Filling in the gaps (of July)

We wanted to fill in the gaps of my blog with more awesome things we did this last month! We got to hang out with Miss Mataya......

....and meet little Miss Jane.

Tommy used part of his birthday money to buy a "Littlest Pet Shop" for his sick big sister.

4th of July!! John spent a lot of time teaching the kids "monkey in the middle." Kissing the baby goodbye. These are my little nieces- Chloe couldn't get enough of Lexi!

Girls unite! They are so outnumbered by the boys, these girls need to stick together!

Visiting the planetarium before we went our first ever protest. John and I went to the "Tea Party" on Capitol Hill.

Us at the 4th of July Kaysville parade. We like the Davis county crowd!!

We live in such a beautiful area! John and the girls are in Ogden Canyon here, it's so gorgeous!

24th of July- hiking and picnicking at Brighton with the Ryans.....

I'm sorry, we're city people.... oops!

This was our tour guide. We had to feed him lunch first....

Cool little spot in Highland! Next to the city offices, the kids loved it! The river and the rocks were the coolest!

Wet, again! My sister treated us to a free day at Lagoon, courtesy of her stake's tickets. 4 rides, ice cream, splash in the water and a walk around Pioneer Village!

My cute sister Lindsay, taking pictures for her blog!

We weren't counting on this "little" companion to help us pick apricots. Okay, this was a little shock after living in the Salt Lake area for the last 5 years. We stopped at a roadside place that had the sign "APRICOTS" and thought we could just buy them at a table or something. Instead, we met a man sitting in a little shack who told us to grab a bucket, pick the apricots, and oh... the goats really like little girls, they'll probably come with you!

Alrighty... they were a great help, trying to eat them! We were laughing the whole time, and we got 10 pounds of apricots for $6.00! You know me, I love to get a great deal and we made a lot of yummy apricot jam!!

That's almost the end... but not quite. I have to end on a Thomas Ryan quote of the day. Tommy was sent to a time out (for various offenses) and was trying to come out of his room a little too early. When I asked him to close his door and stay in for a while longer, he said, "But Mom, I listened to the Holy Ghost!"

"Oh, and what did the Holy Ghost tell you?"

"He said, 'No more time out!'"

How is a mother supposed to stay mad at this kid?

Do you think...

...my kids have seen too many slapstick cartoons this summer?

Pie

Tommy was the spotlight in Primary on Sunday. When the Primary president asked Tommy what his favorite treat was, he said, "Pie."

"What kind of pie?" she asked.

"Has cream on it," he replied.

Future photographer?

Becca captured these photos of some of our roses, we thought they turned out pretty gorgeous!

Summer dos and don'ts

1. DO go to 3D movies in the summer, looking extra cool- even if you have to sit on the booster.

2. DO this! This is the best slip 'n slide our family has ever had. Made from leftover construction plastic.

3. DO join your local activity days chapter. One leader here has a boat, the other a pool. Can you guess what these girls have been doing for their activities?

4. DO go camping. This is Ryan camping at its' best. Smores on the bbq and tent in the backyard. Easy, free and minimal dirt.

1. DON'T buy the pool with the "palm tree canopy." It just falls down. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw what someone in our family (I'm not naming names here) tried to do to fix it. Put our water storage tank (obviously an empty one) in there to hold it up! This little baby went back to the store.

2. DON'T miss out on the last free day at the Treehouse Museum! Really, Ogden is not that far away! :) Last free day is August 1, come up and visit us and this cool museum! You get in for free, then they give you tickets when you leave to come back for free again! That fits right in with my budget.

Allison's Primary Talk

How FHE strengthens my family
Good morning. I am glad to share a talk with you, because this may be my first and last before I go to Young Women this September. I have been asked to give a talk on, ‘How Family Home Evening strengthens my family’. My mom and dad have done and are doing their very best to teach us well on Monday nights. Our last lesson was, instead of learning about someone in the scriptures, we talked about manners. How to not whine our pout, how to accept a “No,” for an answer, and manners at the table. I have learned a lot from FHE, and I hope you learn as much as me. I love how we can learn so much, just by talking with our family about church things once a week. Even in the last few weeks, I have learned things that I never knew in my whole life. It also helps not only me, but the rest of my family. My sister, Rebecca, and my brother, Tommy, have learned a lot of things. Don’t just think about the things you learn in Family Home Evening. Do them. Use your knowledge from your family meetings and try to use them. I have learned to do that….. The hard way. I got in trouble by not doing the things, but just listening to them. Try to use the information from your FHE, and then use it in real life. I’m glad we have Family Home Evening because it gives us an opportunity to learn more things every week, or every day. Try to do these things, and you will become a better person. I think of the quote from President Gordon B. Hinkley, “Try a little harder, to be a little better.” Remind your family to have family scripture study and family prayer. It will help you to become a great, strong member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I’m grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you will do these things and become wonderful Women and Men. And I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Allison Ryan
Talk July 19, 2009
Written: July 12

Tommy's quote of the day

Today he was talking about how things will be when he grows up. He said to his Dad, "You're going to be little and I'm going to marry her." (points at me) We can't get enough of this little character!

Please donate a dollar!

I wanted to post this for some friends from high school. Click their link(s) to read Bryce's story. He is desperately fighting cancer. Even if you can only donate a dollar, they will really appreciate it! Thanks everyone!

http://brycejenkins.chipin.com/help-bryce-fight-cancer

http://serveutah.blogspot.com/2009/07/he-has-too-many-babies.html

Patriotism

John and I were asked to speak in our ward's sacrament meeting today. I wanted to share some of the thoughts on patriotism gleaned from the prophets that we used today:

I spoke of the early Saints in Salt Lake City and how they celebrated on July 24, 1849. President Packer told their story in Oct. General Conference 2008. After all the heartache the Saints had been through, they selected patriotism as their theme.

"They built a bowery on Temple Square. They erected a flagpole 104 feet tall. They made an enormous national flag 65 feet in length and unfurled it at the top of this liberty pole.
It may seem puzzling, incredible almost beyond belief, that for the theme of this first celebration they chose patriotism and loyalty to that same government which had rejected and failed to assist them. What could they have been thinking of? If you can understand why, you will understand the power of the teachings of Christ."

John found an awesome talk by Elder L. Tom Perry who also quotes some other prophets:

"First from Brigham Young, second president of the Church: 'Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, ‘The time will come when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.’ It will be so.'

Now another witness, John Taylor, third president of the Church: 'When the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States, the elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth, and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men, and extending the hand of fellowship to the oppressed of all nations.'

It is America’s conscience that has preserved her. America is beautiful only when she is good, when children are laughing in her streets, and love abounds in her families. Without this conscience, civilization crumbles, as it has before on this continent. We are all part of America’s future. Our job is to remember the lessons of the past, to patch up the mistakes and the sins of everything that has gone before. The place to start is within our own families."

So, I'm thinking we have a lot of work to do! I love to hear the promises and prophecies, it brings so much peace in a world that is turned upside down!

After John finished speaking for 25 minutes, Tommy told him, "You talk too much. You talk WAY too much!"

Tommy's birthday... continued!

I know you all wanted to hear more about his birthday! And, apologies to all the cousins out there. I kept dragging my feet about organizing a real party and now I know why! Becca came home with a very high fever after we went swimming on Tommy's birthday. So, we'll just celebrate again next time we see you! Above is Tommy finding all his Marvel heroes that he's been dreaming about! Doc Ock, Incredible Hulk, Captain America, etc. Thanks to KSL.com we got a great deal!

I love this shot! We went to the wave pool in Layton and had so much fun! We found out that the pool near our home is private, so you need to buy a membership, and if you don't have that, it costs $8-$10 per person to swim there. I guess we'll be driving to the pool this summer! And, in case you didn't hear, John bought a cheap little work car for himself, so we're back in a vehicle! Yeah! Could things get any better?


Daddy doing his thing- flipping and throwing the girls in the water. They love it!


Birthday cake time! Isn't it fabulous? Thanks goes to Wal-mart bakery :-( My oven has a gas leak and so we've not been able to use it for about a week. John got this cake for Tommy and even bought a green tube of icing to write his name on it. What a great dad!

Happy Birthday Tommy!

My baby boy turned five today, I guess I can't call him a baby anymore? I love the picture tributes a lot of you moms out there do for your child's birthday, thanks for the idea! It makes you realize how quickly they grow up!

Here's a couple of pics from the present day. Above, Tommy is "walking on Mars" with Rebecca at the Planetarium and below Tommy is showing off his new Spiderman suit- a new birthday present! Tommy is finished with pirates and can't get enough of Spiderman now! He really made me laugh when he put this cute suit on, it can double as a Halloween costume this year!

Tiny boy home from the hospital.

9 months old, we laugh at how his teeth came in with such a wide gap but gradually moved closer!

Father's Day 2005 with Grandma and Grandpa Ryan

14 months old

Halloween right after we moved to Melody Creek Circle-our favorite neighborhood in Riverton!

Tommy with his 2004 "boys" a.k.a. cousins, Beau and Parker

2 years old

We love you Tommy! You are such a special son and you have taught us so much!

Before

So, John and I are sick of painting.... really, we are. Hard to believe, I know, because we've painted almost every home we've lived in and that's a lot! And although our new home is almost perfect in every way, THIS...... had to go!

Do you agree? Hee hee, the green was a bit of a shock, so we changed it to this:

Another little item that needed some attention:

Yikes! It took John and I an afternoon to complete the "after" shot of the kitchen, it's going to take a little bit longer before we get the backyard done. Above you can see Allison working on filling up a box full of weeds. I keep trying to convince my children that they are the lucky ones- they do not have parents that have enough money to hire out yardwork, housework, etc. They get to learn to work! Yes, they grumble and groan, but they are learning! Becca is starting to figure out that the faster you work, the faster you are done! Yipee! We are making progress!

And, this is my little garden box. It used to be Rebecca's bookcase, but it's seen one too many moves and cracked this last one. Thanks, Becca for an easy garden! The little box on the left is made from her shelves.

Photo catch-up

Here's a few photos pre-camera taking a dip in the Barbie "hot tub." Above is the kids at the splash park near our home.
Father's Day- you can't tell that the kids were just a little bit excited about the gifts they got for their Dad!

Packing, anyone? I wish I could be a little more carefree about it like these three! Allison took a break to write "backwards notes" to everyone- just read them in the mirror!

Or... you could dress up like a "bad guy"- John is really not going to like this picture being posted. I promise he did it all on his own! I think the "bad guy" he's thinking of is maybe the granny from Word Girl?

Or, turn a #10 can and a broom into a beautiful princess. These kids certainly keep me on my toes!!

Our new home!