Thankful Thoughts

We are gearing up to come home but this trip has been so fun. I know we are all ready to get back into the routine of regular life but only for a week then we are off to Disneyland!!! Oh I cant wait. We have done lots of shopping and preparing and visiting. I have pictures of all the preparations for a Thanksgiving dinner for 28 and Erin and I also spent Monday working on Thanksgiving decorations and Christmas for Jeffs brother Roger (Sarah you are gonna LOVE it!) Thanksgiving was everything to be desired with a BBQ pit turkey as well as ham, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, awesome jello layerd salad, pumpkin pie, chocolate silk pie, banana creme pie, and lemon merenge pie. I know I gained this week cause my pants now fit me again which is a good thing! Erin sold the family tent trailer so all the kids split the money and she and I hit the black friday sales this morning. We went to Radio Shack (a bust) Khols (awesome) Joannes (meh) and Target (AWESOME) we both got coats at Target for 9 bucks as well as some great gifts for Christmas. As I reflact on this last week I have to express my thankfulness for my wonderful family. Great friends. And the fact that my mom is the best cook in the whole world and she has passed her skills on to me. I am also thankful that I have a nice home and a husband who not only meet our needs but fulfills our wants too :) So I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well and now let us all bring on Christmas!!!

I am sick and tired....

so I am going to my mommies early so she can take care of me. But all you wannabe robbers dont even think about it cause there will still be someone at the house.

Its a miracle!

I have been witing for these bows since before Halloween! Loooong story that I am not going to get into but I can definately tell you that it was worth the wait! They came right before Cassie was headed off to school so I slipped one in her hair as she was running to the car. Thanks for the awesome bows Devri!!! You Rock!

Countertops

This is a sample of the new countertops. They wont be installed until next year sometime but we just couldnt pass up the deal they were giving us on them. I think I will slowly get the kitchen ready for instalation starting in January. There is wall paper to be taken down and cabinets to paint before we are ready for instalation. We also wanted to wait until we could replace the double ovens so hopefully we can find a great deal on some in the next few months. Also a new dishwasher oh this is gonna be fun!!!!

This is why...

This is all I am going to say on this subject since I think so much is being said about it already. All this hate that is going around is exactly the reason why we need a mother and a father in the home to raise our children with love and teach them compassion. I think these people need a hug!

http://mormonsdidnotstealyourrights.com/

http://www.meridianmagazine.com/familyleadernetwork/081114tolerance.html

This afternoon

This is what we did with the wonderful afternoon

Ryans messes

This is what Ryan was up to today. Ahhhhh the joys of childhood. Ok part of this was my fault because I didnt take my popcorn bowl in the kitchen this morning so I am not mad at him but I am sad that I have to clean up this mess!

The time has come

My sweet smart little reader is now a card carrying member of the Washington County Public Library. I have always loved reading and I hoped that my kids would also so it did my heart good on our weekly trip to the library to realize that the time has come for Cass to get a library card. That was all she talked about for a week and today was the day. She even wrote her own name on the card. Read on my little one read on!

Primary Program and so cute bebes

I have been enjoying the down time for the next couple of weeks before our lives explode into a whirl wind of traveling and family and parties. I bribed Lilac to come over on Monday by making bread and we just had to get a pic of the babys, We were trying to get them to kiss. This is Cassie on Sunday for her Primary Program. She had this weird laryngitis type hoarse voice so it was quite funny when she got up to say her part. If you werent able to be there I will just tell you that even the old guys in the back could hear her singing at the top of her little lungs.

I think she was feeling a little funky that day.

I made her pancakes for breakfast because that is her favorite meal.

This was my stack of perfect little pancakes. Cassie just wanted big ones though.

Christmas Boutique

My awesome sister in law Jen is doing a boutique in a few weeks and here is a few of her wares

Shop Chic Boutique AZ

November 22, 2008

9am-4pm

Previews other items and location can be found at:http://www.shopchicboutiqueaz.blogspot.com/

what do you think?

I am making place cards for Thanksgiving here are the first two what do you think?

What's a princess to do?

So what is a princess to do when the prince is asleep and her dear playmate princess is at school? Fall into a deep sleep until her playmate returns home of course!

The finished product

I keep wanting to take pictures of the back room but it is never really picked up enough so this is as good as it gets! This is what we spent so much time and energy on! Oh it is so nice to have a great back room to relax in. And the tile makes cleaning way easier. Ryan actually threw up on the couch last night but hey it was just my lovely cotton slipcover so we took it off and chucked it in the washer and good as new!

This is my favorite part of the room becuase I did it all and it is fun to look at all the family pictures. I think I am going to make a bigger picture for the middle though I dont think it is big enough.

Ryans stats

I wanted to put up a better video of Ryans cake smash but I got frustrated and quit so here is a picture of his nose smashed!. Also he went to the doctor today and he is doing great! He is 20 pounds and 30 inches long. He still has a smallish head but that is great cause his hats still fit! Ryans favorite things to do are throw things and push things across the floor. He can use a spoon (although I would prefer to feed him...less mess) and drinks from a cup pretty good.He also loves to jump on the trampoline and wrestle with his dad. He doesnt have many words in his vocabulary but he sure does make up for that with his activities. He will eat anything I give him but really likes bananas and tootsie rolls and M&M's. His walking has started to speed up to a fast waddle which means more calories burned for me! He also plays hide and seek anytime I put him down at the store or church. My big boy is 1 and I cant wait to see what he does next.

I did it...you should too!

The Cake

We had everyone over for dinner last night for Ryans birthday and I was so excited to give him his cake because I knew that he would just go to town on it.

Here is a before picture

And here is the video. It was so fun to watch him but he didnt really eat much of it he just played with it and turned it into nast sludgy stuff.

One year ago...

One year ago today Ryan came into our lives I could never have imagined the bond that he and I would share

Ryan is such a bright little mind when the doctor came to check him at the hospital he couldnt believe that Ryan was looking at him right in the eye like Ryan was trying to figure out who this guy was

every doctor visit after that has been so much fun because every time Ryan will surprise the doctor with his new "tricks"

Ryan is loved by everyone in the family but Jessica and Cassie have each developed such a special bond in different ways with him. When Cassie is at school Jess and Ryan will wrestle the time away. And Cassie is always ready to help Ryan out with anything he needs

Ryan is my little buddy

Evry morning he has a great smile reaydy for me when I get him out of bed

his favorite things to eat are anything his sisters are eating. He did try poo the other day but I dont think he liked it. I would say popcorn is one of his all time favorites. He can also drink through a straw and throw a ball further then his sisters.

I didnt realize how many pictures I had of Ryan until I started posting them so I guess I should have put them into a slide show. So for the world to see the rest of Ryans first year of life.

I learned early on that if that boy wanted to be naked he was going to make it happen.

This boy could eat ice cream by the gallon full

he also loves the water and never had a fear of it

first haircut

mommas boy

slam dunk!

helpin dad

Happy birthday baby boy we love you soooooo much!!!