Ryan and Alyssa - One Saturday Morning

We were playing around the house today trying to get things picked up and just relaxing. We took the opportunity to take a few pictures as I am trying to update some of the frames on our walls at home. I noticed the other day that the last picture we gave my parents of Ryan was when he was 6 weeks old. Alyssa was only 4 weeks old. It is definately time to update her pictures as well. Here are some of the pictures that we came up with. You will just have to come visit us to see the rest!

Tyler learns to roller blade and Ryan rides his bike!

We found an old pair of rollerblades in out attick not too long ago and Tyler was ready to try them out. He put on his helmet and then the blades and was ready to go. He was skating down the road in no time. It is amazing how fast he learned how to skate. He is now flying down the sidewalks and spinning circles.


Here is Ryan on his bike. He got his bike last year for his birthday but he would never ride it. Mindy gave us Kylie's old pink and purple 3-wheeler which he LOVES!!!! He only wanted to ride the pink one and did not want to ride his new bike. We finally convinced him to try his bike and now he rides it up and down the sidewalks and the "community driveway".
What a Cutie!

Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

While we were in Vegas Lanny took the kids to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. I wish that I could have been there as it looks and sounds awesome. The boys loved seeing all of the fish and sharks and touching the sting rays in the shallow pools. They each had their own set of headphones to listen to as they walked through the exhibits. That was pretty neat too they said. I guess the tanks were all ones that Reynolds Polymer built - where Casey is working. I am not sure if he helped on this project but I do know he helped on other projects in Las Vegas. Anyway...
Tyler and Ben listening to the guide as they watch the man in the tank feeding the fish and sharks. Ryan is just in front of them in the orange shirt.

Here they are feeding the sting rays. Ryan was unsure about them, he preferred to just watch while the other two boys would have jumped in with them.

You should have seen the size of the fish in this tank. Unfortunately they cannot be seen in this picture - I asure you it is not just a "fish tale".

The tunnel was neat walking through the tank with giant sharks and other fish swimming all around you. Have you ver seen the belly of a shark like this before?

Las Vegas Fun

I had a course to learn a new technique for soft tissue mobilization in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago. We used that time to make it a family trip. Lanny, the boys and Alyssa all came a long for the weekend. My mom and dad were also there since my dad took the course with me. My dad and I had fun in the course and learned a few things. Since we have come back we have used the technique quite a bit and have had good success with it.

Anyway, here are some of the fun things the kids and Lanny did while I was busy in class.

A vew of the strip at night.
The boys had to make a stop at M&M World. And you know that Lanny is not going to stop there without checking out the race car! They boys loved it too.
Out in front of the Luxor hotel Ben and Tyler stopped to pose.
Lanny, Tyler and Ben. They were tring hard not to smile. I think this was towards the end of the day. What a day they had. Our hotel was by the airport and the outlet malls, from there they took a shuttle to Mandalay Bay. From there they took the tram to the Excaliber. From the Excaliber they walked to the far side of the MGM Grand to the Tram Station which took them to the far end of the strip. From the tram station they walked to Circus Circus. After seeing what Circus Circus had and playing the carnival games they started walking back towards the other end of the strip. Tyler walked the entire way. They atarted on the strip at 10 am and we made it back to the hotel at 10 pm that night. Benjamin hopped on Lanny's back a couple times but overall did most of the walking. What troopers we have!!!!

The boys thought that Excaliber was pretty neat. We had to show them where we were going to be the next evening. We took the boys while my parents kept Alyssa, to a dinner show at the Excaliber called "The Tournament of Kings". It was so neat. The boys were so tuned in to the show and the knights competing in the games that they forgot about the food in front of them. We were served a three course meal which included "Dragon's Blood" soup, a whole game chicken roasted and a really good dessert. Afterwards Ben asked if we could move to Las Vegas so that we can go see it more often.

We had a wonderful trip. It was so much fun to spend that time together as a family and to have some time with my mom and dad outside of the office.

Lanny's "new" wife

I was looking through pictures this past week as we were getting ready for a garage sale and realized that I have had the same hairstyle/cut since high school. It was terrible. I definately needed a change and so I went and had my hair changed on Saturday.

(Not the best picture, but I needed to get something up before too many

people got mad at me for not posting it soon enough)

I really like it! I had compliments on it before I even left the salon. Multiple people at church did not recognize me right away - including one of my aunts! I knew then that this was a good change for me and I am happy that I did it. It ended up shorter than what I had wanted but I am okay with it right now. What do you think?

Benjamin graduates from Kindergarten

He made it! Benjamin had his Kindergarten graduation this past Tuesday. Looking back to the first day/week of school he has made amazing leaps and bounds. He went from a very shy boy who would not even open his mouth to speak to the teacher to being very open and well liked by all of the children in his class. His teachers both loved him.

Benjamin and Mrs. Brooks

He now moves up to First grade. He will have the same Teacher as Tyler has had for the past two years (first and second grade is combined in our school so the kids have the same teacher for two years). She can hardly wait to have Benjamin in her class. They head back to school on July 16th.

Xel-Ha

We spent one full day at a place called Xel-Ha. We were all so excited to go as we heard many things about it and there were advertisements everywhere for the place. We all woke up early, put on our swim suits, lathered on the sun screen and hopped in the vans.

As you first walk into the park you walk past the dolphin pins. That was where you could swim with the dolphins. The boys were not tall enough and it was rather expensive so we passed this year but we will do it when everyone gets a little older. The next thing we came across were some beautiful parrots. We had to stop. Ryan and Alyssa loved the colors. We tried to get a picture of Ryan holding one of the parrots but as he held it the bird turned his head towards him and it really scared him. We were not going to get a good picture after that. We did get some of the other boys but I have not scanned them into the computer yet. Sorry.

Behind Lanny, Benjamin and Alyssa is the opening of the bay. It was so beautiful. We all had a chance to snorkle, feed some fish, swim and just enjoy being in the warm water. We saw beautiful fish and some fish the size of Ryan. Those ones were a little scary.

One area of the park had hammocks hanging between to trees everywhere. Benjamin swung in them for quite a while. Alyssa took a little break with him in one as we just kicked back and relaxed for a while.
Here is Tyler after swimming the river. It was quite a hike to the end of the river and more of a swim than what we thought it would be. What fun though. Ryan was whipped at the end of the day. This picture was even taken after he slept for an hour. He played hard all day long until he literally dropped. Lanny picked him up, sat down at the table to have dinner and he was out that quickly. He was not ready to leave though, he was loving the water, the small kiddie pool and of course the all you can eat ice cream all day long.

All over the park were huge igaunas. You could find them everywhere. This was one of the small ones we saw while we were there. The boys loved it especially Benjamin. Hebrought a journal with him to write about his trip for school and every page just about talked about the iguanas he saw throughout the park here. The girls screamed every time they saw one in the beginning. BY lunch they had gotten used to them and it wasn't so bad.

What a great day it was. We were lucky that the day was just a little overcast so we did not have the direct sun beating down on us all day. The temperature was perfect, the water was wonderful and the company could not be beat!

Wow! What a trip!

To all those who have been waiting for these pictures I am sorry it took me so long to post.

Thank you for your patience.

We just returned home from a wonderful trip to Mexico. All of the Babbel's made the trip to make a grand total of 22.7 people. We had 11 adults and 11.7 children. (Sarah was 7 months pregnant, that is where the 0.7 comes from) It was so wonderful to be with everyone. We are so grateful for that time and especially for the time that the cousins had together.

(Mindy is taking the picture that is why we are short one person)

Everyone had a wonderful time. The water was the most appealing to the boys, most of our time was spent either in the pool or in the water at the beach. By the end of the week even Alyssa, who hated taking baths before the trip, enjoyed the water. The condos we stayed in had the largest swimming pool in all of latin america. It was amazing.

Here is just one small view of part of the pool.

Ryan helped me pull Alyssa around in her little float. He was a little mad when she fell asleep and he had to slow down a little.

Alyssa relaxing poolside under the cabana on the very comfortable bed.

Benjamin swam all over the pool. He learned that it is okay to go under and how to hold his breath and even learned how to snorkle.

Here is Tyler, Uncle Cody and Papa Babbel playing "500" in one part of the pool. What fun they had throwing and catching the ball. Tyler was so pround because he was the one to sign his name and room number on the slip to get the football for the pool. He even saved the little form to bring home with him.

Alyssa is doing Great!

Alyssa had surgery on March 12th to remove the cyst on her head. The surgery went very well and took about an hour. It was a little more complicated than what the doctor first thought when she started the procedure. The cyst had grone large enough to where it was over the soft spot instead of the bone. The cyst was attached to the dura (the lining of the brain) more than anticipated.

The doctor was pretty sure she was able to get all of it out and that we shouldn't have any problems afterwards and it should not grow back again. Alyssa is happier and more talkative now than ever before. We think that it was actually putting more pressure on things than what we knew. Maybe she had a headache that just kept getting worse until the surgery.

The nurses kept telling us to be prepared for when she comes out of anesthesia. They told us she will probably be upset and crying and not to be alarmed. When they brought her back into the room with us she was alittle dazed but she was calm. She was looking about the room and real quiet. Definately not what the nurses were expecting. We brought her home about an hour later.

She had her stiches taken out 5 days later. The wound is healing well, although it is still swollen. Hopefully the soft tissue swelling will continue to decrease until her head no longer has a big lump.

We are grateful that the surgery went well and that all is well with our little girl.

Count Your MANY Blessings

Today was another reminder about how truely blessed we are. I was headed to work this morning when I began to see thick dark smoke ahead of me. I knew it was a house fire but I could not tell at that point what house. As I got closer I could see the flames pouring out of the upstairs bedroom of my Uncle's home. I stopped as quickly as I could safely and saw the back side of the house engulfed in flames. I parked my car and ran over to the house to make sure everyone was out of the house and were safe. No one was in the house and everyone was safe. The house is a total loss. A few of the family pictures were saved and some other items but that is about all. How grateful I am for my family and the safety that was provided. The love and support that we have as a family unit is irreplaceable and priceless.
I am so grateful for all of the many blessings that we have...they are far too many to even begin to list. I am grateful for the Gospel in our lives that helps us get through times like these, for the support and comfort it provides. I am grateful for our Savior and the trials He went through for us. I am grateful for the generosity and love of those neighbors, church members and community members who have already stepped forward to help in any way they could, even in the simple prayers they have offerred in my Uncle's behalf. I pray that we may see the positives and the blessings that will come from the events of today.

Beautiful girl!

Alyssa is such a joy in our family. The boys all love her. Ryan is especially protective of her. She is growing so fast. I can't believe she will be four months old next week. Time sure flies.
I was pressing my luck with these photos as she was hungry and not wanting to take pictures. We did get a couple pictures before she got mad at me. You can see in these pictures her "unicorn bump". It has doubled in size the last three weeks. We will be going back to the neurosurgeon on Wednesday (Feb 20). She will be having surgery soon after to remove the tumor/cyst? from her head. It doesn't seem to bother her at this point but we are getting comments from everyone who sees her now. Some times it is rather upsetting when people look at her and make comments. I have found some cute hats for her to help limit the comments and stares. I will try to remember to take some pictures of her in them.
What a beautiful little girl we have! Her eyes just light up when she smiles.

X Games

Tyler and Lanny spent the day in Aspen at the X Games. Tyler absolutely Loved it. You can see the tower behind Tyler in the pictures. They watched the snowboarders on the half pipe, the snow mobiles on the jumps and the track, they saw the down hill races and they got a lot of free stuff at the vendors boothes. Tyler came home with a foam hat that looked like a taco from taco bell and a foam hat that looked like sonic the hedgehogs head - he is holding it behind his back in one of the pictures. It was a very long day for them both.
I stayed home with the other children and we played around the house all day.

Alyssa's Blessing

Alyssa was given a name and a blession on January 12, 2008. We had quite the crowd. What a day it was. We had just come fromthe church and Tyler's baptism back to my parents house for the blessing of Alyssa and Grant. Here is a picture of Alyssa in her blessing gown. It is a beautiful while gown with lace bonnet. She was beautiful in it.


Tyler sat with her on the couch for a while. They were able to share this special day together. Tyler is so wonderful with her. You can't ask for a better big brother. All three boys are very protective of her.


















Here is Alyssa and cousin Grant on the couch following the blessing.