Craft day with friends

Here is Annika working on her crafts.

Here are the final creations!

So a friend of mine called me today, and we decided to get our kids together to do some holiday crafts together.  Annika had a lot of fun.  I was worried that Ashton would be a beast since he had not had a nap yet, but he did great.  We made ornaments out of melted Jolly Ranchers and peppermint candies.  We also made some out of a mixture of applesauce, cinnamon and glue.  That was fun to roll those out and cut them out with ornaments.  We also made snowflakes out of marshmallows and toothpicks.  It was a lot of fun!

Cutting Down A Christmas Tree!

So, we have a tradition with Ryan's family to go and cut down our own Christmas trees in St. George.  Since we were down in Vegas for the holiday, we picked up our tree on the way home.  Since my husband was his typical self, he is not too excited that we were even getting a tree, since we will be moving before Christmas.  So, here is our day in pictures.  $10 for a Christmas tree permit, $47 for the biggest tarp my husband could find and the extreme tie downs for a 5 pound tree he had to get, cutting a tree down as a family, priceless!

Ashton turns 1!

Happy Birthday Ashton!  11/27- a little late posting the blog, I know!

The first bite of cake.

The last bite of cake!

We celebrated Ashton's first birthday while we were in Vegas with all of our families.  He was spoiled rotten and loved the cake.  He is such a sweety.  I love to see him and Annika interact more and more.  I like it better when they get along when they interact too.  He is my lover.  He will come up and want to sit on my lap and give me kisses.  I do wish he would stop being so stubborn and finally start walking, we are waiting.  Here are some pics of my big boy.

Thanksgiving!

I have been slacking lately.  I think I am just too stressed with decisions and too much going on.  We had a great time in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving.  We got to see lots of friends and family and eat a lot of great food.  We stopped to look at houses in Utah on the way down and looked for apartments on our way back home.  We may have to rent, if the house up here does not sell fast.  The kids got to spend a ton of time with cousins.  They love that.  We are thankful for our families and always have a blast with them.  We saw the movie "Enchanted" and Annika is now Giselle almost every day.  It is hard to keep her personalities straight.  We enjoyed the warmth, but we are happy to be in our own home again.  But, I could take the warmth again.  I was driving Ryan to work this morning at 9AM and the thermometer in my van read 19 degrees.  Too cold!  I can not even go out with the kids.  Well, I will try to update more.  

Annika's Halloween Dance

At Annika's dance class, they all got to dress up and do a special Halloween song dance for their parents.  My friend videotaped since I had the troublemaker (Ashton) to deal with.  So, it pays close attention to Annika and her little girl.  Here is the video.  Remember she is dressed up as Snow White.

Happy Halloween!

I have had problems uploading photos, so these posts are taking me forever, maybe it is because I use a Mac!  JJ! 

We had a great Halloween!  I had a beautiful Snow White and a handsome lion.  Ryan thought Ashton looked more like a scarecrow, but he was a lion.  No homemade costumes this year, I think I realize I am not crafty enough.  Here are the cute photos.  We went to a special dress up story time for Halloween, then I took the kids around with some friends to safe trick or treating at a local motorsports store, that is why Annika is on a snowmobile.  Then we made chili (our Halloween tradition) and went trick or treating around the neighborhood.  This is the first year Annika really got into it.  She had a blast, and Ashton went along for the ride.

Bowling!

K-This post has taken me a week to get up, I kept on getting errors, I think I have it figured out now, so I can really catch up!

This was Ashton's first time on one of the rides that you put in a quarter and it goes round and round.  He was not so sure about it.

Last Friday night we had to get out of the house.  So, we had family fun at the bowling alley.  Ryan won, Annika second, and I lost.  But, just so I do not feel like the worst bowler (I did take a bowling course in college), Annika had bumpers.  She would roll the ball and run away as fast as she could.  Then look and watch all the pins fall.  It was too cute.

I am playing catch up! Pumpkin Patch

One day last month, we hit up a pumpkin patch in Idaho Falls.  The kids had fun, Ryan thought it was pointless.  My husband is always a grump when it comes to holiday things, unless they involve food.  i.e. no phantom ghost, no carving pumpkins, picking pumpkins is a bore . . . etc .  I think you may have figured out his personality by his last post, that was definitely Ryan.  I learn to laugh at him, I think he does it to bug me, because I know he actually loves to do all these things, he just has to act cool and pretend not to, something about "Man Law" he always tells me.

We're Moving!

Hey there, we have some exciting news this week.  Ryan accepted a job with Expeditors International, a shipping and logistics company based out of Seattle.  He starts his job with them on December 31 at their Salt Lake City Branch.  Utah here we come!  I never thought I would live in Utah, who knows, I may even like it.  I never thought I would love Rexburg, but I am really going to miss it.  Well, now maybe we will have more visitors since we will be closer.  We will keep everyone posted as we decide where to live.

PS-If you know anyone who wants to buy a cute townhome in Rexburg, let us know.  Our's is on the market.  That is right, I need to try and sell my house, move, Ashton's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, buy a house and buy a car, all in the next two months.  YEAH!

Still Busy...

You'll get a new post when I feel like it!

Ryan :)

Busy Lives . . .

So, our life has just been crazy lately.  Too much to keep up on.  Here is a quick update.  We went down to SLC for Conference Weekend.  Ryan had 2 mission reunions.  We spent the weekend with Grandma Moulton in Centerville,  and had a great, relaxing time.  It was a nice getaway.  Then, we came home, got back to everyday life and Ryan and I had to take a one day trip to SLC again for a job interview.  I forgot to mention Ryan went down and back to Provo 2 days before conference for a job fair.  Now, he is going again on Wednesday for another interview.  This job stuff is tough.  We hope some of our leads come to offers soon.  We will feel better about that.  Meanwhile we run to preschool, dance, grocery store, church stuff and try to stay afloat.  Well, we will post more pics soon.

My Creative Cards!

So, today I was trying to finish getting ready for the day, not an everyday occurrence, unfortunately.  Ashton woke up from his morning nap, and I needed like 5 minutes to myself to finish getting ready.  So, I asked my great helper Annika to go in to Ashton's crib, get him some stuffed animals and do anything she could to keep him happy.  Usually she just screams "No Ashton"  at him.  Here is what I found.  She was trying soooo hard.  Nothing was working though.  My baby only wanted me, but I still thought it was too cute to have both my kids in the crib together.

K-so I joined a card club in my ward where we all make cards on a certain theme and then exchange.  It makes me be creative and do cards which I never find time to do.  Here is my latest creation for card club.  The theme was baby.  This is a picture Ryan took of Annika's hand when she was a baby, and I thought these were some of my best cards ever.  I really liked them, so I had to show them off, what little creativity I ever produce.  I got to use my sewing machine, I got to try to be creative on the computer, it was fun!

Weather Changes in Rexburg

So, one day we are riding bikes, playing outside, loving the warmth, and less than 24 hours later, we get our first snowfall of many for the season.  It is potato harvest up here right now, and that really slows down the farmers.  Here are some pictures of the snow that did not last long, and my kids all bundled up.  We had to buy new coats for this season, I got them big so they will hopefully last next season too, I guess that is wishful thinking since we have no clue as to where we will be 3 months from now.  But, we are hoping to stay here in Rexburg.  I think this is the most stressful time in our lives, mainly because I am not very patient, and Ryan is so crazy busy with school, work, church and family that it makes it hard to concentrate on finding a job.  We are trying to decide if we should sell the house, or just put it up for rent, or if we are going to need it to live in for a while.  Lots of decisions, things we are not good at.  But, we have learned to love Rexburg, which I never thought I would.  I love it that here one of the biggest crimes is people stealing things from other people's home gardens, and the funny, little mean notes they leave to try and stop people from stealing their flowers.  Well, we do know we will be somewhere in the US, but who knows where.  That is actually the exciting part to me, I just wish I knew where and with what company.  Well, time will tell, and we will keep you posted.  For now enjoy our pics from the small town with the crazy weather where it shines one day, and snows the next.

Just playing around in Rexburg

So, I am trying to carry my camera around, so I can catch more everyday moments with my kids.  We had fun sitting outside and riding bikes and enjoying the warmth.  The one pic is because I love my son's eyelashes (and he gets so many compliments on them).  However, ignore my nice shot at trying to take an artistic photo since I put the tire in the background, I will have to work on that.  We were on the way to a ward chili cook-off, which Ryan won the best chili in the "Original" category.  I think we will make it again for Halloween again this year.  Some of the pics are from the chili cook off when the kids went on the swings, and Ashton went on his first ever!  Yeah!  He is growing up so quick.  He knows bye-bye, when he wants to.  He can nod no and we are working on clapping and muscles.

  

Ashton's Big Mess!

Here is Ashton eating spaghetti noodles, nutrigrain bars, crackers, broccoli-pretty much anything to keep the kid quiet.  He loves food!  Which is nice, but he does like a lot of variety.  When he is eating, you have to keep the food coming fast, and in large quantities, is he his dad's kid or what?  JJ:)  He is too cute, but I thought he looked so cute with the food everywhere.  Little did I know that he had a big surprise that did not stay in his diaper while making this mess on his face.  I pulled him out of the highchair to find more poop in the highchair than in his diaper.  It was a pain to disinfect and clean it all, and then to try and get to the RS meeting I was already late for.  What a day!!!

First Day of New Preschool Class!

Annika started preschool again today (9/24/07-I am a little behind).  She asks me everyday if it is a preschool day.  She loves it.  Even though this is her third and final time starting preschool, it is still always exciting for her.  She loves all the toys at preschool.  We had fun dropping her off and watching her through the observation windows for a while.  It was really special for Annika since her dad was able to get off from work and watch her for a while.  

  

Things I Love . . . . . .

Here is my pretty princess-I love her!

I know I am really partial, but I seriously think he is the cutest little boy there ever was.  :)

I absolutely love my kids.  Here are a few other things I have been thinking that I love.

The cold weather-snuggling in blankets, wearing sweaters, I love it!

A clean house!  It never lasts long, but I love that feeling.

Going to the temple, and even more, the feeling I have when I leave.

Seeing my kids sleep-they are even cuter.

Pedicures-I think it is about time I went for one!

My husband-he is a great help and support, and he puts up with me.

Ashton in a tree.

Ashton's photo, I had to crop out his lower leg because he looked like a midget with how he was sitting.  Not that I see anything wrong with midgets, they are just children of God with little miniature features that make them smaller than the rest of us tall people.  Not that we are necessarily tall, I'm just saying that in comparison to midgets we are much taller. Taller isn't always better, I mean maybe midgets have an easier time at alot of things, for instance my brother Chris can reach things on the lower shelves without having to bend over much, while a taller person would have to bend over to reach the same object. Anyways here is Ashton's picture.

Welcome to Rexburg in early September

I saw this while checking the weather, 30's already?!?  We can no longer leave our windows open at night because it is too cold. Jackson and Yellowstone have a chance for snow tonight.

Can We Say Lazy Parents?

Okay, we found out today that our bike trailer can attach to Annika's bike.  We are set, now she can take Ashton for bike rides, and we can have peace and quiet.  JJ!  Annika is excited that she can drive Ashton and other neighborhood kids around.  Ashton loves it too and hangs out so content in the trailer just checking everything out.  Check out the video of her pulling him around too.

This photo was taken at the Gardens at BYU-Idaho.

We loved this photo of Annika, she is such a pretty girl.

Ashton has so much personality. Notice his tongue in the bottom left pic.  He always turns his tongue sideways like that.  Funny, huh?

Annika's Big Day!

Ryan has done the last two posts, so I figured it was my time, so here goes.  Annika had a a big day, so I thought I would share a day in the life of the Urry's.  First . . .

It was her first day of dance class.  She chose these poses to show off her new ballerina moves.  Doesn't she look great???  Then we had to . . .

Go get immunizations today.  Annika was worried about the holes it would leave on her body.  She cried hysterically.  She got 4 shots, count the band-aids, that was 4.  As we pulled up to the health center, she said I hate this place.  Then on the way home she started crying again after she coughed, because the shots did not work because she was still sneezing, even though these were immunizations, I do not think she understood.  To get her through the shots, we had to promise her something, so . . .

She got to play Snow White.  She knew it would fit since she had already worn Riley's in Las Vegas.  We got this for her Halloween costume last weekend, and told her she could not open it until then, but we told her if she was good for her shots, she could try it on early.  And, from her own words, even though she cried, we still let her try it on.   Next . . .

      Annika floating on her back and getting ready to swim down below.

We had swim lessons.  Let me tell you a little about this, and it will explain how little of a town we live in.  Her lessons are in a little town about 5 miles north of Rexburg.  Nobody has pools around here, so it is in a huge blow up pool in a lady's garage.  Annika is swimming a lot better, but the conditions are kind of funny.  Did you notice the tarps protecting the paint on the walls and ceilings from getting in the pool-funny huh??  So, what does Ashton do all day as we go from place to place . . .

This is what Ashton does the whole time.  Tries to hang out and find time to sleep, play and have practice moving around.  Isn't that smile the cutest ever???

Our Trip to Boise

Annika enjoying the ride.
Ashton having no clue what is going on.
A house in Meridian we liked.
Ashton at a Mongolian Grill in Meridian
Boise, ID temple.

Yesterday we took a trip about 45 minutes north of here to Mesa Falls.  It is nice to have such beautiful sights so close to us.

Hey there!  I am going to try this.  I will see how it goes.  Here is a family photo from our recent family reunion in Park City.