The Things I'm Thankful For...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent Thanksgiving over at my sister Natalie's house. We also had some friends that came too. It was a lot of fun relaxing and spending time together with family and friends. It was also wonderful having Billy off of work for a few days. Ryan loved it. Billy and I used to cook a lot together before Ryan came along. Now, it's usually me cooking and Billy playing with Ryan. On Thanksgiving I was cooking all morning. During Ryan's nap Billy helped. It was fun being together in the kitchen. We made: pecan pie (Billy's request), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and homemade rolls. Everyone contributed to the yummy feast we had.

As I contemplate on the season I have a lot to be thankful for. While there is not any possible way I can write everything down, here's just some of the things I'm thankful for:

1. The gospel of Jesus Christ which allows us the opportunity to return to our Heavenly Father someday.
2. The atonement which allows me to be forgiven of my shortcomings.
3. The Temple and temple blessings.
4. The opportunity that Families can be Together Forever.
5. A wonderful mother who is doing a special work!
6. A father who is giving and has taken on the responsibility of filling 2 roles.
7. A husband who honors his Priesthood and loves me just the way I am!
8. Billy's job that puts a roof over our head, food in our bellies, and allows me to stay home with our sweet daughter Ryan.
9. A beautiful daughter who is healthy and brings me and her daddy TONS of joy! I love her so much!
10. Good health.
11. An education that has allowed me to further my knowledge and made me capable of helping provide for my family if needed.
12. A husband who will graduate in 2 weeks! Yeah!
13. The library: here's to free DVD rentals!
14. The Biggest Loser workout DVD: you're probably laughing, but the DVD gives you a great workout!
15. My eternal family!

Billy's Triathlon

A few weeks ago Billy did his first triathlon...with minimal training. One of his friends asked Billy if he wanted to do it with him and so with about 1 month to spare, Billy decided that was enough time to get trained. Well....with our trip to Okinawa, Billy in school, life, etc. he didn't get much training time in. He went to the pool once. BUT, he thought that with playing basketball 4xs a week and playing softball that he'd be okay.
I was really proud of Billy for doing it. He did a great job. He didn't have a road bike so used his mountain bike instead (which probably slowed him down even more b/c as he put it, "I was pedaling as fast as I could and middle-aged women were passing me up.") He had fun and would even consider doing another one....that is, if he has a road bike next time.

I did it!

I have a really good friend who is having a baby shower on Saturday. I wanted to make her a couple of baby blankets for her gift. Now, have I ever sewn anything by myself before? No. Do I even know anything about sewing? Minimum. So, this was a huge idea that I got in my head. Let's just say, I'm trying to develop some talents that my mom had. My mom was the best seamstress I have ever known. She could sew anything. She had her embroidery sewing machine, surger, and a high-tech upholstery sewing machine (Juki). When my mom passed away the girls went through her sewing stuff in an attempt to help my dad organize some things. She had TONS of stuff. Gadgets that I didn't even know what they did. She had shelves full of fabric. My parents have a shed full of patterns and polyester from her making rugs. I remember growing up whenever my mom would sew we always had to watch our feet because there would be pins all over the floor. When someone needed something sewn, fixed, etc. they went to her. She loved making dresses for the grand kids and was in the beginning stages of starting up her own company making blessing/Christening dresses. She was amazing!

With 4 daughters I think she was hoping one of us would have the desire/talent to sew like she did. I guess she guessed it would be me or my sister Natalie because I couple of years ago she bought us both a sewing machine. I didn't have a big desire at the time so the sewing machine stayed in the box until this past year. Natalie, on the other hand, took to it and is really good at sewing. When my mom died I had this urgency/desire to try to carry on some of the wonderful talents she did. Unfortunately I don't have the best person in the world to learn from; my mom. When I pulled out my machine I didn't even know how to thread it correctly...ahh! I needed my mom. I turned to my next best option, my sister. She came to my house, helped me set up my machine, and supervised my first sewing project (thank you Natalie!). The blankets are pretty easy (took only about 1 hr. each). I did one with Natalie and another one by myself. Even though they were easy, I'm proud of myself and I'm making mom proud! I have more confidence and might even try tackling another sewing project.

C'est la vie!

So after Billy, Ryan, and I went on our big trip to Okinawa we knew that our "play money" was dwindling and with Christmas coming we needed to be careful during the upcoming months. Well then this came in the mail; invitations to: 1 birthday party, 2 baby showers, 4 wedding receptions, 1 bridal shower, 1 baptism, 1 missionary farewell, 1 triathlon, and city league softball....all in November! There goes our great idea!

Friends Come to Visit!

Billy and I have some dear friends that came to visit about a month ago. Dave and Sue are our good friends; they are family to us. Dave used to be my tennis coach when we lived in CA. I met him when I started playing tennis in H.S., which evolved into a great friendship with him and his wife. I remember playing tennis at school and then going to his house for a couple more hours of fun on the tennis court, tennis on weekends, and practice for tennis tournaments. I remember I lived for tennis during those years. Tennis was also a big part of my courtship with Billy. Our first date was playing tennis. We then began to play every Friday night. He even proposed to me on the tennis court! I still love to play, but being in AZ has really limited my opportunities to play with Dave.

Ryan loved playing with Sue. Sue made her a beautiful crocheted blanket when she was born. Thanks for coming to visit!

Ryan is growing up so fast. She has this walker that she loves to walk around in. It works out great when I'm trying to clean my house. She just follows me around everywhere I go.

I love when Grandpa comes to visit!

We had a special visitor come for Halloween. My dad came for Halloween and we had a lot of fun. He arrived on Wed. night (10/28) and left on Sun. night (11/1). Our days were packed. Thanks for coming dad. We love you!

Here is Ryan showing off her 2 teeth!

Halloween 2009

This year we had a lot of fun on Halloween because we had a little cutie that got to dress-up! Ryan was a monkey for Halloween (the costume looks more like a bear). She had a lot fun going trick-or-treating with her cousins. She even got to hold a candy and thought that was the best.

Our little monkey!

Ryan got a few pieces of candy. She enjoyed holding the candy and making noises with the wrappers.