That Explains It

Ryker woke up this morning we noticed that he finally cut his first tooth....and his second! His first two teeth at the same time?!? No wonder he didn't feel good. Poor little guy.

Stuff

Yes, I'm alive. Barely. Our home computer decided to call it quits. I've been suffering from internet/computer withdrawals. I told Brian yesterday that I feel like a pioneer...minus the killing dinner and walking for thousands of miles. I have to wait (patiently) for Brian to get home to use the laptop. Then I feel bad because I neglect him while I catch up on everyone's lives via blog and facebook. Because, let's face it. I don't talk to anyone outside of cyberspace. It's pathetic really. Maybe I should pick up the phone or walk down the street. But I can't do that while the baby is sleeping or between loads of laundry.
So here's a snippet of our lives, (because I know you've been dying to know!):

*Went to the Utah/BYU game...it rocked! Go Utes! (Sorry Cougar fans....really)
* Stayed in a condo at Powder Mountain last weekend...so fun to get away
*Ryker gained 1 pound 4 ounces in the last month....so proud of my porker! He is now 13 pounds and 7 months old
*Stressing over the ward Christmas party because that's what I do best
*Really wish I would have finished our Christmas cards prior to the computer crash. I had high hopes of having them out the first week of December.
*We are sick with the crud....

Which is why I am logging off and going to sleep....eventually.

In Case You Were Wondering

Phew, I feel better.

Now that everyone knows how I feel, go and have yourselves a very Happy Thanksgiving!

What Have You Done?

I saw this on my friend Katie's blog and thought I would give it a try.
(The bolded red ones are things I HAVE done.)

What have you done?
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept overnight on a train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when your not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden a gondola in Switzerland
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen Amish country
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (does teaching piano count?)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving....and I never will!
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt...I'm in the process
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous...Steph and Kathryn, remember "Legacy Boy" at EFY?
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. One cavity or less

Boy...there's a lot more I need to add to my bucketlist! (minus the skydiving of course)

Lucky 7 Tag

**7 Things I Can Do**

1)I can vacuum, blog, pick up toys, make dinner, wash mirrors, check emails...all with 1 hand

2) I can make nice little stacks of things I need to organize/put away....but don't.

3) I can listen to Wicked and Mamma Mia soundtracks over and over and over again.

4) I can waste an entire nap time playing Word Challenge and still never beat Kim's score.

5)I can play every hymn in the hymn book....some better than others.

6)I can unscramble letters in the game Huggermugger 99% of the time.

7)I can play board/card games for hours.

**7 Things I Can't Do**

1)I can't stand Wal*Mart and wish I had oodles of money so I didn't have to support them.

2)I can't play video games. I have no skills and I don't see the fascination others see in them. I just don't get it.

3)I can't swim. Maybe I could if I had to save my life or the life of my child. Maybe. I will learn how one day. It's on the top of my bucket list.

4)I can't eat soggy zucchini. It must be a little firm or I will gag. Speaking of gagging...

5)I can't brush my tongue without gagging. Brian claims it's because I stick the toothbrush down my throat. As I tell Jaxon "We must get all the stinky's off our tongue!!"

6)I can't make people be nice to each other though I wish I had that power. It really bothered me at school when kids were mean to each other. It bothers me even more when adults do mean and hurtful things to others. They should know better. Just goes to show that maturity doesn't go with age. You can never be too nice. Nice matters!

7)I can't go a day without checking blogger for updates...unless I am not around a computer....but if I am I find myself checking at least 3 times a day!

**7 Things I Love About Brian**

1) I love that he lets me sleep in on the mornings he is home. He will get up with the boys and feed them breakfast and play with them and let me sleep. He also gets up in the night with the boys. I am a very lucky girl!

2) I love that he really plays with Jaxon. He will wrestle, play Transformers, play Hot Lava (the carpet is hot lava and if you step on it you die. They throw blankets, pillows, whatever they can find, on the floor to get from point A to point B).

3)I love how excited he gets to watch the U of U and the Jazz play. He's like a little boy at Christmas! He is still hoarse from the UofU vs TCU game on Thursday....and he waited in line this morning for 4 1/2 hours for tickets to the BYU vs UofU game.

4) I love that he doesn't get upset with me. Even if I do stupid things like letting door-to-door salesmen in the house for a free carpet cleaning and then subsequently waste 4 hours of my life.

5)I love that he encourages me to do things for me. He is always willing to stay home with the boys so I can have a girls night with friends, go to Enrichment meetings, or just go to the store.

6) I love the games he plays in the car. "Who can find the first....(blue truck, police car, airplane, etc)" Jaxon will start the game on his own now! I love it!

7)I love how he is the first to volunteer to help and the last one to leave. He is always willing to help out family and friends. He can see something that needs to be done and he takes the initiative and does it.

**7 Things I Say Most Often**

1)"Jaxon! 5,4,3..."

2)"Turn off the water" said to Jaxon, who responds with "But, mom! I'm doing the dishes!"

3)"Seriously!!"

4)"I love you"

5)"Hello Ryker Bean! Did you wake up?" (usually after a 35 min nap)

6)"What to do. What to do."

7)"Just a second, bud"

**7 Celebrity Admirations**

1)Word Girl

2)Tracy Turnblad

3)Elphaba

4)Jamie Sullivan

5)Kathleen Kelly

6)Danielle "Rudy" Ruettiger

7)Jack Sommersby

**7 Favorite Foods**

1)Swedish Fish

2)Rice

3)Tootsie Rolls...fruity and regular

4)Chocolate covered cinnamon bears

5)Teriyaki Chicken

6)Salad

7)French bread

**Tag 7 people**

Heather, Jenn, Kathryn, Katherine, Julie, Kayla, Bonnie

Eenie, Meenie, Minee, Moe

...where will this election go?

I've never been big into politics, but this election, more than ever, I feel like I will be affected when the votes are tallied. Health care, education, the economy. They've all been debated in past elections but I was a child and "when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a [mom], I put away childish things." (1 Corinthians 13:11) Now I am responsible for my children's futures. Now I feel that my voice as a voter should count. Really I feel unsettled with both candidates. I believe that politicians are salesmen. They will say whatever they think will get them the votes. What they truly believe in is a mystery to me. In the end the responsibility lies in the very thing that put them in office. It comes down to the individual. It all goes back to home. The responsibility to teach my children values is in our home. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight. Still, whatever the outcome I feel peace and safety in the knowledge that we will not be abandoned in our time of need. We are still "one Nation under God".
"I am proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me. So, I'll gladly stand up next to her and defend her still today. 'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA."

Happy Halloween

This year Halloween was pretty fun. Jaxon had his first real experience with Trick-or-Treating. Well, semi-real. It's not like when I was a kid when we went to every single house in the neighborhood and came home hours later with a bag full of candy. Jaxon went around our block and got no more than 10 pieces of candy. That's fine with us and completely fine with him. I'm glad that Jaxon isn't into sweets. Don't get me wrong....he likes a good piece of sugar just like the next kid, he just doesn't LOVE it. It's pretty safe to say that Brian and I have consumed more Halloween candy than Jaxon has. He hasn't even asked for it. I wonder if he remembers?Jaxon went as a firefighter and Ryker was his faithful Dalmatian.

After the quick trick-or-treating experience we headed off to visit the grandparents and get pictures with the cousins.

Donkey, Ninja, Fireman, Dalmatian, Superman, Tinker Bell, Witch, and Dinosaur
(Wyatt, Jeffrey, Jaxon, Ryker, Garrett, Lauren, Jayne, and Isaac)

My sisters are so creative! This year Katherine and Marc went as Buddy Elf and his bride (forgot her name). Kayla and Josh went with the Shrek theme. Kayla as Princess Fionna, Josh as Shrek, Wyatt was Donkey, and Roxy was the dragon.

Brian and I had a Halloween party a few weeks ago with friends and went as Princess Leia and Obi-won-kanobi.

Next year we're starting the costume process in August....or at least before the middle of October!