The Red River Bunch

Fourth of July

2012-01-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

This Year for the Fourth of July we went up to Provo to visit family we had just a blast especially they celebrated the 4th this year all weekend we went to a parade in Centerville with Grandma and Grandpa Davies and then went and saw fireworks and then on Monday we went to the big Parade in Provo, my Wonderful friend Teresa has a booth at the arts festival so Amanda and Teresas daughters Shelly and Nichole and their friends slept out in front of her booth to save us a place for the parade I wanted to stay out with them but they said I was too old, I have fun memories when I was younger of staying up all night to save a parade spot. It is so fun everyone is sleeping out it is like a big party!!We were by the announcers table so all morning before the parade started they had dance and singing contests and gave away prizes. Then we went to the art festival with Grandma and Grandpa Walker and then to my Grandpa Nimmers house for a party and fireworks. it was a long fun Fourth of July!!!

The things you do to entertain yourself before a parade!!

Porter popping poppers on Daddy's head!!He thought it was so Funny!!

Parade in centerville I love small town parades they throw lots of candy out and they have the best floats my favorite was a float a ward did it was the temple!!

Grandpa Harvey

2012-01-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

We went and stayed with Brandon's dad Grandpa Harvey for a few days and went fourwheeling. He lives in Elephant Butte up in the mountains. my boys had a blast! We missed Amanda but she was up at EFY having a blast meeting new friend and cute boys!!

Washington Days

2012-01-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

For Washington Days they have a parade and Fireworks!It was in May, I love this time of the year when all the city's start having their activities because that means it is close to Summer Time!! We went and watched the Fireworks at the cemetary and now Dalin is obsessed with the cemetary he wants to go back he was funny he had so many questions about the dead people and how they died . Now he asks all the time to go back what have I done!!

Iron Man

2012-01-11T09:44:00.000-08:00

This was our second year helping out at the Iron Man. My parents have come for the last two years to do it with us! It is amazing to watch these athletes and see their determination they are truely inspiring!

Easter

2012-01-10T14:09:00.002-08:00

We went up to Salt Lake and Utah County Easter weekend. We were fortunate enough to spend time with both Grandparents and even make it to Great Grandpas Easter egg hunt and make it home in time for the Easter bunny to come to our house, boy was it a busy weekend but we sure had alot of fun with Family! The only downside was that Brandon had to work.

Easter

2012-01-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

Easter Sunday 2011!!

Easter

2012-01-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Easter at Great Grandpa Nimmers Easter Party!! The kids love Grandpa Nimmers egg hunt he has done this ever since I was little. He saves his Quarters all year long and then fills the eggs with them and candy and puts some big bills in them for the Grand Prize!! Even the married grandkids still like to do it!! I don't it anymore but maybe I will next year hey who couldn't use a few more bucks HAHA!! I have the Best Grandpa ever , he does so many party's and has given us so many fun family traditions and family memories!!!

Easter

2012-01-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

Easter with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Darlene

Easter

2012-01-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

Childrens Museum

2012-01-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

We went to the Childrens museum at the Gateway in Salt Lake. It is a huge place it is 3 stories and my kids loved it!! I wish I could have been a kid again!!!.

Planetarium

2012-01-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

We went to The planetarium at the Gateway in Salt Lake in April 2011. We went up every weekend that month!! I am so fortunate that we have the opportunity to fly and am so thankful for my husbands job!!

Resolutions

2012-01-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

1. To have my body look like this! HAHA and be more healthy

2. To keep a journal and blog

3.To learn photography- I got a new camera a Nikon D3100 so I will have lots of new pictures to post!!

I am excited for this New Year!!! I feel like I have more time to do things for me now that my 16 year old is driving and my 3 year old is getting easier to deal with!!! Now I am going to focus this year on making me a better person both physically and spiritually!!!

2012-01-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

We went to the Octoberfest in September up at Snowbird with Family! We used to go every year when I was a kid I always loved going to this we always had so much Fun I have lots of great memories of the Octoberfest, My kids liked it so I think we are going to make this a family tradition!

Hogle Zoo!!

2012-01-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

Porter turned 3 and for his Birthday he didnt want a friend party he just wanted to fly on a airplane so we decided to fly up to Salt Lake and go to the Hogle Zoo and celebrate his Birthday with Grandpa and Grandma Walker! We always love going to the zoo and the rain even held off till the last few minutes my kids were so excited to play in the rain. We then went to the Mayan I think the Mayan is our new Family favorite restaurant! My kids loved the divers especially Amanda, it was a blast!

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New years Resolution 2012!!

2012-01-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

1. To have mybody look like this!! HAHA- and be more healthy

2. To keep a journal and blog

3.To learn photography- I got a new camera a nikkon D3100 so I will have lots of new pictures to post!!

I am excited for this New Year!!! I feel like I have more time to do things for me now that my 16 year old is driving and my 3 year old is getting easier to deal with!!! Now I am going to focus this year on making me a better person both physically and spiritually!!!

First day of school!

2012-01-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Amanda and Dallin's first day of school. Amanda is a Sophmore and Dallin starts kindergarten. And Poor Porter is so sad to be home without Amanda and Dallin, but he gets to go to Mommy school and his play group once a week!!! Dallin rides the bus to school and Porter and I waited at the bus stop for Dallin to go to school on his first day and Porter was so sad and cried because he couldn't go with Dallin is was sad to see but he recovered after we went shopping for him!!

Disneyland- Christmas

2009-12-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Our last and final trip for awhile!! Disneyland at Christmas time is the best and this was our best trip . We went and had breakfast with the characters, the kids really had fun eating with them. Dallin went on Tower of Terror he said that it was fun but when asked if he wanted to go on it again he said that he was tired.We had so much fun on this trip!!! Hopefully we can last two more years before we go again!!!

First day of School for Amanda and Dallin!!!

2009-12-12T00:17:00.000-08:00

Amanda and Rachael at the river by our house

2009-12-11T23:37:00.000-08:00

Dallin Swim lessons

2009-12-11T22:50:00.000-08:00

Porter what a cutie!!!!

2009-06-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

Porter is 10 months now and boy is he such a cutie!!!! He got his first two teeth and he just learned how to clap it is so cute. He loves to play with his brother and sister and is always laughing and smiling and he loves to give kisses. He is such a joy in our lives!!!!

Disneyland!!!!

2009-06-28T15:09:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland last week. it was alot of fun. Dallin was finally tall enough to go on the big rides!!! His favorite ride ended up being Splash mountain,we thought he would only go once ,but he kept asking to go . Amanda was happy because I think that they rode Splash Mtn like 7 times and he liked Thunder Mtn and Matterhorn, now Amanda has a buddy to go with. Amandas favorite ride is still California Screamin. Porter loved Disneyland this time he loved the carousel and the Pooh bear ride, everytime we would take him off the ride he would throw a tantrum so we would have to keep going on the rides to make him happy. He also loves buzz , Disney playhouse and Monsters inc. it was fun to see him enjoying the rides.Dallins favorite ride is still Buzz he had to buy a Buzz and a Zurg so he could shot with them instead of the guns!!! Amanda she just likes all the rides but I think her favorite part is spending her money at the stores. Suprisingly enough it was not that busy for being Summertime!!!! I can't wait to go back at Halloween time, Dallin is already asking to go back he is tempting me because it sounds fun and don't we need to make our children Happy of course I would be going for my children not for me!!!!

Time to get caught up!!!

2009-05-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

I am so behind on our blog, it seems like life gets crazy and busy!!! We have been trying to finish up our landscaping and it is finally done after 3 months. We have been busy running Amanda to basketball practice 3-4 times a week and then games on Saturdays. We thought we were going to have a quiet summer and then her team decided to go to play in tournaments in Vegas. We have been busy with our city days parades ,hiking and swimming with Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Steve . Amanda finished up soccer her team took 2nd place. Amanda had Amanda day for Young Womens the girls came over and did face masks and played Pictionary man and hilarium and has treatsDallin and Porter have been such a challenge Dallin is 3 and busy as ever.He has a love for Star Wars and the outdoors, he always wants to go!! Porter is 8 months now and is a spoiled little boy who wants to be held all the time and I am such a sucker that I do it! I cannot handle letting my kids cry but I know I need to toughen up. So finally I was able to get some pictures up of what has been going on in our life!!!!

2009-05-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Porter is 8 months old and such a cutie and a terror!!! He loves to eat everything!! He also loves to play with his sister and brother and he loves to be held all the time. He loves bath time and sits up and hopefully he will start crawling soon. He is such a blessing in our lives!!

Spring Break!!!!!

2009-05-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland for Spring break and it was alot of fun!!! My wonderful husband got us season passes so we got to go for Christmas time and we are going once in the summer and then Brandon and I are going to go on a date weekend and then we are going to finish up at Halloween time!! It has been so fun having a season pass I think we will have to do it again in a few years since Disneyland is Mommy's happy place!!! I could go a couple times a year and never get tired of it!!!! Dallin is always asking if we can go to our Disneyland home, I wish we had a home there so we could go all the time, I told him that he needed to get a good job when he is older and buy us a disneyland home.

Go Thunder!!!!!

2009-05-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Amandas school team did Awesome this year they came in Second place!! Go Thunder!!! Now they are in tournaments in Las Vegas till the end of June. Amanda is quite the basketball player she is doing real good and having lots of fun with it. Her team is also playing in the summer olympics it will be a great experience for the girls!!!

2009-02-20T22:50:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd Birthday Dallin!!!
You are such a little cutie.We are so blessed to have Dallin he is such a sweet, funny boy who is always making us laugh. He is such a little comedian. He is such a loving boy , and he is such a spiritual little boy, he loves to say prayers so much in fact he says all the meal and family prayers we are trying to teach him that we have to take turns. There is nothing more rewarding than to hear your children pray, it is so cute Dallin likes to say them by himself and to hear him bless the prophet and say that he is thankful for church and family and all the other things he is thankful for is so neat it just melts your heart. And when he tells me that I am his best friend it just makes me so happy.We Love you so much buddy!!!You are the best!!!!

Congratulations Amanda!!

2009-02-03T10:14:00.000-08:00

This is Amandas city league team. But we just found out today SHE MADE HER SCHOOL TEAM!!!! they had about 35-40 girls try out and she made it!! I am so proud of her. She has grown so much this past year. She is such a beautiful girl , inside and out. She is so kind and fun and smart she is a straight a student she is on the yearbook staff this year and she loves school and she is athletic and most important she is so spiritual she has such a love for the gospel. We are so proud of you Amanda. You are the best.

Young womens basketball

2009-02-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Go Washington Fields 1st ward!!!!! They kicked some bootie!!! These are a few of the young women ,they won their first game and without a practice. We have some AWESOME young women .All the young women in our ward are just Awesome girls they are all so kind and they all get along and they all have so much fun with each other. They are such an example to me. I am so excited to be in Young Womens, I know I will learn alot from them. You girls Rock!!!!

Super Bowl!!!!

2009-02-03T09:43:00.000-08:00

We had a Super bowl party it was fun except for the Cardinals losing. Brandons family came over we had lots of food and good company. It was an exciting game. We do look funny in the pictures with our glasses on, they were for one of the half time commercial for a new movie coming out. Just so people don't think we are wierd, because we do look a littlt odd.

Welcome Home Elder James

2009-02-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

Brandons Nephew Kellon came home from his mission in Africa on Friday. We went to the airport to see him come in!!!

JUMPING JACKS

2009-02-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

We have this fun place where kids and adults can jump and slide. It is one of my kids favorite places to go!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!

2009-01-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

We had a great News Years. We had about 14 people over ,Brandons sister Angel and her family were up here visiting from Kentucky, Amanda and Dallin were excited to see their cousins we don't get to see them much. We played the wii and some games ( Gestures is my favorite of course the women won!!!) We ate lots of food and had lots of fun. Brandon even bought some fireworks since winter time is the only time in Saint George that you dare light fireworks.

SNOW!! YEAH!!

2009-01-08T14:56:00.000-08:00

We went to Dammeron Valley it is only about 20 minutes outside Saint George. Brandons sister lives there we took our fourwheelers out and went tubing in her horse corral it was a lot of fun. Thanks Christy

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2009-01-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas sure came up fast this year. We love the holidays we have alot of traditions we love to bake,sugar cookies are my kids favorite and we make gingerbread houses but we did them out of graham crackers this year. We let our kids pick out a fun new ornament each year for our family tree we love to go on drives and look at christmas lights. We like to go caroling even though we did not do it this year. And next year we are going to start a new tradition we are going to go cut down our own tree, we went after christmas and got a tree stand no more fake trees I hate fake trees and miss the smell of real ones. And of course the Christmas pajama opening and the acting out the nativity story . The only thing I wish we had done more of was service, Christmas came so fast that we really didn't get to do much of that and that is what really makes Christmas is the service and giving to others that makes christmas special.

2008-12-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

IT SNOWED IN SAINT GEORGE!! YEAH!!!

We are loving life!! It snowed , school got cancelled and Brandon is off for a whole week, how can life get any better than that. We had enough snow to make a big snowman the kids were so excited for the snow. We can't wait for Christmas. We hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-14T19:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas Pictures

We tried to take some cute pictures of the kids for our Christmas cards, and what a challenge Porter wouldn't cooperate , Dallin didn't want to take the pictures we had to bribe him with chocolate that didn't work he kept sticking out his tongue pretending he was asleep and Amanda did a good job with the exception of a occasional funny face. Now I know why most people are insane at this time of the year!!!

Brandon and Amandas birthday party!!

2008-12-14T15:43:00.000-08:00

We had a family birthday party for Brandon and Amanda. How cute.

First game of the season

2008-12-14T15:07:00.001-08:00

Amanda had her first basketball game of the season!! She is a great player. She is the rebound queen. She is hoping to try out for the junior high team next year. Here they do school differently she is in 7th grade intermediate school and then 8th grade is junior high.

Our Beautiful Family Christmas Tree!!!

2008-12-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

We always love to decorate our tree! I have a tree that I decorate and then we have our family tree that has mismatched ornaments . Our kids get to buy a new ornament every year, But the best ornaments are the ones the kids have made over the years at various activities, Like the festival of the trees and at school and home. Our family tree always turns out better than mine because it has so many fun memories on it. It is fun each year to pull out each ornament and each one has a story to go with it.

2008-12-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

My favorite time of the year is fall and Christmas is my favorite holiday so Saint George is the parfect place to live!!!! The first week in December all the leaves had turned into the pretty colors and started falling so here we were walking to a christmas thing on Main street in Santa Clara and this house had so many big trees and leaves we had to have a leaf fight, it was fun I just hope whoever lived there didn't mind!!!

2008-11-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDON !!

We are going to Disneyland for Brandons birthday. He says that he enjoys going for the kids, but just look at him does that face look like he's going for the kids or for him the biggest kid of all!!! These pictures are from our trip last year and no matter what Brandon says I know he loves going.. Happy Birthday my HOT HONEY!!!! Brandon is the best father and husband ever!!!We Love you and are grateful for all you do !!!

2008-11-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

Disneyland is the Russells favorite place to go . The kids are so excited that they are always wearing their hats from last year in anticipation for next week. We are counting down. But we sure do wish that Josh would let Summer and his kids come with us.

2008-11-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

Yeah!!! Porter has finally turned into a Happy baby!!! We are so excited!! He finally slept 5 hours last night. Now he has Happy parents again.

2008-11-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

My Daughter needed a sister so she wouldn't have to keep dressing up my little boy like a girl. What goofy kids.

First smile

2008-11-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

Porters first real smile. He is smiling and laughing now. It is so CUTE!!

Porter Jack makes his grand entrance into the world.

2008-09-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Porter was born on September 16, at 4:30 pm. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21 inches long.

We are so excited to have Porter join our family. Although Amanda (and Jodi) was hoping for a little girl, she is happy to have another little brother to "baby" and "spoil". She is so good with the kids. I don't know what we would do without her help. She is going to make a great mother one day. Dallin wasn't too sure about someone else taking up his time for attention, but he is adjusting well and he loves to hug and kiss his "Baby Korter".

Porter was initially due at the end of the month, but he was measuring large, so the doctors wanted to induce early. Jodi was having panic attacks when the doctor speculated that she could be having a 10 pound baby, so she was more than happy to comply with the inducing.

We got the call to report to the hospital at 6:15am, so we showed up right on time to find that they didn't have a room ready for us. So we waited around for nearly an hour before they could get us into a room. Once they got Jodi settled in and "hooked up" with all of there little gadgets and gizmos, the induction was started.

After several hours, Jodi was finally able to feel the contractions getting stronger, and at around 3:00pm, she was ready for the epidural.

Porters delivery was much harder on Jodi than Dallins delivery. When Dallin was born, the doctors had a hard time getting Jodi to "push" because she would start to laugh. They must have put something funny in her epidural because she laughed her way through the entire delivery. Not this time. Even with the epidural, she was in a great deal of pain, but she was a little trooper, and got the job done.

Porter is a typical baby.....sleeps all day, and is awake all night. But we are adapting to our new little addition to the family. It is hard to remember the sleepless, grouchy nights when you have a precious little miracle to hold in your arms.