The Effects of City-League Softball

It looks worse then it really was. It hurt, it swelled, but it didn't stop him from missing any games.

A Visit to the Man in Red

Ryan went to see Santa this week. She didn't cry, but certainly didn't know what to think. She's really cute and we love her! We are excited to celebrate her 1st Christmas!

The Best Money I Ever Spent

While this isn't an actual picture of the trailer in front of our house, it looked very similar. For Billy's graduation gift we decided that we would pay someone to complete all the landscape work that needed to be done at our house. With so many things going on, Billy hadn't had time to do any yard work for a LONG time. We had trees that needed to be trimmed, shrubs that needed to be trimmed, a palm tree that needed to be restaked, weeds, drip system that needed to be adjusted, etc. Our yard didn't look horrible, but we definately had plants that were overgrown. In Billy's defense, it was hard to find time to keep up with the yard. We don't even own the right tools to do the things they did. So, for Billy's graduation he got a whole new yard. They had 2 guys that were here for 6 hrs. working! Now that Billy graduates this week he promised that he would maintain everything they did. It looks great, we're happy, and as Billy put it, "It's the best money I ever spent!"

Words of a Prophet

This book came out a long time ago, long before President Monson became our prophet. I saw this book sitting on our book shelf and decided this would be the next book I read. It took me a little bit longer than I wanted...mostly because Billy decided he wanted to read it with me at night. It was a great book. This book truly inspired me. It made me want to be better, to be a better member, wife, mother, daughter, etc. If you are wanting a good book this winter, this is it!

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.

Beach Rock Village: Mon. 10/12

After we had fun at the aquarium we went to Beach Rock Village for lunch. It was located in the middle of the jungle. It was did not meet health standards in the least, but it was still a lot of fun. They had this little place where you could eat your food that overlooked the jungle. You go also go upstairs and sit on the roof to eat too. This is a picture of where they prepared the food.
Where we ate.

They had this rickety tree house that we decided to check out. It was about 75 ft. high and not very sturdy. Billy and I took turns holding Ryan so we could each go up.

In case, you didn't think it was dangerous!

More Aquarium

They had huge lobsters!

As you exit the aquarium they have an enormous tank full of fish, turtles, whale sharks, etc.

Me and Ryan! Oh, how I love her!

Our Trip to Okinawa! Warning lots of pictures!

Our trip to Okinawa was so much fun. Billy's brother Rick is an audiologist in the Navy and has been based in Okinawa, Japan for the past 2 years. They will be there until next summer. Billy and I have been wanting to take a trip to visit them. When you have a place to stay, are able to experience a different culture, and have tour guides with you, it's something you can't pass up. With the economy and time of year we were able to find some a good price on tickets. We bought our tickets and it was a for sure thing. We flew down to Long Beach on Fri. night (Oct. 9th). It worked out perfectly because my dad picked us up from the airport and we were able to spend a night with him. We flew out the next morning out of LAX at 12:55 pm. on ANA airlines....a 12 hr. flight to Tokyo. After arriving in Tokyo we took another plane ride (2 hr.) to Okinawa. With the time change, we arrived on Sun. night at about 8:30 pm. We weren't too mixed up and went right to bed. We woke up early the next day and spend the whole day traveling around. The cars have the steering wheel on the right side and you drive on the opposite side of the road as you do in America. I think it would be a big adjustment to learn.

Ryan did great, esp. considering she averaged 1 nap at home and 1 in the car.

On Monday (Oct. 12th) we spent part of the day at the aquarium. This aquarium used to be the largest in the world. It was a lot of fun with lots of fun sea creatures to see and touch.

Just Another Day in Paradise!

Billy and I celebrated our 4th anniversary today! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Billy, Ryan, and I took a trip to Okinawa, Japan to visit Rick and Wendy as our anniversary present. I'll be posting pictures soon. Billy had work and mutual so it was a pretty uneventful day, but I did try to make it a little special by making him a dinner he really likes and dessert. The past 4 years have brought about many experiences and memories that we'll never forget. Here's just a glimpse into some of the things that have happened the past 4 years:

1. Began our marriage in Provo, UT in an awesome basement apartment.
   
2. 6 mo. later Billy got hired full-time working for S&I as a seminary teacher.
   
3. Moved to Gilbert, AZ 6 weeks after getting hired for our first assignment.
   
4. I transferred to ASU to finish my degree.
   
5. We moved into our first house in Mesa, AZ.
   
6. Billy began his master's degree at ASU.
   
7. Life got even busier when Billy was called to be YM Pres. in our ward and I was called to be 2nd counselor in Primary.
   
8. I went through some medical problems that at times were discouraging, but shortly after finding out the cause was doing great and haven't had any problems since. A great blessing.
   
9. I graduated from ASU and began teaching 1st grade at Noah Webster Basic School.
   
10. We went through the heartache of having a miscarriage.
    
11. I became pregnant shortly after and welcomed our sweet baby girl Ryan in Feb. 2009.
    
12. We took many trips home to see family.
    
13. I was able to stop working and stay home with Ryan. Yeah!
    
14. Our heart ached again when my mom passed away this past summer.
15. We knew it was time that we start taking some "family" vacations so took a short staycation at a resort in Phoenix, AZ.
16. We went to Okinawa, Japan to celebrate 4 wonderful years together!
    

I am so grateful that I have a family that is sealed in the temple forever. I am so grateful for Billy and how hard he works to support our family and how he honors his Priesthood. We have so many fun memories and I look forward to spending eternity with him. I love you!

Oh, how I LOVE my daddy!

Ryan is so much fun...and cute, adorable, funny, loves to play, loves to snug, loves to smile, etc.! The list goes on and on. Oh, how we love this little girl. Ryan is a really good baby; so when she starts waking up in the middle of night (like 4 times) crying you know something is up. Ryan's second tooth popped through this past Friday (Oct. 2). She did great with the first one, but had had enough when another one came in less than 1 week later. She was up during the night, had trouble sleeping during the day, constantly wanted to chew, and to top it all off, had diarrhea, which created a bad diaper rash. Well, she is finally starting to feel better. Poor thing. I felt so bad for her, but knew there wasn't anything I could do besides give her snugs all day. She's back to sleeping well, which mom and dad really like too!

Did I mention that Ryan is a daddy's girl? Or that Billy is a great dad? Ryan loves the water. She loves to take showers with Billy and loves to go in the swimming pool. All summer long we had a number of people invite us over to swim. We loved it. It was our chance to be outside admidst the raging heat. When summer ended (which for AZ didn't happen until last week) we saw this great kiddie pool that was on clearance. I love a great deal. So when we saw this whale pool that even had a spout that shot water out of it for $5 we knew we had to have it. Even with cold water Ryan still loved playing and splashing around. And her daddy got in there too. I am so grateful for Billy and his love for kids. I appreciate a husband and a father who doesn't sit on the sidelines, but is actively involved in Ryan's life. The other day Ryan and I stopped by Billy's work to grab something and as soon as we left Ryan started crying and kept looking back at Billy. I love my family!

What's for Dinner?

I absolutely love staying home with Ryan everyday. It's such a joy to watch her grow and see all of her new developments. She's been working on a tooth and it popped through today! After a few hectic months during the summer ended, I knew I had to create a schedule for myself during the day. I was determined that I was going to TRY to stay on top of everything...housework, bills, service, meals, V.T., etc. I have always been an organized person (important papers are filed alphabtically, clothes are hung according to color, towels are folded and put away by color, Billy's ties are hung on a tie rack; not so tidy, but still hung, etc.), but was never one to have a schedule (ironic right?). I always knew in my head what needed to be done and then I'd do it. Since I'm home now I decided that it was about time to have a somewhat consistent schedule. For example, I always dust everything in the house on Monday. Tuesdays I sweep, mop, and vacuum. Each day I do something different so that I'm done with everything by Friday. I babysit my niece and nephew on Fridays and this was the best way to get things done so that I don't have to worry about doing anything when they're here and on the weekends. I am pleased to say that it is working out great! I love having a clean house. It's also really nice having the weekends open to do things together as a family other than cleaning. Billy is in charge of the yard. If you were to have looked at it a couple of weeks ago (Billy just did a bunch of yard work) you would have been afraid to see the inside. Trees needed to be trimmed, weeds needed to be pulled, a palm tree was falling over b/c of the wind, etc. I have been trying really hard not to make it a big deal b/c he is so busy right now; so it was nice when he decided (on his own) one morning that he was going to do yard work.
In addition to my new found schedule, I also created a monthly dinner calendar. I hated not knowing what I was going to make for dinner everyday and then going to the grocery store just to come home missing ingredients b/c I didn't plan anything out. It has also allowed me to try new recipes, instead of eating the same things over and over. My dinner calendar has been a success. Tonight we ate this: pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, zuccinni, and baked apples. It's not the greatest picture, but it was delicious! I love to cook and Billy loves to eat. It works great!

1 Photo Shoot, 10 min., 1 Happy Girl!

A couple of weeks ago we got Ryan's 6 mo. pictures taken. Every picture turned out so cute! Those places get you...they give you these beautiful pictures of your children and make you pick which ones you want. Needless to say, we had a hard time picking. After 1 hr. of looking repeatedly at each picture and Billy wanting every one (he's such a softie), we ended up with the CD. What can I say: Ryan's just so photogenic! So I know there are a lot of pictures, but we had to share some of them! Enjoy!