Monday, December 28, 2009

3rd Annual S4S/Ugly Sweater/White Elephant Christmas Party


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I know you are wondering where in the world Pete found the beautiful poncho/sweater i am wearing-why ebay is the answer and he was so excited about it. Everyone was secretly jealous of it:) We gave away a BYU snuggie blanket for our WE gift and it was the most fought over item of the night-needless to say I was very surprised. Thanks everyone for all your generosity in S4S and for another fun party.



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I was grateful when the party was over because Pete no longer had an excuse to keep his mustache.
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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Meet Tiger...


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Yes, I know I am a month late, but I had to post this-to get rid of the last post and also to show what he ended up dressing up as. I think I have been so slow to post because Halloween was such a bust and Pete and I had been so excited to celebrate the holiday. Ry woke up from his nap extremely grumpy and after about 2 houses he had taken off all the parts of his costume that let you know he was supposed to be a Tiger Woods. I got tired of explaining that my child was not just dressed in a red polo shirt and black pants. Oh well, maybe next year...


Meet the other tiger in our lives, oh wait she is actually a "toyger" kitten-some special, exotic breed pete had been begging me to let him get for months. I did not grow up with animals and don't share the LOVE that Ry and Pete have for every animal on the planet. (Pete keeps a list of animals we will have some day including: sharks, dolphins, monkeys, dogs, etc.-yes we will be opening up our own Zoo.) And did I mention I am HIGHLY allergic to cats. Somehow that did not deter my husbands in his efforts, he claimed this was supposed to be a "hypoallergenic" breed. (Even though he claimed that to me with the last kitty we got and had to give up after three days because I was so allergic.) But, I knew how much it meant to both my boys so I told him I would try again-true love right there:) I am still allergic, but I am trying to make this one work. She really is darling and acts more like a dog than a cat so I really can't complain. Hopefully the allergies will just magically go away.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Boys...

A few days ago Ryan said to me:
"Mommy for Halloween I want to be poopy and diarrhea"

Really?!!!
I didn't know how to respond because I was so surprised.
All I could think about was how interesting a costume like that would be...
Then he preceded to tell me he wanted to be "A french fry and a chicken nuggie"

Okay Ry, I think we will just stick with you being Tiger Woods instead;)


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Just a couple of my favorite pics of my funny boy from summer-they were both taken on Pete's iPhone so that is why the quality isn't the best.

Friday, October 16, 2009

...Lucky Girl...

My incredible sister Rebecca and her amazing friend Dena (Who had literally JUST moved here from London) were so wonderful to take time out of their extremely busy summer schedules to take pictures for us. I was so spoiled to have not just one, but two talented photographers and we couldn't have been happier with the results. Thank you so much for the pictures-I can't wait for my order to arrive so I can hang them in our house.

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Monday, October 12, 2009

"Noctober Tweff" finally arrives


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"Noctober Tweff" (as Ry has been calling it) has been the most talked about/anticipated day of the month around our house-Ry turned 3 today! I couldn't imagine life without this crazy, full-of-life, active, energetic, enthusiastic kid. He has been practicing showing how old he is and gets so proud of himself when he can get all 3 fingers up.


This is what I got when I asked for another smile
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Having lunch with his friend Joey at Noodles-Ry's favorite Restaurant
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We went to Pirate's Island with Pete's family to finish off the day of celebration
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Happy Birthday Ryan! We love you and are so HAPPY to have you in our family.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

This poor guy...


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...has been to the hospital 3 times in the past three and a half weeks-one time being while we were down at Lake Powell. 2 of the times because the kidney stone he got in Switzerland decided to let him know it had never really passed and the 3rd time for multiple blood clots in both of his lungs. Unfortunately, he was admitted for the last of the visits and since they have no idea what caused the blood clots Pete won a life-long ticket on blood thinners. We really are VERY lucky to still have him with us since many people are killed when blood clots travel to the lungs. We wanted to thank everyone for all the love, support, and concern we were shown over the past week-we really appreciate it.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

...One of the Big Boys...

I had to work both Friday and Saturday so Pete and Ry decided to go camping with a bunch of friends since I wouldn't be around. Ryan was SO excited about going and talked about it for days. Some of the boys decided to make it "white-trash" camping and Pete had Ry join in on the fun and bought him this awesome outfit. Ry called me on his way up there and told me he was a "cowboy". They hung out, fished and it sounds like Ry had a great time being with the big boys.


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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

...The 3rd time's the Charm...

A couple of weeks ago we headed down to California with Pete's family-it was my third time this summer and I had only planned on going once back in April-I am not complaining though I LOVE California and I think it was our best trip yet. It wasn't super warm, but we still hung out at the beach, ate great food, and went to Disneyland. The lines were not too long and so we got to ride a lot of rides and and thanks to Ryan for being extremely tall at age two-we didn't have to buy him a ticket and he was tall enough to ride all the good rides:)


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Sunday, August 9, 2009

Read anything good lately...?

I feel like I read so much more in the summertime and it seems like a lot of people are the same way. So I am wondering what have you read this summer that you have loved? I have read a random assortment including: The Agony and the Ectasy, Hunger games, Ella Enchanted, and am currently reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. But I am starting to run out of ideas so let me know if you have read anything worthwhile:)

Monday, July 13, 2009

You wouldn't believe...

...Who decided to surprise me and come home two weeks early! (It happened 2 weeks ago, but we have been so busy I haven't posted about it till now) I was in complete shock and had NO idea-Ryan was so excited I think he hugged Pete for 30 min and could only say "Daddy you're here! Daddy you came back!"
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You also wouldn't believe what I did this past weekend ... We attended the 3rd Harry Potter Extravaganza at my Grandma's house. (Yes it is okay to think we're slightly nuts!)

Pete was Lupin as a werewolf (Ry wouldn't let him wear the mask) and I was Tonks-we were some of the tame ones too.
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Two of my other sisters were also Tonks
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My step-Grandpa made a nice Dumbledore-Ryan kept calling him "Santa corn" for some reason
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Some of the other costumes
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It turned out really cute and the kids had such a great time dressing up, attending classes, making crafts and buying stuff from little shops that had been set up.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Better than I imagined...

One positive thing about Pete being gone for the summer was it gave me the excuse to go over and visit (My mom and sister also joined in the fun). We spent three scenic days in Switzerland and three crazy, jam-packed days in Italy. Both Countries were beautiful and surpassed all of my expectations and to make it even better I got to spend some long overdue time with my Hubby:)


Having lunch on the banks of Lake Geneva
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Outside the church in Lausanne, Switzerland were our ancestors joined the church.
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spending time together in Geneva
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The beautiful Lauterbrunnen valley-my picture does not do it justice. I wish you could see how many waterfalls come over the cliffs into the valley-it was incredible.
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Florence, Italy
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One of the many outdoor restaurants in Italy-minutes later a bird pooped on my head!
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St. Peter's Basilica inside the Vatican-it ended up being one or our favorite places in Italy.
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The view of Rome from the top of St. Peter's Basilica
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The Colosseum
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The sistine chapel-we were not supposed to take this picture and right after we did a security officer started yelling at anyone who was taking pictures
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We had such a great time eating gelato two to three times a day, walking for hours down city streets (my mom's feet were covered in blisters), getting ripped off because we were Americans ( One restaurant charged us $30 for some fries), and seeing as much of these beautiful countries that we possibly could see. These pictures don't even begin to show all the things we did while we were there-thanks to my sister Catherine for all her many hours researching what to do in Italy-we didn't have a dull moment. Thanks also to my mother-in-law who watched Ry so I could go on this adventure.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

A million miles away...

I received a phone call, in the middle of the night last night, from Pete calling to tell me he was in the hospital over in Switzerland. He had been in excruciating pain that had gotten increasingly worse by the minute to the point where he couldn't walk (he said all he could do when he got to the hospital was lay on the floor and wait for someone to help him). They discovered he had a kidney stone and later sent him home with a bunch of pain medications. I felt like we were millions of miles apart and I was helpless here in Utah. I am so glad he is okay now and grateful we only have 3 weeks left...

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Friday, May 29, 2009

letter from home

Dear Dad,

I just wanted to show you some things mom and I have been up to.

Sometimes we eat popsicles for breakfast


We like to go swimming in the pool or bathtub with your old chemistry goggles


Mom went to the Taylor Swift Concert


Friends have gotten married


I've been helping mom shred things


And we've done lots of hanging out


We sure miss you around here.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My Little Blue Box

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This arrived from Switzerland yesterday-just in time for mother's day. I apparently don't give my husband the credit he deserves because I honestly thought he would forget. I am starting to feel a little guilty about the dress I bought myself as my back-up present...

p.s. it was a pair of earrings

Our First Official Family Vacation

With a big giant change looming over us (that happened May 2nd), we decided to take a little family vacation to spend some serious time together-just the 3 of us. Pete has an uncle that lives in California during the week, but goes home to his family in Utah on the weekends, and he let us stay in his rental home. I got off work on a Friday afternoon and we then headed down to California for the weekend. Ryan was better than we ever imagined that he could be in the car-in fact Pete told me I complained more about the car ride than Ryan did:)

We headed to disneyland Saturday, it was so crowded that we didn't get to ride a lot of rides, but we still had a great time. We rode bikes and went to the beach and then Monday we headed down to the San Diego Zoo and then drove home from there. It was a quick trip but so much fun.

Ryan was terrified of the characters


He LOVED the Buzz Lightyear ride


Nap time




Hermosa Beach


The San Diego Zoo