Let's try this again...

Well, I started this blog over five years ago to keep our family up to date with our family and haven't written much since then. But now I'm back, but this time not to keep anyone else in the loop but to make sure that Dan and I never forget the stage of life we are in right now and to document our adventures. I used to be really good at writing a journal but have completely stopped since we got married. It has been weighing on my mind a lot lately. Someday I will be so sad when these crazy, hectic, fun filled days with little kids are over. So, here I go again. I was never really good at blogging because I would always worry about what others would think. Luckily my blog has been inactive for so long I'm sure no one even knows it still exists, so I can be alone with my thoughts, and Dan and I can have all our memories stored in a place we can easily access them.

I guess I will start by giving a brief update on our family, it has changed a lot since I posted on here last. (Hold that thought... Kami is in her bed yelling "I peed everwhere!" I'll be right back). Okay I'm back and everything is cleaned up. Did I mention our lives are kind of crazy and hectic right now.

So we are currently living in Hurricane, UT. We moved here from Saratoga Springs about 6 months ago. We lived with my parents for a few months, then in December we moved into our new home. I love it. I'll tell you more about it later. Right now I want to write about my favorite people in the world, my family.

Dan is still amazing. I seriously won the lottery when I married him. The last few months have brought on a lot of changes for him, and consequently our whole family. He has worked for the Utah State Tax Commission for his entire career. He was constantly getting promotions (ya know because he's so awesome) and eventually made it as the Audit Manager in Taxpayer Services. Everything was cruising along until one day my parents offered him a job as their controller for a new hotel and restaurant they just had opened in St. George, UT called Inn on the Cliff and Cliffside Restaurant. After A LOT of thought and prayer we decided it would be the best thing for his career and our family to take the job and move down here. So that's what we did. It was a little scary and we were really sad to leave Saratoga Springs. We made so many amazing friends while we were there. It really was the best neighborhood ever. Dan served in the Bishopric while we were there, which was such a great opportunity for him, and which made it that much harder to leave. We loved our ward but really felt like moving was the best. Since we have been here he has really taken over as the general manager for the whole business and does all of their accounting. He is really busy with all his new tasks and is taking it all in stride. I am so proud of him. He works so hard and does such a good job. He is so good at everything he does and this new job is no different. He is also an amazing Dad and husband. The kids and I are so lucky to have him. He takes such good care of us and really makes us feel loved. If I haven't made it obvious yet, I kind of like him. He's good to me. I could write pages about him but I better keep moving along.

Next, I'll tell you about Cason. I think I last posted about his first birthday and now he is almost five. 5! Yikes. Where has the time gone? I laugh just thinking about this kid. I'm trying to think of the words that best describe him, but really he's a little bit of everything. He's funny, rowdy, sweet, social, feisty, giving, hard-headed, thoughtful. smart, persistent, etc. You get the idea. He definitely keeps us on our toes. He is always up for any adventure no matter what it is. He loves to play outside, wrestle, ride his bike, ride motorcycles, play with friends (especially cousins), animals, dirt, water... this list could also go on and on. That is one of the things I love most about Cason, he loves EVERYTHING! We love to give him surprises because he gets so excited about anything. Dan can bring home a treat from work and Cason will act like he just won a trip to Disneyland. It is so fun to be is mom. He can be so sweet and takes good care of his little sisters. Which, I better start writing about or this is going to get really long!

On Oct. 23, 2012 our sweet little Kamryn Wendy Rich was born. We call her Kami, in fact she won't even acknowledge that her name is Kamryn. She was such a perfect baby. She really spoiled us with sleeping perfect at night and being a happy/content little girl during the day... and then she turned two. Ha! She is now 2 1/2 and is really living it up! She is so full of life and cracks us up constantly. We have a hard time taking her seriously because everything she does is just so. darn. cute! Even her naughtiness is cute. It's starting to be a problem because we just laugh at everything she does and she never really gets in trouble. Not only is she funny, she is super smart! She didn't talk until she was two and then just started talking in full sentences. She picks up songs very fast, I hear her singing a new song that I didn't know she knew every day. She can count to 20, knows her ABC's, all her colors, animals, can keep up in a conversation, she beats me in memory and Zingo regularly. She really amazes us. Especially because we didn't teach her any of it, she just picked it all up on her own. She is also the sweetest thing ever. She tells Dan and I she loves us on average about every 5 seconds and misses anyone that is not around. It is so fun to watch her and Cason play together. I don't think there is anything that makes me happier than to see them become friends. Sometimes they will be playing together and I'll hear Kami say, "I love you, Cason" and he says back "I love you too, Kam". It melts my heart every single time. And then its a boxing match 30 seconds later, but its still sweet while it lasts!

Our little family doesn't stop with those two. They now have a new little sister! Ellie Rose was born on Jan. 12th of this year, so only 2 1/2 months ago. I can't even explain how much this little girl is loved by every single member of our family. We just can't get enough of her sweetness. Cason and Kami adore her. So much I worry for her safety sometimes! She is beautiful and was born with a thick black head of hair like her daddy. She is such a good baby. She sleeps wonderfully and loves to gives smiles to anyone who makes eye contact with her. She likes to be held when she is awake for the most part which gets a little tricky for me sometimes considering I have two other kids to chase but she is just content being in my arms as I run around. I kind of like having her close by anyways, plus I'm a pretty darn good at doing things with one hand. Its a skill I think all mothers have.

As for me, well my life pretty much consists of people I just told you about. I am so blessed to have them as my family. They keep me so busy and so happy. Considering I still have a newborn, am new to the area, and still don't have a calling I don't really do much else going on other than caring for my family. It sounds kind of sad when I write it like that but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Well now that I'm all caught up on my little family I'll try and be better about documenting our daily lives. I'm going to add in a bunch of pictures from the last couple of months just to show some of the fun things we've been up to since Ellie was born.

A couple of weeks ago I took the kids to San Diego with my parents to stay with Bryan and Liberty and their family and while we were there we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was so much fun and a dream come true for Cason!

Canon ball into Uncle Bryan's pool! They have the most amazing back yard.

Cason and Marcos hanging out by the pool.

Cason giving Kami a lift in Grandma and Grandpa's pasture.

Ellie is such a little trooper. She gets dragged all over the place, here she chilling on the grass while we play.

Dan's been trying to talk Cason into taking the training wheels off of his motorcycle and he finally did it. He was pretty scared but did so good.

Just one little crash;)

A pep talk from Dad.

Visiting Dad at work. She LOVES her daddy! She has been a daddy's girl her whole life. Dan absolutely loves it and it melts my heart big time.

Reading together.

A little hike we went on a few weeks ago here in Hurricane, I think it's call Three Falls. At one point you hike through a cave and come out a big pipe. The kids thought it was pretty cool.

Dan decided to try rock climbing while we were there.

I took this picture for Dan's 30th birthday.

It snowed a ton one morning last month and the kids were in heaven.

My sisters and their kids all came down one weekend and we went on a 4-wheeling trip with everyone to Grafton. This is just a line up of all the toys. Cason and Riley called dibs on the first 4-wheeler. They are the very best of friends.

Sometimes when we get bored around here we take turns jumping over each other haha. It's kind of weird but it helps keep everyone entertained on Sundays and is really funny!

This was back in February. We took a little off-road adventure up to Toquerville Falls and the kids decided to play in the water.

And of course Ellie was there too!

Exploring with cousins.

Cason rode in a bike race a while back. He absolutely loved it! It was really fun to watch him in it. He smiled the whole time.

We blessed Ellie when she was only two weeks old at our house. Tony was here for the weekend so we thought we should do it so he wouldn't have to make another trip down. It was really special doing it at our house. My parents, Tony and our Bishopric were there. Dan gave such an amazing blessing. I'm so grateful he holds the Priesthood.