Storybook Forrest

Every year at this time, the scouts around here put on a little Storybook Forrest where you walk along a little trail in the forrest and along the way there are scenes from different fairy tales. We went last year with the Richins so we decided to keep the tradition alive and go again this year!

Even Sadie got to do some trick-or-treating! (I should say that she HAD to do some trick-or-treating. They made us pay $7 for all 4 months of her!!! So you know I was going to make each station give her some candy.)

They didn't have that cute scout from last year by the sword in the stone. (The boy that was WAY into his job and was shouting "Come one! Come all to test your strength!") Kind of a bummer but Ella still tried to pull the sword from the stone!

I don't really know what story this is from but there was a lady in this pumpkin and Ella went up to the little window and wanted to have a conversation with her. The lady was just looking around for the parents to come take their "talkative" girl away.  :)

On the hay ride...

A Witches Gathering

Each month some girls in my ward get together and do a little "culinary night" and this month we were lucky enough have a little Witches Gathering.  Candice and Becky hosted it and they provided an amazing and delicious night.  We all got in the spirit of things and dressed up for the occasion.  This is what I came up with: 

(I HATE taking pictures by myself)

It was such a fun night.  From the decorations, to the food, to the costumes and the company...it was all fabulous!!!

When I got home, Sadie wanted to try on my spider web eyelashes. 

I just can't resist kissing those cheeks!!!

Halloween Playgroup

Last week, a girl in my ward hosted a little playgroup and she was nice enough to turn it into a little Halloween party for the little ones. Ella had so much fun celebrating with all of her little friends...

Ella and her two besties: Hope and Chad

Hope was a good witch

Cute little Avery

The kids played the game where you eat a doughnut off a string. It was hilarious to watch.

Chad figuring it out...

Ahh! Much easier.

Success!

Sadie was there too doing this... (don't tell my pediatrician I let her sleep in her tummy!)

My girls...

Just a few quick pictures of my two favorite little girlies.

Sadie's blessing

The weekend before last was Sadie's blessing. Ryan's parents as well as my mom and Dave (her husband) were nice enough to fly out for the special day.  Ryan's parents got here first and it was fun to spend a couple days with them and then my mom and Dave were here a little longer so it was nice that it staggered a little--although Ella (who was absolutely in seventh heaven with all of the attention she was getting) was a little beside herself when all the grandparents were gone.

One of the days we went downtown to meet Ryan for lunch and then we stopped by Bass Pro Shop. It's like Disneyland for the "outdoorsie types".

Ryan pretending he knows what to do with a gun. (But I have to say, I'm glad it's all pretends!)

The next day I took my in-laws to the zoo. This is where Ella met Sheldon the turtle.

When grandparents are in town, Ella wants very little to do with me...can you tell?

On Sunday was the blessing. Ryan did a great job. I'm so grateful for the fact that I'm married to a man who is worthy of the priesthood and can bless our daughter.

Ryan's parents left the next morning and we ended up using our little zoo pass one more time with my mom and Dave.  Ella would go to the zoo on a daily basis if it were up to her!

My two little monkeys in the tub. 

That night we went to dinner out by the lake. It was so nice out that we walked around a little outside...until we got eaten by mosquitos; then we high tailed it back to the car!

Ryan visits "Bean Town"

A few weekends ago, Ryan's program paid for him and his 2 co-residents to go to the annual Periodontics convention out in Boston.  I would have loved to have gone with him but I had to settle for the Girls Only weekend here at home with my two little friends.  Most of the time Ryan spent at the convention but he did manage to get out and see some of the sights that Boston has to offer.

Where everybody knows your name...

Ryan said it was really cool to be in a city that is so old (for our country) and has so much history.

Paul Reviere. Is he the one who said "The British are coming!"? I guess I should brush up on my early American history.

Ryan and one of his co-residents, Jansen.

One of the nights, they snuck off to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. This is Ryan, Jansen, and his other co-resident, Mary. 

The Green Monster behind Ryan.

**I'm glad Ryan had a fun time in Boston, but I was even happier when he got home. I'm SO grateful that he doesn't have a job where he travels a lot.  Our home is a much more fun place when he's around!

Miss Sadie D!!!...and a little Ella too.

I wish that someone would invent a blog where all you had to do was think of a blog post and it would magically be done. I would be such a good blogger if I had one of those kind of blogs... In the mean time, here's a few from the past month. It's hard to believe our little Sadie will be 3 months old tomorrow!!!

I kept trying to rotate this picture, but it wouldn't stay rotated. Anyway, she's sitting in her swing and look up at the mobile. I remember when Ella did that for the first time. Ryan and I thought it was so cool that she was "playing with her toys!"

This is what Ella would do all day long if I let her...watch Ariel!




Bath time!

The good news is Sadie loves her bath. The bad news is she hates getting out!

Thank heavens for binkies!

Whenever I start taking pictures of Sadie, Ella has to jump right in and say "Cheese"! Jealous much??? (I like Sadie's gangsta sign here. She's in the pinky gang.)

We just got Sadie a little Bumbo cuz we heard how much everyone who has one loves theirs. I thought Sadie would be too little for it, but she fills is out quite well. :)

Once again, Ella comes running from the other room to be in the picture.

Knock 'em down!

Last week, we got to go bowling with all of the residents that Ryan works with and their families.  It was Ella's first experience at bowling and she was loving every minute of it...except for the part where you have to wait your turn.  

She got to use this handy little ramp

Oh the anticipation!!!

Ryan snuck this picture of me. Look at that form!

The one and only Pin Daddy!

Oops...no pictures of Sadie! (Or anyone else we went with?!)  I'm not the best photographer...

Party like it's 1999!

A couple weeks ago, Sadie and I got to go home to San Diego for everyone to meet the newest addition to our family.  While I was there, I got to go to my 10 year high school reunion.  (BTW, I have no clue why this is all underlined and I don't have much time or patience to figure out how to fix it...)  I'm so glad I got to go to my reunion. I was a little hesitant as to whether I really wanted to go or not but it turned out to be a lot of fun!  It was really weird and kind of a trip to hear what some people have been doing with their lives the past ten years but all in all, a really fun night!

Me and the Jill-dawg (I wonder how old we'll be when we stop using our softball nicknames?!)

Me and Marcella...love, love, LOVE this girl!

Playing catch-up!

I've been meaning to update this stupid blog for a while now but I just haven't thought to take many pictures lately. Anyway, here's a little catch-up...

Coming home from the hospital

Ella loves her little sis

My mom was out for a week and she was SUCH a huge help. Ella was so sad when she left...

It's been sooooo hot here! We try to cope with our little pool in the backyard. Even Ryan gets in it sometimes! (can you see his arm in this picture?)

***Ryan's mom and my sister were also nice enough to come out and visit but I was too brain dead to remember to take any pictures!***

Last weekend we got to go down to Dallas cuz Ryan had a perio meeting he wanted to go to. The girls and I tagged along. We mostly just hung out by the pool.

Why do all dads get such a kick out of throwing their kids in the air???

Their little pool had a fun little fountain in the middle that Ella loved!

My cousin Rachel lives in Dallas so while Ryan was at his meeting, the girls and I met up with Rachel, Gid, and Stella (who was born 2 days before Sadie) at the Galleria mall.

There was a pond with some ducks by our hotel so you know we had to go feed them...

We also met up with Rachel and her family at the Dallas Aquarium. 

I didn't get it on camera, but one of those rays jumped up out of the water towards Ryan and Ella!

This creepy alligator was just sitting there with its mouth open...like it was waiting for one of the parents to drop their kid!

Introducing...

SADIE DANIELLE HARBERTSON

Making her debut almost 2 weeks early, is little miss Sadie Danielle Harbertson. For some reason, coming up with a name for this little one proved to be a little tricky for Ryan and I but after much deliberation, we finally narrowed it down to Sadie and we feel like it's a really good fit for her. Danielle is my sister's middle name so that's where we got Sadie's middle name.
She was born last night at 6:30 CST. She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and was 21 in. long! So far she is doing just great. Eats, sleeps, poops. What else can you ask for?!

Ella was so funny when she first got here. She was with some good friends of ours while I was in labor and they brought her to the hospital later that night. When Ella first came into the hospital and saw me in the hospital bed with tubes in my arms holding a little baby...she was not too sure what to think about things. We were telling her "Here's baby sister! She came out of Mommy's tummy!" I think this picture kinda shows what she was thinking:

It wasn't too long after that though that she was all about this new baby of hers...

We're so happy that Sadie is here. She and I are doing just great and will be leaving the hospital tomorrow. More to come later!!!

Utah family fun

The last two weeks in May Ryan had off so we packed up the car and made the drive out to Utah. We packed in a lot of fun (and Ryan packed in a lot of golf!) into those two weeks. Here's some pictures from our trip...which, btw, are completely out of order but I don't have the patience to fix the order so it'll have to do.

The last few days we spent down in Southern Utah at a cabin that was big enough to sleep Ryan's whole family (all 23 of us!) It was so fun to all be under the same roof!  One of the days we went to Zion National Park.  

I think Ella's favorite part was being with ALL of her cousins.  She had plenty of options and wanted little or nothing to do with her parents when her cousins were around.  She hung out with the big kids...

...and the little ones.

One of the days we drove into St. George and went swimming at a very fun pool.  This is Ella, Jason (Bubba), and Claire right before they got in trouble for climbing on this hill.

This little girl is part fish. She loves the water!!!

Ella and Claire

Debbie, Allie, cute little prego Megan and a nice pose from Scott

Ella was so funny with this life vest on. She figured out she could just float on her back so that's all she did...float!

Here's Ella floating by in the lazy river

On the drive back to the cabin, everyone was a little tuckered out.

OK, now we're back at the start of our trip in SLC.  Ryan's parents have a pool in their backyard which is lots of fun even on cloudy days.

My mom actually was in town for one of the weekends and since she brought my niece, Kaitlyn, we decided it would be fun to take the kids to the children's museum downtown at the Gateway. It was so cute and the kids all LOVED it!


They had a little stage area where the kids could dress up in costumes from the book "Where the Wild Things Are"

Ella and Claire putting a show on for us

Kaitlyn's favorite part was the little market. She could have spent hours in there!

Kaitlyn would do all the shopping, give me the basket, and then check me out.

They even had a helicopter to play in!


One of the days we went to Wheeler Farm.  It's a great little park where you can look at animals, feed the ducks, have a picnic...and we did it all!

This picture was taken about 30 seconds before that rooster "cock-a-doodle-doo'd" right in Ella's face! She was so scared! It was so funny! Why do I think it's funny when my daughter gets scared? I just can't help it.

Ella (and Ryan) feeding some baby geese. Actually I think Ryan was a little nervous about some of the bigger geese getting a little too close to his daughter.

As we were eating our lunch, Ella kept trying to "herd" the ducks. When some of them went into that little creek to get away from her, she reached out to try to get them back out and one of the ducks had apparently had enough of her and snapped at her (it didn't leave a mark) and scared the heck out of Ella. Then as she was crying and walking over to me, she tripped on some roots of a tree and scratched her shin a little. It was a tough time to be Ella. Later that afternoon, she kept telling anyone who would listen to her "Duck bite Ella! No, no duck! Mean duck!"  It's a tough lesson to learn but she's gotta know, when you play with fire, you might get burned. Or in her case...when you try to herd ducks, you might get bitten!

While we were there, Ella little cousion, Hannah, turned one. We had a fun party in Ryan's brother's backyard to celebrate the big event. 

As I said before, Ella loves the water. She was quite the little swimmer this trip.

But her favorite part is the hot tub!

Thanks Harbertsons for a fun two weeks!!!

Moms

As you all know we all got to take a day this weekend to celebrate moms.  Being a mom, I was able to reap some benefits on this blessed day but it also gave me the opportunity to think about the importance of this role.  In addition to the amazing mother that I have been blessed with, I also have an incredible mother-in-law and a couple great grandmas. I just wanted to take a couple minutes to reflect on the amazing women that I have been blessed with.

My Mother:  Geeze...where do I start? Words cannot describe my mom.  She is so many things. Unselfish, loving, kind, caring, smart, beautiful, genuine, exemplary...I could go on and on. Above it all, I would say that she is one of the strongest women I know of.  She's been through some tough trials in her life and each and every time has come out of them better.  My mom is the greatest examples to me of what a mother should be.  She is the type of person that would give you the shirt off of her back.  I strive every day to be a little bit more like her in that way. I think my sister got that from her but I'm not sure that gene got in me. I love her so much and I'm so grateful for the ways she has taught me to be a better mother.

My Mother-in-law:  First off, I will always be indebted to my MIL for the amazing job she and my FIL did in raising Ryan.  He is one of the most loyal, hard working, trustworthy men I know of and I know that those are all attributes he learned from his parents.  My mother in law has quickly become one of my most favorite people on the planet.  She is genuinely loving and cares for each and every one of her children--including those who have married into the family.  She is the best care taker I know...the type of person who really makes you feel like they LIKE to take care of you, even if they don't.  Even though our families live in separate states, every time we visit Utah, I feel like I'm going home and I thank my mother in law for that and the way she makes me feel so welcome.

My Grandma Snead: I don't actually know my Grandma Snead because she died two months after I was born but somehow I have always felt a special bond with her.  Maybe it's because my mom would always tell me that during her last few months when she was in the hospital and all the adults were rushing around her trying to come up with some way to make her more comfortable, they would just place me in her bed and she would seem to be comforted.  I don't know how true that is but I do know the special spirit and peace a baby can bring to anyone.  I look forward to the day when I can run up to my Grandma in heaven, give her a big hug and really get to know her.

My Grandma Dewey: Once again, I'm almost speechless when it comes to describing my lovely Grandma Dewey.  I was blessed to be able to grow up living 10 minutes away from my grandma and because of that she is present in a lot of my happiest childhood memories. She was at birthday parties, graduations, softball games, or even just a Sunday dinner. In fact, when I think of my Grandma Dewey, I often think about Sunday dinners at her house. Roast beef, mashed potatoes (loaded with butter!), corn, cooked carrots (which we would always tease my grandpa for not eating), rolls and Texas sheet cake for dessert.  My grandma was a great cook but she didn't waver on the menu too often---which I love! Why fix what isn't broken?  When my grandma passed away, it was one of the hardest things in my life.  But again, I'm so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and for the day when I can be with her again...and if she wants to make me some caramels, or melt-aways, or fudge or whatever...then all the better!

Lastly, I can't do a post without a picture of this little one. Now you know why we call her our little monkey. Plus, she's the reason I'm so proud to call myself a mother so I think it applies. :)

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Alright, I'll admit that I'm not that festive when it comes to celebrating Cinco de Mayo (although I will say that we will be dining on Mexican food tonight) but I just had to do another post so that every time I got on my blog I didn't have to read about Ella's potty training...or what I should say is lack thereof!  I'm so frustrated with the whole thing that I think I'm throwing in the towel.  I just had to buy another box of diapers today and I was not happy about it.  I don't know why she won't just pee on the potty. I know she can do it. She's just so stubborn! I don't know where she could possibly get it from. Must be from her dad...

On a lighter note...this is what I caught my little monkey doing the other day.

This is my old tap dancing costume (from when I was in 3rd grade...so it was little big) but Ella decided that she would slip this little number on. And what goes great with a lime green and black leotard?  Yep...hot pink cowboy boots.  In this next picture she might just be singing a song into her "microphone".  This, I admit, is a trait that she might have picked up from her "teeny-bopper" mom. It's embarrassing but true.

Potty Training

Ugh...potty training. I always knew this day would come and I've been dreading it for a while now.  I've heard all the stuff about how you can't push a child into it and that they have to be ready on their own time.  But that's the problem...how does a two year old know? Are they just going to say "Mom, you know I'm really tired of sitting in my own urine/feces. Would you mind teaching me to use the toilet?"  So I've been looking for signs.  It all started a couple months ago when Ella saw her little friend Hope using the potty and suddenly she wanted a turn to sit on the potty. I got all excited because every time I had tried to even sit her on the toilet, she wigged out and would refuse to. I guess I can see how it would seem a little scary.  Anyway, she got right on the potty after she saw Hope do it and has asked me several times since then to sit on the potty. Trouble is she doesn't know what to do when she's there.  I tell her "Okay, go pee pee now" and she looks at me like "How?"  I was talking to my mom about it and she said that she can remember her mom bringing the little potty out in front of the TV and sitting there for a long time until something happened.  I figured I can't move our toilet but I can bring a TV to the toilet.  So this is what we did last week:

Ella sat like this for about an hour and NOTHING! In fact now she thinks this is a new fun way to watch a show.  She now asks to watch Tinkerbell on the potty. I took her off after an hour cuz she had little red marks on her buns.

I've tried letting her pick out her favorites panties at the store (Ariel by the way) but when we put those on her, even though I sound like a broken record asking her "Do you have to go potty?", she just pees in them.

I've also tried motivating her with treats. The problem is that she takes after her dad and doesn't really get too excited about food. I don't get that.

I've tried letting her just be naked from the waist down but she either holds it until nap time when I put a diaper on her or she sneaks off to a quiet corner pees like a doggie.  Ryan said that I should rub her nose in it and see if that works. (In case the sarcasm doesn't translate in writing, he was just kidding.)

What do I do???  I really feel like if she could just somehow understand the concept of how to "release" her pee pee on the toilet (is that too graphic?) then we would be in business. I need help.  With another little one coming in a couple months, I just really don't want to buy two sizes of diapers.  I know that's a little selfish on my part but that's just me being honest.

Stick a fork in him...

This past week I had the "opportunity" of having jury duty. I have to admit that when I got the letter about 3 weeks ago that I was to report last Monday morning, I immediately thought of a way that I could get out of it. At the bottom of the paper that told me when and where to report, there was a section about how if you thought you had a legitimate reason to be excused from jury duty, you could come talk to a judge on the Friday before. So what do I do? I completely forget about it until about an hour after the time I was supposed to be there. Now I'm stuck. I can't just not show up. I still wasn't that worried cuz everyone I talked to said that they've never actually had to go in more than a day for one reason or another. Plus, being that I'm "great with child", I figured they'd have sympathy for me/no use for me and release me back to my little world of Sesame Street, laundry, and Mac n Cheese. Nope.
After being selected to sit on a jury, I learned that I was now going to spend the next few days listening to a trial about a man accused of sexually abusing his daughter. I know, SICKENING! I'll spare you all the details (and let me just say, it was VERY detailed!) and just cut to the chase...I (along with 11 other people) found him as guilty as the day is long and was able to send him to prison for the the rest of his life. Well, technically he'll be able for parole when he's 85 but I'm guessing even if he gets out then, he'll do something to get himself right back in prison. See, this was his second rape conviction and his third felony charge. Oklahoma doesn't technically have the "three strikes and you're out" law but we all figured this guy had been given plenty of chances to live amongst society and we'd all be better off with him behind bars.
Anyway, I write about this whole experience because it was one of the most eye-opening, interesting, and humbling weeks of my life. I learned to be grateful for things I rarely ever thought of before...
*MY CHILDHOOD. This girl that was the victim in the case was 12 years old when she reported what was going on in her home. 12! You know what I was doing when I was twelve? Probably the worst part about this situation was that the girl's mother either refused to believe her or was too scared of her husband to let herself believe her daughter. Either way, this little 12 year old had the support of no one! At least, neither one of her parents (and most of her extended family.) I think about the home that I grew up in and even though I joke about my crazy family, I always knew that I was loved and protected in my home. This seemed like such a basic thing in my life but now that I have seen that not everyone is given that blessing, I'm extremely grateful to my parents for the environmet they created for me to be raised in.
*OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM. I know it's not perfect. I know there are bad people that get away with things and that there are also good people that have to pay for crimes they did not commit but I do believe that it's the closest thing to perfect that's out there. It was so interesting to watch first hand how things work. It also made me grateful for the people who choose this profession and that it's not me cuz I really don't think I could do it.
*MY BORING EVERYDAY LIFE. You know how they say "You don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore?" So true! It seems like just as I'm thinking about how "not exciting" my life as a mom to a 2 year old is, I get a little taste of life as a working mom. Once again, I am so grateful for the fact that I GET to be home with my little Ella everyday. I missed her so much last week! On top of that, I was exhausted in the evenings and had no desire to cook or clean the house or do any laundry. I don't know how some women can work full time and take care of their home at the same time. I have a new found respect for those who have to.
*MY FRIENDS. This is one thing that I was already aware of but has been especially meaningful to me this past week. I had some amazing friends in Omaha and to be honest, when we learned that we were moving to Oklahoma, I had doubts that I would be able to make friends like those I had in Omaha. I'm so happy to say that I was so wrong! I am so blessed to be surrounded by some great friends here in OKC. I had to ask four different girls to watch Ella for a WHOLE day. Each friend was so generous and so kind and never made me feel bad for the huge favor I was asking of them. A couple of them even prepared a dinner for me to take home when I came to pick Ella up in the evening! It was so nice to know that I didn't have to worry about her for one second while I was away all day and that she was being loved and cared for. I feel so indebted to these friends and can't thank them enough for the comfort they gave me each day.

All in all, even though it was an extremely difficult week that I tried to avoid, I am glad that I was able to take part in it and even more happy that it's over. Like I said, it brought things to my attention that I know I needed to be aware of to make me appreciate the abundance of blessings in my life. I know I'll think twice next time I complain about...well anything.

The Easter Bunny (and parents) comes to town!

Last week, we were lucky enough to get a visit not only from the Easter Bunny, but Ryan's parent's came out as well.  They flew in Wednesday night and were here until Sunday.  As usual, Oklahoma served up some crazy weather but we all had a good time anyway.

Thursday was a pretty sunny day so we headed out to Lake Hefner where they have a pretty fun park that Ella loves. This was one of the WINDYEST (is that a word?) days I've experienced in this very windy city! There's a reason behind the line in the play Oklahoma "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain!"

The next day, Ryan ditched (or as they say in Utah "sluffed") his residency to hang out with us. Ryan's parents really wanted to see the Oklahoma City Memorial for the bombing that happened back in 1995.  It really is a neat memorial with such a sacred feeling.

Ella thought the memorial was ok but was really interested in this ladybug.

On Saturday, Ryan took us down to his school for a little tour of his office and where he works. It's kinda cool cuz in dental school he was always rotating around to different chairs but here he has the same chair (most of the time at least.)

Did someone call for a doctor?

OU's medical campus is huge! Totally different from Creighton. This is a Sooner or a Sower or something.

That night Ryan's parents told us to pick a place for them to take us out to a nice dinner.  Since it was Ryan's parents in town, I let him do the choosing.  He chose Lakeside Fish Grill. Being that I'm not a huge fan of stinky smelly fish, I was little bummed, but any dinner without a loud two year old at the table is fine by me! (A big Thank You to Candice for taking Ella for us!) Actually, I can't complain. They did have a very yummy chicken pasta dish that I loved. Plus it was right on the lake so it had very cool atmosphere. 

Easter Morning! Now I'm not usually one for big huge flowers on my daughter's head but in the spirit of the holiday where some wear big goofy hats, I thought Ella could get away with wearing a big goofy flower.

My mom got Ella this dress for her birthday and Ella was so excited that I finally let her wear it. This is her doing her best twirl.

Spring Break in AZ

The best part about being a forever long student is the breaks that regular grown ups don't get. Last week was Ryan's Spring Break so we loaded up the car and set out to visit my sister and her family in Phoenix. My dad even came out from San Diego to hang out with us for a few days. We went to the zoo, the boys went golfing (twice), we got to go to the temple together (thanks to my dad for babysitting the kids!), the guys went to a Phoenix Suns game, and Linds and I even got to sneak away to the spa one morning. It was a week long of FUN!

Ella loves a good roadtrip...

As you can see, Ella was a little excited to be with her cousins.

Carson was taking a spin on his bike and he got a little hungry so he grabbed the "travel size" box of pita chips...

The next day we went to the zoo. They had a little petting zoo that Ella couldn't get enough of. She had to introduce herself to each and every goat.

She even went in the "Goats Only" section to meet more.

I think this picture is funny cuz it looks like those are her droppings...

Ella is a sucker for a Merry-go-Round.

On the morning of St. Patrick's Day, my sister made a special breakfast for the kids.

Ella was a little hesitant about the green eggs.

We took the kids to the neighborhood pool one evening. The pool wasn't heated yet...but that didn't stop these three from having fun.

Texas Roadhouse. Yum...

Carson digging into some dessert.

Ryan and Mike took the kids on a little train ride.

Thanks Banner family for a fun Spring Break. Way better than Cancun!

The newest little Snead!

On Saturday, my little brother became a dad! Can I just say how weird that sentence sounds?! Nolen Robert Snead was born weighing 7 lbs and 9 oz and he was 20 in long.  We all are so happy and excited for this new adventure that Owen and my cute sis-in-law, Jules, are starting.  I know they are going to be great parents and that little Nolen is one lucky little boy to be loved like he is.  I can't wait until we can meet and hold this little guy in person!  It's at times like these that make it really hard to live away from home. But at least we have pictures...

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

Last Thursday, Ryan's grandma celebrated her 90th birthday.  To celebrate the big event, all of her children and grandchildren came together and had a couple parties.  Ryan, Ella and I were lucky enough to be able to fly out Thursday night and be there for all the festivities that weekend. We were only there a short time but we packed a lot in.

Friday night there was an "adult's only" dinner at The Roof in downtown SLC. (A big Thank You to my friend Eliza for watching Ella for us!) This is Ryan and his younger brother Steve.

 

Ryan and his older brother Scott

 

 

Our family shot. We wanted to get one with all the aunts and uncles and cousins, but our group was just too big.

The next day we had another little party with all the great grandchildren and more extended family up at Ryan's Aunt Wendy's house. Here's Grandma Howe about to blow out the candles.

Ryan's Aunt Sandy is an excellent music director (or at least she thinks so.) Here she is leading us all in Happy Birthday.

Ella and her Uncle Steve just wanted to make faces at the camera.

Me, Ryan, Cindy, Stacy, and Steve

The classic grandkid shot

Ella had so much fun playing with ALL of her cousins!  Here she is with Sammy.

p.s. I left my phone in Utah so I'll be a little harder to reach for a few days. I still have my home phone and Ryan's cell that I can be reached on.  Kind of a bummer but I think I'll survive.