Back from the dead...

In the slight chance that somebody out there still checks our blog, I decided it was time for my quarterly post. (ha ha) I commend all you "real" bloggers who actually update your blogs on a regular basis. Though I had high hopes in the beginning, turns out I'm not very good at the "regular updates" thing. I would like to say: "I'm going to try a lot harder," but the truth is, I don't want to oversell myself. So in the words of one of my theatre students, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" :) I really do appreciate those of you who update your blogs. It is so nice to see and hear what's going on with your lives. Now, on to our family's life...

Somewhere along the trail of the past few months, Rylend has sneakily slipped from any trace of a baby stage into full blown toddler. I think one of the things that did him in was getting his haircut. I didn't think it would make much of a difference, but as soon as those little whispy curls were gone, so was my little baby. Check out the pics below:

Before:
During:

After:
And yes, for those who are particularly observant, the shirt does say "Big Brother" with "Only Child" crossed out. We are expecting again!

In other news, I have a garden!!! I am so excited. You have to see the pictures.
Started Oct 21st:
Only One Month Later:

Taken today after a weekend of rain:
I have wanted a garden for a long time and look forward to eating those yummy vegetables!

Well, thanks for tuning in. Until next time, which I can only hope will be sooner than later!

Reasons Why You Haven't Heard From Us...

Our last few months have been packed with (are you ready?) birthdays, rehearsals, performances, reunions, vacations, business trips, airplane rides, visits from family, packing, unpacking, moving to a new house, finding renters for our old house, yard work, a garage sale, new ward, new church callings, summer theatre workshop, Amber getting braces, starting a performing group, decorating, shopping, budgeting, Rylend walking, Rylend running, Rylend swimming (alot!), discovering Rylend's obsession with the outdoors, Rylend opening doors and letting the dog out, Rylend talking...Rylend entering the wonderful world of toddlerhood...and the list goes on! We have way too many pictures to post individually, so just refer to the slide show up on the right!

Hilarious!

I have to say that meal time with Rylend is probably the most hilarious time of the day. It seems the funniest things happen when he's eating...as seen in the following pictures. The video is the best though. I crack up every time I watch it.

Random Updates...

The following is my attempt to catch everyone up on the latest in our lives with one post...I'll try to make it easy to follow along...

A few weeks ago, we took a long weekend and headed to Vegas. Even though it was short, it was a fun little family vacation that was much needed. We found a place on the strip selling shirts 3 for 6.99 so we figured we couldn't beat the price for wearable Vegas souvenirs. I think Rylend is trying to do an Elvis impression to go with his shirt...who knows? He's a silly kid. You gotta love him though. :)

Rylend and Cousin Julie. They got to hang out when Julie was in town from Safford to celebrate her first birthday! She's already walking and Rylend studied her every move trying to figure out how she was doing it. You wouldn't believe how ridiculously hard it was to get a picture of them sitting still. All the other pics are blurry because the kiddos move so fast now!

Grandpa's 50th Birthday Party!
We threw a party for my dad with dinner, dessert, decorations...you know...the works to celebrate his 50th birthday!
Everyone had a great time...especially Rylend and grandpa.
(Even with the blurriness, their smiles shine through)!


P. S. I made this yummy ice cream cake for my dad and it actually turned out pretty good...yes, those are thin mints...mmm...so good!

Bittersweet Goodbye

I have been blessed for the last (almost) two years to work with the wonderful Young Women here in Maricopa. I even survived a ward split and still got to work with them. Well, two weeks ago, I was released. :( Although I'm super bummed about not spending as much time with those sweet gals, I know that Heavenly Father is just giving someone else a chance to work with them. I have learned and grown so much. I even completed the leader requirements for my Personal Progress! Incidentally, I have been given a new calling: 14-15 year old Sunday School teacher...quite a humbling calling if I must say. So, I will get to see some of the young women still during class.
Last Wednesday, while I was not at mutual, I received a knock-well, many knocks-on my door. I opened it to find smiling beautiful young women with flowers and a big card! I was so touched I just had to share. They really are sweethearts!

Milestone Movies

As promised, I have added some short videos of Rylend's milestones. The first shows his super-duper crawling skills as well as pulling up. The second is him clapping. He loves to clap and say YEA and YEAH! The third is him babbling with his cute little deep voice. He's such a cutie pie!

Rylend's on the move...

As some of you may already know, Rylend has always been a little wiggle worm. He's a very active boy and as soon as his little muscles were able, he started scooting (like doing the worm to get to a toy or my laptop). Then right after Christmas, he started super crawling. Rob describes him as a spider. You know how you'll see a spider that's perfectly still and then if something comes near, it just darts super fast...that's Rylend. He will be sitting perfectly content...then he'll see a toy or something else he wants and he'll just dart. He cracks us up! I'll be posting a couple video clips of his moves. He also started pulling up at the same time. He pulls up on anything and everything. And now he cruises from one thing to the next. He can cruise from one end of our sectional sofa all the way to the other in a matter of seconds. Not that I'm encouraging it, but I'm sure he'll be walking very soon.

P.S. He's 8 months old now!

Yes.......I'm a slacker...

I realize that it is now the middle of February and the top of my blog still says Merry Christmas. I have no fancy excuses except for the plain fact that I have been a total slacker. Soon to come will be many updates, pictures, etc. I'm just writing this so I have a reason to be accountable. :) Keep checking and soon you'll get all the updates in our lives!