Christmas 2008

We seem to be having a trend of "memorable" Christmas's and this one was no different. Three our of our last 6 Christmas's have been spent in what I affectionately refer to as "limbo-land." We seem to always be finding ourselves living in transit or in temporary situations around the holidays. Every time this happens, I make Ryan swear to me we will not move in the fall ever again. But, some things are out of our control. We make the most of it though. It is hard being without our stuff and our own decorations but this year, we did things Charlie Brown style. The majority of our tree decorations are homemade. We had popcorn string as well as fruit loop string. There were homemade snowflakes and other decorations. It was fun making them together as a family. The kids attention span did not last long enough to even decorate 2 feet of tree but Ryan and I had a good time finishing them up on our own. The kids fell right to sleep while we were up late Christmas Eve night putting together things for Santa. It was challenging putting toys together while getting yelled at and the walls pounded on by the neighbors for being too noisy. Ahh, the joys of apartment life.

The kids were a bit spoiled by their grandparents. The major gifts they got from us was a Nintendo DS for Kutter and a Princess car for Payton. Payton was disappointed it was not the Barbie car. (The princess car was on special for $100 cheaper) We tried to convince her that it was a princess car for a princess. She bought it, for now. Santa brought Kutter some Star Wars stuffed animals while he brought Payton some Barbie dolls and accessories. (I have officially become a sell-out) Maggie got a few fun toys which she loved all of them. She is the first of our kids that actually played with the toys at Christmas instead of the boxes or wrapping paper.

Ryan was spoiled with a new TV for the apartment. We were going NUTSO without one. He actually got that present about a week early. He also got an iPod so we could get all his lame-o songs off mine. Ha ha ha. He spoiled me with a new Kitchen Aide mixer since mine was "lost" on our last move. I also got a pair of much wanted earrings and some pampering items. He always takes such good care of me.

For Christmas breakfast, we headed over to the Barnes' for some Eggs Benedict. This was my first experience with eggs benedict and I am officially hooked. It was the yummiest stuff ever! We then went home and napped and played with toys. We went back over to the Barnes' for a combined Christmas dinner. We had ham and potatoes and all the fix ens. It was very, very, very tasty.

It is hard being so far away from family and friends at such a significant time of year but we made the most of it. All things considered, it was a pretty dang Merry Christmas!!

Franklin Does Christmas!

We were so excited to find out that Kutter's school actually celebrates Christmas! It seems like Christmas is being taken out of so many schools, it was so refreshing to be somewhere that the world has not taken over yet.

The kindergarten put on a little singing program. Kutter was the M. He got to hold it up and say very proudly..."M, is for the Magic of Christmas!" They sang a few Christmas songs that represented the letters of the alphabet. It just reminded Ryan and I of when we were kids and were able to do these little programs. It was such a surreal experience to be the ones there watching our child do the things we remember doing ourselves.

After the singing program, they invited the parents back to the classrooms to make little gingerbread houses with our children. It was so much fun! Let me tell you, the little kindergarten room gets pretty crowded with all the kids and all the parents. The gingerbread houses we made were graham crackers stuck to a mini-milk carton. It was fun to watch Kutter just create with no direction. I like to see how kids minds work. It is also funny to watch him put a candy on the house, then put a candy in his mouth. I am certain he ate more than ended up on the house but it was sure fun. I was so glad Ryan was able to be there and experience this special moment with Kutter as well. I was also glad Kutter's teacher, Ms. Borcher, offered to take a picture of us all together. It is a rarity that both Ryan and I get to be in a picture with our kids at the same time.

Making Gingerbread Houses!

One night, the kids and I decided to make a gingerbread house. You would think that would be no problem since you can buy these kits to make it all easy for you. For a normal person, it would be easy. But you see, I am not normal. I found it very difficult to get the frosting bag cut open, then I could not use it right, and I ended up a mess and the house looked like poopy. But the kids had fun decorating it so I guess that is all that mattered. I realized that I need to let loose a bit more. I was twitching watching my kids put the candy on because they were not putting it where the picture on the box showed it going. It was a difficult thing for me to watch. But it was a fun memory nonetheless. I am quite proud of our family's little creation. Not bad for our first and possibly our last gingerbread house.

This second picture says so much to me. Maggie finally noticed the gingerbread house right in front of her and realized it was within her reach. She goes for it only to be intercepted by her brother. I am just quite impressed at Kutter's ability to hold Maggie, protect the gingerbread house, and smile all at the same time. That's my boy!

I love Payton's little wrinkle nosed smile in this picture. She has some of the most animated facial expressions of anyone I know. You should see the dirty looks she is able to give me. She is very talented!

Kutter's Second 1st Day of Kindergarten

Honey, we are not in Arizona anymore!

Kutter's first day of Kindergarten at Franklin Elementary was on Dec 8, 2008. Let me just say it has taken quite the getting used to for me to have to wake up extra early just to allow enough time to get Kutter's coat, gloves, hat and boots on. Not to mention the fact that my car's are in severe pout mode and will not run for us unless we warm the up for at least 15 minutes before going anywhere. I guess that explains why I am only getting 150 miles to a tank of gas. Whoops! The nice thing about the weather in Iowa, is they cancel school for even the hint of snow. Either that or they do a late start which gives us an extra 2 hours to convince ourselves to get out of bed. The first 10 days of Kutter's start of school, only 2 were full days. The others were either cancelled or late start due to weather. I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoy late start days. But it is funny, even at 10:30am, I am still taking him to school in my P.J.'s. Poor kid!

Now back to Kutter.....Kutter had a great first day. He came home saying he likes being the new kid. For a solid week he begged that we can move more often so he can always be the new kid. He says that everyone has to be nice to the new kid. He did take his new found fame to a new level when he took it upon himself to become the class tattle tale. He felt since he was the new kid and so loved and respected that he must announce every mis-behaviour that happened around the classroom. Kutter is an expert at following the rules (at school anyway), so he just wanted to make sure everyone was as good at following the rules as him. I was a bit mortified by the discovery of Kutter's tattle-tailedness. I would rather my kid be the class clown that the class tattle tale. But when sitting down and discussing things with him, I discovered that he had only the purest of intentions. He really did think it was his job to tell the teacher everything that happened. I guess his teacher, Ms. Borcher, told him on the first day that he should come tell her if anyone is mis-behaving or being mean. I think she meant if they were being mean to him. I am happy that the teacher tried to help Kutter feel comfortable and now I can see how Kutter took this statement so literally instead of the intended purpose of just making him feel comfortable at his new school. He is much better now. In fact, I don't think he tells his teacher anything, even if it is warranted. I guess we need to work on him finding a middle ground.

We are really liking the school here and the education seems to be top notch. Kutter is one of only two LDS kids in the school so that is interesting. It is all quite the adventure!

Kutter's Stats - Age 6

Height: 4 ft 11 1/4 inches

Weight: 53 lbs

Here is a picture of Kutter doing two of his most favorite things in the world: playing DS, and hanging out with his daddy.

Kutter's Real Birthday...Party #3

Kutter's actual 6th birthday was spent in a hotel room. The Holiday Inn Express in LeMars, Iowa. The kids affectionately refer to this place as big Iowa. Ryan tried to make it extra special and decorated the room in the middle of the night. When Kutter woke up, he wanted to have a little photo shoot with his little buddy, Maggie. It was cute! All throughout the day, Kutter kept referring to himself in the 3rd person. But not just by his name, he would refer to himself as the "birthday boy." He would say things like, "the birthday boy is thirsty!" Or "Payton is not being nice to the birthday boy!" It was cracking me up!

Ryan took Kutter on a little outing to the dollar store. He came home with some fun junk (reference the first picture and Ryan's glasses). We got a cake from Wal-mart's bakery. We went to lunch and McDonald's, of course. He wanted to go to McDonald's for dinner too but we had to but the kibosh on that one. My arteries can only handle so much McDonald's in one day. We convinced him to go to Archie's, a local steakhouse. It was most excellent! They made a big deal and special dessert for Kutter so he liked that. All in all, with 3 parties and a full day devoted to attention only on him, I think Kutter had a pretty darn good birthday after all.

Happy Birthday our little man! We love you so much. You bring so much joy to our lives and we are so filled with pride that you are ours. You are one amazing young man!

We're Here!

In case any of you were wondering, we have safely arrived to our destination. I have officially left hell, and arrived in hell frozen over! Ha ha ha. No seriously, my butt has not thawed out since we arrived!!!

Our current residence is a Holiday Inn Express. We found an itty bitty apartment (unfurnished) that we will hopefully move into this weekend. If any of you need gift ideas for me for Christmas, I would recommend gift certificates for massages or chiropractic visits since I am facing weeks of sleeping on the floor. Ouchy!! What a Merry Christmas this is shaping up to be! We miss you all!

Kutter's BD party, #2...Colorado

On our long trek to Iowa from Arizona, we stopped for the night in one of our favorite places on earth, Colorado!!! We stayed at our parents away from our parents house, the Jenkins. They were so excited to see us and had not met Maggie yet. They were very prepared for our arrival and had set up a mini-birthday party for Kutter. Dale picked out a giant cookie and they had it decorated for Kutter. They had plenty of gifts for all the kids. We came away totally outfitted for the upcoming colder climate of Iowa. We are so blessed to have Sharon and Dale in our lives. Our kids are really lucky to have so many people who love them and consider them family. I know and have always known that the reason we went to Colorado was to meet Sharon and Dale. I cannot imagine my life being complete without have them in it.

WWF- The Wright Way

Whenever the Wright family gets together, a wrestling match always seems to erupt between the boys. I say boys because when these guys get into each other's company, they immediately revert back to when they were boys. I have said it since the day we got married, Ryan turns into a 14 year-old every time we walk into his house. He has to be constantly reminded he has a wife and kids. I would be the one to unload the car, take care of the kids, pretty much everything since he was caught in La-La land. I have since started being a bit meaner and have begun nagging him until he helps out. I am sure his family things I am quite the beast but a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do.

I have wandered off the subject, where was I.........okay, I remember. So Thanksgiving was no different. We were staying at John and Stacey's house and everyone had left from a full day of baby blessings and food. I am never sure how these things begin but all I remember is looking down and seeing Ryan on top of John. These things can get out of control so us mom's have to immediately go into protect mode so the kids don't get hit with flying bodies. Here is how the wrestling match usually goes:

Ryan starts the fight

Ryan pretends he is in 7th grade wrestling again and shows off all his moves.

John cannot move......only because he is laughing too hard.

John regains his composure

John throws his weight around and gets on top of Ryan

Ryan gives up immediately

Game over

Since this is my blog and I have to "support" my husband. I have withheld the pictures of Ryan actually losing and only posted the pictures in which it looks like he is dominating the competition. (You're welcome honey, sorry John!)

Babies, Blessings, and Baby Blessings

Our extremely busy and eventful week continued in Logan on November 30th. There have been a lot of babies born into the Wright Clan this past year. Three of which came very recently. Ryan's sister, Kathy, had twins in September and Ryan's brother John, well his wife, had a baby girl in Oct. They were all so kind as to have the baby blessings while we were in town. We were so excited that we got to be there and even more excited that we got to meet these little bundles of joy.

With baby blessings, comes food and we sure had a lot of it. We had a full on meal at Kathy and Todd's house for their blessings and another one at Stacey's house for hers. It was a very tasty day and such a great day to be all together again. We miss our families so much and just relish in the times that we do get to be around each other.

Going on an Adventure!

Before Thanksgiving dinner was served, we sent Kutter and Gage (his cousin that is 2 weeks older than him) out to play. Kutter was dying to play outside, even though it was freezing cold to our Arizona blood. We bundled them the best we could with what we had and sent them on their way. Later, I went to get them for dinner and found that they wandered into a field behind Gage's house and was a good 200 yards away. I had to travel a good distance before they could hear my voice calling their name. They came running back and were so excited to tell me about their adventure. They made me promise they could go on another adventure after dinner. It was a deal!



So dinner was served and before the last bite was swallowed, the boys were harassing us to let them go on their adventure. Seeing the distance they had traveled before, I felt it necessary to send Ryan with them. One thing led to another and somehow all the boys were heading out. Well, all the boys and me and Payton. We probably should have left the princess home (Payton, not me!) because she was cold and miserable in the elements. She demanded to be carried everywhere. I guess that is the proper transportation for a princess!



We were off! I was actually mortified when I discovered where the boys had traveled to earlier in the day. There was a creek with rushing water that they crossed on their own. I had sudden images of one of them falling in so I was glad we all decided to come along this time. The two travel guides took off ahead of us, having their own little expedition. They were throwing rocks, picking up sticks, and hiding in bushes. By the end of the journey, they were filthy, muddy little creatures.....all boy!! It turned out to be a pretty fun, freezing but fun little hike. It definitely made the Thanksgiving Day a memorable one. By the end of the trek, I have never wanted hot chocolate and a hot tubber more in my entire life. Brrrrr!

Thanks boys for taking us on your little adventure!

Maggie's First Thanksgiving

So I failed to get any pictures of Maggie actually eating her first Thanksgiving meal, but Maggie had a very significant day besides the food. This was the first time the majority of Ryan's family had actually met Maggie. Ryan parents and brother, Nate, came down when she was blessed but no one else had met her yet. The most significant introduction for the day came when Maggie met one of her namesake, Ryan's Grandma Wright. Maggie was also named after Sharmae, Ryan's sister. But it was a special moment when Maggie and Grandma Wright met. You see, Grandma Wright never liked me much but I think I finally made great strides in that department when I helped produce a child that carries her name. It does not take much to please that lady, right? I think we had solidified that Maggie was her favorite great-grandchild for about 6-months. Then Kathy had to steal our thunder and have Lanie Mae. Oh well, can't win em' all! I am totally kidding Kathy, I love that our kids have the same middle name.

I also snapped a cute picture of a granddad-granddaughter moment. I love sitting back and watching people spend time with my kids. Such important memories being made.
This last picture is just of Maggie in an army hat. Kutter finds all sorts of hats and always puts them on Maggie. So far, she does not seem to mind. I think Kutter could do whatever he wanted to her and she would be fine. She sure does love her big brother!

Traveling to Utah

We started our move to Iowa by heading to Utah for the Thanksgiving holiday. We made it as far as Page, AZ the first night then made the rest of the trip the next morning. The car was packed to the gills and each child only had a small hole dug out of stuff for them to squeeze into. Kutter even managed to smuggle a few extra things into the car which he then had to carry on his lap. Our fantastic neighbors, the Gibasons, bought the kids some movies for the road. Here they are enjoying Journey to the Center of the Earth, in 3-D. Thanks Kimmy and Eric, your gift was a hit....and a lifesaver!

All three kids were such troopers on the entire trip. I complained about the 3 hour drive to Salt Lake City from Vernal when I was a kid. We used to have to stop in Duschesne and Heber to take a break and get a drink. My kids can sit in the car for an entire day and not even complain. I think they just must be used to it. We have been traveling since they were itty bitty babies, maybe they don't know life any different. Let's just hope they don't figure out how to complain in the car. If that happens, our family may never see us again because we won't be driving long distances any more!