Happy Easter!

This was such a fun Easter! We went to Kent Station for an Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. It was crazy! It wasn't organized very well, but the sun was shining and Ryan had a great time. We then spent some time downtown. Everyone was out enjoying the beautiful spring day. We woke Sunday morning to rain. It rained ALL day. Ryan was so excited that the Easter Bunny brought her a Littlest Pet Shop toy, a bunny and lots of candy. Peyton loved playing with the eggs and chasing them around the floor. She really liked the little toys the Easter Bunny brought her. Ryan and Troy spent the morning dying easter eggs. She then decorated them with Hello Kitty stickers. The girls looked so cute in their Easter dresses. We had a purple theme this year. We got the only dress we could find that fit Ryan's requirements of "being down to her toes" and I made the girls matching flowers for their hair. After church we went to a friend of Troy's, Paul, from work. We had a great dinner that consisted of all the "spring" animals: lamb, rabbit, ham, and duck. Paul is a great cook. Ryan had fun playing with another little girl at the party and Peyton had fun playing on the floor with a couple of other babies. More than anything, we were greatful that we could spend the day together and reflect on the ressurection of our Savior.

Vacation!

Well, I'm trying to get back to reality. My sister and two of her kids left last Thursday and since then, I've been trying to get my life back in order. I think the girls and I were officially on vacation for almost a month. We had a great time visiting everyone in Arizona. We especially loved the sunshine and warm weather. I forgot my sunglasses and I'm still not sure how I made it two weeks without them. Ryan played outside everyday with Grandma and Papa and was exhausted by the time our two weeks were up! She had tons of fun playing with all the cousins, going to the zoo with Papa and even a puppet show. I exhausted myself with a "quick" trip to LA to figure out how to start a business and then tons of running around AZ doing research. Peyton was officially a GRUMP in LA. She is normally a very happy baby, but after three days of either sitting in a carseat or stroller, she either scowled or screamed at anyone that looked at her. Her bottom two teeth decided to come in at the same time so none of us got any sleep. Oh well, overall it was a great time. While in AZ, my sister threw me a surprise birthday party. It was a total shock! I wish I'd had a clue because I looked AWFUL! I thought we were playing outside with the kids, so what was I going to get dressed up for?! Oh well, I had a great time catching up with old friends. We enjoyed going to Collin's (my nephew) t-ball game and finally getting to see Alexis perform with her dance group. It's surprising how quickly two weeks can fly by!
After returning from AZ, we had 3 days to get ready for my sister, Alexis and Slade to come visit. We spent a week wandering around Seattle and enjoying some RAIN! It rained almost the whole time they were here. Ryan whines every day about how much she misses Alexis. I just keep telling her it gives her something to look forward too. She can't wait for them to come again with Collin and Logan too!
P.S. I finally posted a picture of my pink hair and a picture from my party below!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I celebrated my 30th birthday yesterday the 23rd! I can happily say that I actually had a really great birthday. I started the weekend Friday when Troy took the day off and we all went downtown to breakfast. I love breakfast at Lowell's, in Pike's Place Market. We've had a hard time getting there in time for breakfast so it was a great treat to be able to go Friday morning. I then got my hair cut and colored. In honor of my brown and pink party, I now have Atomic Pink hair! Don't worry, it's just the underneath part. It was quite a shock to everyone, but I wanted to do something fun and a little crazy! We then wandered around a few stores downtown and ended the night with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.
I normally don't like to celebrate my own birthday but this year I decided to throw myself a birthday party. Troy was amazing with all the help he gave me in getting the house ready. He spent all day working to clean the house and yard. The party all started from some super cute brown and pink paisley plates that Jac and I found online and from there it evolved into an all chocolate party. We had chocolate fountain, chocolate mousse, individual chocolate chip cheesecake, chocolate raspberry torte, chocolate-white-butterscotch chip oatmeal cookies, mint brownies, and chocolate cake with chocolate truffle filling. Tons of my friends came and we had a great time hanging out and visiting.
Today, my parents flew the girls and I to Arizona for a couple of weeks. We plan on enjoying tons of time in the sun! There is no better time to be in Arizona than February and October. The last time we were here was in October for my good friend Reagan's wedding so I guess we just keep picking the good times to visit!
Thanks to all the calls and Happy Birthday's from everyone. I have cherished each and everyone!
P.S. I forgot my camera cords so I'll post pics when I get back to Washington!

Happy Valentine's Day (Yesterday)!

We had family date night for Valentine's Day. We met Troy at Kent Station and went to dinner at a great little pizza place that has always been highly recommended by our friends. We got there just in time before the crowds. We had really good salad and pizza. They even brought a cup of little candy hearts to the table. Ryan loved that! We then went to see 27 dresses. Troy got Peyton some licorice that she happily slimed and kept dropping. Ryan had some popcorn that kept her mouth busy so she wouldn't talk the whole way through. Both girls sat really well, although we had to take turns standing with Peyton part way through. The movie was SO cute! We had such a great time as a family that Troy even suggested that we may do this once a month. Overall, it was just a really great night spent as a family. Who says Valentine's Day is only for couples?!

Ryan's 1st Primary Talk

There is nothing better in the week than going to Primary for Ryan. She LOVES Primary! Every day she asks what day it is. She looks forward to Friday because Daddy doesn't have to (usually) work on Saturday. Then on Saturday she's excited because tomorrow is Sunday and "Guess what, Mommy, I'm going to Primary tomorrow." (For those who don't know, Primary is what we call the children's Sunday School.) When Ryan started going to Primary the first Sunday in January, she was very upset because she didn't get to go up to the microphone. So ever since last week, when she was assigned to give a short 2 minute talk, she has been excited to go up to the microphone! I'm going to try to attach the video I took with my camera. For anyone who cares to watch, she's giving the story of Noah. It's not very exciting, but I felt I should probably share it!

Journaling

I am the worst at keeping a journal. I started this blog so that people could see pictures of my girls and so that I would be better about journaling. Needless to say, that hasn't worked out so well, so I am resolving to start over! I have made so many resolutions this year, that I guess it's time that I have another to document things better. For instance, a week ago, I had put Ryan and Peyton to bed. Troy and I had then been watching TV or working out, I don't know which. I always check in on the girls before I go to bed. Ryan was laying there, with her covers all pushed away, wearing her hoodie sweatshirt over her sleeper. I thought this was pretty funny, but never thought to take a pictures. Then when Ryan had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I took the sweatshirt off of her, took her to the bathroom and then back to bed. She insisted, at 3:30 in the morning, that she needed her sweatshirt back on. This time we had to zip it up and she then pulled the hood on and crawled under her covers and went back to sleep. She kept up this routine of sleeping in her sweatshirt all last week until I finally told her that we needed to wash it. I'm very sad I didn't take any pictures, but maybe that will teach me to be better!

No More Thumb Sucker!

Ryan is a thumb sucker! Fortunately for me, I somehow managed to work it so that she only sucked her thumb when she had her special blanket. This blanket was given to her by my sister when she was born. It was the most beautiful Little Giraffe blanket. It was a kind of laser-cut velvet, flower print on one side and super soft satin on the other. Ryan has loved this blanket so much that the velvet side eventually got shredded and then completely cut off and the satin side has undergone numerous attempts at mending the holes by both Grandma Kathryn and Grandma Marilyn. Ryan was only allowed to have her blanket at nap or bed time to reduce the time that her thumb was in her mouth.
Last week Ryan got to go to the dentist for her twice a year cleaning. After all the work she had done last summer, I swore that when we went to the dentist again, the blanket would have to go. After her exam, they told me she has both an overbite and an openbite. I asked what an openbite was and was told that it was a result of thumb sucking. I don't know what the dental assistant said to Ryan because I was taking care of the billing, but we came home and the blanket was put in her toy bin and she hasn't slept with it since.
It was the last "baby" thing she did and so I guess my little girl is growing up faster and faster. Oh well, it's best for her teeth!