Benjamin goes home!

I had to share our events of the day from Wednesday. I would never have thought that a 5 year old could pull something like this off...
Benjamin woke up Wednesday morning and was tired and did not want to get up. We get up at 5:45 a.m. every day and he did not want to go to sleep the night before so he was a grump. Anyway, He told us that he did not want to go to day care or to school. He was determined to stay home. Well, he went to day care and then on to school. At 11:00 we got a phone call from the day care that Benjamin was not at the school. We did not know what had happened. We then found out that he got on the bus to go home. The bus driver drops Benjamin off at our front door then waits until he gets into the house before she leaves. That way she knows someone is home with him. Well being the smart little boy that he is he went around the back of the house and found a way to get in, then opened up the front door and waved the bus driver off. The bus started to pull away and Benjamin thought he was home free and could be home by himself instead of going to the day care. We in the mean time had contacted the bus services who then radioed the bus driver who then stopped the bus and went up to the front door to get Benjamin and bring him back to the school. We picked him up there, got him lunch and then took him to day care. I was amazed how thought out the whole thing was and that he had pulled that much off on his own. We had a long talk when we got home from work that night. The school and the bus drivers all know that Benjamin and Tyler both are not to get on the bus to go home unless they have a written note from myself or Lanny stating that they can take the bus home that day. What fun adventures we have at our house.

RYAN - RYAN - RYAN

We were taking pictures the other day for our passport applications and having a blast with our little character. Oh how his personality shines in this series of pictures. We are so grateful for the color and life he adds to our family. We love our Ryan!

Christmas PJ's

A Family tradition is to get new pj's on Christmas Eve. Growing up we would get pj's for Christmas and we have carried it on with our own children only they get them on Christmas Eve. (You just have to love Ryan! What a ham.)

Here is Grant and Alyssa in their matching pj's.

Alyssa and Grant

We went shopping the other day when Tia and Seth came to Grand Junction. Lanny and Seth carried the little ones into the house. We found the babies asleep side by side in the living room and the men watching football.

Aren't they cute!?!

Brotherly Love

The boys all love their little sister. Ryan spends a lot of time with Alyssa and loves to hold her. It is not uncommon to see him lying beside her, holding her hand, kissing her cheeks and talking to her. Tyler also enjoys holding her. They enjoy lying on the floor together to watch movies like in this picture.

Tyler's last soccer game 11-3-07

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

Home Depot

The first Saturday of every month Home Depot has a project for kids. This past month the project was to build a pirate ship and for October it was a fire truck. The three boys love going to build the different projects. They each have their own aprons to wear and when they complete the project they get a pin to put on their apron with a picture of the project that they just completed.

Ryan is a little dangerous with the hammer at times...

This past Saturday each of the three boys had their own personal helper, Grandma and Grandpa Cutler were here visiting and went a long to help.

Here is the finished project.

Tyler

Benjamin

Ryan

Next month the planned project is a "treasure box". I don't remember what the project is for January, but I do know that Lanny is already excited about it.

Holloween

This year I did not do very well taking pictures of the kids in their halloween costumes. I did get a couple pictures...Ryan was our little monkey.
Benjamin was Zorro! and Tyler was Harry Potter. He really looked a lot like Harry too. What fun the boys had at the church for our ward party and then trick-or-treating around our neighborhood.

Alyssa Marie Johnston

Alyssa Marie Johnston - Such a sweet baby!



All she does is sleep - she hardly wakes to eat.



But how sweet she looks as she sleeps.



A brief waking moment caught on film.



Back to sleep again.

Bringing Alyssa Home

We checked out of the hospital Tuesday afternoon. We actually stayed in the hospital less than 24 hours from Alyssa's birth. It was a quick stay, but the boys were sure happy to have both Mom and Alyssa home.

Benjamin couldn't wait to hold his sister as soon as we walked in the door to the house.

Of course if Benjamin got to hold her Ryan had to hold her as well. He was so cute. "Me hold her, Me hold her" he kept repeating until it was his turn. He held her very nicely. It was a good thing I was sitting right next to him because when he was done holding her he was done...he pushed her right off his lap as I quickly got a hold of her so she did not go flying. After I had a hold of her Ryan stood up on the couch right next to us and decided that he wanted to wrestle with Alyssa. He laid right on top of her and wrapped his arms around her just like he does with the boys when they are wrestling on the floor. Alyssa is definately going to grow up being tough with him for a big brother. We haven't had any more of those incidents yet - knock on wood.

We didn't get a picture of Tyler at home with Alyssa so I added the picture from the hospital. I guess I did not take another picture of tyler and her because he holds her so much I always think I can grab the camera next time. I need to stop making excuses and take more pictures. Itis not uncommon for Tyler to pick up Alyssa and hold her while he is watching a movie, cartoons or just because. The other day we had to run an errand and I brought the snuggly to carry Alyssa around in since we do not have an infant carrier and Tyler actually ended up carrying her for the time that we were out and about.

Alyssa is here!

Alyssa finally decided it was time to join us. We welcomed her on Monday October 22 at 3:13 p.m. At 39 weeks she weighed in at a healthy 9# 6oz. Can you imagine how much she would have weighed had she waited one more week! She is 20 and 7/8 inches long. We were grateful to have Nana Babbel at the hospital for her birth. She was able to break away from work for a couple hours to be there. After work she drove over to Utah to be with Tia when Champ was born. What timing!

Tyler and Benjamin both out weighed Alyssa for birth weight, but Alyssa weighed more than a full pound more than Ryan. We definately grow them big in this family.

Tyler came right on up to the hospital after school. He was so excited he could hardly wait to see his new little sister. He stood by her the whole time the nurse was taking the measurements and while Alyssa had her first bath. Tyler was so intrigued by everything. Not much distracted him from the scene involving his little sister. He could not wait until the nurse was done and he could sit and hold her for a while.

Alyssa has her own look. We are not really sure who she looks more like. She is the first to have dark hair at birth. The boys all had red hair when they were born. We are so grateful to have her in our lives! It is nice having another girl in the family now. We are so grateful to Heavenly Father for the wonderful addition to our family and that everything went well and we have a happy healthy baby girl.

Ryan Turns 2 year old!

I am really late publishing this to our blog but I thought I needed to post it anyway. Ryan had his 2nd birthday on September 14. What fun we had with it.

I even made the cake this year. It was quite the adventure. I have not made a cake like this before. Ryan decided to help me about the time that most of the car was complete - he must not have liked the logo because he wiped it clean off in one good swipe of his index finger. He sure liked the taste of the frosting.

Casey and Abby bought Ryan a cars helmet, knee pads and elbow pads. He loved them! He immediately had to pull it out and put it on. Nana and Papa bought him a bike. He was sure excited about the bike as well. He hasn't quite mastered riding this one - he still prefers the pink and purple one from Aunt Mindy and Kylie. Maybe next summer he will be more in to the big boy bike.

Ryan was excited about clothes this year as well. What kid gets excited about getting clothes for a gift at this age?

I did not really understand what people would say about the terrible 2's because our first two boys did not go through those stages - or at least it wasnt too bad. I definately understand the phrase now though. Ryan fits it to the "T".

Jack-o-lantern fun

We went to Nana and Papa Babbels for a pumpkin carving party. What fun we had. Each of the pumpkins came out of their garden this year. What a great pumpkin harvest they had. Tyler being the oldest had first pick of the pumpkins and chose the largest one of course. Ryan only wanted one that he could carry all by himself.

WHAT A FACE! (The pumpkin or the little guy carrying it around!?)

Benjamin actually had fun sticking his hands into the pumpkin to pull out the "guts". He hesitated at first but once he got going he didn't mind having such a large pumpkin to clean out.

We did not post the final product unfortunately when we got them home the temperatures really dropped and they started to rot very quickly. Benjamins bat collapsed and Ryans wrinkled up. Tylers just turned black. We were not able to put candles in them to light them up for a really good picture. There is always next year.

Lake Powell Trip - What fun we had!

This is where we spent our days while at the lake. We had a wonderful sun shade to escape from the sun for a while. We had a shallow spot to park the boats and play and a nice area deep enough to set up the slide. We were in a quiet area with very little traffic and were able to swim and play in the water in between boat rides and skiing.
Ryan played hard every day. He loved being in the water and was comfortable in his life jacket. We didn't have to fight with him to keep it on which was wonderful. THis picture was taken as we got ready to out in the boat. Ryan pulled his little arms inside his life jacket and layed his head on the side of the boat and went to sleep.
Benjamin also loved to swim. He was not very interested in tryig to water ski or knee board or even ride the tube. He played in the water and on the slide all day long - oh he also enjoyed riding the wave runner.
As long as Ryan had his noodle he was happy. He kicked his little feet and swam all over the little cove we occupied during the day. Benjamin learned that his life jacket would hold him up and he floated/swam right a long side of Ryan.
The slide was a big hit this year with everyone! Here Lanny and Seth played king of the hill...we didn't know who was having more fun: the boys or everyone else watching them.

During our trip Tia got up skiing, Lanny was up on the knee board, Tyler learned how to knee board (he even started on his tummy in the water and pulled himself up to his knees) and Ryan rode on the tube with Nana behind the boat. It was a wonderful trip to spend quality time with our family and close friends.

Benjamin the Brave!

Benjamin, our brave little boy! From eating raw octopus tentacles to holding snakes. One of the neighbor boys found a little snake by our house and knowing little boys just had to pick it up and play with it. Benjamin was a little nervous at first but was the first one to come up to hold and touch the snake. Of course Daddy had to make sure it wasn't poisonous or anything first. At one point Benjamin even had it on his head!!!! What fun we had.

Ryan even thought the snake was pretty neat and fearlessly reached out to touch it. He wanted to hold it but mom and dad didn't think it was a good idea for the snake.