Happy 9th Anniversary!

Nine years ago I married the most wonderful guy in the Salt Lake Temple.  I can't believe it's been 9 years!

9 years ago:

-We were just two people who loved each other and tried to make each other happy.  Just me and him and nobody else.

-I had to get my wedding ring resized because it was too big.  I never would have imagined I'd need to get it cut off during one of my pregnancies and then resized the other way.
-I dyed my hair for fun...not because I needed to.
-I had a job outside of my home.
-My house was always clean and my laundry was always caught up.
-I had really long hair.  I've tried growing it out again but it's never gotten that long again.

-I was the one going to school.  Tory only had one semester behind him.  We started out our married life in Provo, UT so that I could finish my last two semesters at BYU.
-I never imagined we'd be living in Texas.
-Everything we owned fit in the back of a pickup truck.
-I never imagined I'd be pregnant with our 5th child but I always hoped.

-I pictured a family with more girls than boys.
-We drove a tiny Subaru Justy with no air conditioning and no leg room.
-We lived in our first apartment in Provo, UT.  The bed folded out of the wall in our family room and the only door (besides the front door) was the bathroom door.

-I got to decorate and be in charge of my own "home" for the first time of my life.
-I wore a size 6 and Tory's grandma called me a skinny terd.  That was my first introduction to her.  I don't get called that anymore but that's ok.

-I wore a size 8-8.5 shoe.  I had heard feet could grow during pregnancy but didn't imagine it would happen to me.  It did.
-I hardly knew anything about computers.

-Tory and I headed to Las Vegas for our honeymoon.  That was the last big trip we've ever had by ourselves.

-I didn't know it would be possible to love 4 little children so equally and so much.

-I didn't know how much more in love I'd fall with Tory.  Seriously.  I am always amazed at the man I married.  He's so amazing!  I never knew how much more there was when I married him 9 years ago!

It has been an adventurous 9 years but the best part about it is that Tory was with me the entire time.  He's the best for me.  He compliments me and tells me I'm beautiful even though I don't look exactly like the girl he married 9 years ago.  He listens to me when I ramble on because, besides my mom and sisters who are all very far away, he's the only person I have to talk to.  He "gets" me.  He helps with EVERYTHING around here, always willing to roll up his sleeves and clean, fold laundry, bathe little children, cook, and yes, he'll even get his hands wet and do dishes.  I am so thankful for him and all he does.  He works so hard for our family and does whatever he can to support us.  If I thought the last 9 years were surprising...I can't even imagine what the next will be like but I'm ready if Tory's there! 

I love you Tory!

Romantic Snow Globes by WiddlyTinks.com

Baby News

I had another doctor appointment on Monday.  They wanted to do another ultrasound since last time she said she didn't get a good look at "some things".  I think it was a vague way of saying, "Come on in for another one so I can get paid more!" because that's what she said after the first one, too.  But that's ok.  I don't mind seeing the cute baby.  She measured him and he is about 3 lbs. 12 oz.  She then asked what size my other babies were.  I told her and then off I went to see the doctor.  He came in and looked over the ultrasound report and raised his eyebrows and asked the same thing.  I told him the last two were 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 8 lbs. 15.9 oz.  So basically 9 pounders.  He said, "OK then we won't change your due date.  You just have big healthy babies!  You should plan on 9 1/2 lbs. for this one!"  It didn't come as a surprise.  Austin was my only baby that could ever really wear Newborn size for more than a week.  He was 7 lbs. 2.8 oz.  My tiniest baby.  Dallin was 8 1/2 pounds.  Another big boy!  Everything else was good.  He wants me to start coming in every 2 weeks now.  You know it's close when that happens!  Only 10 weeks 2 days since we're scheduled a week early at this point.  That sure isn't very far away!  It's been great to be pregnant during the "holiday seasons".  Makes time fly!  But the best part of all is the weather.  So fun to wear pants and long sleeve shirts and not always feel swollen up and hot and uncomfortable (unless I'm driving in the car with Tory.  That guy loves his heater.  But that's my complaint even when I'm not pregnant.  LOL)  Plus I feel like I have a new wardrobe.  All of these long sleeve things I had with my first two winter babies that I haven't worn since then.  Nice for a change.  Of course the uncomfortable part is still to come.  I mean...this little guy still has over 5 pounds to pack on in the next 10 weeks!  I'm telling you...I get OUT there!  I must enjoy these days when my elastic waist can fit, and stay, around my stomach.  Things will change...oh how they will change!  I am so excited to see this little man!  We're pretty sure we've settled on a name.  Just working on the spelling still.  I might have to add a vote box one of these days.

I Did It Again...

I've been so spacey lately.  I blame it on pregnancy.  My brain just doesn't work the way it's supposed to.  I forget things, can't remember things, and just do things I normally don't.  My sister Kirsten just learned something in one of her BYU classes.  She was telling me about it when I was in Utah in November.  She said that pregnant women really do lose brain cells and it actually takes about 6 months for them to return to normal after the baby's birth.  (Is that right Kir?  I mean...we all know what kind of memory I'm working with here.)  So at least it's not all just my imagination.

So anyway, I've been wearing contacts for years.  YEARS.  Since my early teenage years.  In all of that time I have never, ever, EVER mixed up my contacts.  I always start with my right eye and then I do my left eye.  Well, for the first time I got them mixed up.  It was on Sunday.  I put my right contact in my left eye!  I probably never would have even noticed but wow...I could see really well out of that eye for once!  Might just have to go get my prescription checked!  Ha!

But that's not all.  Yesterday morning I woke up around 6:00 am.  Bladder was calling.  I opened my eyes and realized I could see really well.  Not normal for me.  I'm blind as a bat without my glasses.  That's when I realized I had forgotten to take out my contacts the night before!  What in the world?!  I'm losing it I tell you.  I couldn't take them out right away because, as any of you who have contacts know, they kind of suction to your eyeball and you have to wait until they moisten up a bit.  So off I went to start the day intending to take them out.  I finally took them out that evening.  Probably not so good.  Actually I know it wasn't good.  I woke up today with some pain in my right eye.  Remember this little incident?  I think that's what happened again.  Scratched my cornea.  But it's not as bad this time as it was that last time.  Thank goodness.  I've really got to start thinking better! 

Christmas Cookies

It's been fun having the boys home from school this week.  They've been really good.  I love to hear them when they wake up each morning.  They are sooo excited for Christmas.  They first turn on all of the Christmas lights and then look for our little Christmas Elf's new hiding spot.  Then they usually end up making snowflakes or some little Christmas craft.  And this is all before we even wake up!  Christmas when you are a kid is the BEST!  So much excitement!

The boys have really been wanting to make Christmas cookies.  Yesterday we finally did it.  We spent HOURS in the kitchen but when we were finished we had some yummy treats to bring to friends and neighbors.  I decided to go easy and used all pre-made mixes for the cookies.  They were all on sale for 99 cents anyway!  Since I only have two 12-cup mini-muffin tins we used paper liners so we could keep 'em moving!  I think we ended up with 40 brownie cups, 36 sugar cookie cups, and 36 peanut butter cups.  The boys and Tory went and delivered them when Tory got home from work.  They loved that part!

We made sugar cookies with Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses (these seemed to be the boys' favorite).

We made brownies with the White Chocolate Peppermint Striped Hershey Kisses pushed down inside before baking and then drizzled white chocolate on top and sprinkled them with crushed candy canes.

And finally, we made peanut butter cookies with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.  These are my personal favorites.

Our Nativity

Last night for Family Home Evening we got our our Nativity costumes that my sister, Heather, made for us one year.  We had to add another costume for Claire this year.  She saw everyone else getting all dressed up and really wanted to join in.  She loved her little costume even though her face doesn't show it.  The boys loved dressing up, too.  They picked who we all should be.  Austin and Dallin both wanted to be shepherds, Coen was the angel, Tory was Joseph, I was Mary, and Claire was baby Jesus.

We read the story of Christ's birth in Luke 2. 

What a cute little angel boy!

The Christmas Orange

Last night after church I decided to pull out the Christmas Orange story for the family.  I love that story!  I like to have a chocolate orange to divide for everyone at the end.  This year we also added a few fun "orange" games. 

We played "Orange Dance" where we turned on the Christmas music and danced while holding an orange between your forehead and your partner’s forehead. We just danced and had fun, and tried to keep the orange from falling!  It's harder than it looks!  (Dallin wasn't feeling very good so that's why I don't have any pictures of him.)

Then we played "Pass the Orange".  This game requires an orange and people with both a neck and a chin.  The players must pass the orange from neck to neck using only chins and necks. You're supposed to play it in teams but since we didn't have that many people we just made it a “working together” exercise to see how difficult it is to pass the orange along the line.  This was VERY difficult.  Austin had to take off his shirt just to be able to grip the orange better.  Ha!

After all the activities our orange was ready to eat.  Boy was it juicy!

The Christmas Orange

Jake was nine years old with tousled brown hair with blue eyes as bright as a heavenly angel. For as long as Jake could remember he had lived within the walls of a poor orphanage. He was just one of ten children supported by what meager contributions the orphan home could obtain in a continuous struggle seeking donations from townsfolk.

There was very little to eat, but at Christmas time there always seemed to be a little more than usual to eat, the orphanage seemed a little warmer, and it was time for a little holiday enjoyment. But more than this, there was the Christmas orange!

Christmas was the only time of year that such a rare treat was provided and it was treasured by each child like no other food admiring it, feeling it, prizing it and slowly enjoying each juicy section. Truly, it was the light of each orphan's Christmas and their best gift of the season. How joyful would be the moment when Jake received his orange!

Unknown to him, Jake had somehow managed to track a small amount of mud on his shoes through the front door of the orphanage, muddying the new carpet. He hadn't even noticed. Now it was too late and there was nothing he could do to avoid punishment. The punishment was swift and unrelenting. Jake would not be allowed his Christmas orange! It was the only gift he would receive from the harsh world he lived in, yet after a year of waiting for his Christmas orange, is was to be denied him.

Tearfully, Jake pleaded that he be forgiven and promised never to track mud into the orphanage again, but to no avail. He felt hopeless and totally rejected. Jake cried into his pillow all that night and spent Christmas Day feeling empty and alone. He felt that the other children didn't want to be with a boy who had been punished with such a cruel punishment. Perhaps they feared he would ruin their only day of happiness. Maybe, he reasoned, the gulf between him and his friends existed because they feared he would ask for a little of their oranges. Jake spent the day upstairs, alone, in the unheated dormitory. Huddled under his only blanket, he read about a family marooned on an island. Jake wouldn't mind spending the rest of his life on an isolated island, if he could only have a real family that cared about him.

Bedtime came, and worst of all, Jake couldn't sleep. How could he say his prayers?  Silently, he sobbed for the future of mankind that God might end the suffering in the world, both for himself and all others like him.

As he climbed back into bed from the cold, hard floor, a soft hand touched Jake's shoulder, startling him momentarily and an object was silently placed in his hands. The giver disappeared into the darkness, leaving Jake with what, he did not immediately know!

Looking closely at it in the dim light, he saw that it looked like an orange! Not a regular orange, smooth and shiny, but a special orange, very special. Inside a patched together peal were the segments of nine other oranges, making one whole orange for Jake! The nine other children in the orphanage had each donated one segment of their own precious oranges to make a whole orange as a gift for Jake.

Sharing what we truly value is the true spirit of Christmas. Our Heavenly Father gave us His beloved Son. May we, like the children in the orphanage, find ways to share His love with others less blessed.

Breakfast in Bed

Yesterday morning the boys surprised Tory and I with breakfast in bed.  What nice little boys!  And check out our feast:

Each of us got an apple, a cut up carrot, AND marshmallows!!  Gourmet!  And all served in fun little red baskets.  Who could be hungry after a breakfast like that?

Thanks Austin, Dallin, and Coen!

We love you!

Santa at Cabela's

We did indeed get to see Santa at Cabela's.  We went last Saturday the 19th.  This is the third year we've gone.  Santa is so great here.  We had a pretty long wait this time.  Usually it's no more than 20 minutes but this time it was a good hour.  But not to worry...there was plenty to look at since we were in the room with all of the "stuffed" deer and elk.  With three curious boys full of questions the time seemed to fly.  Claire actually fell asleep while Tory was holding her.  She probably slept for half the wait and then when it was our turn he just handed her over to Santa and she just kept sleeping.  So funny!  Not what we expected.  We were sure that this year was going to be three smiling boys and a screaming little girl.  Sleeping is ok though.

We got to see some of Santa's elves.  They gave the boys a candy cane to work on in line.

We also got to talk to Mrs. Claus.  She says she loves to make cookies for Santa.

Finally we got to see Santa Claus himself.  The boys were sooo excited.  Claire slept right through it of course.  (I have a better picture that Cabela's took but Tory has our scanner at work.)

I love this picture.  Doesn't Santa look so jolly?  And don't you love how Coen's trying to pry Claire's eyes open?  Didn't work.  Each of the boys got to tell Santa what they wanted.  Austin wants a Tech Deck, Dallin wants a new Spyro game, and Coen wants a choo-choo train with tracks.

They've changed so much!  This picture is from last year.  Claire was so tiny!  Only 4 months old!

And this is the year before.  Look how little they ALL are!  See Coen?  That's what I figured Claire would be like this year.  NOT happy!  Ha!

Busy, Busy

It seems like I've been so busy lately.  Lots of errands and meetings but lots of fun in there, too.  Last Saturday we had a crazy day.  Tory started it out with a service project (because that's what he always does when he happens to have a "free" Saturday morning off work.  Ha.).  When he got home I had the whole family all dressed and ready to go out and take family pictures.  We usually do it a couple months earlier so I knew that if I didn't just make it happen it never would get done.  We went to the park where we play frisbee golf.  We actually had a lot of fun even though it was quite chilly.  After that we warmed up a little at home, the little people took naps, Tory cooked us dinner out on the fire pit, and I made a dessert for our Ward Christmas Party at church.  I have had my eye on a new recipe I wanted to try and knew this would be the perfect time to make it.  You see, it has chocolate in it and chocolate desserts don't go over very well with Tory.  Crazy guy!  And I certainly didn't want to end up eating it all by myself. 

It's called Chocolate Gingerbread Cake.  Check out the recipe on my recipe blog.  It was soooo good!  I'll definitely be making it again.  We all loaded up and off we went to the party.  The kids sang Christmas songs at the top of their lungs all the way to the church.  I remember doing that as a kid.  Only our drive to church was 45 minutes each way instead of only 10!  The party was fun and we got to try lots of yummy desserts.

There were various musical numbers put on by people in the ward and the primary got to sing a song, too. 

At the very end, our bishop read the kids a Christmas story and then they each got to line up and get a little gift from him. 

Austin came back to the table and said, "That was so fast!  I didn't even get to tell him what I wanted!!"  I reminded him that it was the bishop, not Santa Claus.  No suit or anything.  I don't know how you could get confused.  He kind of smiled and laughed and said, "Oh yeah!"  So funny!  Tory had heard from Santa himself that he was coming that night and so we had told the kids and they had been looking forward to it.  Santa didn't make an appearance after all.  Must have had some difficulties.  I guess it just took Austin a little longer to get back in the right mind set.  We'll have to try to catch him at Cabela's on Saturday.  That's our last chance! 

At the end of the party each family was given a 3-ring binder full of Christmas traditions from families in our ward.  We were all supposed to contribute our traditions, recipes, and/or stories.  It was really neat and I've had fun looking through them all.  There are definitely some I would like to start in our family and some recipes I'd love to try and some I have tried like this one:

I've also been sewing like crazy.  Lots of presents I've been working on.  In one day...that's right ONE day...I made 4 purses, 4 cinch-up tote bags, 4 rice packs, 3 pillow cases, one baby blanket, and I also cut out, pieced together, sewed, AND clipped every single edge of a rag quilt!  I used 3  bobbins of thread total.  That's a lot!  I looked it up and each bobbin holds 60 yards of thread on average!  And that's not counting the top thread!  I went through some serious yardage!  Man my back was aching that night.  I just have a couple little finishing touches to do.  I'm glad I got the bulk of it done.  When I'm on a roll it's better if I just roll with it and that's what I did.  Tory's been working on some wood projects for Christmas, too.  He got them all finished last night.  Soooo cute and fun!  I wish I could show you but some of them are going to people who might be reading this. 

Today I finished up some little teacher gifts for Austin and Dallin's school teachers.  We got them sparkling juice and tied cute little gift tags with the boy's pictures on them and it says:

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a "Sparkling" New Year!

Nice and simple and hopefully something they can enjoy.  We're sending them some homemade goodies, too. 

I've also been to a couple parties.  The first one was the Relief Society Progressive Dinner.  We went to three different homes in our ward.  At the first home we had salad and rolls and talked.  Then we went to the second home for a very nice sit-down main course of roast beef, baked potatoes, and more salad and rolls if we wanted and talked some more.  Then we finished up at the third house with pie and...yep, more talking.  It was really nice and fun to get out. 

Last night I went to another little party for our Relief Society.  It was a white elephant type ornament exchange.  We had to each bring an ornament we no longer needed off of our tree.  I got mine stolen three times but still ended up with a nice ornament.  Ha!  It was fun.  Tory's wondering how many more parties the Relief Society is going to have.  I don't normally get out much so twice in one week was waaaaaaay over the top!  I'm lucky if I get out once a month. 

So that's what I've been up to.  Busy, busy but having lots of fun, too.

Color-Coded

Do any of you have certain colors that you tend to put with each of your children?  For instance, my mom said she would often dress me in pink or my sister Amy, with her red hair, in yellows.  I have to say I TOTALLY have my kids color-coded and it actually makes life a lot easier!  I never meant to do it but it happened and now I use their colors for all kinds of things from toothbrushes and plastic dinner plates to blankets and ornaments.  They also have coats in their colors, balls, snowmen hot chocolate mugs that their Aunt Wendy and Uncle Jason gave them for Christmas last year...one with a red scarf, blue, green, and pink!  Perfect!  If you go back to our pumpkin patch pictures you'll see that the boys are wearing shirts in their colors.  And that's just a small sample.

Austin is RED

Dallin is BLUE

Coen is GREEN

and of course...

Claire is PINK

They all know their colors and I've noticed they gravitate to things in their color.  They even claim that those are their favorite colors.  I think their colors started out by what I would dress them in as babies.  Austin always looked great in red but I couldn't put red on Dallin.  Just wasn't his color.  Dallin with his blue, blue eyes was the blue boy.  And of course Coen, with his red hair, always looked so cute in green.  I get so excited when I find things in their colors.  I even found a 4 pack of toothbrushes with red, blue, green, and pink!  There's never any argument about who gets what.  Claire even knows her color.  I had the dishwasher open as I was unloading and trying to get dinner going at the same time.  Of course Claire is always right there trying to "help".  I watched her for a little bit and she went and picked up the red plate, looked at it, and threw it on the floor.  She went through the blue and green and did the same thing.  Then she picked up her pink plate, held it close to her little chest, carried it over to the table, pointed at the food, and then started hanging off her highchair wanting to get in.  I think she was hungry!  Ha!  I had no idea she knew which plate was hers.  So funny!  She also knows exactly which toothbrush is hers.

So anyway...this color-coding system has worked great but now I'm a little worried about what color I'm going to use for new baby boy.  I mean, things ALWAYS come in red, blue, and green.  Always.  And if it was a girl I'd probably pick purple or maybe even yellow.  But what is another BOY color that you'd want a lot of your "stuff" in?  Yellow?  Orange?  Brown?  You see what I'm talking about?  My system is getting a stretch here.  I want it to be a color that he likes (you know...in case it becomes his favorite color like the other boys) not just a color-coded pick.  I seriously think about it.  I guess I'll just have to wait until he comes and see what color "matches" him like with the other boys.  We might just have to double up on a color.  Maybe in a different shade?  Am I strange?  Probably.  Does anyone else do this?

Surround Sound?

Tory likes to read but since he's also a very busy guy, a lot of times his reading is limited to audio books.  He listens to them in the car and sometimes he just can't "put the book down" and brings it in to listen to on his laptop.  A few nights ago I was working on some other project and went in to see what he was doing. 

This is how I found him. 

He seems very relaxed don't you think?  Sometimes I wish I could read my books with my eyes shut.

Crazy guy!

Countdown to Christmas

I've always wanted to make a really neat, really cool, totally amazing Advent calendar...but I haven't yet.  Someday.  It's still on my "To-Do" list.  In the meantime we decided to make something a little bit more simple.  I found this little Advent calendar on Makes and Takes and decided it would be just right for us. 

So after school Wednesday the boys and I whipped one up.  It was pretty easy to follow the picture and the boys have been having fun taking turns cutting off one link each day. 

If you are in need of a quick, easy Advent calendar...give this one a try!

When we were finished Dallin was having so much fun making paper chains that he just kept going.  He decided to glue each piece.  You can see him blowing it dry in this picture. 

He actually worked on it for a few days and it is now several feet long!  He must have inherited this desire to make paper chains from his father.  Tory LOVES making them and always talks about the chains he used to make as a kid.

Celebrating at School

Friday, December 4th, Dallin got to celebrate his birthday at school.  We brought cupcakes in for his class and he got to wear a birthday crown all day.  His teacher gave him a big stuffed Koala bear to keep and he was also chosen to bring home the class "Freedom Friend" for the weekend.  Each week they take turns with the class Freedom Friend which is a stuffed teddy bear.  They are supposed to take pictures with him doing whatever they do during the weekend and then write about it in the class journal.  Dallin said it was definitely his lucky day!

Some of the pictures Dallin took with Freedom Bear were during his birthday party.  Here they are playing with balloons.

We also went to our Stake Nativity Display.  It is held every year and there are hundreds and hundreds of Nativities displayed throughout the church.  It is amazing!  I am always most amazed by the actual presentation and arrangement of all of them.  The backdrops and decorations are, well I'll say it again, AMAZING!  I love going to it every year.  We didn't take Freedom Friend inside.  He only got to see the outdoor nativity at the front door.

Happy 6th Birthday Dallin!

Dallin turned 6 years old today!  What a big boy!  I can't believe how much he has grown and changed this last year.  He has turned into a very confident person and continues to keep us laughing with his funny sense of humor.  He loves Kindergarten and is doing so well. 

For his sssssixth birthday Dallin wanted a ssssssnake cake.  Tory tackled the project this time and it turned out so good!  It was a very long snake with some serious red and black coloring in it! 

Dallin picked a birthday dinner of hotdogs but instead we made Cranberry Chili Sausage Bites over rice.  He wanted salad and bread to go with it and picked his favorite drink. 

We had fun watching him open his presents.  It seems like maybe he should have chosen a dragon cake instead of a snake cake as that ended up to be the theme of his presents this year. 

He got a dragon from Nana (which has been on his wish list for a VERY long time) and a Spyro game for the Play Station from us. 

Spyro is a little dragon.  They have another PS2 Spyro game and it's the only one they ever play.  They also just love to watch Dada play so we thought a new one would be fun. 

This is an example of how black that frosting was!  Claire snuck over to the table while we were opening presents and this is what we found.  Yikes!

We're so thankful for our little Dally Boy Blue with the blue, blue eyes and brown hair.  He is such a good big brother, a hard worker, and a little tease with all of the tricks he likes to do.  He loves to sing and has learned how to spell all of his colors, learn all of his months and days of the week, and many other things by singing songs about them at school.  Our favorite is his rendition of "A Tooty Ta" which we like to request often.  We are so happy that Dallin is part of our family.

Happy Birthday Dallin Ryan!

We Love You!

Snow!

This morning we woke up to the sound of three very happy little boys shouting, "It's snowing!  It's snowing!"  And sure enough, it was!  Very exciting for us here.  Since we don't have a working TV (well the TV works but the rabbit ears have issues) I got online to see if they were cancelling school or having a delayed start.  It doesn't take much snow to get that here!  I couldn't believe they weren't doing anything!  Not even a delayed start.  Bummer for three little boys who wanted to play out in the snow so bad!  They ran around in it for awhile as they were getting ready for school.  By 11:00 it was all gone.  We might be getting more on Friday so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed!  Here are a few pictures I took right after they left for school.  It might not look like a lot to most of you but we get excited about ANY white that falls!  It's still a cold 46 degrees outside.  Brrr!  We just might have to turn on the heater for the first time.  Our house is 64 inside.  That's pretty chilly if you're not moving around!  Or maybe I should just do some baking.  That really heats it up!