More of Ryan's mad skills

Ryan must be going through a cognitive growth spurt! In the last two weeks, in addition to getting yet another tooth, he learned to wave, clap his hands, say "mama" and start walking. I usually include pictures with my posts, but these have been hard to capture! We'll try to get a video posted soon.

Survival

Several people have asked me how it's going, watching three kids plus my own two. Some days are much better than others, but one thing is for sure, I never get anything done (other than clean up the messes we make throughout the day). I think it has been a good thing for my boys to have other kids their own ages around to play and interact with (and share with). Ammon has really enjoyed having Alec to play with all day long, especially after I made him help with the little boys (Ryan and Caden) since August. I have also gained confidence in myself that I could handle more children.

A couple of Ryan's firsts

Ryan's first haircut, which was about a month overdue! Kristan cuts all of our hair, and was so sweet enough to come over to our house to do the boys' hair. I don't know what we're going to do when we move this summer. Maybe we'll live close enough we can make periodic visits and get our hair cut!

We discovered that Ryan can stand on his own! He has done it several times, sometimes while playing with something and still keeping his balance. When he realizes he's not holding on to anything, he just plops down and takes off to the next thing. He doesn't seem too interested in walking. I think if he was motivated, he could just take off.

Sugar Bowl

We had the opportunity to go to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to watch the Utes take on Alabama. We were nervous about the game because Utah was a huge underdog, but the game was amazing! We were so glad we were able to go.

We had to leave at 2:00AM on Jan. 1st to make our flight out of Kansas City. We were all just a little tired....

We had to try the famous "Cafe du Monde" in the French Quarter. The beignets are as good as their reputation (and so is the hot chocolate).

He we are just before the game at the Superdome.

This was the Alabama side of the stadium moments after the game was over. Notice the score!

The players came to celebrate with the fans.

Jeff and his brother, Tom.

The boys made a new friend. Her and Ammon have been keeping in touch since we got home.

I guess they didn't want the fans rushing the field! They were a little more proactive (and intimidating) than when the Utes won the Fiesta Bowl.


The University of Utah football team ended up ranked #2 in the nation after they went 13-0 (including the Sugar Bowl win)!

Christmas

We stayed in Lincoln for Christmas this year. We were grateful we stayed when there were several storms passing through Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska when we would have been traveling. We drove through terrible road conditions the previous two years and enjoyed spending the day lounging around our own home on Christmas morning this year.

I made the boys' pajamas (with Courtney's help). Ammon was really excited to finally put them on (he had been asking me to make them for two months) and even more excited for Santa to bring him presents. (We really tried getting across the reason we celebrate Christmas, but I don't think it's possible for a 3-year old to get beyond the excitement of presents.)

Poor Ryan had been really sick for the two days before Christmas and he had gotten bad enough that Jeff took him into the ER Christmas morning because we were worried about dehydration. Despite a pretty pathetic little Ryan in the morning, we had a really nice day. Even though we were so far from our families, it was nice to be able to see family on the webcams.



We had some friends over for a get together Christmas evening. It was really informal, but nice to spend a couple hours with some of the great friends we've made here.

Gingerbread FHE

With Christmas approaching, we thought Ammon would enjoy making a gingerbread house for our Family Home Evening activity, then go visit the gingerbread display at the Mormon Trail Center in Omaha. As we hoped, he had a great time with both.

Decorating the house.

Ammon enjoying his handiwork.

Ammon and Ryan in the life-sized gingerbread house. This is where Ammon wanted his picture taken. He refused to pose by any of the really neat displays that people made. I was really impressed by the talent and imagination of all the people that made the gingerbread houses and other creations.

Ryan's new skills

Ryan is finally interested in something other than pureed fruits and rice cereal. (And I don't think Caden appreciated his Cheerios being nabbed.
I guess the hard floor hurt his knees. He would do this "bear crawl" in the kitchen, and drop to his knees as soon as he was on the carpet.

Mahoney Ward Christmas Party

Story time for the kids (and big kids).

Ammon liked Santa Clause.

Ryan didn't.

Jeff and some of the other parents thought he was more like "Creepy Clause" because he was in a dark room, and they only had one kid or family come in at a time. Despite some of the younger kids' response, most were glad we had Santa coming to visit at our party.

Thansgiving in Nebraska

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our clubhouse this year. Heidi and I planned, set up, cleaned up, cooked the turkeys, and a couple other tasks, and everyone else brought side dishes and/or dessert. We had quite a crowd and a really good time.


(Heidi has a picture of the whole group on her blog.)

Mom's (and Dad's) little helper

One of Ammon's favorite things to do is to help. It usually doesn't matter what it is, if we ask for his help, he's willing to do it. I don't know if I could have managed Ryan and Caden at the same time without his help. His "help" may not always be productive (and sometimes creates a bigger mess), but I'm grateful for his willingness to do what he can. Ryan and Caden were hungry at the same time this morning, and Ammon asked if he could feed Ryan, so I handed it over. He actually did a really good job and Ryan sure enjoyed it.

Sick

I didn't think it was possible, but we were sick the entire month of November! Not just passing around a variety of bugs, we were all sick every day for about four weeks. I thought this picture captured how we all felt.

My dad, Theresa, Logan and Samuel came to visit in November. We had a nice visit, but I wish we had more time!

Another visit to the Children's Museum

Ammon and Ryan playing at the train table.

Ammon, the wild man.

Ammon's favorite part of the whole museum is the water!