A wonderful read

While I was in St. George my in-laws recommended a book and I have to write about it because it was one of the most incredible stories I have ever read. It is called Left To Tell. It is written by a woman who survived the Rwandan genocide in the nineties and her story is totally inspiring. The things that the people went through were absolutely horrific, but the amazing thing about this book is that she explains how she relied on God through everything and ultimately was able to forgive the people who killed many of her friends and family. I couldn't put it down and it was a really quick read. Very motivational so I recommend it to everyone!

What a month!

Well, I've been away from the blogging world for a month or so, and so much has happened at the Rynearson house. We spent most of our July in Utah with family and friends and it was so wonderful! We celebrated the Fourth of July with my family in Oakley, where we saw the parade and went to the rodeo.

We all took a little hay ride and a highlight was the play put on by all the cousins. It was darling! The kids all had matching Red shirts for the festivities. We even had a birthday party for the girls there. Here they are about to jump into the little bug cakes I made. (Thanks for the cute idea Tar!)

It was such a blast to have my entire family together! It worked out so good that we could all be there! We love and miss you all!

We spent the next week in SLC and loved seeing our friends and family. We were spoiled of course! Maddie took her first few steps, and I think both the girls will probably start walking in the next few weeks or months. Kind of fun, but kind of scary too! Scott and the boys did some golfing and a little work on Sarah and Josh's new house in Holladay. We went out and saw Mike and Chantele's darling apartment and made a trip to IKEA. It was like an amusement park for adults! Pretty fun! The Jackmans came down from Logan to hang out with us as well and I loved having quality sister time! We did lots of swimming and playing outside in the grass ( a luxury we rarely enjoy in MO because of the ticks) Here are the girls playing in Grandma Sue's sink.

We also got to see lots of old friends that we miss, so that was a highlight for us! We had a MAHAK reunion, a DIVA game night, a visit to the hospital to see Sarah Ames and her new twins, a visit with Laura, Ash and hubbies, some quality time with Deb, play time with the Hintons, and a trip to Provo to see the Morgan, Whitney, and Hill and lunch with Blythe. It was the best!!

We then headed down to St. George for some time with Scott's family. It was fun to just relax and hang out with the fam. It was Scott and my fourth anniversary while we were there! I can't believe it has been four years. They've been incredible, and when I look at how much has changed in four years, it is amazing. For our anniversary we went to see Harry Potter (our first movie together in the theater in over a year!) and about 30 minutes into the movie the power went out in St. George. It stayed out for the next six hours so we didn't end up getting to see the movie or go to dinner. We were a little disapointed, but we spent the night playing games with the family in a warm (no AC) house till the power came back! We have plans to make up for it soon and still celebrate our anniversary!

Scott's family loved playing with the girls and we celebrated their first birthday again! We went to Pizza Factory for dinner where they made them pizzas shaped like the number 1.

My good friend Becca came to visit us from Las Vegas and we had fun swimming at her parents pool and catching up. The highlight of our time in St. George was that Scott's little brother Matt came home from his Mission to the Philippines. It was so fun to see him. He was an incredible missionary. He didn't get home until 11:30 friday night, so they went and picked up Alberto's Mexican food and we all sat outside and caught up. It was a late night for everyone! His talk on Sunday was so great, and we were so proud of him. We are glad Matt is back and hope he'll come visit us soon! Melanie had an amazing feast after church (like she always does) and it was a wonderful weekend.

Scott's entire extended family came into town for the weekend so we got to be with everyone and celebrate Randy's 50th birthday together. We love Grandpa Randy! It was so fun to watch him play with the girls and they just loved him!

Here are the girls with Great Grandma and Grandpa Hammond. I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures, but I've just realized I don't have any pictures of the girls with Matt or Randy. Hopefully his family took some, so send me them please! I didn't take very many pictures the entire trip, so I want pictures from everyone we saw okay?

While we were in Utah my wonderful sister Sarah had her baby, Benjamin David Bradley, and he passed away a couple of hours later. We were all so heartbroken and our thoughts and prayers are still with them. We were grateful to extend our trip a couple of days so we could be there for the graveside service. It was such a tender time. Bradley's, we love you all so much and are thinking of you. They got some beautiful pictures taken and I wish I had one to post.

Here are the Lunt men (minus Dad and Dan) enjoying the Patio after the service.

Well, We have made it back to Kirksville and are adjusting to regular life with Scott in school. The girls and I have had so much attention and people around. I think they are going to get a little bored. We are always up for visitors so come find us in Missouri! Thanks to all of you for a wonderful visit in Utah.

We love our Aunts!

Swimming at the pool.

Maddie and McCall

Bella in the tub.

Aunt Lacey and Aunt McCall came to visit us last week in Missouri! We loved having them here! We showed them around our little town and pretty much just played with the babies. It was wonderful to have their help and company (especially because Scott was doing his two week preceptorship in south east Missouri). He was able to come home for saturday and sunday to see them as well. We are so grateful for such wonderful family! They spoiled the girls and the babies miss them already!

The Cubs!

The highlight of Scott's trip was going to Wrigley Field for the Cubs game. He was in Heaven! We rode the subway to the game and the crowds were crazy! The girls did amazingly well. People couldn't believe we'd bring 2 babies to a 3 hour baseball game, but they were perfect! It was the first of many baseball games to come for them!

Chicago again

We walked around Navy Pier that goes out into Lake Michigan. The Lake is beautiful and so big! There are running paths all along the coast with beaches and the city right there. It is beautiful.

Monday we went to the free zoo. The girls' favorites were the warthogs and the polar bear. The warthogs were moving around and making noises so they like that, and the polar bear was swimming right up next to the glass where we were and he kept coming by so they girls would try to touch him!

We walked around Millenium Park where they had this huge fountain, beautiful gardens, and some cool architectural design stuff.

More Chicago

These are more pictures from the Museum of Science and Industry.


This was an exhibit about genetics and cloning. There was some information about identical twins and we have come to the conclusion that maybe our girls are identical! We have no idea really, and probably never will unless we got them tested. The reason we got thinking this is because this sign says that identical twin babies don't always look exactly alike because they can change a little during the pregnancy. Identical twins don't run in the family (it runs through the female bloodline, not the male) and there are no twins in my family anywhere. We are always telling people that they don't look alike to us, but everyone else seems to think they do! Maybe the world is right and they are identical... who knows!

Chicago!

We just got back from a wonderful weekend in Chicago! We had a blast. We love that city. There is so much to see and do and it was so nice to have some fun family time. We got there last saturday and went to the aquarium. The girls loved seeing all the fish up close. It was pretty croweded because of the holiday weekend, but we had fun. They had a baby beluga whale named Bella that was born only a day before our Bella. (She weighed about 120 pounds more!) We had to take a picture of Bella with the sign.



They had a cool exhibit on the coral reefs of the Philippines that Scott loved. We pushed the girls around in their strollers and carried them around all weekend! They were troopers!


On Sunday we went to church and then to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was one of our favorite places. This is a picture of a German submarine called the U505 that the U.S. captured in WW2. It was really amazing to see it up close like that.

Mike and chantele's Wedding!

We had the greatest time in Utah a couple of weekends ago for Mike and Chantele's wedding. It was beautiful, and everything went so well. My dad is a sealer in the SL temple so he got to perform the ceremony, which was really special. The luncheon and reception were perfect. Mike and Chantele both looked so good and happy. We are so thrilled for them and so happy to have a new sister that we adore! We hope Mexico was fabulous!
We were literally only in Utah for 2 days, so it was a whirlwind of a trip, but we loved spending a little bit of time with our families. All of my family was there and we had a blast together. We swam, had a birthday party for Annie and Josh, the men golfed, we got our nails done, chatted tons and loved being together! I miss my family so much! It was also wonderful of Scott's family to drive up from St. George, and they took care of the girls during the wedding festivities. We love them so much and are so glad they could spend a little time with the babies. Would you believe that I didn't take a single picture the whole time? I feel horrible. It is a good thing the wedding photgrapher got some. We were so busy that I didn't even think about it.
I love weddings... they are so fun and bring back memories of all the wonderful weddings of family and friends we have been to. Can you believe Scott and I have been married 4 years in July?
We are back into the swing of life in Missouri. Scott is in the middle of finals and we'll all be so glad when he makes it through this week! He is such a hard worker and a trooper. We are so proud of him. The girls got sick after we got home last week (it is inevitable every time we travel) so then I got sick and now Scott is. Hopefully it will pass soon! We can't wait for this weekend because we are heading to CHICAGO! Hooray! We had to celebrate that Scott is nearly done with his first year, so we are going to a cubs game at Wrigley Field on Memorial day. (Scott's dream come true!) I have already been informed that even though the game will be 2 1/2 to 3 hours long we have to be there at least a half an hour early to "enjoy the field!" We'll see how the babies enjoy the field after that long ;) We've got all sorts of things planned from the aquarium to the art institute. I love traveling so I am so excited!!

Our girls

We love these babies so so much!

Bella

My friend Tobey took this darling pictures of Bella! I had to share them! Maddie wasn't so happy, so we don't have any of her yet!

Playtime

Here are the girls hanging with some of their friends!

Shout out for Folk Dance!

Hooray for BYU folk dance! I just got the Folk Dancer Newsletter (great job Em) in my email and it got me feeling all nostaligic about my fun folk dance times! I have some of the greatest memories and experiences from folk dance and met some of my best friends in the world through it. It sounds like the current team had an incredible tour last summer and I can't believe they are going to Italy this summer! When I saw that I was so jealous! Anyway, I got remembering the midsemester tours with the constant set up, perform, strike, drive with silly games along the way. I remembered the incredible guest choreographers we worked with, the countless hours at CAW, the ambassadors we performed for, the firesides we did, the elementary schools of course (yay SPAC), and the incredible tour performances and festivals. We met people we'll never forget and I love and miss all you folk dancers! Here are a few pictures.


With the Mexican group at the Schoten, Belgium festival.

IFDE in Geneva.

My cute husband doing tech so he could come with us on tour. Getting ready for Cry of the Celts in France.

Flamenco ladies!

We love Sunday!

We had to take pictures in these cute blue and white dresses! We realized that this was their first time wearing blue. They are such sweethearts!

Pictures

Betsey Bulkley did our family pictures and she put a few of them up on her blog. She is so talented and amazing! I don't know how we are ever going to choose what we want! Click the link to see them! http://bulkleyphotography.blogspot.com

Update

This picture was taken the other day at the park. A bunch of us got together for a picnic with the kids to celebrate that it is finally warm here! We hope it lasts! The girls are totally covered up to avoid sunburn, but with that fair skin from mom and dad, it is inevitable. It was so fun to chat with everyone and I'm grateful for great friends here in Kirksville! I don't really have any other new pictures lately. I've made some videos of the girls but haven't been able to get them onto our computer yet. Hopefully soon.

Anyway, Scott spent the weekend in Philadelphia at a SOSA (Student Osteopathic Surgical Association) convention. He went with some other guys from school and had a great time. They went to different presentations and workshops to learn about different surgical specialties and techniques. Scott is the President of this club at his school for this next year, and he will be awesome! I was jealous because they went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art which I would have loved! The bad weather put a damper on some of the historic sightseeing and made it so he had to stay an extra day because his flight was cancelled. We missed him and are sooo happy to have him home.

The girls and I tried to keep busy this weekend without Dad. We went to Columbia for a little shopping on friday. Saturday Betsy Bulkley (a photographer in our ward) did pictures of the girls. Those stinkers wouldn't smile, but I'm sure she got some other cute shots. She has a blog that she is going to post some of the pictures on, so I'll let you know when she does. We also went on a few walks and had Stake Conference.

I read both Twighlight and A New Moon by Stephanie Meyers to take up my free time. I have to say that they were fun, very quick reads that I totally got into. It was a good thing to keep me busy!

The girls are doing great and are learning new things every day. They are both teething of course and oddly enough have one tooth each in the same spot. They were both so fussy today and Scott and I noticed tonight that they are both getting another tooth in the same spot. They must be twins! They have also just started to crawl and it is super cute! Bella does more of an army crawl, but looks like she is trying to crawl like Maddie does (the regular way). My world is about to change that's for sure! Maddie can now pull herself up and stands up while holding the side of her crib. This has caused a bit of a struggle at nap time because she pulls up and then gets stuck and cries. Last night I peeked through the door because they were talking up in the cribs forever and Maddie was standing on the edge of her crib looking over at Bella. Bella was laying there talking with her and probably trying to figure out how she was standing like that! They are our little angels though and make us so happy!

Well, there you have our update. Kind of long... sorry! We love and miss our family and friends, and we'll post new pictures soon!

Happy Easter

Madelyn

Isabella

Happy Easter from the Rynearson's. The easter bunny found us in Kirksville for the girls' first easter. Don't they look adorable in these dresses? They are the dresses for Mike and Chantelle's wedding next month, and we thought they'd be great for easter as well. We are excited for them to wear them again and to come to Utah for the wedding. We've had a wonderful day with lots of good food, a nice church meeting (Scott spoke in Sacrament and did amazing of course!), and some good family time. Scott spoke about the resurrection and we watched the Finding Faith in Christ dvd to get into the easter spirit. We are so grateful to think about the atonement of our Savior and to celebrate his miraculous resurrection during this easter season.

We also had the best time seeing my brother John and his family for a couple days here in Kirksville and Nauvoo this weekend. It is so great to see our family. They are the best! Our other exciting family news is that Christine and Jeff had their baby on thursday! They named him Tyler Jeffrey Jackman. We can't wait to see a picture and are so glad all went well. We love you all!