News Story

Channel 7 called our heating and cooling contractor the other day and asked if they could do a story on geothermal systems, and other "green" energy sources.  Jason, our contractor, told them they were working on an install at our house, and the news came out and did a little article on renewable energy, which now qualify for some additional tax credits and incentives.  We were there going over some lighting, so the news interviewed Ryan as well. Here's the link to the story, complete with video of the house.  

Lexi turns 12!

Tuesday was Lexi's 12th birthday!  We've been stretching the celebration out for several days.  On Saturday we went shopping and got her ears pierced.  Then Monday night we went out to dinner and had cake with some friends who have a little boy who shares Lexi's birthday.  Tuesday was her real, actual birthday, but it's our crazy lesson day, so we didn't really have much time, but she did get treats at her school class and to choose dinner (dad's homemade mac and cheese), and she opened presents late that evening when everyone was back home.  She is excited for her friend party on Friday night, and sometime we need to have her mom and dad dinner date.  Lexi is such a sweet, bright, talented kid.  Some things we love about Lexi:  She is a pretty easy going kid-not much gets her upset; she is a huge help with Paisley; she is very smart, but is really humble about it; she is friendly to a variety of kids; she has worked really hard to get all of the Articles of Faith memorized before her birthday, and is sooooo excited to be in the Young Women program; she likes to play football at recess, and loves to go for long walk-runs; she has a really quick, witty sense of humor and often makes us laugh with her sarcastic comments.  She is a joy in our lives, and a child any parent would wish for.  Thanks, Lexi, for being you.  We love you tons!

Happy Birthday Paisley!

On Monday, the 2nd, we celebrated Paisley's first birthday.  I can't believe I don't have a baby anymore.  She's a full-fledged toddler.  She walks everywhere, and even tries to run.  She's learning to climb on everything, and she's figured out how to let us all know what she wants (and doesn't want.)  We switched the car-seat around to face forward, which makes her so much happier.  This little one is definitely the star of the family.  She knows how to pose for the camera, and how to scream until someone gives her whatever toy she was just playing with.  We all adore her-especially her daddy.  She loves her new baby doll.  (She would steal Anya's all the time, so she got her own for her birthday.) Thanks Sarah for the cute cake idea.  

No news is good news . . .

Things have been the usual crazy busy around here since Christmas.  We had various family members here visiting for most of the 2 weeks starting at New Year's (thanks for all your help!).  We love being close enough to have family come visit, after spending the first 12 years of married life at least 1200 miles away from family.  Just as we were getting back into the swing of things, the girls had a couple of days off school for the end of the semester, and for MLK day (or whatever we call this holiday in the middle of January now).  Paisley is walking all over the place now, and wins the prize for the youngest walker of all the girls.  She is also starting to say a few words-Hi, Momma, Dadda, juice, and some form of Lexi.  She is getting to be a little mimic and has quite an opinion about lots of things.  She really fast at emptying my bathroom cabinets and the plastic dishware cabinet.  She recently had a bout of thrush, which resulted in her being weaned (happy day and sad day), and a course of Nystatin. That seems to be mostly resolved now.  We have decided to homeschool Emma for the remainder of the school year.  Though she has been performing at the top of her class academically, she just wasn't loving the school experience.  We have a great curriculum that makes it pretty easy for me to manage and for her to be mostly independent in the day to day learning activities.  She will still go down to HSCS for PE and a few other specials with her old class.  She is excited for the change.  Christa started basketball.  She was picked for the 8th grade varsity team and is really improving, especially in her shooting abilities.  Her first game is tomorrow.  Go Grizzlies!  Our house is coming along, and we're just trying to keep up with all the decisions about windows and bathtubs and where we want light fixtures.  It's never-ending, but in a mostly fun way.  We have been in an inversion for nearly 2 weeks straight, and I am more than ready to see some sun!  They say maybe this weekend.  I got a new computer and imported all my photos, but somehow they came through duplicated and unorganized, so there's a new project, in case I don't have enough on my to-do list.  I enjoy those kinds of projects, though. They just come out of my sleep.  

These pictures are just random shots from the last month.

Aarggh matey! Anya the sleeping pirate

Almost a toddler

Bad hair day

Trying out my new makeup kit from Grandma

The Year in Review!

I finally got our Christmas cards sent out, better late than never.  Thanks to all of you who sent pictures or cards or whatever sort of update on your lives.  We LOVE getting Christmas cards.  I put all of them up on our wall and the girls ask about who everyone is and how we know them and "Who is my age?"  It's so fun to tell them about all of our wonderful friends we have collected over the years in the various places we have lived.  You continue to bless our lives even though we don't see you very often.  I put our blog address our little picture Christmas card, so for those of you just tuning in, I thought I'd give a brief summary of the year and the girls.  

We have our first teenager in the house-Christa turned 13 in May.  She has been busy, busy, busy with school (Treasure Valley Math and Science Center, and Riverglen Junior High), violin, piano, volleyball, and Young Women activities.  She loves being involved. She got braces a few weeks ago.  She is still a bookworm, though reading usually comes out of her sleep.  She is in choir this year and loves making up harmonies to songs.  

Alexis is super excited to be turning 12 in February.  She also started at the Math and Science Center, and goes to Hidden Springs Charter school for the other 1/2 of the day.  She is playing cello and piano and school basketball. She started babysitting and loves earning her own money.  Paisley loves Lexi as her second Mom!

Emma turned 10 in October.  She is also taking piano lessons and is doing well in school.  She loves working with Ryan on wood projects in the garage and is looking forward to finishing her kayak in the next year.

Sierra turned 8 in October and was baptized a member of our church.  We are so proud of her for making this decision.  Her school teacher is incredibly energetic and really brings out the best in Sierra.  Her class was involved in a Food drive in November and Sierra could hardly leave for school without taking 3 or 4 cans from our food storage.  She played soccer in the spring, and was the fastest girl on the field!

Anya loves preschool and is our little drama queen.  She started violin lessons and loves to think about and talk about playing the violin, though she doesn't always love actually practicing.  Christa is working with her on this and it's fun to see them work together. She loves the American Girls doll Kit, and had her hair cut so that she could look just like Kit.  (Until she decided to cut it herself last week.  See previous post.)  She is also taking ballet and loves dancing around the house when one of the girls is playing piano.  

The highlight of our year was the addition of Paisley to our family.  She was born February 2, on a cold and snowy morning.  She is a generally happy baby and we all adore her.  Even with our 6th, I am constantly amazed at how she grows and changes daily. She is saying her first words and taking her first steps.  

Ryan's practice continues to grow and he is enjoying his work.  He was able to take a few days off to go to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota this fall, with several friends, for some much needed guy time.  He also spent a couple of weeks in Portland learning how to build a guitar and always has several woodworking projects at various stages of completion.  He also enjoyed experiencing Alaska with the rest of the family this year.  

I'm just trying to keep everyone where they need to be and keep the household, and Ryan's practice, running smoothly.  

We had two kittens and a new puppy join our family and they keep Ryan company in the garage.  We had to put our old cat, Mouser, to sleep this summer and we miss her.  

A few of our adventures include our family reunion in Eastern Idaho, a week in Alaska, a quick trip to Disneyland, a conference in Victoria, BC, as well as camping and canoeing around Boise.

We are grateful for the many blessings which we have enjoyed this year, especially for our relationships with each other, with you, and with our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We hope this year has been a good one for you and yours as well.  Keep in touch! 

Merry Christmas!

This has been a great week.  We got enough of a break in the weather to go over to Pocatello for my Mom's 60th birthday.  All of my siblings and spouses were there except for my sister Teri and her family, who came at Thanksgiving time, and my brother-in-law Will who is serving a 6 month tour of duty in Baghdad.  We went out to dinner, just the grown-ups, which was great.  Of course we were true to form and 1/2 an hour late because it took longer than we planned to get all of Ryan's work done so that we could get on the road, but it was fun just the same.  (Punctuality has got to be one of my New Year's resolutions).  We came back on Wednesday in time for the girls to finish up their gifts for each other.  We have a tradition of the kids making gifts for each of their sisters.  It's so fun to watch them get excited about giving something they really put a lot of effort into.  Then we had our Christmas Eve program, with the reading of the Nativity Story, and then sent everyone to bed.  Christmas day the girls are great about not waking Mom and Dad up too early, so we got to sleep in until about 8:00 am.  Then we opened stockings, had a nice breakfast, and opened our other gifts.  We kept things pretty simple this year, but all of the girls were happy with their gifts, and excited to give the things they had made.  We got more snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, mixed with some rain and ice. It was great to have a white Christmas.   The girls are having fun sledding.  We went out today and found a couple of new sleds, since the dog ate our sled from last year. Hopefully we'll get up to the ski resort pretty soon to enjoy their new snow.   

Playing Catch-up

The last few weeks have been insanely crazy.  I'm sure many of you have felt the same.  At 1:00 am it becomes a question of blogging or sleeping.  I have chosen sleep.   So, I'm finally getting to some posts I've had on my mind for a few weeks.   Enjoy.