Happy Birthday, Scott!

This hunk of a man celebrated his birthday today!

We love him so much! He makes life fun and happy, and we're so grateful for his hard work to provide for us. He blesses our lives everyday with his patience, love, and strong, unwavering faith, and we can't express enough how much we love him.

Unfortunately, my parents were out of town, so the poor guy had to endure my bad cooking skills. It was up to me to cook his favorite meal and bake his cake.

We're also not a musically inclined family, so here's our attempt at regaling the birthday boy with our well wishes (complete with birthday dance by Jeff).

Happy Birthday, Scott! 

thanksgiving 2017

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but Scott and I ended up hosting Thanksgiving at our house. It's a funny thought considering I don't (really) cook and Scott has never cooked a turkey. When Thanksgiving was at my house, my parents cooked.

This year, my parents and siblings went to Arizona to cater my cousin's wedding, so we were planning on just a small Thanksgiving dinner for just us. Luckily for us, Marie Callendar's offered an already cooked feast that we could pick up before the big day; all we needed to do was reheat everything. Everything was set.

And then, I got a text from Scott's sister that had moved to Arizona.

Apparently, she and her family were coming to Utah to visit family and friends for Thanksgiving, and after talking to her mom, discovered everyone had their own plans. She was disappointed, as was her mom (my MIL), and I started to feel bad so...

Well, I think it's apparent what happened, lol.

I called Scott and he agreed that we'd host Thanksgiving. Since it was still a week before Thanksgiving, it was easy to order more food, plus gather everything else we'd need. Say what you want about bulk buying, but at that point, I was glad we lived just five minutes away from a Sam's Club. ;-)

We picked up the food we ordered from Marie Callendar's Wednesday evening, and that was an experience. Since closing all but one restaurant here in the Salt Lake City area, you can imagine what the scene was like on pick up day.

Long lines of people in the parking lot, waiting for their orders.

Luckily for us, those lines were for the restaurant's pies. Off to the side, in another tent, was the pick-up site for Thanksgiving dinners. So we were in and out with our food in about ten minutes.

All we had to do was heat up the food Thanksgiving morning, and although we did have a few small hiccups, we were able easily do that. And, with perfect timing, too: just as we were plating all of the food, our guests arrived.

All in all, we had 16 people (including us) to celebrate with. Not a bad number, I think.

And, because I'm lame, the only pictures I got of the day were of the food, lol.

We got a few pies that came with the meal from the restaurant, but the kids requested my pumpkin cheesecake, and Vanessa and I got adventurous and we made an apple pie from scratch. My mom also made ahead a custard pie for Scott's dad, as well as a sheet pan of pumpkin pie.

I would say Thanksgiving Day was a success, but I'm not sure if I'd ever host another one. There's so much planning and work that goes into it, which gives me stress and anxiety. It sure does make me more thankful for my parents who do this every year!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

he's 18!

There was a time when Ryan was almost 2 years old and he shied away from the camera. Everytime I pulled it out to take a picture, his little hands would cover his face and he'd shout out, "No, mama! No!" He developed an aversion to taking pictures or something, so I had to resort to being a ninja whenever I wanted to snap a pic.

As a result, I don't have too many pictures of Ryan during that age.

He eventually outgrew it and let me chase him around with the camera, and even when he started school, he'd still be willing to pose for me.

About 2 years ago, his aversion returned. He started hissing at me whenever I tried to take a picture and if he reluctantly agreed, he wouldn't smile. Having a smartphone makes it easier for those stealth shots, but he still hates it when I ask for a picture. Well, except when he was playing lacrosse; I could take as many as I wanted then.

His birthday wasn't much different. He didn't want a big to-do; in fact, he really didn't know what he wanted to do, although he was pretty adamant that he didn't want a party. So we ended up having take-out from Panda Express, then some pumpkin pie with whipped cream instead of a birthday cake. Then he just sat around with us watching Phineas & Ferb. Very quiet and relaxed.

Later that night, since it was a Friday, his friends picked him up and I assume they did something fun; don't really know. He didn't say much when we asked him the next day. But, he seemed fine, so I guess he got what he wanted in terms of celebrating.

But, yeah. He's 18 now.

He went from this...

to this...

 to walking...

and being kolohe (mischievous)...

to growing up...

and being not so little anymore...

I honestly don't know how I feel about my firstborn being 18; after all, I feel like he was starting kindergarten just yesterday. It's been an adventure with this kid, and I'm sad that he's not my little chunky baby anymore, but I am excited to see where life takes him from here!

18 Reasons Why I Love Ryan

  1. He's not afraid of acting like a dork. As part of his duties as Communications SBO, he makes videos for the school's morning announcements. The videos he's done so far have been absolutely hilarious!

  2. Family time doesn't annoy him as much anymore. At least he doesn't quietly sulk in his own corner now.

  3. He's kind and thoughtful, and puts others before him. The things he's done for his siblings and friends have made my mama heart proud.

  4. He's spontaneous; he likes to keep me on my toes with some of his ideas.

  5. Hard work isn't something he shies away from. If something needs to be done, he'll do it.

  6. He's still willing to pray with me every morning before he goes off to school.

  7. No prompting is needed when he tells me he loves me.

  8. I love when he comes and finds me, just to talk about his day.

  9. He's so intelligent; I know he'll do great things!

10. He has a testimony of Jesus Christ.

11. He treats his sister like a young lady. He's respectful and kind and gentle whenever he interacts with her, which means a lot since Vanessa can be a bit on the shy side.

12. I can trust him. Sure, we had some harrowing experiences, but overall, everytime he leaves the house, I know I can trust him to make good choices, do his best, etc.

13. Even though Jeff won't readily admit it, he admires Ryan. The two of them are so much alike in temperament and personality, it's no wonder Jeff gravitates towards his big brother.

14. He's patient with his siblings. Whenever he has some down time, I usually find him playing video games with Ethan, helping Jeff with basketball (or some sport), or talking with Vanessa.

15. He still roughhouses with Scott. Even though his Dad is still a bit taller (a fact that Scott likes to tease him about), Ryan will think nothing of just spontaneously trying to wrestle Scott to the floor.

16.  He's respectful towards others. Always. To this day, I'm still getting comments from his friends parents' about what a respectful, well-mannered kid he is.

17. He's very in tune with others' feelings. There have been times that he's been home late from school or leaves the house because someone needs him.

18. He makes life fun. His sarcasm, his smile, his laugh, everything that makes him Ryan, makes our lives fun and happy.