Our kids WILL love running, whether they like it or not!

Okay, totally kidding :)  If our kids don't want to be runners that's fine with me, but just in case they DO want to be runners, we are giving them every opportunity to develop a passion for the sport :)

This summer we did our second year of Fitness University which is a weekly running clinic that totally ROCKS! The kids had a blast and on finals day they were ready to celebrate and run their races.

All the kids warmed up with a quick lap around the track

While they waited for their events there was plenty to do. Brinley got some nice pink highlights in her piggy tails.

4 year olds were up near the beginning. They ran 400 meters and Brinley did us proud.

 After her race she got her medal and some post race swag. Future marathoner right there!

Then it was Teya's turn to run. We told her to start out nice and easy. We said, "Let everyone else burn out their engines in the initial sprint and then when you come around the last corner, turn on the heat and pass as many kids as you can!"

She followed our advice to a T and I got some great pics of her smoking past green faux hawk boy at the end. That's my girl!

You like that? She totally came from behind and then BOOM! picked him off like a shark.  Proud coaching moment for me and Taber. :)

 After the races they re-hydrated.

And best of all, everyone got a medal. The girls were excited to add theirs to Mommy and Daddy's collection when we got home. 

Oh and this is how Cam kept himself entertained. If he sees a block, he must stack it. Wish there was a block stacking event in the Olympics because I'm telling you, this kid would win gold! ;)

Miss Brinley Grace turns FOUR!!!

Since birthdays only come once a year, it seems silly just to have ONE day to celebrate them. So here in Riggville we have changed the rules so that birthdays are celebrated for a whole week, minimum. Now that's what I'm talking about.

Back in July Miss Brinley turned 4 years old. We kicked off the celebrations in Colorado with a joint party with her cousin Parker who turned 7.  We hit up Chuck E Cheese and then brought it back to Grandma's house for ice cream cake and presents.

 Brinley was a huge fan of the cake.

Back in New Hampshire we kept things rolling with a little family party on her actual b-day. She opened up presents from Mommy, Daddy, Teya and Cam which included her very own bag of Cheetos! Happy Happy day!

Daddy also bought a giant mylar turtle balloon, just for her. It made her entire year! She loved that thing Sooo much it turned Daddy into an instant hero.

And I attempted to make her a cake. It was...how should I say this? Aesthetically challenged...to put it nicely :) physical appearance aside though, it tasted great!

After the family party we thought we were in the clear but then Brinley said, "That was so fun! Now when is my friend party?"

We were like, "uh, Friend party? oh yeah, your friend party! it's um, well it's going to be on Saturday! Mommy just needs to call some friends and we'll make it happen!"

So I scrambled to throw together a friend party with 5 days notice and a baby who was stricken with an  Evil rash (see post below). It wasn't my best work, considering the circumstances, but Brinley still absolutely loved it. 

For her theme she chose a "Pegasus Party" 

(They didn't have pegasus pinatas but we just imagined this horsey had wings :)

Her two requests were for a pinata (check!) and swimsuits (check!)

 I kept the guest list very small to keep things manageable. 

 The kids brought their swimsuits and we jumped on the trampoline with sprinklers

 Brinley was loving it!

Then they did a little water balloon toss game.

And played bounce the pegasus in the parachute. 

And of course, they got to whack the horsey pegasus pinata :)

For dinner we had mac and cheese and apples, a 4 year old's fantasy feast!

 And then it was cake time! My amazing friend Darby made this beautiful purple Pegasus cake for her. Not only did it hit a home run in the aesthetics department but it tasted awesome too! Darby is my cake making idol!

Blowing out the candles!!

 After cake we opened presents and then said goodbye to our friends. 

It was a wonderful end to a wonderful week of celebrations. 

We love our Brinley Grace and can't believe our big girl is 4 years old!! 

Happy Birthday to our little ray of sunshine.

Cam's Evil Rash

The day after we got back from Utah Cam started running a fever. 24 hours later he was sporting a blistery, itchy rash which he apparently picked up from a nasty outbreak in Utah. 

 We took him to the Urgent care on Sunday, they said it was Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.

If it was Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, his case should've been called Hand, Foot, Mouth, Arms, Legs and...*ahem*...Manly parts disease. Poor little guy.

 He was an itchy, miserable baby who could barely eat or sleep because the sores were covering the back of his throat and the inside of his mouth. It was not a happy time at the Rigg house.

 The next day I took him to our pediatrician. They said it was the most extreme case of Hand Foot and Mouth they had ever seen and told us to give him ibuprofen for the pain and wait it out.

 But as we waited things got worse. The blisters started popping and oozing pus.

 They covered his poor little footsies making it painful for him to walk.

 They covered his chubby little thumbs, disabling his greatest source of comfort. He would scream because of the pain, then try to console himself with his thumb, then scream again because his thumb hurt. It was heartbreaking!

 Finally we took him down to Boston children's hospital

 They had the best pediatric doctors and dermatologists look at him and came to the conclusion that it wasn't Hand, Foot and Mouth, but acted more like a radical strain of chicken pox. 

They couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was but they knew it was viral so the treatment remained the same. Medicine for the pain, push fluids, wait it out.

It took a full week before the rash stopped blistering and started to scab and heal.  It was a rough few days for our little man but the good news is:

A) He's adorable, 

B) the scars are finally starting to fade and 

C)  Hopefully having this exposure will protect him from ever contracting the "Evil rash" again!

Some of our favorite people...

Even though our schedule in Utah was packed super tight, we couldn't leave without playing with some of our favorite people, the Fairbanks fam. They've been some of our nearest and dearest friends since we first got married and we just can't stand missing a chance to hang out with them! When they found out we were going to be in town they arranged their busy schedules (and Dave even took a day off of work) so we could hang out at their cabin and do some four wheeling.

 Of course the one day we picked to hang out, the weather decided not to cooperate, but we weren't going to let a little bit of rain stop us from having fun. 

We still got out there and ripped it up anyway!

The girls didn't last too long (check out Brinley's face in this pic, LOL!) But Dave and Jodi's twin boys and Camden were loving it!

So we dropped the girls back off at the Cabin with Jodi and baby Chase and took the boys out for another spin. It was awesome!

And then Jodi bravely volunteered to watch all 7 kids so Dave could take Taber and I out for some real riding in rougher terrain (She is a saint!) 

 We went through river beds, up rocky climbs and all over the mountains. I was amazed at what those machines could handle!

 It was wet and muddy which made it SUCH a sweet ride!!

 Taber and Dave were in their element. It made me happy to see them having so much fun.

 And you can tell by how wet and muddy Dave's shorts and shoes are in this pic that we totally earned road warrior status that day.

After conquering the mountain we packed up headed back to Dave and Jodi's place and grabbed some take out for dinner. It was so fun catching up with them and interacting with their adorable children.  

And somehow Jodi managed to escape my camera since she was on baby and kid duty, but I stole this pic of her and sweet little Chase from her blog so she could be represented in this post too :)  So glad we got to get our Fairbanks fix in before leaving Utah! Love you guys and thanks for treating us to such an awesome day!

We have an artist in the house...

Lately when people come to my house they can't help but comment on the vibrant display of artwork adorning our walls.  

I'm sure they wonder, "Where did the Riggs find such a vast collection of original art?"

The answer: We are housing a pint sized artistic prodigy.  Meet Cam, our budding little Da Vinci.

 This is one of his most recent pieces called: flight of the tornado. I really like how he captured the chaos of the storm. 

 And this one is called: "Uh-Oh" (he named it himself)

 There is no end to his creativity. He sees every wall as a canvas, every surface as a masterpiece waiting to be born. 

 Of course someday when his art is selling for millions,  he will owe us some serious cash for all the magic erasers we've been going through lately... 

Bless his sweet, mischievous, artistic little heart :)

Uh-Oh!

I'm going to interrupt my attempts to catch up on our summer adventures and blog about a sweet moment I had today :)

As I was bringing Cam in from the car he dropped a little toy in his hand and with some concentrated effort he grunted out the sounds, "Uh-Oh!" The word wasn't very clear but it was obvious that was what he was trying to say.

My heart swelled with pride and happiness. I hugged him so tight and started clapping and praising him, "YAY Cam! You said Uh-oh! What a big big boy!!" He grinned from ear to ear and we both just sat there beaming. I know for most kids his age saying "uh-oh" is not a big deal but for Cam it's a huge deal and I felt like the proudest mama in the world.

Cam is almost 20 months old and a few days ago, he finally said his first and only word, "Uh-Oh." At the beginning of July he was evaluated by a speech pathologist and she confirmed that his receptive and expressive language skills are significantly delayed. We've been to many doctors and specialists to figure out why and are still in the process of finding answers, but in the mean time he's going to speech therapy once a week and as I witnessed today, he's starting to have tiny breakthroughs.

As I was reflecting on the feelings I had today after Cam said that little word, it made me think about how our Heavenly Father must feel when we make little breakthroughs. Things that might not seem like a big deal when compared with what other people can do, but to our Father in Heaven, who knows each of us so personally, they are a huge deal. I imagine he must beam with pride and happiness as we overcome our personal challenges and make steps, no matter how small, closer to Him.  He doesn't compare us to anyone else or expect us to do more than we are able. He knows our challenges and limitations and He rejoices when we progress, no matter what our pace.

I'm grateful to my sweet little Camden for teaching me this lesson. I know that God cherishes each of His children and that he doesn't measure us against each other but against our own individual strengths and challenges.  He is proud of us when we do things that are hard for us to do, and He is cheering us on, every step of the way.