long time no see

Some pictures of the family!

Bongo has made it 5 weeks and boy is he excited! He's getting pretty chunky, particularly in the thighs, but we still think he's pretty darn cute! Amy still loves to hold him and can't go to bed at night if she hasn't a long enough turn with him. Jayson has warmed up to Bongo and instead of saying, "Come and get it!" he says, "Baby's crying." They're a couple of fun kids.

Baby Bongo!!!

Baby Bongo arrived Monday April 5, 2010 at 8:07 am. He's a happy little boy! Lacey's doing well, too. And as you can see from the pictures, his brother and sister are glad to finally meet him. (Though he will be called Bongo for awhile, his real name will be Dallin W. Joyal.)

Wearing-O-the-Green

Ever year (with few exceptions) since Ryan and I were engaged we have a special St. Patricks Day date. We grab friends, go to Savers, buy our spouse something "special," and then we go to dinner. This year we decided to do it as a family. Amy and I found Dad a green bathrobe and Jayson a green shirt. Dad found Mom a "Cameroon" soccer shirt and Amy a "John Deer" shirt. We went to DQ for icecream afterwards. It was a fun family night.

Happy Valentines Day!

Listen to "Cupid." We had a great Valentine's Day. Jayson and Amy got mylar balloons, some new books, and lots of candy. Ryan brought home a lot of candy from school and Grandma Annie sent some too. The kids were in hog heaven. There's almost as much candy as at Halloween. We took the kids to "Jumpin'" to wear them out. Ryan took me out to dinner and a movie for my birthday. He also got me some new PJs, a book and a movie. It was a fun day. We're so lucky to be a family and have a special day to show extra love.

A Christmas morning surprise!

Christmas at Grandma Rhonda's!

Listen to "Christmas Bells" for the Christmas blogs. It makes us smile. We had "real" Christmas morning at Grandma Rhonda's. More toys and books and fun cousins. Amy and Elsie were inseperable. They're so cute. I made more "ho-ho" pants for my family again.

Christmas at Grandma Annie's!

We had a special Christmas at Grandma Annie's before Christmas day. The kids got cute Christmas P'Jees from Aunt Emily and some great new toys too. We had so much fun.

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

Decorating the tree was fun. Amy was bouncing with excitement. Jayson did okay. There are no ornaments on the tree at the bottom--Jayson just takes them off. And the train around the bottom is always a train wreck, but other than that, the tree is still standing. We love Christmas.

Christmas Gingerbread house

This was the first gingerbread house we've ever made together. Amy was tons of help. She liked eating the marshmallows. It was great fun.

boil, boil, toil and trouble

Jayson has been busy getting into trouble and helping Amy get into more trouble. Here's some cute recent pictures. He loves Amy's pink hat--he puts it on himself. And, I put his hair into a little pony-tail. Amy thought it was only fair since I combed her hair that I should do the same to Jayson. What logic!

Halloween IV

I'm too little for trick or treating, and I was a big stinker when they tried to put on my costume, but I just wanted everyone to know that Mom and Dad still love me!

Halloween III

I am so excited to go trick or treating! There's my new Halloween bag behind me. We're going to Mom's work to hit all the cubicles. And then the cafeteria is serving chicken nuggets and fries and pizza. Yum!

We had a real good time trick or treating at work. Now Jayson's going to bed and Dad's gonna take me to the neighbors' houses. We just gotta take one picture with the pumpkins first.

All right! Now I'm ready to go! Isn't this the prettiest bride dress ever? The dads all called me a princess, but the moms usually knew that I was a bride. Girls are real smart.

Look at this haul! My bag was so heavy that Dad had to carry it. He's really strong. I'm glad my bag was strong, too, because I've got enough candy for at least a week!

Look at all that sugar! And the dollar. One neighbor gave me a buck because she didnt' have any candy to give and I was so cute in my bride dress.

Halloween Part II

I have the best mom ever! She took me to JoAnn so I could pick out some fabric for a brand new trick or treat bag. Because I also love Valentine's Day as much as Halloween, it's reversible! (The pumpkins are for Halloween and the hearts for Valentine's Day, so you know.)

And I got to cut out a big "A" to put on it. A stands for Amy. Here I am cutting.

And here it is all done! Unfortunately, Mom didn't listen to dad when he tried to help her think through how to make it, so the "A" accidentally got put on the wrong part.

But even without the "A" it was the best trick or treat bag ever! Look at all this candy I got from trick or treating! No wonder Halloween is my favorite holiday. And I'm a real good sharer. I give the yucky candy to Dad and he takes it to school. You know, stuff like Snickers and Reese's and Milky Ways. Those are gross. But he lets me keep the Dum Dums and Nerds and Tootsie Rolls and Smarties, which are my favorites.

Jayson doesn't like candy, so I don't have to share with him.

Halloween I

Here are my fun pumpkins! I'm so excited to carve pumpkins!

But I really do NOT like guts. They're disgusting.

Here are the directions. I read them to Mom and Dad so we could be safe. Carving pumpkins is fun, but always remember: Safety first!

The pumpkins are done! If you can't tell, Mom did the bat flying over the fence. I helped Dad carve the face. I drew squares and triangles and circles and then helped Dad cut them out.

Don't they look so cute on the porch! Grandma sent the pretty princess pumpkin potato head. And I picked out the cutest one at my field trip to the pumpkin patch and then drew a beautiful face on it!

Which of all these pumpkins is the cutest?