Happy Halloween!

This morning we woke up after a pretty good night's sleep, and this is what we saw.

8:40 am



Kamryn happy as a clown laying in her crib...just waiting for us! Not a fuss! :) Too cute! But we have such a morning girl! How long is this going to last?! :)

Then we got all ready for Halloween! Our little Pumpkin! :)

(More pictures to come later tonight!)

Oh...and I HAD to do something on my blog for Halloween....but the sizing is a little off....oh well! :)

Husbands

I just recently put a link to LDS family Gems on my blog (located under my music for any of you interested). There are always good quotes there and things to make you think and help you remember what to do to make family life THAT much better.

Today's really touched me:

‘Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it’ (Eph. 5:25). With that kind of love, brethren, we will be better husbands and fathers, more loving and spiritual leaders. Happiness at home is most likely to be achieved when practices there are founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ (see Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). Ours is the responsibility to ensure that we have family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Ours is the responsibility to prepare our children to receive the ordinances of salvation and exaltation and the blessings promised to tithe payers. Ours is the privilege to bestow priesthood blessings of healing, comfort, and direction."

I just am so grateful for my husband. He is truly my best friend and is a wonderful caretaker for our family. He:

• Loves me and shows me everyday
• Loves and adores his little girl and is so gentle and fun with her
• Goes to school every day to learn and get an education
• Then comes home and does homework all through the night--often till 1 or 2 in the morning
• Works 3 jobs ... because he enjoys it!
• Is enthusiastic about spending time with family (immediate and extended).
• Loves to humor me when I'm being naive or girly.
• Is ambitious and ready for any adventure/challenge that arises.
• Still loves me in spite of my shortcomings.
• Holds the priesthood worthily and is a wonderful leader in our home.
• Believes in Jesus Christ and lives by His teachings.
  

These are just some of the many reasons I love him and I'm so grateful for him! What a wonderful blessing it is to have a righteous priesthood holder in our home.

Kamryn's Blog

Kamryn Now

Newborn Kamryn

I decided to just make Kamryn's blog open now!

So, for those of you who like to check mine, feel free to check hers as well.

Click on Kamryn to go to her blog!

Kamryn's Quirks

Last week I "tagged" Kamryn to post her "quirks".

They're up on her blog now just for those of you who check her blog!

My little girl is getting SO big!!

(pictures to come)

Baby Comparison!

My friend did a scrapbook page comparing her and her husband to their little boy. I decided to do it too! I want to do it again with better younger pictures of me and Ryan but this is what I had on our computer right now!


Round Seamons head...similar Moe smile! :)

Love her like crazy! :)

I miss my blog!

I have been checking blogs all week ... but just realized that I never had enough time to actually post! Sad day! How did I go a whole week??!


WELL.... I'm back! And I'll post more about our crazy week later! :)

Quirky Tag!

I've been tagged by my cousin, Ang! (You have some really weird quirks!! :) But I expected it!!) :) love ya!

The Rules:

• Link the person(s) who tagged you.

• Mention the rules on your blog.

• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.

• Tag some fellow bloggers by linking them.

• Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged!

So...now...my 6 quirks:

1. I have to sleep with MY pillows! (Keeping with the sleep theme Ang!) Ryan bought me some nice Marriott hotel pillows for Christmas last year, and I don't go ANYWHERE overnight without them! They go to my parents when we sleep over there, they go on every vacation...and they went to the hospital when I had Kamryn.

2. I can't STAND water running down my face! When I shower, I never get my face close to the water so that it gets sprayed! I'm okay with splashing water on my face...from my hands into my face...but lots of water just running down or getting in my eyes---I can't stand it! Ryan thinks I'm very weird because of this!

3. I have to always have a HAIR-TIE on my wrist ready at any and every moment that my hair is driving me CRAZY!! I may start out the day with my hair done and looking good--but usually by the end of the day it is up in a bun or ponytail--and when that hair is in the way, a hair-tie MUST be available!! :) (They always fall out of my hair while I'm sleeping---so I often spend 3 minutes every morning looking for them in my bed!)

4. I can't sleep with socks on my feet, so I have this annoying (Ryan thinks) habit of taking off my socks with my feet and then leaving them in the covers! Sometimes, when it is cold at night, I go to sleep with socks on, but in the morning I have bare feet! I just have to get better at checking the bottom of the covers everytime I do laundry! :) (Not that they're really dirty--usually it's a NEW pair of socks before I go to sleep if my feet are cold!)

5. I have always had a bad habit of biting my nails---it's not just a nervous habit but it happens when I'm bored or when I need something to do with my hands. Kinda gross--and I wish I could stop---but I've never gone longer than a month and then I'm back to it again. BUT the quirky part of it is also when I DON'T bite my nails for a while, I'll go get fake acryllic nails on (which I LOVE) as a reward. It's good because I can't bite---but then I annoy Ryan to no end by tapping them together or on any hard surface that is around! I love it---but others around me...not so much!

6. When I'm holding the baby, or moving her to a different position, or carrying her around and she doesn't need her BINKIE I hold it in my mouth (on the handle side) so that it doesn't fall on the floor, I don't touch it with my germy hands (on the nipple side), and I don't lose it! I've never thought of this being weird, but others in public have looked at me funny. AND I will admit that there have been times that I've almost put it in my mouth backwards! (But I still haven't...just almost!)

This was actually a fun tag! Thanks Ang!
I tag: Mom, Kelsey, Kamryn, Danielle, Ashley, Nicole, Shannon, Darla, and Mandi. Can't wait to hear the fun quirks you come up with! :) (It's harder than you think!) :)

Park City Baby!

For UEA weekend my family decided to go to Park City and stay at one of their Marriott Condos up there for a few days. Ryan and I were able to go up and take a mini vacation for Thursday night through Saturday morning. It was SO fun! We played a lot of games, a lot of Wii, and just relaxed!! It was great.The favorite game that we ALWAYS play with my family is a face card game called Fools' Bridge. We used to play this game all of the time with my Grandpa Burdett because it was the ONLY game he would play. Then after he passed away in 2004, we didn't play nearly as much anymore...maybe here and there. Then last year after Ryan and I got married, we introduced the game to Ryan, and suddenly we play a LOT more again! :) I think Ryan enjoys it so much because he and my mom tend to have a rivalry going each time they play! :)

Even Kamryn plays with us now! (She's fascinated by the cards for some reason...guess she can just see the distinct colors with red, black and white, huh?!!?) :)


Even on vacation, we try to keep the same bedtime routine for the baby. This involves bathtime and because she can't sit up by herself quite yet--we take the bathtub with us! It became the main event of the night! :) Everyone wanted to help bathe her! Who knew that bathtime could involve so many people!

And the BEST part of the weekend was that Kamryn went swimming for the first time!! :) It was so cute and so fun to see her in the pool with all of us! We figured she'd like it since she loves the bath so much!


I'm not so sure about this... I can't touch anything underneath me.... I just kinda float!


Maybe it's not so bad....

Swimming is fun! I can do this! Kicking and Splashing all I want! :)


And one thing that is SO good about her is that she doesn't mind water in her face! Doesn't even flinch! :) We have a little swimmer! :)

Blogging, Commenting, etc.

So I've discovered lately that one of my favorite pasttimes is checking my blog and reading comments from others! I LOVE hearing from other people---and it feels good to know someone else cares about what is going on in my life.

So, I've also made a point to be good at commenting on others' blogs because if I love it SO much, they have got to love it too!! And I like to let others know that I really am interested in everything they are saying and that I AM keeping up on their lives and that I AM reading and enjoying it!

I love blogging! A lot of people I know say "It takes too much time" or "How do you have time or energy to check everyone else's?" but I think they are crazy! It takes just 5 minutes to check others and maybe 2 more seconds to leave a comment! So just do it! :)

AND it is motivating to post on your OWN blog because it is like scrapbooking and journaling at the SAME TIME!! Now...I don't know about you, but I jump at any opportunity I have to multitask! :) AND I have found I am even more motivated when people comment as well!

Blogging really is the greatest latest invention! :) just love it! Thanks for blogging with me everyone! :)

Oh what a Beautiful Morning!

Kamryn slept through the night!! :) I haven't felt so rested in months! yahoo!! :)

We fed at 10:30 last night, took a good long bath, and then went to sleep at about 11:30. Didn't wake up again till 6:30, ate and went right back to sleep till about 10...when mom had to WAKE her up!! :) 8 hours without eating and 7 hours of sleeping plus 3 more hours of sleeping! I call that pretty good!!

I know I shouldn't expect it again...or get my hopes up quite yet...but I'm just so happy this morning! :)

One night is sometimes all you need! :)

Anyway, hope you all are having a fabulous day as well!

Mommy of.... 6???

So, this week was quite the week and Ryan and I are glad it is over. It wasn't bad, just very crazy and busy and full! Today has been a wonderful day to rest and rejuvenate!

Wednesday through Saturday of this week, Ryan and I watched some of our friends' kids for a few days while they went out of town for their anniversary. So, we got to be parents to 6 kids this week! (Including Kamryn)! It was very exciting...very busy...but I'm proud to say I still want more kids someday so we're good! :)

It wasn't actually that tough because they have a 17 year old, a 14 year old, twins who are 12 and a 3 year old. We watched them last year at this same time, but I was a little more worried this year because I'm still getting up in the night with Kamryn and what was it going to be like with a 3 year old and a 2 month old (and a 12 year old with down syndrome--mostly functional but not cognitively age 12.) We ended up having a great few days!



Karlee(12) and Sydney(4) and Kamryn

Karlee loved Kamryn and would get on the floor and talk to her. This time Kamryn "talked" back a lot--almost like they were having a conversation! It was too cute!











Sydney didn't go near the baby as much as I thought she would. By Friday she was comfortable to share her toys and sorta smile or talk to Kamryn! This was great because Kamryn had something more exciting to watch for tummy time! :)


Kaylee LOVES babies! She just adored Kamryn and wanted to help with everything! :) She saw me holding Kamryn, saw a dirty diaper I hadn't thrown away yet, went into the other room and came back with a clean diaper to put on the baby. She knew that's what the baby needed. (even though I had already changed Kamryn and Kaylee couldn't see the diaper on her already!) Cute! She was so fun to watch with Kamryn.

And now our week is over---back to real life! I really did enjoy being around these great kids and I loved living in a real house for a few days! (Something about a one bedroom apartment just gets kinda blah sometimes!!) But the best part is that We can handle more than one child! :) hmm...someday!

Eric's call photos

Here's the video and photos...finally! :)




And pictures!


So many people at my parents' house. Eric has so many people who love and support him!

Aunts, Uncles, cousins, friends, friends of siblings, etc.



The back of his envelope--everyone got to guess a country and a state.


7 people won and got candy bars from my mom! :)







So proud of him!

Just to show you the idea of where he's going to be serving!

Mission call and other stuff

So, we all went to my parents' house last night to see Eric open his mission call. He was called to the Brazil Salvador Mission speaking Portuguese. He reports to the Brazil MTC on January 21st. We're SO excited for him! :)

I have pictures of everyone who was there (It was a VERY full house) and I have a video of him opening his call-- BUT unfortunately I'll have to post them later because I don't have the camera with me right now to upload everything off of it! So... get excited for them later!

Also--something else exciting is my cousin Nikki also got her mission call yesterday! Kiev, Ukraine and she reports to the MTC on Jan. 28th! We're all very excited for her as well!

ok...

I also wanted to post some fun pictures of Kamryn--I have to! :) She's just so cute!

Picture with Grandma Linda

And Grandpa Kent--brainwashing her to love BYU football already! :)

(She was very attentive already!!)

Mission call!

Eric's call came in the mail today!! (My little brother)

We aren't opening it till 9:30 tonight though so.... I'll let you know where he's going when we find out!!  I'm so excited! :)

Blog Header

I just wanted to do a post about the picture in our header because it is amazing to me what technology can do.

We have a friend who her and her husband just adopted a little baby girl earlier this year. They went to a studio and got portraits taken, and one of them was SO precious. The dad had the naked baby snuggled against his chest, and mom was cuddled in with them but behind baby and then mom was kissing baby and dad was kissing mom. It was so so cool .... so the other night my mom and dad and Ryan and I tried to recreate it.

Well, Kamryn is a little older now than that baby was and is so "intense" that she wouldn't cuddle up to dad very well. (I should post some of the funny shots we got!---Maybe next time I'm on my computer...I'm at work right now) Anyway we decided to do another pose--one where she could cuddle with mom as much as possible--this was the best we could do! It turned out pretty cute!

Then, Ryan found a tutorial online to make photos professionally sepia on photoshop and did it in about 15 minutes!

AND I had really yucky hair that night--lots of wispys--he photoshopped them out! (Thank heaven!) :)

And then last night I had fun while he was at work, decorating it up for a blog header!

And Tada!
(Isn't technology awesome!?! 2 days without professionals and we got this!) :)

I love it. I have always loved sepia pictures--they kinda remind me of "country" stuff--ya know?! Country love, cowboys, etc. Ahh..so romantic! :) It really does give me a warm fuzzy feeling when I look at it though---it's so me.

Anyway, now I just need to create the perfect background for us. Any ideas from you creative people out there, let me know! :)

The Girls

This weekend our whole family was together for conference on Sunday! After both sessions, we went out in the backyard to take pictures of all the girls! Turned out pretty good! :)

4 generations in here! wow

Birthday Dinner

Ryan's Aunt Darla's birthday is on September 28th, so now we share our birthday dinner when Ryan's family wants to go out and celebrate! It's a lot of fun. This year we went to La Vigna (an Italian Restaurant in American Fork). It was fun to spend the night with his family. Kamryn was there this year and was asleep most of the meal, but woke up just a little bit too early!

Later that night we went back to the Seamons' house and watched the BYU vs. USU game. Very intense! I also had an internal conflict because I was raised BYU ... but USU is my school! So I was just happy for whoever had the ball! (But of course kept somewhat quiet around avid BYU fans!! :) jk) I can't say I'm that much of a football fan anyway...

But I was proud of USU for doing pretty well, but happy BYU didn't lose their streak of being undefeated. So everyone came out alright! :)

Re-decorating...

I have recently had the desire to decorate our front room and make it more "home-y" than just a student apartment! (Even though that is totally what it is!!) :)

My mom bought me slipcovers for our couches for my birthday and they FINALLY came last Thursday! Yay! :)

I decided to use blue, cream and brown/tan in the living room because our black and white picture of Mt. Timpanogos temple on the wall is mounted with those colors.

After I put the slipcovers on, the yellow pillow also looked good on there...so I think yellow may be added into our color scheme as well! (I've always loved blue and yellow together!) :)

Now I need to get some shelves up and curtains...we'll see how long that takes! :) Maybe our next house... :( (because unfortunately we still have a student budget, despite what I want to do with our house!) :)

BYU Baby

Crystal, and Priscilla, some girls at Ryan's work bought her this shirt.
Our official collection of BYU paraphernalia has begun now! :)

Thanks girls!

they also got her a BYU bib, but we didn't want to cover up the shirt last night! :)