Baby Ryland

I have been the biggest slacker in the blogging world lately. Lame, I know. I have been so busy with no time to think. Oh what a life. Anyway. My nephew Ryland Michael Patterson was born on October 16. He weighed 7lbs. 9 oz. and was 20 inches long. He is such a little stud. Broc was excited to go see him until he realized that he couldn't play with him. Ryland is a "no touch toy" or so Broc thinks. He will say "I want to hold that" but then gets scared. We finally got him to hold Ryland a couple of weeks ago but it was a real short holding. We also finally got him to give Ryland a kiss. It kind of makes me wonder how he will act when our baby gets here in May. Hopefully he warms up to the idea and baby a little quicker than he has to his cousin. I guess we will find out in 5 months. We are so glad that Ryland is here and a part of our family. He is such a cute little guy!!Cute little cousinsHeidi and RylandFamily picture: Taya, Caden,
Heidi and Mike"Grandma's precious treasures"

Mission Call/Good News

So much has been going on these past few weeks. Work is keeping me busy (no surprise there), Broc is growing like a weed still and we are waiting for my nephew to be born. Besides all of that, we have had some good things happen. My brother Colton got his mission call a couple of weeks ago. It only took a week to get so it must be a sure thing. He is going to go to the Mexico Cuernavaca Mission. It's by the bottom of Mexico. Aucapolco is pretty close to it. He enters the MTC on February 3rd. I am so proud of my brother and his decision to serve the Lord. He is such a good example to our family and to Broc. Colton will be the first of anyone on either side of my family to serve a mission so this is HUGE

On another note, we found out we are going to have a baby the beginning part of May. We are so so excited to add to our family. Broc hasn't quite gotten the concept of things, but give it time. In the mean time we are hanging out and getting ready for Halloween. Nothing else too exciting. We will just have to see what this next week brings. :)Sorry about the glare.
I tried a million times to get
a good one. My camera
hates me.

Oh it Just Had to Happen

What happens when part of this breaks

and leaks in through this windowYou end up with fans and smells
throughout
your entire basement

I have decided that owning a home has its ups and it's downs. The ups are that it is yours. No one can tell you what to do with it, how to decorate it, etc. (Well sometimes that is.) Don't ask. The downfall would be that you have to deal with the disasters that come with it. Last year on October Conference weekend, we had a sewer backage that flooded our basement. Pain in the rear but a blessing in disguise. It enabled us to redo the basement which needed it so terribly bad. If you had seen it, you would agree. So come right around Thanksgiving we had new everything down there. Thanks Scotty and crew for helping on that one. There is the little back story which leads me to today. We woke up this morning to mud outside and Justin hearing water running. He went downstairs to check on things and the carpet rippled like water under his feet. Not a good sign. There was a good 2 inches of water covering every inch of our basement. A water main broke and leaked in through the toy room window over night. So awesome huh? I wish I would have taken pictures but I was too busy stressing out over things. Justin's friends Scotty and Tye came over to help suck things out. (Thanks Ashley and Paige for letting us borrow your husbands ;) All in all we filed a claim and ServPro is yet again bailing us out. Thank you for them and for our insurance company who must just love us at this point. I just hope this isn't becoming a yearly tradition.

Family Fun

Last Sunday after church we headed north to Ogden to have a family bbq. My grandparents left to go back to Arizona last Tuesday and will be gone til next spring. While the rest of us freeze it out in Utah all winter they go and snowbird down in Quartzsite. It's a little town with not a lot of things. They have a gem society and spend a lot of time out in the desert looking for geodes and cool rocks. (We went down a couple of years ago and that is what we did.) Its cool to see different things though. Anyway so back to the topic at hand. BBQ. Broc got to play with his cousin Avery and I got to spend time with cousins I don't see quite enough plus got to spend one last time with my grandma and grandpa. It was a nice afternoon.

Family Fun Weekend

CUTEST KIDS BY FAR (minus my own that is)

The girl in the striped shirt was the winner.

My mom and cute pregnant sister Heidi

Me and my sisters

Look I can be domestic

Making cupcakes for dad and
Broc enjoying the fruits of his labor

This past weekend we spent it up in Ogden for some family functions. It was busy but so much fun. Saturday we had a family reunion for my mom's side. Our family was in charge which somehow ended up being me and my aunt doing most of the planning and coordinating. I was in charge of games and activities. We painted sun catchers, hit a couple of pinatas and had a doughnut eating contest. The rule for that was that they were not allowed to use their hands and they all took it so seriously. It was the funniest thing to watch. Most of them wanted to do it again. They loved it. AFter the kids were done, there were a few adults that wanted a go at it. My cousin that won ate the remaining part of the doughnut off of the cement. It was great. She deserved to win at that point. Good times. Every year at this reunion also we have a raffle to win random junk (you know what they say; One man's junk is another man's treasure). Broc ended up with a squishy ball. I am trying to get rid of all my junk not aquire more therefore didn't try to win anything. All in all, it was a success.
Sunday I was in charge of a baby shower for my sister Heidi. We made monkey cupcakes and oreo truffles (Thanks Valerie for the recipe. Everyone LOVED them). I also made what Heidi's boyfriend's son calls Heaven in a Bowl (jello salad). It was nice seeing family and old friends that I don't get to see as much anymore. It was a busy, busy weekend but I am glad I have family to do all of this with and for. Thanks babe for putting up with craziness for the weekend.
Oh and on a side note, last Monday was also Justin's birthday. We went to Sushi House for a birthday dinner and Broc and I made him some German Chocolate Cupcakes for him to take to work. Every year for his birthday I usually take the day off, got to his office and decorate and take the cupcakes but since it was back to school week, I had to work. (One day I will be free of retail. I just need to keep telling myself that). Happy Birthday!! Broc and I love you and are so glad we have you around and get to call you ours. You are the greatest!!

Camping is Fun to Do

The white speck you see on the mountain is
my brother Colton. It is a lot steeper than you
think. The climb down was a beast.

The kids all watching a movie.Making their boats.Broc singing karaoke.

I love this kid. He is prepping for a mission.
I am so proud of my brother Colton.

Broc and his uncle Spencer roasting
a hotdog. I have great brothers. Broc, Kaden and RebeccaMy husband. (Head shaking.)
Words can not express what
a special person he is.

Every year, the Swanson side of my family (my dad's mom's family) has a campout at my Uncle Junior's property up Black Smith Fork Canyon. It is the only time we get to camp since I did not marry a camper. Justin's idea of roughing it is staying at a Motel 6. So sad. Anyway, I look forward to this every year. This year we took up the 4 wheelers and went up on Friday and camped through Sunday. Friday night we set up camp and made dinner and just hung out. Broc burnt his finger on a lanter and ended up with a huge blister. Then the rain came. It rained all night. Luckily we slept in a trailer. By Saturday morning, it had stopped raining and it was just cold. We drove into Logan to get a portable dvd player for Broc. (He is like his dad and has to have a show to fall asleep. I didn't want a repeat performance of Friday night in getting to sleep). We got back and Justin took the 4 wheeler out and tried to climb a hill where he ended up sliding into a tree. Nothing too major at that point. Later that afternoon, the rest of the extended family began showing up. The kids were bored so they all watched a movie in our trailer. Once that was over, there were enough kids that they could start making their boats for the boat races. Broc colored a flag for his boat but in the end tore his flag off and wanted to go play with Justin on the 4 wheeler. He is all boy. The kids raced boats, we made dinner and then it was time for some karaoke. The kids all loved it. The girls would sing as the boys break danced. It was fun to watch. Broc even had his singing debut. He sang Old McDonald Had a Farm with his cousin Makell. It was the funniest thing to watch. He called my sister Holli up to sing with him and when he would do an animal sound would turn to her and say "give me five" oh how I LOVE my little boy. Sunday we got up, had breakfast and began getting ready to go home. Justin took the kids for a ride on the 4 wheeler and then took off and went for a ride just him. He came back after about a half hour and I thought nothing of it until he did his "Hi babe" in a I just did something stupid tone. I couldn't figure out what he did until my brother looked at the 4 wheeler and saw the blood. Justin is a moron and tried something dumb again and rolled a couple of times, hit his head and tore up his arm. I was so mad at him for not thinking. I kind of like having him around. He has since decided that we are investing in helmets for us and not just for Broc and we will use them. All in all, it was a good weekend minus the burn and accident. I have a great family and I am so glad I get to spend time with them. After all, family is what life it all about.
On a side not, I ran out of memory on my camera so I didn't get the best part of his performance. You can get the idea of it though. Oh how I love my little boy.

California Love...

Family statue at the LA Temple

The view from our condo

Santa Monica Pier

Venice BeaceSunset over Indio

Pictures are in no particular order

This past week my husband did something that NEVER happens. He took me on a vacation for our 3rd anniversary. It was great and something we needed. I love spending time with my husband and as much as I missed Broc back home, I am so so glad we went. We own vacation property with WorldMark so we got a condo in Indio, California. For those that don't know, its by Palm Springs. We flew out on Wednesday the 22 (our anniversary) to LAX. We landed, went and got our rental car and went to lunch at In and Out. (on a side not, In and Out lost it's luster after seeing one EVERYWHERE) It was then off to the beach. We went to Venice beach and walked the boardwalk. Everyone smokes weed there. There was this one random lady that would just stop and dance and give people seductive looks. It was special. We then walked down to the Santa Monica Pier. It looked and felt like the loooongest walk ever but it was nice. After that we headed to Indio to check in to our condo. I went to Indio a couple of years ago right before we had Broc and wow has it changed. It was so so nice. The pool was amazing. There was a lazy river that I spent a lot of my time in. The resort has a Dominos Pizza on sight. It saved our life Wednesday night. By the time we dealt with traffic and everything it was 9. Justin had a headache and we were starving.
Thursday we spent the day at the condo, went grocery shopping and bummed at the pool. Friday we drove back into LA. We went to the LA Temple, then headed to the beach. Justin swam in the ocean and I chilled on the beach. After the beach we hit Hollywood Blvd. and were just tourists. It was fun. I have driven it before but never walked it and looked at everything. I got my picture taken with Mr. Incredible, Zorro and Yoda. Yea me!! After we did the tourist thing, we hooked up with my friend Christina and her friend Tod for some all you can eat sushi in Studio City. We ate at a place called Midori. It was yummy. Does anyone remember Andy Dick? He was there. I saw a celebrity. That was a highlight of the trip.
Saturday we shopped the outlets (stores I CAN NEVER afford) ate at the Cheesecake Factory and went home and swam some more and made dinner. We then turned in somewhat early since we needed to leave at 2:00am to make a hopeful 6:00am flight. We flew stand by which when it came down to it, stressed me out. The 6:00am flight was full so there was little chance Justin and I were getting on. Our friend Christina scored a seat but we were still playing the waiting game. We finally thought that we were going to be the next flight. The stars aligned however and I was the VERY LAST PASSENGER on the flight. I had to leave Justin hoping he was able to get on the next flight. Luckily he did.
I am so grateful for my husband and all that he did to make this trip possible. I love him so so much and I am one of the luckiest gals in the world. Thanks babe for 3 awesome years and I am looking forward to an eternity more.