Watch out for the Pink Bandits!!

Grandma Kristie and Papa Chip sure know what a cowgirl needs. A Hat!! Meysa got a pink cowgirl hat and belt to compliment her horse. Doesn't she look cute, and Lauryn had to try it out too. Thanks Grandma and Papa, Meysa says she is now a true blue (or pink) cowgirl, minus the live, breathing horse of course!!!

Families are Forever

This last weekend I got the chance to fly over to Spokane and be in attendance for the sealing of my newest niece, Courtney!! My oldest sister Amber and her husband Jeff have nine children, five which are adopted. Along with Courtney being sealed to her family, they also sealed Jeff, my brother-in-law to his parents and sister. His father died a few years ago, so it was an especially sweet time for their family!!! I flew over Friday afternoon and came home Saturday evening. My dear sweet husband wrangled the three kids so I could be there, and I really appreciated it. He is one of a kind!! Even though it was such a short visit, we had a lot of fun!! These are some of the pics of my family-enjoy!! The Seipert Family, all present and accounted for. Such a great family! My sister and brother-in-law Jeff and Amber, and my niece Courtney!! Don't they look happy!!?

All the grand-daughters that were in attendance (minus my girls and another little one named Maddie).
All the grandsons minus Tell, Ayden and my other sister Aina's three boys. Handsome boys huh?!!

My sisters, minus Aina who wasn't there. Amber in pink and Airica in white!!
GO Boise State!!! My nephew Tru, he knows who to cheer for too!!
My Mom and niece Raeli (Halli), someone had fun with the makeup!!
Aren't they beautiful? I think they all want a cosmetic counter job at Macy's. Wouldn't you want a makeover done by these lovely ladies!!! l-r Whitley, Jaci, Shelby, and Raeli.
The siblings, minus Aina, Alan and Austin who had already left. L-R Andy, Amber, Airica, Aimee and Aaron.
My sister in law Lana and my Mom getting the chicken noodle soup ready for the masses!!
We love our papa!! Grandkids loving on Papa Chip, especially Qiara(sorry Aaron about the spelling!). She loves her Papa!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We got to enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner at Ryan's Aunt and Uncles house and it was wonderful. Lots of good food and great company, what more could you ask for? The kids inhaled their food and then made their way upstairs to enjoy some movies and us adults got to visit.
Grandma Margaret was Lauryn's buddy. They went outside to see the dogs and Grandma got a workout going up and down the stairs after Lauryn. It was a really nice time, Thanks Beth and Brian!!!

I've Been Tagged!

Rules: list 6 somewhat interesting, maybe unknown things about yourself and then tag 6 friends.

1. When I was about 8-9 years old my two older brothers convinced me that I was adopted and that my parents did it out of pitty. I know stinky brothers and the things they do to their sisters huh? Well I bought it hook, line and sinker!! I thought no one really loved me and I would write notes to my mom all the time asking her if she loved me. I was pathetic and dramatic at that age!! My family still teases me about being the adopted one. Not that being adopted is bad but more that I was soo dramatic about everything back then. I never thought to question the fact that my mom had my older brother AND my younger brother, then why not me? Like I said I was dramatic.


2. I don't like my handwriting but I love pens. If I find a cool pen that writes well I confiscate it, it might just make my handwriting better. So while some people have a shoe thing, I have a pen thing!!


3. I used to be a packrat, but I am now the complete opposite. When I was younger I had a big old purse that I would stuff with anything and everything I could find. If my siblings had lost something, they would usually peg me as the culprit and search the purse. Well today I hate clutter and I love to purge things and get rid of whatever I don't need anymore. Like today, the playroom is getting a going-through and there will be less toys in there than when I started!!

4. I love chocolate ice cream! I know you are suppose to try all 31 flavors but nothing tingles my palate more than chocolate. Probably my most favorite chocolate ice cream is Cold Stone with recees peanut butter cup mixed in. Yummo, ok now I am craving it!

5. I have never had a professional manicure or pedicure, ever!! I would really like one but I just have never went in for one.

6. One of my dreams is to travel to Europe and photograph all the wonderful places in France, Italy, Greece, Spain. I want to see the world, I know it sounds trite but I do. I want to see the Holy Land and walk where the Savior walked. Maybe when Ryan retires or maybe if we get stationed in Europe after residency we can do it. But I am going to have to get a better camera before I go!!

I tag: Rebecca, Heather, Lauralee, Brittany, Laura, Corine

Happy Birthday Meysa!

Happy Birthday Meysa!! She was so cute this morning- Ayden told her Happy Birthday first thing and she looked at me dead serious and asked, "Is it my birthday?" I said yes, and she looked at me like "are you sure"? I guess it took so long to turn 4 years old that once it finally came it was hard to believe!! So anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows that Meysa LOVES horses and not necessarily My Little Pony kind of horses but the real kind. Her favorite movie is "Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron". So we are talking about REAL horses with this girl. So we had to have a horse party!! We made bandanas for each girl and they got to accessories with rhinestone beads (real western I know) and their own sheriff star. We colored fun horse pages and played pin the tail on the horse, not the donkey. It went pretty well and Meysa sure enjoyed having her friends over to play and help celebrate her birthday!!!

"Real" horses running in the pasture!! The cake tasted really good!
Meysa was the first one to pin the tail on and she was the closest one to the actual tail all afternoon. Good job Meysa!!
Ready to eat the birthday cake and ice cream, yummy!!
Dora Saves the Mermaid, she has been waiting for this one. Can you tell by the look on her face?!!
And finally for a horse birthday party, don't you think you should get a horse?!! Now she can "ride" a horse!!! She is in heaven!! We love you Meysa, Happy Birthday!!

Our Meysa Lynn

Well I can't believe where the time has gone. My little girl is already four years old tomorrow!! It just doesn't seem like she can really be four yet. These are some of my favorite pictures of my Meysa. She was my biggest baby and quickly continued to grow. At a month old we could barely fit her into her blessing gown. Couldn't you just eat those cheeks?!!! She was a hot/cold mood baby. When she was happy, she was really happy. But when she was sad, she was definately MAD!!! No real in between. When she was born she came out screaming, instead of just crying. Funny thing is it isn't really any different today!!
What I loved about Meysa at this age is she was just cute. Every look she gave me was adorable, even when she was being a pill. She was into everything and learning so much. She wanted to be just like Ayden and this is when they were good friends, and didn't really fight like they do now. She was just so much fun to be around!!
More of Meysa's personality started showing at this age. The terrible twos and her terrible fits started but she could also be such a nerd (I don't know where she got that from!!). She loved adventure and was willing to really try anything, much more so than Ayden would. She loved being outside and could play in the sandbox for hours. She decided that she was ready to be potty trained and pretty much did it herself, but that was the problem. She wanted to do it all by herself!! We are still dealing with this personality trait!!
Meysa is my little bud. With Ayden gone to school, Meysa and I get to spend a lot of time together during the day which I love!!! She is a big help with her sister Lauryn and is sooo ready to get to go to school. She asks at least once a day when she gets to go. If anyone was willing to give her a horse she would take it in a heart beat. She doesn't run, she gallops. She doesn't sigh, she neighs. She is part horse and would love to ride one!! She asks all the time to look at Uncle Alan's blog to look at his horses.
Any way I just wanted to show you how much my Meysa has changed and we want her to know how much we love her and feel blessed that she came to our family!!! Birthday pics to come tomorrow after the HORSE birthday party!!! We love you Meysa!

The Pesky Flu!!

Last Thursday Lauryn started off the chain reaction that had our family homebound all weekend. Lauryn threw up on Thursday night and then Meysa Friday afternoon and all that night. Lauryn joined back in Friday night and then Ayden (who I am sure was feeling left out) started in Saturday morning. I think I did about fifty loads of laundry, scrubbed carpets, and couches, and I was always listening for that wretching sound from one of my kids and telling them "remember to have your bowl right next to you at all times". Well a week later we were thinking that we were all better- yeah right!!! Last night I thought I had been hit by a mack truck!!! Ryan was at a journal club meeting til late and so I put kids to bed at 7pm and took a bath, with a small intermission to visit the bathroom and was then in bed by 8pm. Ryan today came home from work early because he wasn't feeling the greatest either!! So, long story short, the flu likes to make the rounds, hopefully we can recover fast and with as few bathroom trips as possible!! I am really tired of puke!!

Firefighters Are Cool!!!

Ayden had no school today due to parent/teacher conferences so we thought we would go check out one of the local fire stations with a neighborhood moms group. Our tour guide was named Firefighter Ryan(which Ayden thought was cool, just like Dad). He was awesome and answered all the kids questions very patiently!! They got to see the EMT trucks, the tank truck that holds 2500 gallons of water!! Next up was the ladder truck. The ladder on this truck can reach up 150 feet. Firefighter Ryan showed the kids all the cool stuff inside including the jaws of life!!
The kids loved this little field trip, including Mom. It was my first time being inside a fire station, I know pathetic huh!!
Just as we were coming to the end of the tour something cool happened(well for us anyways)!! The station got a call and so all of us got to see the firefighters in action. Let me tell you the kids were excited, but so were us moms. I got the video of all the guys getting ready to go. It was really cool. The kids were speculating as to where the firefighters went, and what happened. Of course Ayden had to mention that it might be our house(our house is always an option!!), and that we were safe because we weren't there. As we got home and there was no apparent damage to our home he said that Heavenly Father was blessing us. Always good to recognize our blessings. It was a great day and something the kids can't stop talking about. Enjoy the video and my award winning commentary !!

mmmmmM&Ms!!

So I think the old saying is true.. M&Ms DO melt in your mouth and not in your hand!! I took Ayden and Meysa to the school library to make some fun books at the library's community night and Lauryn stayed home with Dad, looks like they had fun! When I got home she had been given a bath, so all evidence of the chocolate binge was gone. Could she be any more of a clown?!! I think my favorite part of these pictures is not just the chocolate ALL over but that her piggys are going in two different directions. The last picture is her "cheese" face!! Priceless!

It's WAR!!

Ayden and Meysa had a great time playing Dino War with Papa Greg. Greg really played into Ayden and his competitive nature and they had a really good time. Ayden and Meysa also enjoyed the Wii game that grandma and papa brought to play. It was a racing one and Ayden was proud of himself for getting a trophy for the most crashes. Lets hope his driving improves by the time he is 16. It was wonderful to have Margaret and Greg up for the weekend, we loved it and we hope they had fun too.

Now it will feel like Christmas!!

Do you remember when you were a kid and there was that one thing that made Christmas feel like Christmas. Maybe it was decorating the tree after Thanksgiving with your family or making cookies to leave out for Santa. It could have been a million different things! For me it was the nativity set that my mom had. It was ceramic and she had chalked it and it was beautiful. I loved when it was time to get it out of its box. We would dig through the shredded newspaper til we found all of the pieces and then we would arrange them on the piano in just the right way. Since I have been married I have wanted to find my own Nativity set, but it had to be the same one that I grew up with. My mom did hers a long time ago so I didn't know if I would ever find it, but I kept looking. A few months back I was searching on ebay and on the web to see if I could find a nativity like the one I wanted, and guess what I found it. It was the same one- so I bookmarked it and checked back periodically just to look at it. I mentioned to Ryan kind of in passing that I had found it and he said "oh that is nice." Well fast forward a few months and my birthday is coming up and Ryan is talking an awful lot to his mom and they are being really secretive!! When I would ask Ryan what he and his mom talked about he would say "secret birthday stuff". So I knew they were conspiring, but I figured it was for my benefit so I let the secrets continue. This last weekend Margaret and Greg (Ryan's mom and step-dad) came up from Salem to celebrate my birthday a week early. Margaret was taking me to a scrapbook fair in Seattle on Saturday (yeah it was a blast) and then we would have dinner and I was going to be able to finally open the much anticipated secret gift!!

The kids were so excited to help me open up the presents!! Do you see the look of shock and amazement as I realize what Ryan and his mother did. They got the nativity set and his mother applied the finish and had it fired for me. Beautiful isn't it!! Thanks Margaret!!!
Now it will feel like Christmas!!! I can't wait to put it up and look at it all December!!
Yeah Ryan did an amazing job on my birthday this year. He even got me a Cold Stone birthday cake. He knows how much I love Cold Stone, plus he watched the kids all day Saturday so that I could go spend money on scrapbooking stuff!! What a guy I have!! Thanks babe, and I love ya!!