It came!!!

Finally after almost 11 weeks my sectional was delivered!!! I was so excited to get the call. I had almost told the company to forget about the sectional and give us our money back. We were told it would be 4-6 weeks to get it. I was starting to get a little angry but I am glad I was patient. I love it and now I can't wait to get decorating. There will be a picture hung on the blank wall over the couch, a new rug and lots more. Maybe I can get it all done this weekend while Ryan is out of town. Yea!! My house is coming together.

Back into the swing of things

We are back into the swing of things. My kids are no longer sleeping until 9am and school has started. We had a great Winter Break but it sure was nice having my kids go back to school. I have stuck with my New Year's Resolution of only one soda a week and I am really trying to not use water bottles and remember my reusable bags at the grocery store. That one is tough. I never remember the bags and I have not figured out a place to put them so I will remember them. But I am working on it. It was a nice break but it is nice to be scheduled. I like schedules. Life is good at the Ricedorffs.

We made it to the top

Joe is always up for an adventure and I appreciate the fact that he calls me. I like when my kids are active. One day Joe wanted to take the kids out to Usery Pass and hike to the wind caves. We did it and made it to the top very slowly. I think it took us an hour and a half to hike the mile and half. But we did it and the best part is the next day all Kate wanted to do was hike "A" mountain. So we went. Maybe we should do this more often. Especially now when it's beautiful weather. Thanks Joe for making me be active.

All of us at the top. Keelie, Jack, Dyan, Kate, Cassie, Jay, Hadlie, and Joe.



15 Years Already

It has been 15 years since I said I do to my man for eternity and I would do it all over again. We celebrated our 15 year anniversary by hiking Camelback Mountain something neither of us had done even though we are Arizona Natives. It is a great hike but tough at the end. I was using my hands to climb up parts and going back down was steep but it is worth the view once you have made it to the top. After that we went to our hotel cleaned up, went to dinner and shopped. I will spare the other details but it was a great night without kids.
Here are 15 reasons I love my husband.
1. He honors his priesthood.
2. He loves to play with his children. Ryan will wrestle, play basketball, jump on the tramp, anything with Jack, Jay and Kate all the time.
3. He loves sports. He is so happy playing or watching any sport but especially football.
4. He is a very friendly man. He can talk to anyone.
5. He is comfortable anywhere. I am always amazed at how he can put his feet up and relax anywhere. He can also fall asleep anywhere too.
6. He pushes me to be a better person.
7. He has simple tastes. He is content to just be.
8. He loves Nike shoes and if he goes into a Nike store has a hard time leaving without buying something.
9. He is frugal and will take his time to find what he wants for the right price, unless it's Nike shoes.
10. He loves to shop. I know if he buys me something I will not have to return it. He has good taste.
11. He loves to run.
12. He has a lot of friends.
13. He is growing in his calling of second counselor and is learning so much from it. I love watching him conduct on Sundays.
14. He loves his family, his mom and dad, brothers and sisters, and even his in-laws.
15. He listens to me whine and lets me vent without judging me.
I love Ryan and I am so happy to have been married to him for 15 years now. I can't believe how fast time goes. I swear we were just newlyweds in PA trying to figure out how to be married. We still have some figuring out but it sure is fun to do.

Christmas

I just love Christmas. I always say my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving but Christmas is right up there. I love how my kids get so excited for it and so do I. In fact in the morning I was trying to get Jack to wake up at 6:30 when he wasn't waking up. He came into my room around 1:30 wanting Christmas to happen then and I said no so he slept on the floor next to my bed. Around 6:15 I woke up and he wasn't awake so I kept poking him until he woke up. Finally he did I was so excited for my kids to see if Santa had come. I try to explain what Christmas is about but all Kate says is "it's about fun." And it is it is fun to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, it is fun to hang out with family, and it is fun to see my children's reaction on Christmas morning.

Here are the pictures from Christmas and Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve we went to the Temple to look at the nativities. The Temple has nativities from around the world and if you go during the day you can actually see them. I think the nativities are so neat and love walking around the Temple without the crowds of people the Temple lights bring.

Ryan, Kate, Rolana, Rhett, Dyan, Jack, Jay and Rachelle

 Christmas Eve night we went to the Ricedorff's to eat, open presents and to do the nativity. Her are the pretty angels, Mary, and baby Jesus. Tessa, Kate, Shelley, and Callie

 The shepard  Jack.

 The wise men Jay and Kaden with the sheep, Zoey the dog.

 My kids in their new Christmas pj's. I let them open the present in the morning Christmas Eve. I was excited to let them open gifts. Jay, Kate and Jack. I did have a picture of Jack not making this face but his real smile is worse than his silly smile.

 Christmas morning. Santa brought Kate a new princess bike. That is all she asked for and was so excited to get it. Now we just need to get her riding more.

 Jack showing off the new Xbox Kinect. Santa broke down and got a gaming system for the family. I don't like gaming systems but since our summers are so incredibly hot and I was tired of the kids sitting and watching TV all day we let Santa bring the Kinect in hopes of getting our children to move more in the summer.

 Jay with the Kinect. The boys were so excited to get one. I think we were the last people on the earth who didn't have some sort of gaming system. And it has been fun playing the games. Wipe Out cracks me up and watching Jeremy dance to Lollipop was priceless.

 All ready for church. Jack, Jay and Kate they are so cute and I loved going to church on Christmas day. It really set the spirit. Although I think my favorite is when Christmas Eve is on Sunday. But either way it was a great sacrament meeting.

 Christmas night takes us to my parents. It is complete chaos but I love it. My dad reads Luke 2 and the kids all get to play with their cousins. Then the adults do a white elephant gift exchange and we laugh and eat and talk. It is a perfect way to end Christmas.

Santa

I borrowed okay copied these thoughts on Santa from another blog. It is how I think and how I wish I could explain Santa to my kids. I love it and love everything about Christmas. I can't wait till the morning to see my kid's faces. 
           Is there a fat guy in a red suit hanging out with reindeer and elves at the North Pole, squeezing down chimneys and smoking his pipe in people’s living rooms? I’ll grant you, probably not. But I firmly believe in all the wonder and magic and charity that Santa embodies. There is something special about Christmastime that is hard to put into words. It has to do with divine love and the incarnation of God into the form of a tiny Jewish baby.
          I admit that every Christmas morning, a small part of me wonders if there will be a surprise by the tree that wasn’t there when I went to bed the night before. Some token left by a guy in a sleigh. Every year I wake up to squeals of joy from my children and come downstairs and find that everything is as I left it the night before. But somehow I find that I’m not disappointed by this. I may have bought the gifts and stuffed the stockings myself, but all of these things become transformed in the night. By the time the kids wake up, the magic has happened. Santa has come.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!

          

Christmas at Disneyland

I have heard from many others that Christmas at Disneyland is a must do. Well, it's true. I loved it. From the lack of people, the beautiful decorations, the fun parade and the snow. It was all good. It was also the first family vacation we have taken all year with just my family and we have taken many vacations so that was a lot of fun.
Here are my favorites from the Happiest Place on Earth, in no particular order.
-Kate being tall enough to ride a lot more rides. We took her on Soaring over California and she asks "are we still at Disneyland?" I loved it.
-Jay finally being tall enough to go on Screaming and loving it. He wanted to go again and again. I think he rode the ride about six times. And was so disappointed on the last day because it was closed.
-Jack telling everyone "Happy Birthday" when he saw a button and then getting his own so he could have the attention.
-Ryan feeling sick after the Ariel ride. It might be one of the slowest rides yet it made him sick, in fact most of the rides made him sick.
-Jack and Jay wanting to go on the river rafting ride even though it was cold and they would get wet. They didn't care and went on the ride three or four times.
-Staying late with just Jack and getting to spend some one on one time with him.
-Leaving the park early so Jay could watch the Black Diamonds play their game. He kept insisting we leave to watch the game. I really think he wanted to be out of Disneyland before the fireworks started.
-Watching the parade. I staked out a spot early and Kate fell asleep so I made friends with the people around me and people watched. It was so relaxing and enjoyable.
-Running into my cousin Jimmy and the Severtson's. It's funny how you can be so far from home yet still see people you know.
-Getting to ride the Star Tours ride. I think that might be my favorite ride.
-Jay saying "this is the Christmas spirit."
Here are a few of my favorites I am sure I will remember more and add them later. It was a great trip and the last one for awhile. Ryan says at least five more years before we go back to Disneyland and when we do it will be at Christmas time.

My family below by the giant Christmas tree.

Jack and Kate in the teacups, Kate loves them and says they are her favorites.

Jack and me on the Tower of Terror.

Ryan, Kate and Jay on Ryan's favorite ride Monster's Inc. It used to be Jay's but Screaming took over.

The entire family on Space Mountain. Kate looks so little and said the ride when fast.

Jack and Jay on the River Rafting ride. They didn't seem to mind getting wet.

Me and Jay on Screaming, I love the look on Jay's face. He is having a ball.