Thanks-tmas?

Talk about an awesome week! It was such an nice and relaxing vacation, we came home refreshed and renewed! It all started with my very first Girl's Trip with my great friend, Ashleigh. I had so much fun with her and I can't wait for our next adventure! I was hesitant to leave my boys at first because Reese was really sick. He pretty much had it all- vomiting, diarrhea, and an ear infection, probably a soar throat, and a cough to top it all off. He was really miserable but Ryan said he could handle it so I left it up to him! Carson came down with a little bug too but not nearly as bad as Reese but by the time I came home, they were on the uphill mend! I'm going to leave Ry with the kids the next time they get sick, that's the way to go! :) 

Ashleigh and I headed down to Boise because she needed to get an new glass eye. Maybe she'll blog her story later but in short, she had retinal blastoma when she was little and has had a fake eye since she was 18 months old. I got to tag along on the doctor appointments and I thought it was fascinating! If I were to  do school over again and choose a real career I would totally be a optometrist. This guy wasn't a real optometrist but it was still really cool to watch him work!

 So exciting!

I was pretty bummed when a few of my good friends had already taken off for their Thanksgiving breaks by the time we got to Boise but we did get to meet up with these lovely ladies and had a blast chatting at Chili's.

The roads got kind of scary on the way home but we had no problems and made it home safe. We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the Crandalls and the Fazios and Grandma Spencer even made the trek to join us! 

There was so much snow we couldn't not go sledding. The boys had so much fun and I couldn't not take a million pictures of their cute smiling faces!

I'm so bummed that the snowflake got in the way. This would've been the best picture!

So . . . here goes, my first blog post ever. Jenny's been pressuring me lately to join in on our family blog, and I've finally given in. "Guys are doing it too," she says. I'm not entirely convinced that's true, but I figured the occasional post would give me an opportunity to share the family stories that I find entertaining (sorry, there's no guarantee that they'll be funny to anyone else). At the very least, it will allow me to share my side of the story and thereby preserve my dignity to some degree.

So I'll began with a story from tonight. We had just finished meeting with our "teach homers" (home teachers in Carsonian), and the boys were being their usual rowdy selves. Reese was runny around laughing diabolically like a comic book super-villian, and Carson was taking swan dives off the bar stool onto our couch (incredibly without any injuries). Carson then came up to Jenny and me and told us he had new nicknames for all of us. They were funny enough (at least to me) that I felt they merited eternal digital preservation on the pages of this blog. So here they are:

Kyooki (Dad - apparently I'm Asian)

Muddy (Mom)

Buddy Peeber (Carson)

Pooger (Reese)

Plinko (the dog we don't have)

Buddy Peeber is my personal favorite. I'm thinking of using the names in a futuristic sci-fi adventure I've been working on. It's loosely based on our family stories but set on a distant planet where the human population is facing annihilation at the hand of an alien species. A young boy, Buddy Peeber, is their only chance for salvation. What do you think? I'd like to hear your suggestions, so please pass them along.

On a different note, I'd also like to someday use this blog to share my music. I arrange music and write original songs from time to time, and I'm working on recording them. Unfortunately, law school keeps me busy and the going is slow. But keep posted, hopefully I'll have something to share in the not-too-distant future.

- Ry

Carson Quote(s) of the Day

Just spread some butter on it and EAT NUTS!

Translation: he would like a peanut butter sandwich.


Mom, Reese just bit me like a peach!

Does watching a show make me old and crazy?  

Halloween

So I finally figured out what blogger's problem was... did you know it automatically puts all the pictures that you post on your blog into a Picasa Web Album? I didn't even know I had a Picasa Web Album but apparently it's full so I couldn't post any more pictures.

We had a great Halloween this year! It was especially nice because we just re-used the same costumes that I made last year. When I put them on the boys I was really surprised they still fit! Reese's was a little tight but it was still perfect. 

Ryan was Dumbledore

Carson was Draco Malfoy, I was Professor Trelawney, and Reese was the snitch.

Our ward didn't put on a Halloween party so the Primary presidency (I'm the second councilor) decided to put on a little party for the kids. It was fun! We had homemade soups with bread bowls, face painting

donuts on a string, the fishing game, pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern, and a cake walk.

 A lot of people came, there was hardly any room to move around but that's what made it fun! Afterward, all the kids went trick-or-treating around the complex. It was perfect for this age because they got plenty of candy and it was just enough walking around for their little legs. Carson kept saying "I love Halloween! It's the best ever! My bag is getting fuller and fuller!" Reese would go up to each door, knock with his cute little knuckles, and say "tik or teat" but every time he would try and go in the house and inevitability trip on the step. I can't wait until next year when Reese is a little older and can really understand and get as excited as Carson!

Puzzles

 

 So I guess this will be the only picture because blogger is being stupid. It's telling me that I've used all my storage space but I've deleted a bunch of posts and pictures and that didn't do anything so then I tried used photobucket and that won't work either. So I'm out of ideas. Any suggestions on how to make posting less annoying?

Reese has really been into puzzles lately. It's been awhile since I've gotten them out because he would put them in his mouth and because they're made out of wood, it didn't turn out so well. But he's really good at them and is completely entertained for a long time with any puzzle. Most of you moms probably don't think that's something special, but Carson never got into puzzles so this is a pleasant surprise. It's the cutest thing too because he has to open his mouth to be able to get them in just right, helps with concentration! :)