Freakish Elves!

Thought we'd join in the fun!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9627748891

Turtle Power

Mike's mother-in-law raises tortoises in her back yard, they're huge!! They haven't even grown fully yet and they can live to over 100 years old. Pretty cool.

What I'm thankful for.....

A lot of my friends have made lists of things they are thankful for this month. So, before the month of November is over, I wanted to get in the things I am most thankful for (besides Disneyland during the holidays...which I mentioned earlier). This is in no particular order.

1. My supportive and hard-working husband. Jason has been working full time and goes to class each night so he can finish school quicker. I am so impressed with how well he has done and I am grateful for the sacrifices he has made in order to provide for our family.

2. My spunky red-headed daughter. Kamryn amazes me each day with the things she learns. She really keeps me on my toes and she keeps me laughing! She is a character and I can't wait to see what she will do next.

3. My family and Jason's family. I have been blessed with two wonderful families in my life. I am lucky to be surrounded by family who love us unconditionally and who we can share memories with.

4. Thanksgiving Dinner. Since we just partook in this fabulous meal just a few days ago, I have to express my thanks for it. We spent our Thanksgiving in Arizona this year with Jason's brother and his wife, Teresa made a FABULOUS meal of Turkey, stuffing (with sausage..yummy), green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top, jello, rolls and for dessert, pumpkin and apple pie...and a cheesecake!!! Phew.... This was her first time taking on the task without her Mom to help and let me tell you, she is a pro! THANKS SOO MUCH TERESA!!!

4. Urgent Care. This may seem odd, but while in Arizona for Thanksgiving, Kamryn came down with the croup. I'm grateful for a place where we can get in without having to make an appt. and that no matter where we travel, we can get our little girl medical attention. We found out she also had a double ear infection. Poor girl. She is a trooper though. (I'm also grateful for medicine that makes her feel better).

5. Candles. I'm sitting her at the computer, listening to Christmas music and sitting in the dark with only candles lighting the room. I love how peaceful they make me feel and they smell so good.

6. Joseph Smith. I've been reading the series "The Work and the Glory" for the second time and I have grown to truly love and appreciate our first prophet. I truly do know that he was a prophet of God and I am grateful to him and for the many sacrifices both he and his family all made for the gospel. I'm grateful for all the early leaders of the church. They truly paved the way for the restoration of this gospel and I am forever in their debt.

7. Jesus Christ. Need I say more? The ultimate example, the perfect man, my big brother. I will forever be striving to live like he lived. His life is the reason why I have such a wonderful life.

8. It's a Wonderful Life. That last statement made me think of this movie, which I am grateful for. I'm grateful for all movies that move me and inspire me. This is just one of the many.

9. Upland 1st Ward. I'm grateful for a ward that is full of friendly people. I have made so many friends living in this ward...I never want to move. I love loving going to church and I look forward to each Sunday.

10. And finally....DVR. Okay, so its a silly way to end this, but I am way grateful for my DVR. To be able to pause, rewind, fast forward and record TV so easy, I never miss a show. However, there is a downside for I find myself recording too many things....I'm working on it. :-)

Thanks Karissa!!!

So, a couple weekends ago, my friend Karissa called me up to see if I wanted to go to Disneyland for the day. Who could say 'no' to a free day at the happiest place on earth. So, Kamryn and I drove down with Karissa and her two boys and had a great time. Disneyland was all decorated for the holidays so it made the trip especially fun. We all had a great time!
Kamryn didn't love Santa too much...but she got a free candy cane out of it, so she was a happy camper.
Click on the picture to get a better look of the castle. It looks awesome this year!!!
That is fake snow on our heads. In the picture below, you can see the snow falling. If there is one thing I am thankful for this month, its Disneyland during the holidays. It really is magical!

Doesn't make a lick of difference!

So, I just have to put something out there. It doesn't matter what time you put your child to bed...they will wake up at the same time no matter what. I thought I understood this, but last night, Kamryn had a later night than usual and didn't go to bed until after 10pm. So I thought for sure this time she would sleep in this morning. I mean, she went to bed almost 2 1/2 hours after her normal bedtime. Well, I was sorely mistaken. She was still up at 6:45am, ready and raring to go. Of course, I didn't actually get up and get her until almost 7:30am. She just talks to herself and chills until I come get her. Anyway, I just hope she makes it up in naps cause I have no problem taking those naps with her on some days. Well, that's all I have to say. It's 8 in the morning and I am still trying to wake up.

Sorry, no pictures today....just my thoughts.

Kamryn's Animal Sounds!!!

Well, this took me entirely too long. I realized that windows movie maker did not allow me to convert video to wide screen, and since my camera films in wide screen, most of the videos I've been posting don't look quite right. So I used the ridiculously "not user friendly" software that came with the camera and this is how it turned out. Unfortunately I had to sacrifice quality for wide screen, or I could have done an AVI file and it would have taken about 45 minutes to upload, no thanks. Anyway here is Kamryn doing some animal sounds. Isn't she cute?

What happens in Vegas.....

Of course, I have nothing to hide about what happened in Vegas. :-) I went to celebrate my friend, Kim Eshenroder's, wedding. She was my roommate at Ricks and we have been close friends ever since. With the help of some good friends at home and my husband I was able to leave Kamryn at home so that I could attend all the wonderful events of the weekend. I stayed with my cousin in Henderson which was nice. All of my other friends had to pay to stay in a hotel, so that was really nice to have family around. Here are some pictures outside the Vegas Temple with my friends and of the happy couple.











How cute is this family. These are my friends, Darin and Jenn Warnick and their beautiful daughter, Ivy. She is three months old.

The happy couple...John and Kim Bowman

A little more Halloween

For the actual Halloween night, Kamryn and I went to my sisters home in Mission Viejo to go trick-or-treating with her kids. We had a great time and we loved spending the day and evening with them. Kamryn loves her cousin David. David is so cute when he plays with her and whenever she said an actual word he would get so excited and run and tell us what she said.











Kamryn loved sucking on the wrapper of this starburst. I had no problem with it since it couldn't rot her teeth. The only candy she actually ate this Halloween was one Sweet Tart that her Daddy gave her.





















The two Jedi Masters.....Anakin Skywalker (on the left) and Obi Wan Kenobi (on the right)

Happy Halloween!

Well, this year Halloween was especially fun AND especially challenging. Kamryn was old enough to enjoy trick-or-treating and she loved holding her candy in her hands, however she was also old enough to understand that she was being put in a costume she didn't like wearing and she made it clear. These pictures were taken at our ward Trunk-or-Treat. Jason and I were Dwight and Angela ("The Office") for Halloween. I forgot my gray sweater and my wig wasn't that great, but you get the idea. I also shouldn't have smiled so much...so not Angela like. Jason looked great though! And same with our little red-headed Tinkerbell.











(Picture courtesy of Heather Livingston!)





















I love this picture of Kamryn. She almost looks elfish in it. :-) Click on the picture so you can see it up close. And you'll notice the candy in her hand that she would not let go of all night.

Making Music!

Here's a video of Kamryn actually having fun at the Children's Museum. I tried to get it on the other post, but I am computer challenged. Enjoy~

A mini vacation

Jason had a work retreat last year in La Quinta (near Palm Springs) and because of some errors made by the hotel, Jason was given a free two-night stay with two free breakfasts. So, our little family headed out to the desert and stayed in this beautiful resort. While we were there we found this cute little children's museum and took Kamryn there. She had a great time....except for this little contraption. She didn't like it so much.




Overall, we had a great vacation and we loved the three days we got to spend together. With Jason working full time and going to school each night, we don't get to see much of him. So this was a wonderful time together.

Riley's Farm

Well we had a chance to go with some friends to Riley's farm and get pumpkins, press cider, and basically just take in the environment. The place was packed, in all my many visits to Riley's Farm I have never seen so many cars and people everywhere, so good for them. We were able to take some friends up there and I think everyone had a good time. Once everyone had left we went and saw Aunt Bea and Scott, and they seem to be doing well holding down the farm and everything. Overall it was a really fun trip and I did get the "Riley" treatment, thanks to Dad. As you can see I have re-written this because when I changed the video player somehow I must have erased about half of everything I had written. Oops!

Thanks Grandma Riley!

You've gotta love Kamryn in this adorable outfit, made special by her Grandma.

Another Disneyland Trip....

Doesn't my girl look so happy to be at Disneyland? We are on the "Finding Nemo" ride and I think she wasn't too happy about the cramped space.











































Check out my friend Jessica here on the teacups. Her two little girls are with her and they had a blast. I passed on this ride....for Kamryn's sake, of course.

WICKED!!!!

Jason took me to go see "Wicked" for my birthday, which was on Wednesday. I already knew most of the music so I knew it was going to be good. I just didn't realize how good! This is a show worth seeing...and I will hopefully see it many more times. If you go to YouTube and type in "Wicked the Musical," you can see clips of the show and performances of the music. It's awesome!

Moving Day!

So, last weekend was an emotional one. Jason's parents packed up and moved from his childhood home in Claremont. Jason's three brothers (Rob, Mike, and John) and his sister Janelle came down to help pack up and to say goodbye to Claremont. Here is a picture of Jason's brother family playing some baseball in the front yard. We're lucky we got anything done. :-)














Here is a picture of the Riley siblings (plus our niece, Katelyn and nephew, Lockton) at Claremont High School. It was fun to walk through the high school and hear all the stories of the glory days.














The last picture in front of the Claremont house.














Kamryn with her cousin, Lockton














How cute....Meredith and Kamryn match!!!

Go Cougars!

Jason and I were able to attend the BYU v. UCLA Football game at the Rose Bowl last Saturday. Our wonderful friend, Cynda, watched Kamryn for us while we went out with our friends, the Rambows and the Lands. We had a great day....even if BYU lost. They played a great game.


The Rambows














The Lands














Hopefully, you know this couple.

Girls Night

I have a wonderful husband because he lets me have girls nights quite often. This was a girls night that I had with some close friends from Orange County (where I grew up). We met at Downtown Disney and ate at the Jazz Kitchen Express (yummy beignets). Then we just walked around some stores and headed back to Stephanie's apartment for cookies and to chat(she's the one in the middle wearing the blue shirt). It was a fun night and it was good to see everyone.

Toiletpaper Thief!

You know that moment when you are busy doing something and all of a sudden you realize it is quiet and you don't hear your child. Well, this was one of those moments and when I went to check on her, I realized I had left the bathroom door open and there she was. A huge smile on her face and a huge wad of toiletpaper in her hands. A classic moment that I had to share. Who can get angry at that face. Plus, it was still usable. :-)

Girls Day Out!

This Utah Trip was all about the girls. I had a great time with my Mom and my sisters that week.



















Kamryn seriously loves books. She looks as if she is actually trying to read them. LOVE IT!!