A new blog address

Well because of some difficulties i have created a new blog address so make sure you go over and follow it

here is the address

rileyandtreesa.blogspot.com

Spring semester!!

Do you all see how many links are left on our chain?

That's right 8 that means 8 more Sundays till Riley is done with school. That means 8 more weeks till we go as a family on our surprise vacation for our 5 year anniversary. That also means we are half way through this semester. 

Yes half way through this semester... Can you believe it!!! We have been doing awesome this semester compared to last (I think it's because we are able to go outside more and not be so stir crazy) Riley has been struggling with more with this semester and I think it's just cause he had to take an extra class to get I out of the way and this class demands a lot of homework sadly!! But after this semester I told him he is not allowed to take more then 2 classes unless one is online. That way it's not to hard on him and he can enjoy his electrical classes more.

Also we are super excited to have riley a whole week between spring and summer semester (yephe is  doing summer semesters). That is also when we are celebrating our 5 year anniversary which isn't till June 24 but he will be in school and June means my work is super busy so we are doing our trip in may with the kids. We are excited to take the kids cause we have only done a couple vacations with the kids and its either disneyland or out to his grandmas so we are excited to just go on a lazy vacation with them. Now with this vacation I told riley 3 places we could go, either st George and go hiking, or Vegas and do the fun kid things there or Oceanside and do the zoo and sea world... So we will get to see where we are going when we get there. Ha ha the only HINT he gave me was I needed to pack a swimsuit. Bahaha he's funny!!

Anyways if you can't tell we are excited to be half way through.. Riley is taking his mid terms this week!! Prayers his way!! And I love being able to watch Anna's excitement every time she cuts a link off her chain she just loves it and I plan to do this for the next 10 semesters!! ( yes that's right 10 blah.. It's all worth it in the end RIGHT????)

(Also anyone who wants to do this idea we cut ours off Sunday mornings after bath when dad is here so he can talk about it with her and see everyone's excitement)

Tips for Disneyland

Now these are no life changing amazing tips these are just the things that really made our trip better and I'm hoeing to write them down so I can remember them the next time we go..

First I suggest taking a jogging stroller verses a regular stroller it is so much easier to push through a crowd or get up curbs with that big wheel verses the little plastic ones. Plus jogging strollers have that nice little space in the front that if your walking child gets tired you can have them sit for a bit. And that big stroller makes great for saving spots at parades.

Also find out what your child's favorite food/lunch is and take it.. My daughter love love loves turkey sandwiches so we took bread and turkey and mayo and made her turkey sandwiches and she loved it. She wanted those over any other food there s that way we were only buying food for the husband and I and that saved a lot of heart ache.

So if you go to the disney store, or walmart or smiths they sell disney gift cards that you can use anywhere in disney or California adventures. So we bought a bunch before we left we bought about on a month for 3-4 months and the all had different amounts it was just what ever we could afford that month we out on a gift card. And let me tell you how amazing it was to have those and not have to worry about saving all this money to buy gifts or souvenirs. So stalk up on those gift cards.

If your going to try to hit the late stuff with small kids, like the fireworks or world of color things like that, you should sleep in. Don't set an alarm to wake up and be to the park, let those kids sleep as much as they need especially if you were at the park or traveling the day before. It can be so exhausting for those little ones and trust me you don't want a melt down while trying to find the perfect spot for world of color and you also don't want them sleeping through it.

Don't forget to take a nice plastic or steel water bottle with you. These were life savors for us we each had our own bottle and you can fill them up with ice water at the Rancho del zocalo restaurant which is located between the princess area and frontier land. we took steel water bottles which most know that when you put ice in them they stay so cold, we could get ice to stay all day for us and we just bought the super cute ones at the disney store that were $6.00

The baby center this was amazing. Its like you walked right into Mary Poppins little haven. its located and the end of main street on the right side if your facing the castle and it is next to the camera place. they have small potties and changing stations, nursing stations, and rocking chairs and the nicest old ladies you will ever meet.

Now if you have little princesses make sure you plan a good day and a half to spend in the princess area. When we went with our little princess we spent a good 8 hours just seeing all the princesses and watching the plays. If your princess is a big Frozen fan make sure you plan extra time because they have now been added to this area and I have heard the wait is close to 2 hours to see Anna and Elsa.

Fast Passes the only thing we got passes for was the new cars ride Radiator Springs Racers and we are so happy we got them. Now these fast passes you get in bugs land early early in the morning like they are sold out within the first 30 min of the opening hour and the line is always crazy long. So when you first walk into California Adventures and you instantly see a line that is for Radiator Springs Racers. I would also recommend getting a fast pass for World of Color the fast passes are also gone within the first 30 min of the day. So I would do one, one day and the next another day.

Well I know these are all basic tips but they are what helped us ALOT!!

Oh and when your at California Adventures make sure you pick up a jalapeno creme cheese stuff pretzel.. They are amazing!!

Hope you enjoy your trip at the Happiest Place on Earth. It truly is a magical place and we hope to take our family as much as we can!! 

Bunk beds

So we have been wanting to get Anna a new bed when brad goes to a big boy bed and I have been really wanting to do a loft bed so she would have room to play underneath. Well the other day we were walking around ikea and saw some bunk beds and I said to riley why don't we just out them in bunk beds and have them share a room and then we could use the other room as an office and craft room type of room. So we have really been contemplating about it and if it is a smart idea or not...  My biggest reason why I want them together is to have all their toys in one room instead of both rooms looking messy, and then in the mornings when they wake up Anna usually ends up in brads room playing with him anyways until I get up. My biggest con for it is if they want their space I can easily separate them.. And that's really it!!

So Any thoughts or stories would help!!!

My husband

Now I know this is very cliche but I have the best husband EVER!! He is gone all day everyday pretty much, well on MWF we get him home for 2 hrs and TtH we get Hume home for 1 hr so like I said he is gone all the time. But when he does come home during those very few hours he makes the most of it. He tries to clean a couple dishes in that amount if time to help me out, or he will take the garbage out or fold laundry. He also makes sure he spends one on one time with the kids he makes sure he reads a book or plays babies or guitar with Anna and then plays blocks or reads to brad. And he does this every single day!! He also takes the night shift as we call it where if something happens with the kids at night he gets up and takes care of it.. how awesome is that! He also makes sure I'm doing ok and that the kids are driving me too crazy!!  He loves his kids and has since the day we got pregnant and he hate that he is missing out on so much of their lives but at least he does what he can to be apart of their lives. He does not come home and beg for alone time or has to watch a sports game no he comes home and just wants to play with his kids. And that is why I love him so much.

On a side note I wrote this post so I could also brag about something very special he did for me. Yesterday (Monday) I got a text from a friend inviting me to come watch the bachelor that night after the kids went to bed. And sadly I had to reply saying I cannot make it because my husband is at work.  (This happens a lot sadly) so afterwards I called my husband to just rant about how much I hate swing shift and how I can't get out anymore. And he just simply agreed and said how sorry he was. Well to my surprise I received a knock on the door and their was my husband standing there with a Pepsi in hand and told me to go to the girls nights and watch the bachelor. He is such an amazing guy!! And all those who meet him know how amazing he is!

I love these pictures because they show his amazing feelings towards each of us!!

The Joys of Work

Now many of you know that by reading my headline you think Im being sarcastic but Im really not. I really do enjoy my work I started working at Millennial Falls Reception Center in June of last year as their wedding hostess. I love love love what I do and really enjoy working with brides and making their day special. As a wedding hostess I make sure the day goes perfect for the Bride. I run the wedding for her and make sure nothing goes wrong and if something does go wrong I make sure the Bride has NO idea. Millennial Falls is a beautiful reception center in Draper just down from the Draper Temple. It is very Modern Style inside and has beautiful gardens and a huge waterfall out back. It is a great job for me right now with Riley in school and working because during the off months I only work one wedding a month until April. Then April through August EVERY Friday and Saturday is booked already.. its CRAZY!! I am super excited about this summer and getting to work, although I am very nervous about babysitters because Riley is doing school through the summer but we will see how it will work. I do have a girl in the ward lined up for babysitting but you never know what happens. So if any of you are willing to babysit let me know I would love to have a back up list in case of emergency.

Here is a beautiful picture of Millennial Falls

Anyways over the weekend I was able to work the South Towne Expo Center Bridal Showcase. It was super fun and very busy. I have never worked a Bridal Show so it was exciting to see all the new brides and see all the vendors we work with regularly. We had a beautiful set up and realized we did an awesome job choosing our colors because Grey and Yellow are the colors of the year again!! Let me tell you what though working 2 days in a row without sitting down really takes a toll on your back.. HOLY OUCH!! But it was such an experience I am super excited to be able to work them again. Millennial Falls only does Salt Palace and South Towne but I think within the next year they will go down to just South Towne because they didn't receive very much business from Salt Palace. But we will see..

Here is a picture of our booth at South Towne

Be sure to check them out on Facbook and if any of you are getting married come check us out!

New House

I know this is a long awaited post for those who have never been to our house,

 but this post is mostly for my Grandma because she asked for

 pictures of our new house so here they are.. 

Now first thing to remember I didn't clean my house to take these pictures so dont judge the mess.

Second I am also going to tell you what we have changed or what we are going to do to improve the house.

We first decided a condo because we didn't really want to spend a whole lot because we are only staying here for 5 years max (until Rileys finishes school) and while riley was working full time and going to school full time I didn't want to have to take care of mowing or racking leaves or watering or any of that and that was our biggest factor for buying a condo. We love our Condo everything about it even the 4 flights of stairs we climb a billion times a day (because we live on the top floor) we love the neighborhood, we love the ward, and we love all the people we have met out here and cant wait to make them great friends. We also have found an awesome preschool for anna just in one of the other condos and she loves it. Also We just love being out in the Ranches of Eagle Mountain.. All young families and we love that everyone has a child annas age or bradleys age!!

Ok so enough of the back story here are the pictures..

so first is the blue print to help you guide your way through the pictures

Now our living room it is GINORMOUS (as anna would say)

We are planning to buy couch height cabinets and then put them along the back wall where the mirror is and scoot the couches forward. that way it will give us extra storage. Also we love our vaulted ceilings and cut outs.. We also plan to build boxes up on the one cut out without decor so we can store things there as well.

this is what you see when you first walk in

Dining room

We love the open concept

Kitchen it has a huge pantry, and a bar area and the pan rack. 

Master bedroom

it is a huge master bedroom and we love everything about it, it has a master bath and a walk in closet. Also in my bathroom there is a jetted tub and then im going to have riley build  a closet organizer in the closet

Laundry room

yes i have a laundry room and love it. we want to find a way to add more storage but we don't know yet

Annas room 

once again sorry for the barbie mess.. her room is fairly small but thats ok it works for her. it has a soft pink color and bead board up the sides on two walls it also came with a super cute quote. I don't plan on changing much in her room but this summer we are planning on buy her a new bed and we want the kind that she climbs up a ladder and there is play room under it.. so hopefully that will open up the floor more also I am having riley build a shelf up near the top of her room to store momentum's. 

Brads room

now his room was purple so we definitely changed the color and I really wanted to stick with the grey blue and orange so this is how we painted his walls and Im having riley do a shelf in his room as well and it will be orange.. and his room is perfect size for him right now. we will see how well it does when he gets in a big boy bed.

Kids Bathroom/guest

We have 2 bathrooms, yes thats right 2. their bathroom is just a simple bathroom and I might add shelfing to help with the storage issue again but we will see

Well thanks for taking a tour with us and hopefully as projects get completed i will post pictures to keep you updated!! 

Achieving a dream

Ever since Anna was born she has had a very best friend. Miss Kate is Anna's best friend and will be for life. Lisa, Kate's mom was my Girl Scout leader growing up and Her little sister and niece were my best friends growing up. Then later in life Lisa was my babies (both brad and Anna) NICU nurse and that is what she does for a living. But anyways her beautiful daughter Kate is an ice skater up in park city and she loves every minute of ice skating and has been doing it since she was 3 years old. She is also very amazing at it so if you want to help some achieve there dream help donate and get this girl through her lessons and private skate time and everything else it takes to make her the best. And if you on a business she would definitely be someone you would want to sponsor!!

Here is the link to find out more!!

Donate for kate

Thanks for checking her out!!

Anna is 4..

I can't believe my baby girl is 4.. she is so big now its CRAZY!!

For her birthday this year she really wanted a Butterfly party (she loves butterflies). So we did as much butterfly decor as we could handle. We had her party the Sunday before her birthday so September 8 and it was so fun to have family and friends over again. Grandma Susan did her beautiful cake and cupcakes and had very beautiful butterflies all over it!! she got tons of presents of course. 

So here are some pictures from her party this year

Now on her actual Birthday September 10 we just had a special day with her

We went to lunch at Olive Garden (her favorite) and then Anna and I

just went and got pedicures and she got a manicure and she 

loved it very much it will be a yearly special for us!

We are so excited how she is growing up. Riley and I have also decided that next year

Anna will start getting friend parties and then we will only be doing 1 party for family

and combining it for her and Brad since there birthday are so close.

For Annas next birthday she really wants a Rainbow birthday so

 we will see how that turns out (pinterest here i come)

Bradley turns 1.. !!

I know this post is really late but its better late then never right?? 

Bradley turned 1

 August 25, 2013

 and we were very

 lucky because this

 year his birthday fell 

on a Sunday so it made

 if perfect because that

 was when his party was.

    We invited lots of friends

 and family out to our 

NEW HOUSE (yay we

 were so excited to be 

able to show off our

 new house). We did a

 Monster themed party

 and it was perfect for

 him. Bradley loved all of

 the attention he got at his

 party and also didnt really

 know what was going on

 at the same time! I cant 

believe how big he is getting

 its just amazing how much

 they grow in that first year. At his 1 year appointment he was 

28 inches long and 18 lbs 6 oz.. really skinny but long, Riley and

 I are both afraid he is going to be our smallest kid because he has

 always been behind Anna (besides birth weight) but we will see!! 

(I tried to make the words look like a 1)

Well here are some pictures from that wonderful day!!

the party favors were monster playdough and a silly straw

we had a feed the monster sign and everyone
could feed him snacks through out the night

we had monster drawings tapped to the walls
so all the kids could color them
drawings by riley and I

his first birthday cake
done by grandma susan up at
Midway Country Corner

silly monsters at the end of the night

It was such a great party and we cant wait for his 2nd birthday Riley and I decided we are going to do an airplane party because Riley really wants to take him up to Hill Airforce to the Museum. I cant wait