Holidays!

I know, I know! I'm always so behind! I swear I don't know where all the time went this year! November was a lot of fun, we finally got to enjoy Ryker with no ear infections! He has been so happy and fun! He is growing and developing so quickly - he loves to talk and I am constantly amazed at how quickly he picks up new words and there meanings. His favorite is to hide his binky and say "where did it go?", he knows a lot of his cousins names, he says Debby (Grandma) perfectly, says na night at bedtime. I could go on and on, I love watching his personality develop and see him become a little boy!

Anyway, back to the holidays! We spent Thanksgiving with Rick's family and had a great meal! The best part was that all I had to do this year was the banana cream pie! Ryker is getting more comfortable around all of his cousins and had a great time playing with all of them. I am so thankful for all the cousins (on both sides) that he has to play with and grow up with. I am also very thankful that we live in Utah and are close to both of our families.

December started off with Ryker's daycare Christmas party. They had each class sing a Christmas song, the infants and toddlers kicked it off with Jingle Bells. They all had jingle bells tied to their wrists and looked so cute! While all of the kids were trying to hide behind the teachers - Ryker was out front and center singing along and dancing for everyone, he was the best! (I have pictures but they are on my old computer so hopefully I'll get them off of there soon.)

Next was a Christmas party with my family. Skip and Emma were able to come in from Florida and it was so good to see them and their cute kids Eric and Lilly. My Grandma Bush was also here from Washington state and the kids had a lot of fun with her. We played games, shared memories, ate dinner and opened presents. We were also able to pull of a "surprise" birthday party for Emma. My Mom gave each of the grand kids their Christmas ornament and PJ's. Ryker's were both monkey themed (of course!). It was a lot of fun and made the Holidays a lot more enjoyable for me.

The next weekend I had 2 different work parties (both were a lot of fun) and did a 16th Birthday party for my niece Shy and one of her friends. It was a Hollywood theme and looked amazing!!!

We had my Mom over for dinner on Christmas Eve, this time I did cook. I made ham, green bean casserole, home made rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy. I even made sugar cookies that turned out really good. Ryker got to open all of his presents from Grandma Debby and she even spoiled Rick and I. With all of her health problems I am so glad we got to spend this time with her and enjoy every minute we get with her!

Christmas morning we opened presents together and then headed up to Rick's parents for more presents and a HUGE breakfast. It was so yummy and we all enjoyed spending time with both families. The rest of the day we crashed!!!!

We ended the holidays with New Year's. Misty and Preston brought their kids from Reno for a visit and got here on New Year's Eve, which is also Eden's Birthday. I had to work that day and Rick ended up staying home with Ryker who wasn't feeling good. Since he had been running a fever we canceled plans and decided just to have dinner with my family and celebrate Eden's B-day then call it a night. It was lots of fun but we were in bed by probably 10:00. The next day Ryker woke up with a really high fever and I had my first real experience with throw-up! Not a fan! Poor little guy threw up on me twice! We found an open urgent care and got him antibiotics for another ear infection, he also had the flu. Thank goodness for Rick, he let me go see Sherlock Homes with my family while he stayed home with a sick baby. That night I got to stay up with him. (PS - Sherlock Homes was GREAT, I highly recommend it!) Ryker and I got to spend some time with Misty and her family before they took off, I wish they lived closer so we could see them more often!

Anyway, as you can see, we had a very busy Holiday season. Between all of this and work I didn't send out cards this year, didn't bake any goodies and (yes, I'm a terrible Mom) I didn't even decorate this year. But it was still a memorable year and gave me a lot of perspective on what is important - Family and friends! I am so thankful for all of you that read this and are a part of our lives! Please know that I was thinking about all of you this year and will do better next year in showing my appreciation!