A Christmas Surprise

Christmas is such a fun time to spoil people with gifts, but it can be really easy to go overboard.  I know my kids don't really need any more toys or electronics, but what else do you get them?  It's what they like.  I really felt strongly this year that I did not want to go that route.  I didn't want to invest money into items that would be played with a few times and then forgotten.  So this year Spencer and I did something a little bit different.  We decided to give the kids an early Christmas present and take them to the Great Wolf Lodge.  Check-in would be Friday, December 23rd and we would come home on Saturday, Christmas Eve, in time for family celebrations.  Apparently, we weren't the only ones who thought this sounded like a good idea because a few of our friends jumped in on it too.  The only question that lingered as we got closer to the date was how to tell the boys.  I think I came up with a pretty fun idea.  I found a picture on my computer from a previous visit to the water park.  I inserted text on the photo and then printed it on 8X10 photo paper.  I glued 2 extra sheets of card stock to the back for thickness and then drew puzzle pieces on the card stock side.  I then carefully cut out all of the pieces to create a puzzle the kids could put together, revealing their gift.

On the morning of the 23rd, we gathered the boys around the kitchen table and told them that we would like to give them an early present.  I handed over all of the puzzle pieces and they proceeded to put it together.  When they finally got it assembled they repeated with excitement that they were going to the Great Wolf Lodge.  Austin asked "When?", to which we relied, "Right Now!"  They ran up the stairs and packed their bags in a hurry.  We arrived around 1:30 p.m. and immediately headed to the water park.  That evening our entire group went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then hit the arcade afterwords.  The water park opened up at 9:00 a.m.the following morning and we were among the first ones to enter. We stayed and played until 1:00 p.m. and then made our journey home so we could officially get our Christmas festivities started.

Ryan & Misti Ridgeway

Mike & Amanda Chan

Brian & Rebecca Chan

Years of Memories

This year for Spencer's birthday I wanted to do something different, and something a little extra special.  I came across this link on pinterest  (http://nothingbutbonfires.com/2011/06/sixty-years-memories) that sparked an idea I thought I could pull off.  It involved acquiring lots of different memories from people who have known Spencer throughout different stages of his life.  I called this "Years of Memories".  I sent the following message via email to several of Spencer's closest friends and family members:

Hello Everyone!

I have a big favor to ask of you. Spencer will be turning 35 this month, and to celebrate his birthday I’d like to put together a little surprise for him. I am trying to create a “Years of Memories” present by filling several envelopes with a memory his friends and family have of him.

And this is where you come in!

If you have a spare moment in the next few days, I would be so grateful if you’d jot down a favorite memory you have of Spencer. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy—you can mention anything you’d like, although, the more nostalgic the better! You may email me back your response and I can simply print the note/letter and place it in an envelope. Or, if you would prefer to hand write it you may mail it to the address below.

Thank you so, so, so much for participating -- I know everyone is busy with their own lives, and I do appreciate you taking a few minutes to do this; it will be so worth it when he reads all the memories people have of him! (Please don't forget to keep it a surprise until then, though!)

Again, thank you so much!

It was a lot of fun getting responses back to this request.  So many of the stories that came in about Spencer brought back a ton of memories I have of him as well.  As I received the letters I would print them off and place them into their own envelope, all identical.  I decided last minute to write the names of each author on the front of the envelope, and I am glad I did because Spencer chose to save some of the letters for last.  Once all of the letters were received, I wrapped the entire stack in ribbon and created a little card which explained everything. 

I was very excited to give this present to Spencer.  It just so happened that on his birthday we had a long drive ahead of us.  Just before we left I told him that I would like to drive because he had a present to open.  I then handed him the stack and he looked a little taken back.  The first thing he did was flip through the stack and read the names of people who shared a memory.  I could tell he was excited to read the stories people have of him.  One by one I watched him work his way through.  When all was said and done he thanked me and told me what a cool gift it was to receive.  I can't take credit for all of it though.  This would not have been pulled off if so many wonderful people had not participated.  So thanks goes out to anyone who was involved in this surprise for Spencer!  I love you Spencer, and happy birthday!!

Flowering Pots

I was feeling a little crafty this Christmas season and decided to make some "Flowering Pots" that the boys could give to their teacher's.  I was able to get all of the items I needed at Walmart and the best part was everything was so inexpensive!  Each gift cost me less than $2.00 to make.  In the Christmas section at Walmart I found these super cute, miniature size buckets.  I bought a brick of floral foam and cut it down to fit the entire inside of the bucket.  Using a hot glue gun, I secured the foam to the bottom and then glued enough peat moss down to hide the foam.  Each bucket took about 18 tootsie pops to fill.  After everything was done, I created a little card saying, "Merry Christmas", glued it to a skewer stick and stuck it in the middle.  Who knows if the teacher's liked them, but they sure looked cute when all was said and done!  :-)

I Believe

  "No one can measure the effect of an unselfish act of kindness.  By small, simple

things great things do indeed come to pass.  Of course, gifts given and gifts received

make Christmas special.  For many children Christmas Eve is a very long night as they

look forward with eager anticipation to the gifts Santa brings, which is why children love

Santa Claus.  Let me share what someone once said about Santa Claus:  First of all, he's a

joyous individual ... Next, Santa Claus is interested in making others happy.  He increases

the happy moments in the life of everyone he meets.  He loves his work; he gets fun out of

his job.  He is childlike, simple, humble, sincere and forgiving.  Finally, he is a giver. His

philosophy is to give himself away in service.  He is a friend to everyone.  He smiles. 

Perhaps you and I could attain greater happiness if we emulated Santa Claus a little

more, for his way is the way of the Infant Jesus."

President James E. Faust

(First Presidency Christmas Devotional, 1998)

Our Progressive Thanksgiving

One thing that I have come to learn, and accept, about Spencer and I is the fact that we are always on the go.  We love to get together with friends and family and could play all day long.  So that is exactly what we did this Thanksgiving.  We played all day, and all night long, going from one place to another.  The day started out at McCormick Park.  Spencer organized a Turkey Bowl game while I organized a 5K Turkey Trot run.  Thanks to dry weather the guys had a great time playing football and I was so pleased with how many people showed up for the run.  We had a great group of 16 people (not all pictured) and hopefully next year there'll be even more.  Oh yes, this will be a tradition.

 After our early morning exercise, we headed out to the Ridgeway's house to shoot guns.  Traditions are the best and that's one tradition we can't let die.  Everyone looks forward to shooting clay birds and it gives us all a chance to pull out our shot guns and dust them off.   

 Mom & Dad hosted dinner at their house and we ate at 4:00 p.m.  Sitting at the table this year was Kathryn and her family, as well as Jeff and his.  I always find it enjoyable getting together with Spencer's family.  I love the stories they share and you can feel the love they have for one another.  Thanksgiving is definitely a time in which I am extremely grateful for family!  After dinner we went over to the Kalauli's to play games and eat more dessert.  I must admit we were a little rowdy while playing games so we'll have to wait and see if we ever get invited back.  :-)  Black Friday started early this year with a kick off at Walmart at 10:00 p.m.  Throw in 3 very short hours of sleep and then we were back at it for another 8 fun-filled hours.  The Ridgeway's were with us so there was never a dull moment.  Literally we had a blast!

Track & Field

Watching Ryan run through the years has been a highlight for our family.  We are so proud of him and all of his accomplishments.  Right now he holds the 2nd place all time record for the 800 meter run in BYU's history.  Pretty awesome!  Ryan's coach, Ed Eyestone, is a former Olympian runner himself, so I'd say he is in good hands.  We hope that if it's Ryan's dream to run in the Olympics someday that we can be there front and center to cheer him on.  That would be an awesome experience!        

Beautiful Friends!!

"Even though we change and we're

all finding our own place in the

world, we all know that when the

tears fall or the smile spreads across

our face, we'll come to each other

because no matter where this crazy

world takes us, nothing will ever

change so much to the point where

we're not still friends".

(lifeisabeautifulstruggle.tumblr.com)

Shannon, Sheila, Paige, Myself & Jenn

These silly ladies are some of my closest friends!! Some of them were there to celebrate the arrival of my first born son with me, over 9 years ago. Through the years we have seen each other's family take shape into the joyful families they are now. We also share a lot in common with each other which has been the bonding element for all these years. It's fun to reflect on the many memories and traditions we have created and will still continue to create. There will be a time where we will be many miles apart from each other, but like the quote above, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not still friends! Thank you ladies for being you!

My Little Clones

My boys are becoming more and more like me everyday ... ah ohhh!! Some of the habits they are picking up make me chuckle because they are the exact same bad habits I have. The other day I came downstairs and found all three of my boys sitting on the couch watching cartoons munching on a handful of raw spaghetti noodles. It's the most horrific sound, like teeth being ground. and I honestly don't know what it is about raw pasta noodles, but we love them. Are we lacking some kind of mineral in our system or something? Oh, and as a side note, wide egg noodles are the best because they are thinner, but you gotta be careful of the pointy edges. Those can hurt! ;-)

He Said, She Said

How long have you been married? 11 years, 7 months.

How long did you date? 7 months, including engagement.

Who eats the most sweets? I do, definitely. He drinks the most pop though.

Who said I love you first? Spencer told me after returning from a hunting trip a month after we started dating. I said it back of course. I guess time apart made the heart grow fonder.

Who's taller? He is by a whole foot! I'm 5'5" and he is 6'5".

Who sings better? Spencer has an amazing singing voice. I truthfully can't sing, but I love to karaoke anyway.

Who's smarter? Once again, Spencer has a wealth of useless knowledge. He's actually pretty good at Jeopardy. I'm not so good.

Who does the laundry? I do.

Who pays the bills? No one. Just kidding, I do.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. The left side just feels awkward.

Who mows the lawn? It's about even.

Who drives? Always Spencer. There would only be two reasons in which I drove; either he would be sleepy, or I would be picking him up from work to join me for lunch.

Who admits they are wrong? I'd probably say I'm the first one to, but Spencer will as well. He taught me before we were married, that it's more important to settle a conflict then to be right. It may take me a while, but I usually come around.

Who kissed who first? Spencer kissed me while on a double date with someone else. She was my best friend and luckily she didn't mind. And, luckily my date didn't mind either!

Who asked out who first? I guess after he kissed me, we kind of just assumed we'd see each other again soon. He said I'll see you at church tomorrow.

Who wears the pants? I think I have a pretty good say, but the final decision I must admit is always Spencer's.

He's Four!

Andrew, my baby, is now four years old. Four! I certainly don't feel four years older so how can he be? I find it interesting that with each passing year, changes in adults are so gradual, so sometimes it feels as if time stands still. I know it doesn't. And I am reminded about that fact all the time when I see a child who looks like they've grown up overnight. Boy am I glad that at my age I'm not growing up overnight! :-) But my baby is certainly growing up. I took him to his 4 yr. well child check-up and he is in the 95th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight. He's no petite boy and it won't be long before he surpasses Cameron. Andrew is such a joy to our house and sure brings in a lot of energy. Here are a few questions I asked him.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Storm Trooper

What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite food? Pizza, Steak & Apples

What is your favorite toy? McDonalds Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal Toys

What is your favorite movie? Kung Fu Panda 2 and Cars 2

Who are you going to marry? Josie

Who is your best friend? Josie