Christmastime fun!

We had such a great Christmas and were very blessed to be able to be with family and enjoy the spirit of the season. We had so much fun making gingerbread houses, building igloos, watching the boys open gifts on Christmas morning...and spending time with family! I can't believe it has already come and gone, but we hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

A Grand Ol' Time

Now that Ryan has finished his first semester we get him for five whole weeks! Whoo hoo! I'm so proud of him and all the effort he puts forth, not only in school but in everything. We've already had loads of fun with him home and have felt so much of the Christmas spirit while doing things as a family. We saw the lights at Temple Square with my family, went to Forgotten Carols with Ry's family, and have had fun with friends at holiday gatherings. I love this time of year with family and friends and love feeling what it is all about, Christ our Savior. Today we had a great time going to lunch to celebrate Gma Mary's birthday and we also finally bought a camera since ours has been lost forever, yay!
Also, a quick update on baby...we went to the doctor today (I can't believe I'm to the point where I'm going every two weeks) and I'm measuring 34 weeks. I'm scheduled for another ultrasound which, I guess, will give us a little more to go off of, but we were thinking, with my record of always going early, maybe we'll end up getting a bigger tax deduction this year, we'll see! :)

Going Private...

We decided to make our blog private, so if you want to leave your email, it would be great! Thanks!

Why So Serious?

I know I am really late at posting some pics from Halloween. Our camera is still lost and I haven't had the easy access to getting my pictures downloaded. Anyway, we had such a fun Halloween trick-or-treating with Savannah and eating some yummy soup and chili over at Jeff & Sarah's! Noah had one of the best times, I think maybe in his whole life. Ever since we saw previews for the Dark Knight, he has wanted to be the Joker. Most kids change their mind in that amount of time, but as Halloween came around, he was still stoked to be the Joker. Thanks Sarah, for doing the best makeup job, which made the whole costume! Jax also had a blast being a tiger, he kept growling at everyone. We realized his favorite treat was definitely suckers, I think he ate about seven that night!
Also Noah turned 3 on Saturday and we had such a fun party with family! I hope to get pictures up a lot sooner this time!!!

Pictureless Post

We recently misplaced our camera and therefore haven't been able to take any pictures of the fun events that we've been to lately. I never realized, until I had children, that there is so much to do during the month of October, especially for the little ones! We've really enjoyed the weather and have had a lot of fun going to different festivities. We were able to go with our ward's playgroup to This Is The Place Heritage Park for their "Little Haunts". The kids got to go to each house and trick-or-treat, do fun activities and also had the opportunity to ride ponies and the two trains they have there. We also went to go to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. They had similar activities, such as pony, train, and hay rides, but also included tons of bouncy slides, a haunted house, face painting, etc. Although I am quite tired at the end of going to these fun-filled events, it is definitely worth watching the boys bask in the excitement! I am sad, however, that we didn't get to make it to Julie and Nick's annual Halloween bash on Saturday, due to Noah feeling a little under the weather. Maybe some of you awesome friends will post pics on your blogs! :) We are excited this week for a trunk-or-treat and, of course, getting as much candy as possible on Halloween! Hope everyone has a fun and spooky holiday!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Today we celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary! With four years and two 1/2 kids under our belt, we could not be happier! I can't believe that 4 years has already gone by, but then again it seems like we have known each other forever. It is really hard to imagine life without Ryan, he has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I truly could not ask for a better husband, father, best friend and companion than Ryan is to me. It makes me so happy to know that if we are worthy of it, we will be together infinitely and eternally. The other night Ry and I were talking about how old he is getting, that he is pushing 30. :) ha ha I sat back and thought that we get to be with each other through all these different stages of life. I really look forward to everything that our future holds and am just so glad that it's Ryan who I get to go through it with!!! Love you Ry and happy anniversary!

It's Official- It's A Boy!

Last Friday night we kind of had a scary experience where I thought I was loosing the baby. Fortunately we were able to see the doctor right away and it was just a little problem with the placenta lifting away a bit. So I was told to go in yesterday to have another ultrasound to make sure everything was still okay and we got to find out, a week earlier than scheduled, whether it was a boy or girl. No doubt that he is a BOY! We also found out that everything else is alright, but that I can't exercise or really lift a whole lot.
At about 14 weeks we had an ultrasound to make sure whether it was multiples or not, and even then the nurse thought it was a boy, so we kind of had a little heads up. However, yesterday we weren't quite sure what we were going to hear, because at that stage of the development boys and girls look pretty much the same in that area. We were really excited when we saw for sure that he is, in fact, a boy!
It seems a little surreal to me to think...I am going to be a mom of three boys, crazy! I know Ryan was ecstatic because that means he almost has his basketball team together! Even though I am quite out-numbered, it is going to be so fun to have another little guy added to our family!

More on Noah...

The Sunday before last we had our Regional Stake Conference at the Conference Center. It was so nice because we had the opportunity of hearing from our prophet! We were expecting a general authority and stake leaders, but got even more, it was great! The topic was focused mainly on families and the temple. So the next night for FHE we had our lesson on temples. Noah has been learning "the temple song" in nursery and so we tied that in. Well, ever since our little lesson Noah has told everyone he comes in contact with about the temple. This past weekend Ryan and I went to the temple and left the boys with g-ma and g-pa. Here is how one of their conversations went...

Noah: "Grandpa, I need to go and put my garments on so I can go to my mission and go to the temple with my momma and dad."

Gpa: "Oh, really?"

Noah: "Ya, but first I need a suitcase. (with his head tilted and face scrunched) Do you have a suitcase I can use? I need a suitcase."

Also the other day, Noah comes up to Ryan and says very seriously, "Dad, the temple is a house of God and a place of love and beauty."

Everyday I am amazed at how observant Noah is and love that I get to be his mommy!

A present for daddy...

Last night while I was rocking Jax to sleep, I realized Noah was pretty quiet. Not far from me, I glanced over to see him building something with his blocks. As soon as I put Jaxon in his crib, Noah comes and grabs my hand to show me what he had made daddy for his birthday. It was this great tower, which he left right outside the bedroom door for Ryan to find in the morning. (The boys and I had gone to bed kind of late; Ry was already fast asleep because of his test this morning) I thought, "How cute, Ryan will love it." Then this morning, with me not even noticing his little details the night before, Noah gave us the run down on his creation...the smiley face he made and the "blue bow" he put on the top. I felt kind of bad, thinking it was just a tower he put together with most the colors in order, instead of noticing what he had really made. I love his cute imagination and can't get enough of it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RY!

(my all-time favorite pic of Ryan as a youngster)

Happy birthday to the best guy in the world! I wanted to list some of the things I love most about Ryan...
-His genuine personality
-His great sense of humor, even the cheesiness :)
-His dedication to family and whatever else he puts his mind to
-His awesome cooking
-The kind of daddy he is
-His love of sports, especially BYU!
-His kindness to others
and the list goes on...

happy birthday burteer!

love,
me

Fun with the Fam...

Ryan's sister, Kristen, and her family were here for a few days and we had loads of fun with them and also Jenni and the girls before they moved back to Cali! We had fun going horseback riding, to the zoo, celebrating Cody's b-day, etc... Noah had the best time at the zoo and kept wanting to go and see the camels. However, he was a little hesitant, he kept asking, "Mommy, are the camels going to spit on me?" It was cute seeing all the kids having fun together, Noah and Jax had a great time with their cousins!

Sienna and Jax buddying up in the stroller

Noah pulling Savannah and Jax in the wagon at the zoo

They really liked seeing each of the animals

Some "News"

Well the summer has definitely flown by for us! We had such a fun month of July with all the festivities and the boys loved every moment. Lately we've also had some new things, some of them including a new washer and dryer, a new place to live, and the biggest...a new little addition to our family! I found out I was pregnant about a month and a half ago and I am already quite big! We are really excited to have a new little baby with us come the first of March! We are now living up at the U until May and then the five of us will be on our way to Nebraska! Here are some pics of the last month.