Luck of the Irish

I'm so lucky, in so many ways! I have to be since I'm part Irish, you know. My mom and I figured out the other day I'm 1/32 Irish. Dave is 1/8 Irish. So our kids are somewhere in between. We always have a fun time for St. Patrick's Day and do some fun things to celebrate. This year, the kids and I made a Leprechan trap. Emma has been into the whole thing and was diggin' it! Cal also had a fun time painting and gluing and cutting. Emma wanted to make stepping stones, and she painted them green to attract the Leprechan. It was her idea to make a little rug, gold in color, of course. We filled a little pot with "gold" and put a sign on it that says "pull for gold". We attached a string to the pot that was connected to a cup we decorated that was supposed to come down on the Leprechan trying to get the gold. Keep on reading to see if we got lucky and caught a Leprechan.
We always go to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Salt Lake. Here are the kids, ready for the parade! It's always the Saturday before St. Patty's Day and is a fun parade.

The parade consists of LOTS of dogs - the kids loved that! I can't believe some of the outfits they had on.

Bagpipes, of course. I love bagpipes!

Emma the Irish girl.

Bouncing curls and tap shoes.

Candy...here's Cal enjoying some candy.

Then there are lots of clans from Ireland, families that just make up their own floats. This was my favorite entry. It was a tribute to Jerry Sloan. They had guys dressed up like Jerry, Jazz players and staff. Jerry is on the back, as you can see and it's appropriate that a John Deere tractor is pulling the float.

Then on St. Patrick's Day, I made some rainbow muffins for breakfast. Yum!

We had the muffins with a pot of gold (Goldenpuffs, that is) and green milk. Green milk is something Dave's family always did, and I'm carrying on the tradition with our family. Emma was convinced the Leprechan was the culprit.

The kids went to Preschool that morning, and had a great time with their St. Patty's day party. While they were gone, I pulled out my Irish Penny whistle and played some jigs and Irish songs...love it! So, did we catch a leprechan? Well, one visited, but he got away. He left a note. The note said: "To the Ryerse family, You were very clever indeed, but I escaped (Leprechans are tricky, you know). Better luck next year. Here is some "gold" for you. Better luck next year. Happy St. Patrick's Day to ya!" In the cup, he left some gold eggs.

We were also lucky to get a new nephew that day! We got to go see Jerry & Stacy's baby boy at McKay Dee Hospital that afternoon. He was a big boy, bigger than Lucy, weighing in at 21 inches and 8 lbs., 8 oz. He is handsome and has dark hair.

They decided on a name, Brody Zatch, the second day of his life. We're so excited to have another nephew, and the kids can't wait to meet their new cousin!! Congrats to you all, Jerry, Stacy, Tayla, Kaison, and Brody!

Yes, I am lucky. Might not be 100% Irish, but I have a lot of luck in life. Lucky to have been born into my great family with good parents who love the Lord. Lucky to have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lucky to have had good health throughout my life. Lucky to have my sweet Dave and my little kids, I love them all more than I could ever express. Lucky to have always had my temporal needs met. Lucky to live in the USA, Utah, and South Ogden. Lucky to have amazing friends, ward, and neighbors. Lucky to have the abilities I do. Lucky to live on this beautiful earth. I have so much! I am more than lucky, I am blessed!

Lucy - 3 Weeks

Lucy is now three weeks old! A lot has happened in her first few weeks of life!

We got the pictures back that were taken at the hospital. They turned out so well! This first one is of her in the hat and booties that my mom made for her. So cute!

This picture is of Dave holding her in his arm. I love that it shows how teeny she is. Precious!

What a sweet girl! We've so enjoyed having Lucy in our family!

We discovered a birth mark on her left ankle. It's a reddish colored one. So all of our kids have a birth mark.

She has been getting to know family and friends (see "Sibling Love" post for Emma & Callahan & Lucy adventures). She is so blessed to be surrounded with so many who love her so much!

Here she is with Aunt Julie, Grandma Sue and Emma.

My Mom wasn't able to meet her until she was about a week old, since she was very sick and didn't want to get Lucy sick. Here's my mom holding her for the first time, and Cal giving her a kiss.

Uncle Marko...who doesn't love Uncle Marko?
Here's Kaleb Miller, our good friends Dennis and Calena's son, with Lucy. They were due five days apart and were born five days apart (Kaleb on the 14th, and Lucy on the 19th). We weren't able to see him though until he was a couple of weeks old, and Lucy was a week old, since we were all sick. We put them together to take pictures, and it was so cute because they held hands all by themselves. Calena joked that Kaleb looked like a sumo wrestler next to Lucy, he is a big boy and Lucy is so little!

Lucy loves to sleep and she sleeps a lot! She will go for 4 or 5 hour stretches without waking up. It's kind of nice. Then when she's awake, she'll want to eat every 20 minutes.

Lucy's umbillical chord fell off at 1 1/2 weeks. So we gave her a bath that day. The kids were so excited to help! She loved the warm bath water!

Lucy is a good, calm baby most of the time. We've been pretty lucky!

We took Lucy to her two week appointment on Monday of this week. She already weighs 6 lbs., 8 oz. and is 20 1/2 inches long! She's growing well, and our PA, Dustin Havey, said she looks great and is very healthy!

Last week, my sister Amy did a little photo shoot with Lucy, and the pictures turned out so darling! Thanks, Am! She is so talented in so many ways, and I admire the way she develops her talents! So here are some of my favorite pics she took...