We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope everyone had a wonderful day! We were fortunate to be able to stay home for the first time ever. This was due to my family's willingness to travel here to East Helena this year. Thanks! We had a great day.

Santa Claus came to town!

Rori's second time with Santa

versus the first time around with Santa
Rylie loves Santa

She didn't want to sit on Santa's lap on the first visit

It's a wonderful life!

Last Saturday we went out to search for the mountain grown Christmas tree.

Take a look! It was a gorgeous day and we had to take our coats off. Rori and Rylie rode in the sleds until Rylie was displaced by the tree, then it was her turn to pull Rori and she was a great sled puller. Mark and Rylie even built a snowman to mark our triumphant capture.

Look out world, here I come!

Well, Rori is officially among the bipeds of society. She's been walking for a few days now. She still prefers to crawl most of the time, but every once in a while she gets brave and ventures out on her own two feet. Take a look!

Piano Virtuosos

We went to visit Mark's family for Thanksgiving this year. They have a cool old player piano, so here are the girls, Mark, and their cousin playing quite well. I bet you didn't know they were piano virtuosos.

First Flight

Earlier in October, Rylie and Rori were able to go on their first airplane rides from Bozeman to Las Vegas. We flew Allegiant Air and it was their first flight out of Bozeman. We got free t-shirts, champagne (I mean everyone else partook of champagne), and there were even celebrities aboard. Elvis and a scantily clad showgirl were there to welcome us aboard. We asked Rylie if she wanted her picture taken with Elvis and she said Who? Nevermind. Both Rori and Rylie did great. Rylie loved it. She said it made her tummy feel funny. Check out the pics!

Family Resemblance?

I was going through some older pictures and thought I would let you decide if there is any family resemblance. These pictures include me, my mom, my Grandma, and my Great Grandma. Let me know what you think. You can guess who is who in the first 2 pictures.

My Mom, Great Grandma, Me, and Grandma

My Grandma, Me, Rylie, and my Mom

Grandma Denise

Me-Christa

Rylie

Rori

Halloween was not freezing, so we didn't have to wear costumes over snowsuits! Yeah!
We went with a Charlotte's web theme:

We're Baack!!!

Sorry for the lapse in posting. Our old computer went a little crazy. (Doesn't help if your 8 month old sits on it) So, hopefully I will be able to get back up to date! Yeah!!! Check back soon!

5 quirks! Tag You're IT!!!

I guess I'm suppose to list 5 quirks you don't know about me, so you can think I'm really crazy!

1. I separate my M&Ms into color groups when I eat them. I don't actually take all of them out, just whatever comes out in my hand. If there are 3 yellow and 2 red, then I'll eat a yellow so they are even. I know, kind of anal.

2. When I sleep, I don't like the covers to be lifted off of my feet.

3. I'm very much a night owl. I'll stay up forever.

4. I don't like tomatoes unless it is in ketchup or tomato sauce.

5. I like to read while eating my breakfast cereal.

I'm sure that there are more, but that's all I can think of right now.
Enjoy! I tag every one who hasn't done this.
You're IT!

Kids say the darnedst things

I know. Here are some more funny things that Rylie said while we were visiting in Miles City. Rylie had helped me pack her suitcase for our trip. She counted out her pairs of underwear to put in the bag. On Sunday, the day before we were going to leave, she told me that we had to stay more days. We didn't stay enough days yet because she still had underwear left. We had packed a couple of extra pairs. You know the old adage, "Make sure you're wearing clean underwear." Then she was playing with pipe cleaners, by the way-these are very neat craft items, no mess at all-when she told Grandma Denise to make her "wands" into "mysteries." We weren't sure what this meant at first. Then she showed us that she was talking about making them look like question marks, of course, why didn't I think of that.

July Roadtrippin'

Earlier in the summer we traveled from Helena to Nebraska to visit Great Grandma Colleen Harvey. We stopped in Rapid City,SD along the way and visited Mount Rushmore and Bear Country. Very fun!

1st Day

Rylie-1st Day of preschool
4 years old

Playing in the rice table

Rylie started preschool on Tuesday, Sept 2nd at Child's Play preschool. Her teacher is named Miss Darla. Rylie likes to play in the rice table and with playdoh. She gets to play in the big gym and there are lots of fun kids to play with. She really likes it. Rylie is also playing soccer this fall. Her team is the wolverines. Maybe I'll post some of the soccer video from last fall. It is very funny!

Baby Sis

Rori is now 7 months old and one of her great accomplishments is to make the raspberry sound with her lips!! Amazing, I know! She is a very giggly baby and loves to smile. She also is trying like crazy to crawl. She can't quite get her belly up yet, so she rolls and crawls backwards. Pretty soon we'll be in trouble when she can get around better! Time flies!

Water!

We played in the water this summer. Rylie took swimming lessons. She made great progress. Rori loves the water. Rylie got to go down the Froggy Slide in Miles City.

We made the newspaper!!!

Yesterday, We went up to York to see Mark ride or should I say finish the York 38 Special. Rylie caught the attention of the photographer and ended up in the newspaper's City/State section. She had made her very own flag to wave at the riders as they finished. You can just see Rori's stroller on the far right of the photo.

Saturday morning special

By JOHN HARRINGTON, Independent Record - 08/24/08

Lisa Kunkel, IR staff photographer - Four-year-old Rylie Schoenfeld of East Helena cheers on her dad, Mark, as he crosses the finish line of the York 38 Special mountain-bike race Saturday afternoon in York. Also cheering is Christa Schoenfeld, center, who celebrated her birthday at the race. What a difference a cool summer makes.

While last year’s York 38 Special mountain bike ride was threatened for weeks by the Meriwether fire before finally getting the green light from the forest service three days before the event, this year’s 38-mile ride was never in doubt.

Close to 175 riders took to the roads and trails northeast of Helena Saturday morning under a brilliant blue sky in the fifth annual fundraiser for the York Volunteer Fire Department.

Among them was Mark Schoenfeld of East Helena, who completed his second 38 Special in exactly three hours and was greeted at the finish line by his cheering wife, Christa, and daughter, Rylie.

“I was a little more prepared this year as far as where the climbs were and where the

downhills were,” he said. It’s a grueling ride, he said, but knowing what awaits helps keep the pedals turning.

“The end’s the best part — the family and the York burger,” free to every rider at the York Bar, he said.

Rhodetta Sloan of York, who organized the first ride in 2004 and oversees the annual event, said that after last year’s fire season, she’s mindful of the weather.

“We’re always a little bit on eggshells about fire,” she said. “When there was a fire (earlier in the week) in Townsend, we were hoping there wouldn’t be any smoke here.”

But rather than smoke, riders were greeted by cool temperatures and clear skies. Officials said 144 riders took to the course for the 38-mile ride, with four signed up for the Spirit of 76 (twice around the course), and 10 kids with chaperones taking part in the Lucky 13, a 13-mile ride new this year for the younger set.

Those going the 38 miles included several over the age of 70 and five kids under 12, organizers said. Several states were represented in the field, including Idaho, Utah, California and Indiana.

Many local riders use the Special as an end-of-summer event to train for throughout the season.

That was the case for Jamie Lemieux of Clancy, who rode for the third straight year and finished in her best time.

“I was under four hours, and that was my goal,” she said immediately after crossing the line.

The 38 Special has a reputation among riders for strong volunteer support throughout the challenging 38-mile course, which includes some 3,000 feet in elevation gain. This year’s ride lived up its reputation, with a half-dozen aid stations stocked with fruit, baked goods, drinks, medical personnel and help with bike repairs.

“This is my first time, and I can’t thank them enough for all the time they put into this,” said Brice Addison of Great Falls, who rode with several friends. “It seems like the whole town comes together for it. You can’t just go out and do a 40-mile ride in the mountains without support.”

After passing through Nelson, riders followed Beaver Creek Road and climbed steadily to Indian Flats before descending to the head of Trout Creek Canyon. The single-track through the canyon left impressions on several riders, including Paul Ferry of Helena, who recovered from a tumble in the canyon to finish with a smile on his face.

“I took a header,” he said. “It woke me up a little and reminded me I’d better slow down.”

Reporter John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com.

Rylie's Birthday

4th of July-Deweyville Style

Well, I am way behind on my posts for July, so I am trying to catch up. We spent the night in Deweyville with Grandma Schoenie and went to the pancake breakfast at the park. It was good food and Grandma treated us. Thanks! After the breakfast, we had to find our all important vantage point to watch the spectacular Deweyville Independence Day Parade. This has to be one of the best candy throwing parades around, especially if you are the only kid around. Rylie got a huge haul of candy.















Rylie, Mark, Grandma Schoenie, & Rori Waiting for the parade


After the excitement of the parade, we headed down to Highland to see the rest of Mark's family. There was a Johnson cousin reunion that was in Mapleton. Lots of kids and water balloons. I'll let you imagine the rest.

Finally, we went to Sonic for yummy drinks and made our way to Rock Canyon Park (I think that is the name) up behind the Provo temple to watch the fireworks at Cougar Stadium. Miley Cyrus was performing for the Stadium of Fire and Rylie thought she heard her. (We were several miles away.) The fireworks were fun and we made our long arduous journey back to Mark's parents. It only took over an hour. Don't you love the traffic in Utah!

Pretty in Pink?!! Yes, it is Rylie!

A couple of weeks ago, Grandma Denise was visiting while I taught summer school for 2 weeks. We went to Target one afternoon and lo and behold, Rylie decided she would pick pink clothes. Can you believe it? She helped to pick out her pink and black guitar tanktop (You know that guitars are cool, right?) We also found some pink sparkly flip flops. She also got her first at the salon haircut from our friend Jewelie. When we got home from the hair cut, she went immediately to the bathroom and got her spray and comb to work on her hair. It was very funny. Then we decided to go out to eat and she went downstairs to change her clothes from her swimming clothes and came back up in head-to-toe pink. Wow, what a big little girl she is growing into.

Memories!

I decided to try this out. Please play along!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
--Remember parents, friends, grandparents, and siblings read this.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

EVERYBODY PLAY! I want to see what memories are out there!

Early in June, we went to Yellowstone Park to meet a friend of Mark's from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jeremy and Mark went to high school together. They drove up through Teton National Park and up to Yellowstone Park. We me them at Old Faithful and then drove around the park and ended up at Fishing Bridge where they were camping. It was fun. It was a babyland in Yellowstone. We saw lots of animals! If you asked Rylie what we saw, the highlight of the trip would have been Mom seeing a beaver swimming. No one else saw it, but I REALLY did. We even saw a wolf, but it was too quick to snap a photo. We told our friends that they probably wouldn't see any bears. Lo and behold, less than an hour later we saw the following grizzly bears:

We stopped at some hot pots and some members of our group had to use the bathroom. Mark's friend goes into the Men's room and then comes out with a wallet and says, "Have you guys seem this guy?", while showing us a driver's license. We thought he was just being silly and we laughed, but then we realized that he had found a wallet in the bathroom with lots of cash and credit cards. Your typical vacation packed wallet. We looked at the picture again, then we were going to find a ranger to turn the wallet into, when these Asian men come walking toward where we were and they look very intent. I looked at the guy and said I think that's him, so Mark tried to ask the man if he lost his wallet, but I don't think he spoke a lot of English. So, then Mark tries to do a little international communication by pointing to his own back pocket(aka bum) and asking if he lost his wallet. It was very hilarious to see Mark asking a stranger if he lost his bum! The message was delivered and the man got his wallet and all of his money back!