Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season!

Here are some pictures of our Christmas

Mesa Lights

We were able to take a trip down to the Mesa Temple to see the magnificent light display there. As an added bonus we were able meet up with Karen's Best Friend Crystel and her family. Ryan got along well with her boys great, they were like the 3 amigos!

Christmas day at home

We were able to enjoy having our own family Christmas at home together and enjoying the presents as we went along. The kids seemed very happy with everything they got.

(Kaylee is in Red, Renee is in Yellow)

They loved the easel we got for Ryan.... so Merry Christmas girls!!

Ryan still absolutely LOVES Buzz Lightyear, and especially this one that spins and lights up!!

He also really loves Lightening McQueen (well anything) from the movie Cars!

The girls enjoyed their presents open or unopened....

and had interesting and clever ways of how to tackle opening them...

The BEST gift of all

Christmas with Joe's Family

Ryan had fun having Grandma come in to town, but she wasn't the only one who came with her.....Santa came too!! And he knew just what Ryan wanted!! See the video below!

And Joe may not admit it but he was happy to see his mom and sister,

at least for a little while!

Aunt Bethie!

Ryan and Kenzie were like 2 peas in a pod, playing together from morning til night!

They played together, read together, sang and danced together!

2007 Talent Show

Can you say "mini me!"

Grandma and Paw Paw Smith

The girls were in awe with baby Cousin Drew...

they couldn't figure out how he got sooooo big so fast!!

(He's 3 months old and clearly bigger than they are at 1year!)

Karen made her 1st big holiday dinner and it actually turned out well!

At least everyone said they liked it and no one died!! :)

Grandma brought with her some of her homemade frosted sugar cookies,(Yummy!!)

which we all loved, but between Ryan and Kenzie eating one every 10 minutes we didn't get very many!



Grandma Joyce modeling Ryan's Rudolph antlers he made at preschool. Isn't she cute?!

Uncle Joe and Aunt Sue stopped in for a visit too



Christmas Eve we acted out the Nativity with Karen's Family at Grandma Kathy's house. Ryan was Joseph, Zoey was Mary, the twins were angels, Abbie was the Star, Kendra was a wise man and Grandma was a shepard, Joe was the narrator, I was the prop coordinator holding up the angels and star at the appropriate time, and Brian was the videographer.

The kids also made ginger bread house, can you tell who's is who's?

Christmas Night

we had a nice dinner prepared by Karen's mom and with her family

Grandpa and Grandma Ray

Karen's mom Kathy and Karen' youngest brother David-

yes that is his real hair!

Karen's brother Brian and his wife Kendra

Ryan the police man and cousin Zoey the nurse

Cousin Abbie kept on thinking that the girls were puppy dogs too!

The next dollar Ryan will get, I bet he will want Chocolate...what do you think?

Reflections

As I sit back and think about what happened one year ago today, I am overcome with a wealth of feelings and emotions. I still remember eating Christmas dinner at Karen's mom's house and Karen leaned over to me while filling her plate with creamed corn and said "Eat FAST!." I remember thinking...."I'm not ready!", but luckily the medication that Karen was taking to prevent early labor kept us at home throughout the night. Then, morning came and we went into the hospital as planned and we had our two beautiful daughters, even though I still wasn't "ready". Renee had been flipping around inside for the last month from head down to feet down off and on, that we feared the possibility of a last minute C-section. This made Karen and myself very nervous of what was to come, but we were excited to find out that this particular morning she flipped to head down and was ready for a normal delivery....until her final flip just before going into labor. Thankfully, we had such a gifted doctor who was able to deliver Renee safe and sound despite her acrobatic tricks. Yes, those were days mixed with happiness, fear, and anticipation.

I remember with Ryan, I couldn't wait to get home. The hospital chair was uncomfortable, I had to drive home to shower, and the food wasn't much to talk about. With the girls, it was different. Since I had no idea how we were going to take care TWO babies at once, I didn't mind staying in the hospital as long as possible. Karen on the other hand was peaceful and calm. She was ready to get home and tackle this blessing from the beginning. Not to say she didn't mind those last few nights of peace and quiet, but she was ready to go home.

Those next few months are kind of a blur. I have to give Karen and her mom all the credit for those first few months because they did so much. Since Karen was breastfeeding both girls, it was kind of pointless for me to get up in the wee hours of the night, except to change diapers, so most of those sleepless nights fell on Karen's shoulders. Thankfully, her mom was there to help me in the mornings, so Karen could sleep in until she felt rested.

Through the gastric reflux, the numerous diapers, and 20 minute naps, we sometimes felt like we were going to go insane. I really believe if we didn't have each other, we just may have. When Ryan was born, I just couldn't understand how I could love anyone else as much I love him. I now know that it is possible. Everyday I'm at school, I can't wait to get home and see all three of those kids running for the door to greet me. They have consumed me and taken over my heart. This past year has been such a great blessing to Karen and I that I can't wait for the coming years. I can't wait to see what they will learn next. I can't wait to teach them how to ride a bike. I can't wait to go to the daddy/daughter dance and be so proud that I have two dates, while the other dads have one. I can't wait until they bring home a young boy who is scared to death to meet their girlfriend's dad.......ok, I CAN wait for that. Guess I will have to be cleaning TWO shotguns when that happens....oh wait, I just realized I'm going to have to pay for TWO weddings...this is all happening too fast...I'm getting dizzy.

Anyway, one year ago today, two angels were brought into my life and my life has never, and will never be the same. I'm sure more angels will come some day and I'll make more room in my heart, but for now it is full and I couldn't be happier. What a great year 2007 was for us, and I hope that 2008 brings you the same joy. Happy Birthday Renee and Kaylee!

Below are some pictures of the girls opening just a few of the many, many....many presents. We are going to "officially" celebrate with some cake this weekend and we will post some pictures after that happens. Thanks to all of you who have watched the girls grow up through this blog over the past year. You are the reason we continue to do this and we love hearing your feedback. We have some Christmas pictures and videos we want to post and will let everyone know when we do. Enjoy!





Renee: "Don't even think about returning this one!"


The girls loved ripping the paper off their presents!


Kaylee: "Come on Renee! It goes Rum-pum-pum-pum"


So many to choose....but where to start?


"Team tackling" is ALWAYS a good strategy to getting the presents open fast.

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

Hello to everyone and we hope that everyone is having a great holiday season during this great celebration of our Savior's birth! We can't believe how fast it has gone, but celebrated his 3rd birthday just a few weeks ago. Lately we have been taking Ryan to Chuck E. Cheese for doing well with his potty training. Unfortunately, he has regressed a little bit with the potty training, but he is still trying hard.

Well, we knew how much Ryan loves going to Chuck E. Cheese, so it made sense to have Ryan's 3rd birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. He had a blast as did everyone who attended! Thank you to all those friends and family who came: (Grandma Kathy, Uncle Spamdrew, Uncle Brian and Aunt Kendra, Cousins Zoey and Abbie, and Friends, Spencer, Lauren, Kara, Jeremy and Carter.) Thank you also to Grandma Smith, Grandpa Blunier, Grandma Jane, and Friends Karl&Lauren and Jeanette and Laura for the cards! (He ABSOLUTELY loves getting mail!) And also thank to Nic for calling and wishing Ryan a HAP-PPPPPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!:)

We posted some pictures below of the fun day and we hope he always remembers how much fun he had.


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Ryan was always trying to get more and more tickets.


Ryan, Zoey, and Uncle Brian battling it out...I think Uncle Brian is cheating.


Ryan vs Spamdrew and Abbie....Spamdrew needs the help of a one year old to win!


The girls getting their telephone skills down early.


If she could only reach the pedals...


Ryan vs. Mommy...Ryan wins even if Mommy cheats!

Ryan: "No Kaylee, the driver gets to pick the radio station"
Kaylee: "Ryan! Watch where you're going!"
Renee: "Can I get out please?"

Ryan should have eaten his Wheaties that day. Just needed a little more umph!

Zoey: "Wow...I didn't realize 0.25 mph was so much fun"

Daddy helping Ryan blow out all three of his candles. What Ryan doesn't know won't hurt him.


Now Ryan can stop stealing Daddy's tools.

Ryan just a little surprised to see such a big bag of blocks.

Renee: "I'm ready for my close up Mr. De Mille"

Ryan was pretty exited about all of his new toys!

Chuck E. even made a special visit to our table and let Ryan dance with him.

A tired Party of 5, as we head out the door.

See poll at the top of the page!