A Boy and his Dogs

(Here's another old video, but I had to include it.) There's nothing quite like watching a boy and his dogs. Cameron refers to all dogs as "puppies" and loves them dearly. Nearly every waking moment is spent looking out the window for them, talking about them, and begging to go play with them. There is definitely a love ingrained in him that couldn't be taught. It's just who he is. A boy who loves his dogs.

We're very lucky to have 2 very intelligent and gentle dogs. I often wish Cameron was as obedient as them. :) Maybe one day, I can hope anyway! The Border Collie is Gus, and the Kelpie (sp?) is Kate. I think they are going to prove to be my best babysitters this summer. All three of them are absolutely enthralled with fetch and can play for hours! Gus is excellent at fetch and is eager to fetch anything, even snow.

Old Videos

Here are a couple videos from about 3-4 months ago. (I know, I'm very behind on posting.) Cameron actually speaks much better than this now, but I still wanted to post this so family members could hear him say their names. Cameron will basically repeat anything I want him to now, which is a lot of fun, and makes me a lot more cautious about what I say. Some of his favorite words this last week or two were: haircut, turtle, Nemo, "Where Nemo?", pickle, hungry, plate, pancake, Jody, and Lara which came out more like lahlah.

As for the singing, this particular song sounded slightly Native American-ish which isn't usually the case. He LOVES to sing, which is also fun for me. He'll usually throw in a few undersandable words, but doesn't on this video. Cameron doesn't sing anything like Jenny's daughter, but he's picked this up totally on his own and definitely has his own unique style. I do sing around the house, but nothing like this. :)

Tagged

Here it is. I started this awhile ago and am now just finishing, so these really aren't on my to-do list today. Oh, well.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Just turned 17 years old and was a Junior in highschool. We would have just finished up our crazy-busy cheerleading season. Highschool was definitely a unique and fun growing period, though one I'd never choose to repeat!

5 Things on my To-Do List today:

1. Clean house, clean house, did I mention clean house?
2. Go to grocery store
3. Write-out bills
4. Go to Post Office
5. Exercise

Things I would do if I became a billionaire:

I think a more appropriate question is what wouldn't I do? Or who wouldn't I help?
I would do just about anything and everything to help people. I'd ensure my money made money so the process could continue forever. If I am too busy traveling to oversee my philanthropic endeavors then I'll hire someone to help. There would definitely be an emphasis on education though.

2 of my bad habits:
(How do I choose just 2?)

1. Lately I've had no motivation in the housekeeping department. I love motherhood, dislike housekeeping!
2. Taking life too seriously

5 Places I've lived:

1. Salt Lake City
2. Oakley
3. Provo
4. Ogden
5. Oakley
When we ever get our house built we will live in Marion next.

Jobs I've had:

Oakley Polar King, Life-guard/Swimming Instructor, short stint at Mervyn's to pay my enormous phone bill I didn't want to tell my parents about, Accounting clerk @ Rydalch Electric, 1st Grade Teacher, Mother

5 Things people don't know about me: (I have a REALLY hard time coming up with things like this)

1. LOVE the smell of burning ditches (you rural people know what I'm talking about) I think it's because it officially means winter has come to a close and spring is ready to begin
2. I have a major sweet-tooth. When I moved to Provo to go to school I would eat dessert for dinner just because I could. (I know, such a rebel!) I'd didn't feel well later, so I guess I learned my lesson, but I totally feel like cake is a suitable breakfast! (It's a good thing I've decided to become an exerciser!) Cameron has inherited the sweet-tooth---uh-oh!
3. Loved my geography and nutrition classes in college, could have easily went in either of those directions instead of Education. Random, I know.
4. Love the smell of the detergent aisle in stores!
5. On the Rydalch side alone, I have 45 first cousins. This number includes spouses, but not second cousins.

Confession

I must confess...I've never been much of an excerciser...EVER...until recently. I have been excercising 4-5 times a week and LOVING IT! For the first time in a long time I feel strong. It helps me so much to make time to do this for myself. I think I have a better attitude about all the other things I have to do. Plus, there's the upside of getting in shape. Also, I don't think it's a coincidence that before I often averaged 9 migraines a month, and it's recently been cut in half!

So thanks to all the fun people I see when I go, and Shauna for turning her house into a gym. To all you mothers (and others) who are feeling burned out, make a committment to do this for yourself, it's the best thing I've done in a long time. Here's to health!

About Us Part 1

So I love it when I read other people's blogs and get to know them better, at least find out what has happened in the last few years that we may have lost touch. I realized my blog doesn't do this. Since I pretty much just post random things about Cameron, I thought I'd start doing a little catching up for anyone interested in how I got where I am.

Sorry there won't be any pictures with this post because none of my pictures from this time period are digital and I don't have a scanner, maybe I can add some later.

What happened after high school?
Wes spent the summer rodeo-ing with a family from the Ogden area--the Hannum's. I spent my summer working at the pool and preparing to move to Provo. I really didn't see Wes much that summer and knew we would be seeing a lot less of each other come mid-August. We both moved our separate ways: me to Provo and UVSC, Wes to Texas on a rodeo scholarship. Wes lived with Jake Hannum and Matt Shiozawa. For any of you rodeo-followers they are both ropers who have been very successful making it to the national finals and considered some of the best in the world. During his first semester away he decided to serve a mission and upon finishing the semester came home to prepare. I was having a blast living in Provo with Lara & Christina Maynes. Wes was called to the Brazil, Sao Paulo East mission and left in May. I moved home to save money that summer then started school again. During this time I did a pageant or two...okay 3, (Summit County, Summit County, State Fair) and pretty much whatever else I wanted. (BTW my days at the County Fair are some of my favorite memories of this time period--it was so fun with you Jenny!) I took my education seriously and after transfering to Salt Lake Community finally decided Weber State had an exceptional Elem. Ed. program and transferred there.

Okay, winding this story down...Wes came home and I was still around. To be honest, I didn't purposefully wait for him. We both decided when he left that if I felt inclined to date--I should. It just turned out this way. We got serious pretty quickly. We had been writing each other faithfully for 2 years so it seemed very natural, besides the fact that the first time he was my boyfriend was in the 4th grade, so there was a little history, not like we'd just met. We were engaged a few weeks into June and married about a week into August. My poor mother! A six week engagement is hard on a mother. It was my fault it was so short though. I had invested a large portion of my time into my education and had earned great scholarships, so I pretty much refused to get married during school. Then I said I didn't want to get married during the break around Christmas. Then when Wes said what about next spring, I casually but very seriously said, "I might get married next spring, it just might not be to you." My attitude was, if this is supposed to happen then there's no point in putting it off, and we didn't. So there you have it. Hopefully I'll be better about posting more frequently and doing part 2 before midsummer!

Side note: Whenever I think about Wes right after he returned from his mission I get a big smile on my face. If you haven't ever been very close to someone right after they get home, I really suggest you try to. They are on such a spiritual high. We prayed all the time! Everytime we got in the car or anything. He had such a sparkle in his eyes. (My son's beautiful blue-eyes came from his Dad.) I imagine it is the same with all returned missionaries that worked really hard. They have a true love for everyone around them, a real perspective on life and what they want to accomplish, and a strong desire to serve others all the time. It's very inspiring!

Not much happening

Not much has been happening lately. Nothing very notable. We did go to the Living Planet Aquarium with Logan and Baylee last week. It didn't take very long to go through, but the kids really liked it. Cameron was saying "fishy" and "Nemo" as we pointed at every fish. Shortly after arrival at the aquarium Cameron decided he wanted nothing to do with me and only wanted Aunt Cindy. He wouldn't even hold my hand. I had my first experience of my baby telling me he didn't need me. He was being a big boy (He'll be 2 in less than 2 months! Yikes!) with Aunt Cindy and the bigger cousins. I know this is just a taste of what is ahead. After about 2 seconds I got over it, and Baylee decided she would be my little friend. Little kids are the greatest. So willing, with an unspoken understanding, to offer affection to others.