Dear Santa,

Dear St,

I wont Joekeymoe to have a

big tedy Bear. and I wont

charly to have a adoolt

boy dog and I wont Miss Leishman

to get married!!

from.

Sam.

p.s. I Love your work.

Merry Christmas!!

As you can see this is Sam's letter that he wrote in school. The kids were told to write a letter to santa asking for things for their family and friends. Jakey-Mo is the one who he wants to get a big teddy bear (hint, hint, Hailey). And Charly is one of Sam's friends in his class. Charly already has an adult girl dog that is about to have puppies so he wants her to have an adult boy dog (i'm not sure if it's to help with those puppies or what, but cute all the same). And Miss Leishman is Sam's teacher (she was also his teacher last year--she moved up a grade and Sam is the only one that got her again and he's very happy with that). He told her that she could have a elf for a husband. Many laughs were stiffled.

So today as i was reading Sam's letter i was struggleing to read parts, so he read it to me. He started to talk about this situation.

Sam: Miss Leishman isn't married and there are lots of boy teachers at the school that aren't married.

Ethan: Mr. Rino isn't married. (Mr. Rino is Ethan's teacher).

Sam: But he has a beard.

Ethan: He doesn't have a beard.

Me: Why does having a beard decided if you're married or not?

Sam: He has wiskers.

Dad: You get wiskers in high school sometimes.

Sam: oh.

I'm still not sure how that makes you married or not.

Look Ma!

I meant to post this last week when it happened, but as you all know life gets busy and you roll with it. Plus Ethan is home today sick and mentioned it and here we are. Most of the local family all got to hear about the accident over the last week, so this is for the distant family and friends that haven't heard the story.

On Friday's i go into the school to hand out treats to the kids that are wearing the school colors as they are going into the lunch room for lunch. (one of the fun things about being on PTA--I'm aka the candy lady, Sam's mom, Ethan's mom--no one really knows my name). Sam's class had come through and i had just finished telling Sam to sit down for the third or forth time to eat his lunch, when one of the aides for the school came up to me saying "they want you in the office." Immediately my mind went to Ethan just praying he wasn't in trouble or that he wasn't sick. I walked into the office and saw Ethan standing there with one of the secretaries holding an ice pack on his forehead. Whew, maybe it wasn't so bad, he wasn't in trouble after all. Then the secretary moved the ice pack. HOLY COW!! Ethan had a golf ball growing out of his head that was all kinds of purple and red. Seriously looked like a golf ball was shoved under his skin, sticking straight out at least an inch. At that point Ethan had only shed a few tears but as soon as he saw me and i had him in my arms he lost it. I told the secretary i was going to take him home and she gave me a paper about concussions that is required of them for every head injury. I brought him home and had him keep an ice pack on his forehead for an hour. Durring that time i got the story from Ethan.

His class was at p.e. and they were playing basketball out on the play ground. He was going down for a rebound when Dillon, one of his friends, was coming right behind him. Dillion is a big guy. Keep in mind that Ethan is the average kid in his 5th grade class. Dillon is my height and heavier than me. As Dillon was coming up behind Ethan he tripped over Ethan's feet causing Ethan to fall and Dillon fell right on top of Ethan. We figure that having a kid Dillons size kept Ethan from getting more road rash than what he had. But it also caused him to whack his head that much harder. It wasn't until we got home that Ethan even got to see how big the bump on his head was. That convinced him that he wanted to keep the ice on it. After a while Ethan was sitting at the kitchen table eating his sandwich saying, "well now I'm missing this, and I'm missing this and in a few more minutes we're going to be doing this." I knew he was good. So i took him back to the school. Most kids would be happy to call it a day and stay home, but Ethan loves school and didn't want to miss any of it. Even if his head did hurt. Plus i think he was happy to show off his shiner.

The picture doesn't even do it justice. I should have gotten a side shot just to show how far out it still was sticking out after the hour of ice.

MY BABY IS 5!!!!

Where does the time go?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!

reasons i love ryan:

-his smile

-his laugh

-the way he is sooo good to take all over the place.

-that he still will get comfy cozy with me

-the way he plays mario cart/wii/gameboy (it's funny, and he's pretty good)

-how he tells me he loves me to the aliens and back (since i told him i loved him to the moon/stars and back).

-the way he loves each of us in the family.

-and a million other reasons

Sam is Perfect, for today.

Sam was baptized this last weekend and for those that were able to come, thanks and for those that missed out I'll try and summarize the event.

First and foremost those that came in contact with Sam at all over the last few weeks all knew about the baptism since he was sooo excited about it. I think every employee at the school was fully aware that Sam was getting baptised. The Monday night before the baptism, as we were putting the boys to bed we told Sam that he was going to have his interview with the bishop Tuesday. He said OK and was again expressing his excitement. Tuesday morning i took the boys to school and then went in to help in the class rooms like i do each Tuesday. As i was leaving i went into the office and talked to the secretaries, and then headed out the door and on my way. Wednesday when i went back into the school one of the secretaries stopped me and said, "I just have to tell you what happened yesterday." With interest i sat and listened as she told me that Sam had come into the office just after he finished his lunch and said, "my mom is coming to check me out." the secretary said "uh, i don't know if she is, i talked to her earlier and she didn't say anything to me, she usually does." He persisted that i was going to come and check him out and she said well if you want to wait for a couple minutes you can, but i don't think she is. He said "she is, I have an appointment with the bishop. I'm getting baptised." At that point she knew i wasn't coming and so she told him he could wait and that if i came she promised she'd call him right into the office. he was satisfied with that and went back to class. I guess we didn't explain to him that he didn't have his appointment till that night.

Saturday was a special day. Mike and Kim (my brother) and his family came up from St. George for Sam's baptism. And my Uncle Brent (who lives in Arizona) was up for the weekend and was staying with Grandma Priday so they came from American Fork. And all the local family and some of our closest friends came which made the day even better. I will fully admit its on days and family times like that that i miss my parents just a little bit more, but i still am glad that they are doing what they are doing. Sam smiled all day long. While we were waiting for Sam and Blake in one of the other rooms with all the family visiting, it started to get a little loud. Ethan went and sat at the piano and started playing "teach me to walk in the Light" a primary song that he's learned how to play in the last few months and it set the tone, and quited the visiting. I was so proud (sorry, scratch that) pleased. After Ethan had played it through a few times Blake and Sam came in and we went ahead with the confirmation.

After the events at the church we had invited everyone to come to the house for some muffins, sweet rolls, doughnuts, juice and milk. Blake made some amazing orange cranberry sweet rolls and perfect cinnamon rolls. It was nice to sit and visit with everyone. After that we did a Priday family birthday lunch for Mike and Ryan since their birthdays were just days away. I kick myself over and over again, and may not be able to call myself a Priday anymore, because we didn't not once sing happy birthday to Mike or Ryan. I know I'm ashamed. Sorry Mike and Ryan. i am still shaking my head! Either way it was fun to visit and enjoy every ones company. Thanks to all that came for Sam and to support us. We really are blessed to have such great family and friends.

Sunday Sam got up and bore a sweet testimony of how he was so happy he knew the gospel and that he knew who he is and where he comes from and that there are kids out there that don't know these things and how that's why we have missionaries. He said how excited and happy he was to be a member of the church. It was a really sweet weekend. Perfect really!

Sam and all his Samminess

Sam, Samuel, Sambino, Sam-a-cama, Sam-I-Am, Sammy.

Wednesday was Sam's big day. He turned 8. He is a big kid for sure (at least in his mind). He was, like all kids are, very excited for the day to come. He woke up with out any additional prodding and was ready for school in a flash. We decided to let him open his gifts before school so that he would hopfully be more calm knowing he'd already gotten to open the gifts. Because this was the big 8 he got his cub scout uniform and a journal, from the brothers a few new books, and from grandparents his nice new scriptures. I had asked sam what he wanted to have as a treat for his class for his birthday. He said suckers and so i headed off to the target to get suckers just before his class would go to lunch, but alas i could not find suckers at target so i had to go to a different store. Which meant i didn't make it to the school before lunch, so i figured i had to just go a few mintues before school got out. The school was having an assembly when i got there so i just put the treats on sam's desk and went and sat in on the assembly for the last few minutes. Sam saw me come in and leaned over to his teacher and said "she was trying to trick me and make me think she wasn't coming, that little devil." Sam's teacher stiffled a laugh and said Sam you shouldn't call your mom a devil. I'm not sure where he heard that. I've never said that. Still, only Sam.

After school he got to go to cub scouts, uniform and all. (I totally meant to take a picture). And then for dinner we had Spaghetti, green beans, and bread sticks. Part way through dinner he said, "mom you sure know me. you picked all my favorites."

For his dessert, per his request, razzleberry pie and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I am pretty sure it was a good day for Sam. He was all smiles.

Just a few reasons why I love Sam:

-His superhero mentality to make sure all the little guys are taken care of.

-The way he shares so willingly (98% of the time).

-His wittyness, his comedy relief.

-The way he loves and kisses me and means it/shows it.

-His smile.

-The light in his eyes.

-The way he wants to be helpful when he has decided thats what he wants to do.

-His self confidence in who he is (he gets that from the young side of the family).

-The way that he is proud of his name.

We love you Sam.

Family Pictures

Michael Lloyd does our family pictures. Not only is he a good friend--nay i say, a great friend, but he is an amazing photographer. He has tremendous talent and skill. I mean really, look at these pictures for example. If he can make us look this good, just imagine what he can do with real good looking people. hehehe. Seriously though, he is good. Thanks mike.
http://www.michaellloydphotography.com/

Out of the mouths of babes!

Ryanism:

The other day after the elections the boys were asking who won and we told them Obama. Over the last while we've talked about the elections and the things that you have to think about when you vote for some one or something. That you pick the person you agree with most and who you feel will do best. Anyway, many dinner discussions have covered this subject so i feel like the boys were well aware of what was going on with the election and the process it takes. And i'll tell you what if i had many reminders to vote not just because i wanted to and felt it was important, but the boys were reminding me. So back to the day after the elections were over and Obama had won. Ryan asked me a little later that morning after the other two were off to school about O-ba-ka. I had forgotten about the elections enough that i thought he was trying to say chewbaca. So i said "chewbaca?" Ryan: Yeah, he won the race? Me: Oh no, you mean Obama. Yes, Obama won. Ryan: Obama won the race mom, cause the other guy McCain was too slow, and Obama was faster. Me: Yeah, i guess you could say that. He was thinking it was a running race, like on a track and such. I guess we didn't explain that part so well.

Sammyism:

Casey was here working on sorting potatoes. (Cause they do that in the fall here in our garage. Real idaho potatoes from my uncles farm in Idaho come and they sell, sort, and deliver them.) Anyway, Casey was out in the garage sorting them and loading them into his truck and Sam was talking to him about the biggest looser. For those that don't know Casey is a big guy, and has tried to get onto the biggest looser a few times. Sam told him he needed to keep trying and to never give up. He went on to say: "Dr. Seuss tried to publish his first book over and over and over again and did he give up? NO! He didn't! He kept on trying. Just like you should Casey! Never give up, never quit trying!" He went on like this for a bit before i told him that was good. Casey turned to me and said, he sounds like a coach. So for all of you out there that need a good pep talk, Sam's the man.

Ethanism:

Back a few weeks ago in primary the lesson was about when Christ visits the Nephites and teaches the beatitudes. Ethan came home from church really excited about the lesson and talked of some of the different promises and commented that he hoped he would be blessed this way or that. Fast forward to this last week. This last Sunday Ethan decided he wanted to take a pass along card to the new kid in his class. Domeatry moved in about a month ago and Ethan has become friends with him. I asked Ethan if he knew if Domeatry was a member of the church or not. He said he wasn't sure but he really wanted to give him the card. Both Blake and I were a bit hesitant about it since we just didn't know much about Domeatry and didn't want to cause problems in the classroom. So we told Ethan if he really wanted to do that it was fine, but the he needed to make sure he gave it to him when it was ok to be visiting and not in the middle of class. Ethan was pretty excited about it and promised he'd be good.

The next day after school Ethan came running out to the car with a big ol' grin on his face. As he got in the car I asked if he gave it to him and he said yeah, but that domeatry said no thanks. I said well that's ok. He said "no mom, i'm really glad, cause i tried." I would have been proud had he stopped there, but he continued. "There were some kids in the class that were making fun of the Book of Mormon and saying things that were not nice. And I told them that wasn't very nice to make fun of things like that." I was just a little more proud of him for sticking up for himself and for what he believes. He then turned to me and said "Mom i'm pretty happy cause that means i'm totally going to the kindom of God." I was a little surprised by his answer and asked why he said that. He then reminded me that "those that are persecuted theirs will be the kingdom of God. And since i was persecuted I am totally going to the kingdom of God." WOW. One he remembered the lesson and scripture. Two he is so sure he is saved now. And Three I am just so amazed at his faith and courage. I bet he is right.... He is totally going to the kingdom of God.
3 Nephi 12: 10-12 (Just incase you wanted to see the promise yourself.)

My sneaky-sneaky birthday surprise!

Yesterday (Nov. 5) was my birthday. Yeah! Happy birthday to me. I'm 28--that's all, after that i gave my birthdays away so i stopped counting after that. Growing up my dad had a conference with his work that was always the first week of November, and since my mom and dad most of the time took the opportunity to have a trip away with work paying for part of it they were generally gone together that first week. And since my birthday is the 5th they were gone part or most of my birthday many years (i think they were gone more than they think they were gone but that's not really important). I don't think it was really a big deal most of the time. There might have been one or two that i was totally disappointed, but i tried not to let them know (but maybe that's another point they would argue).
Anyway, Blake's job over the last year has required him to travel more. We roll with it and make things work and get along. It stinks sometimes when it's a lot, but at the time I'm really grateful that he has a good paying job and one that he enjoys. At the beginning of the year we got the schedule for his travel for the year, and we put it on the calendar. I figure a day before and after each of the events just to be safe. When he's going to California or Vegas he can generally leave really early the morning the event starts but when they are in DC or NY those are a lot longer to fly to so he has to leave the day before. This week he was scheduled to go to DC for the 6th-8th. But because it was in DC he had to leave the 5th. When he had said he was going to have to leave the 5th he was really feeling bad about it, but i reminded him that I'm a big girl that i have had lots of birthdays and have more to come that if he had to miss part of it he could just make it up to me later. And i pointed out to him that i was used to celebrating my birthday in sections since my parents were gone for many. I tried to not really bring it up so that he wouldn't feel too bad about it. He had decided that since he had to be gone he'd make arrangements for me to go out with my girl friends that night. AHHHH, how sweet. MY dearest sweet friend Dev had talked to Blake and they made all the arrangements. Blake "left" for the airport at about 11:30 and I headed to the grocery store. Throughout the day most of my family and some friends called to wish me happy birthday and i was feeling like ok it's not going to be so bad. Devron had told me to just come over to her house at 5:30 and that we'd go from there so i was to come up with a place to go eat dinner. When we got to devron's house Mike her sweet hubbs was going to watch her 2 boys, my 3 boys, and another friends 3 boys. I was touched that he was willing to watch all 8 boys by himself and that he was willing to do that for me. that was a great present. It was really nice to go out with my friends and just have time to sit and visit and enjoy each others company. When we were getting close to finishing up Dev got a text from Mike saying he was going to go over to the house with my boys to get their pajamas on. (ding ding ding). I thought oh, wow, mike's really helping out here. So we decided to head home shortly there after to relieve mike from the chaos that certainly reined. When we got to my house i thought huh, i hope they didn't have any trouble getting into the house. And as i went to open the garage door dev quickly covered my eyes and said oh, shoot mike might have hid something in here. In my head i was thinking ok, whatever. Maybe blake had made arrangements for her to pick something up or whatever, but ok. So we walked in the back door and there were flowers all over the table with a big poster planted right in the middle that all i was able to read on it was "surprise!" When Blake popped up from behind the table! I am pretty dang sure i just about dropped. I was in shock! He was really here! I had just been wondering why i hadn't heard from him yet, that he was probably just getting settled but it's not like him to not call when he lands at the destination. Blake said the trip had been canceled the week before but figured this would be a good birthday surprise. And surprised i was. So the whole thing about birthdays not being as fun as they used to be, is totally a farce. This was a great birthday, one that i will remember! Thanks be to my sneaky-sneaky husband and to my good friends and to my family that all knew but didn't let on at all! No wonder i love this guy.

It must be halloween!

Sam's class for halloween did a program. They sang songs and told a story. Sam did really good. He sang his best and did great. I was proud of him. (if you watch the video you'll have to shut the music off on the seal beach slide show below).

Also this is Aliah (said A-lee-a). Sam and Aliah were in Kindergarten together and became good "friends" and still are friends. PLEASE DO NOT BRING THIS UP WITH SAM (it embarrasses him)!!! but, the other night after the program Sam and Aliah posed for this picture and later when i was showing it to Sam he said: "You know mom that's a pretty good picture. We look pretty good together." I said: "Yep, it's a nice picture." Sam said: "Mom, can we get a big picture of that for me?" Me: "we'll have to see." Sam: "ok" (as he sighs a big sigh). He tells me all the time that he loves aliah and i tell him back all the time that he's only to love her like a friend. He generally accepts this answer but every once in a while he tells me he is going to marry her. I tell him he'll have lots of friends and that he'll have to wait and see what he thinks after his mission. Ah' young love.......i just wasn't ready to have it be soooo young.

Halloween, of course!

This year for Halloween the boys all went as Jedi's, and my greatest friend made the cloaks/robes for Ethan and Sam (since she was making one for her son to be a Jedi as well). Originally Blake and I thought we'd go as princess Leia and Hon Solo. We didn't end up having any parties or trunk or treats to go to so we decided to just not dress up this year. That is until i got a call to help in Ethan's class with their party. And since it's just more fun to dress up with the kids i decided at the last minute to throw together a costume for myself. I had all the fixin's for a great cow girl. So away i went. While we were at Sam's program at the school later that morning Granma Young came to watch and told us about the trunk or treat at their ward so we decided to go to that. When i got home from helping in Ethan's class, Blake said he'd dress up as and indian (get it? cowboys and indians)since we had some of the stuff from a past halloween. Only problem was that it was from Ethan when he was only 6 so it wasn't going to all work. I headed over to the local halloween costume store and found Blake's costume......it was perfect. See for yourself (see pic below). Blake had gotten a call from our friends Brett and Kathryn (and their 3 boys) that live over in American Fork in a really big family neighborhood so we went and did the old fashion trick or treating going door to door. (see pic below) The boys have been spoiled over the years to have trunk or treat parties to go to so they get a lot of goodies in a short period of time. I think Sam and Ethan were sort of surprised how little they got for the amount of time they were out. In my opinion they got enough. Enough to last for the month of November and maybe into December, but not till Feb or March like in past halloweens. Hope y'all had a great halloween!

(it's inflata-bull!!! hehehe)

Seal Beach Day 2

The Happiest Place on Earth.

Our trip to "St. George"

In July when Blake and I went to california we had decided we'd get annual passes for disneyland and go back in October with the boys over fall break. We decided we'd keep it a secret and not tell the boys. We told them we were going to go to st. george to go visit mike (my brother) and Kim and their kids for the weekend. The boys were quite excited to go see their cousins, so our plan worked out really well. Aunt Kim had just had surgery a few days before we got there so it helped our story to say after we had been there for a few hours playing that it was time for us to go find a hotel since Kim was still recovering. (thanks for helping us with the story Kim, hope you get to 100% fast!) The boys bought it and were good to get back in the car somewhat sad that they were saying goodbye to their cousins. So about 8:00pm we got back into the car and started the long drive to california.

After we'd been driving for a while the boys started asking "when are we going to get there?" or "how long before we get to the hotel?" We told them to relax and go to sleep and that it would be a little bit longer.

We got to the border of California at the produce stop where they check your fruit so you don't take fruit flies in with you and Ethan, still awake, asked, "why are we stopping?" Blake before he could really think about what he was saying replied "in california they have gotten rid of fruit flies and so they don't want people bringing certain fruit in so they don't have fruit flies again." Ethan (aka Mr. smarty pants) in the back seat said "why are we in California?" D'oh!! We did so good to not spill. Blake's quick answer back was that we were going to this cool hotel that he had gone to for business a while back and he wanted to take the boys to see the coi pond and such. Ethan accepted that answer and FINALLY fell asleep. We got in to the hotel about 2:00 am. The next morning we let the boys sleep in as much as they wanted and once they were up, we asked if they wanted to go swimming? They were happy to say yes and then Blake asked them if they wanted to go swimming at the beach? They were stoked and were ready to go in the blink of an eye. We stopped and picked up breakfast on the way to the beach and took it with us. The boys are true boys and Blake and i were talking that the beach was created just for boys/man. Water, sand, mud, being half dressed, beach bunnies, sun, surf....truly a man/boys paradise.

The beach will always be a favorite place to go for all of us. And this trip was exceptional. The weather was a little warmer so being out on the beach was perfect/comfortable. And having breakfast on the beach, watching the surfers, and playing in the water ourselves was awesome! It's at moments like that, that Blake wanting to move to california someday sounds really nice.

After we got back to the hotel got showered up and checked out (since we were still about 15 minutes from disneyland and our hotel for the rest of the stay) we told the boys we wanted to go to this place where we could take some pictures of the family. We headed to the disney parking and along the way asked the boys what they wanted to do over the next couple of days. When we started pulling into the area of the parking there were signs saying "theme park" with an arrow pointing the direction. Ethan said "i want to go to the theme park." We asked him what he meant and the boys started talking about a fun house and said it was that way. Once we were parked the boys of course had noticed the disney characters but we said we were just going to go get some pictures. We got to the tram and ran into Blake's Samoan extended family while we waited for the tram. They said disneyland a few times, but I'm not sure if the boys really caught on yet. Once on the tram the driver said something about that we were heading to the disneyland plaza and to have a nice day. We just reminded the boys we were going to the plaza to get some pictures. It wasn't until we were in the plaza (the area between disneyland and california adventures) that the boys were like "hey, we want to go there!"

Blake: "what do you guys want to do?"

Ethan and Sam: "go to disneyland and california adventure!!!"

Blake (to Ryan): "do you want to go to disneyland and see mickey and ride on rides?"

Ryan: "yeah and ride on rides."

Blake: "ok, lets go!"

I think Ethan was the first to have it process in his head. His eyes grew big and i think had he been a girl he might have squealed with excitement. And then Sam started hooping and hollering.

Blake: do you think we should go for 3 days?

boys: YEAH!!! wha-hoo!!!!

Blake: do you think we should go for 4 days?

boys: Yeah!!! yeah!!!

Blake (to Ethan): how would you like to get an annual pass?

Ethan: Really? YEAH!!!!

Sam and Ryan: Yeah, ME TOO!!!

Blake: was this a good surprise?

Ethan: Totally good surprise!!

I think if the surprises would have stopped there the boys would have totally been happy. But the surprises and happiness just kept coming. Saturday afternoon as we were heading over to space mountain we "ran into" Nate (Blake's brother who lives in Oregon) and Anne and the kids. The boys love those cousins too. Then on Sunday we went to the building where Blake served his mission and the boys really liked hearing some of the things about Blake's mission and they even got to see one of the places Blake lived. Sunday night we popped some popcorn in our hotel room and watched the disney fireworks from there. Then on Monday we did the whole day at Disneyland, Tuesday part way through the morning we "ran into" Jaimi (Blake's sister who lives in Arizona) and Jeff and Summer! Then later that same day we "ran into" Hailey and baby Jake! And then that night at dinner we "found" grandma and grandpa Young. This trip was a complete blast. For the miles and miles of walking we did it, worked off the extra treats we consumed since we were in Disneyland and on vacation. We won fast passes 2 different times for several rides in both parks for the day. We took time out of the park on Thursday afternoon and went to the beach again to enjoy the sun and water and to cool down.

Ethan loved all the same rides as he did before, loved the time on beach, time with the cousins, and goodies and fun. Sam loved Tower of Terror (his new favorite-replacing space mountain now to be his second favorite), loved the Jedi training that he and Ethan did, loved the light saber that he got to build with his saved money, and of course loved the beach. Ryan was finally tall enough to ride most of the rides, however he is not a fan of any that are dark, go into a cave, or are too fast (yes, yes, i know, that is most of the rides). He was absolutely happy to be there though and good to wait while big brothers went on the fast/dark/cave rides. He did like talking to crush, and the new toy story ride/game, and of course was more interested in the Disney characters this time around. He loved chasing the birds on the beach and playing in the water. Ryan being as small as he is tired easily, but understandably, since for every step we take it's two or three for him. He wanted to be carried a lot by the afternoon but didn't want to ride in the stroller when it was available. He was so tired on Saturday night we sat down to watch the fireworks and half way through them he fell asleep. One of the perks of the boys loving all of it so much was they were out with in minutes of their heads hitting the pillows, and they slept in too. Too bad all things must come to an end.

Our hope is that we will be able to go back in March or April when Blake is sent back to California for business again and let the company pay for the gas and part of the hotel to make a second trip out pretty cheap. But this trip was totally worth it. We enjoyed almost every minute of it ("every" would be exaggerating a little since there are down times).

Although i absolutely love Disneyland, the beach, and the chance we had to go there with the boys and meet up with some of the family, i have to argue their phrase: "happiest place on earth". After being gone for a week, i was truly happy to be back home in my own house and in my own bed. So, today, my house is the happiest place on earth. But really anywhere with my family is the happiest place on earth. Home sweet Home!

(pictures/slide show to follow)

WOW WOW RYAN!

Late yesterday afternoon i asked the boys if they wanted to go out and ride their bikes while blake ran to the gym. It was cold out but they despeartely needed to get some time outside. They all got their coats on and got their helmets on and were ready to go. After we'd been out for a few minutes i asked ryan if he wanted to ride sam's bike (since we took the training wheels off it earlier this summer). Ryan was all kinds of excited and said yeah! I thought i'd just see how he was on his ballance to see if he was anywhere near ready to have his trianing wheels taken off. Ryan thought it was a blast. He'd laugh as he would start to tip and i'd catch him and he'd laugh a little more. He thought he was somethin' else. After going back and forth for a little bit i wasn't sure he was getting it and the bike was a little too big for him so i thought we'd have to wait. Ryan reluctantly got off sam's bike and got back on his own and rode around the driveway for a few minutes before he came and told me he wanted his bike like sam's. So i thought ok, i'll take off his training wheels for a little while and see if being on the smaller bike would help. I think it only took a few short passes before he had it. I tried to let Ethan be the camera man again and he did an ok job, but he forgot to stop between rides so the video bumps up and down and all over the place so much you might get sick so i'll spare you all. Instead i have one of ryan after he had the hang of it a little more. By the time Blake got home from the gym Ryan was ready to show off his new skills to Daddy. Way to go RYAN!!!

Happy Birthday, Good Lookin'!

by: Blake


Well I was trying to think of a way to commemorate Jaimi's birthday and I struggled to think of something until I came across this.


After I was able to pull my eyes away from those amazing alabaster legs, I decided to post the image to share the glory that is Jaimi of 80s. (note she is in the midst of a balloon toss, not practicing yoga moves)


With legs like those sister,
you'll go places!

Happy Birthday, Jaimi!

Happy Birthday Johnny!

Tomorrow is Johnny Appleseed's birthday. Did you know that? Isn't it amazing that i knew that. Actually, I didn't realize that it was. My mother-in-law told me. And it's only because of pre-school that Johnny even came up. Of course today was "A for Johnny Appleseed Day" at pre-school. After school today Ryan went to his cousins house for some playing and i picked him up on my way to go get Ethan and Sam from school. When we got into the car i asked Ryan how pre-school was and if he had fun, and what his favorite part was. We got talking about the picture he drew and he was telling me he couldn't remember the guy's name so i started by saying slowly to help remind him "Johhhhhnnnnn" to which Ryan's quick reply was "John the Baptist!" I smiled to myself and said "close, Johnny Appleseed." He said back "oh yeah, Johnny Appleseed". Few hours later when we were finishing up dinner tonight he was talking about pre-school again. And he said so matter of factly, "mom, i like john the baptist." So close. Happy birthday anyway, Johnny.

Swish, spit, rinse!

Growing up we went to my dad's cousin for all our dental needs, and even now most of us still do. We loved Reed and think he's the best dentist ever. "Breath deep through your nose, my friend, breath deep through your nose." And as Priday's go (that's my family) we have hyperactive spit glands. Pavlov's dog fits our family really well. I went in to pay a bill and i thought i might need suction before i left the building. Last year when we were up in Canada visiting my parents we joked that it doesn't take much to get the glands going either. My parents and Blake and I had a good laugh about those hyperactive glads (it was late and we might have been a tad tired). Good times. One of the other memories of going to reeds office was from my younger years. We went in every 6 months for our check ups. There were a couple hygienists that worked there at the time. The one that this story goes too is the RED-HEADED HYGIENIST!!! (sounds scary doesn't it!) Sadly, i don't know her real name but all my siblings will no doubt know who I'm talking about. Honestly, i didn't have any problems going to the dentist and i went many times because we have such great teeth. We are a dentists dream come true, and a family of it too. Good thing we had a dentist in the family. Anyway, when we knew the appointments were coming up, we (me and my siblings) would hope and pray that we didn't get the dreaded red-headed hygienist. Sure, sure, the cleaning wasn't too bad, but after the cleaning came the flossing! oh my goodness. Your gums got in the way of her flossing your roots, and she'd lean into it too. Now I'm sure part of the reason it seemed so harsh was because we didn't floss regularly anyway, but i am not kidding it was soo painful. Fortunately for us Priday kids, and heaven knows how many other kids, she moved on (I'm not sure if she moved or if she went to another office). It was a relief for us to know that we were going to be flossed with great care after that. Fast forward to this last week. All three of the boys had their cleaning and check-ups. Blake was out of town so i was there with all three boys on my own. Which I'd like to say is not a big deal, but some days anything with all three boys is a big deal. We got to the dentist office right on time and were waiting in the waiting room when i saw her! Her, as in the dreaded red-headed hygienist. I panicked just a little in my own head praying that she was just saying hi, but alas, she was working there, today! I took a deep breath and prayed that the other hygienist would be the one to call the boys back. About 5 minutes went by and i suddenly heard someone coming down the hall towards the folders at the front to call the boys back......it was the drhh. She called Ethan and Sam's names. DANG! Up the boys popped and headed back to the chairs, having no idea what was about to happen to them. Ethan went first and was fairly good, except for bouncing his feet while she was trying to scrape his teeth. Sheesh! I took another deep breath when the flossing began. Ethan's feet were not kicking to get up higher on the chair like i remembered doing. So it must be ok. Ethan's pretty tough though. Then Sam. Now Sam, has some some issues when it comes to the dentist. He does not like the x-rays. No i dare say he hates them. It's a battle every time at this point in the visit. I tell him if he's really good he can have _____, or if he's really good and has no cavities then he can have ____. Then it becomes a big fight with his tongue getting in the way and the hygienist maybe getting bit a time or two. Then i have to get mad at him and take his favorite toy away or say he can't play the gameboy for a week, whatever to help get him to hold still and just do the x-rays. Today, the drhh just said, well let's just see how things look as we clean. Of course at this point Ryan is then called by the other hygienist. At least he was spared, my baby was spared. Ryan is such a good kid that he climbed right up into the chair opened really big at the right times and even had no issues what so ever with the x-rays. He looked so small in the big dentist chair. I had to go back and forth to where Sam was to where Ryan was, actually spending more time with Sam since he was struggling to hold still. Lucky for me, he didn't seem to have any issues with the flossing either. And really to sum it up. Ethan had one small cavity and Sam (as far as we know) was good and Ryan was cavity free. I lived to tell the tale, they lived through the flossing, and good news for us, she was just filling in for one day!

Ryan showing off his clean teef!

Just for fun....

So i have to admit i'm pretty lucky that i didn't have this one bite me later, but my sister sent this video clip to me and since ethan is such a fan of snakes we thought we'd let him see it. (ok, ok, i totally knew what it was, but i thought it would be funny and........well, ..... it was.)

this is the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S14wDdoWSgg

So because we (yes, i said we, blake was in on it too and laughed just as hard) knew what was going to happen, we filmed Ethan. This was his reaction:

And because we are REALLY good parents and we didn't want to let Sam feel left out so he watched it too, and this was his reaction:

I think we are pretty dang lucky that we didn't have any boys wake up in the middle of the night freaked out. But on the plus side (besides it being funny) i think the boys will understand that they should always stay away from snakes.

FINALLY Pre-school

Ryan has been in pre-school for the last couple weeks but i am just a little slow to get this posted. Ethan and Sam started school a few weeks before Ryan so needless to say Ryan was anxious to start school too. He actually kept asking me each day "how many more days now mom?" And "when can we go pick up Ethan and Sam?" I know he was slightly bored with me, cause my kind of fun is not the same as big brothers. Anyway, by the time we got down to just a few days he was really excited. The morning of pre-school we had a fun conversation.

me: so are you sooo excited?

ryan: no, not yet mom. i have to brush my teeth.

After he brushed his teeth.

me: are you excited now?

ryan: yeah, but i have to get to school first, then i can be excited!

For his first day of school it was a slightly cooler morning so he picked his favorite jacket to wear. This is a jacket that was Blake's when he was a kid. Ryan is the only one of the boys that has had it fit in the right season. Good thing Ryan's so small cause he got to wear it all last winter too. I think it's one of my favorites too. Also because Ryan is so small his backpack looks like it could hold him. This year Ryan gets to go to preschool with his cousins, Dallin and Mckye. That only adds to the excitement of getting to go to grandmas preschool. We love granma teacher. She's the best!

Dallin, McKye, Ryan