Spoiled Rotten!

As of late last night, we are now the proud owners of a 2001 Ford Winstar--our new reliable vehicle! I didn't ever think that I'd be so excited over a van in my entire life. I'm so grateful, however, for the Grand Voyager (nicknamed 'Gilbert' because he looked like a giant grape on wheels) that was passed around my family for years. Since it went dead, we were able to look into another van.

I FOUND this! Ryan helped a little, (okay A LOT) and we eventually got this awesome new van. It's a Ford Winstar and it drives like a dream. It's got such fun stuff on it and it's so fun to be in. Here's what it has that we DIDN'T have before:

-heater that works!!
-AIR CONDITIONER that works!!
-back hatch stays open in its own!!
-the blinkers work (and there are these cool little arrows on my side mirrors that blink too--which Dawson just LOVES.)
-the windows are automatic, no PHYSICAL rolling up or down required!!
-THERE ARE TWO, count them, TWO sliding doors that open at....the touch of a button! I have a remote control for my van! How exciting is that?!
-I have a little mirror that allows me to see what's going on in the back!

AND.....

My most FAVORITE part about this is that I have a CD player AND a cassette player! I can play Erasure all day long while the kids can listen to a whole seperate tape! Ohhhhh, I'm in heaven.




It's got under 81K miles on it and it's just awesome. No transmission issues, no brake line leaks, no noisy struts, no leaking transmission, no broken tail light, no dented bumper, no more standing under the back hatch hoping that it doesn't come slamming down on your head (which hurts, by the way), and best of all, it runs when it is supposed to!




I'm so THANKFUL for my uncle for giving us Gilbert a few years ago. I appreciate the love and thoughtfulness of that gesture. I appreciate all the work that my parents put into it. I'm so grateful for their help.

I love my new van! It's awesome! Ryan has officially and permantantly become a passenger, not the driver!

Splenda-ism

"The sweet life is measured in sprinkles and smiles."

(on a Splenda packet)

I thought this was cute!

One of these things is not like the other...

They're all siblings and related. One has had blonde hair for his whole life. The other two are dark hair and dark eyes and have round faces that look alike. Guess who!

Go THROUGH not around

I turned around for just a minute to make dinner and I heard Carter grunting and making these funny sounds. Out of the corner of my eye I see him: his poor body stuck in the chair and then when I tried to get him out of there, he was stuck underneath the desk with his face plastered against the dirty hardwood floor! He tried to crawl THROUGH the chair instead of AROUND it. Sure, makes sense to me!

April Fool's Birthday

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A little over six years ago, I was expecting a boy. I had dreams about a little boy with dark hair and dark eyes. At our ultrasound at 20 weeks, I was told that it was a boy and he would be born in March of 2002. I was overdue and finally induced on April 1st, 2002 and lo and behold, the joke was on US!


We had been talking while I was in labor about April Fools jokes. "What IF we had a girl, ha ha, April Fools!" When our baby finally arrived, we were told it was a girl. Everyone around the room laughed as we were waiting for the "April Fools" to follow her last announcement...except she never said it. It really WAS a girl!

We named her Ryanna, after her daddy. She had these huge brown eyes and lots of dark hair. When she was a baby, she always smelled pink. She had colic and made us crazy, and she was always dramatic; but she's such a sweetheart to her brothers. She's a princess and knows it.


Happy Birthday to my six year old girl!



This was the present from Grandma and Grandpa Holdaway. She got 4 Junie B. Jones books, a Curious George book and a DARLING outfit for summertime! She'll look adorable in it!



Here are some fun pictures over the last few years:

The NEXT Survivor series

(Thanks, Emily, for sending this to me, I thought it was definitely worth sharing!)

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for
six weeks. Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food. Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned
house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do
laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week. Each
man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send
cards out on time. Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment,
a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent
Care. He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function. Each man will
be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flower s outside
and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all
chores are done. The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself
with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished
and eyebrows groomed. During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure
severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings
but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to
spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a
book and then pray with the children each night and in the morning, feed them,
dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be
required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday,
height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name Also the child's
weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's
favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink,
favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only
if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's
notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for
the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called Mother!

Poor Little Dude

Carter was just diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called Alopecia Areata. It's very rare in infants. It's more common in young adults, teens and adults. We started noticing that he had patches of hair missing, and very rapidly. One of the bald spots just appeared within the last week. There's some treatments available, but he's too young to do anything about it right now. Maybe steriod cream, but that's about it. Now we just have to monitor him to make sure that he's not showing signs of a more concerning health issue. I just feel bad for the little guy!

Two cuties

Thought that these were cute of the boys in the tub. Carter loves splashing the water in Dawson's face. They succeeded in making a giant puddle on the bathroom floor!

Ahhhh....Spring!

So this is what a Moscow Spring looks like, huh? The fresh, crisp air and chilly wind makes for such a lovely morning. Our poor frozen tulips are trying to come out and enjoy the sunshine, but there isn't any! (I just hope that our hyacinths and our lilac trees don't die!)

Proud of Ryan

I'm a proud wife and I wanted to share what Ryan is doing these days. He is doing so well and is being so successful down at that school of his and I wanted to praise him for doing so well. Here's some highlights:

-Is on the Dean's List...still! (only 127 students out of 295 are on it) He's been on it every semester so far!

-Trial Team took him to Seattle a couple weekends ago and competed in a trial competition and his team won all three rounds and made it to the Semi-Finals! (They beat BYU! Sorry Ash) {Ryan's team was then booted because the AAJ said that his team wasn't officially registered, which wasn't true. They are currently appealing that decision.} He's automatically on it for next year too. Trial Team - competition that simulates a court room civil trial (they do not do criminal in this competition). These are similar to the types of trials that people see frequently on T.V.

-Was just chosen to be on a National Moot Court Team. He may possibly get the chance to go argue and be involved with a case in front of the 9th District Circuit Court! Not as a student, but as a real live lawyer. (Hooray!) Moot Court -competition that simulates the appellate level. This includes Courts of Appeals and Supreme Courts. This is not at all like what people often see on T.V. Two people stand up and get grilled by a bunch of judges for 30 minutes.

-Is also going to be involved in an Appellate Clinic - this is also at the appellate level. The difference between this and moot court is that Appellate Clinic involves real cases, real clients, and real judges. The outcome of the case will be binding and will have significant impacts on people's lives as the law is based around the decisions coming out of appellate courts. (So while Moot Court simulates this type of court, Appellate Clinic is the real thing.)

-He's also working on his upper level writing requirement. He would like it to be of publishable quality and then will see if he can get it published. (this requirement is a HUGE project)

-Has fulfilled his pro bono work; a requirement for graduation. (he actually got that done last summer)

-Since he won the McNichols Competition last fall, he has been been presented with some wonderful challenges and meetings with important people. He's definitely in his element.

-Has had some nice opportunities to interview with law firms around the state for a summer internship. We'll know soon where he'll be working.


I am so lucky to have him as my partner, my friend and my husband. I am so proud of him and cherish every day we are together. I support and adore him and want him to know how very proud of him I am! We have some really good friends down at that school that have blessed our lives and we're so grateful for them. I love you, Rysie!

A to Z...all about Me!

Thanks, Jaimee, for tagging me! Sorry it's taken me a while to get done!

Me from A to Z...
A--Attached or Single? Attached to Ryan, married for 7 years.
B--Baking or cooking? Both! I love to do either now.
C--Cake or Pie? Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Tuxedo Cream
D--Day of Choice? whenever I can squeeze a nap in
E--Essential Item? Erasure album
F--Favorite movies? Gilmore girls, The Thornbirds, Noises Off, What's Up, Doc?, North by Northwest, Remmington Steele, Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames
G--Gummy bears or worms? chocolate-covered cinnamon bears
H--Hometown? Boise is where I hang my hat.
I--Indulgences? chocolate, diet coke, scrapbooking stuff
J--January or July? August! My birthday is the first! (if I HAD to pick, I'd pick July since that's when Ryan's birthday is and we love the Fourth of July)
K--Kids? Got my hands full with my munchkins.
L--Life is incomplete without? chocolate and diet coke
M--Marriage date? February 10, 2001
N--Number of siblings? 2 sisters, 1 brother...I'm the oldest
O--Oranges or apples? Neither. I choose asparagus.
P--Phobias or fears? The Dentist.
Q--Quotes? I love anything by William Ernest Henley, Edgar A. Guest and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
R--Reason to Smile? As soon as we get a new vehicle I'll smile, no! I'll sing! I'll shout "Hooray!" For now, I'm smiling from all the blessings we've received since our van died.
S--Season? Fall! Moscow is absolutely beautiful in fall.
T--Tag 5 people? Aimee, Ash, Nicky, Michelle, and Jetta.
U--Unknown Fact? I flew an airplane before I drove a car.
V--Very Favorite Stores? Old Navy, Bath & Body Works, Hastings, any scrapbooking store, Dollar Tree (do I admit that or hide that fact?!)
W--Worst Habit? Biting my nails
X--X-ray or ultrasound? Neither! I choose CAT scans.
Y--Your favorite food? Taco Bell Tostadas (oh man, I can eat these all day!)
Z--Zodiac? Leo

Kaput, Kapooie, Dead!

Saturday evening our transmission in our van dropped completely dead! In the MIDDLE OF A BUSY INTERSECTION! We were on our way home from dropping my sister off at the airport in Spokane, and we were nearly home. We had to leave our van in a parking lot in Pullman and have it towed back to Moscow. (Thanks to B & N for rescuing us!)

But the tender mercies have been plentiful! While in the intersection, we were never honked at, and big guys from a nearby bar saw the trouble and ran over and started pushing our van. (But since it's locked into a gear, it wouldn't budge.) After trying to figure out how we should move it and get ahold of the nearest policeman, a tow truck just HAPPENED to drive by. (he was on a date!) He flipped on his lights and whipped around. He hooked us up and took us 30 feet to an empty parking lot. At NO CHARGE. The kids were in the van when we were getting wheeled out of the intersection and they thought it was great! They were giggling and "weee-ing!" the entire time. (Our next family vacation won't be to Disneyland, we'll just call the local towing company to take us for a ride!)

We found a ride to church yesterday and we have had several offers for rides to appointments, the store, etc. B & N offered to let us borrow B's vehicle if I needed it this week, but since they've already done so much for us, we felt badly for taking them up on their offer. Instead, our Home Teacher offered to let borrow one of their cars for the week and after hesitantly accepting, they are bringing it over today. What a blessing! I am humbled, embarassed, grateful, etc. I don't know how to thank our dear friends for all that they have done. They won't ever know how they've touched our hearts. I just pray that I'll never forget the generosity and support that we've received.

There have been other little miracles in our situation that have humbled us even more. It has strengthened our faith and we're just so grateful that our family is safe and taken care of. We're being watched out for. Thank goodness we pay tithing. (when there's an income of course!) Whew! The timing of all the events in our lives have been incredible. Whatever negative thing happen, something equally positive balances it out. The Lord is merciful indeed!