Martha Stewart. Who needs her?

My creative juices were flowin today.

What We Have Been Up To

This past week has been a slow week at our house. I have had the week off of work, plus the flu has been lurking around the house. There is nothing worse than having time off of work and getting sick in that process. Blah. Anywho, we have signed up for E Mealz, which I must say rocks!! It is so nice to have a menu planned out and having the shopping list all right there. Luv it!! I haven't cooked this much in awhile. It's nice to see that I do have a domestic side to me. Justin finally gets some variety for dinner. Other than that excitement, we have just bummed around and been sick. Thursday night my brother Colton and his friend Sadie came down to play. We all went to dinner at Zupas then attempted to go to the History Museum at Thanksgiving Point. They closed at 8 and we didn't get there until 7:30 so we didn't see much of that. We walked around the gift shop and just looked at a couple of the exhibits they have in the main entrance. After that failure of a trip we came back and played some Wii. It was fun. Thanks Colton and Sadie for coming down. We will have to do it again before you leave for Mexico. Justin and Broc found a puzzle in the gift
shop. Broc got bored with it so Justin finished
it all by himself. Good job babe!!

Colton in front of a dinosaur.
He enters the MTC February 3rd. The Wii competition was intense.Broc had a loooong day.

Good Bye 2009.....

.....And say hello to my little friend 2010! 2009 was a year for the Gaines family. And what a year it was. Here is a review of what happened in our lives.

January
Snow Day

February
Super Heros

March
Spring is finally here

April

Chickens

May
Happy Birthday Broc

June
Strawberry Days Rodeo

July
California

August

Camping Trip/Happy Birthday Justin

September
Colton's mission call/we find out
we are having another
baby

October
Ryland is born

November
Happy Birthday to me/family pictures

December

Chuck E. Cheese
We are having a girl!!

Hats off to 2009 and here's to hoping 2010 is just as exciting!!

Christmas Week

This past week has been a busy but fun week. Mix in some work, a little Chuck E. Cheese and family and it has been great. My cousin Kyle turned 21 on Wednesday so we had his birthday party that night at Chuck E. Cheese. (He suffers from epilepsy, and has the mindset of an 8 year old in case you were wondering.) Chuck E. Cheese is his favorite place which is nice because it is becoming Broc's favorite "house" to go to. We had a good time playing games and hanging out with some family.
Christmas Eve is spent at our house with Justin's family. My mother in law makes a giant pot of the best clam chowder ever. His dad brings a ham and we just eat and relax. The kids get to open a present from whichever cousin drew their name and then we usually do some caroling of some sort. This year, my sister in law Kim, her husband and my brother in law made chimes and we played carols with our chimes that were assigned a number. The carols were written in numbers rather than words. It was so much fun. Note to Kim and Linda, we need to do that again next year. Once everyone left, we put Broc to bed so that Santa could come....

Christmas morning was fabulous. Broc got a giant train table, some movies, a camera and some Wonder Pets toys. He didn't care for anything but the train. We then got ready and went over to grandma Linda's to visit and open presents. She got Broc a motorcycle that he didn't want to part with from that point on. It came to Ogden with us which is where we spent the remainder of the day. We went to my parents for dinner and some more gift giving. My brother and sister thought it would be funny to get Broc loud toys. Heidi you just wait til Ryland gets older. I am just saying. All in all it was such a good day. Christmas is so much fun when you have a child to share it with. I am so grateful I have a family that I can have traditions with. I am grateful for the true meaning of Christmas and for the birth of Jesus Christ. I love this season and all that it represents. I hope you have had as good of a week as we have. I also hope that everyone has a Happy New Year!!

Sugar and Spice......

....And everything nice. That's what little girls are made of. We went to the doctor on Tuesday to find out what we are having and as no surprise to my husband, we are having a girl!! It's a good thing I had already been getting stocked up on shoes. She had 5 pair before we were 100% sure she was a she. We are so excited for the addition to our family. I am excited for a little girl in the house. I need some more estrogen around here. Broc wants to name her Taser. I am thinking not so much. We are still discussing and debating names. Any suggestions?...

Tis the Season

I love December. I love the snow (not driving in it mind you) but I love to watch it and play in it. I also love December for the friends and family togetherness. This year is no exception. This weekend has been full of parties and driving in the snow. Saturday night we had an ugly sweater party. It was fun and nice to see some friends that I haven't seen since high school. Cassi we missed you. Today (Sunday) was my cuzins Christmas party up in Pleasant View. Our family is getting HUGE. There are 100 or more of us now. I look forward to it every year. It's just good food, awesome family, a white elephant game and Santa. Broc loves to play with all of his cousins that we don't see all the time (his all time favorite being Wyatt.) We were afraid some family wouldn't make it due to the snow. We were getting dumped on. Justin even got stuck in my sister's driveway. Oh the joys of my Malibu. Luckily everyone made it to and from safe and sound. When Santa got there, all the kids were so excited but Broc was unsure. He wanted to sit on his lap after Wyatt sat on his lap but he wouldn't look at him. He spoke to him but never wanted to look at his face. Maybe next year. I am so grateful for the family and friends in my life. I have been blessed that's for sure. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!! I know that we are so far.

My cousin Shannon playing her flute
before Santa's arrival.

All of the kids waiting for Santa

Ryland and Santa for the first time

Broc and Santa. He didn't want to look at him.
Not at all."I want to hold that"My brother Colton "holding" Ryland for the first time.
He has a thing with babies and refuses to
hold them until they are fun.

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"