Happy 32nd Birthday Ryan!!

There is alot of amazing things I could say about my dear husband Ryan. He is such a uniquely gifted person, but I thought it might be fun to name some things about him alot of people may not know.

Ten Things I love about Ryan:

1. He cooks without recipes
2. He can write you a poem , pretty much on the spot

3. He is a great whistler

4. He has a really good singing voice
5. He takes a really good photo
6. He loves to chat. I love when I come home from a girl night, Young Womens, or whatever he wants to hear all the ins and outs of what is going on with everyone, what we talked about , etc. You know,loves to break it down.
7. He is a really good teacher. In this I mean, whenever he is with our children he always trys to have a life lesson of somesort in their convos, or with whatever they are doing.
8. He loves Pop Culture. He reads so much during the day that he knows it all about music, movies, politics, even fashion. He is way up on what is going on in the world, and so I love getting my little tid bits of info from Ryan.
9. He looooves Chocolate (also, cheetos and choc. milk,...hopefully not together)
10. He is constantly trying to improve himself. I think that may be one of his main values in life, and I have learned that from him.

Lucy says she loves her daddy because: He plays with her, and he sings to her.

Rex says he loves his dad because: He is funny and he wrestles with him.

Happy, Happy Day Ryan! We love you,

Macy, Rex, Lucy, and Molly

The Holiday Craziness has begun

I can't believe we are in the thick of it around here. All the houses are starting to be lit up, and it finally snowed!! It is beautiful out there, and while Rex was at preschool this morning Lucy had to head out at 9am. I watched her out the window for awhile while she looked for stuff to do by herself. I know if Rex were out there with her he would have plenty of ideas, but I love watching her little mind work. She first just made a round walking the yard, then went in the garage and came out with a kid shovel, but as she started trying to pick up snow the shovel broke, and she made a funny face, dropped the shovel and moved on. I then saw her look down at her snow boots and noticing the tracks they were making, then she ran around looking at her different tracks. It was really cute. She was then cold and came in for some hot chocolate. I love snowy mornings.

We started off the holidays in the best way possible. My mom and I took Rex and Lucy to the Nutcracker. There is nothing that gets me more in the holiday spirit than seeing the Nutcracker. I don't know if it just brings back many memories of attending it with my family, or when I danced in it when I was young, but I think it is just so magical. Rex and Lucy could not have been better. They are pretty young to be going, but I knew they could handle it, and they did so great! I wish I had a picture of how cute they looked, all dressed up, and excited. My mom found us seats on the third row, and they loved watching the orchestra play so close. The first act , as always was so entertaining for them. Rex loved the mice, and the Nutcracker sword fight. After every number he sat up tall and clapped really hard. Lucy sat by me, and I had some little treats for her, thinking she would get kind of bored, but she just sat the whole time enthralled with it. She loved it! Her favorite part was, "the big woman", or the Mother Baffoon with all her little clown children under her skirt (which coincidently was the part my sisters and I were when we were young). My mom was so great , with snacks, and telling them the story before we got up there so they would be prepped. I think I want to make this a holiday tradition.

Thanksgiving was great. My mom had all the regular, delicious food we all love. Her table was set beautifully of course, and we had a nice meal talking about all the things we are grateful for from A to Z. It was fun. The kids did a gingerbread house while Amby and I went on a really long walk. Then we went to spend the rest of the evening with Ryan's family.

On Friday evening, my parents took Rex, Lucy, Tenley, and Ike in their jammies up to Heber to go on the Polar Express. It was quite the adventure for all. Rex and Lucy came back just glowing from such a fun night. Thanks Mom and Dad!

On Saturday, we blessed all the babies at my mom's house. It was a really nice event. The blessings were beautiful, and my mom and dad were perfect hostesses of course. It was nice to have so much of our family in town for the blessing. We all had a great night, and the babies were adorable. It is so cute to have these three babies so close in age. Rex calls them big, bigger, and biggest. There really is quite a range.

It was so fun just being with our families. We loved having our New Yorkers here, Davis and Ali. Tyson, Amby , Tenley, and new baby Ashton. And Chris, Rebecca, and Oliver too. Thanks for hanging.

And now let the Shopping begin.............

It's a Guy Thing

Monday night I had a basketball game in a league I entered with some friends, so I got home after the kids were in bed. Macy was still up though, so we went downstairs and chatted for an hour or so. From the very beginning, Macy and I haven't had tons of common hobbies or other activities we both like doing together, so sitting around talking has always been the basic core of our relationship. That's perfect for me, because there's nothing I like more than good conversation, and she's always got some take on something that is completely new for me.

Anyway, we chatted for a while that night about everything- how my day had gone, and how her day had gone, planning for the holiday weekend, what the kids had been up to. But after all that, she never asked the one important question that was hanging in the air that night. Finally, we got up to go to bed, leaving that one topic still unspoken.

Before going to bed, I ran up to check in on Rex and Lucy. They are really bad at staying under blankets while they sleep, which is a constant frustration to me, so I always remake their beds with them sleeping in them, to get them sufficiently covered for when the night turns cold.



While I did this, Rex sort of yawned, and then opened his eyes. I sat down next to him and said hi. He blinked a few times and then said "Hey Dad. So did you guys win?"

"Yeah, we won."

"Good." And then he rolled over and went back to sleep.

Sometimes, it's nice to have another boy in the house.

Art

How would you finish the sentence: "I can show love for Jesus Christ by . . . ?"

Here is Rex's answer:

(From left: Heavenly Father, Rex, Jesus)

In case you didn't figure it out, the end of the sentence is ". . . by going on a roller coaster ride with him."

Other recent products of this fascinating mind and prodigious talent:

(Lion, above, tiger, below).

Finally, during Sacrament meeting today, Rex was getting antsy. In desperation, I asked if he could draw a picture of Andrei Kirilenko dunking a basketball. You can see the results below, which I think are none to shabby. Note the careful attentiveness to the fingers, which, combined with the infinitely long and skinny legs, denote Rex's acute observation of that famous Russian lankiness:

(Andrei Kirilenko, pictured here with his fingers)

P.S.- Sorry, Ryan wrote this post, but I'm signed on as Macy and have no idea how to change it!

Chatty Moments

After Rex went to bed one night, Lucy was sitting up with Ryan and I while we were watching tv. She saw a commercial of some transformer robot thing, and yelled, "Oh, Rex would love that!" So sweet of her to always be thinking of her older brother. It is so interesting how kids get so wrapped up in their sibings. Their little lives revolve around each other. I remember feeling that way for quite awhile about my older sister, Amby. So cute.

Rex was sleeping at Oma's house awhile back, and Oma had a Halloween decoration out (this was in September mind you). Rex said, "Oma, is this for Halloween?" Oma replied, "yes". Rex said, "yeah, I don't really like when people put Halloween stuff out too early."

One night Lucy came in from her room playing with Babes and said, "Dad, Babes doesn't have any friends." Rex replied, "Well you are her friend , Lucy". Lucy said, " Ummm, no, I am just a mom, Rex."

A few days ago Rex came downstairs after having slept in, and was a little groggy. The first thing he said was, "Mom, I really can fly!" I said, "Really?....like Superman?" He said, "Yes". Then a couple hours later he came into the kitchen kind of bugged and pouting, "Mom, I guess I can't fly......it was just a dream!" He was really torn up about it, and talked about it the whole day, asking why he can't fly, and how he could learn. He asked if maybe alien clothes would help or a ghost sheet, then maybe he could just float. Because floating would be sort of close to flying. It was really funny.

Rex went to work with Ryan a few weeks ago, and spent a while staring out the window at the street below, where State Street and South Temple intersect. He noticed the eagle gate and asked "Dad, why does that tunnel have a balden eagle on it?

We went for a Sunday drive a while ago, and Rex wanted to stop at the 7-11 and get some drinks. We reminded him of a recent lesson about the Sabbath, and said "Rex, remember, it's the Lord's day?" He went quiet for a minute, and then said quietly to himself, in a sort of grumpy way "It's all of our day." Rex's religious instruction continued yesterday when he accidentally tripped Lucy and hurt her, but seemed unconcerned about showing any sympathy. Ryan asked him "Rex, if Jesus hurt someone, even accidentally, what would he do?" Rex thought for a minute and said: "He'd regive them." ( We think this is a reference to a lesson a while ago on forgiving, which, despite its merits, does not seem to have conveyed the definition of its topic word).

Isn't Oma a good sport? Here she is racing the kids.

A week of Halloween fun!!

First, it was the neighborhood carnival. A Halloween parade, crafts, games, and treats. The kids had a great time!Then on Monday we carved pumpkins. Our family artist and his kids had a great time carving (not really my thing), while I made the yummiest pumpkin milk shakes. Dreyers pumpkin ice cream, carmel sauce, and graham crackers , with a little added milk too! MMMMM!!
Then came the big Day! Ryan took the kids out with Wade, Kerstin, and their darling little Charlotte (wish we had a picture of her in her cute bunny outfit). The kids were really into it this year, running from house to house, well Rex ran, Lucy is are little doddler.....a little slowish. Our neighborhood has a great social on the lawn of the church with hot dogs, hot chocolate or cider, and donuts. Molly and I showed up for a bit. It was a fun night.