Ryan, Jordan, Ella, & Kyler

It's a Girl!

2012-01-26T22:37:00.001-07:00

This is old news but we are so excited to have another little girl join us the end of May!

I thought for sure it was going to be a boy because I had a dream and I had been a little sick but not too bad.

Ryan said it was a girl because we don't have a for sure girl name of course.

Ella is really excited and is always talking about the baby.

We are nervous because we will be outnumbered but are soooo excited to have another little special spirit in our family.

Snow Day

2012-01-26T22:32:00.004-07:00

We finally got some snow around here.

It's been a really weird winter

But we were all really excited for some snow!!!

Kyler loved his snow suit....not!
He was like that boy from A Christmas Story...if he fell he couldn't get up

Ella had so much fun

Kyler contemplating life.

Ella making a slide

Ella going on the sled the second time.
The thing I love about this picture is Kyler on the right looking through the window
"I always feel like somebody's watching meeeee"
He slipped in the sidewalk and bumped his forehead and was just done after that

Still watching....

Making a snow angel while eating some snow

Ella and Ryan making a snowman which turned into Rapunzel (totally Ryan's idea)

Ella and Rapunzel
She was so proud!

December 2011

2012-01-26T22:32:00.003-07:00

December went by in a blur.

Well here are a few things that we did

We went to the Layton lights and the kids loooooved it.

Ella had her Christmas dance recital and it was adorable.

She was really nervous at first but now she always wants to go back on stage.

We went to Temple Square

It was WAY too crowded and parking was terrible.

Next time i'm going towards the beginning of December but it was ridiculous

Anyway it was still beautiful and Ella loved seeing the temple

We had an ugly sweater party.

And after searching for some sweaters, we just decided to make them.

I declare it a new tradition!!

ps...ignore me I look rough

And.....da dada DA!

Christmas!!

We had such an awesome Christmas.

The kids are at such a great age where they show their excitement.

And we got to Skype to Elder Hopkins, which was great.

Kyler and his cars track

Ella and her Rapunzel Vanity.
I think Kyler has actually played with this more...haha

And of course Kyler just wants the treats

I just had to add this picture of cute Tate and Ryan

Kyler and Daddy opening presents

The Grandkids!
(ps Nicole has a way better picture of this)

My Grandpa

2012-01-26T22:32:00.002-07:00

We had a party for my Grandpa's 90th Birthday.

He really is a special person.

He has been through so much in his life and he remembers every. single. detail.

Ask him about the wars, you'll be amazed.

Anyway, we had a good time and ate some good food!

Ella enjoying the cake

And my grandpa did this little jig.

I almost cried it was the cutest thing ever.

Just Because.

2012-01-26T22:32:00.001-07:00

They are so cute.

My Everthing.

I love them.

Disneyland!! Def the happiest place on earth!

2011-12-14T23:55:00.003-07:00

So this post is WAAAYYY late...but better late than never right?!

Well we went to disneyland back in October with just our little fam.

Ella broke out of her room one night with her Minnie hat from last time singing "I want to go to disneyland, disneyland, disneyland" haha I was sold after that!

It was amazing and definitely worth the drive.

The view of California Adventure from our hotel room

Ella and lego Woody

Goofy's Kitchen
Soooo fun and worth it!
The kids had a blast and the food was sooo good

Dumbo!! One of the faves!

The Pikulas joined us for a night and we're so glad they did!

This could be Ella's favorite ride

Or this might be Ella's favorite

Ella the mad hatter :)

Kyler looooved trying on the goofy hat haha

This could be one of my favorite pictures from the trip

We saw tons of characters and the kids loved everyone of them.
I thought they would be scared but they would go right up and hug them

We went to Ariel's Grotto to eat lunch one day.

Almost all the princesses came right up to the table

It was perfect for Ella

Ella looks a little awkward haha
(Ryan was not a fan of Ariel lol)

The dessert plate...so good.

Ella loved the white chocolate shell

Waiting for the world of color in our amazing spot.

Thank goodness for entertainment for the kids cause we had to wait over an hour

And GG came with us one day to Disneyland!!

Ella being silly with daddy

At lunch Kyler just kept saying cheese to the camera

I took Ella and Kyler to a Disney Junior and this is Ella dancing her buns off

Goodbye Disney!! We loved it soooo much and we can't wait until we go back again.

This is Halloween

2011-10-31T23:14:00.003-06:00

This was the best Halloween I've had a long time.

The weather was amazing

(last year it was raining and freezing)

The kids had a lot of fun

Ella started out a little shy but then got the hang of it

She kept saying "Let's go to the next one and get more candy!"

Kyler was going for the big handfuls and seconds haha

It was a great night

Here is Ella as Rapunzel.
Her wig kept pulling back so we put a flower in to make it stay put.
I wasn't about to make rapunzel dress, it's way to complicated lol
I love the wig, she's such a goof, I love her.

Here's my little Flynn Rider
Flynn rider is a lot less complicated to make :)
This was at the end of the night and he was excited to eat some candy!
He hated these boot cover ups at the ward party but he didn't mind today. They are falling down a little bit after all the walking around.
He's such a cutie.

The Zoo

2011-09-26T23:10:00.000-06:00

So we haven't been to the zoo in forever

This day was the perfect day for the zoo

It was not crowded at all cause school is in

The weather was amazing

And we saw tons of animals!

Kyler and Ella LOVED it

Ella and the elephants

Cheese!

Look at that happiness right there

I had to take a picture of myself as proof that I was there cause i'm never in pictures

Reunion 2011

2011-09-26T23:06:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we had a small family reunion in Ophir.

It was so great to visit my grandparents.

I love them so much.

We were going to go visit the mines after but we were beat.

My sweet girl posing

This picture is Kyler in a nutshell. haha

This picture makes me laugh.
As we all know Ella is extremely shy
Well she sat next to my grandma was being her usual shy self.
Well in the picture my grandma was saying "I won't even touch you"
lol she's so sweet

Kyler didn't mind at all chillin with my grandpa

Family photo, minus Ryan cause he had to work

Kyler being a cuddle bug

Fun at the playground

2011-09-26T23:02:00.000-06:00

Birthday weekend

2011-09-13T10:53:00.000-06:00

We had a pretty busy weekend for Ella's birthday. The whole family came into town and we celebrated three birthdays

Tate's 1st.

Easton's 2nd.

Ella's 3rd.

Wow.

It was a really good time.

We started off the festivities on Saturday at Boondocks!

The kids are always begging to go there.

On Ella's birthday we had a pirate/princess party.

The birthday princess on her birthday!

We had mustaches for the pirates

Princess Ella

Looking at the map for the treasure hunt

The scurvy pirates!

Birthday girl blowing out her candles on the rapunzel cake

She's so precious huh!?

And don't forget about this little dude...justing waiting for some cake

Opening presents.

Thanks so much to my family for coming and supporting us.
My family is amazing and I love every single one of them so much.

Play time

2011-09-13T10:36:00.000-06:00

I had Ella play in her room while I took a shower
I came back to her jamming on her guitar and making up a song
Loved it.

I thought the Mrs. Potato glasses were hilarious on the baby but....

They are way more hilarious on Kyler...lol
Ella put these on him and he kept them on for a really long time
I couldn't stop laughing

hehe

Here is Ella using Kyler as her baby doll.
And he didn't mind one bit.
Kyler is in the princess castle with a pink binky, holding a baby bottle, with a doll blanket covering him
Ella was patting his belly saying "go to sleep bud"
Adorable.

A visit from GG

2011-09-13T10:24:00.001-06:00

Ryan's mom was able to visit us one weekend in Utah.

We had an amazing time and Ella still talks about it.

On Sunday we decided to drive up to Pocatello and visit Grandpa Christensen's gravesite.

It was a really special trip and it was so peaceful in the cemetery

Ella and GG

It was started to thunder and Ella was really nervous about it

My cute little man

GG and the Gholsons

Sweet Ella and her half phony smile lol

Kyler loves to go between legs back and forth

We even found at a cemetery down the road a great-grandparents grave

It was so awesome having GG visit and we wish it could happen more often.

We should have taken more pictures though cause this is all we have. darn.

They are the best. The End.

2011-08-22T23:27:00.000-06:00

Tonight for fhe we did some work in the yard.

It was a beautiful night to do some hard work.

The kids got filthy but had so much fun

Ella wanted in on the action so badly
She's such a sweetheart.
Since the rocks we were moving were too heavy, she decided to direct traffic lol

My hardworking boys

Relaxing afterwards.
I love this pictures so much.
He's such a great dad.

Oh and this one.

Just for you Andrew.

2011-08-22T23:19:00.000-06:00

I got a desperate email wondering what car Ryan got from a certain Elder on his mission.

Well here you go Elder!

Ryan's in love.love.love.

The Fair

2011-08-22T23:17:00.000-06:00

I love fairs.

We almost didn't go because of the weather but despite the look of the clouds we only got a few drops

First we went to the "petting zoo"

There were llamas, many goats, a donkey, an adorable mini horse, a tortoise, and a zebra in a separate cage. Ella was a little scared and Kyler was fearless.

Kyler feeding the mini horse

He would laugh so hard after he fed them

The animals closing in

They don't mind :)

Ella's face painting

At the end we decided to get a treat and relax and enjoy the surroundings and some music.

Here is Ella dancing to the music

She looks like a little hippy girl....I love it.

I know i know...more swimming pictures :)

2011-08-22T23:07:00.000-06:00

I Just can't resist posting swimming pics of them.

They are so happy. And I am so happy.

Today Ella was being so silly, she was falling off the side of the pool into the water.

Twice she fell off backwards onto the grass...we both thought it was hilarious.

He slipped and fell under the freezing cold water and didn't think it was funny.

Such a goof. She's so her dad ;)

My loves

2011-08-22T23:03:00.000-06:00

Just Because.

2011-08-16T10:49:00.000-06:00

Just because she's cute.

I have a lot to say about her but i'll wait until her 3 yr old post. (which is soon!! ah!)

I just decided to add some of Ella's quotes

Me : How old are you Ella?
Ella: 2
Me: Good job! How old are you going to be on your birthday?
Ella: 3! Actually I'm not not 2, I'm 3 for a minute right now.

While we were driving she saw the temple.
Ella: Mom there's the temple!! I'm gonna get married in the temple like you and daddy!

When we were camping in Bear Lake and she was sleeping in the same bed as her cousin Avery and she decided to cause trouble and be silly
Ella: I am rude to Avery....(singing) I am bad and rude. I am bad and rude (sung repeatedly)

Cousin Picture

2011-08-16T10:39:00.000-06:00

It's hard to get a cousin picture now with these rambunctious children!
But we try and we're so happy when they can be together.

Splash

2011-08-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

We are loving summer and don't want it to end.

One of our favorite things to do and put the sprinkler on the trampoline.

We love Utah :)

Working hard.

2011-08-16T10:36:00.000-06:00

Ryan and his friend were working on a car and the kids wanted in on the action too!

And then it was time for a popsicle break with Grandpa

Pajamas

2011-08-16T10:35:00.000-06:00

This girl. :)

If the kids are awake when Ryan leaves they always have to go on the front porch and say goodbye.
Kyler was just watching him and finally was blowing kisses to him.
They LOVE when they get to wait on the front porch for him to come home, it's so cute.

Here are just some random pictures of Kyler being silly in his highchair. He has the greatest smile and laugh. And then there are some pictures of Kyler eating his favorite things. He loves, loves breakfast foods. He could eat a bowl of cereal for every meal and he is really good with a spoon.

Our yearly Bear Lake Campout

2011-08-09T11:05:00.006-06:00

Every year we try and go on a camp out to Bear Lake. We have missed a few here and there but we are always so happy when the whole family can come. This year we missed Andrew of course, and Matt couldn't come because he is SUPER busy with his residency, and Ryan could only stay for one night because he had to go back to work. Even though its sometimes hard to get the kids off their schedules, it's SO worth it in the end. Some of my favorite memories growing up and going to Bear Lake and camping with my family.

Setting up camp

My mom brought crafts for the kids to do and they had so much fun. Here is Avery and Ella admiring their homemade snow globes.

Kyler trying to get his craft-on too.

Ella making her snow globe

Kyler loved this magnet game that Jamie brought. It saved my sanity a lot.

The boys in the morning

Blurry pic but she's so cute.

Oh and what's a campout without smores!

Cave Minnetonka

2011-08-09T11:05:00.005-06:00

On Friday we were able to go up to Cave Minnetonka. My sweet mom stayed home with Tate and Kyler. It was freezing the cave but it was also so amazing. Mattson was scared out of his mind and the tour guide didn't help with his stories about bats and such. Ella was also scared but her coping mechanism was to pretend to sleep. Which she did the entire time.

Aren't I so lucky?! I think he's pretty cute.

Waiting to go in the cave. Dimples!

It was so beautiful to see all these old natural formations.

The Beach...Idaho style!

2011-08-09T11:05:00.004-06:00

On Saturday we went to Bear Lake and it was so so nice. The water was a little cold but the weather made up for it. Ryan wasn't able to come with us because he had to go back home and work. It was pretty crowded that day because it was "Raspberry Days". We found a great spot that was even near the bathrooms (thank goodness....children can not hold it very long!! lol)

Me and Kyler on a big floaty...he loved it, he was probably just preparing to yell here

My Girl lovin the sand

Thinking about life, or maybe just throwing a rock in

You know we had to add a lady pose!

ps..most of the photos were taken by my amazingly talented SIL Nicole

Our Traditional Bike Ride

2011-08-09T11:05:00.003-06:00

Almost every time we go to Bear Lake we rent one of these bikes to ride around in. It's usually on a Sunday when we can't go swimming or anything. Well this year we almost didn't do it. We only had an hour before checkout and Steph said something about renting the bike. So we ran over and rented it. I think i need one of these and ride it every sunday. It's so much fun but it's actually a lot of work too! My dad rode it for a couple minutes and he's like "That sucked!!" Haha He swore the break was on. I love this tradition :)

Feeling the wind in their hair

Despite his serious face here...he LOVED it. He was yelling and pointing things out to us. He's like "what's that!!!!" I'm like yes Kyler that's another house. Haha he gets really excited about things.

The Natural Bridge, VA

2011-07-26T13:23:00.000-06:00

Before we went and saw the natural bridge we went to this Butterfly exhibit. It was so fun to catch butterflies and put them all over us.

She wasn't having it.

So fun!

It was sooooo huge!! It was actually really peaceful and it was so beautiful.

Ella and GG

Poor Katie. She was pretty much holding Ella or Kurtis the whole time we were walking to this waterfall after the natural bridge. It was a LONG walk too.

Ella and her cousin Kurtis

Lady pose!

Ella fell asleep when were were heading back from the waterfall. She was out.

Natural Bridge Zoo

2011-07-26T13:16:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend we drove to see the Natural Bridge. But first we stopped off at the Natural Bridge zoo.

Kyler being patient for us in the stroller.

Ella was so disturbed by this fake alligator. It does look pretty real though.

Ella, Sarah, and Katie holding hands.

And we rode and Ella while we were there!!! It was so amazing. It's name was Beautiful and it was the same age and me and Ryan. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time.

GG and Kyler petting a 2 week old camel.

Ella feeding an animal. It's a miracle! (She's a little bit of a scardy cat)

My Boys

My little explorer

Just keep swimming

2011-07-26T13:09:00.001-06:00

This is one of things that we missed when we usually visit in the winter. We were dying to go swimming in nanny's pool. We tried to go swimming everyday and sometimes even twice a day. It was amazing. Especially in the heat and humidity, how do you not have a pool?! lol

Nanny working her magic on Ella. Thanks Nanny! I'm so so so happy she'll swim on her own now

Kyler is fearless in the water. He loved to jump off and go under the water and refused to be in his floaty.

Kyler thinks he can really swim.

Ryan, Kyler, Ella, Nanny

It was so much fun going over and hanging out with nanny. We LOVED it. Thanks again nanny!

Virginia Trip 2011

2011-07-26T13:04:00.001-06:00

So a few weeks ago we were able surprise Ryan's family in VA. We really weren't planning on going to Virginia this summer but one day we just decided to go for it. We haven't been there in the summer in two years so we were so excited to bring the kids and have a good time with the family. Ryan's sister Amy was in the on the surprise but no one else new. We were planning on picking up Ryan's mom from the airport later that night after we got in but she ended up getting delayed way past the kids bedtime and we wanted them to be part of the surprise. So we ended up sleeping at the house without Ryan's mom knowing we were there yet and we surprised her the next morning. It was awesome!

The fam chillen in the backyard.

We went to the park on Sunday and the kids had a lot of fun even though it was super hot....we're not used to the humidity, can you tell by there red faces?

Ella in GG's sunhat

Making smores

Just had to capture this moment of them sharing haha

Hot little cutie :)

GG and Pops took the kids to a pottery place to paint a bowl and put their handprints inside of it. It was so fun and I'm going to have to go to a place around here because I loved it so much.

She took it very seriously

Kyler is getting 8 teeth right now...yes 8....so he just sat in the stroller and ate frozen grapes...he LOVED them!!

I was worried for this step but GG and I were a great team, and Kyler did awesome :)

This is the Place!

2011-06-13T23:29:00.003-06:00

Last Friday we went to Heritage Park/This is the place monument. It was free! But that meant everybody went. It took a while to get in but once we parked we were good to go.

She's excited!

His game face!

Ella and I went on this mini train. It was a tight fit but she loved it and the view was amazing!!

Ella was waiting to ride a horse, she was nervous but excited!

See, she was a little nervous but now she always talks about it.

They had a petting zoo there with a bunch of sheep hiding from the sun and lots of goats wandering around. I remember going last year and the goats were just tiny but this time they were huge!

I love this picture of my boys! (even though Kyler's ears are pushed a little forward from his hat haha)

And a final lady pose before we left

It was a really good time and I'm glad we went! We didn't get to go in many of the houses because we didn't want to bother with the stroller and I'm sure Ella wouldn't have cared. But we rode the trains and Ella rode a horse and petted some animals so I would say it was a success!

Kyler's summer so far

2011-06-13T23:29:00.002-06:00

Playing in the grass.

Yoga ;)

Soaking up the sun.

Looking cute.

Wanting to go in and out of the house.

And swimming of course!

Trampoline

2011-06-13T23:29:00.001-06:00

I asked Ella do look at me for a picture

This is one second later! Haha
She's hilarious.

I just love this picture.
Even though she looks 16!!

She's obsessed with the trampoline.
And I love it too.

Best Friends

2011-06-13T23:29:00.000-06:00

They may have their "moments" but I know they are each others best friends

Ouch

2011-06-13T23:28:00.001-06:00

ouch..ouch...ouch.
He fell on a pillow on the bed in his room and hit the molding around the window.
He was a trooper though, only cried for a sec.

Spring 2011

2011-06-13T23:28:00.000-06:00

He was "helping" us out in the yard :)

Ella planting some flowers out in the yard. Every time we go outside she talks and talks about them.

Sunshine

2011-05-30T23:24:00.000-06:00

Sunshine and playgrounds are good for the soul

oh and popsicles don't hurt either ;)

Sunday Walk

2011-05-30T23:23:00.003-06:00

We went for a Sunday walk on the trail and Nicole took some pics for us

My handsome little man

She's so grown up now, it's crazy!

Love....

2011-05-30T23:23:00.002-06:00

Love these pictures Nicole took of the kids :) She's amazing

Grandkid picture take 3

2011-05-30T23:23:00.001-06:00

Grandkid picture May 2011

(it's really really hard getting them to all look at the camera. We were being crazy people in the background and it barely fazed some of them)

We're setting a new record this summer

2011-05-30T23:23:00.000-06:00

On how many watermelons we can eat this summer. We've had 5 so far...yikes!

Hey they're not complaining!

Little Dancer

2011-05-30T23:22:00.001-06:00

Ella loves to sing and dance. So I put on some old dance recitals and she follows along with the little girls dancing.
Why is she growing up to fast!?!
I almost cried a little bit...ok it wasn't almost.

Amazing I tell ya!

2011-05-30T23:22:00.000-06:00

I don't know how this even happened, but it defies gravity.

Birthday Boy!

2011-05-30T23:21:00.000-06:00

I'm so so so behind, I know but I really need to start updating more often for my little brother that's on a mission!!! So I'm going to do it.

Well here is Kyler's b-day party from back in April. I just decided to do something small and simple for him. Thanks to our friends and family who made this day special. We decided to do a monster theme party. My mom just found THE cutest pattern for a monster quilt that I might do cause i love these little monsters!

Can you tell the Birthday boy was really really sleepy?? Don't you love his monster shirt?!

Her perked up right after cake of course! He loved it!

Here are a few things about our little man:
- He walks everywhere and loves it.
- Like backyardigans and dances around in a circle when it comes on
- Love macaroni and cheese, pizza, spaghetti, watermelon, pancakes, cereal
- Has to use a fork or spoon when he eats, he wants to be one of the grown up and he does really well with it.
- He is LOUD! seriously, loudest child ever, whether it's happy or sad
- tries to sing hymns with my dad in church
- Loves his mom and grandpa
- signs please, thank you, more, eat, all done, and says cracker, ella, momma, dada, don't, more, bye, what's that or this, and more
- starts to laugh and roll around every time i put him in his bed
- climbs or tries to climb everything
- can go down stairs (makes me so happy!!!)
- loves to go outside (wish we actually could with this wet spring!)
- has this excited chipmunk laugh, it's hilarious
I could go on and on about him, he is spunky, loving, rambunctious, definitely a handful, but he's so so sweet and we love him so much!

New picture tradition

2011-04-19T22:37:00.003-06:00

My dad had the idea to try and get a picture every time the grandkids get together. What a great idea! I mean it's so obvious why didn't we all think of it. We've randomly tried before but now we are going to be consistent.

Here is our very first picture on Tate's blessing day! Hilarious.

And here is our picture on conference weekend. It has some similarities, which I love, and Ella looks homeless...oh well!

We're Buddies!

2011-04-19T22:34:00.001-06:00

Umm...how cute are they?! They love each other....lots.

Potty training adventures

2011-04-12T15:00:00.006-06:00

Friday - Well I was planning on potty training until the summer so I could just let Ella chill out in the backyard with underwear on so accidents would be easier to clean up.

But one day the strap on Ella's diaper was hurting her

so I decided to put on underwear. I wasn't really expecting much I just was trying to give her a break from her diaper scratching her. Well this day she was on the potty A LOT. We have a little potty that we would carry from room to room. Well it was a miracle and she went TWICE that day. She had never ever gone on the potty before so I was shocked.

Saturday - Well the next day we took a day trip down to provo with my parents to visit steve and nicole. I decided to take a break from potty training since it was going to be a busy day and we would be driving a lot. We went to the mall an

d she kept saying she had to go so I took her to the public bathroom....bad idea. The toilet automatically flushed while she on it and she was TRAUMATIZED. People probably thought I was torturing my child. Honestly I was traumatized too.

Sunday- I was still taking a break because of church. Well after church I tried to put underwear on her and she was not having it.

Monday- Wednesday - She still didn't want to put on underwear most of the time but she was fine with sitting on the potty. more successes than accidents!!! (all this while babysitting my 1 year old nephew.

Thursday and on - She started to get scared and

would cry and would hold it for.ev.er. I was getting really frustrated because I knew she could do it. She would do the potty dance and I finally would set her on the potty and she would "accidentally" go if that even makes sense and she would cry really hard leading up to it. Well one more she had an accident one foot away from the potty after getting off of it. I went in the

bathroom and it just smelled...different..tmi? sorry. Anyway i knew something was wrong so I took her too the doctor where they were asking me all these questions

does she complain about back pain? yes.

does it hurt to go to the bathroom? yes.

stomach pain? yes.

does she think she has to go to the bathroom all the time? yes.

well it sounds like she has a bladder infection...

perfect timing right? anyway I had to get a urine

sample from her...easier said then done. We had to go home to our little potty. We got some medicine and found out the results were positive. (I was actually kind of relieved to know it wasn't potty trained related) Well he said to put diapers back on her for a few days which I was nervous for because I was afraid it would ruin all my work. Well after she got her medicine she has been 100% perfect!!! Amazing right?! I can't believe it. She even poops on the potty! tmi again? sorry. But she has hesitations about it...she has like 5 false alarms before #2 happens. I just wonder if the bladder infection hadn't happened how nice it would have been. Oh well its over and I'm one happy momma :) Here are a couple pics to remember our experiences

Her feeling like she ALWAYS had to go

Yes...this happened. We're classy like that. ;)

Ella's Quotes

2011-04-05T17:07:00.005-06:00

Ella looked out the window when we were downstairs and saw it snowing. Then we went upstairs and she looked out the window and said

"It's snowing upstairs and downstairs!!"

Ella: No way Jose!

Me: what?

Ella: i mean yes jose jose

Ella to Kyler: here you go bug, or here bug...(very lovingly, it's the cutest thing ever!)

She was being really shy around our friends and I was trying to get her to say what her favorite movie was.

Me: Ella whats your favorite movie?

Ella: (mouths) rapunzel

Me: What? I can't hear you.

Ella: (whispers so quietly) rapunzel

Me: Huh?

Ella: (still whispering but very stern) I said! (with her hands straight in front of her)

Me: (laughing) But your talking to quiet I can't hear you

Ella: (again whispering but stern with her hands in front of her) I'm trying!!!

Oh my goodness it was so so funny but you probably had to be there to appreciate it.

ya...she's pretty much awesome :)

Me and My loves :)

2011-03-16T21:38:00.005-06:00

Some random pictures of me and my loves.

Kyler is such a little lover, he gives kisses anytime your close to him. Of course its the wide open mouth baby kiss but I love them!

The last snow...hopefully

2011-03-16T21:35:00.005-06:00

Over night we got a lot of snow and it was nice and warm for us to play in the snow. That actually doesn't sound right but its true!

Here is our first and only real snowman. Ella loved him. I think he only survived a couple hours cause the snow melted so fast.

Ella making a snow angel.

And her favorite thing to do that daddy taught her....throw snowballs at me :)

Random Photos

2011-03-16T21:24:00.005-06:00

Here is just a bunch of random photos that I love

Ella just playing with a little rapunzel doll.

Kyler used to ALWAYS go up on his knee like this. He'll be a great proposer ladies ;)

Ella hiding from me in my parents closet as always.

Kyler loves this little car. Actually both of them do. I have to put it away most of the time because they fight over it. I bring it out when I am up for the challenge lol.

2011-03-07T09:46:00.004-07:00

Ella Jo’s

Bowtique

So my sister Stephanie goes to BYU-Idaho. She is a web design major and for one of their classes they had to make an online business. I have been wanting to do this for a while but didn't know how to get started. Well she encouraged me to sell my handmade bows that I have always made for Ella. When I found out Ella was going to be a girl I was SO excited to go and buy girly things. Well I couldn't find many bows around that were that cute for a reasonable price so I decided to make them. Anyway my website is

http://ellajosbowtique.weebly.com

Here's some of the bows

I'm so excited!!! Anyway spread the word! :)

Oh and if any of you are local and want to pick it up just email me at ellajosbowtique@gmail.com and we can take off that shipping.

Just hanging out

2011-03-03T09:47:00.004-07:00

Kylers favorite thing to do when he's happy, hears a song he likes, wants some food you have is to clap...it's adorableSo the other day we got this toy out for Kyler to play with. It blows out air and pops the ball out. Ella walked away saying she needed her brush. She came back and started drying her hair! She's so funny, I can't believe how much she understands and how much she remembers.

Quotes by Ella

Me: I was just kinda singing pbs kids cause we were gonna play the games online so i said "pbs kids!"

Ella: "dot org"

haha I don't even know where she heard that cause I never said anything about it.

Ella: "Kyler saw my bum! He's pointing at it!" while laughing of course because apparently nothing is funnier than a nakey bum

Me: "Ella lets go play downstairs"

Ella: With her hands literally on her hips "But i'm stinky!" ...she needed a diaper change

Bath time!

2011-02-19T15:05:00.007-07:00

So bath time around here is wet, messy, exhausting, sometimes dangerous ;) , but it's also A LOT of fun. Can you tell?!

Look at the joy on those faces? How can I deny them such fun?! Just spread around some towels (maybe a rain coat or two....) and your good to go!

Aquarium

2011-02-19T14:55:00.006-07:00

My parents took us to the Salt Lake aquarium and it was so much fun. I love going to aquarium Ella loved it this time too!

Ella and her best friends who happen to be her cousins as well.

Here's Kyler being bored cause he can't see anything from his seat in the stroller.

Here we are touching the stingrays. Sometimes they would come up on the sides and try to escape. I think that freaked Ella out lol.

Mattson, Avery, and Ella

Ella Quotes :)

2011-02-19T14:46:00.005-07:00

I realize that these are probably only funny to me...but I guess its just one of those "you had to be there" moments. I just want to document these forever cause I will never remember them.

E: (gasp) A ghost is getting me... lets get outta here!

J: (Ella was shutting the door and I don't like her to when Kyler is around cause I don't want her to get his fingers) "Your not supposed to do that"

E: Ok... I will (as she proceeds to shut the door)

....Nice

E: I'm gonna try "sumsing" (something) .... I'm gonna workout!!

E: Here...(chucks a toy towards me)...I'm outta here!

And this pic just cause she's cute!

BIG Changes...

2011-02-09T13:20:00.002-07:00

Well their are big changes in our family the last couple months...no i'm not pregnant you weirdos lol. SO..... a few months ago Ryan was attending Weber State University doing their Applied Math program. He was in his second to last semester. But he would come home kinda grumpy and not feeling satisfied or happy about what he was doing. He just didn't enjoy his major any more. I could tell. I always asked him what was wrong and he would just say nothing. He just couldn't stop thinking about something that he's always wanted to do. And after some fasting and praying he decided to go for it. He switched his major and in january started his aviation science classes!

I mean crazy right....switching your major in your last semester!!

I'm so so so excited about it though. I've never seen him so happy. He's going to be a pilot and he should be done in December. He will have his commercial pilots license and we'll go from there. What's another couples semesters for eternal happiness right?

He started flying this today

He was with an instructor of course. But in a few months he won't be...freaks me out but i try not to think about it.

Ryan has ALWAYS wanted to be a pilot. I mean his dad was a pilot and he loves planes. He wanted to join the air-force but after having a family he didn't want to move around that much. I feel like he was always doing what he thought he should be doing. Well I'm happy he's finally doing something for him and I know that he will be beyond great at this. He's already acing his classes and excited to do his homework. I know pinch me.... it's a miracle. But it's true!

I'm so grateful for Ryan and all the hard work he has done for our family. He's a hard worker and an amazing father and husband. I'm so glad he is doing something that he LOVES!

(I hope I got all the info correct...he's sleeping on the couch right now or else i'd ask him ...oh well :) )

Fishy face!

2011-01-26T20:39:00.002-07:00

Here's Kylers fishy face that he does ALL the time. I'm not sure why he does it, but it sure is cute. Like his new "do"? (it's probably his 4th haircut) We used the clippers on it today. He looks so grown up!

My dad thinks his upper lip is so cute haha random. But he is pretty stinkin cute :)

9 months

2011-01-16T22:34:00.002-07:00

9 Months really? I can't believe he is that old. We are so lucky to have this happy boy in our family. Here are some updates on our big boy!

- Crawls and pulls up on everything

- Walks along furniture

- Has 3 teeth, maybe another soon?

- Shakes his head "no no no" ALL the time

- Says "mama" "dada" and tries to say "Ella"

- Drinks out of a sippy like a champ and also a straw, tries to drink out of a cup in the bath but spills all over

- LOVES Ella to death and no one can make him laugh harder than she can

- Will always climb over you back and forth if your laying down

- Copies all the noises you make, like if you scream he will scream back

- In church today he started singing the hymn with my dad, wish I could have heard it!

- I swear he is always hungry, he will for sure always want food if you are eating it.

- Loves crackers, cheerios, puffs, melts, fruit, actually pretty much everything except green beans.

- Puts ev-er-y-thing in his mouth. He kinda good at hiding it too.

- Dances....it's so cute

- Watches Andrew intently when he plays the guitar

- Climbs up the stairs. Doesn't have the down part down yet...not good.

- Everyone always comments on his big eyes

- Is a maniac in the bath. He crawls around, gets up and down, falls, spins. He actually fell out of the bath the other day straight into my lap when I was taking pictures. It's a little exhausting giving him a bath but he loves them.

- Is happy, happy, happy!

- Makes the fishy face all the time, and suck on his upper lip looking like a turtle

- Will always smile if you smile at him.

- Has a missionary hairdo

- LOVES to explore

2011-01-13T13:45:00.002-07:00

So since Ella has been talking more and more I have decided to add her quotes from time to time on here so I can remember. Once day I would like to make a book out of this blog so I want to document everything I can! So here is a few Ella-isms :)

Mom: Ella go eat your lunch please...
Ella: No! you eat my munch! (aka lunch)
She's become quite sassy lol

I was playing around with Ella's play drill and I poked her bum.
Ella: Hey!! Don't fix my bum!

She woke up from her nap and walked out to the family room where Andrew and I were hanging out.
Ella: Hey! My pants make noise (she grabbed the elastic on her pants and snapped it and giggled)

For the love of pudding!

2011-01-10T22:00:00.002-07:00

I took this picture because Ella was sharing her pudding with Kyler. She was spoon feeding it too him and it was so cute! And then she walked away towards me...dun dun dun!

Kyler was so sad! I mean doesn't this make you want to cry. I guess his first taste of pudding was that good.

Don't worry, she quickly went back to him after this happened. If she got up and walked around after that he would watch her like a hawk and wiggle his hands and feet.....lol. Hungry boy. And then the pudding started getting out of control and the spoonfuls started getting too big for the spoon, so then I took charge and alternated between the two.

Caged

2011-01-05T16:02:00.001-07:00

My attempt to contain the crazies and get some cleaning done in my room..... obviously Kyler loved it ;)

A little, a lot....

2011-01-04T23:25:00.009-07:00

It's been a busy, busy, BUSY, holiday season. With the thanksgiving, the wedding, Christmas, and our visit to Virginia which I will have posts on later. Here is a few things that we have been up to.

A little bit of this.....

(wrestling with daddy)

And this...

(wrestling each other)

And this...

(bachoerlorette facial masks party...the boys loved it!)

And a lot of this...

(playing in the princess tent)

And this...

(getting into everything!)

And especially this...

(pulling up onto EVERYTHING!)

(He's growing up way to fast....slow down little man!)

Christmas is Coming!

2010-12-09T23:38:00.005-07:00

And we're finally getting into the Holiday spirit!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ella took decorating the tree very seriously. Oh and Ella is OBSESSED with those amazing purple shoes she is wearing in this picture. She wears them all day long and even during her nap on somedays. The other day she wore them to the mall with socks on too. They are adorable and they have Ariel on the inside sole of them..perfect for her! (Thanks Amy!)

Look at this concentration! lol

My Life Now..

2010-12-09T23:36:00.001-07:00

His new found independence means more messes for me! But that's ok cause he's so dang cute!

Interesting Photo Shoot

2010-12-09T23:24:00.005-07:00

Its so hard to get a photo of Ella now. Most of the time she refuses to look at the camera. This one she is probably asking me to stop.

Now this...haha. I asked her to lay on the ground so I could get a picture and she just cried. It was too funny not to take pictures of. She did stay there...but was not happy about it.

And then when I said she was done... she stopped...nice. She's hilarious :)

Going, going...

2010-12-09T23:16:00.003-07:00

GONE!

Kyler has been crawling for a little bit now and I LOVE it. Seriously he is so so so happy and content to crawl around . He used to just be so frustrated that he could follow Ella around. He loves to be independent. We just put up our Christmas tree tonight so we'll see how that goes tomorrow.

Ella's New Do!

2010-12-09T23:04:00.005-07:00

So I decided that it was time for Ella to get a trim. Her hair was a little uneven and has never had a real haircut. I decided to go to a kid friendly place because she is so shy already and she needed some distractions. We went to a place called Cookie Cutters and when you go in you get to pick a movie to watch. She didn't say anything cause she was too shy so I picked Cinderella for her. Then she picked a pink car to sit in. I had to buckle her because she kept standing up. After Cinderella started and she was given a sucker she was fine. She just sat there while her hair was cut and dried and then the girl did her hair. You probably can't tell that much since it was just a trim. But I think it looks great!

Special Day

2010-12-09T22:49:00.002-07:00

So on Saturday my whole family drove up to Rexburg, Idaho to go to the temple. My little brother and sister were going through the temple at the same time. It was a really special experience.

My sister Stephanie is getting married on the 18th!! What the world, I can't believe it. I'm so happy for her, she found a great guy that is going to treat her right.

And wittle Andrew got called to serve in the Kennewick Washington mission on March 2! I can't believe it. He really is such a good kid and it's been nice living with my parents and hanging out with Andrew. We get some time to hang out with him before he leaves. I really do love it. He's amazing with Ella. She bosses him around all the time and orders him in the playroom to play with her. It's so sweet.

I'm so grateful for my family. I'm so happy that we are all worthy to go to the temple together. You never know..it might not happen again with all the kids and with every body moving places. I'm so lucky to have a husband that is worthy and such a good example and REALLY a hard worker. When we were in the celestial room there wasn't any crying. Everyone just couldn't stop smiling. It was true joy on our faces. I will never forget the beautiful room and all of us grouped together just smiling.

Family Pictures!

2010-11-18T10:41:00.008-07:00

It was a miracle we got everyone together for family pictures down in American Fork. Steph and Dustin came from Rexburg, The Cooks came from Shelley, The "younger" Hopkins came from Provo and we all met together. The location was amazing. There was greenery on one side and beautiful rock stairs. And behind the rock stairs is an amphitheater where they sometimes do plays. This was on "our" Halloween and right when we were finished it started raining. Ella was not cooperating at all. The only time she really smiled was when her "B&B" was revealed. At least she was picking her nose in all of them.

These two... :)

2010-11-14T23:52:00.007-07:00

Quite the pose huh? Can you tell their related? lol

Don't let the big brown eyes fool you... he's trouble. lol jk

Giving loves.

I can't wait until he can crawl around and play with her. Cause he's dying to...seriously. I have to hear the screeches from him when he's not in on the action.

Love my little man...

2010-11-14T23:44:00.003-07:00

He's so cute I just can't believe it sometimes.

I know I'm a little biased cause I'm his mother.

I seriously can't believe that he's already 7 months old.

Where did the time go?....

Lazy Sunday Afternoon....

2010-11-09T09:00:00.011-07:00

We were all just goofing around one sunday afternoon, its the best. I love Sundays. Sundays that Ryan doesn't have to work that is. We just eat, nap, hang out, webcam, and have a little goofy time before bed.

Here is Ella bein thug...haha ya right.

Dancing with daddy. :)

My handsome little man. I can't believe how grown up he is getting. It's going to fast!

Love, love, LOVE his big brown eyes. They are so dark!

He's starting to move more and more. I'm not ready to chase around a crawling baby again! But at least he will have space to crawl around in and he'll love it.

Crazy boy!
Kyler has Ryan's eyebrows. It's so funny when kyler wakes he has this look on his face that is so Ryan. It's like surprise/angry eyebrows. He's not upset, it's just this look right when he opens his eyes and then he smiles.

This is Ella's model pose....lol. Actually she is just showing us her "owie" from jumping over ryans legs and landing on her knees. She does do a model pose but i can't catch it on camara because she only likes to do it when you have a pretend camara. She's hilarious.

Best Friends

2010-11-09T08:43:00.004-07:00

Here is Ella's best friend Avery. They laugh, dance, play, and are trouble together. Ella adores her and is always talking about her. They did however almost have a cat fight in the middle of the aisle during sacrament for everyone to see....lol. But two seconds later they are back to being friends again. They are the same age apart as me and my sister Jamie. I'm so happy that they can play together so well and I hope they will always be best friends.

Here is me and Jamie around the same age at our home in Texas. She is my best friend now and i'm lucky to have her as my sister, too. :)

Once in a lifetime...

2010-11-07T22:37:00.006-07:00

Yes that just happened! We got the chance to play with two 8 week old tigers! It was amazing. The vet for Lagoon lives just down the street from us. They slept most of the time we were there but they woke up towards the end and were wandering around playing.

This is Ryan's girlfriend Athena (i think that was her name) Don't be fooled by this picture, she was growling at him haha.
This is Ella look at the boy Titan. She was a little bit scared and after she looked at him for a little bit she couldn't care less and stuffed her face with cookies...nice.

Twins!
Kyler needed his moment to shine too!

Both of my kids have had the opportunity to play with a wild animal before a year old. Ella got the chance to play with a baby chimp and Kyler and Ella a white tiger. It was pretty cool.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-07T22:19:00.006-07:00

Everyone always has to take a trip to the pumpkin patch. Ella is really into pumpkins this year. On walks every porch that we would pass that had a pumpkin she had to make sure I saw too. We didn't carve any pumpkins this year, but we painted them. We figured that Ella could do that more than carving. She went crazy and love it. She had one colorful pumpkin!

Here is Kyler at the pumpkin patch. He would NOT look at me. He just wanted to play with the vine and try to eat it.

Ryan picked his pumpkin and is proud!

Ella loved the pumpkin patch and finally picked one that was just her size.

Ryan pulling Ella in the wagon with the pumpkins that we got.

They love each other! I'm not just saying that, they really do. Ella always is wondering where he is and what he's doing. He thinks she absolutely hilarious and wants to play with her so bad. Actually one time Kyler pulled a pretty big chunk out of Ella's hair while she was trying to give him a hug. She didn't cry or anything she just tried to give him another hug, we're like watch out Ella he has a death grip!

It's hard to get a picture with two kids!

Cousins!

2010-11-07T22:14:00.002-07:00

Kyler and his cousin Tate. They are about 5 months apart. On the Hopkins side we have 3 boys within a year. If they anything like Ella and Avery, they will be wild troublemakers. I can imagine it now. It will be fun to see them all be friends together, I can't wait!

Halloween!

2010-11-07T21:49:00.006-07:00

The weather this year stunk on Halloween. We got our family pictures taken earlier in the day and immediately after we were done it started raining. We tried to go trick or treating when it was light outside but we only made it to two houses because it was raining so hard. We waited an hour or two and went out again. It was cold and but at least it wasn't pouring rain. Ella was pretty shy but her cousins would ring the doorbell and she would wander up and grab candy and say "thanks! bye!". Every once in a while she would add in a "trick or treat!" The whole time we were trick or treating i would ask her "Ella do you like halloween?" and she would say "No, it's scarrry!" Haha!

I thought that it was fitting since she loves princesses and her name is Ella...that she should be Cinderella! I think all the princess costumes at the store don't really look like cinderella so i decided to make her dress. what do you think? She makes such a cute Cinderella!

Every time Ella gets candy out of her Halloween bag she goes "It's beautiful candy, or it's cute candy!" I think she wants to convince me to let her eat it.

And Kyler was our little tiger for Halloween. I wanted him to be Gus Gus but this tiger was easier and warmer. He looked so funny on his knees looking like he was ready to pounce!

I love my kids and its so fun to see the excitement on their faces.

A-DOR-ABLE

2010-10-21T18:39:00.002-06:00

well...thats what we think anyway. Ever since we drove by the temple a month ago Ella has been obsessed. She sings this song all the time!! She got shy at the end but pretty much finished it up.

Teeth!

2010-10-11T14:54:00.003-06:00

Kyler has two teeth poking through on the bottom! I kept checking yesterday and saturday but there was nothing in sight. And I checked today and there they are! Now I know the reason he has been fussy the past couple days....thank goodness! :)

Umm.....ya

2010-10-09T21:12:00.003-06:00

This kid is a mover!...enough said.

And super-de-duper strong! :)

Playdates!

2010-10-07T22:24:00.008-06:00

I have been lucky to keep in touch with my high school friends and they have kids Ella's same age! It's awesome. Ella gets to socialize and I get some adult interaction and get to catch up with my friends. Well on these play-dates we went to the park by our house while it was still warm.

Here is Ella and Jeremy playing. How cute are they?

THe pictures above and below are a funny story. Well amber told Jeremy to go and get a "puffy" (dandelion) and give it to Ella. Well Jeremy and Ella decided to wander off down the trail a little bit looking for "puppies!!" haha. They thought Amber was saying puppies and were heading out on the trail to find them. I had to chase after Ella as she was laughing running away. She also knows the swings are at the end of the trail.

This is Lincoln having a blast on one of the slides. From the smile on his face, he loved it!

Posing for a picture :)
Lincoln loved playing with the tractor and putting wood-chips in them to dump out.

Well we have lots of fun playing and Ella is starting to be less shy around them, it's amazing!

My he-man! lol

2010-10-03T22:08:00.002-06:00

I can't believe how fast Kyler has been growing. He wants to be on the move so badly. He's been going up on his knees...slow down buddy. He rolls all over and gets himself stuck in places like under a chair or table. He's sits up for a little bit, but still falls down a little bit so soft ground is definitely best lol. So he decided that going up on his knees wasn't good enough so he started doing push ups! He is fully off the ground and on his toes. He's seriously one strong little boy.

Too many Posts!

2010-09-21T23:33:00.001-06:00

I added a ton of posts at once so don't forget to look at them all! I need to do this more often so i don't overload so much.

The Swings!

2010-09-21T22:15:00.005-06:00

Ella probably loves the swings more than the playground. In our neighborhood they have a playground and then you have to follow the trail a little longer and they have swings. She always wants to go there now instead of the playground. She likes to get on a swing for a few minutes and then move to the next one and next one and so on.

Can't you tell that she loves them by that smile?

Ok you can't tell she loves them by this pic....but she does i swear lol

She has amazing dimples...in fact she has two on one cheek :) I love them.

The many faces of kyler....and more!

2010-09-21T21:59:00.011-06:00

So here are a few faces that Kyler has started to make.

Look at the pucker! I love it.
Smiles.

He started sucking on his upper lip. Makes him look like an old man.
Best buddies... I really can tell that they love each other already. It makes me want cry when i see them interacting with each other. I'm a cheeseball...i know.

Ryan says he's smizing in this pic (thanks tyra for creating this word :) )

He loves to sit up now and see everything that is going on. He wants to be in on the action.

Bedtime!

2010-09-21T21:54:00.006-06:00

Kyler sitting up for a little bit! It's so weird...he's growing up too fast!

Giving loves! :)
ok....hahaha....so one night Ella was jumping off of the love sac and was landing straight on her bum. It look like it hurt. It probably did. I got this action shot of the last time she did it. Hilarious!!!! She knew it was going to hurt. lol

Picture time!

2010-09-21T21:47:00.008-06:00

One sunday we decided to mess around with the camera and take some pics. Ella does like pictures much but we tried. She went with grandpa on the ward walkabout and got a cookie and that kept her occupied for a bit...until the cookie was gone lol

"Cheese!"

The only pic we could get of the six grandkids!

One of our favorite places to be..the playground!

2010-09-21T21:40:00.010-06:00

Daddy and Kyler chillen in the shade on a HOT summer day at the castle park.

He will always always give you a smile.
She didn't really like sitting on the dragon..but we made her..of course

It was a HOT summer. She didn't mind when she is at a playground and can have some "juuch".

Random photos of summer

2010-09-21T21:26:00.009-06:00

We go to Boondocks every once in a while so Ella can ride the mini carousel. Of course we have to play some of the games while we're there. Ella got a princess outfit this night from the tickets that we won. Here she is in the shoes an crown. She loved it! (despite the phony smile on her face)Digging in the backyard is one of her favorite things to do. She could be on the back porch all. day. long.
This picture make me laugh in many ways.

Kyler looks about as big as Ella.

The look on Ella's face.

Her homeless hair. (it was morning)

And how Kyler's hand is on Ella's knee....precious.

This is a ballerina outfit that Ryan's aunt Karen gave Ella. She didn't take it off for two days...enough said.
Ella and Ryan washing the car. Ella was singing the whole time saying "washy wash...wash the car. washy washy wash!" she loved helping daddy out.

Swimming on the back porch...ah I miss summer already.

Sitting outside...her favorite place to be!

Bear Lake

2010-09-14T23:17:00.005-06:00

Swimming at the campground. They had the perfect kiddy pool!

Ella sat right here most of the way to Bear Lake on the RV. Just chillaxin eating her chippys....lol

Kyler fell asleep holding his leg. I guess he was that tired.
Look at that cheeser! We had an awesome trip and wish we could do it more often! Ella loved camping and hanging out with her cousins by the fire.