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!"

Joy School and an Old Navy Sale

My little girl is growing up, and here's proof! She started Joy School last week! Five ladies in my ward and I all take turns teaching different letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and holiday and have all of the kids at our house two times a week for a couple of hours. Emma was so excited to finally be going to school! When Dave went to school, she'd always grab a backpack, put it on and tell me that she was going to school too. The first day was an "All About Me" day, so everyone was supposed to bring stuff about them. Emma's basket had a picture of our family, a stuffed kitty, dress-up stuff, a song book, and one of her favorite books. Here she is on her first day...

Emma and 3 of her 5 preschool buds (plus little brother, Hyrum). Wesley, Emma, Elisha.

The kids also did a little talent show during preschool. Here they are all (+ Ethan) dressed up for the occasion.

So far, Emma's been loving it, and it's been nice to have a few hours to catch up on things, and spend one-on-one time with Cal. He's getting to be lots of fun! He always smiles, and loves to point to things with his index finger now.

Cal mostly makes noises like a monkey, but has said a few words. So far, he's said: "Mama", "Dada", "Emma", and the other day, when he saw Grandma's kitty coming, he said "Kitty". So he has said something besides people's names now.
And now...a sale! Anyone who knows me knows I'm a cheapo and hate to pay full price for anything. I love couponing, buying things on clearance, and shopping after season. I got some money for my birthday and decided to go buy some clothes from Old Navy. I haven't really gone shopping to buy for myself for a while (we bought a new work wardrobe for Dave, and have most of the kids stuff for next winter), so it was kind of fun. Luckily, it was their 50% off already reduced clearance price sale. Wahoo! I got a hoodie (not pictured), 2 tank undershirts, 2 tees, 2 long sleeved shirts, 1 dress, 1 ruffle shirt, 1 hoodie, and 2 3/4 length sleeve shirts. The actual retail price was $190. I got it all for $34. Plus, Am & Kolb gave me an ON gift card, so I payed $9.

This is not such a flattering picture, but Emma is an amateur photographer and loves to take pics. She takes crazy ones of me all of the time. This is actually the hoodie I got. It was 2.50. Booyah!

A quarter of a century...

Last Thursday, I turned 25, and we had a few great days of celebrations!

We woke up to a normal day, watching our neighbor's kids for a few hours. Dave got some cinnamon rolls, and we made baked french toast with them and hashbrowns and orange juice...yum! Dave had a job interview that afternoon...which he got! Happy birthday to ME! I am so excited for him, and proud of him. He's stuck with it for so long, and now he got the job. It will work out really well, we think. He'll be working at the Orthopedic Clinic on the University of Utah campus with the insurance companies to clear things up to authorize surgeries and stuff or something. Yea!

After the interview, we went to Texas Roadhouse...mmmmm...I had the ribs, they were yum! We brought the kids with us for that and Emma loves Texas Roadhouse. It was fun. Oh, a quick story. I have always told Emma if I raise my voice, hurt someone else, or don't listen, she can put me in timeout. So the other day, I raised my voice more than I should have, and apologized, but reminded Emma she could put me in timeout. So she was glad to take up the opportunity. She told me, "Okay, Mommy, you need to be in timeout for 25 minutes, because you're 25!" She's right, because we put her in time out for one minute per year she is. We compromised on five, but it was pretty funny. After the timer went off and I was done, she came up to me and said "Okay, Mommy. Why are you in time out? Because you raised your voice at me? Yes, that's right." It was pretty amusing, but I learned my lesson! 25 minutes is a long time to sit in time out, so I need to behave myself!

Then, the Ryerse's were kind enough to watch the kids so we could go see a movie. Dave was about to purchase New Moon tickets, but I told him I'd rather see Avatar (and I'm sure he was rather relieved he didn't have to sit through New Moon), so we went to see it in 3D at the Gateway.

Dave is so funny! We went to see Avatar, which I loved! He got tickets I12 & I13, "I because I love you", he said, "and 12 and 13, because that adds up to 25." That's deep, dear! (:

No, we didn't go see the Chipmunks, disappointing, I know, but had to take a picture by this, because Emma loves the Chipmunks!

To finish off the day, we had cake! Emma putting the candles in the cookie dough ice-cream cake. We didn't have 25 candles, so Daddy and Emma put 2 at the top and five at the bottom.

I get co-birthdays on both sides of the family, which is fun. On the Ryerse side, I share a party with Julie, because her birthday is the 9th. So it's double the fun! She is so nice to share her birthday with me, I love Julie! She's great, is now 23 years. We had a princess cake this year...singing "Happy Birthday" Ryerse style is great! Everyone sings whatever they want, whenever they want, in whatever key they want. It's halarious! Saturday night, I was also able to get together with some good friends from high school. It was so good to see everyone!

The Stoddard side is a birthday party for Kolby & I. Amy threw a surprise party for Kolb on the 1st, his birthday up by Daniel's Summit. Here are a few pictures from that party. Kolb is 26 this year!

Emma having a good time playing in the snow...she loves the snow!The crew that came for Kolby's party! We had chili and cake and ice-cream, went sledding, and snowmobiling.The kids in the large sled being pulled behind the snowmobile. I think there were six in there, including Emma, weeeee!Callahan enjoying the birthday cake and being held by Aunt Amy.

Then we did a party on Sunday night. We had a delicious dinner my mom made, and cake, and great company.

Callahan eating...again! He loved this pop rock sucker! Grandpa has a good time with the kids.

Amy, the blogging queen, taking pictures for her blog. She got a snazzy new camera, so she's been using that a lot.

After dinner, Amy on the violin, my mom on the piano, and I with my flute were able to play some music together. It was so much fun to do that, it had been a while since we had a family jam session. Emma wanted to get out my piccolo, so she was jamming out with us.

And now, since I am 25, I thought I’d share that many things about me. Some of the things you may know about, others you may not. In no particular order, my 25 random things...

1. I won a “Best Lips” contest at a bridal show that Dave & I attended.
2. I’ve never had a cavity, but as my dentist told me, I have the gums from h-e-double hockey sticks.
3. I love the Utah Jazz. I’ve cried over games before and get pretty passionate about it. This year, they took them off “peasant vision” or free TV, which is all we have, so we go to the in-laws to watch games.
4. I had kidney reflux disease as a child, and had surgery to fix the problem. Shortly after my surgery, they stopped doing the type of surgery they did on me because there were too many complications and deaths from it. I was okay.
5. I collect rubber duckies, and have them for all different holidays and events. My favorite ones are probably the Halloween ones, but close seconds are the fairy tale ones, and the jungle safari ducks.
6. I love cheesecake! It’s the best food on the planet, I like to make all different kinds and eat it.
7. I’ve never dyed or bleached my hair (unless strawberry Jell-o counts!).
8. Cooking/baking/cake decorating is something I really enjoy doing. I think it’s a way for me to show appreciation and love for others.
9. I want to start up my own business someday, probably a wedding business of some type or a PR firm.
10. I used to be very afraid of heights, and would get terrible anxiety getting up high, until I took a neurolinguistics programming class and was cured.
11. I love children and babies, they make me happy! (Especially my own two little cuties, Emma and Cal!)
12. I can’t wait until I go on a mission when I’m old and gray with my Dave!
13. I feel so incredibly blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life – it makes all the difference in the world.
14. I want lots of children…probably between 4 and 6.
15. My dream vacation is a Disney Cruise somewhere warm…let’s do it! Who’s in?
16. If life is a box of chocolates, I want a Mindy Mint.
17. My favorite color is yellow, such a bright and happy color.
18. I love to read – read anything, well, almost anything...I just wish I had more time!
19. My love language is words of affirmation.
20. I bleed purple – I love Weber State University!
21. I want to learn how to play the oboe someday. (Flute teachers have always said “no” because it would ruin my embouchure for my flute playing!)
22. I hate cleaning and feel like I can never stay on top of it. But I do the best I can. I want to hire a maid someday so I can spend more quality time with my family and do the things I like to do.
23. I wish I sang well enough to be in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Someday, I’ll try out anyway.
24. I have lived in two states, Virginia and Utah, and have visited at least 25 of the 50 states.
25. I think I’ll live to be old…it runs in the family. My great-great grandmother lived to be 107 and met all of the prophets from Joseph Smith until her death. Cool, eh? My great-grandmother was 99. But I hope I’m not that old when I go to the next life...But I guess it's really not up to me, when I finish my mission here on this earth I'll go.