I’m getting crafty (with much help from my sister). Check out the shirt we made for Rya, it turned out really cute!
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And, if that announcement is not obvious enough…
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Tune in next month, when hopefully, we will reveal the gender!
This is what happens when your two year old picks their clothes and dresses themselves…
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Has it seriously been over a week since Halloween? Where is the time flying to? We had a wonderful, candy-filled, Halloween. Rya was a fairy; the cutest fairy in all our kingdom. She had an extraordinary one-of-a-kind costume, thanks to the exceptional talent and fabulous styling of my mom and sister. We actually made the most of Halloween this year and went Trick-or-Treating three different times. We started at Cody’s work, then to a Church Trunk-or-Treat, and finished it off with a stint around our neighborhood. Rya began the festivities by breaking down in tears at the first sight of an eight year old in a Spiderman costume, but by the end would warn us to steer clear if she thought things were too “scary”. She made out with a stash that will last us all year- we’re set for Stocking stuffers and Easter candy, to be sure (hehe- not sure that’s how it works, but it would be nice).
Anyways, let’s get on to the real interesting part—the pictures! Cody and I went as “doting parents” in case you couldn’t tell…
I have to rave on my hubby a little, I know I have shared tidbits of his romantic side on here before, but his thoughtfulness never ceases to amaze. It reminds me of how lucky I am to have a guy like him in my life! I was in Texas for my birthday, so we weren’t really able to celebrate. However, when I arrived home, not only did I find a spotless house (present enough, I think), but scattered in hiding spots all over the house I found Gerber daisies, with the attached puzzle piece.
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I am sorry to report that with all the crazy catch-up from vacation over the next couple days, I wasn’t able to assemble the puzzle…until Friday, that is. This wouldn’t have been a problem, but I had already committed on Thursday night to feed the missionaries that Friday evening. But, this is no surprise, Cody is the romantic, and I am usually unknowingly sabotaging his romancing efforts with my everyday practical life. It works out though, he’s the romantic, I am the realist- we even each other out. And, we rescheduled our date for the next week. :)
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So…I realize I have been an absentee blogger of late, but I have been out of town the last few weeks. My parents went on an impromptu trip to Ireland (!!! I know, right!!!- awesome) and I went down to “babysit”, or rather, chauffeur my younger brother while they were gone. We had a good time, but it made me realize how grateful I am that Rya is only 2; if for no other reason than I still have 12 years reprieve before I have to start taking her to early morning seminary. Nothing against seminary, maybe I am just getting old, but man, waking up at 5:30 am every morning really wiped me out around mid morning. (Respect for all that my mother just continues to grow!)
We did manage to make it down to the beach for a few days of sun and surf. We went with Sterling and Rebecca and Ethan (cutie in the yellow), and Clayton (of course). It was Rya’s first visit to a Texas beach (we visited one in California, but the weather had us all shivering after an hour or so). The water was warm, the weather was beautiful, and when the kids looked as though they would fall over from exhaustion we had to drag them away. It was a fabulous weekend.
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The rest of the time, aside from running Clayton to his countless extracurricular activities, we hung out with Rebecca and Ethan, which both Rya and I enjoyed. But, two weeks as stand in mom for my brother was enough- I will gladly enjoy the simpler pre-teen years we have and just be grateful to my mom for all that she did and still does for me and my siblings.
We just got back from our summer vacation. We spent it traversing across California, visiting family and playing hard. We started out our vacation at Cody’s Grandparents house near Sacramento. (Don’t ask me where, I am still a little fuzzy about that, but they live on a large plot of land that backs up to a nice little private lake.)
We met up there with Cody’s parents and two of our nieces (Lindsey and Brooke), his brother Derek and his family, and his sister Kelly and her husband. It was a real treat to see them; it was the first time Rya was meeting some of her cousins, and it has been ages since even Cody and I had seen many of them. Needless to say, it was a lot of people jammed into a house just having a good time. (Poor Grandma Millett, though, I think we almost ate her out of house and home.)
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Great- Grandma & Grandpa Millett | Grandma & Grandpa Christensen |
| Grandma and Grandpa Millett’s house is a magical getaway. Lake aside, they’ve built their own little paradise away from it all. Their property is surrounded by redwoods with secret trails cut all through the property by Grandpa. Along the trails, you’ll find everything from a trampoline and a secret berry patch to an authentic looking t-pee and a gigantic see-saw, among other things. We spent most of our time exploring the outdoors and enjoying the perfect California weather, and of course we also spent some time on the lake. They have a boat that is, well let’s call it vintage, but we had a lot of fun taking it out on the water. Sometimes it was an adventure just trying to get up on skis, but that didn’t slow us in trying. If you could hang on long enough and endure the onslaught of water, when you finally got on top of the water, the pull was worth it. (I even managed to slalom for the first time.) |
 Cody, Derek, Rya & Kylie on the paddle-boat |
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 | After Grandma and Grandpa’s we drove down to Anaheim headed for another Magical Kingdom, that of Disneyland. Rya, I think overall, really enjoyed it. She loved certain things like the castle, the Merry-Go-Round, and anything princess, but was really freaked out by the costumed characters (which I would be to if I were her size, just the heads on some of those characters could crush her). Albeit, we didn’t get tons of photo ops but we had a great day. I think some of Rya’s highlights were waving to Cinderella from afar (she never would have lasted waiting in the line it was so long) and shaking the hand of Tinkerbell (she also noticed us peeking in through the exit area and was nice enough to come over and talk to us- again the line- they were crazy). |
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The last few days of our vacation were spent in LA with Cody’s sister Kelly, and her husband Rhett. We went to the beach for a little bit, but for the most part we just took some much needed down time.
It was a memorable, dare I say “magical”, vacation. And, that about sums it up.
Rya turned two today! My sweet little baby girl is growing so fast. I know I say that a lot but it is hard for me to fathom the growth and changes in her in the short two years she has been around (see for yourself below). She brings me joy beyond explanation, she awes me with her ability and potential, and she challenges me daily to be a better mother and person.
(Rya in her second year) Rya is really into princesses lately- so we gave her a birthday party fit for one. We had a small intimate party with close family friends where the adults doted on her and showered her with gifts. The “banquet” in her honor consisted of food fit for a young princess: Mac ’n’ cheese, fish sticks, nuggets, PB &J sandwiches, Jello Jigglers…the works. As for the adults, it will be a while before we work off all the carbs from that meal, but it was fun reverting back to eating like I did at two years old. And, yes, for her birthday we even went as far as to make her a princess birthday cake—she was delicious (probably more fattening than you would expect from Barbie). Rya loved her “Princess cupcake” as she referred to it. It was a night full of fun and frivolity fit for a princess.
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We visited the zoo a week ago. I had an appointment in Tulsa and we thought we would make a day out of it and spend the afternoon at the zoo. I had looked forward to it the entire week before because I knew Rya would love to see all the animals. But, by the time we got there, I think the temperature was near the hundreds combined with an unbelievable humidity level. I don’t know who I felt worse for, the animals stuck in cages or us walking around in the heat. We did enjoy seeing the animas, and for the most part they were in doors so we were able to get small stints in the cool air between exhibits. The really cool part was that it was a smaller zoo, and there were not tons of people there, so we got pretty close to some of the animals. But, rather than carry on, let’s get to the good part—the pictures.
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How CUTE are the monkeys at this zoo! Am I right?! And this last picture (right) was taken approximately 2 minutes after leaving the park…the sign of a good trip (or a long day in the hot sun without a nap—but I prefer to think it was the former).
So, for the first time, I haven’t posted because not much has been going on. Not much until this last week or so— since then there have been a few noteworthy events. ** WARNING: This post will contain a wide variety of elements, including, but not limited to potty references, home maintenance, and random pics.**
Okay, so let’s get the “potty-talk” out of the way first. I think I am way more excited about this than anyone, but felt the need to include it as a way of preserving Rya history. Rya used the potty for the first time last Sunday. Without going into too many details (and don’t worry, no pictures will be included in this section), but she used it to its fullest extent. Who knew such bodily functions could bring such excitement and celebration. She has the general idea down, but we are still working on it. Hopefully, she is well on her way to getting out of her diapers. To all those who read this far, thank you for appeasing my motherly excitement!
Taking the example from my female family members and the many amazing women in our ward (church), I have started taking home projects on myself. Cody works so hard, and doesn’t always have the time to finish all the house projects we want to do; so I have been trying to see how many items on the honey-do list I can transfer to the honey- I do list. It has been fun, and a new challenge each week. Lately, I have been doing a bit of electrical work (purely amateur stuff). I have put in new light fixtures in the laundry room, hallway, and spare bedroom. I also hung a new chandelier in the kitchen. And, my latest venture was taking all the outside lighting and giving them updated coloring. I was pleased with the outcome. (fyi…the one on the left is the before pic)
So because it has been so long since we have had a camera- I thought I would post some fun pictures of Rya. Some of you may not even recognize her for all the growing up she is doing. Enjoy!
What a doll, huh? My sister was down visiting. She has a little boy so she had a real blast playing dress up and doing hair on a little girl. Check out Rya posing for the camera.
These next ones are of Rya just waking up—I felt like the paparazzi snapping unwanted pictures. But aren’t they fun—look at that bedhead!
And, last but not least…Left: watch out because eating at our house is a full contact sport (or so it would appear). Right: With Rya, there is most always a tongue picture, but somehow she manages to pull it off.
Rya is most definitely the cutest thing in our house, it would be a shame not to want to show her off. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do.
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