October 21, 2006

Happened to be one of the best days of my life!  My husband and I have been married for 5 YEARS.  Can you believe that?  So much has happened since we were married.  We have moved 3 times, we have built a house, Josh is working for a different company, the kids are all growing up, it's just crazy to see how much happens in such little time.
When we were married, Blake was in diapers,  Riley cried the ENTIRE time we were taking pictures because he was tired,  Bella didn't leave my side because she LOVED my wedding dress and the fact that she got to hold flowers etc., Ryson walked me down the aisle, Zak got to buy his first suit for the occassion AND gave the toast at our wedding dinner as the Best Man.  What fun memories!
We were married at my in-laws home.  Only family attented.  I think we had around 10 people total but it couldn't have been more perfect...

I fall in love with this man more and more every day.  I couldn't have asked for a better person to share my life with.  It's amazing to think what we've accomplished, together, in just 5 short years!!

There's nothing like TRUE LOVE!!

DOH....Moses Lake

While going through my pictures last week, I realized that I never posted anything about our trip to Moses Lake over Labor Day.
It has been fun for us to spend time in Moses Lake the last few years.  There is a free place to stay and access to a boat and a Jetski.  What else do you need?
Ryson usually misses out on this annual trip because he goes to Utah for the summer, but this year we went later in the year and he got to come along (so did Nana, Papa, Auntie Alma, and cousins Heidi and McKenzie). 

We had a great time playing in the water and the sand.  The kids slept outside in a tent (well for some of the night~thanks to Zak and his SPOOKY stories).

We also had the chance to meet up with our AMAZING friends the Turley's.  We have so much fun with these guys.  I don't have a picture to prove it, but we had such a great time at their lake house. This is the ONLY picture I got.  The kids jumped off the boat garage into the water, played on the tubes and then we went on a boat ride and Josh and Adam jumped off a 50ft cliff!!!

 Crazy fun times in Moses Lake!!!

Family

Have I ever told you all how much I LOVE my kids?  Look at these guys!  They are all their own individuals and yet they all blend so nicely.  I could never ask for a more perfect family!

Zak- What a GREAT kid!  This guy is so much fun (most of the time).  We have certainly had our ups and downs with each other over the years, but he has been SO accepting of me.  He used to be an angry, confused, bitter little guy when I first met him.  He has grown into a strong, confident, happy young man and I am so blessed to have him as part of my life.  I wouldn't trade any of our trials for anything in the world.  I know our relationship is stronger because of the things we have learned from/about each other over the years. Although Zak thinks Josh and I are the "weirdest" parents around, we do what we do because we love him so much and just want to see him make the best choices possible in his life.  He is so talented and has so much to offer in all aspects of his life and I can't wait to see where it all takes him.

Ryson- He is such a genuine person.  He LOVES everyone and makes friends so easily.  He is such a huge help to me.  Ryson is such a hard worker and will do just about anything  I ask him to without argument.  Although Ryson is technically an only child, he has 11 step brothers and sisters and has done an amazing job of holding himself together through all of the changes in his short little lifetime.  He is great friends with all of his siblings and LOVES being part of a big, mixed up FAMILY.  He gets pretty lonely when the kids are away and asks often when they will be coming back.  Don't get me wrong, he certainly loves his ALONE time too and I believe his personality is cut out for the kind of life this guy has had.
Josh and I expect a lot out of Ryson and he is so good natured to take it all in stride and not fight us (at least not often) about doing homework, extra homework, 4 days of basketball practice, church activities, scouts, etc.  What a great person this kid is and what a great guy he is turning out to be.

Isabella- Wow.  She is growing up SO fast!!  Bella has always been a princess by nature.  Ever since the day I met her, she has been a fan of skirts and high heels, boys and makeup, all things girl!
It has been so fun, and somewhat frightening, to watch her grow into a young women so quickly.  She has started babysitting a lot lately and is starting to earn some of her OWN money.  How great is it that we can trust that she is mature enough to take on the responsibility of taking care of others.  Although she would never admit it, I know she loves helping out with the younger boys, helping with meals and with whatever else we need her to help with around the house.  Bella has a very strong personality.  Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is not so good.  She has grown up a lot and is learning how to use this personality to her advantage.  She is not shy AT ALL and LOVES to be the center of attention!  Isn't she beautiful?

Riley- Every family needs a Riley!  He is our tender one.  He is ALWAYS thinking of others and is very kind hearted.  He is a more shy than the other kids and is VERY cuddly and likes to stay close.  Riley is so smart and I love doing homework with him and watching him learn.  He is so animated and playful and has such a fun personality.  He is very methodical about everything that he does.  A kid after my own heart!

Blake- You can certainly tell that Blake is the youngest.  This boy is SO SMART!  He picks things up so quickly and is going to be very talented just like his older brother.  Blake doesn't like to be the center of attention at all. He likes to be alone and is typically off in his own little world.  He loves junk drawers and can usually find a use for just about ANYTHING.  I can't believe our youngest will be getting baptized in just a few weeks!  Where does the time go?

I love my family and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!



Halloween...

While driving home on Friday afternoon, it dawned on me that the Ward Harvest Party was Saturday night.  Plans for Friday night included picking up the kids in Auburn and going directly to basketball practice and then to the Tahoma Football game that night.  Plans for Saturday included, planning church lessons, getting pumpkins, a 4 hr merit badge clinic, decorating for Halloween, practice for the Primary program, car pooling to a birthday party, going to see Zak off on his first High School dance/taking pictures, etc. 
Needless to say, there was very little time for costume creating for Saturday night.  I was trying hard to come up with something creative for the kids to be for the party.  Halloween is my least favorite holiday.  I can't stand how much money we fork over for candy and costumes each year and the amount of time and creativity that the holiday requires just puts me in a bad mood.  This year we told the kids we were not going to BUY anything.  It was all coming out of the 'dress up bin'.
While decorating the house, I overheard Riley talking about a piece of candy that was in the candy bowl on the table.  Idea number one for Halloween costumes.  Jolly Ranchers....

We have a TON of wrap left over from when we moved into our house so we made Jolly Rancher signs and then wrapped the boys up in Saran Wrap.  They turned out pretty funny.

Bella (who because of the tight schedule I have ZERO pictures of) went as the "popular girl" and Ryson was supposed to be the nerd that wanted to hang out with her.  Because of birthday party overlap, Ryson didn't get to the party until it was 1/2 over so Bella only had 1/2 a costume.

Zak didn't join us for any of the fun.  He had better things to do.  The Kentwood Homecoming football game....DUH!!!

However, after HOURS of begging and pleading, we actually got DAD to dress up for Halloween this year.  He went as the horrifying version of Frankenstein.  We had about 15 minutes to do his makeup but he turned out pretty good.  Everyone at the party was baffled.  They couldn't tell who he was other than he was walking around with me.

Me?  I put on some fake eyelashes and went as a tired Mom.  I had all of two minutes to put myself together before running out the door. 

We had a great time.  The trunk-or-treat took place in the POURING rain but it didn't slow any of the kiddos down.  They'll do just about ANYTHING for a bag full of candy!

Best part of all?  The kids will be in Puyallup for Halloween this year, so I'm already DONE and it's only the 25th!!!

Broken

I got home late from work last week and Josh and I went to dinner while Ryson was at YM.  I had been home for probably 20 minutes before we left, then we drove to the restaurant, sat down, started on our chips and salsa and Josh gets a text.  After responding, he says "oh...Zak broke his collar bone...".  THEN he proceeded to tell me the events of the evening and what he had been dealing with. (MEN!!!!)

Story has it that Zak called him and said he was on his way to the doctor because he broke his collar bone.  We have had several phone calls like this from Zak.  Not about a collar bone, but about a thumb, or a wrist, his back, a concussion, etc.  Josh said he seemed really laid back about it so he told him he doubted it was broken.  Zak said "well there is a bump and it feels like something is broken" so Josh told him to keep him posted about what the doctor had to say.

There you have it.  Plain as day.  Broken collar bone.  Zak was "wrestling with a buddy and the guy did a legit wresting move on me" and broke him. 

Worst part is that the ACTUAL wrestling season starts shortly and Zak will NOT be participating because of this injury.  He is now in a sling (that he refuses to wear because "people treat him like he can't do anything").  He goes back for more x-rays in two weeks to see if surgery will be needed.       (BOYS!!!!!)

Long Time No Blog

Apparently when summer is over,  fun comes to a grinding hault.  I haven't blogged for weeks and I can't think of one thing that has happened that is even remotely interesting.

Normally we would have basketball every weekend but tournaments have been getting cancelled due to lack of teams in our age division.  So we have had several basketball free weekends which has really thrown us out of our routine.

A couple of weekends ago, Josh and I were home without any kids for the entire weekend.  We cleaned and got caught up on EVERYTHING.  My ironing was completely done, laundry done, floors done, bathrooms done, went through drawers and closets and made a Goodwill pile, dusted, paid bills, cleaned the fridge, etc.  It was insane how much we got accomplished.  However, on Sunday, I was bored out of my mind.  It was General Conference so we didn't even have church, we just listened to it on the radio while we lounged around. 

Our evenings now consist of homework, basketball practice, scouts, a side job, and endless games of Modern Warfare.  Nobody wants to read a blog about that!  I don't even want to WRITE a blog about that!