Tuesday, December 29, 2015

2015 Family Pictures

My sister in law Mari is so talented and so generous to take time out of her day to snap some family pictures for us.  She always manages to get at least a couple great pics of all of us looking and smiling(which is quite the task), and tons of the kids with their personalities captured.  I am not sure how she does it, but I am forever grateful for her!

Zach(11) and Kate(8) are really starting to look grown up to me and Ryan(3) is as cute as ever. The first picture ended up on our Christmas card this year but I think I will be printing the second to hang in our house.  










Monday, December 28, 2015

Ryan is 3!

Ryan you are 3! You bring so much happiness to our family.  Life would not be the same without you.  You are obsessed with excavators, love the movie "Dick es smoly"(Despicable Me), Mighty Machines, Mc Donalds, Subway and your big brother and sister.  you are a pleasant good natured little guy with lots of charm which makes it really hard to say no.  You still won't give up your bottles and are no where near being potty trained.  Definitely the 3rd child! Happy Birthday "Bubbarooskies"!

For your special day we took you to Portland's Playdate PDX to burn some energy.  After, we took you to Subway for your favorite Turkey and Cheese sub.  Later we had family over to sing to you and eat cake and ice cream.  We ordered you the coolest cake from Bales.  You couldn't wait to get it out of the box! Grandma and Grandma Marostica gave you a v-tech construction car set, Grandma and Grandpa Thompson got you a new helmet for your bike, and we got yout squids to scoop up with your excavators and a bulldozer.  


 


 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 



Saturday, December 26, 2015

Merry Christmas...

Another Christmas season has come and gone.  For Ryan it was the first time I think he caught on to what was going on, and for the older two, the excitement of being with family and seeing what "Santa" brought for them was still as fun as years past. 

We spent Christmas Eve at Uncle Andy and Aunt Mari's house.  We try to keep the Nativity re-enactment reverent but it's tough work I tell as you can tell by our child actors. They sure make a cute Joseph, Mary, and Shepherd if I do say so myself. And what would Christmas Eve be if we didn't open up our new jammies? After the kids fell asleep I busied myself with getting ready for Christmas Day dinner. The past three years I have hosted at my house and I love setting everything up. Cleaning it up on the otherhand...well I am still undecided.  

One day we might enjoy a little sleeping in on Christmas morning, but this year the older two were still the first to wake up! I hope their excitement lasts forever! The HOT items this year were Bose headphones for Zach, an American Girl Doll Bed for Kate and a Tractor Excavator for Ryan.  But our biggest gift was the announcement that we are expecting #4! The family is so excited and we can't wait to meet our little bean this coming July! And yay for a summer baby, a blessing for sure!

We are so blessed and at this time of year when we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior our blessings seem particularly special. This Christmas I am grateful for eternal families and the birth and sacrifice of our Savior makes that possible. I am glad we still live in a world that allows us to celbrate this special event that took place long ago, but reminds us of why we are really here on this earth and what our purpose is.    











 
 









Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Dear Santa...

Since we missed seeing Santa at Lock Lollyland this year we headed down to Macy's a couple days before Christmas to make sure Santa knew exactly what we wanted for Christmas.
Zach asked for a hoverboard
Kate asked for a gymnastics bar
Ryan asked for an excavator and dump truck