Jazzy Cat is One!

When our cat Jazzy was given to us at the beginning of 2016, we were told she was 6 weeks old.  So, we estimated her birthday to be on November 30, 2015 (though Cal fought for a birthday twin).  The vet also thought that was an very close to accurate birthday based on her size.

The kids really wanted to throw a party complete with games and cake.  They played a few cat games that Emma and Cal played, Emma made a birthday hat for her (which, as you can tell, she just loved ;), gave Jazzy a couple of new cat toys, and we had cake (which was leftover cake from Cal's birthday a few days earlier cut into squares with little toppers Emma made, but Jazzy got a wet cat food can) and sang to Jazzy.  Emma and Lucy even wanted to wear clothes that had cat things on them, and Clal wanted to paint on whiskers to celebrate. Jazzy, of course, had no idea what was going on and was less than thrilled about the whole thing, but the kids enjoyed it, so that's what counts!

I can't believe it's been a year since we've had her! Jazzy is a very sweet, patient cat.  She never meows, unless we leave town for a couple of days, then she meows for us for the next few days.  She likes to be petted and sit on what you're doing when she wants attention.  She runs when anyone wakes up to come greet you.  She loves her heated cat bed.  She loves to play.  Her favorite thing to play with are pom poms and empty cat food cans and run through the kids play tube.  Recently, Dave taught her to "shake", where she'll lift up her paw for a kitty treat.  She will sometimes jump on the kids if they're on the floor to play.  Her tail is jittery and always curvy.  She acts like a dog sometimes and will eat up food that gets dropped on the floor. Loves going outside and exploring, though we mostly keep her indoors.  Based on her research, Emma thinks she's a combination of a few domestic cat breeds including bengal and American short hair cat.  She's very athletic, and agile and has a very long body.  She's been very good for the kids, and it's nice for them to have to think about taking care of something else besides themselves.  It's hard to imagine our lives without this Jazzy Cat!

Here's a little sampling of some pictures from Jazzy's first year.

Christmas Card & Ryerse Rant

We sent out our cards, I started making them right after Thanksgiving so I'm on the ball right!?   Except I didn't finish until several weeks later.  I love making hand made ones.  They were decorated in silver and gold (and a touch of black and red) and had a quote on it that said “Jesus is the light of Christmas, the joy in our hearts, the hope of the world! ”  We included a picture collage from the year. Inside, it said:

 Ryerse Rant 2016

Dave – Served as Boy Scout Cubmaster and Young Men’s Counselor. Started his new post as CEO at Daniels Memorial Hospital in Scobey, MT in June. Helps out with Chamber of Commerce events. Looks forward to college football Saturdays.  Enjoys spending time wrestling with the kids and working on projects in our large garage. 

Mel – Got our house packed, unpacked, packed again and unpacked…the last packing or unpacking for a long while, we hope! Now getting the house put together and decorated. Served as Primary president, now a counselor in Primary at church.  Loves helping out with Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. Joined Prairie Symphonette.

Emma – Finished 4^th and started 5^th grade.  Picked up the trumpet and really enjoys it. Her passions include: drawing and doodling, writing little stories, reading book after book, watching Studio C, having sleepovers, listening to and playing music, anything cat related, and going to Lego Club & Girl Scouts after school.

Cal – Wrapped up 1st grade and started 2^nd. You can find Cal in his spare time riding his bike, playing Minecraft or Roblox, throwing around a football, playing card games or checkers, having a good time at Cub Scouts, practicing piano, playing with friends or jumping on the trampoline.

Lucy – Graduated preschool and started Kindergarten, which started out rough but looks forward to it now. Learned how to swim & ride a bike mostly independently and thinks that’s great. Can’t wait to do makeup and nails, play with stuffed animals and dolls, bake in the kitchen, read on her own, and playdates.

Cov – The lone ranger at home during the week now.  He enjoys all the attention and Mommy preschool, most of the time!  So happy to play with his siblings, go to the park, watch or play Paw Patrol, go on walks or rides, read books together, dig with his trucks in the backyard, eat candy and play football.

This year, we added a furry member to the family – a gray kitten named Jazzy in January.  Our big news was the job change/move to Montana. We really like this small, tight-knit community and the slower pace of life here. We visited Billings (the “Big” City) a few times and have explored other places around here, and traveled to Bear Lake for a family reunion this summer.

May we each look to Jesus - our light, joy & hope - this Christmas season and forever!

Love,

Dave, Melanie, Emma, Callahan, Lucy & Coverton Ryerse

Thanksgiving - the most important day in the universe

At the beginning of November, we began discussing the importance of the Thanksgiving holiday and how we need to be thankful all year round and always give thanks to God for our blessings.  Lucy exclaimed "Well then, it is the most important day in the universe then!"

We started a gratitude pumpkin and recycled my bat pumpkin from Halloween.  On it, I wrote "I'm Grateful for..."  And then each day, everyone got to write one thing they were thankful for each day.  I loved the varied answers that were written or drawn on there.  So sweet and specific.  We also had some family home evenings to help us be thankful and learn more about the Pilgrims and the history of the holiday.  Also, something must be sinking in because the three older kids all wrote notes to us telling us thank you.  :)  We also made cards to send to our parents and grandparents.  With a cheesy poem I wrote but I was kind of proud of making it up on the cuff.

When Thanksgiving rolled around, we woke up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  Always a classic!  Cov loved the Thomas, Lucy liked Hello Kitty, Cal enjoyed the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Emma liked the Girl Scout float.  We decided to go to the community Thanksgiving lunch sponsored by the Methodist church.  It's a tradition that's been going on here for over 100 years!  Our sweet neighbors down the street, Nancy and Fitch, helped put it on and told us we should totally go.  They furnish everything and ask that everyone just brings a side or dessert to contribute.  It was so nice and we talked to some we already knew and met some new people. There were about 150 who attended plus the kind volunteers.  It was so nice to just come and not worrying about being in the kitchen all day.  And it was very tasty.  We feel so happy to be in this community.

All afternoon, we played hard!  We had a lego building competition - Emma's idea.  It was so fun!  Emma created a turkey and a pilgrim scene with a pilgrim girl plowing and planting, Cal made the "Pilgrim mobile", Cov and I built the Mayflower, and Lucy put together something that changed every five minutes, haha!

We also did some fun crafts and artwork at school and home.

I loved these little turkeys we made using a few from the plethora of pinecones we gathered in our front yard.  On each finger, we wrote something we were thankful for.  I loved hearing what the kds came up with and liked how unique each of them turned out.  Dave's the only one who didn't make one.

We did a photo scavenger hunt where we had a list of specific things we needed to find like "something you're thankful for that smells good" or "something you're thankful for that is in nature", etc.  We had teams so it was Dad/Lucy/Cov and Mom/Emma/Cal.  The things the kids thought of were very great.  Especially when we got to "Something that makes you feel warm", Cal said "Let's take a picture of my heart because I feel the Holy Ghost in my heart and it makes me feel warm."  We went to the school to play outside and basketball and other games together.  After that, we played some board and card games. It was so much fun!

 And then we ate again, but went light.  We already had bought a turkey though, since they were cheap, so we decided to smoke it all day on our grill.  So we had turkey sandwiches - turkey, cream cheese, cranberry sauce and romaine lettuce on a roll, yum!  We had lots of toasts around the table, haha!  Emma, Lucy and I made little apple pies for dessert, which were a hit!  It was a perfect day to just be with the family!  I'm thankful for so much.  Truly, there is not enough room to receive all of the blessings we have.  We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for all he bestows upon us each day!That night, we watched a movie, had scriptures and went to bed very full and very thankful!

The weekend following Thanksgiving, we made a trip up to Canada.  We just got our passports, so we were ready to cross the border.  This was Dave & the kids first time going to Canada.  I had gone once growing up.  We went to Regina, Saskatchewan.  It was a nice place.  We drove around first for a bit, then went to go to the temple, which said it would be open online but was closed.  Bummer!  Next time.  It was pretty though and we drove around more than once!  Lucy said it was "the most beautifulist temple in the world!" We went and ate lunch at a burger place, which we were not impressed by and no one was brave enough to try "poutine" (gravy on fries)...maybe next time.  Then we went shopping to get a few things, played at a park and went to the Science museum.  This was so awesome!  There were so many great interactive and education things.  Everything was kid friendly, but Dave and I enjoyed it as much as they did.  It was very well rounded from a science stand point.  We stayed half the day and still could've spent more time.  We went for a Costco run after that and worked the terrible Canadian currency exchange rate to our advantage.  Just had to figure out what we could/couldn't bring back over the border.  Unfortunately, no produce or meat.  Bummer.  But we got some other things we needed.  Then it was pizza for dinner we took to our hotel.  They had a water park in the hotel, which was so fun for the kids.  They loved the slide and water features.  The hot tub was just right for me.  ;)  We stayed for 3 hours!  Then we snuggled up and watched a little Harry Potter and went to bed.  The following morning, we drove home and to church on the way since it is on the way.  It was a great Sunday drive and end to the weekend!