Christmas 2009

We all enjoyed Christmas this year. Here's the kids by the tree on Christmas Eve. We made our trip to the Plaza for dinner & Candlelight service at church even though it snowed. No carriage ride this year due to the weather. The horse carriages were no where to be found!

New PJs on Christmas Eve has been a tradition for years. Ryan got PJ pants since I knew he wouldn't wear the PJ top.

We surprised the kids with new cell phones. Megan's old phone was in bad shape & Ryan was using an old phone of Bruce's. I hid them in a bag of candy in each kid's stocking. They have unlimited texting now so feel free to send them a message.

Ryan says thanks for the gifts Gpa Gordie & Gma Jan. The Office game is fun & he's been shooting darts at all of us & the cats. Megan's gift was the outfit she wore on Christmas Eve.

Megan got a Snuggie!! No, we didn't buy it - it was a free gift from NE Furniture Mart when we got our new carpet. It was kind of a gag gift & we made her pose with it.

There were a few other gifts but I didn't get pictures of them. I also didn't get any pictures of Bruce or me. I'll have to try to get everyone next year.

Christmas Snow

We had a very, very white Christmas this year. The kids were very excited to have it snow on Christmas Eve and all day on Christmas.

We started out with a couple of inches. This picture is Bruce scooping it off the deck. I'm taking this from inside the back door (of course!)

It kept snowing all day Friday & Saturday. The two pictures below are from Sunday night when it finally stopped snowing. This little Christmas Tree is on our front step.

Here's the view across the street to the east.

Luckily the city is good about clearing 105th Street so we can get out of our driveway. I think they've hit Barton in front of our house once - maybe.

It's pretty but I hope it melts soon!!!

Happy Anniversary on Dec 27th!

HAPPY 45TH ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!!!

We love you!

Christmas at Margret's

We spent the past weekend at Margret's to celebrate Christmas. We had to travel on Saturday since Megan had to cheer at the basketball game Friday night.

The kids were excited to go play in the snow in Keystone, IA. We drove from no snow to snow and back to no snow on Sunday. Weird how much difference 300 miles makes!

I made them hug like in pictures when they were little. Ryan forgot his coat so he's wearing one of Bruce's old coats. It was long but otherwise fit him pretty well.

Megan trudging up the hill. Look at all that snow!

Ryan's turn to trudge up the hill.
Happy and cold kids after they finished sledding.

Needless to say -- I took all these pictures from inside Margret's house or garage.

We had a nice Christmas celebration. Thanks Margret!

Meg Cheering for Basketball

A friend of mine took some pictures of Megan at the boys' basketball game Friday night.

Cheering in front of the student section at a break in the game:

Not sure what they are doing in this picture...

Getting ready to dance - the cheerleaders stand under the basket while the game is in action.

Ryan's Birthday Celebration

Ryan's day started off with birthday coffee cake & a few presents.

Ryan says "thanks" to Gma & Gpa for the Iowa hat. Megan gave him the Iowa t-shirt:

Bruce & I got him baseball supplies - new glove, wood bat, & a new baseball bag to carry it all around (bag didn't make the picture).
Ryan picked an ice cream cake this year. It was too frozen for the candles so he had to hold them. The big 1 - 3!!!

13 Fabulous Years of Ryan

My baby turns 13 tomorrow!!! Wow - what a blessing Ryan has been to our lives over the past 12 years. I have always told Ry he was my best birthday present & Christmas present ever! I found out I was expecting him on my 30th birthday. Yep - April 6th 1996 the doctor's office called with my test results. Back then, it took days for results to come back but they called me the next day. Then, he was born 9 days before Christmas 1996. Best present ever :)



I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite pics of Ryan over the years. Notice they aren't in great order and are all since we got a digital camera.

Ryan playing short stop - look at that determined look on his face. One of my favorite past times is watching Ryan play baseball. And now I love to watch him umpire games too.

Burnt to a crisp in Siesta Key, Florida but still proud of his sandcastle. He has always loved to construct things. We had to put 75 spf on his shoulders cause he got so burnt the first day.


Hanging out at the farm with Mallory. Doesn't he look like Brent in this picture?

Again constructing things -- Lincoln Logs at Margret's.

Loving his Hawkeyes -- this started at a young age. Dig the buzz cut in some of these pics :) Thank goodness he has let his hair grow out as he's gotten older.

I thought I'd share Ryan's crazy look with all of you. He does this often but usually only around home. It drives Megan crazy which make Ryan do it more. I'd be in big trouble if he knew I put this on here but it does describe a side of Ryan very few people get to see. This is in Chicago and he had been running in a fountain with Megan - that's why he's wet.

Ryan reminds me of a lot of people but especially Dad. They are both frugal in a good way -- like to work & make money & save it but generous hearts. Also, check out Ryan's eyebrows sometime - they are exactly like Dad's.

Beauty & grace all in one motion - haha! Not sure what this was supposed to be but it's got belly flop written all over it. Oct 2006 at Brent & Amy's wedding weekend bonanza!

Ryan loves to hang with his cousins! That's a genuine smile not the forced smile for the camera as I make him. Cute pic of Trey too at Brent & Amy's rehearsal dinner.

There are many, many more but just a few to share as we all anticipate Ryan's leap into teenagerism.