Vacationing in Ventura With the Wonderful Waites

Last weekendish, Willie and Rachel invited us to Ventura for a couple of days. The house that we stayed at was right on the beach, it was so beautiful. The boys surfed and the girls chatted, we went up to Santa Barbara for lunch and shopping, we watched Mixed Nuts and Ryan was introduced to a new delicacy of swiss cheese and crackers. We had a great time with the Waite's and hope that this will be a tradition. :)

Myles and Kate

There was a sea lion just hanging out on the beach, I had to get a picture.

Ryan, Kate, Willie and Myles

One Punch Adam

So, I wanted to post a picture of Ryan and Adam from their mission days and then this one now, but I never got around to scanning it in. I wanted to post this picture before too much time has gone by, so here it is. The same weekend that we went up to Utah to see Ryan's grandma we were able to stay with Adam, Tazia and Bellarose for a couple of days. We got to eat lunch with them at Cafe Rio, see Tazia perform in the play Oliver and of course play Settlers of Catan. We love the Murie's and it really feels like we've known them all our lives. We had fun and we will for sure go back up there again!

Ryan, Kate, Bellarose, and Adam

Geneology

Kate's first introduction to snow, was actually outside, but it was so windy and cold that we had to hurry inside and enjoy it from the window.


Bailey and Kate

Ashlyn and Kate

Clarissa and Kate. These girls are all Ryan's cousin Emma's girls.

Another couch picture of Kate and her cousin Ethan.

The Doug & Lori Stephens siblings.

Cousins: Ryan, Tiffany, Grandma Stephens, Cory, Heidi, Jared, Laura, Heather, Emma, Hillary, Amy, Scott & Valerie

The whole Stephens family. We missed Bill's family!

Last weekend we went to Southern Utah for a birthday party for Grandma Stephens. Almost all of the Stephens family was there. Doug did a great job in planning the event, there was great food, great stories and some cool old movies shown. We hardly saw Kate the whole night because all of the little cousins wanted to hold her. I think her cheeks were a little redder after because everyone kept pinching them.

Thanksgiving Break

We kicked off our trip to Hemet by going to Kate's first birthday party. The party was for her friend Jack who was turning one. She had alot of fun, and kept her party hat on the whole time! The next day was Thanksgiving and we spent the day in Escondido with the Stephens and the Lunts. During the day I saw Ryan taking a bunch of pictures and I thought they were with our camera, but it turns out that he was using Heidi's camera, so if you want to see pictures go to Heidi & JerBear's blog. It was a great Thanksgiving weekend and we are so grateful for our family and friends!




I love this picture, she is so into what Jack is doing.


A long way from the Cabbage Patch Kids Club.


Dad & Kate




Grandma Lori & Kate


Uncle Coco & Kate


Kate's first time in the Johnny Jumper. I don't think she understood that you could jump but she loved touching the floor with her feet and spinning.

Santa Barbang!

Ryan had a job interview with a really hip footwear company up in Santa Barbara, so we made a family trip out of it. We always heard that Solvang was neat so we made it a point to go there for dinner....we ending up doing a "do-over dinner" back in Santa Barbara at the local C.P.K.'s. Just beware if you ever go to Solvang looking for a goodtime; you will only end up with cabbage and weird meatballs on your plate.

Oh yeah, we also stopped and checked out the Santa Barbara Mission, where the ghost of the Indian girl from that book, "Island of the Blue Dolphin" lives.

Oh yeah, also, we ate at this restaurant called "Sambos". It is based on a semi-true story that Gramma Stephens used to tell us kids about a "sambo boy" that runs around a tree so fast when tigers are chasing him that the tigers turn into butter which he ends up putting on his pancakes. They had chocolate chip mini muffins.

Supervised Stunts with Dad

This is one of the many cool tricks that Kate can do with Dad! Don't worry they are usually supervised by Mom.

Kate's Big Day

Kate's blessing was on Sunday. We had alot of family and some friends come out for the occasion and we were really grateful. Kate is very lucky to have so many people in her life that love her. It was a great day.

Grandpa & Grandma Gray, Ryan, Laura & Grandma Lori & Grandpa Doug.

We had to get a generation shot. Great Grandma Gibby, Grandma Gray, Me and Kate.

Happy Halloween-ie!! Part 2

For Halloween this year we first met up with the Stephens at Heidi & Jared's new house. Hillary & Ethan were down, so we had to get some cousin pictures.


Ethan leaning on Kate, they really couldn't support each other. You can tell by Kate's look that she needs some help.


Ethan was a lobster in homage to lobster season and Grandpa Doug.


Ryan and his little hot dog Kate.


Jared, Heidi, Hillary, Ethan, Ryan, Laura and Kate.


We then cruised on over to Hemet in our Hot Dog on a Stick outfits. My dad thought we were the Harlem Globetrotters. That probably would have been cooler.


The only picture I could get with Kate and her cousin Wes in their costumes. Wes is not into pictures lately. He was a fireman this year.


Winding down with a good book, Grandma, Aunt Jennie and Wes. A great way to end a busy day.

Happy Halloween-ie!!

We wanted to wish everyone an early Happy Halloween! We are so excited about Kate's costume this year. I don't think I have ever seen a cuter hot dog. Putting your child in a costume for Halloween (I am learning) is just one of the perks of being a parent. We hope you enjoy these pictures and have a Happy Halloween-ie!

Conference in a Bumbo

When we went to register at Target for baby stuff, Ryan really was hoping we'd get the Bumbo as a gift. To me the Bumbo was like the surfer cookie jar we got as a gift for our wedding, I really didn't want it. We didn't get it and every time we went to Target, Ryan would try to sell it to me. Now that she has been able to hold her head up, the Bumbo seemed like a better idea, so when we were out in Hemet, I bought it and surprised Ryan. Kate really enjoyed general conference in her Bumbo.

Happy Baby

So, Kate got her shots last week and handled it like a champ. She had a little fever and she wasn't herself, the next day she woke up from her nap and was a very happy baby. I had to do a post shot photo shoot. By the way, she now blows bubbles.

Being Included in Phamily decisions...

I am really excited about blogging and being a part of this family as well as the future.
So I feel like the best way for me to contribute to the blog is to list my favorite things.
1. Actually lists get weird because I don't want you to think I like something more than something else.
But lately I am really into family naps and strength training with Kate. She has really powerful legs and can headbutt really hard.
Also I am really excited about the fall season...all the great fashion, and festiveness, etc. Also all of our favorite T.V. shows start to come back on! What will you be watching?

Anyways....
Ryan

The Stephens' Trying To Be Cool

So, we have decided to give this whole blog thing a try. We hope to keep it interesting and updated regularly!