Funny Stories

Ok, so here are a few cute things that Maddison has done recently. We took her to go see the Christmas Nativities at the church and explained that all the nativities had stars because that is what the shepherds followed to get to the baby Jesus. Well when we got home she was playing with the kids nativity and had it all set up and asked me "Mom will you be the shepherd and I will be the star?" She then stood there with her hands together and a big smile on her face.

Another cute thing she did was in church they did a test run as Sunbeams. They asked the kids what they knew about Christmas. She raised her hand and said that Santa comes down the chimney. That was funny but the real humor lies in the fact that on our way to church we were listening to Christmas music and the song "Santa Baby" came on. She asked me "Mom, is Santa going to hurry down our chimney tonight?" So I had to explain how Santa comes down the chimney to visit all the boys and girls. I left out the part about the true meaning of that song.

She is always saying the cutest things and I am ging `to try to be better and recording them.

Family Photo

Here are some of the family pictures that my friend Ku'ulei took. Ryan was such a goofball the entire time but it was a good day and we had fun.

More Pictures

My friend Ku'ulei has started learning about photography and is incredible. So I asked her to take some pictures of the kids. Well the day we decided to do it was freezing and windy. The kids were good sports about it and did well considering the conditions. However, when I saw the tears in James eyes as he was smiling I thought "maybe we better take them inside." Ku'ulei did an amazing job. Here are some of the shots.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Ok, so I know it has been forever since I have posted but with the holidays things are getting crazy. I am sure it is like that for everyone. James has finally had his two front teeth come through so hopefully night time will go better. We had to take him to the ER a week ago because he had croup. I don't know why my kids are so prone to getting it. Maddison has had it several times but we never had to go to the ER. Anyway, he is recovering well but still has a pretty nasty cough. He is also sitting up well (finally). It is hard not to compare the kids because Maddison was already crawling by this time but we know each has a individual personality.

Our Turkey day went well. I cooked it and everything turned out pretty well. Minus the fact that my apple pie didn't have enough flour in the sauce and so it was runny. Oh well. Ryan and my brother went to go play in the Turkey bowl and the kids and I went with them. We bundled up the kids but not against the Texas wind and I had to bring James home early. Maddison was freezing but wanted to stay so I left a big blanket with her. When I came back 20 minutes later Ryan was holding her with the blanket and she was frozen and shivering and her face and hands were solid red. Yet she still didn't want to go. Ryan told her we could come back when it got warmer. So I gave her some hot chocolate on the way home that I had brought and she started to warm up in the car. When we got home she got out of the car and said "look it got warmer, can we go back?" I told that it hadn't gotten warmer but she warmed herself up. She was sad but when the boys got back she was fine. Also she now lets me do two french braids on her hair and just looks darling.

The day after Thanksgiving we were bored so Ryan decided to take the kids and I to Chucky Cheeses. Ryan and I were trying so hard to get lots of tickets for Maddison so she could get a cool prize but when we went to cash in our tickets the only thing she wanted was a 20 ticket butterfly ring. Just goes to show ya that it is the small and simple things. :) Here are a couple picture from those two days.

Ok so I've been tagged and I normally don't continue these things but i like reading the six facts about people. Here are the rules:
The rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. These past 3 months I have read all the Harry Potter books. Nerdy I know but I needed an escape so I read books.
2. I absolutely love peanut butter on almost everything. I am surprised I don't weigh 500 lbs.
3. I have started doing musical theater again. Most recently was Ruth in Seven Brides and Marian the Librarian in Music Man.
4. I am a financial nazi. I have to have things balance down to the penny.
5. I bite my lip when I am nervous, upset or sad. Sometimes I make myself bleed without knowing it.
6. I love working out. It has become my new escape.

My six people are Amanda F, Heather G, Laura H, Liz E, Melissa, Liz S

Bubbles

Here are a couple of pictures of the family out playing with bubbles. The one of James with the funny face is actually him doing a kissing face. It is his new trick.

We went to a pumpkin patch yesterday to pick out a few small pumpkins for Maddison and James. Really though I just wanted to take pictures of Maddison and James. There was a guy there who was very nice and posed with us even though he was just there looking for things. Maddison afterwards said she wanted to go and get her costume so we could "go do Halloween." She doesn't quite get that Halloween is a few weeks away. We did go and get her costume and she picked out a darling Dorothy outfit from Wizard of Oz. She wore it all day yesterday and wanted to wear it again today. I will post more pictures after Ryan gets a chance to touch them up.

Photos

Ryan has found a new hobby that we are both thrilled to have him start. He went out and bought a new camera that is a really nice one and he is teaching himself photography. He is just doing it himself but is doing really well. The best part of the camera is that it takes really nice action photos so we can catch our darling kids doing all kinds of cute things. Here are a few of the photos he took on morning walks and evenings at the park and playing with the kids at the house.

We are Here

Well we made it through the 3 most hectic weeks of our lives. I finished up with the play and everything went so well. I must admit that I am kind of going through withdrawl. I made some great friends during the play who were such a great support to me. For any of you reading this, thanks and I love ya! The day after we finished the play the kids flew with Grandma and Grandpa to Texas and Ryan and I started our drive with the cat. Yeah it was long but it gave us time to relax a bit. During the play and getting ready to pack and leave I had some wonderful friends from the ward come and redo our kitchen cabinets. I will post pictures when I get them but to say the least, Gus, Jen and Kathy, you are amazing and thank you so much. Hopefully we will be able to sell our condo easier without the bright red cabinets.

Things are starting to settle down at my parents house. I am working on unpacking and organizing the upstairs so we are not too much of a burden to my parents while we are here. Maddison loves being at "Grandma and Grandpa's in Texas" and still says lets drive to Texas and go to Grandma's. I don't think she realizes that we are here and staying. Hopefully our lives will calm down now and everything will start to go a little better for us. Ryan started his job yesterday and we both feel it is a good company to work for and we know this is where we are supposed to be right now.

Well we went to one last big visit at Grandma and Grandpa Alldredge's before we move to Texas. Grandma and Kristi were playing at a barn dance so we all got dressed up for it. Ryan and I are wearing Grandma and Grandpa Scholes authentic square dancing outfits. It was pretty funny. We are embarrassing our kids early :) It was really fun and the entire family had a really fun time. Ryan even got out and danced with me. It was his first time wearing boots but it got him in the dancing mood.
Maddison and Aliya had fun dancing with Ryan. Aliya wouldn't let Ryan go all night long so he got a great workout.

Texas Here we come

Well I know it has been a while since I posted but things have been crazy. The play starts this weekend and besides being completely not ready, things are fine :) Ryan is incredible and has landed a great job with Parkway construction and we are moving to Texas the day after the play ends. My mom has come up and is helping us pack because I am so busy with the play and because I hurt my back. Thank goodness for moms. She is such a blessing. So I guess I will be seing some of you soon. We are very excited and will be better at keeping everyone updated when things slow down a little.

New cat

Well as part of a deal we finally got Maddison a cat. Ryan and her made a deal that if she went two weeks without a potty accident she could get a cat. Well she made it and this is Pixie. She is a 1 1/2 year old cat we adopted from the humane society. She just had kittens in April but that is taken care of now. She is really laid back and likes to lick faces. Maddison is thrilled and I just think Ryan is the best for it.

Firsts

This is James' first popscicle. He loved it to say the least. Ryan decided it was time for this first and of coarse James loves him for it :)

At it again

Well folks I am at it again. These are pictures of me 3 months pregnant (not knowing it) and participating in crazy dancing and lift in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Sandy Amphitheatre. Well I am at it again. Ryan convinced me 6 weeks after having James to try out for the Draper theater's production of Music Man. Well I not only got in but am playing the role of Marian the Librarian. So if you are in Utah come see it the first week in September at Juan Diego Highschool. I won't be doing crazy stuff like this but it will be fun. See ya.

This was on the 4th of July. We had originally planned to go to Fillmore but instead decided to stay and spend time with the Aunts from Texas. We had a blast. Chris was visiting from Washington D.C. and Sheri came up from Provo. We all went swimming and then had a BBQ. Afterward everyone crashed for a few hours of sleep (except me), to get ready for fireworks.

We actually got a good picture of Ryan's family. That is a hard thing to do with three trouble making grown boys :)

Here are some pictures of James' blessing. Ryan's family came from Fillmore and St. George and my family was still visiting from Texas. It was lots of fun to have everyone there.

James was born Friday April 13th, 2007 at 3:40 PM in Salt Lake City, Utah. He weighed 7lbs 7oz and measured 19.5 inches.

New Family Blog

Hello Family and Friends,
We have finally decided to join the blog craze. Please allow us some time to get pictures and things set up and hopefully we will bring all of you up to date. Let us know if you all have blogs so we can all stay connected. Thanks!