my christmas/graduation/retirement gift

Guess what Ryan surprised me with today?!

Out went the old, broken and beat up set...


This set holds some sentimental value, it once belonged to my great grandmother, Nana. It was old even when she owned it! We loved it while we had it.

In with the NEW! I can't believe I OWN a matching set of dining room furniture! I have six chairs that match, are totally complete and in one piece, they don't have stains and mysterious gooey remnants on them and are gorgeous. The best part is about the table! It's so tall it comes up to my belly button! And I'm not that tall! It's nearly 3 feet tall. I love it!! Ryanna could hardly even lift the heavy new chairs. I'm just concerned; now we have a nice table to eat on, but it's too nice to eat on. I think the kids can just eat on the porch!

The old chair is on the left; see how much smaller it is?!
A beautiful NEW chair. Ahhhhhhh, you know you're a mom when chairs excite you.
Ryanna loves it, she insisted on doing everything up in HER chair.
It's only a 1/2 foot taller than Dawson!

These pictures honestly don't do it justice, I'm sure I'll take more. It's absolutely GORGEOUS! Thank you, Ryan, for my beautiful gift. Thank you for shopping around for it and picking it out. I wouldn't have chosen a better one, I love it.

Now, who wants to come over for dinner?

just goofing around

Gee, I wonder where Carter is!





"Wherrrrrrre's Carter?!" (I love how he covers up his ears instead of his eyes!)

There he is!

black friday? why not!

My alarm goes off this morning at 4:38am and I sit up. I have to remind myself why I'm getting up. I've never really done the Black Friday rushes before, and somehow Nicky and I decided that it would be....what's the word? Oh, yeah. Fun!
We arrived at Walmart and parked in the furthest spot possible. We dash for the entrance and see the line. By the time that we got into line, we were backed up to the stop sign on the main road. (for those of you that are familiar with the Moscow Walmart, you know of which I speak!) It's insane. People are dashing about, running into each other, being rude, cutting people off, swearing at others, it was GREAT! I was in charge of getting a cart while Nicky ran off to electronics to pick up a couple MP3 players. (rocking deal on electronics!) I found some absolutely AMAZING deals for cheap! Pajamas for the kids were $4. I got 17 pairs. It's not overboard when you're planning ahead, right?



Just before 6am, we run to Joann's. There was also a line, but not nearly as intense as the ones that we had just been through at Walmart! We stocked up on the flannel, which was $1.50/yard! Normally it is $5.99! Mom, I knew that you'd be proud of me for standing in the cold waiting for them to open and running for flannel! I'm going to make a couple pairs of pajama pants for the boys and a couple nightgowns for Ryanna. So, this was amazing. I got 17 1/2 yards of flannel, 5 Butterick patterns for $.79/each and two wooden puzzles for the kids to color on for $.90. The gal rang it up and then I had two coupons that she let me use on top of that! I spent $32.89! I SAVED $134.55!! I'm so excited! Absolutely smoking' deals. This was my most favorite part.

After we bought our awesome fabric, we went to the mall. Checked out Old Navy and if you know me, I absolutely ADORE their socks. I haven't ever been so thrilled with any other brand than theirs. (ask me if you want my rave) I was digging through the clearance section and dug deep on the lowest shelf and WAH-LAH! There they were! Normally they can range between $1-$1.75/pair. Naw, today I found them for $.49/each. I bought 14 pairs.

Browsed the rest of the mall and ended up at Macy's. I found their clearance rack and bought work out pants and a jacket for under $20. Man, I'm good. I've even watched for this particular set to go on sale, and I got it for the lowest price it can get.

I got home and gave Ryan his Christmas present...his RCA MP3 player that I got for $49. Absolutely awesome! He can have his own for our long flights that are coming up.
I think I actually heard my credit card sigh out of sheer exhaustion. It was a very fun morning, and I'm glad that it was spent in Moscow. I can't imagine doing this in a larger city with even more people. Bring on the anxiety!

Naptime.

are you too?

My yahoo email account cannot be accessed for whatever reason. I'm connected to the internet and can visit anywhere else on the net, but NOT yahoo.

It's been going on for almost a week and I'm going to switch email accounts this weekend. It's very frustrating!

We've tried to figure it out and fix it, but I can't get my email.

Anyone else having issues with their yahoo email account?

P.S. Saw Twilight...again. This is twice this week so far. And I have the soundtrack. I'm SO not either obsessed!

what's going on here?

What is going on in these pictures? Some aren't what they seem....okay they are.

As you may have guessed, the kids decorated our gigantic Christmas tree. It's a mixture of SpongeBob/Dora/Simpsons/Hot Wheels and other random small ornaments. Technically, it's been out since Halloween but it's only been decorated since November 9th.

As you may have guessed, these are the kids at 5:15am last Friday morning. Since Ryan had to travel up to Seattle for his Moot Court competition, I had to drive him to the airport early early early! The kids had a hard day with that dreadful start.

As you may have guessed, the boys are enjoying cartoons on a working t.v. again!

As you may have guessed, Carter has gotten ready for bed and is reading his book. And snuggling with Lambie.

vampires and turkeys

Read it. SAW it! Loved it.

I didn't think that I'd get into it, since I have my own pictures conjurred up in my mind, but it was well-written and I enjoyed it. The music especially.

I want to go again. I NEED to go again.

(The Women's Basketball Team and their tall heads were in the way, following multiple seating changes on my behalf made for a rather frustrating visit to the movies!)

Moving on from that hearthrobbing vampire, onto the answers to the previous post of the Gobbler Quiz:

1) a-3500 feathers
2) d-wattle
3) c-1621
4) b- The Wampanoag
5) b-55 mph
6) a- putt

Happy Thanksgiving!

gobbler quiz

Since Thanksgiving is this week, test your noggin and see how much you know about turkeys!

1) About how many feathers does a mature turkey have?
a) 3500
b) 2000
c) 5000
d) 1500

2) What is the name for the skin that hangs from a turkey's neck?
a) swag
b) snark
c) garble
d) wattle

3) In what year was the first Thanksgiving celebrated?
a) 1493
b) 1778
c) 1621
d) 1622

4) Which Native people celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims?
a) The Sioux
b) The Wampanoag
c) The Iroquois
d) The Choctaw

5) How fast can a wild turkey fly over a short distance?
a) 15 mph
b) 55 mph
c) 22 mph
d) 35 mph

6) What sound does a turkey make to communicate when there's danger near?
a) putt
b) gobble gobble
c) clack clack
d) turk turk turk

Good luck! Answers to be posted tomorrow!

brinzi, this one's for you...

Happy Birthday to my sweet sister-in-law, Sabrina! It's her special day today and I hope that she's having a wonderful time gallavanting (and studying, of course) around Europe these days. Love you, babe, have a wonderful birthday!


10 reasons why we love you:

10) You have a fabulous voice

9) "Copperboom, baby!" I love watching Gilmore girls with you

8) You dance beautifully

7) You have a cute sense of humor and always uplift those around you


6) You are my only friend that can will watch Antonio Banderas movies with over and over until 3 am and not tire of it

5) You are a wonderful example of faith and testimony

4) You have an infectious laugh

3) You are an exceptional aunt to your nieces and nephews


2) You are a terrific shoulder to lean on, you're always there for your friends

AND the number one reason why we love you is because.....

1) You're YOU! Thank you for being you. Love ya, SpicySalsa! Thanks for all the laughs over the years, you keep us on our toes!!! (get it?!)

She shares a birthday with another special lady, my Grandma Velta! Gram is spending this next week in Hawaii, so I'm sure that she's going to have a nice birthday also. Love both of these wonderful women!

bronco + vandal =

At our house, we're technically called Brondals. Or I guess you could call us Vancos. Either way, we are mixed. We bleed orange, blue, gold and black! I was so glad that Ryan's dad and older brother, could drive up and spend the weekend with us. It was nice to have them here and spend time with them!

The boys wearing their colors. I spy a 'Lil Vandal, do you?

The boys walking down to the Kibbie Dome to watch the game.

Ryanna wearing my scarf just to bug all the Broncos in the house. We got quite a rise out of the rabid fans when Dawson and I ran to the grocery store! He was in his BSU gear and I was wearing Vandal stuff. It was great!

They also played their Civilization game linked together. I think this was honestly Ryan's favorite part. He got another brother playing with them and the four of them played for hours!

It's kinda hard to tell from here, but Grandpa was teaching Dawson how to keep his eye on the BSU football and play catch!

Other things on the to-do list was to help us carry our broken t.v. out of the front room. We're sure going to miss that t.v! It was so fun to watch movies on. It's a HUGE beast of a television but was sure nice to watch. Sniff.
Thanks for coming to visit Eric and Gaylan, we love you!

By the way, BSU beat the Vandals 45-10. Still #9 in the BCS poll AND still UNBEATEN!!