MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas!!!! Let me back up. Jon worked the 23rd and the 24th so it was just the three of us - Rylee, Brody and I for Christmas Eve. A friend sent out an email looking for Christmas traditions she could start with her family. That gave me some good ideas that we could start with our family. This year Rylee and I watched Dr. Suess's "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and made a cake. After the cake cooled, we frosted it and turned off all the lights except for the Christmas tree lights. We sat around the Christmas tree and read the real Christmas story of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. We then sang "Silent Night" together. Rylee was so excited and said, "I know this song!" and belted it the best she could. We then stuck a candle in the middle of the cake, lit it and sang Happy Birthday reverently to Jesus. Rylee blew out the candle and licked the bottom. I cut the cake and we each had a piece. After eating our cake we called Jon at work to tell him we miss him and love him like always and off to bed we went.

That next morning we waited for Jon to get home so he could watch them open gifts. It was a wonderful relaxing time being home together after a long 2 months of killer work for the both of us.Thanks Rylee and Brody for enduring through this time!! I love that our family is back together!

STRIDER BIKE!

Jon new that the grandparents would be giving Rylee loads of presents for Christmas and he wanted our present to be special. He new with all the dolls and other girly items she so dearly loves, his present would get the look over once and be tossed aside. So he gave it to her early.At first she was timid and didn't know how to balance the bike. But day by day she is getting the hang of it. There are no peddles and you just "flinstone" it with your feet. Here is a link to a video, check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_lKGDdVVOo

Ice Skating!

Folsom has a seasonal ice skating rink. It is very small, just our size. We thought we'd give Rylee her first go at it.

"Coach lace me up!""Let's do this thing!""Crap, carry me!""Brody's turn!"Love the boys! Brody wanted to be out on the ice so badly he didn't care if his fingers would get sliced off. Thank goodness they didn't!It was such a great morning and too hot for jackets!

Brody

Brody fell, can you tell?Doesn't matter, he'll still smile for the camera!!!

Fire Rescue

Brody is big enough to fit into the Fire Rescue Jeep! Jon got them both helmets for Christmas and gave it to them early.Rylee likes driving the Jeep, but she loves driving the Jeep in CIRCLES. It makes me dizzy just watching her go around and around and around. As you can tell, Brody is not a big fan of the circles either.Here he is hanging on for DEAR LIFE!CRASH!! She thinks that's the best part!She is such a crack up!

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

We lost, but Mauricio won! We were invited to the Torres' house for an Ugly Sweater Party.Jon and I both got our sweaters at Ross in the women's section and we matched. We had a good laugh through the check out line. The party was fun, but couldn't stay long as Jon had to work the next day and we had a long drive ahead of us.

Exercise!

It has been a while since I have worked out and this was much needed for some stress relief. LOVE Brody's new hat, thanks Jon!We went for a run in the bitter cold, well, cold for California 55 degress. It was a lot of fun spending a short period of time together out of doors! Thanks Jon for the inspiration.
Exercise, it's good for you!

Journey Through Bethlehem

Our Bishop really wanted to get away from the whole "Santa Claus" type Christmas and get back to the "true" meaning of Christmas. Our Ward Christmas Party was themed: Journey Through Bethlehem. Every member was asked to dress up in their best Bethlehem attire. Well, we represented the peasents of those days. Our outfits consisted of a sheet cut up and held together with pins. Rylee loves dress up anytime. Jon on the other hand, well let's just say, he was a good sport and thanked me later for forcing him to dress up. Hey, but aren't they cute!Here is the manger scene where we all gathered for dinner, Bethlehem style.We sat on the ground at very low tables in hopes we could catch a slight glimpse of what it might have been like back in those days. We still had our modern amenities but it surely got us in the right spirit.This was nothing short of a well planned, fabulous night. There was not a dry eye in the crowd and all the kids walked away with something. Each room had a different performance and before leaving the room, the group would sing a christmas song.
- Joseph and Mary
- The 3 Wisemen
- The Shepards- King Herod (not pictured and played by the Bishop)
- The Angels (not pictured)
The four of us had such a great time. It was wonderful to once again have the opportunity to remember what is most important during this Christmas season.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! What a wonderful time to be able to take a second from the "rat race" and to ponder on what is most important in our lives. And what is always most important, is the people around us. We should be remembering these times every day of our lives, but our check lists and daily tasks seem to consume our lives and push out those that are most important. It's great that we have these holidays because it's a national reminder for those who have forgotten.

I gave a lesson this month on a talk given by Elder Uchtdorf during the General Relief Society Conference on Happiness. We need to remember, day in and day out, that we only have one opportunity here on earth and that we need to find HAPPINESS. We all have struggles in our lives, that's a given. But how we choose to act because of what we know, will make all the difference. We can choose to dwell on the negative or choose to dwell on the positive and turn it into a learning experience.

As I have gotten older this earthly experience seems to be getting shorter and shorter. I know I am still relativly young, but I can remember when I was little, and one whole day seemed like forever. I was always looking forward to the next day or the weekend and so on. Now, my days seem to pass me by in minutes. Let's try not to forget TODAY and make TODAY last forever. Learn to enjoy all good things. This month has been a forgetful month, let's make next month better! I love you Jon, Rylee and Brody!

Brittons for Dinner

The Brittons decided it was time to get together again. It's always fun because you never know what happens when we get together. We decided everyone would be the chef for the evening. The menu was homemade pizza! Jon made the sauce (his specialty) and I made the dough.Rylee was such a good helper and cook as well. She loves having the tools she needs that are just her size. She really felt apart of the whole pizza making experience. We had every condiment you could dream of, except anchovies and olives, YUCKY. Here is everyone contending for the Iron Chef Title.The Brittons brought dessert! YUMMY! Fruit tarts and carmel apples.Can't you just taste the sweet fruit from just looking at it? Wonderful!Chris, do you think there's enough sprinkles on that apple?Brody had a good time as well, but he pooped out early for the night and went to bed.A night together is never complete without a game of some sorts. It's always interesting playing with THEM!!!...Sequence, Scattergories, Apples to Apples?..."bees are...what was it...exhausted?" I didn't think so, but who thinks like me anyways. We had a fabuous time as always!! You two are welcome back anytime!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! I woke up this morning to wonderful gray, gloomy skies with drizzles of rain. I LOVE this weather! Now it's starting to feel like fall. Like I mentioned earlier, fall is my favorite season...now if we could just convince the weather that it's fall. I will have to admit, fall in the sacramento area is usually warm and sunny, borning. I look forward to those long days of rain and more rain (which is pretty minimal). That's the closest we get to snow.To start our day off, I got Rylee all dolled up in the morning to go to the gym. She loved getting her makeup and hair done, again. This time she was a ballerina. I love this tutu and so does Rylee! Thanks Oma. Brody was a red M&M, my favorite color. Thanks Alycia!After the gym we went to Addie's birthday party, yes she is a Halloween baby.There the kids played pin the tail on the donkey,...ate pizza and opened presents.Gotta love those converse, just like Daddy!We all had such a great time!

That evening, she dressed up again to go house to house.She enjoyed ringing the door bell and saying "trick-or-treat".We ran into Brooke and Louie! By the way, what is Spiderman's theme song?It was a lot of walking but well worth it in the end because...The great thing at this age is that when she goes to bed, Jon and I eat her candy and she doesn't even know it! We look at it as doing her a favor :-)

Halloween Party

Today was Joy School's Halloween Party. Today it was just Rylee and Addie. They made sugar cookies, ate pumpkin seeds for their snack, and had a little program for the moms. They dressed in their costumes, had a parade and a small program that consisted of 3 action songs they learned...sort of. Afterwards was their refreshments - (hard as a rock) sugar cookies and punch! Addie was an adorable lady bug and Rylee was Sleeping Beauty. Later they switched costumes and danced around to music. The two of them are such characters! We also had a pre-birthday celebration for Addie. She's a halloween baby!! Happy 2nd Birthday Addie!!!

The Pumpkin Patch

I know, it's a couple days to Halloween and we still haven't gotten our pumpkins to carve. Time is just slipping away so quickly.We finally visited the pumpkin patch in Folsom, which happens to be the last farm in Folsom. Since we were so late going, there were just a few big ones left.Rylee helped Jon pick out the big pumpkin for carving and she chose 4 small pumpkins, one for each of us.We walked through the corn stalks......indian tipi's......saw covered wagons......old tractors......goats, and 2 cows.I should have taken a picture of their "long neck gourds". They truly were long necks. Some were 3 feet tall!I had to look up gourds and this is what I found: they are of the pumpkin family and are native to Africa, Gourds can be used as a number of things, including bowls or bottles. Gourds are also used as resonating chambers on certain musical instruments. Generally, gourds are used more for utilitarian uses than for food.It is amazing how much Rylee has grown mentally since being in Joy School. She has a wonderful thought process of her own. She is not just repeating things anymore. She has moved up and is articulating! It's amazing some of things that come out of her mouth...all good, of course!!!In all seriousness, she is so loving, kind and thoughtful of others. She's full of please's, thankyou's, and lots of hugs and kisses. Brody is crusing furniture and loves the fast mobility of crawling...oh, and he always has a smile on his face! We love you both!!