultrasound: Ultrasound for sure. Especially if it is getting one to see your little baby growing and moving inside of you. Plus the only x-ray I have had is at the dentist and I hate the dentist. :)

Y - Your favorite food: Bits and Pizza, Pizza. Love it and miss it too.

Z - Zodiac sign: Gemini

Mr Fix It!

I can proudly say that I have my own live in mr fix it. My hubby is so good about trying to fix things around the house himself first before having to invest alot of money in to someone else coming to fix it. Or even us both asking our dads what we should do to fix the problem. Well for about a week we were without a light in the kitchen. It was weird cause somedays it would work and then the next thing you know it wouldn't turn back on after it was off. So finally he had the time to check it all out and try to fix it. I was kinda getting worried about him and getting himself eletricuted. I can say that he did get a little shock but nothing to bad. :)

Here he is doing his magic. After like 3 trips to Lowes he got the job done. I must admit that he did get a little help from the internet and also one of the workers at Lowes. But needless to say it got fixed and that is what we really wanted and needed.

Here he is testing it out for the first time..... And yep it worked. And it has been working great ever since. A little brighter then it was before but hey its a working light that is much needed in the kitchen. :) Thanks Mr. FIX IT!