Distraction and News

Right now, it is 5:30 am and I am listening to my sweet baby cry... we are trying to get him sleeping through the night and it is so hard for me! I want to go get him and make him happy, but I know this is for the greater good. My heart hurts for him... so to distract myself, I thought that I would post some WONDERFUL news! My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first child after 4 long years and an adoption that didn't go through. They are such faithful people and have been so good in being patient and trusting in the Lord's timeline. The deserve nothing but the best! Modern medicine is a miracle! Heidi is 12 weeks along and doing well. CONGRATS TROY AND HEIDI! (hope you're OK with us sharing the good news!)

A Little Bit of Heaven

It is time to bump that ode to me from the top... it is embarrasing! I do have a sweet husband though. He makes me feel special everyday and I am lucky to be married to him. Speaking of lucky... we were lucky enough to spend a wonderful week with my family in Encinitas ( not Mexico) by the beach. We were in a great beach house and just loved spending time with one another hanging out at the beach and playing games. Ryan loved being around his grandparents and aunt and uncles and playing at the beach. He really started loving it this trip. It was such a great week. I was sad to see it end, but then it makes me appreciate those family times even more. It really does make me grateful for eternal families. Now does anyone know if there will be a beach in heaven...?

More than a Martha Stewart

Almost on a daily basis, I thank Lisa for cooking such great meals or for cleaning the house while I was working. At times, she feels like I love her because she's a great cook or a great baker. Today, on her 26th birthday, I will prove that there are many more reasons why she is more than just a Martha Stewart. Lisa...

1. You are thoughtful. Your mind works 100 miles an hour when you are thinking about people--how you can help someone, how you can strengthen a friendship, who you can serve.

2. You are dependable. When you say you will do something, I know you will do it.

3. You are the best friend. You remember special days, keep in touch and share triumphs and trials. You have taught me a great lesson: Focus on being a friend rather than making friends.

4. You are spiritually-minded. You have an amazing ability to gain new insights as you study scripture and provide logical and faith-promoting counsel to other people who need it.

5. You are attractive. No matter how many times we move (from city to city), you have always seemed to attract a lot of friends. You radiate such goodness through your pretty eyes and pretty smile.

6. You are beautiful. Woot-woo! That's all I have to say about that.

7. You are caring. It has been so awesome to watch you as a mother in caring and loving Ryan. You sacrifice so much of your time, your sleep and other things that you love to do to develop and care for him.

8. You are compassionate. Without fail, whenever you see someone who is struggling, feeling lonely or who does not have much, you mention ways to help and act on it.

9. You are smart. You are so logical in your thinking and provide such refreshing insight.

10. You are ambitious. You are continuously looking for ways to improve or ways to make our lives easier or better.

11. You are creative. You have new ideas and don't always rely on the traditional or the routine.
12. You are funny. Sometimes you make me laugh when I don't want to...and it ends up being exactly what I need.

13. You are disciplined and committed. With your goals, ambitions, beliefs or traditions, you are dedicated in doing them. (We'll get to the handling the sweets sooner or later.)

14. You are pure. This was one of the first attributes I noticed in you, recognizable through your visible "glow" and selfless acts.

15. You are confident. You know who you are--your strengths and your weaknesses--and you embrace it. Before I even met you, this was one attribute that I also mentioned was an "essential" to me. To me, it is a sign of your faith, knowledge and devotion to God. "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves."

16. You are sociable. If it's not being with people, it's talking to them on the phone. If it's not talking to people on the phone, it's chatting with them on Facebook or IM. If it's not that, it's e-mail. If it's not that, you're sleeping. You love people, and that's a huge reason why I love you.

17. You are authentic. Very much connected to your dependability, you are sincere in what you say. When you say it, you mean it. You rarely sugar coat; you are in honest in who you are.

18. You are musical. You have a beautiful voice that Ryan is so lucky to hear every night before bed. Sometimes I like to listen through the door since my Lisa concerts are limited.

19. You are active. You care about yourself enough to take care of yourself. I love that through your dedication to stay healthy and to exercise, I am motivated to do the same...just not quite at the same level (as with many of these areas).

20. You are enthusiastic. Just listening to you talk on the phone is one way for someone to recognize your enthusiasm, especially when it involves other people. You are enthusiastic about life and the opportunities that you create on your way.

21. You are balanced. You don't just excel at any one or two things--you are spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically strong.

22. You have great integrity. You are always striving to do the right thing in all aspects of your life. You often sacrifice certain things in your life because you know it's the right thing and you believe there is more good in doing right than in doing what is convenient, popular or politically correct.

23. You have soft skin. Ryan's baby bumb or your face...that's a toss up! :)

24. We share storytelling skills (or the lack thereof). "So, do you remember when...?" I won't even go there. We'll just keep that skill to each other.

25. You are a great masseuse. Still better than any professional yet (in the two times I've been).

26. You really are a great cook (my favorite, in fact)! One of these days, I'll have to learn how to cook more than toast. There's no better time than the present, right? Well, let's hold off on this one for a while. Why take the chance of having nasty meals by me when you know you could have a delicious one from you, "ya know?"

Needless to say, I am..., I am..., I am the luckiest. You are an amazing wife, fabulous mom, and the best friend!! Thank you for being born 26 years ago. I found my pot of gold!

Family Fun

Brett's brother and his wife and kids came in to town this last weekend and we had such a blast with them! They came to CA with my sister in law's family to do an iron man relay. My sis in law swam a mile and my brother in law rode his bike 112 miles... it took him 8 hours! Could you imagine? Then they drove down to So-Cal and stayed in Carlsbad. We went down there one night to hang with them. Then we went up to Balboa Isalnd and showed them around a bit. We love spending time with them and were so happy to have them here!

Loving the ferry ride. I love Ry's little smirk in this picture!
The beautiful house that we stayed in in Carlsbad. Kristen's family knows how to travel in style!
Ryan is all boy. He could not get enough of the steering wheel on our bike surrey.
Ryan and Uncle Justin
Our attempt at a family shot on the bike...
My handsome little man

Just When I Thought I had it Down...

Ryan decided it was time to start pulling himself up on things! This makes bedtime a whole lot harder. We had it down so well, too. Now it takes an hour of me laying him down, him standing up and then me laying him down again and again! It is so hard not to just laugh and grin with him when I see him do this. He gets so excited and always has the biggest smile on his face, unless I leave him there for a while and he can't get down! It is amazing how babies seem to learn things overnight! He has also given up on the pureed baby food. He just wants to feed himself! These babies, they sure keep you on your toes!

Visitors

Brett's niece, Emily came to stay with us for a while and his dad came for a couple of days, too. We had a great time. We gave them a true CA experience by going up to the mountians one day and then the beach the next day. We only took pictures in Lake Arrowhead - I was bummed because we took Ry on his first bike ride at the beach and it was so cute! I will just have to get pics of his second bike ride. Anyway, we love having visitors, so anyone is welcome at anytime!
Brett's dad and Ryan ( If anyone knows any eligible single,older women he is looking! Brett's dad, not Ryan...)
I was excited to get a frozen banana... I ended up really only eating frozen chocolate! Ryan took care of the banana part.
Brett found this huge pinecone... I don't know why we had to get a picture of Ryan next to it. I guess when you have a baby, you just find any excuse to get another photo op!

The Boob Tube

Brett and I decided to get rid of our cable and DVR (sad)! It is so funny how attached you get to the TV. When we were first married, we didn't have TV and it didn't even phase us. But ironically, when we moved to NYC, we started watching it more. It was just nice to come in an veg after being out in the crazy city. We also got hooked on DVR there as well. That is a great invention! However, the visiting authority at our stake conference talked about how media is one of the ways in which we allow negative influences into our homes without really realizing it. I will be the first to admit that I did justify a few of the shows that I enjoyed watching... So, combined with that and the opportunity to save a little money, we made the big cut. When I called to cancel the lady asked why I wanted to cancel and I said, " because we don't want to watch tv anymore." She seemed taken back by this and responded, " is there any other reason?" uh... what more can I say? Anyway, it has been hard not to get my daily fix of Gilmore Girls and all the other silly shows I watched, but I have been enjoying the fact the it seem like we have a lot more time on our hands. We are looking forward to finding new ways to fill our time so if anyone has any recommendations, let us know!

AMeriCAn IdOl COnCERt!!

After 7 months, Brett and I had our first big outing without Ryan. I was sad to leave him, but he was with my mom and dad, so I knew he was in good hands! I loved this season of AI so much that I convinced Brett to take me to the concert! We went with my brother and two of his friends. The concert was really fun. It was definately obvious who was really, truely good when you saw them live. I enjoyed Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, and the Davids the most. Brooke White was fun to watch too, but wasn't as dynamic of a performer as the others. Thanks mom and dad for making it possible to have fun night on the town! At the Staples Center... it was weird feeling like we didn't have a kid again. It is crazy that we used to do stuff like this all of the time. Now we can really appreciate the times when we can hit the town!
Big Ty, Big Pimpin'
Our sweet seats... at the VERY top of the Staples Center. You could not get any higher. I was afraid to stand up!
Wow. You have really got to love him to wear this shirt!
This has nothing to do with AI, I just thought it was a funny picture! I sure missed him when we were out!

Fourth of July Pictures

Representin'
Ryan loves his awesome "my first fourth" glasses
Cooling off in the pool with mom
Ryan getting to know Uncle Rick

Happy Fourth of July!

I love this holiday! I am so grateful to live in this country where we are able to enjoy so many rights and liberites. I am always in awe as I read about our history at the sacrifice that so many people before us have made to make this country what it is today. It is so apparent to me that these was a Divine hand leading this country to freedom. As I was thinking about this last night, it made me realize the huge respoinsibility we have to be involved in the government. After all, isn't that what our forefathers fought for - a government for the people and by the people? There are so many things today that I want to stand up for to keep America the way it began and to uphold those values that I believe that America should stand for. I am just an old fashioned, patriotic girl and proud of it!

Besides the big celebration going on today, we have had some fun, family events.

My little brother, "Big Ty" graduated from High School! He is one of the greatest kids that I know. He is a wonderful example to me, even though I am the older sister. It is crazy that he is going to college! In my mind he will forever my my 8 year old little buddy! We couldn't get agood pic of all of us. This is the one that had most of us looking at the camera!

This is Ryan's new face! I took him to the beach to get some good pictures and he just pulled this out of nowhere. He realizes now that he can make us laugh and so he does this all of the time!

Brett went to Charlotte for a week, so Ry and I hung out with my family and took two trips to the beach. He really loves to eat sand. I should have stopped him, but instead, I took a picture! Brett has to take a little break from swimming because he had nose surgery yesterday! It was a fairly easy out-patient procedure, but they had to put him out, so he was quite out of it all day. Hopefully it helps and he can breathe better!

This is Ryan just being cute with food all over his face!