The Luckiest

We've just passed St. Patricks Day (okay, so a few weeks ago, but I'm a little behind) and since Dave's Grandma is half Irish, and I have lots of Irish blood on my side, we like to celebrate the Irish way...except for that our Irish celebrations don't include drinking, which all Irish celebrations do. But we had fun anyway! The Saturday before, we went to the SL St. Patrick’s Day Parade with my parents. It was a fun parade, I haven’t been in years.



But got very rainy and freezing, so we went back to my parent’s house about halfway through the parade and had a traditional Irish meal – corned beef and cabbage, mashed potatoes, green jello (yeah, sure, that’s traditional), Irish soda bread, green salad, leprechaun punch (see, we drank something!), and for dessert, shamrock pudding and thin mints. Here's Dave and Cal, I think you can see the Irish soda bread on his plate. Also notice that Dave is wearing his Callahan shirt. Callahan is an Irish name.


Emma was helping Grandma set the table and put the St. Patrick’s day decorations out. My mom got a few new ones, which still had the tags on. She handed them to Emma and asked her where they should put them. Emma, being the tactful and sensitive girl she is, said “You know, Grandma, a lot of people take these [the tags] off.”


We got a kick out of that. On St. Patrick's Day, we woke up and made green Shamrock pancakes, which Emma was excited about. We all wore green, as tradition calls for.




We took Emma to preschool, where they had a St. Patrick’s Day party. She had a blast, as always.


Then we went to my Gold Medal Schools. The kids there are so funny. They were on hunts to find the leprechauns, no sign of any, though some said they saw Leprechaun poo or hair. Some of the kids told me I was a leprechaun since I’m shorter than they were! Funny kids! They crack me up. That night, I had our Relief Society birthday dinner and program. The theme this year was on Quilting. We had a yummy dinner and cupcakes (I made cupcakes using classic quilting templates), displays and people telling of the stories behind the quilts, had a program on the history of quilts, beginner quilting tips, and we tied a quilt. It was actually neat to learn more about something I know very little about, and that isn’t as much of a part of our life as it used to be. I have been saving scraps from outfits I make for Emma, or crafts I’ve made around the house. Someday, when I have enough, I’m going to make a quilt out of them. It should be fun, but I’ve never really quilted much before, so we’ll see how this goes.


Also last week, the temperature was in the mid-60’s, so we took advantage of it. We went on an “adventure” to the South Ogden Nature Park/Trail. We took a notebook and crayons to take “field notes” and draw pictures and write down what we saw, we took bags and bottles to find samples of plants, rocks, and insects that we liked. We learned about nature, and the creation, talked about some science and principles. Emma asked lots of questions, and it has been so exciting to see her mind become more inquisitive. And Cal loved just pointed at everything and trying to get everywhere. It was such a beautiful day, and though everything was dead and crunchy still from the winter, we had a great time and enjoyed the sunshine. Even more than that, I felt so lucky to be able to stay with my little ones. How I would miss out on so much if I wasn’t able to stay home! I am so grateful for Dave, for making that possible. We didn’t know (and still don’t) how we’d make it through school on such a meager salary, but he always reminded me that if we were doing the right things and have faith, we’d be blessed. And we’ve always had enough for our needs. We might not live in a castle, drive an Escalade around, have an impressive portfolio, or get to go on vacations a lot, but we have got each other, and I wouldn’t miss this for the world! Staying home with my kids has been the best (and yet the hardest sometimes) thing I’ve ever done, but I know the dividends are eternal and do and will bring me (and hopefully my family) more joy than anything else! And that makes me the luckiest. Anyways, I'm rambling. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

I really have been thinking much about how "lucky" I am lately, but it's really that I'm blessed. I'm blessed to have Dave.

This pic was taken a few weeks ago when we went to the WSU game, but they lost. It was a sad game, but it was fun to go out together and remember the good ol' days we had at Weber. Better luck next year! At least the Jazz are on a roll!

Lucky to have my kids, who are just my favorites! Too cute!


They just make me smile!
I
even feel lucky on days like last week, when we were finger painting, and Emma lifted up her hands and accidentally whacked me in the face with paint. Whoops! We had a good laugh.

The song "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds Five has always been one of my favorites. It is so beautiful, and we had that played at our wedding and on our wedding video. The lyrics have come to my thoughts lately. It is by no means a Gaelic, but it is my Irish blessing I leave with you today...it's definately how I feel.

I don't get

Many things right the first time

In fact, I am told that a lot

Now I know all the wrong turns

And stumbles and falls

Brought me here

And where was I before the day

That I first saw your lovely face?

Now I see it every day

And I know

That I am, I am

I am the luckiest

I love you more than I have

Ever found the way

To say

And I am

The Luckiest

Ch-ch-changes!

February is over and March is here, and some big things have happened for us in these past few weeks…

Cal has been walking! He won’t walk full time yet, because he’ll take 7 or 8 steps and then get down to crawl. Why walk when you can crawl so much faster? It’s pretty cute though, and he’ll be walking any day now. I'll post videos soon.



Callahan also got his much needed first hair cut. Here's a before shot of the little guy.



While we were at my parent’s house for my dad’s birthday dinner. My sister Amy, who’s a hair stylist, said that his hair was driving her nuts. And it was getting to me too, I really liked his cute little locks, especially his wings above his ears, but it was getting pretty shaggy. Dave loved that look though, and was sad to see his hair be cut. (He was joking that Cal would loose all of his strength like Sampson, and things like that, he was pretty attached to his crazy hair). So we went up in the bathroom and cut it. It was getting so long in some places, so there was quite a bit of hair on the floor.

I think this face says it all! He looks so handsome now, though! What do you think? Thanks Aunt Amy!

Such a cute little haircut!

Bye bye, Bug. Hello, Honda! We upgraded to a larger family car. We got a 2004 Honda Pilot, and we love it! It’s been a great choice, I am glad we decided to go with that. We sold our 1963 VW Bug, which we were all pretty bummed about. I love that car! But I haven’t been able to drive it forever, because it’s not very safe to take the kids in. So we mostly just played in it, which Emma and Cal enjoyed! Dave used to take it to work when it was too cold to take the bike, but it has just been sitting around since last spring, and hasn’t been registered. So it was time to sell it. Now Dave will take our ’93 Honda Accord to work, when he can’t ride his motorcycle.

"Daddy's Lellow Bug"

Cruisn' Cal!

The kids loved playing in it!

Callahan loves knobs and steering wheels. He has a great time pretending to drive.

Here's a pic of our new Pilot, or "the new Honda". We've really liked it a lot so far!

“Anybody want a peanut?” Cal doesn’t. (Okay, I love Princess Bride, so many great lines, but that was a pretty bad joke!) We also found out this past week he’s allergic to peanuts. The allergist also thinks he’s lactose intolerant. Callahan was just throwing up so much, all of the time. And he hasn’t really been growing very much. He’s barely over 17 lbs., which he’s been for several months. Many ask if he’s 8 or 9 months old, because he is so tiny, but he is now 15 months. So we wondered if there was something wrong, if he was allergic to something, and that was causing it. So we figured that out. Now it’s off to the G.I. at Primary Children's in a month to see if something crazy is going on with his digestion.

Emma got her first ear infection this past week. The doctor could never believe she hadn’t had one, and this is the time when most kids stop having them. Poor girl woke up saying "my ear hurts!" And she was just crying in pain. So we took her in pretty quick. That's one nice thing about when kids get older. They can tell you what's wrong, instead of just crying about it. But we got her on antibiotics and she's doing great now!

Cal is off binkies now! He’s been paci-free for about 3 weeks now! Way to go, little bud! We hear more crying, and sometimes it’s tempting to give it back to him, but it is great he doesn’t have to rely on it anymore. Now, for Emma and her thumb…it’s a little harder to take that away. Any suggestions on helping her to stop? We’ve tried so many things from bribery, we took away her blankies long ago; because that seemed to encourage it, we’ve showed her pictures of people with nasty teeth and told her about braces and how they hurt so bad, we’ve tried putting yucky things on her thumb, and lots of other things. Nothing seems to work. So send your ideas our way!

Dave and I were able to go to the Salt Lake Temple to do a live session last week. We have always just gone to Bountiful or Ogden for our monthly temple trips. And we’ve been to the SL to do baptisms or to sealings, but never an endowment session. It was so neat to go there for a change and experience the live session. If you’ve never been (probably everyone has but me…) you should really go. I picked up on some different things, which I always do, but just because of the way the material is presented some things stood out to me that I never thought of before. And the temple is beautiful! It was breathtaking! I love the artwork and craftsmanship that went into the temple. There’s a reason that it took 40 years to construct. Only the best for the Lord.

Holiness to the Lord.

And that reminds me. It was announced in February that the Ogden Temple will be majorly renovated. We are so excited! It will be really neat.

What other changes are to come soon? Stay tuned to find out…

Awww...I love V-Day!

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, as you all know, and I love it!

I am so grateful for my sweetie, even my own Dave. He is so good for me! I am grateful for the 5 years that I’ve been with him, he makes my life complete. Here's a flashback picture of us at an Institute dance. He was Uncle Rico and I was Deb. Sweet!
My little sweethearts, Emma and Cal, I love dearly! They truly make me happy! They always know how to make my day…make my day enjoyable or crazy sometimes. I am glad I get to spend most of my time in the home with them.
I’m most grateful today, though, for the love of my Savior. His is the perfect love. The love I should seek for more than anything else. I love him and hope I can show that love through my actions, rather than just by lip service.

We’ve been able to have some fun festivities for Valentine’s day…I love holidays! Any holidays, they’re so fun, and at the Ryerse home, we really like to get into them.
Earlier this week, we made frog prince cupcakes, which turned out really well. Everyone we gave them to loved them! I must have deleted the pictures I took of them, because I didn't have any on our computer or memory card. So I posted one kind of like the ones I made that I found online. We made these for our families and for some people we thought might need a lift.

For the past several weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, we got out our Valentine's mail box. It's been fun to make cards, and write little notes to leave for each other regularly. Emma loved it, especially making cards for Daddy, and then telling him when he got home from work "Daddy! Go check the mailbox!"

You've got mail! Emma's gotten a kick out of seeing and giving Valentine's. Especially the one I made for Callahan she liked. It said "Hey little buddy. Happy Valentine's Day! You are too cute. Now, go ahead and chew on this card. I knew it would happen." She laughed and laughed! She also liked the 3D Phantom of the Opera card I made for daddy.
Emma had a Valentine party on Friday for preschool. She had a great time filling out the valentines for her little classmates, and also her friends and family members. Again, I think I accidentally deleted the photos I took of her at her party in her cute valentine's hoodie. Oops! Here Emma is with her little friend Elisha, showing off their goods.

One of Emma's little classmates all of the teachers a little box of chocolates. Emma said she wanted one, and took the plastic off. I told her to wait until after lunch. She said that was okay, and put the box of chocolates down on the couch. I ran into the kids room to go grab something really quick, and when I came back, this is what I saw... Cal got into the chocolates and was loving it!Mmmmm...chocolate! I think I like this Valentine's thing!
Saturday, I woke up and made heart-shaped blueberry pancakes, strawberries, hash browns, and sausage. We went to the Tree House in the early afternoon for their Valentine party, which included a magic show. That was pretty cute. Then we saw Grandma Di and Grandpa Scott, they gave us all some fun Valentine surprises. Last night, we went to the Miller’s house and had dinner and cheesecake with them, and played air hockey and rock band, and played with the kids. The night was cut short by Cal throwing up though, poor little buddy! Tavin gave Emma a ring pop and asked “Will you be my Valentine?” Emma said “Yes!” It was pretty cute. As they were sucking on their ring pops, Tavin gave Emma some other presents. He gave her a picture frame with them in it, and a few other things. It was too cute!

And yesterday, the actual Valentine's Day, we had church. I played my flute to “All Creatures of Our God and King” for sacrament meeting. Emma made valentines for us in primary, they were pretty cute, and gave her valentines to her Sunbeam teachers. The kids were getting restless in sacrament meeting, like usual. I don't think it helped that Cal and Emma both had some candy that morning during church! He he!

When we got home, we had much needed naps. Later that afternoon, we exchanged some fun Valentine's surprises. The hit of the day was a musical, light up rose that Dave gave to Emma. It played "Fur Elise" and she played with that thing until the battery died!

That night, we had our Phantom of the Opera party. Phantom is one of our favorite things! So we had a 5-Course French style dinner. We had salad for starters, different types of sparkling ciders, fancy cheeses and baguettes, French apricot chicken and steamed carrots for the main course, fruit, and gateau au chocolat (chocolate cakes). It was delicious, but we probaby ate too much!

We all had masks that we decorated later. Here's Cal in his. Emma's kitty mask was way cute!Then we snuggled up and watched our favorite Phantom of the Opera movie, singing the songs along with it. It is sooOO good! If you haven't seen it, you should. This was Emma's first time watching it, usually we watch it when she's in bed. Emma girl was running around and hit her head on our coffe table and got a gash in her head, and it bruised up pretty badly. We attended to her, but it really left a mark. Ouch! Sorry, little lady! But after we helped it to feel better, we had a great time. Here are how our masks turned out. Dave said he just wanted his plain, to be in the true spirit of the Phantom. "Masquerade! Painted faces on parade!"