Class of '99!

One of the highlights of our trip was getting together with some of my old friends from high school. Claire and Phil were in town from California and dropped by with their 3 adorable children. Scott and Mandy came too with their handsome little guy Seth (who Teya already has dibs on) and Joseph was there, although Melinda wasn't able to make it because she was feeling under the weather. It's funny how even after 9 years, when we get together it just feels like old times again. Joseph and Scott are still ridiculously funny with their witty banter and animated body language. Claire is ever the wonder woman chatter box with her big vocabulary and special "Clairisms" And I still just like to sit and laugh as everyone entertains me with their big personalities. We played an intense game of Catch Phrase, which sadly, the boys won. It was still lots of fun, although Melinda was sorely missed since she is my favorite Catch Phrase player of all time. Thanks to everyone for stopping by! I miss you all already!

Class of '99 alum (and Daniel)

Teya and her boyfriend Seth

Joseph and Scott being Joseph and Scott

White Christmas

Another benefit of coming home for the holidays was that Teya got to have a white Christmas, something that wouldn't have happened had we stayed in Tennessee. After opening presents Teya and Taber went out in the backyard to enjoy the snow while the girls went to work getting everything ready for Christmas dinner. Teya was so facinated by it, Taber said she could've stayed out there for hours, but eventually, the cold brought them back inside.

Christmas Morning

It's nice that Teya is still young enough that she doesn't wake us up at 5 in the morning to open presents. In fact, thanks to the fact that she was sleeping in a very dark closet, she slept in till 9:30 on Christmas morning! It was so nice sleeping in and being able to start the morning right with hot waffles for breakfast. Teya was still excited about opening presents and took her time to play with each thing that she opened. She was really in no hurry at all, and at one point, left her unopened presents to go back to her little table and eat some more waffles. She got lots of fun toys, books, and clothes, thanks to all her Grandparents, cousins, aunties and uncles. Thank you everybody!

I got a lot of cool things too, but I put up the picture of me opening up High School Musical 2 because as you can see from my face, that got me pretty excited! I also put in the picture of Taber with the frame that my sister's husband Kevin made for his MBA diploma. He did such a beautiful job, it was Taber's favorite present. Also in the running for favorite present, my little sister Liz got us gift certificates for 1 hour hot stone body massages at a spa in Provo with a coupon for babysitting so we could go together. We totally took adantage of that and it was AWESOME! Thanks again to the Uda family for having us out for a wonderful Christmas! We love you guys!

Christmas Eve

Spending Christmas in Utah was so much fun, especially because Teya got to be with all of her Uda cousins. On Christmas Eve we went over to my sister Rachel's house to have a Bethlehem dinner. Rachel made a delicious spread of finger foods that would've been traditional to eat at the time of Christ's birth. We all sat on the floor (except for the kids) and ate with our hands. It was really fun and created a very warm atmosphere. After dinner the kids sat and intently listened while I told them the story of the Christmas orange (Thanks Kathrine!) Then we did the nativity, which is always entertaining with toddlers and preschoolers! Teya was the angel but all she wanted to do was pet and kiss the baby Jesus and visit the food table for scraps. After the nativity each of the children got to open 1 present. Teya got a little stuffed elephant that she loved and carried around for the rest of the night. It was a night of trying out some new traditions and continuing with old ones. Everyone had such a fun time, thanks in most part to the presence of all the Grandchildren. Kids just make Christmas so much better!

Teya and her cousins at the kiddie table

The kids listening to the Christmas orange storyNativity
(yes,that's Teya on the floor bottom right, she was feeling camera shy)

Opening presents!

Celebrating 6 years of marital bliss!

It's hard to believe that 6 years ago Taber and I were just two giddy little college kids crazy in love and ready to start our journey through eternity together. In some ways it seems like it was only yesterday we sat in the celestial room, holding hands, waiting to be sealed. In 6 years we've been through many adventures. We've moved 6 times, earned 3 degrees, lived in 4 states, had a beautiful daughter, bought a new house, and traveled from coast to coast. I feel so blessed to married to such a wonderful, supportive, intelligent, fun loving, and amazing man.

For our anniversary we left Teya with Grandma and Grandpa and headed up to Salt Lake to stay overnight at the Hilton downtown. For our date went to dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial building, then we walked through temple square and looked at all the beautiful lights. It was so nice being on temple square with all the Christmas festivities going on. Later we hit the mall for some Christmas shopping and then went back to the hotel for dessert via room service (the only way to eat chocolate cake! yumm!!!) It was a very lovely anniversary and look forward to many many more!

Another tough day of traveling

Just 3 and 1/2 weeks after braving the airways with a toddler for Thanksgiving, we turned around and did it all over again to be in Utah with my family for Christmas. The almost 4 hour flight was one for the record books. A few things in the beginning hinted that it was going to be a very emotional trip. When we arrived at the airport we had to put our dog Monty in his little air travel bag. For some reason this really upset her and she started throwing a major fit fest in the ticketing line. She was crying big fat tears and kept saying, "Monty!! out! Monty! out!" After we calmed her down from that with some treats and distractions, we headed over to security and the tears started again. She didn't want us to take her shoes off to go through the scanning machine, and then she didn't want to be put down so I could take my shoes off. It was a rough trip through security but we finally made it to our gate. Anyway, we tried to get her to fall asleep for the whole 4 hour flight, but she just couldn't fall asleep. The last 30 minutes of the flight she was so exhausted that she just screamed out of discomfort and fatigue. Ironically the minute we landed she passed out on my shoulder and slept like a rock while we picked up our luggage and loaded the car. Poor tired little baby. You can tell from the picture it took a lot out of both of us! I definitely feel like I never want to fly with her again, but I must say, now that we're here in Utah and having such a great time with family, it does make it all seem worth it.

OpryMills

This weekend we headed up to Nashville to looks at the lights at OpryMills. It was SUPER crowded, being the 2nd to last weekend before Christmas, but it was still lots of fun and worth it to see the beautiful displays. Teya loved the lights and walked around in awe like she was in some kind of fantasy land. Her favorite part though was the water show in the Delta atrium. During the show she was bouncing around, pointing and laughing and totally enchanted by the water. As it got later and later her eyes got red and bloodshot, but she still refused to leave the water show. We finally snuck her away (with a fair amount of protesting) and headed home after a very lovely and Christmasy evening.

Tis the Season...

To be jolly, but also seems to be greedy, at least for little kids. Teya is still too young to really care one way or another about what she gets for Christmas, but how do we keep her from becoming a greedy gimmie kid in the years to come? If anyone has some advice in this area, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to know what you guys do to focus on the real meaning of Christmas with your kids and teach them that giving is more important than getting. (If you don't have kids yet, maybe share what your parents did to help you as a kid)

I was just thinking about this because my friend's niece just turned 11, and for her birthday party instead of asking for presents for herself, she asked her friends to bring presents for two families in the ward who needed some extra help. For the party the kids secretly delivered the gifts and then went back home for cake and ice cream. I was so amazed by that, I just kept thinking, how do I raise a kid like that? I came to the conclusion that obviously a big part needs to come from my example. I really get excited about my birthday and Christmas and usually have my "gimmie" list ready for Taber months in advance. So yeah, that's something I need to readjust. : ) But any other ideas you guys have that you use to teach your children about charity and giving, especially during Christmas would be much appreciated!

Sunny December

While ice and snow storms hit across the country, we're staying nice and warm here in Tennessee. Today we are enjoying a very sunny December day with a temperature of 75 degrees. Teya and I went to the park this morning, something I'm not used to doing in the middle of winter. When we came home she still wanted to be outside so we took off our socks and shoes and laid out in the grass in our front yard. Though I love a white Christmas like everybody else, I can't complain about this beautiful weather and the opportunity it gives us to get out of the house!

Dude!

This last week Teya has been sick with an ear infection so we've been watching a lot of Finding Nemo. She loves the movie and carries around her stuffed Nemo fish everywhere. Anyway, this morning I was reading a book about animals to her and asking her what sound each animal makes. Through the whole book she was barking, quaking, and neighing right on cue, but when I got to the turtle and said, "What does a turtle say?" Without skipping a beat she said, "Duuude!"

Bust a Move

I think I've mentioned before that Teya is a dancing machine. No matter where we are, if she hears a song with a catchy beat she will stop everything and break it down. We recently took her to see the Bee Movie and she especially loved dancing to the credits at the end of the show. In fact, that might have been her favorite part of the movie. Anyway, since then whenever we watch a movie at home, no matter how lame the ending credit music is, she will stand up and bust a move. Here she is in action after watching Ice Age 2, the Melt Down (which does have very cool ending credit music by the way)

Best Apple in the Universe

Last summer our friends Dave and Jodi introduced us to the most amazing and delicious life changing dessert I have ever eaten in my life. It is the apple pie caramel apple from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. It's an apple dipped in caramel, white chocolate, and brown sugar and cinnamon. From the first bite I knew I would never be the same. When we moved away from Utah I went through withdrawal not having access to these decadent wonders. I didn't know how I would get by, but then everything turned around a few weeks ago when they opened a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at our new mall!!! Now I'm trying to make it a family home evening tradition to eat one every Monday night. I mean, hey, an apple a day keeps the doctor away right? : )

Singing and Dancing with the Uda's

On our way back from Colorado we stopped at my parent's house in Pleasant Grove to stay the night before we flew out of Salt Lake in the morning. Before we arrived Teya was very grouchy from being in the car for so long and not having taken a nap that day. Anyway, I thought when we got there she'd be a total grumpy bear and not let anyone play with her, but boy was I wrong! As soon as she walked in the door and saw her grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins, she was in giggly hyper hypo mode. She ran around high fiving and hugging people and was laughing like a little hyena. I couldn't believe this was the same little girl I had just spent 4 hours in the car with. Anyway, I decided that since she was in such a good mood I'd lead her and her cousins Mason and Maile in a little song and dance time. You can see from the way she bounces around in the video just how excited she was to be at the Uda house.

Rigg Ranch Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving Holiday at Taber's parents Ranch in Grand Junction Colorado. It was a very adventurous 5 days, especially since Taber's brother had to leave early due to a medical emergency in his wife's family, leaving his 3 oldest kids behind for us to look after. We had a great time though, four wheeling, playing in the dirt, going on golf ball hunts (they live next to a golf course) and all kinds of good stuff. Teya loved seeing her cousins and by the end of the week was calling them by name. It was hard saying goodbye, but we'll be back to see family again for Christmas, so we'll get by until then.

Teya and her cousins

Golf ball hunting

Cold and tired

Four wheeling with Daddy

Flight of a toddler

Being in Colorado for Thanksgiving was a lot of fun but getting there and getting back was another story. We had to take a 3 hour flight from Nashville to Salt Lake, and then another 5 hour drive out to Grand Junction. The drive was a little easier because she had her own seat and we could stop, but the flight, aye aye aye!! We thought she would just sleep on the way there because the flight was during her bedtime. That didn't happen though, she was too stimulated and hyper. She just kept bouncing around on our laps, kicking the seat of the poor people in front of us, making loud demands for ridiculous things that we couldn't get her, and of course, screaming when she didn't get what she wanted. When it's your kid doing that, you feel like everyone is watching and you just want to crawl up in a ball and hide. Everyone was really nice though, playing peek-a-boo with her through the seats, picking up her binkies when she'd throw them across the aisles, and being patient through her tantrums. It was very frustrating not being able to get her to sleep on the plane, especially because she finally laid down and started zoning out as we were landing. Still, we made it through, and it was good practice for when we do it again next month for Christmas.

Saturday Fun!

This Saturday we decided to make it a family fun day. We started by hitting Chuck E Cheese in the morning. Teya had a great time riding all the rides and Taber and I got in a few games of basketball and ski ball in so we were all quite happy. Later in the day after her nap we headed to the theater to go see the Bee movie. We got Teya really pumped up by punching our fists in the air and chanting "Movie! Movie!" all the way to the theater. When we got there she was doing the chant all by herself. Unfortunately the 3:15 movie was all sold out. We got tickets for the 5:00 show but when we turned around to leave the theater Teya was devastated. It's kind of hard to explain to a 20 month old what sold out means. Luckily there was a McDonald's playground nearby which was the perfect distraction to put her in a good mood again. We climbed in and out of the playground with Teya and chased her through the tunnels and down the slides. She was laughing and bouncing everywhere. I think she really got a kick out of seeing her mom and dad be so silly. Time flew and soon we were back at the theater. Teya LOVED the movie and sat through the whole thing! At the very end she ran up to the front and danced to the credits. She talked about Bee's all the way home and then crashed from having such a long and fun filled day. I definitely think we should make every Saturday a family fun day!

Man's Best Friend

Teya and our dog Monty are very close friends. In fact, she thinks he's her brother, and he thinks he's a human, so it really works out. Anyway, yesterday we had to take Monty to get groomed and when we went to drop him off he started whimpering because he was nervous. Teya caught on to his nervousness and started getting stressed herself. When the groomer actually picked him up to carry him away she started crying, "Monty! Monty! I want Monty!" She cried for 30 minutes after we dropped him off and kept asking where he was. When we got home she was was starting to forget about it, but then we ate lunch and when she went to throw her leftovers on the ground, she realized Monty wasn't there to eat them and got all sad again. Needless to say it was a very joyous reunion when we picked him up.

Here's a little clip of Teya and her best bud. Please excuse her nose-picking at the end, we're still working on manners.

Well-baby report

Today we went in for Teya's 18 month well baby check. She's actually 20 months so we're a little bit behind. Anyway, she had a great check up. She's a little on the small side, 25th percentile for weight and 30th percentile for height, but they said she is perfectly proportioned and right on track developmentally.

Teya has also been a little sick lately and we found out today that it's bronchitis. Poor little thing! She's been so miserable, but we have her on antibiotics now so hopefully she'll be in top condition when we go to Colorado next week for Thanksgiving.

Cheese!

Awhile back Teya put two pacifiers in her mouth at the same time and we got such a kick out of it that we told her to say cheese and we took a picture. Fast forward to today, She finds two binkies again, puts them both in her mouth and knowing she has done something cute, runs up to me and says "Cheese!" at first I just laughed but she wouldn't stop saying cheese until I took her picture. She is a total camera ham!

Birthday Girl!

Today I turned 27 and I've gotta say, I don't feel any different than when I was 26. So there you go, sometimes you turn a year older and you really feel it, like when you turn 16, or 21, or even 25. But 27 just feels like 26, and I guess that's not a bad thing when you think about it. : ) Taber and I celebrated last night by going out to eat at the Macaroni Grill, not only because they have amazing food, but also because you get serenaded by an opera singer and handed a big fat piece of gooey chocolate cake! Oh yeah baby! It was AWESOME!! We also went birthday shopping for shoes (something he'll only ever do with me on my birthday ; ) And went to see the movie, Dan in Real Life. Movie was great, shoes were great, date was great! I also realized last night that it is SO worth the money to get a babysitter when you can get great dinner conversation and actually see a movie that's not a cartoon matinée. I love birthdays!

Discovery Center

This weekend we took Teya to a really neat children's museum in Murfreesboro called the Discovery Center . There are so many fun things for kids to do including digging for fossils in a rock pit, playing with a giant water exhibit, making crafts at the art station, flying in the airplane simulator, and exploring dozens of other hands on exhibits. Teya and I have a pass so we go there every week but it was Taber's first time and he really got a kick out of seeing Teya in her element. It was especially fun to see him take Teya for a spin in the airplane simulator since she hasn't been flying with him since he got his pilot's license. They looked pretty cute together in the cockpit. It was a great Saturday activity and I'm sure we'll be going back as a family soon!

Here's a little clip of Teya in the craft part of the museum. She looks like a little Yoda in the giant smocks they give them to paint in, I just thought it was cute.

Gifts from Grandma

Grandma Rigg sent out a care package this week with a little stuffed pony that you can color on with markers and wash off. As soon as I opened up the box Teya saw the pony and shouted "It's a neigh!" (She refers to animals by the sounds they make) anyway, she had so much fun marking up the pony she decided it would be a good idea to mark up the couch, the wall, the table, her shirt, and her pants. It was a scary sight at first, but the marker washed out easily and Teya made a fun game of cleaning up. As far as she's concerned, messy toys are the best!

Celebrity Look-a-like

The other day we were at Wal-mart and Teya saw a display of Elvis Pez dispensers and said, "Daddy!" It took me a second but then I realized she thought that the Elvis heads looked like Taber. Anyway, it got me thinking about celebrity look-a-likes and this is what I came up with for our family.

Teya and Boo

Dancing Queen

When we went to Dollywood last month, Teya's favorite part wasn't the rides, it was listening to all the bluegrass bands that were playing at the park. Here's a little clip of her feeling the beat while listening to the band. The people in the audience sure got a kick out of her. At one point an old fellow who looked strikingly similar to Santa Clause came by and started dancing with her. She was a little star struck.

I've been Tagged!

I've been Tagged thanks to Meredith! So here we go, 7 facts or habits about yourself:

1) I eat brownies with Breyer's vanilla bean ice cream at least once a week. Some people would call it an addiction, I call it happiness. : )

2) I taught school up until the day I gave birth to Teya. The last week before she was born my students were really freaked out that I was going to go into labor in front of them. One morning when they walked in the door and saw my giant pregnant self they starting saying things like, "Mrs. Rigg! Why are you still here! What if your water breaks in front of us? Please go home!" Luckily I finished teaching and went home to have her that night.

3) I love getting full body massages. If I were rich I would get one every other day. I have a massaging chair and an electronic back massager at home, as well as a couple little hand held massagers. Once when I was in college I promised my little sister a million dollars and my first born child if she'd give me a massage. She has yet to collect on that...

4) I eat cereal every day for breakfast with 1% milk. I can't stand any other milk, especially skim or whole. Barf! I'll drink 2% if I'm desperate, but that's as far as I'll go.

5) I love BYU football. I get so emotional over it that it surprises me. When they lose a close game I can be in a funk for hours afterward.

6) My middle name is Ku'ualoha. It means "my love" in Hawaiian. It's my Grandmother's middle name and my daughters. Hopefully it will be a future granddaughter's name too.

7) I met my sister in-law (who is from Alaska) at a BYU summer camp when I was 17. After I met her I wrote in my journal, "I have a feeling this isn't the last I will see of Regan Rigg." When I started dating Taber I had no idea he was Regan's brother until I met her on a family vacation and we realized we'd been roommates at summer camp. It's a small world after all!

Halloween!

Halloween in Tennessee is awesome! Mainly because it was such a warm and gorgeous night! In Utah growing up, sometimes it snowed on Halloween. Not here though! It was just perfect for trick-or-treating. Teya had a great time although she ate WAY too much candy and was up till 9pm!
Cute trick-or-treat moment: At one house we knocked on the door and an older Asian man answered, when Teya saw him she thought he was my dad and shouted "PAPA!" Pretty cute!

First Annual Pumpkin Carving

Tonight we carved pumpkins and baked pumpkin seeds for our Halloween Eve activity. Teya didn't care much for the carving part since it was for big people hands only. She loved getting the pumpkin seeds ready though. She helped pour on the butter and salt and special secret ingredient: Worcestershire sauce. In fact, she was so enthusiastic about the pouring that we ended up a little strong on the Worcestershire. The pumpkin seeds still rocked though and at the end of the night we had two lovely Jack-o-lanterns.