September Snow....

So, weird stuff....it snowed in the middle, ok end, of September. Still, we dont usually see snow until November so it was strange! I thought it would stay up in the mountains but oh no...it snowed right in our yard and even started sticking for a little while. Of course it didnt stay and Im sure it will warm up again but the kids were thrilled to see it. Me, not so much. I do enjoy the first really big snow storm. You know the kind that hangs off the trees along the street....the kind that covers everything like a big white blanket. Love those storms.... but then, you have to clean it up and then it always gets bitter cold afterward making it not as much fun as when it was falling and covering everything. Ah, well I guess it is inevitable. Winter is just around the corner.

Well, in other news, I start training for my new job tomorrow. Im looking forward to being home during the week and more importantly not having to get up super early in the morning! I hate alarm clocks...truly. When mine goes off it is all I can do not to slam it into a thousand pieces. Anyway, I had orientation yesterday....meanwhile Denver and the kids went over to Denvers' work (Boeing) for their 20th anniversay party. They had lots of food and fun for the family and the boys were soooooooo excited to see the place where "daddy builds airplanes". They got to see all the equipment and metal and the big gigantic forms that they make pieces of the airplane wings from. It was very exciting for them. I met them over there after my orientation was done. The boys attemepted to rock climb on this huge rock wall they brought in for the kiddies....I took some pictures on my new cell phone but havent figured out yet how to get them onto my computer. I will post them as soon as I figure it out. It was quite funny though. Rock climbing definitely does not come naturally for them. Evans hopes of reaching the top were quickly dashed after he realized how difficult it really was. And Ian....well, he thought he could just pull himself up and his legs would follow. Neither of them made it even halfway. But it was fun nonetheless.

This morning I woke up with a fantastic cold. My head feels like it will explode at any moment and every bone in my face hurts thanks to the sinus pressure. I had to go to church and teach my class so I got out of bed....my day was made better when I dressed Addie in her new dress. She looked like a little princess and I couldnt help but smile and want to go show her off. I love little girls!!!! Im so happy to have her but I must admit after my 4 day break from having her around I am looking forward to when she turns 3 or 4. Ive come to the realization that I am at a point in my life where I need my sleep and I need some quiet time. Most of you know that isnt possible with babies around. After I had Addison and realized that I shouldnt have any more children I was kinda sad because I really enjoy being a mom and love the whole experience of pregnancy, delivery, and newborn babies. I could see myself having more....but now, I feel much differently. I know now that I am done having children and Im totally OK with that. I love my 3 healthy children and they keep me plenty busy and fill me with love so it is a great feeling to be done. I think having Addison away from me for those few days helped me to realize that I am happy with my family just the way it is......its kindof like closure in a way.

Well, hope everyone has a happy week! Ciao for now.

What color of Green are you?

So one of my favorite things to do is surf other blogs....I always find something interesting. Here is the latest one. A weird personality quiz....anyway, I didnt realize that I could be a certain color of "Green" but here are my weird results and a link for you to try it yourself!

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

A visit to Soren.....

Well, it has been over a week since we had seen Soren and I decided we needed to go visit. The boys really wanted to hold their new cousin. They cant wait till he is old enough to throw ball with them, although, I doubt by that time either one of them will be interested in playing with their "little" cousin! By the time Soren is 4 or 5, Ian and Evan will be 10 and 11.....ok, I dont even like thinking about that. Anyway, he is sooooooo cute and getting cuter by the minute. Its amazing how quickly newborn babies change and grow. I think right now he favors Alisa the most but I still see my brother in him too.....6 months from now he will probably look totally different. Anyway, here is a sweet picture of Nate and his little doobie.... I love how it looks like they are having a little conversation. Of course it also looks like Soren has the upper hand!! Too cute. And one last picture that I adore is one that I call U2 Dude....due to his onsie for those that dont know about Bono's line of "red" clothing. Anyway, Ive got to go to bed. Im up too late as it is....as usual. Ian is giving a speech in class tomorrow on "The Order Hymenoptera" with emphasis on the "Wasp". Between typing Denvers' school papers and "helping" Ian with his speeches, I feel like I am in school again. Cant complain though considering I do actually learn things from it all. Ian is beginning to memorize really well now and can nearly repeat the speech without looking. Its not a short speech either. Ok, enough bragging. I love my smart children what can I say. Im so happy to have Addison back (Denver too). I did end up enjoying my little 3 day vacation from her though. Is that horrible to say? Really, after the first day which was difficult, I REALLY enjoyed my sleep and the quiet house when the boys were at school on Monday. Plus my house stayed clean miraculously.....Im not sure if that is because Addie was gone or because Denver was gone...ha ha ha. They got home Tuesday morning and already the house is a wreck. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted and frankly I would rather have them home. Im going to try and post video of Ian giving his speech tomorrow......TRY being the operative word. Im not sure if my camera card is big enough for all of it, plus Im not sure about the formatting....we'll see. Ciao for now. Okay one more cute picture.......

Bye Bye Addie......

Im feeling a bit blue but wanted to share these cute pictures of Addie. I took them this morning before she left. Denver has taken her with him to Michigan for a few days to see his Gma before she dies. His family has never met Addison and since it was a free ticket for her, I sortof had to let her go. It feels strange....I keep listening for her to wake up from her nap and then I remember she isnt here. Well, I guess on the positive side I will probably get some really good sleep for the next couple of days conisdering Addie sleeps with us most of the time..... Enjoy.

For the love of the game.....soccer that is.

Here is a little collection of pictures from the boys' first soccer games. This is the first time Evan has ever played soccer and I think he loved it!

Welcome Soren.....

Well he finally arrived. On Wednesday Sept 12th Alisa gave birth to 8 pound 9 ounce, 20.5 inch long Soren. Everything went pretty good, especially considering she did it without any pain medicine at all. I think total labor and delivery time was 9 hours or so. Anyway, he is beautiful and we are so excited to have him in the family. Of course mom and dad came up for the occasion. Ian and Evan couldnt wait to see their first boy cousin and Addison was just plain jealous. She looked very nervous at the hospital and kept kissing me as if I was about to trade her in or something! Never! So now that Nate and Alisa have been bombarded with people for the last few days, I think they are looking forward to this coming week just the 3 of them (well 4 counting Miles) Peace and quiet......sortof. By the way, thanks Nate for letting me help you with the baby swing. We love you guys!

So, now for the ho hum stuff. Lets see, we finally got the other car fixed YEAH! I guess Im just spoiled but I sure got sick of only having one vehicle. We did it before but that was when we didnt have kids. It is very difficult only having one car when you work different shifts and have kids in school. So, we are relieved to have it back. The boys start soccer this week so we will be pretty busy with soccer, piano, and Ian's chess club. Halloween will be here before we know it, which means Ian's birthday too! Then Turkey Day and Christmas. Im sure it will all speed on by. This is my last week at the "job from hell".....thank heavens. I start the new one on Saturday. So, on with life. Until the next blog. Have a great week.

Opa!!!!!

So, after living in Salt Lake City off and on for nearly 6 of our married years together, we finally attended the annual Greek Festival. We have been wanting to do it for years and thanks to free tickets from Zions Bank.....we braved the crowds on Saturday and went. Our main objective was the food...of course. I only just learned to like some Greek Food, and when I say some I mean Gyros made with chicken not lamb and lemon rice or Pilafia as they call it. Yes, I am a culinary whimp. Im not adventurous and I do not like to try new things. I have been cursed with a child just like me (Ian) and now understand how frustrating it was for my own parents. This being said, I have made a silent vow to try at least a bite of anything that scares me...unless it is too weird, like snails, squid, and any other slimy disgusting creature. Fish eggs? NEVER! Tongue or Brains of any animal? NEVER! But a Gyro made with shaved lamb meat? I guess. Besides, by the time we got through the 2 mile long line for the food, I think I would have eaten ANYTHING.....except the aforementioned foods :) I have to say, that although I kept thinking that it was going to taste disgusting at some point, I finished the whole Gyro. I also tried a bite of Denvers Tyropite which is made with Feta cheese....yuck. The flaky crust was yummy but I have a thing about crumbly warm cheese....it makes me want to hurl, its a texture thing. We also ate Baklava and a Galotoboureko which is made with a really thick custard. Neither of them made me jump for joy like most pastries do, but they werent bad. All in all, I feel like I went outside of my comfort zone and survived. We saw some cool Old School Greek Dances which made Ian ask the next day "Why do Greek boys wear pom poms on their shoes?" I should have taken a picture of Ian's sour face he had put on the entire time we were waiting to eat, eating and cleaning up. Did I mention he didnt eat a single thing? Like I said, no adventure in eating with that one. He was angry that we had to eat first as he wanted to go out to the carnival part. All I have to say about that was what a rip off! I hope they use the money they made off of us to do good things for their church (Greek Orthodox of Salt Lake) because they had to have made a bundle! I They charged a dollar a ticket and the 4 or 5 "rides" cost at least 2 but mostly 3 or 4 tickets a piece and did I call them rides? Only 2 fit that qualification, the rest were blow up slides or boucy castles.....totally lame. We ended up dropping $60 on the evening and Im considering writing it off as a charitable donation! The cotton candy and tour of the Greek Orthodox Church were the highlight. It was hilarious watching Addie eat her first cotton candy. For now, she does not like it. Every time the cotton touched her face she freaked out. When she did manage to get a little bit in her mouth, the instant melting of it threw her for such a loop that she decided to huck it out of her stroller! The church was really interesting and the boys were fascinated by all the strange paintings. Ian asked a lot of questions which I did my best to answer considering I know nothing about the Greek Orthodox faith. The paintings were very bright and garish and Ian didnt even recognize Christ on the cross in one of them. But, it was interesting and good to see another church and learn a little about their belief process. We ended the evening at Cold Stone Creamery thanks to Uncle Nate and Aunt Alisa for the gift card they gave me for my bday! Yum!

So, this Sunday was Stake Conference and as much as I wanted to go, I slept in for once and enjoyed every minute of it. We didnt get out of bed until almost 10am which is a record for everyone. I was up part of the night with Ian who had a horrible stomache ache (no dinner, and lots of junk.....no wonder) so after some Pepto and foot rubbing, he finally went to sleep.

Today we decided to spend some "quality" family time together and go fishing. Gee... I wonder whose idea that was. We went to a nice little pond in Draper but didnt get a bite. Still it was a beautiful Fall day and we saw a turtle and a beaver!

Next week begins the daily marathon that is motherhood. Soccer, piano, chess club, school.....I may go mad before it is all over and we still only have one vehicle....AHHHHHH!!! Sometime during this coming week we hope to meet our newest family member...Soren. He has been teasing his mother all week with steady contractions and dilation but still has not made his debut. If he doesn't come soon, he will exceed my bet on weight and height which is 8 pounds 13 ounces and 22 inches long. For Alisa's sake, I hope he comes before Wednesday. We are so excited to see him!

Viva Las Vegas

Okay, so maybe our Vegas trips arent as exciting as some would expect but we surely enjoyed ourselves! Im not too picky anyway.... as long as I am somewhere other than my own home, eating good food, swimming everyday and not worrying about bills and work, then I am on vacation! We had a nice time at Grandma and Grandpa Ries' house. The kids LOVE the pool. Great purchase dad!

The boys tried their hand at back flips off the side this time which made me really nervous. Especially since most of the time they didnt quite make it all the way over and ended up
belly flopping, back flopping, and just flopping in general. I've included a couple of mid-flip (flop) pictures for your enjoyment. Thankfully no one got hurt!

Addison has loved the water from day one and she is fearless when it comes to the pool. We have to be so careful because she will just jump right in without hesitation. Once in the water, she likes going under. Any other baby would be screaming.....even when she goes

under by accident and swallows some water, she does not cry EVER....it is really amazing. She had so much fun. Of course, that was as long as no one was trying to pick her up! She was just

fine as long as my parents left her alone but if my dad tried to pick her up or talk to her, she was not happy. If she sits in MY lap, then she flirts up a storm with Grandpa.....smiling, winking, making funny faces....but as soon as he comes for her she wigs out. Sorry dad....I know she loves you anyway! This was officially the last trip as the ONLY grandchildren in the family. We are eagerly anticipating the birth of Nathan and Alisa's little boy any day now. So, now the kids will have to share Gma & Gpa ....somehow I dont think they will mind though. They are just as excited to have a cousin nearby, even if he cant play with them yet.

So, we got home last night and today was Evan's first day of Kindergarten. He was up faster than I have EVER seen him get up! He picked out his own clothes and got his backpack and let me take all the pictures I wanted. Then we got there and he looked a little sick. I kept asking him if he was nervous and he just said "nope" . I think he was, but he wasnt about to show it! We picked him up after school and he was still excited so I guess it was successful.

I have a feeling that after the first week or 2 he wont be so quick to get up in the morning....normally it is like waking the dead trying to get Evan up out of bed. Notice his face in each picture as the smile fade by the time we got to the school! The first one was genuine and excited then not so much in the second and he looks almost sick in the last one! Too cute. I think he will be just fine now that he has one day under his belt!

Well, I got a new job. It is with the Post Office. Basically it is data entry still but the shift allows me to be home all day all week with the kids. I will be working Fri, Sat, Sun from 10pm to 6am. I know it sounds scary but its only 3 days a week and I get to be home Mon through Fri. This means I will be able to do all the school stuff and get the kids up and ready for school etc....this is more important to me than a cushy schedule. Anyway, this way we dont need anyone to watch Addison while Denver goes to school and I get to change my shift every 90 days if I decide I dont like it or it isnt working. I dont think I can stand another day at this job I am currently working at.....well, I still have 3 weeks left but still. It is miserable going there everyday. Im excited for the change. I start on September 29th.

Well, I think that is about it for the update. We are all doing well and looking forward to cooler weather, new babies, and Halloween. Only 7 more paychecks until Christmas!!!~