Happy Birthday Ryan

The day before Ryan's birthday this is what his office looked like when he got to work.  I guess this is what happens when you have girls working for you. 

 The kids colored this shirt for dad.  Now they can run their cars on his back and give him a back rub.

 Some awesome friends gave him this shirt.  I think it is his new favorite.

 Ryan took the day off for his birthday.  He got up and showered and dressed and this is what I found.  I have never seen him look so...relaxed...before.

 We made a Thanksgiving feast at home for Dad's birthday (Ryan was really bummed we didn't have left-overs after our trip for Thanksgiving).  Brandon decided that he had to carve the turkey on Dad's birthday.

 Three pies...that's right...three pies.  Happy Birthday to you.  Thanks to Valerie for the third pie.  Mmm.

 Reading the family Christmas book.

 Oh yeah, get that Astro Pop!  Ryan and I went to a candy shop while the kids were at school and brought these home for them.

 Dinner with friends at Tucanos:

Little Mavericks

Brandon had the privilege of being an Honorary Maverick at the local high school with their basketball team.  He came home saying it was the best day of his entire life.  He was so cute.  They really made hi feel special.

 He got to be on the court with the big boys.

 He got to sit on their bench:

 They pick two kids for each home game to make feel special.  Brandon got lucky enough be picked with one of his best friends from class.

 They got to keep shirts and balls.

 They got a picture with the team in the locker room.

Gingerbread Party

We had our annual gingerbread house party.  The kids had a great time decorating their houses.  I got a kick out of how little Brandon put on his.

 Yep, this sums it up:

 She is getting pretty good at it:

 Ryan did the Merlion - from his trip to Singapore.

 And mine...yeah...

Decorating for Christmas

We always have at least one kid who plays in the box (and in this case, eats candy) while we set up the tree.

 The kids did the one in the playroom all by themselves this year.

 When mom steps out for a bit, guess what she comes back to.  That's right, kids on the roof.  Man, sometimes it amazes me how differently a mother and father can feel about things.

 Brandon set up the train.

 Decorations:

We went to the city tree lighting ceremony.

Happy Thanksgiving

We went to visit family for Thanksgiving.  It was such a nice trip.  We got to watch cousins play basketball (which was sooooo fun):

 Grandma and Grandpa's outside freezer quit working.  So the kids HAD to eat all the ice cream.

 I made these place settings for the big day.  They actually turned out cute, believe it or not.  They were filled with chocolate mints.

 Brandon had so much fun doing his Thanksgiving sort Pompa gave him with Skittles.

 Oh yeah, and we got to have 2 Thanksgiving feasts.  One with my family and one with Ryan's.  Mmmm.  I am still a little sick just thinking about it.

 Here is my family, only missing Alyssa and Jared and their families.

Misc. November

Okay, so I have been the worst blogger this year.  We have been up to a lot lately, but I haven't blogged any of it.  So be prepared for a lot of updates here.

The Boise Temple is finally open again.  We are so grateful to have it back.  Ryan and I got to work at the open house, which was a very good experience for both of us.  We really enjoyed bringing our kids through on a tour.

 Brandon had to cook a meal at home for scouts and it lit a fire under him.  Now he loves to cook and is always asking if he can make dinner.  I am LOVING it.

 The kids all entered artwork of some kind into the Reflections Art Contest at school.

 Cody won!  For his little Halloween book he threw together one day.  He was so excited.