national boards part I

{july 23, 2010}

tyler took the test he has been diligently studying for all summer and....

HE PASSED!

great job ty!

love you

your hard work paid off.

and when it over and we were back together as a family, 

ryan would pray that dad had "no more big tests":)

amen to that.
till part II

one more week

{july 16-23}

we thought it would be best to give tyler one more week of studying by himself before he took the national boards.

so the boys and i headed up to utah.

i was a little nervous driving with them alone but they did fantastic.

by the time we got to colorado city they were getting a little restless.

i asked ryan if he wanted me to play him his favorite song.

(his favorite song is "simple gifts" by the mormon tabernacle choir)

which of course he said yes to.

so i turned off the movie and we ended up singing ryans favorite song over and over for the last hour.

which worked out perfectly because he got a microphone in his happy meal earlier in the day.

he was thrilled.

and ryder didn't even mind he usually dances to it. ha.

i didn't take any pictures because we were busing sewing crib bedding and burp cloths for aunt brookeys baby.

this was basically the only picture i took...

priceless though!

15 months

{july 15, 2010}

31.5 inches 50%

22 lbs 14 oz 25%

and he loves brushing his teeth with an electric tooth brush!

(i think that it made his gums feel better when he was teething)

that's not water...

it's syrup.

ryder has a bad habit of putting his plate on his head when he is done eating.

unfortunately this night we had pancakes.

{july 13, 2010}

good brothers

{july 11, 2010}

for some reason both boys weren't feeling well.
or at least not well enough to stay asleep.
they were both up till midnight just playing and laying on each other.
they were being so sweet.
it just melted my heart.

lowes

we still make it to lowes 

almost. every. single. time.

and we are starting quite the collection.

mom and ryder

playing.

i sure love my ryder boy!

emily

{july 2, 2010}

this is jayden.

his mom is emily.

emily is like an older sister to me.

she is the most thoughtful person EVER!

she is always going out of her way to do super nice things for me and my family.

emily was in st. george for a few hours so we had to get the boys together.

they played and swam.

and she made them all really cool festive drinks.

and she brought presents for my boys.

remember the glow in the dark sword that saved the night?

yep, that was from her.

thanks em!

 you are the greatest!!

random

but too cute to not remember!

good friends

{july 5, 2010}

we headed back to phoenix.

before we did we though, we met up with our good friends the christensens at ihop.

we are glad that they are back in st. george so we can see them when we come into town.

tyler and chris used to be in the same classes at dixie college.

at the time we didn't have any kids.

now we have doubled in size.

(i don't know why i find that so weird.)

anyways, they have two adorable boys zander and ace.

they are really close in our age with our boys.

it's always fun to get together with them.

and someday our kids will all learn to share:)

black frosting

+

ryan

=

gray teeth.

ha.

happy birthday

to the best dad around!

a long time ago i asked ryan what kind of cake we should make for dads birthday.

he said "a wally cake"

(wally is the red sox mascot, in case you didn't know)

tyler told me it made him feel like he was 12 but that's better than feeling like your almost 30:)

so when ryan was at school today i made a "wally cake".

he was super excited when he saw it.

i wasn't thrilled with the mouth...but oh well.

ryan loves birthdays SO much!

probably more than me.

ryan also wanted to get cowboy boots for dad's birthday.

so we headed to the d.i. today.

and lucky for him they had his size:) ha

i told ryan he could not tell tyler what was in the box.

i said when dad asks you what is in the box,

 you say it's a surprise.

ryan didn't tell tyler that he was getting boots.

but he did say "dad it's for the rodeo"

so of course tyler knew.

even if tyler isn't excited about his boots...ryan is!

and tylers mom wins most original card.

thanks to everyone who called and texted tyler today.

i know he felt very loved.

samuel grant

sam and ryan wade

walking home from church

a long, long time ago

and now i really can't believe that he is old enough to go on a mission.

i also can't believe how emotional i have been.

i thought to myself that it wouldn't be that hard not having him around. 

i have after all, not been living at home since he was 11.

but saying good bye was hard and every time i think about him,

i start crying.

he really does have a special place in my heart.

and i am so happy with his choices and the example he is setting for my boys.

lately we have been celebrating sam...

going through the temple.

his farewell.

his birthday.

also i made a quilt for him.

 and he entered the mtc...today.

this is the little invite that i made to send to our family.

after the temple

(emily, tyler and i were there too , but left to go get our kids)

the quilt

i started to cry while taking pictures with sam and the quilt.

i am one emotional girl.

i said goodbye on monday right before the boys and i headed back to phoenix

love you little brother!

family pictures

{august 14, 2010}

here is a sneak peak of our family pictures.

kellie from elements took them.

i can't wait to see the rest!

i also can't believe how grown up cass is.

i teared up when i saw this picture.

she looks absolutely gorgeous.

the big one

{july 4, 2010}

it was almost funny to see how much ryan HATES fireworks.

and of course we had to tease him a little bit.

grandpa o. kept giving him "big" fireworks to see if he wanted to go out and light them.

he didn't.

and he would hide them in the house.

this one he put up on the stairs.

and then he stomped back down,

hands on hips and all.

too funny.

the last night we did fireworks he started to warm up to them...

just a little bit though.

cutie boy

i wanted to remember this...

ryder is used to putting himself to sleep every night, 

so he has a hard time sleeping when people are around.

(which makes for a long three hours of church)

it was early in the morning and

i brought him in bed with us, he came and laid down in bed

and went right back to sleep.

and because i thought it was the cutest thing ever 

i got out of bed and took a picture,

 then i was too awake to go back to sleep myself.

figures.

and he still sucks his fingers.

which i think is adorable.

and if one blanket is good.

two is better!

Independence

{july 4th weekend}

the boys LOVED pop its.
 they could have thrown them all night long.

and yes, cowboy boots work GREAT for stomping through the dirt
and on pop its.

ryan HATES fireworks.

we thought that he would like them now that he is a bit older. 

wrong.

he still doesn't like them.

(last fall we took him to a ASU football game that had some fireworks.

he got so scared every time they fired one off,

almost like he was being shot.)

he did however LOVE his glow in the dark sword from Emily.

(thanks for the sword it saved the night!)

i also love dressing the boys up for holidays,
if you can't tell!

don't they look thrilled! ha

 amy took these pictures.
she may be fabulous with kids...
but with a camera not so much:).

ryder's face kills me. 

thanks boys.
love you!