A Great Mother And Wife

For those of you who know Heather, this will come as no surprise. I wanted to share a few of the many great things she has done for our family over the years:

1- She always puts other first (she is usually the last to eat dinner, and the first to help clean it up). She likes to make quilts, hats and other things for poor and distressed people.

2- Humility and Kindness describe her character. She never brags about herself... The focus of her words is always towards others.

3- She knows how to make the best of a bad situation. And, we've been through a few these past couple of years.

4- She is beautiful in many ways (this is where she would want me to focus on her spiritual beauty! So, I will...). She reads, prays and lives the gospel of Jesus Christ every day. And, it has really been an inspiration to us all. As a side note, she does have the most incredible blue eyes :)...

5- Her favorite activity is being a mother. I'm personally glad that she has chosen to stay at home. Not just because she's a much better cook than I, but because having her home really makes our house a "home".

6- She knows how to have fun. And reminds us all to "Turn off the TV and read a good book" more often...

7- Recently, she's helped us all to remember the importance of the Temple. She's set a goal for us to try and attend once a week. I hope we can do it...

So, thanks Heather/Mom for all you have done for our family! We love you very much...

Love,

John, Allison, Rebecca, Tommy (and Matthew)

'Tis the season for.... babies!

Our family has been blessed, blessed, blessed with so many babies this last week! These are my two new little nieces, Mataya and Jane. Mataya was born on June 4 and is my sister Lindsay's baby. Little Jane below was born June 8 and belongs to John's sister, Mary. We love them so much! We also both had cousins that had babies on the 8th and the 9th of June. Welcome to all these little sweet ones! Congratulations to their families!

The President's Club

So, I realized that I brag on my children a lot on this blog, and John misses out a little bit. He will probably make me delete this when he sees it, so hopefully many will see it before then!

As most of you know, John started a new job at the end of February and he sells commercial cleaning/ janitorial accounts for a company called Jan-Pro. They are currently the #1 growing franchise in America right now! No matter how the economy is, people still need their buildings cleaned! So, John is doing great at it and has had experience in the field. It wasn't his first choice for a job, but this one quickly fell into place for us. We had our own cleaning franchise a few years ago and had chalked up the experience to a big waste of time and money. But, what the Lord tells us is true, all things (especially the hard things) are for our experience and our good! What I'm leading up to is that Jan-Pro released their 2nd quarter sales numbers last week and John was #12 among about 250 sales people! He's in their "President's Club" and is the first one from the Salt Lake Jan-Pro to be in the top twenty- way to go, John! What's in future for him? He's looking to start his MBA soon, and eventually get a Doctorate degree so he can teach business at the college level. We'll just be cheering him on!

Say it isn't so!

So, my daughters brought back these certificates from school and the principal there is telling me that Allison is being advanced to the 6th grade and Rebecca has advanced to the 4th grade. WHAT? How can it be true? These numbers seem unreal to me. Does every mother go through denial at the end of the school year?

RYAN SUNDAY NEWS

The nice thing about Sunday is the free time! Allison used hers to write the Ryan Sunday News. I thought it was pretty funny and wanted to share:

New Yarn Record

Allison Ryan has been working on a crocheting rope for two days, and it is 10 ft. 3 in. today!

Lego Mania

Allison, Becca, and Tommy Ryan have been building lego houses, cars, people, etc. the last 2 days. Come see pink, yellow, blue, white, gray and black cars, houses, beds, food, cups, doors, tables, and more lego creations!

Short Skirt

Oh, no! Becca Ryan has grown out of a really cute green and blue skirt! What will she do?

Too Many Treats

Tommy Ryan has had too many treats! Will an orange save the day?

This summer's productions

Yes, the Ryan girls are at it again.... back to drama (the real kind, you know, on stage... not just Becca trying to pick out an outfit). June will be Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat month and August will be the Suncrest's '3 Nephi pageant' month. We love the stage! If you haven't received info and want some, let me know! I'll send dates over e-mail.

Our girls are super excited to be a part of Naphtali's and Naphtali's wife's family. You may recognize them as Captain Von Trapp and the pregnant nun (!) from last year! Thanks for letting my girls join your family!

"Big Fancy Dude"

...is Tommy's new nickname for his Daddy.

We are honestly not sure where this one came from!

Mother's Day gifts

Our children are so blessed to have all 6 of their grandmas in their lives. That's right... all 6 grandmothers, 4 greats and 2 grands! In honor of these amazing women that made our family what it is today, we recognize the many gifts they've given to us. Happy Mother's Day to all!

Grammy

my father's mother

Thank you for your gifts of example: perserverance, faith, love of babies, love of treats!

Grandma Blackwell
my mother
Thank you for your gifts of example: hard work, willingness to serve, determination, love.

Great- grandma Ryan

John's father's mother

Thank you for your gifts of example: generosity, kindness, being soft-spoken, fun toys from the generations to play with at your house!

G.G.

My mother's mother

Thank you for your gifts of example: fun, fun, fun! Sharing with us your talents of crocheting, sewing, gardening.

Great-grandma Plewe

John's mother's mother

Thank you for your gifts of example: sense of humor, easy-going, hard worker, love of family.

Grama Ryan
John's mother
Thank you for your gifts of example: service, hard work, artist, awareness of color and style, willingness to share.


We love you all so much, grandmothers! We literally would not be here without you. Oh... and all these grandmothers are awesome cooks! We cannot thank you enough for your many, many gifts to us.

Who are these kids?

Yay! Our computer is back... I can blog again! These pictures are from my kids' spring break week. I knew we wouldn't have a car for most of the week, so we had to get creative! We each sponsored a day: Circus Day, Farm Day, Body Day, and Jungle Day. These are from "Body Day", the kids laid down on paper and we traced their bodies. We laughed at how they seem a lot taller than they are and their heads seem smaller than in real life! We also excercised and learned about the different systems of the body. We had a fun week!

The true cost of having a child

My mom sent this to me through e-mail, I love it! And... since our computer died, it's the best post I know how to do right now. Feel free to copy it to yours if you wish!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising
a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00
for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That
doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.
It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171..08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is
don't have children if you want to be
'rich.'
Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kiss es and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said
or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under
refrigerator magnets and collect! spray painted noodle
wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for
Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters
for Father's Day.
For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for
your buck.
You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a
baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream
regardless.
You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added
to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long
list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great
grandchildren.. You get an education in psychology,
nursing, criminal justice, and communications that
no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there
under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo,
scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart,
police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them
without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without
counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the
price!!!!!!!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren
& great-grandchildren !!!!!!!
They are the best investment you'll ever make!

The best part of Easter weekend

There were a lot of sweet surprises this Easter holiday!

Easter egg hunts, easter treats, sweet easter kids!

Tommy exclaiming, "________or _______!" when he got his Easter eggs. Can you guess? It's on the video and really cracked us up! (Believe it or not, pun not intended!)

Mmmm.... sweet imported chocolates and "biscuits" (cookies) from England! Ahh.... Lindt, Cadbury and Galaxy! All my weaknesses in one box! Thanks to a very sweet mission companion.

Baby shower gifts for my sister Lindsay. She's expecting a girl! Yay for pink, flowers, bows, tutus and all that fluffy stuff.


But the sweetest part of our Easter weekend was watching this sweet baby girl being sealed to her Mom and Dad in the Bountiful temple. There's something about the temple that makes time stand still and reminds you of what life is all about. Here was an amazing couple, being sealed to their amazing little daughter in the House of the Lord. They have been so blessed by our Heavenly Father- He wants ALL His children to enjoy EVERY blessing He has to offer. No matter what our circumstances or where we are today. Thank you, Lexi, for reminding us all!

(Hopefully you can click on this pic to enlarge and see the joy on my parents' faces!)

Coolest. Park. Ever.

These are a few pics from the coolest park in West Jordan. I didn't get a shot of the whole castle/fort structure- you'll have to go and see it for yourself! There is a maze inside and slides coming out of the fort. I've never seen a cooler park. My Relief Society president told me about it, she teaches 2nd grade and they went here for a field trip when the copper mine was closed on April 1st. The address is 78th So. and 1950 W. Your kids will love it! One thing, though, others know that it's cool and it was very crowded! Try to visit on an obscure weekday in the middle of off-track!

Becca's perspective

Becca's view of us watching conference!

A day in the life....

Of me! I keep waiting for a big, exciting event to happen in my life to post about. Instead, I thought I'd show my amazing accomplishments of April 3rd, 2009. Ha ha.

First task: Prepare to share!

My kids have been called upon to share "their" room with some cousins this weekend. I made their room look like this:

I probably should have done a before/after shot, maybe it will be a now/ later shot... when I let the kids in again! Yay! No legos, hairclips, papers, and elastics stuck in every nook and cranny. I love you kids, this is how a clean room is supposed to look! :)
Second task: Take a brownie break. Hey, I've got to keep up my strength! A very nice friend shared this recipe with me, and now we're hooked!

Third task: This!!!!
And this!!! Okay, this pile took me both Wednesday and Friday to complete. Yes, my back and arm are sore! I heard that Al is in town, I wonder if I can ask him when that global warming thing is supposed to kick in? Soon, I hope!! :)

Girl's Night Out- help form a blog chain of love!

This is from my cousin, and I'm reposting on my blog to help get the word out! She's organized this fantastic event for an amazing cause... helping AIDS orpans in Africa... please post on your blog to get the word out! :)

PLEASE:
1) re-post the Girl's Night Out information on your blog front and center.
2) ask ALL of your family and friends to re-post this poster (above) and the event information (with link to http://www.theprombomb.com/) on their blogs as well.
Please! Ask everyone you know to do it. Email everyone you know and ask them to do it. When have you been given and EASIER way to serve!? Let's make a blog chain of love!
We are talking LIVES here people! Every 5 women who walk into our event on Saturday ($5.00 admission) ='s enough formula to keep a baby alive for ONE MONTH! Think of the potential of that child. Think of the WORTH of that soul. Every dime we make will help improve a life. A REAL life. A real child of God who needs us to stop being busy, content, and indifferent.
My Cousin (who just got back from spending a month in Africa) told me about a nine year old girl that they found prostituting herself years ago in the streets of Lusaka. Mothers Without Borders took her in, got her the medical attention she needed, and put her in school. She is 15 now, and the fact is, she has AIDS, and she is going to die. There is nothing that any of us can do to change that, but because of the efforts made by Kathy Headlee and her volunteers at MWB, this girl lives a life of dignity. She lives a life of love. She lives a life where she knows goodness, kindness, and something other than being completely alone in a world that is just waiting to eat her alive. That's something.

If you are interested in volunteering at the event, we would love to have you! (email me)
But please, right now, for the next hour, volunteer yourself to be a promotional/advertising committee member and call, text, email, blog EVERYONE you know! Act like this is for your child, or sister, or mother. Act like this is YOUR project. Act as though lives depend upon it (because, indeed, they do.)