Happy Birthday Katie

Today is Ryan's baby sister Katie's 16th Birthday!!  It is hard to believe she is turning 16.  She was 10 when I met her and that just seems weird since Isac will be 10 in April.  Anyways we just wanted to wish Katie a Happy Sweet 16 Birthday and warn anyone who may be driving in Oregon to watchout!!  We love you Katie!!

SPLISH SPLASH Mack's 1st big boy bath

Mack finally graduated to the big bathtub.  Actually let me rephrase that...Mack outgrew his baby bathtub awhile ago and I finally moved him to the big tub.  He seemed to enjoy the extra room...he was pretty cramped before and he loved to splash.  We are going to have to figure out a better way to wash and rinse his hair though.  He wasn't thrilled about the water being poured over his head.  

Emily's First cut and color by Sam

So earlier this week I ran over at my sister Jen's house to pick something up.  It was suppose to be a quick trip...run in, run out.  However, we started talking and the kids wandered off downstairs.  This normally wouldn't be a big deal but Jen is a hairstylist and has a salon in her basement.  By the time we went down there it was too late...Sam had poured a tub of powdered bleach over Emily's head, sprayed it with a water bottle, and caked pomade on it.  Jen had a doctors appointment to go to so we weren't able to rinse it out right then.  By the time I got home it was too late and the damage had already been done.  There were 3 bleached orange spots- a circle right on top, an oval, and a strip across the back, as you can see in the first picture.  When I combed it out hair started falling out in clumps and I thought I was going to be sick.  Ryan was home and I was even more afraid of what his reaction would be when he saw his precious little girls hair in a pile on the side of the bathtub.  Surprisingly he wasn't upset at all, just amused by the whole thing.  Thankfully Jen has awesome color skills and was able to fix the color so that now you would never know it was ever orange.  However when she blow dried it 1 inch sections of hair started sticking up and we realized that the we were so focused on the color drama we hadn't even noticed it had been cut.  We asked Emily while she was still in Jen's chair if Sam cut her hair.  She proudly said, "NO, Emmie do it all by myself."  She proceeded to show us exactly how she turned on the clippers and then lifted the clippers right to the bald spots.   That is the only part that is still noticeable.  We are glad we can say it could have been worse.... 

Christmas 2007

Could Santa have brought anything as cute as this?Stockings are the best part.
We are waiting for the year Isac refuses to wear footed pajamas.  It is surprising it has gone on this long but he still loves them. 
Emily and her new PINK cowgirl boots.  Now she can be just like Woody.
Mack got a Bumbo chair for Christmas and I swear the next day he could sit up on his own with out support.  What a waste...too bad Christmas wasn't in July.  

Is that Rambo?  No it's just Isac showing off his new airsoft guns. 

We apologize for the long delay in posting these.  Ryan got i Life 08 for Christmas and it has taken us a little while to figure out how to find the pics and now we are playing blog catch up.  

Could we please have a holiday where no one throws up

It seems like someone in our household has been sick or recovering from a bug for most of the major holidays for the past 2 years.  This is such a bummer since eating yummy food is such a major part of most holidays.  This year Isac decided to carry on the tradition.  After everyone went home on Christmas, Isac thought it would be cool to keep all of the glass bottles from the sparkling cider, several of which were over half full.  For some reason the thought never occurred to him that he could pour out the remaining bubbly, so he went ahead and finished off all 8 bottles without us knowing it.   It didn't take long for the throw up to start.  Now he shutters at the sight of  a bottle and I don't think he will be drinking any for a long time.  

A few Christmas highlights...finally

We took the kids to see the lights at Temple Square with Ryan's sister Cindy and Fadi.  Then they treated us to dinner at the Gateway.
Emily with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Fadi.  
Isac wearing his rebellious BYU visor.  
We felt like horrible parents dragging Mack out into the  cold, but I think he ended up being the warmest of all.  
Riding the "train" to Temple Square...Isac and Emily loved it.  
Emily posing with Aunt Cindy.  
Mack had lots of fun playing with his cousin Jackson at Ryan's dad's Christmas get together.  We wish they got to see each other  more often.  

Christmas review

A few pics from our Christmas celebration with Ryan's side of the family...

Mack is 6 months old

Mack is 6 months old as of yesterday. It is hard to believe six months have gone by since he was born and I have a hard time remembering life without him. He has his check up tomorrow so I will post his stats later, but I had a minute to get these pictures uploaded...isn't he as cute as cute can be.

First trip to the sledding hill

Last weekend we had all the cousins spend the day together. We painted Christmas ornaments and went sledding. All of them loved the sledding and were so daring. Isac and I had a big wipe out. Emily built a snowman and decorated it with what she had on hand...her hat and Mack's pacifier. That night my grandma Tutu came over to give the kids their Christmas gifts. It was a fun preview of Christmas and the kids all got such neat things. Isac has played with Emily's chimes more than she has and he has already memorize songs. The girls spent the night so we set up the little tent downstairs for them to sleep in. It was so fun having them over. I wish I could be a kid again.

gingerbread houses

A few Sundays ago with got together with some of our neighbors and good friends to build gingerbread houses. We have done this with them every year since we moved in and it has become one of our favorite holiday traditions.

Top 5 Reasons Amy loves Ryan

Today Ryan and I are celebrating our 5th Anniversary!! This may not seem very significant but we're thrilled we have made it this far. So in honor of the day I thought it would be fun to post this Top 5 list:
5. Ryan cleans up throw-up. I know this is a weird thing to mention, but after a recent round of the stomach flu at our house it is fresh on my mind so stay with me. I don't hate very many things in this world but I definitely hate throwing up and anything associated with it. I am the mother who runs in the opposite direction when her children start to puke. Thankfully Ryan is always there to take care of things and to me that is priceless.
4. Ryan has so many strengths and talents that I never realized when I agreed to marry him. I won't attempt to list them all but I will mention as an example that when he suggested remodeling the basement himself I didn't have a clue how gigantic of a project we were looking at but I thought there would be no way he could do it and that it would only be a matter of time before we were calling in a crew. However he surprised me by doing almost everything on his own and I now enjoy the fruits of his labor. And I don't question him anymore (at least not as much) when he says he knows how to do something.
3. Ryan has given me three great kids that I wouldn't be able to manage without him.
2. Ryan works so hard to take care of our little family and our home. Even though his schedule is so full he still manages to maintain our house, get things done at work, and make good grades in school. I have to remind myself alot when I want to complain or be mad that he is hardly ever home that he has it worse than I do because he is the one running in every direction.
1. Ryan helps me be who I want to be and accepts me for how I am even when he's not thrilled about it. I am grateful to have a husband that is so considerate and respectful of me. We have come along way over these five years and made so many wonderful memories and I look forward to many more. Here's to another 5 Lovey!!!

I wish I had a Time Machine

I realized today that a time machine could be a good thing to have. Our activities today were very different than they were on this same day a year ago...We were in Hawaii for my sister Arin's wedding enjoying sunny skies and warm weather. Today was exactly opposite but Emily and Isac had fun playing in the snow. Isac was ready to come in the house before Emily and he had to bribe her inside with hot chocolate. Isac went back out later and had a snowball fight with the neighbors. I can't believe all the snow.

Fall Finale

Ryan and the kids attempted to clean up the leaves in the back yard this week. It is a huge job and they haven't even all falllen off the trees yet. Isac and Emily had alot of fun jumping and hiding and playing in them. Emily was such a helper by carrying one single leaf at a time to the pile. Pictures to come when Blogger will cooperate.

Thanksgiving weekend

This year was an inlaw year so we went to Ryan's dad's in West Valley for Thanksgiving. It was a great meal, Beckie is a good cook but it just didn't really feel like Thanksgiving. Nothing beats a big Thanksgiving dinner at Ganny's house followed by a long game of chicken foot dominoes and left overs and pie. We didn't go over to Kim & Beckies until 3pm so we had all morning with nothing to do so we decided to put up the Christmas tree. I never thought the day would come that I owned an artifical tree and that I would put it up on Thanksgiving. What is the world coming to? I am glad to have it done though and with Ryan's scheduele the way that it is we have to take advantage of the time he is home. I can't believe Christmas is so close.




This was quite a funny site.

Emily showing off her "socks".