Happy Holidays 2010

We are in Christmas overload!  Cards are out, presents are wrapped, presents have been placed under the tree about 150 times, and re-wrapped!  It's an exciting time around here.  Everyone is joyful and learning all the Christmas songs possible.  Grandma Mary arrives on Thursday.  Santa arrives on Saturday. We can hardly wait!  Merry Christmas to all!

Kedzie had a pajama/holiday party at school last week.  Well, Ethan did too, but parents weren't invited to that one.  Kedzie made sure that I got a picture of both she and Cameron.  Cameron is her latest crush.  Aren't they adorable?!  She is planning on marrying him and getting one dog and one cat...and living happily ever after.  Who's kid is this?  I'm the one who didn't date or kiss until I was an old maid! Come on sis!  It must be Travis's genes! 

We did go ice skating, briefly this weekend.  Ethan laughed and laughed and he fell to the ground.  I think he did it on purpose!  

Kedzie was kinda getting the hang of it.  I think the next time we go, we need to go on real ice.  This plastic stuff, whatever it is, is for the birds.  

Alex loved it, look at his blades!  Although he wasn't happy being held up by Travis and he wasn't happy falling...so he lasted a joyful 10 minutes.  But, it was worth it.  

We also hit zoo lights this year.  We bundled up and grabbed some hot chocolate.  It's definitely improved since I've been there, ten years ago!  

We love the zoo and we loved zoo lights!  

We were all color coordinated for Church on Sunday where Kedzie and Ethan participated in the program, singing two beautiful songs. 

Kedzie had her Christmas dance recital.  She was smiling from ear to ear and curtsied, blowing kisses and waving...better than the rest!  We were very proud of her.  

We've been busy and happy, enjoying this season and remembering our Savior.  We are doing quiet acts of service around our house the past few days and I think it's paying off.  We are learning the concept of serving others in order to be more like Christ.  It's a blessing to have Christmas.  

Merry Christmas everyone.  

Sweet Milo

Although, it may sound crazy to some and normal to others, following a miscarriage and a D&C last week, I decided that the baby that I was carrying for twelve weeks, was indeed a boy and I named him Milo.  I don't have a clue if he really was a boy or not, but it has provided me with some form of comfort.

I thought those few friends and family members who read my blog would want to know that "Thing 4" won't be joining our family in June.  I went to my twelve week appointment last week and there was no heart beat.  To add a bit of humor to it all, I had all three of my children with me during the exam! It was supposed to be a simple appointment right?! It was devastating, however I had to put on my tough face and answer their sweet, tough questions.  It was a shock to us all.

We are saddened by the loss, but feel grateful for the entire experience.  I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for putting competent doctors and medical providers in my path.  I'm grateful to Him for the energy and excitement that the new baby caused my sweet children.  I'm grateful for the Priesthood that my husband holds and his love for me and our family.  I'm grateful that I wasn't alone at all during the entire process.

We will always remember sweet Milo during the holiday season.  We have an ornament adorning our Christmas tree that we will always cherish.  We have all mourned for the loss, but we are all moving forward with life.  There is life to live and we are going to live it.

Thanks to all those who have prayed and cared for our little family.  We are grateful to you.  We are grateful to all of our friends and family who love us...no matter what.

Happy November

Quite a few things have happened in the last few weeks.  It's been a great month so far and we still have Thanksgiving to enjoy.  

Ethan finished up his first season of soccer.  He loved it and he was pretty good.  His coach called him "the hustler."  It was a great group of kids, parents and coaches.  Can't wait until Spring.

Kedzie finished up her third season of soccer and although she may not have a real future in the sport, she's got a huge smile on her face and does run and run after that ball.  Again, great girls and great coaches.  Such a fun season.  

 Alex turned 18 months old and went to nursery at church!  What a big boy.  He went in and hasn't looked back.  He loves being in there with all the big kids and eating and playing.  I'm so grateful that he hasn't had a problem. We're grateful for a wonderful nursery and I think it helps that Ethan and his friend Matthew are in the class as well! 

Face painting business!  Surprised you didn't know that Kedzie and Ethan are going into business for themselves.  Kedzie is going to do the painting and Ethan is going to take the pictures afterwards!  Their first "client" Lindie came the other day and this is the result!  Kedzie painted Lindie a butterfly and Ethan a batman and Lindie painted Kedzie as a witch.  Aren't they fabulous?!  Real potential in 10-12 years.  Can't wait for the money to start raking in.  Cute kids.  

From Ethan:  htybtjnbtubnmyukbhubjhmhjhbjmmugnhvgtvvrtghhbhuyuyeet5hjyfh5jgthuguth87tuyt

Ethan was begging to type something, so there you have it! 

On the 9th, I turned 36...yup, I year closer to 40.  I didn't think I had a problem getting older until I realized yesterday just how old I think 40 is and how it is sneaking up on me!  Wow!  I don't feel 36, that's for sure, so I guess that's great and at least I have time to prepare myself for 40.  And, I'm grateful that I don't have to chose the alternative!  Here's to another 36 years!  

Life is great.

Halloween 2010

It's official, our halloween this year began the 28th of August and ended on November 7th.  Wow, what a long halloween season.  My kids were just soooo excited this year about everything.  Decorating, pumpkin picking, pumpkin painting, costumes, searching for costumes, buying costumes, not buying costumes, candy, eating candy, passing out candy, cleaning up decorations and finally being made a mummy.  It's been fun for us all.  We'd better get our Christmas deco's out tomorrow!  Just kidding.  Seriously, just kidding.  

Cute Alex picking a pumpkin on his own, for the first time. 

Ethan supporting the pumpkin patch in his soccer gear and batman costume.  

Cutest, happiest kids.  

Didn't they do a fine job on the painting of their pumpkins?!  Ethan's is darth vader, Kedzie's has princesses all around it and your guess is as good as mine with Alex's!  We don't carve yet in this house. Too much work for parents.  

Doesn't Alex make a perfect Dumbo?  I loved this costume on him.  He had such a great time trick-or-treating.  He wouldn't take his treat bag and he'd just go up and try to say trick-or-treat, get candy and then hold on for dear life.  I'd try to get him to put it in the bag, but he wouldn't.  So, I'd end up taking it from him, causing him to cry and then guide him toward the next candy spot and he'd run and laugh and get candy and we did that over and over and over again.  So fun.  

Kedzie was Miss Aerial and Ethan was Batman, Superman, Captain Rex and it seems like something else, that I can't remember!  I'm not kidding when I say that for at least three weeks, every day, he would look at costumes on the ipad and tell me which ones he wanted.  He'll be getting some for Christmas.  

The Ravsten's heading to the ward Trunk-or-Treat.  So much fun.  The lifeguard, witch, dumbo, Superman and Aerial.  

These mummy's came out of no where just last night.  Our last Halloween hurrah!  

It was a great year for halloween.  The weather was perfect, the company was perfect and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We'll see what next year brings.  

North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii

What a fabulous trip Travis and I had the end of October to the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii.   We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort.  It was beautiful.  We ate, we napped, we read, we napped, we snorkeled, we napped, we watched movies and went to bed.  It was great.  No diapers to change, no fights to referee, no teeth to brush, but mine!  Thanks Travis for taking me to Hawaii and thanks to my mom and Karen for watching our kids for five days.  It was perfect.  

Beautiful...gorgeous, wish I was there!  

The La'ie Temple open house was going on while we were visiting.  It was a wonderful opportunity for us to tour through the Temple.  It was so beautiful and so peaceful.  I've been to Hawaii now four times and never been able to go inside the temple.  Grateful we had this opportunity to inside and see it's beauty.  

We also took a day and went to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  To me, it is the happiest place on Earth. When I first visited Hawaii, I was eight and took a picture sitting on this very palm tree.  It has since doubled in size!  I spent every day of that summer in this beautiful place falling in love with the people.  A part of my heart will always be there.  I'm glad Travis enjoys to visit.  

All those crazy coconuts!

This is Travis "lost" in a Banyan tree.  In fact lost in THE Banyan tree from the series Lost, of which he is a huge fan.  It was a mile from our hotel.  We spent an hour or so on this beach in solitude.  It was so peaceful.  

A shot of the sunset.  Beautiful.  

Beach bums...

More of the silly beach bums.  

We decided that although we love Oahu and think we could live there, I'm really spoiled and grateful for my home, my car, Travis's job, the educational system here at home.  We had a wonderful time together and can't wait to do it again in a few years.  

Aloha!

Thing 4

Just wanted to announce that "Thing 4" is on it's way to the Ravsten house!  In the form of a cute, little, bundle of joy rather than a scary creature with blue hair!  The estimated arrival is early June, so we are just beginning our adventure.  

The kids, minus Alex, are thrilled.  One vote for girl, one vote for boy...of course!  Travis and I feel great about adding a new little spirit to our home.  Here's to the next seven months!  Wahoo!

Orlando, FLA 2010

Oh what a wonderful adventure we had last week in Disney World!  We did Disney's four parks,  Universal's Islands of Adventure as well as two Disney water parks.  It was great.  We were and still are exhausted!  The most important things you ask?  Jedi training,  Harry Potter land, Frontier Land, meeting characters and swimming.  Check, check, double check, check!  Thanks to Grandma Mary for choosing to survive her cancer so that she could "sponsor" us and make memories that will last forever.  

Kedzie was one of two girls that were brave enough to fight Darth Vader.  She did a fine job, with flower shoes and all!  

Ethan was the shortest and youngest participant and was successful in becoming a padawan.  He is so proud of his newly earned title!  

Travis and I enjoyed Tower of Terror, while we left my mom with the kids and a lot of food and pop!  She was a great babysitter when we needed to ride the big kid rides.  Thanks mom.  

We love Mickey Mouse!  Well, Alex wasn't quite sure, but he caught on eventually.  

Yes, this is the type of swimming suit picture that I can post!  We had a great day at Blizzard Beach.  My kids just LOVE the water!  It was awesome.  

Hogwarts or bust!  We got to Island of Adventure as it opened and headed straight for the ride.  It was fun.  We tasted butter beer and my mom got a wand.  This was on her bucket list.  It was a fun adventure. 

And while we were there, Ethan's dream of meeting Spider Man came true!  Awesome!  

And of course Kedzie with all her princesses'.  It made her so happy to see so many.  

We love Disney World it was truly magical.  Our favorite of course is the Magic Kingdom.  Can't wait to go back to Disney World when Alex is four, so he can become a Padawan as well.  

Clearly Jedi Knights run in our family!  We are truly blessed in so many ways.  Thanks for the wonderful memories Florida!  

Life...

So, school is in full force and life remains busy and wonderful.  We are truly blessed.  

I wanted to blog about our life on the farm!  I'm surprised you didn't know that we live on a farm and that we have hundreds of horses, birds, pigs, cats, dogs...very messy!  Kedzie is a wonderful leader and assigns clean up duty to various people.  Most of the time, she sends the animals to Grandma Mary's house, where she has to do the care and clean up.  

Anyway, we also have another farm that we visit each week.  My kids have been lucky enough through their grandma Mary birthday fund, to take horse riding lessons throughout the summer.  Kedzie took lessons last year and Ethan wanted to join in the fun this year.  I think it is so great.  Alex and I play around the farm.  Yesterday, he learned to step up and down on bricks and he's getting pretty good at the four-wheeler!  He feeds the horses hay and carrots if we remember to take them.  He also tries to clean the horses feet, but we leave that work mostly to Kedzie.  He loves running around for the hour and a half the kids are busy with their horses.  

Here is Ethan riding Navajo.  The kids trade horses each week so they won't get used to just one horse.  Navajo is the best horse in the world.  She'll do anything you ask her to do.  Ethan jumps on her back and gives her a kick and she's off...trotting around the arena with Ethan smiling his biggest smile.  It's so great!  Yesterday, he was riding "Rain," (the horse below) and another horse bit her and bucked Ethan to the ground!  Ouch.  Ethan cried for a second and jumped right back on that horse.  I'm glad I wasn't there to see it, because I'm not sure he would have jumped back on, by his choice.  Luckily he has no broken bones.  

Here is Kedzie on Rain.  She is really turning into a little horse woman.  I'm nervous that she is really going to be in this for the long haul and what are we going to do?  I suppose we are just encouraging the idea of being a cowgirl, but am I that committed to the sport?  Not so sure.  So, we have a few weeks left of lessons and then we'll see what happens next spring!  Kedzie is able to saddle the horse and clean their hooves.  She really loves every second of her time on the farm!  

So, just to update, Ethan is doing wonderfully in pre-school and with speech.  His speech teacher came out to me the other day and told me that she thought his speech was amazing and that he is so smart for only being 3 1/2.  I was grateful to hear the report.  He continues to be our "clown" and begins his first official soccer season on Saturday.  He's excited about that.  He is really into Clone Wars right now and wants all the clones he can get.  Christmas, don't be late!  

Alex FINALLY had some teeth!  If you look closely, he looks sooo silly because he has one tooth and then a space and another tooth.  He looks like a tooth-less pirate!  He thinks that he's pretty funny most of the time and continues to love his paci and his mom's hair.  He's about in need of his first hair-cut (today he's sixteen months old!)  And, he talks unintelligibly all day long!  He's great.  He makes all of us happy, except when he gets into our toys or throws the cat food all over the kitchen floor.  Then, he'll walk himself over to time out on the stairs!  He's hilarous.  

Here is Kedzie with her butterfly that she painted onto her face all by herself.  She is only five remember and I honestly and truly think she's got some of the Ravsten art talent.  It's exciting to see how well she draws and how creatively her mind works.  She just makes up story after story after story.  She's either talking to herself, making Ethan do something or talking to my mom all day long.  She is loving kindergarten and I can tell that she is learning a great deal already.  It's wonderful to see her learn and grow.  She's amazing.  

We have a busy few months ahead of us.  It's all very exciting. We leave for Disney World in a few weeks with my mom to celebrate her completion of cancer treatment.  Then, Travis and I are going to Hawaii to celebrate our birthdays...with no children...in October.  Can't wait.  November takes us to Utah for Thanksgiving and December is Christmas.  Where has this year gone?!  My babies are growing and life keeps going.  I'm grateful for that.  Life is great.