My Parents

I just had to share what wonderful and amazing parents I have. I have been reminded countless times of this, but especially these past couple weeks. They are always there for me, no matter what I need. They would, have and do drop everything to help me when I need them, and I don't know what I would do without their love and support.

My dad in the past week has come over to my house to fix my van, not knowing what the problem was but wanting to to help Joe and I regardless. And just the other night, just hugged me when I needed encouragement only he could give.

My mom, bless her soul, has been my rock. We talk on the phone daily, if not more than that. She is my mom, but also my friend, and is willingly to listen and let me just be me, good or bad.

And I do have to mention what terrific grandparents they are! They love the girls and spoil them with their love, time and attention, as well as other ways too. They watch the girls ALL the time for me/us. Whether Joe and I need a night out, have something planned, just because or to give us a night's rest. Joleigh and Noelle adore them and beg to spend time with their Gamma and Gampa Ryall. I am so blessed and just wants to share with everyone I much I love my mom and dad and how much they love me and my family!

Christmas 2008

Well I can't believe that Christmas is already over. It comes and goes faster every year! We had a great, but exhausting holiday, enjoying lots of family, food, presents and most importantly celebrating Jesus' birthday! As I mentioned in a previous post, this time of year was very busy for Joe, so unfortunately he wasn't able to join us until much later on Christmas Eve. But the girls and I dressed up for the Christmas Eve church service at 4:00. We met my parents, and Joe's brother and mom there. It was packed, but the service was incredible!!! It truly made you reflect on the real meaning of Christmas, plain and simple, Jesus' birth, not all the other things that get in the way. Joe's hard work, as well as so many others, paid off big time!

After church, the girls and I headed over to my Aunt Judy and Bob's house, where almost all of my extended family, including my grandparents, parents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins and all of their kids, gathered for a delicious meal and time together. With the busyness of the year it is one of the few times we can all get together and although I couldn't stay long, I would not want to miss it! In the past we have had a gift exchange, but decided this year to just spend time together, which was nice. My Aunt Judy read The Legend of the Candy Cane and had a candy cane and little gift for each of the kids. It was such a nice time!

Our night wasn't over, around 8:00 we headed back to our house, where Joe's siblings, dad and his fiance, were waiting. I let the girls open their first present, matching PJ's and then we waited for Daddy to get home. We opened gifts as soon, as Joe was done with the last Christmas Eve service around 9:00. They stayed up way past their bed time, but Noelle went to sleep around 9:45 and Joleigh not until around 11:00, yikes!

The night didn't go smoothly both the girls woke up almost every hour and I was exhausted, to put it nicely. Joe took both girls in our room and I slept on the couch. Around 8:15 they still weren't up, so I went to check on all of them and found the two girls asleep at the top of the bed and Joe sideways sleeping at the foot of the bed. I felt so bad! We put the rough night behind us and had a really great Christmas morning, though. We finally had to wake Joleigh up at 9:00 to open their presents. We couldn't wait to see how they reacted to their gifts. First, I read a book to them about why we open presents on Christmas and about the greatest gift we will ever receive in Jesus Christ. They sat and enjoyed the story then opened their gifts, they loved them. Joleigh's big gift was a camera that takes real pictures and Noelle got a keyboard with a microphone.

After presents I made breakfast for our family and Joe's mom and brothers came over. We spent the morning and early afternoon lounging and napping. Then after Noelle woke up from her nap around 4:00 we went over to my parents for dinner and more presents.

By the end of the day we were all exhausted (have a mentioned that), especially Joleigh who was up all night and refused to nap, but it was a wonderful holiday! We are so blessed by all that God has given to us and how he continually takes care and provides for us. We thank him for a family and for sending His Son. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well!!!

Baby Jaelyn

We had our 3D ultrasound last Friday and got to see our sweet little girl. It is so funny to me how these ultrasounds work and how after the third one my perspective is so different. I knew what to expect, that the images are a little distorted, but it is absolutely amazing to catch even a glimpse of what the life growing inside you looks like. First thing we noticed were her big lips. Maybe they'll resemble Angelina Jolie, who knows. But when I compared the pictures to Joleigh and Noelle, you can really see the similarities in both. I can't wait to finally see her!!! Not too much longer, either. I am almost 31 weeks and have been induced with both girls at 38 weeks, so the count down in on. I have been so focused on the holidays, that it hasn't really hit me just how close we really are. Better start getting some sleep now. What is life going to be like with 3 kids!?!?!

It's Getting Close

So only 5 or 6 more days until Christmas. I can't believe it! Joe and I just started our shopping today. This has become our yearly tradition of waiting until the week before and then starting and finishing our shopping all at once. Well this year we at least started and finished the girls. We still have some more gifts to buy, but know what we need to get, we just have to figure out when to get them. Life has been pretty crazy for Joe these past few months. Last month, he took over the Programming Department at our church and from the time he started there has been one thing after another going on. Just this week alone, they had to tear down part of the stage from the weekend service to get ready for the Michael W. Smith concert that is tonight. Then either tonight or tomorrow they have to set the stage back up for this weekend's service, only to tear it all down again Sunday to get ready for Christmas Eve services. To top it off he is working at all 6 services on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yikes!!! The good news is that he gets to take off the week after Christmas to recuperate. We can't wait to spend some great quality time together as a family!

So wish me luck that we get everything done that needs to get done and that I keep a positive attitude and appreciation for this wonderful holiday and the amazing family that I get to spend it with.

I wanted to share some recent pictures. The girls stayed the night with my parents last weekend and their neighborhood had a Christmas party the next morning. Santa was there and we arrived to pick them up just as they were getting their picture taken. Joleigh was not a fan of Santa, until she realized that he had cookies if she sat on his lap, so she decided it was worth it. Noelle just loves to sit on anyone's lap. They just make me smile!

It's Wintertime

I have lived in Arizona, basically, all my life and to my memory it has never felt cold around Christmas time. Well, this week we are catching a glimpse of what cold weather feels like with low temperatures and a lot of rain. For the most part I love it, except when we have to go places and it is rainy and the girls decide to jump into puddles and soak themselves. But this weather is such a rarity that I won't complain too much. But by far my favorite part has been seeing the girls all bundled up and cozy in their coats. I wanted to share a couple pictures of just how cute they look.

Joleigh's Christmas Party

Today was Joleigh's last day of preschool until the new year and she had her first ever school Christmas party. Noelle and I came to participate. When we arrived everyone was inside their tiny classroom, because of the rain, and Joleigh and all her classmates were ready for us. After singing some songs and reciting a poem for the parents, Joleigh gave me her gift that she had made for Daddy and me, an adorable calendar, with handmade pages that she had created. It was probably one of the BEST presents I have ever received! After that, Noelle joined Joleigh on the carpet for a Christmas story, while they awaited Santa's arrival. Each child had a turn to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted. Joleigh was a little shy (big surprise, I know), but she sat on Santa's lap and told him she wanted a train, that is what her friend Jack, who went before her said, silly girl. Then Noelle got her turn and told Santa that she wanted a baby, and I am pretty sure she said a baby sister, is that just not adorable!?!!! When their turn was over, Joleigh got a bag of treats from Santa and a gift wrapped book. When she opened the book, it was from her friend, Audrey and Audrey got the book that Joleigh brought to share. They though that was pretty funny. Next came time to decorate a graham cracker house. Joleigh sat with her friends, Lily and Paige and they all worked on their masterpieces, eating as much candy as they put on the house, oh well it's Christmas. Noelle sat and watched them as she devoured her cookies and candy from Santa. I didn't care as long as she was entertained. We all had such a wonderful time and are thankful for all of the teachers and friends that we have at Happy Apple Preschool and hope they all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Our Elf Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

***Remember to pause the music on my page

Joe took some pictures of the girls today. It didn't go as planned, they were very distracted and Noelle wasn't feeling very good, so we didn't get many of just her. But here are few cute ones. I love my girls!

Christmas Cookies

I was kind of disappointed that some plans I had with friends fell through, so to cheer me up, Joe suggested that we bake Christmas cookies with the girls last night. My spirits were uplifted and I couldn't wait. I immediately remembered a recipe that my friend, Katie, posted on her blog, claiming to be the BEST sugar cookies ever, so I thought we would try them out. I only needed a few ingredients, so I headed of to the store, and to my surprise my friend Katie was there. I thought that was a fun coincidence. Joe's mom came over for a visit and brought some Christmas surprises for the girls and some decorations for our house. We ate dinner and visited with her for awhile until she needed to leave, then it was baking time. The girls, especially Joleigh, were so excited and couldn't wait to get started. I don't do a ton of baking, mostly already made cookie dough or things from a box, so this was a very special occasion and one that required a lot of help from the girls. They got up on their stools and helped pour and mix up all the ingredients, roll out the dough, cut out their shapes, then added the sprinkles to the cookies I frosted after they baked. They had a blast and really loved eating their creations. I love making holiday memories and look forward to baking cookies again next year with my little helpers.

By the way, the cookies were amazing!!! They were light and very fluffy and the frosting was delicious. Here is the recipe that I stole from Katie (I don;t think she minds, because she stole it from one of her friends too.) Hope you enjoy if you try them!

THE BEST fluffy, soft, thick Sugar Cookies
1 ½ c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 c. milk
4 ½ c. flour
1 ¼ t. baking soda
4 t. baking powder
(yes, that's right...FOUR teaspoons!)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream sugar, butter and egg. Mix dry ingredients, then add them to the wet mixture. Add milk and vanilla. Roll out the dough pretty thick - about half an inch. The key is to roll out the dough with lots of flour (at the beginning, I usually even have to flour my rolling pin between each roll…the dough can get pretty gooey - expect for your hands to be coated with flour), cut with your shapes using cookie cutters, lay the cookies about an inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet (they grow and rise in the oven) and bake 8-10 minutes. Store in a tightly sealed container.

These freeze well!

Frosting

(double the following recipe for a thicker frosting layer on the cookies)
2 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter, softened
½ t. vanilla
1-2 T. milk

Party with Neighbors

This fall Joe and I joined a new small group that meets on Sunday nights in our neighborhood. Joe leads the group and there are about 12 of us who meet together. Since the start I have really enjoyed meeting each week and look forward to Sunday nights. To end out the year we decided to have a potluck and everyone brought their entire family. We had the best time and the most delicious food. After we ate, we all ended up outside by the fire and roasted marshmallows, while the kids ran around and jumped in the bouncy. The night couldn't have gone better! It was so great to fellowship with one another and I can't wait to meet back together in January!

All of the ladies in our group. (The guys didn't want to pose)

More Family Fun

Friday night was the CCV Staff Christmas Party. We got the girls all dressed up and matching (of course), in their red sweaters that Daddy bought for them. They looked adorable and were warm, which was good because we were outside most of the time we were there. These family work parties always make me laugh. I was talking to my friend Megan about how the husbands end up talking to everyone they work with and see everyday, while us wives look after and in some cases chase after our children, never really getting to socialize, at all, with anyone besides our kids. Anyway, it was a nice time. The girls had a blast playing with their friends, mostly Kyla, on the bouncy balls in the grass, we ate hamburgers and hotdogs, and got to decorate the most delicious sugar cookies with sprinkles. After dinner everyone went inside to watch The Nativity Story. We didn't last past the opening credits, not a movie that could keep my kids attention, but they were more than happy to play and eat popcorn and candy in the lobby. I was hoping for a yummy cup of hot chocolate, but unfortunately it was all gone. When we decided to leave my terrific husband had the best idea to go home, get in our jammies, while he made us each our own cup of hot chocolate. It was so sweet to watch the girls drink from their tiny mugs and then we all snuggled on the floor. So, the night didn't go as I had expected, but ended pretty wonderful!

Christmas Lights

We have been anxiously awaiting taking the girls to look at Christmas lights, so when my friend, Lisa, called last night to let us know that the lights at Community Church of Joy were free to look at with a can food donation, we quickly headed out. We weren't sure what to expect, since we have never been there before, but were pleasantly surprised at how much fun we all had. The line was pretty long and you drive through pretty slow, so we let the girls get out of their seats and sit on our laps up front. I can't even describe the joy that Joleigh had "helping" Daddy drive the car and Noelle was mesmerized by all the lights. The highlight for both girls was driving under the tunnel of lights, Joleigh kept calling it a cave. It was fun to do something spontaneous as a family and now we can cross looking at Christmas lights off our to-do list.