Christmas

For us Christmas starts the first Monday after Thanksgiving when we decorate our Christmas tree for family home evening. It was a lot of fun!





Santa visited our ward Christmas party this year. He even brought his list of good boys and girls for the kids to check and make sure their name was there. My kids were very relieved to see their names. They were all excited to sit on his lap and see if he was going to come visit them. Well, all of them except for Carley. The closer we got to Santa the tighter she held onto me. What is it about a jolly guy in a red suit that makes kids so scared? We usually have a tradition of going and getting a family picture with Santa, but Ryan was laid off before the day we had scheduled to go. So for this year these picts will have to do.

Each year I make matching PJ's for my entire family. Ryan and the kids got home late from G&G Braman's Christmas Eve (Sydney and I stayed home because she was sick.) so I didn't get any pictures Christmas eve. We tried Christmas day and they didn't turn out that great, but oh well. We had a wonderful Christmas and were spoiled by everyone. We even had a few secret Santa's drop some surprises at our door. I don't know who they are, and I probably never will. We appreciate their kindness toward us. On Christmas Eve all I could do was cry. Sydney was very worried. People kept knocking on the door and leaving things that made her mommy cry. Very traumatic for a 3yr old. Kinda funny now that I think about it. I hope that someday we can pay it back by paying it forward.

Hailey and Sydney got bubbles in their stockings and had a lot of fun trying them out. I had to include the pictures because of what Sydney does to Hailey!! I couldn't stop laughing.

Ryan got laid off today

What more is there to say. :{

The best baby shower favors EVER!

Brittany, my little sister, is having her first baby in January. This last Saturday my Fabulous sister-in-law Tasha threw her a shower. Since I live in CA and they are in UT I don't get to be a part of any of the fun stuff like this. I usually try to find a way to be there or be a part of it in some way. I really don't like being left out. Anyway, Tasha and my Mom called one day looking for ideas for a party favor. Tasha had a really cute poem, but didn't know what to put it on. My first suggestion was diapers, which would have been cute, but way too easy. The second and much more grand idea was Onsies. I think they turned out really cute. They were supposed to have candy inside of them, but when I went to put the candy inside it split the seams. I ended up putting the candy in a tool bag attached by the bow on the neck. I had also intended to stitch with brown ribbon around the neck line, but I ran out of time. They were a lot of work, but I think they turned out pretty cute. A big thanks to Ryan, who drew my template for me, and Hailey who put on all the cute rhinestones. Too bad they didn't get to the shower, I shipped them too late. Not that it really mattered anyway. After all the hard work Tasha put into the shower only one person showed up. Even the people who had RSVP didn't show. Come on people that is pathetic!!

The blessed end of MOVEMBER!!

For those of you who don't know, Movember is international mustache month. There are a few websites, google it. Anyway the main idea is not to shave your stash for the month of November. Ryan's friend Spencer recruited him into this great scheme. For the month of November Ryan had a wild thing living above his lip. It was funny to see the responses he got. A lot of funny looks, a few comments, and chuckles. Last Sunday, the last day of November, we had a end of Movember shaving party at our house. Basically Spencer and his family came over for dinner. After dinner they shaved their stashes while Riley took pictures. It was a lot of fun, but overall I am glad it is done.

October Part 3

Halloween

Okay I am really done going over October when we are in December, but the kids really want their Halloween pictures up. Halloween was really fun. We had Steven here with us which made it the best!! The little girls and I went to the beach with him for a few hours one morning. It wasn't the best beach weather, but the beach is always fun. He helped the kids, especially Sydney, carve their pumpkins. He even helped me get the kids dressed and ready to go trick-or-treating. I don't know if we would have made it out the door without him. I underestimated the amount of time it takes to put make-up on three girls and one boy. Riley was a zombie soccer player, Hailey was Snow White, Sydney was a princess, and Carley was a fairy. We went to our ward trunk-or-treat the first Saturday of the month, then on Halloween our friends invited us to their church's trunk-or-treat. (We had invited them to ours too. We have similar families and have a lot of fun together.) The kids made out like bandits. I think they got enough candy to last them to at least next Halloween. Riley kept tying to bribe Steven to do his chores with his. After a few days I took it away, and we moved on from Halloween. The kids had a lot of fun carving pumpkins with Steven. Having someone visiting always makes things more fun. The kids still ask when Uncle Steven is coming back. They loved having him here. After looking at some of the pictures he took I have to chuckle and wonder why! Some of them look like he was torturing them. I know the loved every minute of it though. Enjoy!!

Ryan Goes to Kindergarten

Each week Hailey's teacher, Miss Hale, has a "secret reader" come in and read the kids a story. They also get to tell the kids a little about what they do for a living. All week Miss. Hale gives the kids clues to let them see if they can guess who is coming. Well today Ryan got to be the "Secret Reader" for Hailey's class. We kept it a secret from Hailey so she could be surprised and she was. I took the kids to school, Ryan usually takes them, telling them that Ryan had a meeting he had to go to. That way Ryan could get there and set up and I could have an excuse for getting the little girls ready. It was a lot of fun to hear Ryan telling the kids what he does for a living. They were so into it and excited. They would point at the games that he has worked on and say "Hey I have that, or I play that!" It was really cute. He read them a story called Don't Give up Stanely that he wrote and illustrated in high school. Then he had them do a little mad lips thing. He told them that he was going to draw Miss. Hale's class room monster and they had to tell him what it looked like. He would say, "Miss. Hale's class room monster has __ hands." Then he would call on one of the kids to fill in the blank. They couldn't wait to see what the monster was going to look like. They went to computer lab, and when they came back Miss. Hale's class room monster was waiting for them. I was talking to the teachers in the back of the room and they said they were going to have a hard time topping Ryan. I guess the kids are not usually as engaged and excited as they were for Ryan. I think our kids will always win when it is bring your parent to school day. They all had a lot of fun and it was fun to watch. Way to be a great dad Ryan!!