American Cancer Society Walk

On April 24, 2010, Kayla and Ricky participated with their Nana Katie in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life Walk. What an awesome thing for them to be able to take part in. The walk was in St. George at Dixie State University at the track. Ricky walked around the track 2 times with his Nana and Kayla went around 4 or 5 times. Kayla ran as much as she could. That girl loves to run. She ran about a mile maybe a little more. We are so proud of our kids and my amazing Mom for helping raise awareness and funds for cancer research. We have been touched by quite a few cancer survivors, the closest being my Aunt Karen who is a breast cancer survivor. We were privileged to make a donation to this cause in honor of all those we know who have battled and are battling this disease and we encourage everyone who can to make donations as well through the American Cancer Society. It is a very worthy cause and deserves all the support we can give.

Splash Park

Last weekend we went down to St. George, UT, to visit my Mom. They have the funnest Splash park downtown there so we took the kids to play. The weather was perfect for shorts and hot enough to make the water refreshing. The park has some little waterfalls and and shallow little stream for the kids to play in and it also has a fountain in the ground perfect for running through. Here are some fun pics of our time there.

Ricky loved the stream and even the little waterfalls but he didn't want anything to do with the fountain. Kayla had fun in the fountain for a few minutes then slipped and fell and that was the end. She had to lay on the ground and get warm too.....our sunbathing beauty!

And this last picture is just for fun. Ricky had his first Harley ride with Poppa Roger. Kayla was scared of the loudness of the bike but not my boy. He loved it!

Mock Emergency

As some of you may know, Rick has been taking EMT training classes. Last weekend, a mock emergency was staged to give the class an idea of what working emergency scenes will be like. The scene was beautifully set with multiple victims. There was an ATV, a car, two motorcycles and a truck all involved. There was a drunk driver and even a pedestrian family who were "injured" as well. They had blocked off an entire intersection in town and it was quite chaotic. Kayla and Ricky were a bit disturbed at first when we arrived to watch, especially because Kayla's buddy, Weston, was one of the "victims" and had fake blood and cuts on his head. He calmly reassured her though that it was pretend and after that she was fine. Its so funny to watch them be so grown up together. So, here are a few of the better pictures I got of the scene. Hope you enjoy!

Superhero Taye's Birthday Party

Meet Tayleah Spaulding. She is the Superhero in the purple mask. Taye is the first friend Kayla made here in Milford after we moved here. They were both not quite 2 when they met but Kayla learned her name fast and was always so happy when they could play and she looked for her every week at church. Taye turned 4 a couple weeks ago and had a Superhero birthday party. The reason I believe this was the theme is because everyone who knows this little girl, knows she is a true Superhero. She is battling cancer right now, complete with chemo and radiation treatments. I don't know all the details but I know that she is strong. She has amazing family support and is surrounded by love. You can't help but love her, she inspires people everyday with her cheer and strength. We are very lucky to know this young Superhero.

The kids got to wear costumes if they wanted, and each got to make their own mask. Kayla didn't have a Superhero costume but she did wear her Barbie Three Musketeer outfit. It has a cape so it qualifies, right?

Ricky had fun swinging while Kayla played party games. He will sit in that swing for as long as someone will push him. He learned how to slide too, but prefers the swing.

The kids had a few Superhero tasks to perform at the party. First they had to cross Crocodile Lake and receive their first reward. Kayla went too fast for me to get a really good shot of her. Nothing stands in the way of Kayla and getting treats!

The next task they had to perform was quite dangerous. You see, there was an Masked Villian on the loose and all the Superheroes were needed to stop him from doing evil deeds. They used special water balloons that would take his powers and stop him. The part of the villian was played by Taye's Uncle Dalaki and once he was taken down by the Superheroes, Taye's Dad happily encouraged them to all jump on him. I got the feeling by the chase that took place afterward that that part wasn't planned, but it was very entertaining.

I get so proud of the giving heart my daughter has. She picked out Taye's presents all by herself and actually colored her a birthday card. She made sure she used as much purple as she could because she knows that's Taye's favorite color.

Ricky didn't know much of what was going on. He was just there for the food, HA HA!

Here is one of my favorite pictures from the party. This is Kayla with her best buddy, Weston. He came dressed as you can see as Captain America. If you ask him, though, who he was, he will tell you he is Captain Moroni, who is a scriptural figure from our Church that is commonly referred to as a hero because of his efforts in defending the followers of Jesus Christ in ancient times. Don't they look so cute together?

As you can see, fun was had by everyone. Thank you, Taye for inviting us to come to such a fun party! Thank you, as well, to the entire Livingston-Spaulding clan for the strength we all see in you and the inspiration you are to all those around you.

Easter Fun

Finally got some pics able to post. Easter was so fun this year. Kayla was more excited about the Easter Bunny than she was about Santa. Not sure why that is, but it was funny. She must have told me 20 times a day for 2 weeks that the Easter Bunny was gonna come that night. It was so hard for her to wait. The kids had so much fun dyeing eggs too. Kayla was so careful and concerned that they turned out good but not so much Ricky. He was sneaky and fast and got hold of an egg when we didn't see and dumped it in a cup that already had an egg in it and dye spilled everywhere. Luckily, I foresaw this happening and had lots of rags out. He was so cute though because everytime an egg got dropped in the dye or taken out he shouted out, "I did it!" Even if it was someone else doing it. We also prepared a plate of carrots for the Easter Bunny which made Kayla feel quite important.


The Easter Bunny left eggs all over the house and even put some plastic ones filled with candy in the yard. The kids loved finding them. Ricky was so shocked that there was so much candy in the eggs! Later that day as I fed him a light lunch of PB&J, he looked at me and exclaimed, "I like chocolate!" It was so funny, he pronounced all 3 syllables so clear, I couldn't help laughing and of course he got a piece of chocolate (after lunch).
As you can see, Kayla was very impatient to go look for eggs outside. She knew there would be lots of treats and if there is one thing my girl loves, its treats!





Then of course there were the Easter Baskets left inside. Kayla received The Barbie Mermaid Tale movie in her basket, and it came with a small charm bracelet that was more important than just about anything else she received. Ricky got a talking Buzz Lightyear toy that followed him around for several days after. I can't tell you how many times I heard The Evil Emporer Blurg threatened....whew!

The Easter Bunny didn't forget Mom and Dad. Rick got a basket filled with all his favorite goodies like Beef Jerky, Funyuns, Good n Plenties and also got the movie The Patriot on Blu Ray. Mom got a ECG cardio watch for exercising that she has had her eye on for a long time and some new books. Forgive me for not posting pictures of myself as I didn't have the time to comb my hair, get dressed and put a hat on like my husband. I was keeping the kids at bay until the camera could be ready, etc.

The Easter Bunny left a cute note for Kayla thanking her for the carrots. Guess we left a few too many for him, huh?

Then of course, the official first bite of chocolate bunny. Kayla couldn't believe she got to eat the whole thing( after a nutritional breakfast, of course!).

And our prettiest princess in her Easter dress. It was a ruffled Princess Tiana dress that she picked out herself and was so proud of. Ricky didn't allow us to take pictures of his Thomas the Train Easter outfit. He was too busy trying to get chocolate!

So that was Easter for us. The candy and egg part of it. What I hope all of us remembered on that day was Jesus Christ and the real reason we celebrate Easter. He died and rose again on the third day so that one day, we will be able to rise again and live with Our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this knowledge and the peace it brings to my heart.

Love to all!

Ricky's Haircut

Well, we did it. We gave Ricky his first Mohawk. Here we have the before, during and after pictures. We have gotten lots of comments on it, mostly positive. He has so much curl to his hair that it just adds to the cuteness. Hope you enjoy the pictures.