Thriller

Rebecca insisted on being a "zombie" for Halloween and this is why: Thriller!


She loved learning the dance, performing the dance and acting extra scary. This is a new development from our cute little "princess" girl. :)

P.S. Rebecca is the one in green.

Our Trip to Gardner Village

{Please note: This blog has a new author (at least for awhile)- it's Allison! She needs some hours toward her family history personal progress awards and Mom is going crazy blogging for fun work. Enjoy!}

Our family just took a trip to Gardner Village on Thursday, we had a blast! We traveled on "Ride to a Witch" which ended up being only $1.00 per person! Who-hoo!

The witch, Bitsy, gave us a tour of their house. Here's their kitchen (with cockroach stew cooking in the kettle.).

We got to see all the witches around traditional Gardner Village, we come here every year (except when were in Texas) to see them.

Goin' on down to "Cricket Hollow Swamp"!

She's 14

She requested crepes for breakfast: scrambled eggs w/ ham & cheese and another with strawberries & cream.


Gateway activities for age 14 at the Ryans: makeup and dangling earrings. She couldn't wait! (These first 3 are "before" makeup pictures.)


We got to eat out in SLC, go to the circus and have a friend party this year. She has lots of fun friends that she loves!


This is after. (She took it easy with the makeup.) She's a joy in our family! She's taking musical theatre, drama, and dance this semester at school, so she is in heaven. We love you Allison!

Thomas & his new ride

So I was finally determined that Thomas get a real bike. One that fits him and works! We went to the D.I. a couple of months ago and picked out a nice sized bike (don't tell- it was a girls bike....) for $5. (He's just showing off an "owie" in the pic above.)

We took off the girl stickers and started to work on the broken tire. Well, if you know my John, he knows how to do everything and fix everything and he's a really handy guy to have around. If something is broken, I just wait for John to come home and save the day. Phew! Well, something finally clicked and we realized there is one thing that John has a hard time fixing: bike tires.

When my friend down the street asked if Becca could watch her dog while they went on a weekend vacation, I took notice of their nice motorcycle, bikes, etc. and asked if her husband could fix up our bikes (all 3 in disrepair) in exchange for the dog watching. They said yes!


So Thomas got his bike and the girls could ride theirs again, too. It's changed our world quite a bit. (This also occurred a few months ago, I'm a bit behind on our family history here.) Thomas is always wanting to ride his bike- wow, he loves it!

Oh, we had another kind neighbor that designed for OGIO add some stickers and new wheels to Tommy's bike- all as a surprise! Needless to say, we love our neighborhood. :)

The girls shot this video of the dirt bike action Thomas has been getting in on lately. I finally went with him yesterday on this rather steep area and it was super fun! (This is just down the street from us... where our neighborhood ends....)

First Day

2nd, 6th and 8th Grades- Here they come!


.... and there they go! Thomas was the first one ready and the first one out the door. (He's leaving Rebecca in the dust here on the way to the bus stop.)

Rebecca is 11!

Rebecca's 11th birthday is today! She is growing into a beautiful young lady and we could not be more proud. Here are some memories of Rebecca and her Mom only cried a little putting them together. HAPPY BIRTHDAY REBECCA! WE LOVE YOU SO!


(Our tiny baby- only 6 lbs. 11 oz. at birth.)









































More memories of Rebecca: (I'm loving the fact that we now have 3 years of blog posts for our family- yay for keeping a family history!)

House Rules by Rebecca

Rebecca's Baptism

Becca's plans at the Second Coming

3 Craft Projects= 3 pairs of scissors

Rebecca and the pythons

Googly Eyes

Becca's Tips for Mothers

Life Lessons

Thomas after dinner tonight: "My teacher said that if you pray to Heavenly Father, you will get what you want. But I prayed to Heavenly Father for a Millennium Falcon and Jesus didn't give it to me!"

Flower Power

Thanks, Linds for this picture!
So, Grandma B. called and asked if Rebecca could help her come up with an idea for the 24th float for Marysvale parade. This is what she dreamed up. (And Grandma made it happen.) The theme was about a walk back through time, or something like that.....

So, she broke out her hippie costume from Halloween, Grandma and Grandpa ordered a disco ball and there you go! All the cousins wore glittery "disco hats" and threw Otter Pops out of the back of Grandpa's truck while 70's disco music was blasting. Haha! The sign on the side of the truck says, "Peace, Love, Popsicles" :)

Rebecca sold pop and water at the celebration that day and wanted to buy the disco ball from Grandpa. She negotiated until Grandpa sold it to her for the grand total of $2.00. She was ecstatic. We took it home, rigged it up with the lights and all and had a disco party for our Family Home Evening activity. She is in heaven.



It's hard to tell in this video, but she even decorated her bottle rocket for the Pack Meeting (I'm a leader, so my kids got to join in!) and the leaders called hers "Flower Power."

And, what is the top item she would like for her birthday this year?? You guessed it.... a lava lamp.

I'll admit it.... I really wanted this!

So last Monday, my aunt Natalie (the super cool aunt that we always tell you about... she's in the Tabernacle Choir....) left a msg. on Facebook saying she needed my phone # ASAP. I sent it over and the next thing I know my phone rings with a call from someone I don't know, but they say they are from KSL and do I use coupons??? Um... yes! And could they come over and talk to me in 45 minutes.... um, yes!!!

The KSL reporter and my aunt are both in the choir & Nkoyo (reporter) put a msg. out asking if anyone knew an "extreme couponer." So, that's how this whole thing came about. In case you missed the interview, you can view it here: Extreme Couponing Craze. There's tons of comments, but I don't think it's about anything I said. (I haven't read all of them yet.) Everyone is all fired up about the Extreme Couponing show from TLC. (Funny thing, I've never even seen an episode.)



So, this was a great thing for my little business and brought over lots of new readers. Which by the way may be visited any time day or night- any visits are appreciated!

Something you may not know is that my website has been a lifesaver for us financially as we ride the roller coaster of employment/unemployment these last couple of years. I earn small commissions every time you print a coupon through my site, buy a Groupon, or order anything from Amazon through a link on my site. If you use any of these websites, I welcome you to find a link on my site and click before you buy! Our family really appreciates your support. And... if there is another retailer (Barnes & Noble, Sears, any photo company) you purchase from, chances are I am affiliated with them as well. Just ask and I can send over a link. I'm posting this because my cute sister is no longer blogging (she is selling some fabulous feather earrings and such, though!) and so I'm not worried about stepping on toes. Plus, my own mom just learned I'm an Amazon affiliate- I guess I just need to let people know.

Oh, and if anyone has an inkling to help out with an upcoming Utah Food Bank Drive, I'd LOVE it! I need volunteers to be willing to have drop-off stations at their houses and if you're able, I'd also love to have you come down to the Energy Solutions Arena on August 8th. Anyhow, you can read about the Utah Food Bank Drive over here. Oh, you could get some free Barnum & Bailey Circus tickets out of it, too- always a bonus!!

Thanks for reading this whole thing, if you can't tell I'm super excited that this little site is finally getting off the ground. My dream is to only run my site and quit my side jobs helping other people with theirs.... hooray, that will be a great day!

Thomas turns SEVEN

This is Thomas at Midnight on his birthday! We probably overdid the weekend just a bit- but it was so much fun. I saved up a bunch of deal vouchers and we decided to splurge and use them all up for this cute boy of ours. Hollywood Connection, Salt Lake Jazz Festival (where we met the Jets), and Xtreme Air Sports in Provo. Wow. Plus party with family on Sunday. Happy 7th Birthday Thomas! We love you SO much!