Christmas Eve

So I just realized that I haven't posted this whole month yet...lame...I've been getting ready for Christmas. I can say that yesterday morning I wrapped my last gift, which is not my usual routine! Most years, I'm up really late on Christmas Eve wrapping stocking stuff and am so tired the next day. I'm excited that tonight we can watch our Christmas movie (Home Alone) in our p.j.'s and go to bed at a normal time and hopefully be un-crabby tomorrow morning. :)

Today the kids and I made our cookies for Santa and they each wrote their letters to Santa (Uncle Ray, also known as Satan Claus, haha). Sydney is at such a cute age this year and loved putting the sprinkles on the cookies. It would have been so great if I had thought to take pictures, but alas, I did not--we were too busy having fun!

On Monday, Jake and I are heading to Texas for my family's reunion, for 5 days. I'm so excited to see all my siblings and the parentals. The only bummer is that Tim has all of next week off with the kids, and I will miss almost the whole thing. I wish I weren't missing his time at home. But it will be so nice not to have to worry about the older 3 while Jake and I are away.

Since I still haven't gotten my cards/letters in the mail and won't until after Christmas, here is a copy of our Family Christmas letter for 2009. Consider yourselves informed and loved! And for all of my family, I'm hand-delivering your letters on Monday...doesn't that make you feel special?!?!?


It doesn’t seem right that it’s already time to write another Christmas letter. Didn’t I just do that?!? To say that this year has flown by is an understatement. We have had many adventures, good times, and blessings. It’s good to take some time and list them and remember to be grateful. Our biggest family adventure was a week-long trip to Disneyland and San Diego in July. We had a great time and were grateful to Cathy’s mom for keeping Jake—he can come next time.

Tim had a memorable year this year, finally drawing for a bighorn sheep hunt in August. He trained for months and still wore himself out on the hike up the mountain, but made memories to last a lifetime, even though he was unable to find a ram. Maybe next time. Last month he was released from the bishopric (on his birthday, haha) and was called to serve on the Stake high council, where he’s still trying to learn the ropes.

Cathy spent most of the year trying to keep up with the four kids. They keep her busier than ever, but in the small amount of spare time she had, she enjoyed re-joining her singing group, where she played piano, sang, and sewed many, many costumes. She also helps in Sydney’s class each week and loves watching the kids in their many different sports. She is the Primary secretary in church right now.

Brandon is 12 now! He received the priesthood last month and is so happy to be out of Primary! He also started middle school this fall, which he says is SO much better than elementary school. He played basketball and football again this year (football is still his favorite). He also enjoys hunting with his dad and shot another turkey this spring. He is now old enough to hunt big game, but couldn’t find a deer this year. He just earned his Star rank in boy Scouts and is well on his way to Eagle Scout.

Ryan is 9 years old and in the 4th grade. Last May, he won a brand new dirt bike for perfect attendance and good scores on his state testing. He was thrilled and has gotten a lot of use out of that bike. He played baseball and basketball this year and says basketball is his favorite. He still loves his video games and is a great help with the baby. He earned his Wolf badge in cub scouts and is working on his Bear.

Sydney is 5 and started kindergarten in August. She loves going to school like her older brothers and has become an awesome reader in such a short amount of time. This spring she took tumbling and dance, and her favorite part was being able to wear make-up for the recital…she’s going to be a handful one day! She loves playing with her friends and rides her little bike all over the neighborhood. She learned how to ride without training wheels before her 5th birthday (much sooner than her brothers did).

Jake will be 15 months old at the end of the month, and has been the cutest addition to our family! He started walking about a month ago and now thinks it’s time to run. He loves music and sings along and dances to it. We call him Ry-Ry all the time, because he reminds us so much of how Ryan looked as a baby. He definitely completes our family and we’re so glad to have him.

Best wishes to all of you and we hope to see you or hear from you soon.

All our love, Tim, Cathy, Brandon, Ryan, Sydney, and Jake Bryson

Long week...but great ending

So the flu, or at least the stomach flu, hit our house last week. Jake was the first on Tuesday, followed by Ryan and Sydney on Thanksgiving afternoon, me on Friday, and Tim and Brandon on Saturday. Sheesh!!! The smell of vomit just never gets any easier to handle, especially when it's in the carpet...thank goodness for me carpet cleaner! It was a long holiday weekend, and I didn't get as much shopping or decorating in as I would have liked to, but at least we are all healthy now and life can get better.

On another note, Tim was released from the bishopric and called to the High Council yesterday at church. I'm hoping that his new assignment will be easier, or at least that he will get to sit with us at church most of the time from now on. He is excited to be over the Young Men and Young Women for the stake and help plan the combined camp next summer. It was a great birthday present!

Happy birthday to my man :)

Yesterday this good-looking guy turned 37. How I love that smile!! Of course, the best smiling photos of him are from when he just killed something, haha! Why not pay tribute to what he really loves on his special day...well, the day after his special day. What can I say, I was busy catering to his needs yesterday, like any great wife would have been. :)

It's been 15 years since I met Tim, and it didn't take long at all for me to decide he was for me, and I was going to make sure he felt the same way about me, too. I was determined, to say the least...

I love him for many reasons, but mostly because he is a truly good person, he is a great leader, and he makes me smile. I married him for who he was at the time, but also for the great potential I knew was in him, which I have seen come to fruition. He is my guy and I'm so blessed to have him.

I'd better stop or this will get even mushier...


Happy birthday, Honey! I love you!

Happy 12th birthday Brandon Hunter!!!!!

I can't believe it--my firstborn has reached the ripe old age of 12! Tomorrow he will receive the priesthood and start into Youg Men's. It feels like I have aged 5 years overnight. Yikes!

He is such a great kid! Last weekend Tim and I went to the BSU game and Brandon babysat all 3 of the other kids for almost 6 hours straight. He did awesome, and even had to change a diaper! It has been so fun to watch him grow and mature and become a relatively responsible, mature young man. He is a great example to his younger siblings and a huge help to me.

He has always been so creative. He still loves to write stories and daydreams a lot. He has a wild imagination, unlike me. He is super-smart and has all A's in this first year of middle school--we are so proud. He had a great year in football, and basketball is just around the corner, so he's been practicing for that lately.

Today he is old enough to hunt "big game", so he's out with Tim and Tim's dad trying to find a deer right now. Hopefully he's having a great time and gets a shot at one.

I'm so glad to be his mom and be able to know him. Love you, Brandon!!!!

Jake's New Hat...Part 2

I promised some awake pictures....I'm amazed how quickly I came through on that. He really does seem to like his hat, and I LOVE that he loves it. :)

My favorite is when I took it off since I had enough pictures, and he kept trying to put it back on--with no success, but cute, nonetheless.

BTW, the picture in the center is my favorite...I love the "duh" expression on his face. And yes, he IS standing in some of the pics...he's been thinking about walking lately...

Random mommy memories...

Last week, I found Jake cleaning the toilet with my toothbrush--seriously. Nice. It just made me laugh...one of those "mommy" moments that I don't think I'll ever forget. It got me thinking of favorite memories that the other kids have given me over the years. And in an effort to never forget any of these in particular, I'm including them in my blog so they'll "live forever."

Two from Brandon come to mind instantly.

#1 "I have sad eyes." and "Look at me: I'm sad!!!" He said this all the time when he was about 2 or 2 1/2. Just so cute! He wanted to make sure you knew just how sad you had made him...haha!!!

#2 When he was about 2 1/2 (he was potty-trained at this point), we started making him have time-out in his room when he was naughty. We were very clear that he was not to come out until we came and got him. Once when we were just implementing this new punishment, he cried really loudly when we put him in his room. Whatever... Then after a couple of minutes, the crying seemed to change and intensify. I finally went to calm him down, and he was standing right behind the door, all wet. He had needed to go to the bathroom, but was too scared to come out. Poor kid...sometimes Mom can be really scary...

Here are 2 from Ryan:

#1 When he was big enough to start sleeping in a "big boy" bed, I would try to tuck him in with the blankets, but he wouldn't have it. He threw off the blanket, pulled up his pajama shirt, and said, "My belly is hot." He has always been naturally hot and still wears shorts in the winter. Maybe we're not really related...I'm always freezing!

#2 When Sydney was a baby, he was 4. One day he noticed I was nursing the baby and asked what I was doing. I tried to explain that I was feeding the baby. "What is she eating?" he asked. I then tried to explain that mommies' bodies make milk for their babies. Then his eyes got huge and just lit up. "I LIKE MILK!" he exclaimed...haha!

Now for a couple of Sydney memories:

#1 One of my favorite things about her is how she talks. There are so many words that she couldn't say correctly for a long time. One classic is "cub scouts." She said "SCUB scouts" for a long time. Gosh, was it cute! Then the boys had to go ruin everything by teaching her the right way to say it...rude! Plus, I like how she says, "Hey, chow-duh," but that's another story for another time... At least she still has a challenge saying her R's and I can enjoy some funny words a little longer.

#2 We used to have to lock her in her room at night. Once she got a "big girl" bed, she loved being able to come in our room all through the night. We tried more conventional methods, but they never worked. So we put a doorknob lock on her room. It worked. :) The really funny part was in the morning, when she was ready to wake up, she'd have to yell for us to come let her out. "Mom, I'm awake!!!"

This mom thing is hard sometimes, but man is it funny sometimes, too! I can't believe I am the mother of 4 now and that Brandon is going to be 12 in a few days. When did this happen?? I can't wait to see what other funny Jake memories there will be to add to this list. For now, I think the toothbrush in the toilet is enough...haha!!!

P.S. I love how "scub scouts" just showed up on my spell-check.

That made me laugh. :)

Jake's new hat

Today was SUPER windy outside--the kind of windy that makes you worry that your car door will literally break off when you open it... Jake's jacket didn't have a hat on it, so he was just freezing while we ran our errands. So when I had to go to Wal-Mart to return something else, I got Jake a new hat. Who knew he would actually keep it on his head?!? He wore it the whole time we were at the store, then in the car, at Sydney's school, and finally at CostCo. He looked so stinkin' cute! I wanted to get some cute pics when we got home, but alas, he was out.

So I settled for carseat pictures instead.

Better than nothing.

I'll try to get some "awake" hat pictures later if I remember.

P.S. I sure hope he NEVER loses those cheeks (or those eyelashes)...love them!

Costumes and Candy and Treats, oh my!

Well, we did it. We carved our pumpkins. dressed up the kids, went to the church party, and went trick-or-treating. Ta-da! No, really, it was fun. I never liked dressing up as a kid, but I love getting my kids to do it! It was a fun year and even Brandon decided to dress up one last time after a long debate (he thought he was too old and cool, but I think the promise of all that candy is what changed his mind...). Ryan decided he wanted to be a mummy this year. I bought some old sheets, dyed them with tea, and ripped them into strips. It took a good half hour to get him all wrapped up! But he looked so cute...until he started moving. This picture is before our party at church. He looked much different after he played at the party....so the next night for trick-or-treating, he went as a basketball player instead. That was fine with me...no more half hour of wrapping him in sheets...

Since Sydney had her Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland, I was able to convince her to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween this year. I made her little red dress which I love. This girl is just so cute....I love that I get to make her little dresses and that she is so girly. And I love her little black mouse nose. :)

Brandon decided kind-of last minute that he did indeed want to dress up after all, so I told him it was too late for me to come up with something cool. So he was a BSU football player. We already had everything he needed for that costume. :)

For trick-or-treating, I took the older 3 kids around the neighborhood on the 4-wheeler. Tim stayed home and watched football with Jake. I have a little bit of 4-wheeler-phobia, so Tim kept saying, "YOU"RE going to take them?!?!?" A little annoying, but whatever. True, I don't really like driving the thing on a mountain side, but around the block was o.k.

And now, here's Jake--our little turtle, Crush. As you can see, he LOVED wearing his costume. I think in total, he maybe had it on for 10 minutes or so. This was me trying to get a side-view so you could see the back. It was the cutest thing!

Here's him saying. "Can we be done now?"

"O.K. How about if I smile really cute, then can we be done??"

"O.K. Seriously, if you're not going to get this thing off of me, then I'll just have to do it myself."

Then Ryan made him laugh and we got one more cute pic before he went ballistic again. I can't wait til next year when he can go trick-or-treating and get the full experience!

Pumpkin Carving

For FHE this week, we carved our pumpkins. We were pretty proud that we grew them all ourselves this year!! It was the first garden we've had since we moved into this house (6 years ago...). The kids really enjoyed picking all the veggies over the summer, and we got about 10 -12 pretty good sized pumpkins. This is Sydney making a "spooky Halloween face." She definitely likes to get into it the spirit of things!
Ryan and Sydney gutting out their pumpkins. Doesn't Ryan look like he's enjoying himself!?!
Brandon working on his pumpkin.

My cute little Ryan. :)

I got to help Sydney clean out and carve her pumpkin...

Brandon's finished product. He did it all by himself.

Sydney with our pumpkin. I loved the design she picked--just like her!

Tim with his uber-cool BSU pumpkin.

Brandon's and Tim's all lit up. Tim had fun being the camera-man for these photos. He got out the tripod and everything.

Sydney's all aglow. Pretty nice carving work, if I do say so myself...

Ryan picked like the hardest design ever...and was determined to do it by himself. We let him stay up til 9 to work on it (it WAS a school night, after all) and this is how far he got. He finished it the next day after school, but I forgot to take a picture of the finished one...I'll post one later. He did it almost all by himself and it looks pretty cool!

All our hard work! It's always such a chore (and huge mess) to get it all done, but so worth it in the end. The kids had so much fun!

And...we're done!

Well, we made it to the end of football season! It was a lot of fun, but I'm not gonna lie--I'm happy to see its end. Five days a week is grueling! Last night we actually all sat down at the table and ate dinner in a relaxed, unhurried manner. It was awesome!Brandon did so well this year! He started out on defense at middle linebacker and then for the last couple of games, he also played offense at tight end. For one of the games, he only sat out for one play the entire game. He loved that! He is excited to play for the school next year. So am I, since they practice right after school and games are not on Saturdays. :)
Here he is (number 63) bringing down a guy on the other team. If there's one thing Brandon likes to do, it's hit people. This is SOOO the sport for him!

Good job, Brandon!!!!

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Sydney's kindergarten class took a field trip to a pumpkin patch and corn maze last week, so Jake and I went along. It started out to be a lovely day, but then the wind picked up and we pretty much froze the rest of the time. It was the first time I've ever gone through a corn maze, and it was o.k. but nothing to rave about. I have to say, once we were good and lost, I got a tiny bit worried that we wouldn't find our way out. Thank goodness there was another Mom with us!

Jake, as usual, spent most of the day in his stroller. Poor kid. I think that's all he's going to remember from early childhood--a car seat and a stroller. That's what he gets for being number 4...

There were so many cool things to do at the ranch. They had cool slides that Sydney went down several times, a hayride and stop at the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin, a cool jumping thing that I can't remember the name of (jumping balloon, maybe?), and cool little go-cart/trike things on a race track. Oh, and then there was the corn box--a sand box with dried corn kernels. Such a great idea--no sand in her hair!! She and her friend made "sand angels." Her favorite part of the day was the corn train. They had little train cars made out of old barrels that looked like cows. Her cow was named Greta. The tractor pulled them all around for about 10 minutes and she loved every second of it!

The funniest part of the day was lunch. Since it was so cold, we ate on the bus. Before she could get her granola bar opened, Sydney was passed out against the wall. She was so tired! All-day kindergarten has worn her out at times...

I'm glad I went with her on her first-ever field trip and so glad she is having a great year at school.

Quality time in the Pilot...

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my car! I picked it out myself--the color and everything--BRAND NEW!! It's a 2008 maroon Honda Pilot. I REALLY love it.

But I need a break from it for a day or two. This weekend the Pilot and I had a little too much togetherness, if you know what I mean.

Thursday afternoon when Tim was done with work, we left with Jake for Salt Lake for Tim's brother Shannon's daughter Emily's wedding. After the fun drive, we got to our hotel around 10 pm. Then Friday morning, Maggie came up from Provo and took Jake to her house for the day (Thanks, again, Mags!!) while we went to the sealing at the temple and the luncheon afterwards. Then we had a couple of free hours, so we parked the car and had naps in the Pilot (more quality time with my car...it's not really made for sleeping, either...). Then we went to the ring ceremony and wedding dinner. We rather rudely left as soon as we were done eating so we could spend more time in my amazing car and make the drive back home to Idaho. We arrived at 12:30 am...

Then at 6:30 that morning, we left for McCall (2 1/2 hours north in the mountains) for Brandon's football game. Jake was SO excited to be back in his car seat! NOT!! The game was freezing cold, but his team played their best game yet and won 28-0!!! Brandon played well and had a great sac on the very last play of the game to "rub it in a little." Haha!

Then we all got back in the car for another 2 1/2 hour jaunt in the Pilot...

I hope to not go anywhere farther than 5 miles from my house any time soon. It was a fun weekend, just a little cramped for time and way too far spread out!

The streak is over!!!!

Brandon's football team this year has struggled...that's the nice way to say it. :) Before yesterday's game, they were 0 and 4, and hadn't scored all year long. Last week's game was 30 to nothing...it's been more than a little painful at times. We've tried to be positive, and just try to get him to learn what he can this year.

Yesterday was another game. Tim was in the mountains with his dad getting ready for the hunt in two weeks, so I had all the kids by myself there. THEY WON!!!!! And Brandon had an awesome game. He had probably at least 20 tackles, a couple of sacs for loss of yardage, and a fumble recovery. He was pumped up the whole time and I don't think he missed a single tackle. It was so fun to watch! I'm just sad Tim wasn't there...

His team's offense actually scored a touchdown for the first time this year and they won...I still can't believe it! Such a good feeling!!!

Discovery Center

The kids were out of school on Thursday and Friday, and I have Musettes on Thursdays, so I promised them a few weeks ago that we would go out to lunch and to the Discovery Center on Friday. They had earned free tickets from doing the summer reading program at the library and they expire soon, and who am I to pass up FREE entertainment?!? So we headed to Boise. First we went to lunch at Burger King, then we went to the Discovery Center. In all the years I've lived in this valley, I can't say that I've ever been there, but it was awesome and the kids loved it. I'm sure we'll be going at least once a year now. Hopefully the library has free tickets again next summer... Here are some pics of our fun play day.

This is Ryan on the pulley chair.

Sydney thought it was so cool!!!

This is the "Bubble Wall." It was also super-cool. I'm pretty sure none of us have ever made bubbles this big before. Bubbles make me happy. :)

The hbubble was was Brandon's favorite thing, he said. He learned that if you got your finger wet with bubble solution, you can stick it through the bubble wall without popping it.

Here he is illustrating my point...

Poor Jake was once again confined to the stroller. Poor kid...sometimes I worry that that's how he will remember his childhood...spent in a stroller...one day we'll start letting him out...of course, he's going to have to learn how walk first.

This is Sydney playing with the ball-blower (not sure what it was called...).Air blew out of the tube and suspended the ball in the air, then you could slowly move the tube out, and the ball would follow. She was pretty much amazed.

She found this big blue couch, sat down, posed really cute, and said, "Take my picture!" This girl has been trained from birth--such a camera-hog!!

Sydney's favorite part of the trip--Discovery Market. It was set up just like a grocery store and the kids could go shopping, check out (their items even made a beep when they scanned them), and bag their groceries. She LOVED it--except for the part when we were done and I informed her that she had to then put all of her things back away....

The funniest thing was that Ryan noticed what she was doing and joined right in. It was pretty cute to watch him fill up his cart.

Brandon on the "Bed of Nails." He laid down on the table, then pushed the button, and then the bed of nails pushed up out of the table and raised him up a couple of inches. In was pretty cool!

There was a robotic arm that would spell out your name. Again, pretty cool...

Ryan loved the logic puzzles there. He has always been our "puzzle-meister" as Grandma calls him.

Brandon trying out one of the puzzles.

While the boys were playing logic puzzles, Sydney played in the "Animal Hospital." They had a bunch of stuffed animals, pet-porters, stethoscopes, and x-rays for the little ones to play vet with. She loved it, but was kind-of an animal-hog.

My little girl and her pets. We had a really fun day!

Baby Jake turns 1!!!

(So technically his birthday was yesterday, but my blogger photo-upload has been really finicky lately...probably has something to do with my pathetic computer. I finally got it to work today.)

I have survived the first year of having 4 kids! Is it wrong that I think I deserve some sort of medal or something? I mean, I know my mom had 9 kids (more than twice as many as me), but she was/is Superwoman, so clearly that doesn't count. :) As hard as it has been, I don't regret choosing to bring Jake Walker into our family one little bit. He is the cutest thing ever and I love him to death! I can't wait to see what to future holds for this sweet little guy.

P.S. I'm pretty sure I'll still be calling him "Baby Jake" decades from now...it just fits him. :)

Can you even believe the smile on this kid's face? (Not to mention those cheeks.) Love him!!!

I love that his fork is upside-down in this one. Obviously, I don't really let this kid feed himself very often. The clean-up just isn't worth it. But we made the exception for his birthday. :)

At least now the fork is the right way. I have to say, though, that he wasn't nearly as interested in his birthday cake as some of the other kids were...that's right, I'm talking about you, Sydney...

That girl wasted no time demolishing her cake. Jake, on the other hand, seemed to take his time and savor it a little more. He must just be extra-mature for his age...tell me something I don't know!

This is what the cake looked like after he had a little time to get more into it. Notice I moved it onto a paper plate and got rid of the glass one. :)

Present time!!! If only he knew what presents were...

Good thing he has 3 older siblings who were MORE than willing to help him open them!

This is his little dump truck that has cool lights and sounds. He liked it at the store, so we got it. It's so nice not to have to hide the gifts or be sneaky when they're little like this...too bad it doesn't last very long...

What was I thinking??? TWO presents with lights and sounds!!! I must be crazy! But he loved them, and isn't that what matters most?!?

He was pretty mesmerized by the songs playing on the shape cookie jar. I wish still pictures could capture the slow little swaying/dance move he was doing, but not so...it was pretty cute!